Baltika

Looks great Mike, Thanks for working on these

Hi Mike, One of the things I have been fiddling with for the next update is a system of decaling for the Spits/Hurris so that all squadrons have the correct squadron code designations, and that by extension I can make all squadrons flyable, with the correct markings. Wrench was kind enough to send me his new Hurri template a while ago so I have a "new" early ETO Hurri base skin with Wrench's all new panel lines, rivets wear and tear and associated goodness. However, I hit a bit of an artefacting problem detailed in this thread: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showt...47&hl=hurri The issue seems to be an open mesh on the Hurri model which will require a 3D modelling guru to fix, which is out of my capability. It is worked round on the DAT Hurri skin inlcuded in the BoB d/l pack (by Gramps) by having the squadron code painted onto the skin .bmp itself. Problem with that is, you need a separate skin for each squadron, and I think the game would grind to a halt trying to load a separate one for each squadron. The other issue is decal level settings for serial numbers. How do I set it up so that each squadron gets the correct serial number codes when you are using the same base skin for all your Hurris? That is, I want each squadron to display a separate set of serial numbers. As best I can do just now, every squadron will have the same serial numbers, and that seems a shame as that sort of info is readily available, almost down to the level of each plane that participated in BoB.

@dsawan, Yup, Kursk '43 is still a WIP map. Like Wrench, I have been lost over the Pacific for some time, but I will find my way back onto dry land. . . eventually Meantime, there is great stuff going on for your PTO install :yes:

And here is all this put into practice, JSF_Aggie's WoE Highway runway mod transplanted to a glacier somewhere on Iceland, with Gepard's 500x20 strip re-textured for a more snow-bound look: Of course, some adjustment is needed: Aggie's highway runway has two FARPS at each end of a long stretch of highway, so you really get two FARPs close together for the price of one, and his associated airfield.ini file will place your plane on either end of a long strip - much longer than 500m. I have got round this by placing three of Gepard's runways end on end, but really I need to write a new airfield .ini file which only covers one strip, or simply re-use Gepards SLB Kurz.ini, but then I would have to re-place all the targets and Aggie's template wouldn't work. And, duh! That green camo net must stand out like a sore thumb on the snowfield :blush2: But it is all do-able.

Sorry, my fault for not explaining properly. Here's the drill: Go to one of Gepard's WW2 terrains, in this example I will use his Battle of Britain, latest version (1.4 I think). In the main terrain folder you will find a file called "Runway500x20.LOD" which is the basic 500m x 20m airstrip. Run it through a hexeditor, you will see the associated .bmp file for the texture is "CONC1.BMP" which is a stock Thirdwire concrete texture contained in all the terrain .cat files. You can hexedit the .LOD file to call out any texture of your choice, even one you create yourself. For my WIP Kursk terrain, I have created a texture called GRASS1.BMP and hexedited the LOD to call that out for a grass airstrip. You will also need the associated runway .ini file, also in the terrain folder, called: "AIRFIELD_SLB Kurz.ini" Copy those two files into the ANW terrain folder. Then, you need to go to the terrain_TYPES ini and find the entry for that runway LOD. In BoB terrain, it is this: [TargetType140] Name=SLB kurz <-------- This name calls out the target type in the terrain_TARGETS.ini file FullName=Runway <-------- This name appears in game when the runway is selected as a target ModelName=runway500x20.lod <------- This name calls out the LOD file we have been discussing TargetType=SMALL_RUNWAY <-------- This is the Target type, obviously ActiveYear=0 TargetValue=300 UseGroundObject=FALSE DamagePoint=140.0 ArmorValue=0.0 ArmorType=0 RepairRate=10.0 StartDetectChance=100 StartIdentifiedChance=50 IncreaseDetectChanceKey=10 MaxVisibleDist=30000.0 ZBufferOffset=6.000000 FlatObject=TRUE DamagedModel= DestroyedEffect= DestroyedModel= SecondaryChance=0 So, you have to add that entry to the ANW terrain_types .ini. You can change the names to whatever you want, so long as it calls out the correct .LOD file, eg: [TargetType140] Name=FARP1 FullName=Forward Arming and Refueling Point ModelName=runway500x20.lod TargetType=SMALL_RUNWAY ActiveYear=0 TargetValue=300 UseGroundObject=FALSE etc, etc. Then, in the terrain_TARGETS.ini, you add the airstrip just like any other target, using airfield entries as a template, eg: [TargetArea033] Name=Vatnajokull FARP Position=902500,728249 Radius=2000.0 ActiveYear=0 Location=11 Alignment=FRIENDLY AirfieldDataFile=AIRFIELD_SLB Kurz.ini NumSquadrons=1 Target[001].Type=FARP1 <---------- This entry to match the Name in your terrain_TYPES.ini file Target[001].Offset=0.00,0.00 Target[001].Heading=90 Target[002].Type=CamonetParking Target[002].Offset=60.00,635.00 Target[002].Heading=0.0 Target[003].Type=CamonetParking Target[003].Offset=60.00,740.00 Target[003].Heading=0.0 Target[004].Type=CamonetParking Target[004].Offset=60.00,820.00 Target[004].Heading=0.0 (The above entries are based on JSF_Aggie's Highway runway mod). You can also change the name of the airfield .ini file, this file controls taxiing and parking co-ordinates, and you may want to adjust those to suit the layout of your runway. So long as the name of the airfield .ini file is called out correctly in the terrain targets.ini, you are good to go. you can also change the name of the .LOD file if you want to have different runway textures for different FARPs, so long as you have an entry for each type in the terrain_TYPES .ini. Well, I hope that explains it all properly. Any questions, fire away. Thanks to Gepard and JSF_Aggie for giving us these fab mods to play with

