Baltika

Hi all, Thanks for the suggestions. I am reading up on HDDs and SSDs now. The SF2 issue seems to be that the disk is accessed on the fly to load up the sound files for the various voice comms. This is causing a hiccup on playback, except when I have my main game install on the Corsair stick. i see the stick activity light flashing when comms play, but the in-game-stutter doesn't happen. So I reckon it is a speed of data access issue, pointing to my HDD combination. Good question, I have no idea what the answer is. I will try to find out. The computer is set up to use the 64 Gb Kingston SSD as a cache drive for the HDD, using Intel's Rapid Storage/Smart Response Technology. This is supposed to cache all frequently used files on the SSD to speed up access, and improve overall system performance, but instead I am getting this glitch. If I find time I can try to switch that off (maybe not if I need to reinstall windows) to see if that technology is causing the issue. The SSD and HDD are set up in a RAID 0 config, with the driver set to "Enhanced" acceleration. I think I can easily switch that over to "Maximised" mode to see if that helps any.

Hi Jedi, here's the rub: My new (-ish, now last year's model) rig:- Intel Core i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz (Sandy Bridge) 16.0 Gb RAM 64-bit Win 7 HP Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5Gb Creative Soundblaster Audigy Samsung 2TB HD204UI HDD - 3Gb/s 5400RPM 32MB cache Kingston 64GB SSD (in cache mode for HDD) The weak link looks to me like the HDD, which turns out to be the Samsung Spinpoint F4EG EcoGreen Version. Not exactly as advertised by the vendor, who claimed a 7200RPM model, but that will teach me to buy off the shelf. So I am eyeing up a Western Digital 1TB VelociRaptor SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 10K 3.5" Hard Drive to put all my flightsims on Meantime, my Corsair USB stick is taking up the slack Slainthe! Baltika

Or Tweakers Anonymous United. . . Well, I have been kicking about here from the good old days of SFP1, when patches only came along once every couple of years. Man, how we bitched to get the old campaigns working when version 083006 came out, and yes, I am still patiently waiting for SF2:Operation Tainted Cigar - throw me a bone here guys And for a long time I was running hardware which frankly couldn't run the 08 level patches properly - we are talking 15 FPS on average, with frequent dips into single digits. But, you know, none of that mattered, 'cos I could tweak stuff, fiddle around to get an extra FPS or two, or perceived a marginal improvement, and anyhow I had campaign and terrain mods to finish, so, actually running missions was a bonus. Then, last summer, I got myself a proper modern gaming rig, so, I thought, I would be in SF2 nirvana, right? Well, not really, I have spent over a year tweaking, fiddling, testing, trying to sort a framerate hiccup on comms playback glitch. From 200+ FPS to freeze, to 4FPS, what's been going on? In every mission, on every detail setting, and, on every nvidia setting I could think of. No dice. Bandit calls, Red Crown, Wingmen soundbites - hiccup. Darn! I have changed vid card drivers, changed soundcard drivers, gone from onboard Realtek cr*p to Creative soundcard cr*p, all the while cursing, tweaking, cursing, tweaking and keeping on coming back. Well, all that has changed. On a hunch I tried an old WoX trick, and installed my combined main game folder (SF2; V; E; I; NA; EP1; EP2) to a 16GB Corsair USB Pen Drive. Guess what? It worked. Stutter gone. Hiccups gone. Running at an average 59-60 FPS (limited by my TFT panel with vsync enabled) with occasional drops to the mid 30s, unnoticeable unless I have the frmaerate counter running. I have run CAS missions, intercept, battlegoup strike missions, IcelandNA terrain, all the same. Fluid, beautiful, uninterrupted gameplay. At last, I can play SF2, with no stutters, no hiccups, just missile spoofing, ground-run-strafing, MiG-killing fun. I should be having fun, but you know what? I just d/led DCS World 1.2.0, running around in their free to play Su-25. The terrain stutters a bit when I pan around. It's bugging me a bit. Even though the switchology is a pain to learn, the canned missions are boring, and it's all so Russian, I want it to run right. Without hiccups or glitches. Play some SF2? It's running great now. Well, yeah, but I gotta research HDDs. I think I need to fit faster one. To get DCS running right. I mean, I won't play it that much, but, you know, I need something to tweak. . . AAAAaaaargh!!!

