OlPaint01

Hello anyone I have collected all the CFS3 missions from the Old SOH(SimOutHouse) download section. Pilotsden wrote a lot of them for the 'Boys of Sixty' MP group. I have tryed to update the code to OFF:HitR standards to see if they will run at all in the Missions/Scenarios of OFF. The mission code shows alot of 'Spawn' commands included. These particular Missions just lockup my game when I test them, requiring me to recover with a cold reboot. My question is...will these Missions run at all if I enable spawns in Workshop? OlPaint01

Hello Olham I discovered that the 'OFF_Essential_MP_File_Installer.exe' that is MadMatt's Over Flanders Fields Essential Multiplayer File Autoinstaller for MP game play (found in the CombatAce 'Maps, Missions, and Campaigns' download section) will place all the necessary files for the Gotha as well as the Zeppelin in the proper directories. I was able to run the Olhams_Gotha_Escort_Mission first try. It is awesome! OlPaint01

Hello British_eh I have been using JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler for several years. It allows me to swap in and out modification files for my various simulator games. The advantage is that it preserves the original configurations and files of the game so that a 'mod' can be tryed and then removed if need be. Thus the original version of the game can be restored. The latest version of Generic Mod Enabler can be found here http://www.users.on.net/~jscones/software/products-jsgme.html I think that the changes to the Workshop settings you suggest for RSS may be preserved in the Config.xml and the HUD settings may be saving in the UIVIEW.xml. JSGME utility processing would backup all the old files to a safe location then overwrite the old files with the new 'mod' files in the original directory locations. Really Neat!!! OlPaint01

Hey British_eh That's the ticket! The 60% TAC is just about what I had imagined. I was definitely having issues trying to figure out which edge of the screen to hang it over. Now I know... I am looking forward to the rest of the RSS period standards to be published. Great Work, guys! Do you suppose we could adapt JSGME.exe 'Generic Mod Enabler' to swap each of the dedicated period standards file sets in-and-out for each of the various period configurations? I am using JSGME right now to swap Creaghorn's period dependent Bullet/Tracer-Smoke files and HerrPropWasche's Damage Models files. Nothing like field mods to customize WM and the Dev's masterpiece. You got to love our team of flightline mechanics! OlPaint01

Hey vonOben I just finished a long escort mission with RFC 28 out of Droglandt in early Autumn 1917, I think. And out of curiousity, after I landed back at my home drome, I sat on the runway just looking around in fully-zoomed mode to take in the sights, instead of hitting the ESC key to exit out of the mission. Sure enough, my wingmen, who had flown on past the last waypoint instead of landing with me, finally touched down, one after the other. Much to my shagrin, each of the AI pilots failed to pull up short but ploughed into the aircraft stopped in front of him. They all crashed and burned, chain reaction style, right before my very eyes, with billows of thick black smoke rising from the pyre. What a Hoot!!! I hope WM and the Devs give the AI pilots in P4 a little more intellegence. We also need an 'Return to Base' command which the flight leader can invoke to knock off the mission and take the flight back out of harms way. This would eliminate the need to manually advance Next Waypoint command multiple times. OlPaint01

Hello British_eh and Bletchley RSS looks very doable for my game play. Outstanding effort by you fellows sifting through all the sim options available. I have a question about the TAC setup paragraph in the '1915 to June 1916.pdf document... "TAC: Recommended: only for those without TIR. TAC must be set to Aircraft and 1 NM. In addition only the lower 60 % of the TAC should be visible, from 930 to 230, so as to allow the pilot to scan ahead through standard view lines or Zoom. TrackIR is highly recommended, but which precludes TAC use." Could you show us a picture - the TAC at 60%? How would you setup the TAC display to appear on the screen? I am kinda' scratching my head over this point. Also, is there a way to lock-in these TAC settings to be the start-up defaults? I always have to reset them to my choices at the beginning of each mission. OlPaint01

Hey WidowMaker I was very disappointed with my copy of the Abacus WWI MSFSX addon. I thought it was a waste of my money compared to what we have in OFF. I originally was drawn into it with the trailer I watched showing the attack on the Gotha bomber stream. My experience was that is was too arcade for my tastes. Hopefully we will get that attack option built into P4 when it is released in a couple of years. OlPaint01