If these are based off JSF_Aggie's Highway Runway Mod for WoE, it should be easy enough to add in a strip - just one more object in the TargetArea list :yes:

Oh yes. . . Love to see this bird fly. . . Great work Cheers

Good point, EricJ, Gepard's various terrains have some nice short strips that can easily be retextured to whatever you require, dirt, grass, etc, just to make the strip itself look different from the surrounding terrain. e.g. in Midway terrain, look for file "runway500X20.LOD" PM me if you need more detail. Cheers, Baltika

Nice one

Glad to hear you're still enjoying the old BoB campaign Re the above, yes a few escort missions were added, so it is supposed to happen. See Post #46 and #47 in this thread for an account of one such mission carried out by 151 Sqdn. I think later on in BoB, such daylight bombing raids were cut right back, so if you want to take them out, go into the campaign_data.ini file and reduce the MissionChance[ESCORT]= number for your squadron to 0. You will have to re-start your campaign for this change to take effect. I am also really looking forward to flying the Gladiator, thanks Geezer for taking it on Likewise with Brain32's new tiles, great work, really looking forward to them :yes: Cheers all, Baltika

Geezer, Gepard, B Bandy RFC, Thanks for your comments, info duly noted Bandy, I would be interested in seeing your gunner hitbox/armour data for WW2 bombers, if you can find a moment to compile it - perhaps it could be included as an "extra" in a campaign file d/l for those who wish to impelement it, if you are agreeable? Cheers all, Baltika

Hi dsawan, There will be further update(s) to the old BoB campaign, just probably not anytime soon. I had been holding of for the new patches, and now we know that although the flight modelling for prop planes is vastly improved, most of the WW2 birds we have need a thorough FM overhaul to work right under the new build. I admit I found that rather disheartening at first, as FM work is beyond my capability. But, it seems we will soon have a WW2 style baseline FM when the Thirdwire P-51 is released, so maybe things will advance some then. I have also been distracted by a number of other projects, and really I am juggling too much stuff at once, mainly in TE, witness various WIP threads I have posted in here. So not much is getting finished. New Year's resolution: don't start any new TE or campaign projects, finish existing ones first I think Russo mentioned recently that he had some other 109 versions in the stable - maybe we can persuade him to make a release ? Also, there was a thread here recently in which someone pointed out ways to improve the Emil FM included in this campaign d/l - I forget who/where now. And, yes, I mentioned myself that I had a good data source on the various Emil versions, and planned an upgrade to include all the variants, at least as far as armament/engine rating etc goes. I confess I have not got particularly far with that. As ever, too much to do, too little time. Thanks for the interest, nice to see this thread hauled up from the vaults