Well, I have this old, old wip on my HDD:- http://combatace.com/topic/46880-kurile-islands-campaign-remember-usnf-97/ Check out posts #11 - #15 for planning map/screens. Development stalled after Kamchatka terrain preview release, then my old school Iceland terrain took priority, but if there's interrest I can dig it up out of the vaults. . . It will take a long time to get it to releasable state, don't all hold your breath

Yup, like Gepard says - and after all, he is the terrain guru of all terrain gurus - thanks for those TE tutorials, mate, without which none of this would exist Bear in mind the purpose of this terrain. North Cape carrier campaign, like in Janes F/A-18. For that scenario, everything south of the Kola Peninsula is a bonus. Finland and Sweden are only there because TE makes square maps. Like I said for my old UK terrain, it is what it is. If you want something different, check out Gepard's terrain tutorials in the SFP1 KB, and get to grips with TE. If I can do it, anyone can

Yes, this is a very old map from my early days experimenting with TE, before I got the hang of re-sizing the heightmap bmp to fix projection issues and create full-sized maps. The north/south axis projection is squashed on this map. It was only ever intended as a bit of fun to let me fly over Scotland, so take it for what it is. Anyway, I have set up a water map and got SF2NA carrier operations working - for some reason the Kiev Battle Group likes to lurk around in the Irish Sea, goodness knows how they got in there I need a couple of days to tidy up the targetisation a bit and I upload it as a bit of fun for SF2. @Snapper, good work on bringing this up from the vaults. You can use the NEUTRAL alignment to remove those airfields you don't want for single missions, but I reckon your best bet would be to set up a campaign file with the various squadrons stationed at their home bases. That way, the Russians might still try to take out London or whatever, and you can be tasked with intercepting. Slainthe! Baltika

OK, looks like I'm going to have to take some time off work. . . I have an updated version of this old SFP1 terrain sitting on my HDD with corrected coastlines, fixed runway placements and sundry other targetisation upgrades. I'll need a bit of time to sort out the SF2NA level naval engagement stuff, then I can fire it up in the SF2 section. Slainthe Baltika

Just tested North Cape using my SF2NA exe, patched to May 2012 with all other games installed - works fine Here's the planning map of North Cape to let you know the full extent of the terrain:- And yes, those fjords were darn hard to tile - most of the Norwegian coastline was done by hand, but if you spot a stray sea mountain, just let me know Needs an update to use all the SF2NA naval stuff, one of these days I'll complete my original intention for this terrain, which was to re-create the Janes F/A-18A North Cape carrier campaign for Strike Fighters. One day . . . Slainthe Baltika

I have no idea, I'm just advising on the SF2 campaign_data.ini entries. This is a campaign for SF2E with the NF4+ pack installed, yes? The above example is taken from the Wings Over Afrika WW2 total conversion mod for WoE, for which I built several WW2 North Africa campaigns using the WoE engine.