Hello All I have completed the first installment of a complete survey of the Pilots Dossiers section of OFF:BHaH. This first spreadsheet of Aces, Aerodromes, and Aircraft covers all the British Fighter Squadrons. The Excel formatted Workbook has three Worksheets: Worksheet1 has all the British Aces sorted by their squadron assignments in date-order, showing their aircraft flown and their airfield postings. Worksheet2 has all the aerodromes where each of the British squadrons were stationed in date-order. Worksheet3 has all the aircraft introduced in date-order when they became available to fly. Please note that the aircraft unavailable for campaigning in the simulation are highlighted in RED so you can now clearly see which squadrons can or cannot support uninterrupted careers. I want to acknowledge the contributions of Rabu, and Chrispdm1 who encouraged me to pursue this project. And, of course, I give a huge thank you to Shredward whose Squadron/Escadrille/Jasta historical database is the core of Winder and the Devs effort to give us a historically accurate campaign engine of the events in the War to End All Wars. The Aces, Aerodromes, and Aircraft spreadsheet can be viewed using the M$ Excel 2003 Viewer, available on Micro$oft's download site at http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/xlviewer.aspx OlPaint01

Hello Sinbad The Gotha Bombsight pak is installed and working in both FE1 and FE2. Outstanding effort. I noticed that you set the bombing altitude in the MISSIONCONTROL.INI file in the FLIGHT directory. Peter01 demonstrated that the bombing altitude could be set in each individual aircraft_DATA.INI. I wonder if this might be the better place to set the altitude for the bombing missions. We could then set a Gotha for a London Mission at angels 3 meters or a Gotha for a battle field bridge or airfield attack at angels 1000 meters for the aircraft drop down menu. It would save having to reload MISSIONCONTROL.INI for a change in campaign type. Here is how Peter01 setup for HP400... "It is very accurate with some practise, almost pinpoint accuracy. But those bridges are very tough!! This is in the Gotha with two 300 kg bombs and the accuracy is pretty consistent - this time one bomb a few metres in front the bridge, one a few metres after (I pressed the release twice almost immediately). The previous mission I scored a direct hit, but no pics .... A few pics to describe how I do bombing stikes with the large bombers, pretty successfully. Have also changed AI parameters and that makes a difference I think. For bombing I have set the HP400 AI parameters so that they "prefer" level bombing at 1000 metres, both the first and second passes, and release all there bombs in about 1.6 secs. These are in the FM, the // are TKs standard numbers. [LevelBombAI] PullOutRange=100.0 PullOutAlt=1000.0 ReleaseAlt=1000.0 //<---- 1000 metres "preference". About 3000-4000ft is normal flight altitude in FE so fits Well. SecondPassRange=500.0 SecondPassAlt=1000.0 //<---- 1000 metres if they need to do a second pass. Same as initial, so they don't start going all over the place. ReleaseCount=8 //<---- as the HP400 has 8 bombs. If a plane has 20 bombs, then 20. ReleaseInterval=0.2 //<---- release quickly, 8 bombs in 1.6 secs. If a plane has 20 bombs, then 0.1 or so. // TKs Standard Values //[LevelBombAI] //PullOutRange=100.0 //PullOutAlt=100.0 //ReleaseAlt=1000.0 //SecondPassRange=500.0 //SecondPassAlt=800.0 //ReleaseCount=4 //ReleaseInterval=0.5 Its AI data, so anywhere between the [FlightControl] and [Aircraftdata] sections in data.ini, eg HP400_data.ini. I don't know whether it works or not placing it anywhere else." OlPaint01

Hello Quack I have followed Peter01's instructions to use P10ppy's Gunsight mod to add a working Bomb Drop Pickle (not really a full fledged bombsight with a graphic such as Dfang made several years ago for SFP1) for the HP400, GothaGIV, and AEG_G4 heavy bombers. Making it work for the SP3 and Staaken aircraft still eludes my efforts. So I patiently await Peter01's efforts that may fix something in those _Data.INI files I am overlooking. Sinbad has offered to me a look at his Bomber Campaign Mod beta but our efforts to exchange files has failed so far. High altitude level bombing is a challenge. The FE1 game apparently adds a random cross wind that has to be corrected by rudder pedal inputs to make the bomb run track over the target. Its fun to make like a bombardier and to watch the primary disappear in a huge cloud of fire and smoke. I have put together a ReadMe of all Peter01's instructions from the various threads that I used to make the 'Bombing Pickle' work. I have not gotten permission to publish this from Peter01 yet. I understand he is working up a completed instruction set too. The results of my calibration adjustments are in the "HP400 Bombing Run" thread. OlPaint01

Hello Peter01 My HP400, GothaGIV, and AEG_G4 bombers all have a working bombing pickle. But even after I followed your instructions very precisely, I failed to get P10ppy's Gunsight with your modifications to show in either the SP3 or Staaken bommbers no matter which direction I panned around. I use the Cockpit_Wide_View then Toggle_Cockpit (F2 then NUMPADPERIOD) keystrokes to get a clear view of the terrain passing below me. The gunsight with the trailing bottom tail clearly shows. After completing my calibration of the bomb-drop point, I can consistantly hit the target with my AutoLevel (SHIFT+A) set and gently applying rudder corrections for wind drift. Here are the Gunsight01 settings that I have come up with. Each need to be placed in the '// Weapon Stations -------------------' section below the end of the list of weapon stations in 'aircraft'_DATA.INI file. --HP400 (following Peter01's settings, which are very good to start with) [Gunsight01] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=9 StationGroupID=1 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.500,-0.50 //AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.50,-0.50 needs to be fiddled with - these are x,y,z (left/right, //forwards/backwards, up/down) AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 //AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 where -90 rotates the gunsight to the horizontal for bombing purposes : //(0 is standard, ie, vertical). LoadLimit=5 AllowedWeaponClass=FT AttachmentType=NATO ModelNodeName= PylonMass=0.0001 PylondragArea=0.00 NoJettisionTank=TRUE FuelTankName=Gunsight01 --GothaGIV [Gunsight01] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=9 StationGroupID=1 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-0.22,2.138,-0.50 //AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.50,-0.50 needs to be fiddled with - these are x,y,z (left/right, //forwards/backwards, up/down). AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 //AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 where -90 rotates the gunsight to the horizontal for bombing purposes :) (0 is standard, ie, vertical). LoadLimit=5 AllowedWeaponClass=FT AttachmentType=WP ModelNodeName= PylonMass=0.0001 PylondragArea=0.00 NoJettisionTank=TRUE FuelTankName=Gunsight01 --AEG_G4 [Gunsight01] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=7 StationGroupID=3 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-0.32,0.858,-0.50 //AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.50,-0.50 needs to be fiddled with - these are x,y,z (left/right, //forwards/backwards, up/down) AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 //AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 where -90 rotates the gunsight to the horizontal for bombing purposes : //(0.0 is standard, ie, vertical). LoadLimit=5 AllowedWeaponClass=FT AttachmentType=WP ModelNodeName= PylonMass=0.0001 PylondragArea=0.00 NoJettisionTank=TRUE FuelTankName=Gunsight01 My method for calibration is as follows: 1) I decided to keep the z=-0.50 value setting. This value has a definite effect on changing the y value so I took it out of the adjustment process by anchoring it right up front. 2) I then adjusted the x value to get the bomb run ground-track to cross the center of the target. I corrected more negative to move the track to the left and more positive to move the track to the right. I had to continuously but gently ride the rudder pedals to adjust for wind drift. 3) Finally I adjusted the y value for the release point. If I dropped short, I corrected value more negative. If I over shot, I corrected more positive. Just remember, as Peter10 observed, the aircraft speed is absolutely critical!!! I set my airspeed in the range of 70-75 mph or 112-120 kmph for these 'heavies.' In my case, I tweaked the throttle setting for exactly 75 mph or 120 kmph at 'bombs away'. The altitude, as Peter01 told us, does not seem to matter but I tryed fly at 3300 ft or 1000 m height... I never got the bomb pipper to show at all for the SP3 or Staaken bombers. I don't know why...maybe the starting point AttachmentPosition (x,y,z), as is the settings case for HP400, is beyond the view that the screen drawing engine can show. Well, have fun... OlPaint01

Peter01 That is just what we all need - an FAQ for setting up and converting old FE1 Aircraft and Mods for FE2. I myself want to port everything, both mods and aircraft, to FE2 and never look back... I learned something I did not realize before from TK the other day on the ThirdWire FE2 Forum. We no longer need the WeaponData.ini or GunData.ini files anymore in FE2. The new Weapons and Guns Editors for FE2 do not generate the WeaponData.DAT or the GunData.DAT as before in FE1. The editors build dedicated folders inside Objects/Weapons and Objects/Guns directories for each item in the Saved Game (Mods) directory. FE2 reads the weapons and guns details from these new folders directly. The other thing is that the after editing the .INI files, we need to save them formatted in UNICODE out of the text editor - Not in ANSI. OlPaint01

