Mike Dora

Glad you're back Sinbad, really glad you're re-inspired to carry on with your Strutter project. I've been using a bodged 9400 Strutter model (from you and Dalgaith I think?) as a 9700 in my FE set-up, with the observer, Scarff ring and Lewis gun deleted but leaving that big hole behind the pilot. It would be really nice to have a proper 9700! You comment "Some 9700 pilots were eager to behave as though they were scout pilots when the bombs were gone." Thinks: a single-seat Strutter reduced in dimensions and with twin instead of single Vickers guns might make quite a handy dogfighter. Maybe make the top wing straight to simplify production, and double the dihedral on the lower wing to compensate? Cheers! Mike PS According to my references those moveable sections on the lower wing roots weren't actually "aboriginal flaps", they were a form of air brake. They flipped not down but up, at right angles to the airflow. Guess this implies the Strutter was quite a "slick" design for its day.

Hi All I may have missed something, but was this single-seat Strutter ever added to the download area? Mike

Sad to see in Flight Global link that combat ac strength of RAF is now less than 20% of what it was in my time ('72-'94). Yes I know they're individually far more capable now, but numbers give operational depth. Plus it only needs one unforeseen airworthiness issue (eg Valiant 1960's, Buccaneer 1980's) and suddenly you're down to a handful of ac. Gives a new meaning to The Few ("_too_ few to risk"?)

I notice that many/all SF2 terrain folders include a [terrain name]__nations.ini file. Can anyone tell me please what is its function, how does it work? Thanks Mike

Recently been making progress in tweaking FE2 to run as well as my good old FE1 installation, but in the course of the tests I've encountered a strange tree effect, please see screenshots. The file involved is TER_NEWTREES1.tga, which I think is part of Stary's FE great seasonal tiles (could be wrong, it's been a long time). One clue is that this effect seems to be focused on airfield perimeters. Also, it affects both FE1 & FE2. Any clues anyone please, how can I eliminate these flying trees and telegraph poles? Be even better to put them in their proper places.. :) Thanks Mike

Thanks Stephen That gave me the clue. Further testing showed that the problem only applied to the Flanders terrain, and on further digging I found that it was due to a very old mistake when applying Stary's FE stock terrains upgrade to the Flanders terrain. In the Flanders_data file I had replaced all appearances of AlphaObjectTexture=terobject_trees1.TGA with AlphaObjectTexture=ter_newtrees1.tga. In fact for a range of specific terrain tiles, including the FrAirfield1.BMP tile, the setting should remain as terobject_trees1.TGA. Correcting this error gives me the Flanders airfield appearance shown below: Like I said, this seems to have been an old mistake, only showing up now after I corrected the square trees thing! Thanks again Mike

Success! See latest shootdown pics. The only thing is, I'm not entirely sure how.. What I know I did do, was follow Wrench's advice, swapping files in & out, one or two at a time. I also remembered that the AircraftObject.ini file in the Objects folder is influential in all this, it contains text telling the system what effects to use in what circumstances (isn't there always something relevant parked somewhere else?): [Effects] AircraftSmokeEffect=AircraftSmokeEffect FuelFireEffect=AircraftFuelFireEffect //EngineDamageEffect=AircraftEngineDamageEffect EngineDamageEffect=AircraftSmokeEffect EngineFireEffect=AircraftEngineFireEffect FuelLeakEmitter=FuelLeakEmitter As it happens I wasn't keen on the EngineDamageEffect that I had, that showed flames as well as smoke (if the engine starts burning, pretty soon the rest of the airframe should burn too), so I substituted the AircraftSmokeEffect and it all works more or less to my satisfaction now. No St Paddy's Day smoke effects any more, just wish I could thin out ("unthicken") the black smoke a bit so it doesn't look so much like an actual flamer. Thanks All! Mike PS I have a couple more FE2 visuals irritations to deal with, but will take a short break first. There's this Life thing to deal with sometimes too. PPS No Wrench, not those files :)

Thanks guys, I've quickly resolved the "no stock effects" issue. Because of a previous lack of space on the C drive, I'd transferred the custom FE2 files to the D drive (D:\Sims\FE2 Mod Collection\FE2) with just the Options file left C:/ ../Saved Games/Thirdwire/FE2. Having recently re-created plenty of space on C, last night I copied the custom FE2 files back to their rightful home. Then when I tried running the sim with the custom effects blocked, the stock effects ran perfectly well. So that's one thing settled! So now I have further testing to along the lines suggested above, a step-by-step process of elimination to see where/what exactly brings in the bad effect. Meanwhile I and my "jasta colleagues" are massacring loads of BEs, Martinsydes & Sopwith Strutters on all the early 1917 test sorties! Cheers Mike

Thanks again vonS But still no joy. The first attachment here (with the Alb DIII in the background) shows what I get with the Laton effect you sent above, and the second one (BE12 in vertical bank) shows the result with the old Stary effect. I'm more and more convinced that it's something lurking elsewhere that is causing this irritating problem. These may sound like dumb questions, but is there a "switch" I have to set somewhere to make sure the system actually uses the custom effects? BTW when I delete the custom Effects folder, to force the system to use the native FE2 effects, I actually get _zero_ fire & smoke effects. Not even a gun flash. Or could it be a graphics card driver issue - I'm using an Nvida GTX 950G with driver version 361.43. For further info, my Options.ini file looks like this: [Options] //Section=3 Section=1 [GameplayOptions] MissionStart=0 CockpitView=1 DisplayUnit=1 EnemySkill=1 Simulation=3 FlightModel=2 WeaponEffectiveness=2 Avionics=2 Targeting=2 HUDDisplay=1 Landing=2 Collision=2 Blackout=2 AmmoUsage=2 FuelUsage=2 [GraphicsOptions] DisplayDeviceID=0 DisplayWidth=1600 DisplayHeight=900 DisplayDepth=32 AspectRatio=1.777778 LensFlare=2 DetailLevel=4 ObjectDetail=1 ObjectTexture=1 CockpitTexture=1 //CockpitMirrors=0 CockpitMirrors=0 CockpitReflection=0 EffectsDetail=1 TerrainDetail=1 TerrainTexture=1 HorizonDistance=1 GroundObjectDensity=1 WaterDetail=1 CloudsDetail=0 Shadow=1 rem AntiAliasing=0 //AntiAliasing=3 AntiAliasing=0 UseAdvancedShaders=1 ForceDX9=FALSE ForceVSyncOff=FALSE Use32BitZBuffer=TRUE ObjectsFade=TRUE [soundOptions] SoundVolume=87 SpeechVolume=100 MusicVolume=77 NumChannels=32 ReverseStereo=0 SpeechSubtitles=1 [ControlOptions] ControlMap=Default.INI Sensitivity=75 DeadZone=20 ForceFeedback=1 TrackIR=1 ForceFeedbackGain=100 [instantAction] AircraftType=CamelF1_150 MissionMap=wwiCambrai StartTime=15:00:00 StartDate=04/01/1918 TextureSet=2 //NationalMarking=0 //Squadron=94AS AircraftNumber=1 KillMarking=0 StartTimeDeviation=10 SquadronMarking=0 NationalMarking=0 [singleMission] AircraftType=AlbatrosD3 MissionMap=FLANDERS MissionType=INTERCEPT MissionTime=NOON MissionWeather=SCATTERED AirActivity=RANDOM AirDefenseActivity=RANDOM LoadMission=FALSE LoadMissionFilename=D:\Sims\FE2 Mod Collection\FE2\Missions\0 Dogfight.MSN StartDate=08/03/1914 EndDate=11/11/1918 MissionDate=02/01/1917 Service=GERMANY StartYear=0 EndYear=0 FlyAll=FALSE EditMission=FALSE [Campaign] CampaignName=180321 Operation Michael PlayerService=GERMANY PlayerUnit=Jasta 4 Difficulty=NORMAL Length=NORMAL AircraftSupply=NORMAL WeaponSupply=NORMAL LoadCampaign=TRUE CampaignSavename=Mike's Campaign 1.SAV AircraftType=AlbatrosD5a [Multiplayer] Connection=1 PlayerColor=5 SessionType=0 GameType=0 Password=MyPassword MaxPlayers=8 IPAddress=000.000.000.000 [MultiplayerOptions] PortID=46000 LobbyLaunched=FALSE [MiscOptions] DisplayUnit=0 ForceAIPilot=FALSE HUDDisplay=1 [DogfightHost] MissionMap=WWIVERDUN Loadout=0 StartTime=10:30:00 RespawnTime=30 RespawnDistance=4000.000000 MinHeight=1000.000000 MaxHeight=4000.000000 HeightDeviation=500.000000 ContrailAlt=7000.000000 StartYear=1917 EndYear=1918 StartTimeDeviation=240 ScreenshotsDelay=60 WeatherType=SCATTERED MissionDate=09/18/1918 [DogfightPlayer] AircraftType=SPAD13 TextureSet=DefaultTextureSet PlayerService=USAS Squadron= [CoopMission] MissionMap=WWIVERDUN Service1=USAS Service2=Germany Mission1=SWEEP AircraftType1=SPAD13 AircraftType2=SPAD13 AircraftType3=FokkerD7 AircraftType4=FokkerD7 StartYear=1917 EndYear=1918 ContrailAlt=7000.000000 ScreenshotsDelay=60 WeatherType=SCATTERED MissionDate=09/18/1918 [MotionExporter] ExporterDLL= [Mods] ModsEnabled=TRUE Directory=D:\Sims\FE2 Mod Collection\FE2 Editors=FE2 [screenShots] Directory=D:\Sims\FE2 Mod Collection\FE2\ScreenShots Format=JPG As always thanks again, any further suggestions gratefully received! Cheers Mike

