GwynO

Ok, what got me wondering about this is that the B-1 doesn't have a HUD according to all the pictures I have seen online, yet I have found the combination of flightpath marker and zoomed in view on the HUD a very good tool for ultra low level hand flying and wanted to develop the concept for use in a non HUD aircraft such as the B-1. My thought was first to make the radar disappear, to become a window, and to place the HUD over it and altering the view angles for a special low level nav view, giving the impression of being in the cockpit still but staring straight in front through the little radar "window". That would be like having a FLIR image display with flightpath marker I suppose. However that means loosing the radar screen data which is not good, unless there is some way of toggling the radar between window mode and radar mode. I thought it might just be a case of removing the radar bmp but apparently not. Another use would be for Russian style avionics, by placing the see through radar in those aircraft higher, where the HUD is, that is if radar icons might still show up on top of the HUD without the radar background showing. Another thought was to just have the radar screen as normal, with a TV/EO system display, again the idea would be to have a view toggle specific to use this screen for NOE flying where the pilot's eyes are looking straight at it and out, the camera would have to be pointed straight ahead and not zoomed in at all, and the HUD again would have to be placed over this system, assuming the HUD symbology would show over the TV image, so long as all the angels match up it might work.

Is it possible to somehow make the space where the radar screen is in a cockpit into a window, just to make it vanish somehow? If so, would it still be able to display data when turned on and otherwise work just as a window?

Exactly

I cannot overstate just how quickly you must act from the first moment you hear the "click of death" this is how it started with my previous laptop, not ODS but somewhere in my game installs, purely because they see the most volume of file reading and writing I suppose, but anyway.. as soon as I hear the click, I started transferring files to external drive, but it was already too late, explorer kept freezing during transfer and even killing the process wasn't enough, power down all the way. I even tried the trick of deep freezing the drive and putting it in an enclosure to get the data through to another computer and still it refused. Finally in desperation I tried the hitting it firmly on the corner with a hammer trick and that didn't work. So then I tried the hitting it manically with a hammer all over trick and now it serves out the rest of it's days as a paperweight come drinks coaster. Seriously, do not delay! Back up TODAY!!

:fans: A Big Thank You to you Erik!! The best gaming website ever, simply par excellence

One nice feature I noticed in the second series games is that the autopilot doesn't ignore mountains like it used to. Flying on especially hilly terrains with auto used to be hit and miss, especially using alt N. Flying the A-7 I was busy taking screenshots blissfully unaware that a mountain top was in the way of the aircraft, I was amazed to see what appeared to be the AI try to keep the aircraft a minimum altitude above the peaks, rising and falling accordingly. This instantly put in mind TFR. On looking at the avionics.ini of various aircraft it seems that there is an extra line stating: ClearanceDistance=152.4 in planes with Terrain Avoidance radar mode. I assume this extra line relates to the distance that the AI appears to want to maintain between it and the ground based on its radar capabilities. I lowered this number down to various figures, I tried 10, then 20, 50 and 100, also I changed the altitude entries in missioncontrol.ini to various figures between 10 and 50 and went out to test with a modified A-6 for some FOTI style low level penetration of enemy territory. The results were not entirely bad, especially over land. Out at sea, the aircraft porpoises seemingly without need, less so with the lower figures but anyway. The porpoising at least serves a purpose over land as the aircraft does a pretty excellent job at hugging the terrain in a straight line. Instead of firm sustained G turns, the AI pitches up to gain altitude, rolls wings over past 90 degrees and pulls into the turn, unloads and corrects as it almost smashes into the ground and tries again until eventually it succeeds in fiery reunion with mother Earth. I haven't any previous experience with AI tweaking of roll rate and other such parameters, but feel an improvement to the porpoising and turning issues may be forthcoming in those areas. Perhaps you more knowledgeable chaps and chapettes may be able to prod me in the right direction? Also, I do know that altering the minimum height in missioncontrol affects all flights, not just those that could have TFR, but I am thinking of using this for limited mission sets, deep strike stuff where the only low fliers are things like the F-111, Tornado, B-1 and so on, in such missions everything else could be using the high and very high altitudes (for those ballsy air superiority types) leaving the normal, low and very low for the TFR enabled deep strike package(s).

Not quite Terrain Following Radar, but..

Downloaded 7zip and gave that a try with this, and hey presto! This is going to have a looooot of playtime from me! Just fantastic and a work of art!!!! Oh and works splendidly in SFP2 on hard setting!!!

I tried downloading this when it came out but kept getting crc errors during unpacking (using Alzip). I tried again recently and got the same problem, is there a specific program I should use for this? Alzip usually does them all, rar, iso, zip, 7zip, gzip you name it, it unpacks it. I tried the alternative download link but that appears to be dead.

It creates a vanilla mods folder, titled and placed according to the options.ini in saved games. Everything seem to be getting a lot easier in the new format.

This came up in the May patch thread, seems it could be more useful here. Assuming you want separate SFP2, SFP2V AND a separate merged install (e.g. for modders wishing to test if their mod works in standalone versions of the game as well as in merged versions). Step by step. Standalone SFP2 install: Install SFP2 to wherever you want, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2, patch it. (only the latest SFP2 patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2, open options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2\smods. Now, this will be your SFP2 only install. So rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (add an x), just to be sure, add an x to options.ini making it options.inix, these steps are so that the next installer won't see the game, so it will leave it alone. Standalone SFP2V install: Install SFP2V to wherever you want, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2V, patch it. (only the latest SFP2V patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2V, open options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2V\vmods. Now, this will be your SFP2V only install. So rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (add an xx), just to be sure, add an xx to options.ini making it options.inixx, these steps are so that the next installer won't see the game, so it will leave it alone. Standalone merged install: Install SFP2 to wherever you want for the merged install, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2VMERGED, Install SFP2V to exactly where you put SFP2 for the merged install, so in this example to D:\SFP2VMERGED This is your standalone merged install, patch it. (only the latest SFP2V patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2V AND SFP2, open BOTH options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2V\mmods. To use the SFP2 OR SFP2V ONLY installs, just rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (E.G. add an xxx to the Thirdwire folder created by the merged install) and delete the x(s) from whichever one of the previous, standalone installs you want to use. Different mods within each game install (for most people this is all you will need, separate installs are only necessary for compatibility testing etc.): Within each core install on D drive in this example, you have a mod folder, either smods (SFP2 standalone install), vmods (SFP2V standalone install) or mmods (SFP2/V merged install). You can have as many total game/mod conversions as you want, for example, ODS2, OTC2, NF5 etc ad infinitum without ever needing a separate install, all you have to do is put all the mods for whatever modification into THE mods folder (either smods, vmods or mmods) and when not in use, rename it by adding an x. For example, if you want to install both ODS2 AND NF5 to the merged install described above, install either game mod first, doesn't matter, the mods folder will still be called "mmods". After this total mod is installed, simply rename the mods folder (add an x) and run the game, this will create a new vanilla mods folder, titled whatever you called it in the options.ini and located wherever you told it in the options.ini (mmods in this example, in D\SFP2V\) for you to then install the next total game mod. When you want to use any different mods folders, swap out the x(s) so NO NEED to keep fiddling with the mods folder line in the options ini.

At least there is a slight glimmer of hope, from what he said about it on the Thirdwire forums, he hasn't ditched the idea permanently, more like Microsoft ditched it as the mp feature relied on a now discontinued MS service, the reason for not prioritising MP was made for several reasons, but it is not a total dead loss, may appear again at some point down the line and as with everything in this series, in a new and improved way! But look at it like this, you are probably going to get MP in series 2 before I get my hands on LORAN, LABS, Offset, Dive toss, DIANE, CCRP etc. But it's all good

That was the great thing with Gerwin's uber merged directions for series one, can you believe the entire series, SFP1, WOV, WOE and WOI all fit, merged together onto a thumb drive!! I took it to college with me and played on the machines there in free time in a very conspicuous manner to get more people hooked. I mean to get more people to have a look Warning though!! No matter how much people ask... do not let them borrow your stick! I had mine password protected. Direct all interested parties straight to the Thirdwire store!