Hello Quack I have made up a combo readme.txt with all the various instructions that Peter01 has give us inside the various Bomber threads. I can PM it to you as an attachment if it is OK with Peter01. I got P10ppy's Gunsight converted over to Peter01's Bombsight. It is installed and working on my FEG HP400. What a great feature. I am now working on adding the bombsight to my AEG.G4, Gotha.G4 and Staaken bombers in FEG. I still need to add and test the Bomber Sight in FE2... OT: Have you spent any time learning how to convert the FEG aircraft to FE2? I am having many issues trying to get the old aircraft crew member skins to show in FE2. The issue is again that the crew members appear all white! The pointer to the crewmen .BMP must need to be changed. The pilot skins appear to be OK in the ported aircraft. Now then, TK's AEG_G4 aircraft that I have made flyable by adding a _Cockpit.INI, seem OK as the crew member skins are all showing. So it must be an issue in the way the _DATA.INI code is written - how the crew members are called out. OT: Have you spoken with Sinbad about your new Gotha skins? You might offer your work to be added to his new Bomber Campaign Mod. He told me he is not very satified with his own Gotha skining attempts. OlPaint01

Hello Peter01 With P10ppy's Gunsight Mod and your instructions, I now have a squadron of HP400 strategic heavy bombers in my FEG installation. Outstanding!!! I finally get to see what a destroyed bridge with dropped spans looks like from the air. I am still confussed as to why my flight of AI bomber pilots break formation to go after secondary targets. I have been practiciing your technique to give the TAB+2 keystroke immediately before 'bombs away'. BTW, where does the the [LevelBombAI] paragraph that you show above go - which .INI file? I placed it in HP400_DATA.INI, is that correct? Maybe that is why my squadron breaks formation. Also, is there a way to ripple my bomb load to empty my entire bomb bay with one press of the RETURN keystroke? OlPaint01

Peter01 This is absolutely fabulous!!! It opens a whole new facit of flying for us. In fact, I just requested a transfer to Bombardier School. How do you keep your flight in formation after the initial point? My AI pilots always split off to go after targets of opportunity in the vacinity after I press TAB+2 keystroke - while I am making my bomb run on the primary. I plan to test out the "bombsight" in both FEG and FE2. Sinbad says he is having difficulty adjusting his settings for FE2. OlPaint01

Hello Peter01 The Gunsight mod that you referenced does not have your Bombsight .TGA file (cross-hair and tail). I just need to edit the targa graphic to add the tail below the pipper, correct? What are the values you used to edit the Aircraft_DATA.INI to place the offset of the sight to pickle the target? OlPaint01

Ok, Peter01 Success at last. I finally am getting all the aircraft with LePrieurs rockets and Lewis guns fully operational. And the skins showing... I don't remember where I read this but it is very important to save the .INI files if edited in UNICODE text format. Apparently ANSI plain text is no longer recognized in the game. I heavily edit all my _LOADOUT.INI and _DATA.INI files. Once I started saving in Unicode most of my problems disappeared; i.e, I started seeing skins again. Horray. The Nieuport types gave me no further problem once I started saving the .INI files in Unicode. Now for the strange behavior I discovered while working with CamelF1_l10_Lewis and SPAD7_180_Lewis aircraft files. You recall that I complained that I could never get the skins to show. I was always getting "white" aircraft. Well now, here is what I finally did to make every thing work. I made a working copy of the base aircraft file and left its name "Copy of CamelF1_110". I changed the "CamelF1_110.INI" file in the aircraft folder to "Copy of CamelF1_110" instead of "CamelF1_110_Lewis" that you might expect to do. Then I edited [AircraftData] section for all the proper filenames. The reason I did this is because the very instant I changed the folder name to include "Lewis" in the folder name, the aircraft skins disappeared and displayed as 'All White' again. Of course after any editing I did I remembered to save the file in Unicode format. Now every thing is working as designed. How about them apples... OlPaint01