Hi KB, great campaign idea Ace pilots are added in the campaign_data.ini file, to whichever air unit you want them to appear in. Here's the format:- // Jagdgeschwader 53 'Pik As' [AirUnit088] AircraftType=Bf109G6 Squadron=I/JG53 StartDate=02/11/1943 ForceID=2 Nation=Nazi Germany DefaultTexture=Camo StartNumber=0 BaseArea=Bizerte Airfield RandomChance=100 MissionRate=1.0 MaxAircraft=36 StartAircraft=27 MaxPilots=36 StartPilots=27 Experience=100 Morale=100 Supply=60 UpgradeType=NEVER MissionChance[sWEEP]=90 MissionChance[CAP]=90 MissionChance[iNTERCEPT]=90 MissionChance[ESCORT]=90 MissionChance=0 MissionChance[CAS]=30 MissionChance[sEAD]=0 MissionChance[ARMED_RECON]=30 MissionChance[ANTI_SHIP]=0 MissionChance[RECON]=0 Supply[001].WeaponType=20mm Cannon Pod Supply[001].Quantity=120 Supply[002].WeaponType=Sc-250 Supply[002].Quantity=240 Supply[003].WeaponType=Tank300_Bf109G Supply[003].Quantity=120 KnownAce[01].LastName=Freiherr von Maltzahn KnownAce[01].FirstName=Günther KnownAce[01].RankID=5 KnownAce[01].NumMissions=200 KnownAce[01].AirKills=68 KnownAce[01].AircraftNumber=1 KnownAce[02].LastName=Schiess KnownAce[02].FirstName=Franz KnownAce[02].RankID=1 KnownAce[02].NumMissions=200 KnownAce[02].AirKills=67 KnownAce[02].AircraftNumber=8 KnownAce[03].LastName=Müller KnownAce[03].FirstName=Friedrich-Karl "Tutti" KnownAce[03].RankID=3 KnownAce[03].NumMissions=600 KnownAce[03].AirKills=140 KnownAce[03].AircraftNumber=4 Make sure you have AllowRandomAceCreation=FALSE under the [FORCEXXX] header, also in the campaign_data.ini. The names_german.lst file just contains lots of german names from which the game will create the pilot roster for your flyable squadron. Slainthe, Baltika

Hi all, just checking in, great to see CA back up and running again, nice to be home And congrats, Przemek,good luck with your latest project

Great work, merci beacoup indeed Capitaine Nice to see work still being done for the old BoB campaign after all these years

Great work Many thanks to everyone involved

Night Carrier ops, HMS Ark Royal and F-4K, somewhere off Iceland. . .

Congrats

Hi Kout, I have to say, all my old SFP1/WoX installs used your UI mods. . . I am loving your new work for SF2:NA Cheers Mate

well, this is certainly the most interesting manifestation of OCD I have ever seen

Dave, first mod I installed for my SF2NA was your menuscreens Brennus, your set also looks awesome, can't wait for relaease

SF2 already supports that, though you will only hear the voicepack of your chosen flyable plane:- http://combatace.com/topic/65797-individual-speech-packs-for-different-nations/ If you want a ready made example of Russian speechpack set up for russian speaking nations only, try my Russia vs Ukraine campaign:- http://combatace.com/files/file/12700-orange-revolution-2004/ Using the advice from the above the thread above, I have set up my NF4+ so I get Russian voices for Russian speaking nations, my WW2 RAF speechpack for the Commonwealth, and Good Ole USA for everyone else. Slainthe! Baltika

Seems to be controlled by the NAVALMAP=TRUE/FALSE flag in the ICELANDNA.INI file. Tested it on my old Iceland terrain, setting NavalMap=true gave me always carrier group strike missions, setting it to false gave me all land-based strike missions, with no carrier groups showing up on the terrain. EDIT: Just checked on ICELANDNA terrain, same deal.

Found this in the IcelandNA_targets.ini [TargetArea048] Name=Leuchars Air Base Position=977269.0,118917.7 ActiveDate=0 Location=3 Alignment=FRIENDLY OffMapAirBase=TRUE Cool (Of course, I had to change mine to "RAF Leuchars" )

Cheers Wrench @cocas THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU

Hi there everyone, Great news re the new thirdwire tools for SF2NA Unfortunatley, I can't connect to Thirdwire.com, seems to be down, hopefully the demand for SF2NA has gone through the roof Can someone who already has the tools upload them here to ease the strain on the TW server? Thanks, Baltika (temporarily frustrated modder)