Many thanks vonS, But sadly it's still not working. The files you suggested don't seem to run with UseAdvancedShaders=1 in the Options file, which I understand is need to take full advantage of FE2 higher FRs. But when I adapt the files you give to work with the advanced shaders by inserting "EffectShaderName=effectLightLevel.fx" for smoke effects and "EffectShaderName=effectFire.fx" for fire effects, I'm back to the green smoke, please see pic of damaged Martinsyde. The funny thing is that even when (in desperation) I tried copying-in a similar file from SF2 (specifically the DirtyExhaustEffect file, that I know works perfectly well in SF2) in lieu of the AircraftEngineDamageEffect file (), I still get the dreaded green smoke! Another attempt saw me replacing the AircraftEngineDamageEffect file with a copy of the AircraftFireEffect file (which works fine in FE2/advanced shaders), but with all the "fire" bits removed. Guess what? Green smoke.. This kind of implies the problem lies outside that specific file. I'm approaching stumped, which is very frustrating because after over a month's work I now have FE2 all singing-dancing with all my personal ac edits etc and satisfyingly-high FRs, but with green smoke for damaged engines which messes with the immersion factor. Any further suggestions gratefully received! Thanks Mike

Thanks Again for your help Ojcar Everything is now working fine, at excellent 50+ FRs, with however one remaining snag. When an ac goes down with engine damage, the smoke trail is partly green. I believe this is an old problem, is there a fix for it please? Thanks again MIke

I just got back from a 3-month TDY to Afghanistan. Used off-duty time to carry out long-overdue conversion to FE2 of the 5 FE configs on my system (Western Front, Eastern Front, Italian Front, Palestine, North Sea). Helped while away many otherwise boring hours! Now that I'm back have transferred results from laptop to desktop and now in final (I hope!) stages of tinkering to get them all running as well as old FE versions. Hence the questions you see me asking from time to time. Mike

Thanks Ojcar! First tests show this is working (though no tracer smoke seems to be showing, I'll have to investigate that further). What do these files have that other effects files don't have, is it the two lines "EffectShaderName=effectLightLevel.fx" for smoke effects and "EffectShaderName=effectFire.fx" for fire effects? Are there any others please? If possible would want to tinker with my old effects to bring them all back! Thanks again Mike

Hi guys, I'm still investigating ways to improve my FE2 frame rates. Averaging 20-40 FPS but suffering very irritating immersion-killer "stalls" down to 4-5 FPS, especially early in the sim operation. Trying the UseAdvancedShaders=1 option as suggested above improves the FR dramatically, by a factor of 3 or 4, so that in that case the whole thing runs silky-smooth. BUT I lose all the fire & smoke effects - no gun flashes, no tracer smoke, no smoking engines, no flamers, no explosions. Restoring UseAdvancedShaders=0 brings back all those flash & bang effects, but shoves the FR back down again so that I again get the semi-slideshow "stalls", Any suggestions please, how can I have the high FRs of UseAdvancedShaders=1 and all the fire & smoke effects? Mike

File Name: Naughty Vixen File Submitter: Mike Dora File Submitted: 09 April 2016 File Category: Single Ordnance Files This is a minor mod to give Wrench's excellent Sea Vixen FAW2 a 20mm SUU gun pod. It makes the aircraft (always one of my favorites) into quite a handy dogfighter and ground strafer. Just unzip the attached "Objects.zip" folder and drop it into your "VixenFAW2" folder. This isn't just a pure fantasy. Well not quite. Some years ago I was on a sailing trip in the Caribbean, with an instructor who was an ex-FAA aircraft artificer (RN-speak for maintainer). He'd served on board HMS Eagle during her final commission, and told a tale of how 899 Sqn had somehow obtained a SUU-pod from their USN counterparts. The terms of the exchange weren't altogether clear, it seems to have involved a couple of cases of liquid morale restorative from the Eagle's wardroom (a fine RN tradition, history records that in 1945 the British Pacific Fleet used similar "currency" to maintain high serviceability rates for their mainly US-manufactured aircraft). Seems that 899 managed to hang the SUU-pod on one of their Sea Vixens, but there the tale kind of peters out. My friend was very fuzzy on whether they actually managed to get it to fire. What I have done here is assumed that Eagle's ever-creative air engineering department decided to hang the gun pod on the starboard outer pylon, the one that was already wired up for a buddy-buddy refueling pod. I've further assumed that they've somehow managed to adapt the refueling pod's power and control circuits from British to US voltage standards etc, to power and control the gun pod. Unfortunately they weren't able to go as far as altering the Sea Vixen's Pilot Attack Sight (PAS) to give it a lead-computing facility, so the pilot has to do the best he can with a fixed sight. This still works pretty well. As for Controller Aircraft clearance? Shhh... !! (I learned first-hand how the FAA works on a TDY to HMS Ark Royal back in '78!) So try it and have fun with a naughty Vixen! Cheers Mike Click here to download this file