OK, this rings bells with some issues discussed waaay back on the old BoB campaign thread about taking on streams of Heinkels over old blighty. . . Looking back, it seems that a lot of the WW2 birds, and PTO birds in particular, do not contain the [AIDATA] entries in the individual aircraft data.inin file. Within that section, for planes which do have it, are the following lines: GunnerFireChance=80 GunnerFireTime=2.5 GunnerAimOffset=0.0050 All of which can be played with to reduce the rate of fare, length of burst, and accuracy. Where an a/c does not have individual [AIDATA] entries (like the Val), there are default values set, which must be pretty darn mean. I d/k where the defaults can be found. But, we just get back to the fact that all the WW2 birds need a thorough FM overhaul to bring them up to the latest standard. Roll on the Suez expansion to give us a baseline, at least

Cheers Wrench, for the update You have plenty going on right now, I have been following Pearl Harbor thread with keen interest, great stuff And the delay in release is at my end, as I am having trouble resolving win/lose parameters for a "dynamic" campaign with variable outcomes, balancing it properly to allow for both IJN and USN flyable (USMC & USAAF are in there too, don't worry ), and I still have to finish off the campaign end text, and a few squadron basescreens - in particular, I can't find a decent picture of the Kamikawa Maru So, there are a few things I need to sort out, and, given the time of year, I suspect it won't be finished anytime soon. I just wanted to let those with an interest know I am still taking this forward - albeit at my usual glacial development pace I'm looking forward to your new skins, and, meantime, happy holidays :yes: @Geezer:- Hmmm, fair comment. Plane FMs and gunner AI behaviour are beyond my level of expertise, but I hear what you say about the historical vulnerability of the Val. I just write the campaign files, what the air units do is up to them. . . I am also finding that fleet AA fire is extremely effective, on both sides. In the example I gave above, the Vals were wiped out before dropping a bomb (just not by my flight). And, when tasked to escort USN strikes on the IJN fleet, I nearly always get a mission fail as the bombers almost never make it through fleet AA defences. Given the historical loss rates, that is probably fair enough - but it makes it hard to sustain the mission success rate necessary to win a campaign, given that the game engine won't recognise when a base carrier has been sunk. Some latering thinking required, I suspect. . .

Sorry chaps, release date for Midway campaign has slipped a bit, but this is still top of the pile. Had one of "those" moments in playtesting, wanted to share: Tasked with intercepting an IJN strike on TF-16, my flight found a group of six Vals on an attack vector to the fleet. We were 5k feet above them, slightly behind, so ordered my flight to attack. My wingie went in first, brave fella, took the worst of the tailgunner fire, the rest of us chasing him down. Bagged a Val on my first pass, zoomed up to turn and go in again, saw one of ours hit the water, called my wingie but no reply, must have been him. No chute - damn! Lined up for my second pass, taking hits from the tailgunners, thought I was OK, then realised my elevators were shot and my control was restricted. Waggling around, saw the remaining Vals continuing with their attack run, then the fleet AA fire opened up. One, then two and three Vals burst into flame and spiralled down. Last Val getting dangerously close, flak bursting all around, come on you navy gunners, yes, it takes a hit, flaming. Trailing fire, the last Val enters a shallow dive towards the sea - and smacks straight into the deck of Yorktown, which promptly catches fire and begins to list to starboard. Damn again! To add insult to injury, I had to hit the silk, then swim home

Great work going on here, looking forward to this terrain Thanks also to the ship builders round here, nice one OT: Wrench, I have a full-scale Philippines rebuilt terrain in the shop which includes the Japanese airbases on Formosa - very handy for the next update of my Philippines campaign. It is created from scratch in TE, and is not based on any previously released or unreleased PI terrain. If you are contemplating a re-targetting of PI terrain, perhaps I could send that build over to you before you put a lot of work into Edward's old PI terrain which is available here at CA? That would save duplication of effort, and give us a shiny, new, full-size PI to play with. Sorry for the hijack, normal service will be resumed

Hi Hinch, You probably know this already, but 2.04 is a long way behind the curve of what BoB II is capable of, and there are some pre-2.09 release patches already available which really ramp things up in terms of ground objects. So, my advice, FWIIW, is to patch up to the latest build and take it from there. As I still run a CRT on 1024x768 as my baseline (Yabba-dabba-doo!) and that works great for BoB II, I can't really help with your specific issue. I recently had some trouble getting the 2.08 build to work, which was solved by the guys over on the shockwave forums (disable resident shield in AVG) very quickly. So, if no-one round here knows how to help, I thoroughly recommend posting on the shockwave forums as the heirs of what was BoB-MA dev group are pathological about getting everyone up and running with BoB II. And yes, it is worth the effort

S!