Gerwin, I forgot about your ini switch tool! I didn't try it out yet, will have to! Until all the issues with effects and porting are sorted, my uber merged install of series one games is still the one I play for pleasure the most. Your cat pack utilities have been indispensable and invaluable tools. I'd forgotten about AMDs creative attitude to naming processors also! Do try to get the latest DX9c as this does pretty much all of what DX10 does in relation to Thirdwire games as of now. Hopefully will help increase your FPS. I can't wait for solid state drives either! Theoretically cheaper, faster and above all solid state and nearly unbreakable. Seeing as Ipods and the like have been going in that direction for years I see no reason for not having them in PC's other than undercutting the existing market. Probably by the time they are cheaply available in the market they will have some inherent weakness built into them so as to keep the manufacturers busy and us broke

Assuming you want separate SFP2, SFP2V AND a separate merged install. Step by step. Standalone SFP2 install: Install SFP2 to wherever you want, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2, patch it. (only the latest SFP2 patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2, open options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2\smods. Now, this will be your SFP2 only install. So rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (add an x), just to be sure, add an x to options.ini making it options.inix, these steps are so that the next installer won't see the game, so it will leave it alone. Standalone SFP2V install: Install SFP2V to wherever you want, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2V, patch it. (only the latest SFP2V patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2V, open options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2V\vmods. Now, this will be your SFP2V only install. So rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (add an xx), just to be sure, add an xx to options.ini making it options.inixx, these steps are so that the next installer won't see the game, so it will leave it alone. Standalone merged install: Install SFP2 to wherever you want for the merged install, for the sake of argument to D:\SFP2VMERGED, Install SFP2V to exactly where you put SFP2 for the merged install, so in this example to D:\SFP2VMERGED This is your standalone merged install, patch it. (only the latest SFP2V patch needed) Go to saved games folder, Thirdwire, SFP2V AND SFP2, open BOTH options.ini and look for the mods folder line, tell it to use any folder you like, for the sake of convenience D:\SFP2V\mmods. To use the SFP2 OR SFP2V ONLY installs, just rename the Thirdwire folder in saved games (E.G. add an xxx to the Thirdwire folder created by the merged install) and delete the x(s) from whichever one of the previous, standalone installs you want to use. Different mods within each game install: Within each core install on D drive in this example, you have a mod folder, either smods (SFP2 standalone install), vmods (SFP2V standalone install) or mmods (SFP2/V merged install). You can have as many total game/mod conversions as you want, for example, ODS2, OTC2, NF5 etc ad infinitum without ever needing a separate install, all you have to do is put all the mods for whatever modification into THE mods folder (either smods, vmods or mmods) and when not in use, rename it by adding an x. For example, if you want to install both ODS2 AND NF5 to the merged install described above, install either game mod first, doesn't matter, the mods folder will still be called "mmods". After this total mod is installed, simply rename the folder (add an x) and run the game, this will create the base mods folder, titled mmods for you to then install the next total game mod. When you want to use, swap out the x(s) so NO NEED to keep fiddling with the mods folder line in the options ini.

The only reason I can see to have separate game folders is to test between SFP2 on its own, SFP2V on its own, and a merged install on its own. If so, you should just click on the exe in the separate game folders, or make a shortcut from it yourself renamed as appropriate. I didn't realise you could have different versions of the options.ini in the saved game folder, but if so, I don't see a problem in keeping several versions of the games running in that case.

Ah got you. Sounds like it might work, all the files the game uses appear in the game folder though don't they? I installed the game to my otherwise empty D drive for example, the only thing that has to remain in the Vista drive is the Thirdwire folder in saved games containing the options.ini, all the other folders I deleted because my mod folder as referenced in the options.ini is inside the SF2 folder on D drive. Now with separate installs the only problem I can see is you won't be able to have two separate Thirdwire folders with two versions of the options.ini for the game. My way around that is to have separate mod folders and to rename them, when one is not in use it become modsx and when in use it becomes mods. Even easier than renaming in the options ini which is the other way around it.

