Wrench

Ok peoples! The Okinawa rebuild in finished ... I"m just waiting for all the changes to the boards to be finalized before uploading it. As to be expected, there's a very detailed readme, several new/modified GroundObjects and such, etc, etc, blahblahblah. Expect it weigh in around 80+ megs zipped. So, either this weekend or beginning of next week it'll be here. I'll probably upload it to my site as well, for those poor unfortunates that can't get here. wrench kevin stein

Nice shots Dave!!! (good one sneaking in the Okha!) Don't suppose you can get some as to the landing/taxi/running/formation light positions? None of my books show them. well, not all of them -- there's a taxi light on the nose strut. No rush, of course. btw, those pics would a great addition the Aircraft Resource Center's Walkaround collection. wrench kevin stein

don't forget, too, that map needs a MAJOR target's overhaul...the Rhur valley is pretty much blank as to the factories and manufacturing centers needed (as is most of The Continent) wrench kevin stein

I don't know about that...that would add a HELL of a lot more work for Veltro....having to make and animate the spinning radar dish and the electronics boxes. It would probably effect the 'no cockpit' view, too. Personally, I'd just skin it over with a very light gray to represent a slight di-electric paint coating on the fiberglass. Much easier for all involved!!! note to Veltro: you doing 2 complete lods, with and without upper turret? May I reccomend just one, WITH turret. The gunbarrels, turret assembly etc can easily be removed with the 'hiding stuff' data ini edit, like I did for the DATs B-25B (Midway) to remove the belly turret and the P-26 (Chinese) to remove other various and sundry bits. This way, you only need to make one LOD, and we can create 2 complete aircraft. The Edits are super easy when one has the OUT file (and the names are easily IDed). wrench kevin stein

Have you also edited the SingleMission.ini?? That's the real improtant one. As outline here in our Handy-Dandy Knowledge Base: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php/topic/38609-adjusting-the-games-start-year/ wrench kevin stein

Most A models, and about half the Bs had the turret removed due to severe buffeting issues. (they were also more needed for the B-29s, which used the same one for the front/top unit), which left the aircraft with the 4 20mms in the ventral tray. It was controlled by the gunner, the dude in the #2 seat. It could be locked in the forward position by either the pilot or gunner, and fired along with the 4 belly 20mms. It could also be independently controled by the gunner to engage targets, pretty much like any other turret. The Radar Operator sat in the rear section all by his lonesome, seperated from the pilot/gunner by the turret well/mechanism (warbird tech #15 has some great exploded diagrams from the assembly manuel) One of the books has a great diagram of the turret's firing arcs, and the 'inturuppted' regions so it dodn't shoot off it's own vert fins and props. I can post that, if you want. Bs were also used in Interdictor roles in both Europe and PTO, and could carry (in-theatre rigged) HVARs or tripple bazooka units, but bombs and up to 4 drop tanks were available via factoy hard points. now up to 200+megs on books -- FINALLY got the Osprey one and it's some fantastic pics of nose arts. Gonna be making a LOT of decals!!! A models were mostly OD/Neutral Gray, all Bs were night black, usually heavily weathered (that's gonna be fun!!!) wrench kevin stein

Unfortunatley, NOT in a 06 level game. It only works post-08 and NextGens wrench kevin stein

Count me in! I was thinking of using the P-38 pit; has a wheel and twin engine annunciator, but I want to look at it more, as the BW has a radar screen directy below the gunsight. D/Led about 140 megs of books on pdf for it last night ... unfortuantely, the WarbaridTech didn't have the usual goodness I thought it would. Although, the Schiffer had some nice pictures. Still after the Osprey "P-61 Units" book. Nose art will be problematic ... still working at it. btw: which version will this be? Your screenie looks like at late-series B, as it has the upper 4 gun turret. FM wise I can't do too much, but have some idears....according to of the books I got yesturday, it should compare favorably with the P-51D & P-47D/N, performance and handling wise. Suppose to be VERY manuveralbe for a medium bomber sized fighter. as in "holding it's own against the Mustang". Hope to find some charts that someone (or anyone) can use to figure out FM data. wrench kevin stein

There was an airfield "trick" I used to use when building my mission sets for Fighters Anthology... In this example, your Intrepid Hero ™ is stealing an enemy aircraft (set as friendly) from an enemy airbase. Even back then, you couldn't use Red for Blue basing, and vise-versa. So, I hit upon the idea of laying down an 'empty' friendly runway directly on TOP of the existing enemy runway. The game engine (well, back then) saw both runways, but each was operational for each opposing side. I don't see why this would would here in the 3W series ... all you'd need is 2 target area, congruent with each other, and the aformentioned addition to the terrains Nations.ini. Obviously, depending on the aircraft used, and it's runway requirements (Medium or Large), would depend on which runway type to use For example: so, for your airliners or other 'neutral air-shipping', and NOTHING else listed. Using the exact same coordinates as the 'Blue' or 'Red' base location. HOWEVER!! (you knew that was coming, right??) You might want to create a 'copy' airbase and 'copy' airbase ini, call in desert_airfield1A.ini, and REMOVE the in-game generated parking slots so there's no conflicts, or plot NEW positions away from the existing ones -- there's lots of empty spots near the hangars and such, especially on Runway 4. Add the 'new' runway to the _Types ini, but use ALL the original LODs and such, like this: I've done somethign similiar with various and sundry stock and aftermarket building; the game engine ™ dosen't seem to care what LOD is used, as long as there's a specific/new name for the object. Mind you, this is something I've not experimetated with in the SF/Wo* series, but I don't see why it shouldn't work wrench kevin stein edit: if this DOES work, don't forget to put my name in the readme for credit -- I'm a credit whore!!!