Hi there, I have updated my old OMT campaign for use with Wrench's updated American NW 4 seasons terrain. Get the new campaign file here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=5661 Cheers all, Baltika

Very thorough piece of work here, Thanks very much lindr2 Cheers, Baltika

I feel your pain. The more rugged the coastline, the harder it is to get TE to autotile it properly. I have not forgotten/stopped working on Iceland, Baltic Sea or Dutch East Indies, it's just that progress is slow. . . I find that setting your sea tiles to MinAlt=0, MaxAlt=0, MinSlope=0, MaxSlope=0, Priority=2, and your coastal land tiles to MinAlt=0, MaxAlt=250 (or whatever), Priority=1, eliminates most instances of sea creeping up onto the land. It does stretch the land a little bit further out to sea than normal, but only an extra tile or so at most. But the TE parameters seem to be less intuitive than I would like. Sometimes tiling just goes weird.

Good to see you back in action, CA This one looks great :yes:

Cheers for that I have an old build of the modern campaign which needs tweaking - I put it together in a flurry of enthusiasm when that big MiG-21bis pack came out, which was then pulled for infringement reasons. So the Red Side squadrons will need completely re-done. The timeframe is from 1969 to about 1990. A third installment (which is still just a gleam in my eye) will take us from the early 90's to the present. But for OMT: Vengeance, the Allied planeset is currently looking like this. Bear in mind the intention is for a "planefest" style campaign after Firecage's great WW1 campaigns. The emphasis is on fun & variety, not on historical accuracy - well, it's Alliance vs GS after all RAF:- F-4M F-111K ? Harrier Gr1/Gr3 Jaguar GR Tornado GRMk1 USAF: F-4E F-5A F-15A F-16 (A_B10, B_B10, C_B30, C_B50) F-111 (A, D) A-10A (Early, LASTE, Modern) NAW-10B Sweden: Draken Viggen France: Mirage IIIC F-1C F-1C200 Canada: CF-5A CF-188 I may also sneak in a few others that fit the timeframe, F-19, F-23A, A-16A_Blk10, and a few of the later F-15s. Germany is conspicuous by its absence from the line-up, and I think i will have to fix that. After much thought I have decided not to include any Navy birds, at least until some bright spark gets the waterways done on this map. I am a big fan of the Navy stuff, but that will have to go on a terrain which has some water. That's for another day. If there's anything you want to see included that fits the time-frame, fire away, as this is still in relatively early stages of development. Cheers for now.

Nice one, EricJ I like the "suspected enemy spy sites." We just need a little guy with a Manpad to run out the door when you fly past Anyway, if you are OK with it, I will incorporate your additions to the new, improved Targetlist I am working on for OMT:Vengeance, which will bring the planeset up to the modern era. Cheers, Baltika

It's easy enough to add more SAM sites, just cut & paste in the terrain_targets.ini, and renaming them to suit. Placement maybe more of an issue, but finding a spot for a sam site near to every installation on the map shouldn't be too much trouble. As to chasing things down in the backwoods, as this is small 500k x 500k terrain, the wall is close to the edge all around, and the existing target areas take it nearly as far out as we can go. . . except, there is a quadrant in the North East sector with a nice deep valley surrounded by high mountains, which is really untouched, as yet. Wrench calls it the "River of No Return," and a few of us have been banging our heads of a brick wall trying to get water tiles onto this map. But, a little work on the targets.ini would be all it takes to add a few target areas up there. Secret GS incursion to launch a sneak attack on the Alliance home city, based right under their noses? Sounds like I have a plot for my OMT sequel, nice one, cheers As to air threat activity, are you talking about campaign play or single missions? I confess I have yet to find the time to check out Wrench's update of the DBS terrain, maybe I ought to try it out :yes: