Stwa

Here is Falkland Islands fall. Me thinks that is March, April, May for them. It looks a whole lot like Iceland, but doesn't accumulate a lot of snow and ice, hence no winter set. The mountains are a lot smoother and not as high either. So it turned out to be 5 terrains. Fall and winter Germany and Iceland, and just fall Falkland Islands.

Well, one thing is certain. When you use these seasonal terrain tiles from forumite Stary, they make a remarkable seasonal change to the environment of the game. For WoX users it is fairly easy to set them up. I did so, by treating each season as just another terrain, and in so doing, they would appear in the drop down menu for all terrains where they could be selected. Iceland doesn't need that many tiles from the set, so each version comes in around 10 megabytes. And just considering the impact that the tile set makes, should Stary be the owner originator of the Iceland terrain for a given season? But what if the terrain tiles are deemed not "true to life", does that make any difference at all?

So, apart from who built that terrain, is the terrain "True to Life", a term or phrase that gets bandied about at this site, and generally can be applied to a terrain. Take another look at the Iceland fall pic above. Is it true to life? Dunno, check out a few Iceland wallpapers, and get back to us. So, what is "true to life". Didn't MS eventually remove the World Trade Center from its Flight Simulator series. Is this what is meant by "true to life"? Dunno, but can this phrase be applied beyond terrains, to aircraft, or just the sim itself? What happens when you get wasted in the sim? Do you re-spawn. Are you flying again within minutes. Is this true to life (or death )? Is that what it means. Here take a look at winter Iceland, and see if you can tell if it is "true to life" by just looking at one screenshot.

Me thinks I will spread the fall and winter terrain sets around. I only have 3 terrains that can benefit from these. That is GermanyCE, IcelandNA, and FalklandIsSA. I tiled Israel, and Persian Gulf with a modified WoV set, where I included some desert coastal tiles so I could ditch the old SF1 desert tile set. It was so much fun doing that, so I will bet Stary had a blast putting these texture sets together. But my bad, the fall tiled terrains where in my menu, but as I said before when I selected Germany, it just showed the summer terrain. Here is what Iceland NA FALL looks like.

Roger that Lexx! I do want to keep it backed up. I would really dread going to SF2. Its not a money thing, its a time thing. There is no way SF2 can replicate the functionality of this system. From the menu system to the off map airbases, and a lot more. When the day comes that I just cant pair WoE with an operating system, then I will look into SF2. In 2012 I came by Combat Ace, and at the time I was trying to decide if SF2 would be a good move, but never mind all that. I am very happy with what I have and I look forward as I keep expanding this system. I have been "at it" for about a decade. That being said, now that I have 3 suitable WW2 maps, I can see how this might be the extent of the terrains for moi. How many do you really need. I am sure, many people have a lot more, but me thinks this will be the end of the road for moi.

So, the CO decided we were gonna sweep Martaban and its harbor. Not his best idea. When we got there, the place was crawling with Oscar's. I had to dive to the deck and save my hide, and when I got there I decided to take a few pics of the harbor. When we got back and developed the film, we noticed that one pic was taken just second before a really beeg tsunami wasted the harbor and the town.

So, I requested a transfer to the USN. It was granted in June 1942. Just in time for the Midway thingy. I was stationed at Sand Island, when we were notified to intercept a flock of D3A1 Vals that was going to attack a convoy of cargo ships on its way from Oahu to Welles Harbor. The Vals were sitting ducks. But they had a few Zekes with em.

It wasn't long until we did a joint mission with the Flying Tigers. We decided to sweep Chowmein Field. The old Tak Airfield was beyond the invisible edge of the world, so it had to re-located near the village of Chomein. Hence its new name.

So, the next mission we sweep Moulmein Airfield. You can just see Moulmein and the Harbor below. The city, harbor, and field all have AAA guns. I just took the KS-19 and cloned it to make a M1 (USAAF) and a J1 (JapanWW2). They all use the same model.

Hi all, I wanted to start this topic because me thinks I may be the only one that has tried using off map airbases. It is really easy to do. You don't need anything extra. But, using off map airbases may allow you to make smaller, more specific terrains, that are in some ways just as fun as other terrains. So, I use off map airbases in what I call a mini terrain. This type of terrain is one that is substantially smaller than the ones that shipped with WoV and WoE. The original terrains from Thirdwire represented 1,000 kilometers square. This is a very large area, and of course creating such a terrain took the developers a lot of time. A mini terrain can represent less space such as 400 kilometers square. So, with this method, you can plot the friendly airbases on the map. But then, you can plot the enemy bases off map. As it turns out, the WoX system is OK with this as AI aircraft can use the near target option, just like the human player.

I was looking through my target_types.ini file the other day, and I came upon this part of the script. I am not sure what this does, but me thinks it fixes things so when you select a strike mission you will never be able to select a target from an enemy off map air base. Why? Because an off map air base has only one target, the runway, and now that runway has a value of zero. from the target_types. ini; [TargetType099] Name=Runway7 FullName=Runway ModelName=airfield3.lod TargetType=MEDIUM_RUNWAY ActiveYear=0 TargetValue=0 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 when specifying an enemy off map air base, always use runway7. From the ...targets.ini file; [TargetArea020] Name=Enemy Airbase Position=280000.000,-20000.000 Radius=7071 ActiveYear=0 Location=3 Alignment=ENEMY AirfieldDataFile=vietnamsea_airbase3.ini NumSquadrons=2 Target[001].Type=runway7 Target[001].Offset=000.00,000.00 Target[001].Heading=270 [TargetArea021] Name=Enemy Airbase Position=300000.000,-20000.000 Radius=7071 ActiveYear=0 Location=3 Alignment=ENEMY AirfieldDataFile=vietnamsea_airbase3.ini NumSquadrons=3 Target[001].Type=runway7 Target[001].Offset=000.00,000.00 Target[001].Heading=270

Lexx! I really hope you have been doing well. Yes, I am still at it. And yes, I worry all the time about the disks as they age. Both of mine are over 8 years old. I just couldn't remember if I had downloaded that fall terrain. I was sure I did, but I couldn't find it anywhere. But then again, I am aging too. My eldest came home from college for the holidays, and for some reason he range the doorbell. So, when I answered the door, I looked at him and said, "And you are?"

So, foisting the new adage, "You didn't build that!", it makes me wonder what building a terrain means. Does it mean, who fetched the DEM data? Does it mean who made the target list?. There is one certainty, TW made the Vietnam and Germany terrains. So, discounting Stary's terrain sets, there are 10 maps that break down as follows. Third Wire - Germany, Vietnam; Gephard - Israel, Persian Gulf, Tonix - Cuba, Baltika - Iceland, Stwa - Falkland Islands, Guadalcanal, Midway, Rangoon. In other words, the really dink terrains!

I was wondering if anyone has worked one of these up before?

It is really endless if you think about it.

They don't have to be macabe.

With WoV and WoE, I was astonished that each system allowed a user to not only add aircraft, but terrains as well, and that the developers would provide a method to create those terrains. I suppose it could just go on forever. Maybe we will get another decade out of this system. To be sure, there are lots of people here a CA that do a lot better job with terrains, which is part of the point that I am making. Someone with ordinary skill, like a user, like moi, can actually add terrains to the game. Credit must go to TK.

Once upon a time, I came to the conclusion I wanted to do terrains. I did a few in the day, but soon after my interest waned. It occurred to me, that as I collected or created more terrains, I used the Third Wire terrains less often. This is somewhat unfortunate because Vietnam SEA and Germany CE are excellent maps. Especially if you can get them for different seasons. So, sometime last year I decided to limit the total number of terrains in my collection. But no matter how hard I tried to drive the number down, I settled on 12, including any seasonal terrains. And with WoX, seasonal terrains are just like any other terrain, and when you select them, that is what you are going to get. I pitched a ton of stuff last year. Israel v 1.4, Iraq, all partially finished versions of Korea, Libya, Hawaii, and many more. Here is the collection as it stands today.

Hi, I have finished another WW2 terrain. This time it is Rangoon, another terrain in a series of mini terrains. Mini terrains are smaller than the usual 1000km square maps that were produced by Third Wire. In this case, the Rangoon terrain is 400km square. There are 4 on-map FRIENDLY bases, and 3 on-map ENEMY bases and 2 off-map ENEMY bases/carriers. It is a good map to support my recently finished WW2 add-on. I will use this map instead of the Burma terrain by Edward, which is a very fine terrain indeed. But since, I did the Rangoon terrain, I will probably want to use that one instead. Next up: Hong Kong.

Thank you, Yes it is much less work. Each map is less than 1/6th the area of a Third Wire map, and just making a map for Germany CE, it had 88 airfields. Guadalcanal had 5 airfields, and 4 of them were off map carriers (no targets except runway). And you are basically defending one field, but you get the same action you would get on a large map. Furthermore, on many maps, you can easily set up shipping lanes, so you can do ANTI_SHIP missions. Usually on my maps, these are cargo ships moving in coastal waters trying to resupply the land forces. In the Rangoon map, the Flying Tigers thingy really rocks. With the WW2 stuff, intercept missions can be a lot of laughs. Of the Japanese bombers, the Sally is the most fun to intercept.

As I finished the WW2 add-on, there were several changes in the aircraft. So the final edition is as so: Imperial Japan (AI non-flyable) A6M2 Zero, AGM3 Zero, A6M4 Zeke, A6M5 Zeke, Ki-43 Oscar, Ki-21 Sally, G4M2 Betty United States (flyable) F4F-3 Wildcat, P-36A Hawk, P-39D Airacobra, P-40B Warhawk, P-51A Mustang Great Britain (flyable) Martlet Mk.II, Mohawk Mk.II, Airacobra Mk.I, Tomahawk Mk.IIA, Mustang Mk.II In Britain, the P-39s were renamed Airacobra in 1941, but in the game I call them P-400 Airacobra. In addition, I finalized what birds were able to perform what missions, which brings us to bombs again. I never could find a pylon for the P-39D. I could find the fake pilot model, but in the end another wild goose chase from Wrench. So now, only the P-51A can carry bombs. The 500 pound types. Martlets and Wildcats could carry 100-250 pound bombs, but I decided they would not perform strike missions. And the P-39D, will just have to be one of those D models that were produced before they rigged em to attach bombs. So in the end, I restored the original WoX weapon data base. I no longer need a UK 250 pound bomb. So, the story line at Rangoon; the Japanese just cant seem to take Rangoon. And over time, more and more reinforcements show up. The Americans, Commonwealth nations, the Netherlands, China. More and more stuff arrives at Mingladon, Magwe, Toungoo, and He Ho, to assist the Flying Tigers.

Well my WW2 project is at an end. I had until tomorrow, and I came in with over 24 hours to spare. I added 15 aircraft, including variants, and 2 terrains. I did not use a separate install, but combined every thing with WoX Cold War stuff. I only had to add a 250lb GP bomb, and the WW2 early pilot, which is used for all the aircraft. Everything is set for 1942 PTO and SEA. Here was the last aircraft included, the P36A Hawk, and the Mohawk Mk.II.

One last little tid bit that I actually took care of last week. Each Zero model came with 2 skins each. So, I cloned the A6M2 into a A6M3 and I cloned the A6M5 into a A6M4, and placed just one skin in each aircraft folder. Now, during Create Mission thingies, I can encounter each of the four paint schemes. Nice variety too, 2 Navy white jobs, 1 green, and 1 green camo job. After the war, researchers discovered that the Japanese had indeed made a A6M4 prototype, but it was assumed that it had never made it to production. On my system, that assumption has proved false. For now, me thinks I have gone as far as I can ornamenting the birds for this add-on. I still need to clean-up (remove insignia) 2 more P-40 skins, and 1 more P-36 skin. But I am also happy with what I have. I got real lucky on this project. First, Edwards awesome Burma terrain. Then, Wolfs aircraft are simply unbelievable. Then, I used 4 of 9 cockpits from Stary. It all has the look and feel of a payware sim. I do hope to see all of you again soon, and it has been real nice chatting with everyone. I am glad I got a few extra days to ornament all the birds. I will need a few more squadron badges along the way, but I am good for now. Regards, Stwa

I would like to move away from the subject of RAF or Commonwealth roundels. There is a side of me, that would like to take the type A roundel, and just display it on all surfaces, wing, fuselage, etc.. But the main point, at least for moi, is the use of decals. The WoV and WoE games went to a lot of trouble to create all that functionality in the load-out screen. I think what they did is very clever, and I enjoy using these features. So, when I add a skin, for a new or existing bird, I make sure the skin is completely devoid of all insignia marking. Actually devoid of all things that are selectable using the load-out screen. So, insignia, aircraft identification numbers or letters, squadron names or badges, etc. And for a project like this one, where I am integrating new air services, even those before the cold war, unless the insignia has changes, or if the name of the services is radically different, then you probably don't need to add the new service. A case in point would The Republic of China. As it stands right now, I can select ROC when using any US bird, and the insignia is changed to ROC when I fly. But if the insignia is different, or if the service is in fact different, then a new nation/service is needed in the nations.ini file. Just a service like the Netherlands East Indies Air Force. (see attachment below)

Just one final comment regarding what I call the "PTO" and "SEA" marking schemes. If you take the descriptions from the Wiki article literally, then the fuselage roundel (A1), might need to have a yellow outer band. But that is partially governed by the color or camouflage of the upper surfaces of the aircraft. So, I wonder if USAAF olive drab would constitute a dark camouflage? In addition, the SEAC roundel is shown with a narrow yellow band signifying the later war years. I am trying to model 1942, which is early war for for US, but might be considered late war for the UK? At any rate I have attached a different image using the type A1 roundel. To me this whole subject is fascinating from a game sense. The game system relies upon the fact that each nation has only one Insignia that it uses to mark aircraft. But in WW2, the UK uses primarily three. Roundel types A, A1, and B. So, while in the load-out screen for a Commonwealth bird if I select RAF as the nation/service, then the game will not mark the bird with any RAF roundels, which are specified in the decals.ini with the file name "Insignia". Commonwealth birds specify file names of of InsigniaA, InsigniaA1, and InsigniaB.