This message is for FastCargo, I'm harking back to your advice from September 2009 on using the UFU & ANSI2Uni utilities to batch convert all SF2 .ini files from Ansi to Unicode. The aim is to rewrite the masses of old ANSI files in my FE1->FE2 conversions, because while these run OK once they get going, they all suffer major stuttering (FR down to 4-5) when the sim begins. I suspect this is due to the system having to cope with multiple simultaneous translations of .ini's from ANSI to Unicode. Once things get going the FR remains fairly high, only checking briefly again if I "look" towards relatively dense new objects or activity. I recently downloaded both utilities, and quickly figured out how to use UFU. But I'm beat on how to work out how to use ANSI2Uni as you described back in '09. In particular, I can't see how to use *.ini in the File Mask, how to check Recursive to enable sub-directory searches, or how to select Overwrite. What am I missing here please? Thanks Mike

Hello again all, My project to convert all my old FE1 configurations to FE2 is almost complete; now have good flight models, good effects, good framerates and (almost) good sceneries. The only remaining fly in the ointment is that the trees in my "seasonal" Western Front terrains are appearing as odd square apparitions, please see the screenshots. I'm using the "TEROBJECT_TREES1.tga", "TER_NEWTREES1.tga" and "TER_FORRESTS1.tga" files for the trees. I feel sure I've seen something similar raised and resolved in the past, but despite multiple searches I can't find anything. Help please! There is probably some simple setting somewhere that needs changing to fix this (there usually is!). Thanks Mike

Many thanks guys, You gave me the right clues (again). All I had to do was replace all occurrences of "terobject_trees1.TGA" in the relevant terrains' *_data.ini with "ter_newtrees1.tga", and I got the results desired, see new screen captures. Wish it were always so simple! Thanks again Mike

Thanks Stephen, That's a helpful pointer. I'm not clear though on what you mean by "multiple TGAs with the same name". Surely in each folder there can only be one TGA file with a given name? Or do you mean that there should only be one "*trees*" TGA file in use for a given terrain, not two like I appear to have? Mike

Problem solved everyone. It was quite simple in the end (isn't it always?). I was using a bad Flightengine.ini file, with very high settings for [LowDetailOption], [MedDetailOption] etc that were OK for FE1 but not for FE2. Reset all the [*DetailOption] values to default FE2 levels, and now running FRs in the ~40 region. Thanks for all the advice & support! Mike

Thanks both For MiGbuster, what kind of profile do you mean please, what kind of settings? Mike

Before Gterl produced his spectacular WW1 Italian terrain, I had "bodged" an ersatz WW1 Italian Front using Gepard's very fine Vogesen terrain, by relabeling locations, changing tile palettes, building textures, target types etc etc. It kind of worked, good enough for "private use". One thing I did bring into it was something I found in a very old Cross & Cockade magazine article about the RFC/RAF in Italy, that Italian archie bursts had a distinctive red smoke, different from the black smoke of Austrian/German archie (and from the white smoke of British (& French?) archie on the Western Front). It took me a while of fiddling but eventually I managed a nice red tinge to the Italian archie bursts in my faked Italian terrain. I'd like to reintroduce this effect to go with Gterl's proper WW1 Italian scenery. Trouble is, I've completely forgotten a) what effect file controls the smoke colour of AA bursts, and b) what palette numbers control the actual colours - what numbers indicate white, red, black etc. Can anyone please remind me so I can go search and try to find my earlier work? duh.. Cheers Mike

OK I'll admit up front that I'm a late adaptor, but I'm finally working to convert my old, heavily modded FE1 installs to FE2 (am away from home for a few months, with ample off duty time for this kind of thing.. ) It's all going fairly well so far, the only major problem I've hit is that the A2G weapons don't work. Probably because the weapons data I'm trying tomport across from FE1 isn't compatible - like most aspects of that sim, it's much edited. Certainly no bombs are showing up on A2G missions, and when I try to go into the "Loadout" screen in mission prep, the whole program hangs up & stops running. How can I fix this please, any suggestions? (BTW I have tried using the FE2 weapon editor on the FE1 weapons files but it can't eveb "see" them) Mike

Problem solved. I had the wrong (FE1) "missioncontrol.ini" file in the "Flight" mod folder. Deleted that, everything works, now I _can_ access the "loadout" screen. Mike