Isn't it the case of running the installer and telling it to locate to a different folder? The only thing to watch for then is installing utilities and patches that they point to the one you want. Also check the lines in the utilities ini files because they tend to remember the first installs location.

I know what you're saying Spinners! Loading was a bit longer for the stock merge SF2/SF2V but worth it! Runs smooth as a babies bottom. Now I have a bit of a Franken modded merge install, loading has become a major PITA, I can now comfortably go to the lavatory for a sit down session, make a cup of chai and drink it, even dunk my hob knob in it as well, and still have time to wait in the time it takes to go from 60 to 90 loading. I don't know exactly what goes on in there for that sector of loading but it totally sucks when all I need is to be in game for 3 minutes to test a weapon or an effect then have to repeat all over again. I'm getting fat from hob knobbing.

Is it? I tend to mix and match installs, especially after playing through a campaign. I have those nice clouds in almost all my shots from 2007. Like these ones

And many returns of the day!

I had exactly the same kind of doubts as you, but I still bought the game just as a way to support Thirdwire at the now and just keep it till I upgrade my system... but... I found out much to my surprise that on a Vista Home Basic laptop, AMD 2Ghz processor, 1GB RAM and onboard NVIDIA GeForce 8200MG the SF2 series gives me better FPS out of the box than a patched up series one game, and this is with some notches on the graphics settings bumped up one in series 2. I can still get a playable 21 FPS in series 2 with cockpit mirrors, reflections, unlimited pit graphics and a modded farscene clip distance, and horizon detail level as well. The mega merged install is something that is now native to series 2 plus you won't see aircraft where they aren't meant to be thanks to the user list ini. One thing I must concede though, once you start adding tons of effects, I see the increased FPS fall back to either the same as a modded series 1 install or slightly lower at effects heavy moments in game, but this is something I can live with for the time being as I'm sure there is a workround, possibly limiting some settings in particle ini for example. I understand the point about direction, here from a guy who complained so bitterly about the fact that avionics keeps getting sweeped under the rug as the focus of the game becomes more and more graphics oriented, but even I like the better graphics now I can have them for free, that is out of the box with no added FPS hit! Plus there are some steps in the right direction in other places, ccip is now a feature of 60 avionics... we don't even know what to expect in 70 because no plane in the current series 2 set use it, so I wait with baited breath!! The new vector display RWR might seem like a small thing on its own but it is so nice to see it was thought of, it indicates that TK is not just throwing all the development fund on high res models and graphics for the uber system people of Saudi Arabia and other rich countries! Little by little series 2 reveals a lot of nice improvements that you will wonder how you will do without, the new weapons format is a dream, having a mod folder to save those precious modded installs when a new patch comes along for example, no longer do you need multiple installs for full game mods, just a separate mod folder and a line switch in the options ini. I don't know about running in Windows 2K though, that might be the problem there, otherwise your processor is better than mine and a lot of Thirdwire games limitations come not from GPU, but like all flight sims, from CPU limitations from the complex nature of the code, a lot of math/physics is involved that doesn't have anything to do with the GPU. Hopefully you won't feel you wasted your money when your new system becomes affordable, just look at it like getting something you will want in the future in advance, like croissants the night before breakfast.

Oldies but goldies! Guess who found screenshot folders from years ago This one from 2007 Who's sky is that?? Is it Widesky?

Nothing wrong with the article, it's the tagline that is inaccurate, it's a shame because most people who don't know much about this sort of thing will likely remember that alone. Sometimes it's not the journalists that are lazy but the editors.. they care more about selling paper than promoting fact, truth or even opinion.. they would claim their own grandmother smokes crack from a conch shell if only it sells a paper. News values my ass.