Thanks for the advice, Peter01 To answer your questions, I have been moving aircraft only from FE1 to FE2 then testing each in FE2. I think my heavily modded FEG (actually, FE_EP1_Nov08) install is running OK. I successfully added all the aircraft into FEG you have FMs for in 'Really Fixed 108 FMs' series of postings - even the Lewis and Vickers mods. IIRC I have not tried to move any aircraft back from FE2 to FE1. The whole flurry of FMs posted in the last few weeks is really confusing. I finally had to set up separate Download folders in an attempt to keep FEG and FE2 mods sorted out. I want to report that as of yesterday I successfully copied N28 and Nieuport17 from my FEG aircraft folder directly into FE2 MODS/Objects/Aircraft folder and with no issues with them. I plan to build the Nieuport17_Lewis and test it into FE2 today. I just may uninstall/reinstall FE2 and reapply the March 2010 patch. I learn something new each time (this is number 3 so far) I start over. I still have my separate FEG install to fly. I fully agree that the FE2 learning curve is quite steep... OlPaint01

Hello Peter01 Your must have special pull with P10ppy. I want to play with the Beta Bombsight too - really I do! How can I get it? You know you might add vernier graduation tic marks on your Gunsight Tail to get altitude versus release point setting estimates. Sinbad is trying to get his Gotha/Staaken Bombsight to work in FE2. He is sorting out his Heavys Campaign Project files now. Tailspin told me about DFang's WWII and Korean War bombsights over at SFP1 downloads. OlPaint01

Hello Peter01 I have successfully added LePreiur rockets to the FE2 ingame-bundled CamelF1_130 and Spad7_150 by adding your _LOADOUT.INI files to the Aircraft folders using your 'Really Fixed 108 FMs' mod files. Horrray!!! But I am still frustrated because I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong with all the other 3rd-Party aircraft. Why can't I add other 3rd-Party aircraft is beyond me. For example, I am trying to get the CamelF1_110_Lewis into the game with no success. I don't even see the aircraft listed in the Single Mission menu. I am almost positive that I have all the correct .INI files in the proper aircraft folder yet I get no joy finding the CamelF1_110_Lewis listed. Do I need to add all the .LOD and .OUT files for each aircraft as well? Everything works like a champ in FEG. Oh, I figured out what was wrong not getting Campaigns to work. I discovered that I had to create my first pilot. Now the campaigns start correctly when I click on Accept and give a name to the campaign. Man, this FE2 has a steep learning curve to climb. OlPaint01

Thanks HPW OK, the .BDP files no longer need to be removed. The .BDP files are automatically rebuilt when the game is restarted. And I confirmed the timestamp is later than the one for the .XDP files. So all is good!!! OlPaint01

Hello Helmut_AUT I installed the March 2010 patch immediately after it was released. I am currently using Jan's terrain mod and CaptVenguer's Menu mod with no issues. The March 2010 patch has "porked" all my 3rd-Party aircraft that I am trying to port over from FEG. What I mean is - I see no skins - all the old FE1 planes are 'white' with not skins showing. Also, all the neat work that Peter01 has done in his recently released 108 FMs pak with the new MG weapons and rockets and bombs ordnance will not work either. I see the bombs and LePrieurs in their racks but I cannot choose them with the BACKSLASH keystroke or release them with the RETURN keystoke. I ended up uninstalling all my 3rd-Party aircraft mods with an uninstall/reinstall of FE2 and reapplying the March 2010 patch to get the ordnance working again on the bundled aircraft. I still am unable to the see the ordnance selected and armed at the bottom of the HUD screen as in FEG but TK says that will be fixed in the next FE2 patch release. OlPaint01

Has anybody except me noticed that the March 2010 FE2 patch has "Porked" all of Peter01's Great Ordnance Loadout XXX_LOADOUT.INI files and the Weapons And Guns that go with them? Like all the neat Bombs and LePrieur Rockets and Lewis and Vickers Guns he added into FE2 game? Everything is still working just fine in FEG, however. The 108 FMs are outstanding! And the weapons loadouts are really fun to manage. And the new Gun Mounts give excellent additional fire power to the ol' kites. I am almost at the point of losing my patience trying to figure out how to correct this mess. I guess I still have FEG to fall back on. OlPaint01

Thanks Tailspin I found your references. I see that DFang made several WWII and Korean War bomber Bomb Sights. Sinbad extended an invitation for me to Beta Test his Gotha/Staaken bomb sight. I look forward to understanding the design. OlPaint01

Hello HPW I have a question about the auxiliary files that you bundled with the new HitR DM Pak. I see your .BAT file for archiving all the .XDP files for a possible restore action. But is it necessary anymore to erase all the .BDP files from each of the Aircraft file folders like you and FortysBoy told us to do for your old BHaH DM Pak? Doesn't the game have to rebuild all the .BDP files again for the new .XDP files? OlPaint01