Mike Dora

OK Everyone, Thanks due to VonHelton over at the ROF forum for reminding me to update my video card drivers. Update done, problem seems to be solved. I've also been able to verify that all my older, favourite programs still work with the new drivers. I confess to a reluctance to update drivers until absolutely necessary, because of past traumas of "losing" favourite older sims after such updates (remember Red Baron 2 & European Air War probs with new drivers?) Hovever this time all seems to be well. I think I even detect a slight improvement in OFF performance! Thanks again Mike

Thanks Erik, but how can I figure out those optimal settings? ROF seems very lacking in such advice. Mike

Thanks, but not sure I get that Erik, ROF ICE is the only program to suffer these snags, every other program on my system runs just fine. That surely tends to point to it being a program-related issue?

_Very_ impressive work Quack. Where did you get the individual markings on the A-H Albatri? Are they downloadable somewhere? Mike

Actually the special effects work pretty well. The series used full size mock-ups of period ac such as the BE2c, Alb CI, Fok EIII etc, together with flying replicas of a Boxkite, Vickers Gunbus & Avro 504, and large flying scale models of all the relevant types. There were no painted-up Tiger Moths or Stampes or other non-period types, and no stock clips from Hells Angels, the Blue Max or whatever. Two things stand out: they got the continuity dead right, so you don't the usual movie-style immersion-killer of seeing a BE2c morphing from scene to scene into a Tiger Moth or a Stampe. If a scene starts with a specific type, then all subsequent shots both long and close-up remain of the same type. Secondly, for some reason the use of the large flying models worked successfully on the small screen (I'm now watching Series 1 on my 52" flat-screen, it still works for me). Lastly, the series bring out very well both the shock of suddenly losing known, well-developed characters, and especially the frightening confusion when a strange Hun monoplane starts shooting down RFC ac with a _forward_-firing machine gun! In other words, vey highly recommended! Mike

Lately I've been trying Bongodriver's EF2000 Typhoon model again, but I'm finding that when it gets up to 400-500kt a serious buffet starts up, with the cockpit juddering badly, and the A2A gun reticle bouncing up and down on the HUD so much that it's unusable. I'm sure that the real ac can't be like this (it would never have got its Release to Service), and I'm not getting anything like it when driving other ac models at high IAS (eg the F105). Can anyone tell me how to edit the *data.ini file to eliminate this phenomenon? Thanks Mike

JFM, Did you get this effect to work in the end? I ask because I'm suffering similar frustration to that you were having a few months ago. If you did get it working, can you please tell me just what files you placed where? Thanks Mike

I want to tinker with the AircraftFireEffect & AircraftSmokeEffect ini's in one of my SFP1 setups, but can't find the vanilla versions. Can anyone please tell me where they are located, if they're in a *.cat file, which one is it? Thanks

Thanks Fubar

Thanks Fubar, Am getting it. One last clarification: does the particlesystem.ini file _ever_ go into Effects, or does it always go into Flight? That issue may have been the cause of some previous confusion on my part. Mike

Thanks Fubar, That's most helpful, I'll try it out tonight. Just one supplementary question, to be clear: which takes priority in the FE execution system - is it the *.ini files in Effects, or the particlesytem.ini file in Flight? (I think it is the former). Mike

As Biggles might say to Algy "ignore the fire old boy, it's been there forever causing no problems".. Thanks Bandy

Matter of interest Bandy, what does [GameObjectEffect] of your AircraftObject.ini file look like? Mine is this: [GameObjectEffect] ObjectFireEffect=AircraftFireEffect //ObjectFireSound= ObjectFireSound=Fire ObjectExplosionEffect=AircraftExplosionEffect ObjectExplosionSound=SmallExplosion ComponentDetachEffect=AircraftDetachComponentEffect ComponentDetachSound=SmallExplosion ComponentShrapnelCount=0 DamageShrapnelFactor=0.0 MaxDamageShrapnelCount=0 Wondering if there's something in there, or _not_ in there, that's not allowing Laton's crash fire effects to work? Mike

That's my prob Bandy, I can't even get Laton's original crash smoke to work. When planes crash there's a big bang and lots of smoke, then the smoke fades right out. Maybe I have an incompatible prior mod - trouble is with all these mods that eventually you lose track!

Thanks Bandy But tried that - loaded files from Laton's Crash.rar then Crash2.rar first, but they're not working (I'm still with FE1 BTW). Tried all the permutations I think. I get the explosion, and immediate smoke & dust, but then the initial smoke fades then.. nada. Even with the basic "Crash", I'm not even getting the Small Ground Fire.. ?? Is there some _other_ file or thing that I'm missing? Mike

Just one more, very serious omission Heck.. DH9

Hi Bandy et al, I'm still catching up on months of mods & updates. Been trying this one, placed both your files and Laton's 'AircraftExplosionEffect' in the Effects folder, but don't seem to be getting the desired result (I'm testing by deliberately crashing on take-off). Is there a file that I need to edit (eg an "effect.ini list") to get this mod to work right? Thanks Mike

OK ta Quack - I was looking for the data.ini file in the wrong places!

Hi Quack I'm catching up on a lot of FE modding work after a few months overseas. Did you post the modified files for this excellent-looking Pfalz DIII, and if so, where? Thanks Mike

Try "Winged Victory" by V M Yeates, widely regarded as a classic description of aerial combat and the futility of war. It's actually one of the very best war novels of all time. The book is semi-autobiographical. Yeates was on Camels with 46 Sqn in 1918, and lost all of his friends by the end of the War. T E Lawrence (of Arabia) praised the book on its release, saying "Admirable, admirable, admirable. One of the most distinguished histories of the war ... masterly". Sadly Victor Yeates died in 1934 from tuberculosis (aka "Flying Sickness "D"") contracted during his war flying service.

Can anyone advise please on what happens in FE2 when a pilot gets shot? In FE1 he simply disappears, leaving an empty cockpit. Does anything different happen in FE2? Thanks Mike

I normally find that a sharp rap on the back of the head with a big spanner (= wrench for my US friends) is pretty effective. Or am I getting a little over-immersed here?

Thanks Peter, That was the encouragement I needed to try adapting FE2 to the level of my FE1 installation. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a laboriously built-up, multi-gigabyte FE1 setup, and was just dreading having to replicate it from the bottom up. I agree with you that there should be a sticky on how to port FE1 setups to FE2 though. Mike

Thanks for this Peter. When I get back I'll certainly get FE2 & give it a try, TK deserves our support. It's frustrating having to wait, I'm away for another month or so, but at least it's giving me time to read and learn. One thing though, can you (or anyone else) advise on exactly how the folder structure and file formats have changed between FE1 & FE2? I know that modded folders have to go somewhere on the HD other than the FE folder, but are there other mandatory folder changes, are there new mandatory lines in key files? Indeed, are there new files? I'd like to think that I could just port across all of my heavily-modded FE1 folders to the new location to bring FE2 to the same standard, but I strongly suspect it's not as simple as that (it never is!). Mike

Even leaving the normal pilot in place would do for me Bart, it's the suddenly vacant cockpit that doesn't look right. Know what you mean about the screaming though, that's too much for me too, as were RB2's pilots leaping out wreathed in flames. BTW while I'm asking about FE2 effects, I wonder if the balloon observers have parachutes, or if the balloons winch down? I'm still trying to see what FE2 adds apart from graphics improvements and Vista compatibility. (Can't test it myself 'cos I'm still away from home)