Yes, Malta is on the Tunisia map, which is 'in the hangar' for it's overhaul -about 60% done. Unfortunately, due to the standard tiling issues inherent in this game, I'm unable to exactly duplicate the Grand Harbor (but there IS a castle!)Also, WASPs convoy and the PEDESTAL convoy stations are present (and the addition of a carrier station for JUDGEMENT, although we don't have any Stringbags....perhaps the Baffin can be modified as a stand-in???, will need LOTS of data in tweeks, and a new skin of course) Missing the Gladiator too.... I can post screenies, if wanted wrench kevin stein

File Name: Solomons Islands - version 3.0 File Submitter: Wrench File Submitted: 20 Aug 2009 File Category: Terrains Solomon Islands Terrain -Version 3- For SF/WoV/WoE WW2 PTO mods, 06 Patch Level ONLY This is a COMPLETE and TOTAL rebuild of Edward's WW2 Solomon Islands map. It has been completely retiled (pretty much by hand!) to use the VietnamSEA tiles, and the Green Hell trees/jungle TODs; several of which are NEW, and only availalbe in this mod. This is a FULL terrain, with just about everything included for you to unzip and use, with minimal difficulty. It has been fully upgraded to make use of the 06 level terrain effects, so Vista users please take note. It is designed to TOTOLLY replace any and all eariler versions. This is a fairly 'target rich' environment -- the types and targets inis have pretty much been rebuilt from scratch, and the 'locations' in the Solomons_Nations.ini has been divided up into the various island named regions of this Theatre. There are also several completly NEW ground/terrain objects, creating via edits of pre-existing terrain objects. You MUST have ALL the Pacific Objects (ground units, ships, AAA, infantry, etc) already installed in you PTO version of the game; otherwise things may not be appearing. This is especially important for the ships -- the Liberty ship, and all warships, both Allied and Japanese. It's HIGHLY reccomended you have Gepard's "Midway" terrain installed, along with his IJN/USN naval units -- I've made use of them for both Fleets. Don't forget to check Geo's page for more WW2 goodies ... there's a lot of stuff that's usable (and used!) here as well. Some items are included (see below in the 'To Install' for details) There ARE some historical flaws, which as most of you know cheeses me off to now end; they are somewhat detailed in the "Notes & Explinations" section below. The data ini has been upgraded to the semi-latest standards (ie: 2006 patch level). Water effects are active, so Vista users beware...more information for you is below in the Install Instructions. See "Notes for Vista Users". While not designed for use in 08 or SF2 level games, it is quite easily adaptable with minor additions/changes to the data ini. Consult the CombatAce Knowledge Base or the several hundred threads on the matter. = MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST, WW2 NATIONS INI IN YOUR FLIGHT FOLDER = = MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST WW2 FORMATIONS INI IN YOUR FLIGHT FOLDER = == MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST WEAPONS PAK FOR THE WW2 WEAPONS!! == It has been tested in SF, WoV and WoE, using their cats pointed to in the main ini. As most of the new objects will be residing directly in the terrain folder, you should have no problems. (see the CombatAce Knowledge Base for the tutorial on using the cat pointer line). Follow these instructions herein =EXACTLY= and you should have no problems. It's HIGHLY reccomended you read this document completly through before installing this mod. Note: There are several new terrain objects still in the works (some parked? docked? moored? seaplanes); they just aren't ready yet. So, rather than wait until they're done, I've chosen to release this "as-is". Expect an update with these 3 objects are finalized (those are actually the only thngs missing -- everything else is done!). This will, at least, give the Campaign Builders something to work with. As always, it's reccomended you unzip this to a temp folder or your desktop to gain acess to the rest of the readme. Good Hunting! Wrench Kevin Stein Click here to download this file

Wait....we have a downloads section??? Who knew, and didn't tell me??? walks off mumbling to self.....this is what I get for missing staff meetings..... wrench kevin stein

As stated in the announcement thread, there are 3 'terrain objects' still missing for the seaplane bases: parked/docked/moored -whatever you wan to call it, Rufe, Pete and Mavis static aircraft. I'm still awaiting them to be finished, but my 3d guy is having some problems getting their world centers high enough so the 2 floatplanes sit on their floats. For my 2 terrain testers, the only differences in what you have is some tiling changes scattered here and there, so you might need to redownload this new version, and replace the test version Enjoy! wrench kevin stein

Ok, the terrain is 99.9% ™ complete. Just have a little more testing to do on the various 'routing' for shiping, CAS, etc. When done, with all the objects attached ,it'll probably weigh in around 80 megs, zipped (!!!) I'm leaving out the battleships and the Fletcher DDs, as they're already in either the Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) or Central Pacific (Maraianas) terrain downloads. However, some modified data ini WILL be included for some ships. (remove the _AND_GROUND from the Liberty ships, no need for them to shell shore installastions, eh?) had to make some changes in the placements of some of the landing forces; damn ships are trying to engage various other groundobjects in the target areas -- which was waaaaayyy cool, excepting the FPS went down below 5!! with all the tracer and explosions. Was really neat to see the destroyers and BBs shooting at targets in the city or nearby army camp. Unfortunatly, they don't have the gun ranges they should ... those 13.5/14 inchers SHOULD be able to shoot at least 15-20 miles..., oh well no matter they still look good!! So, hopefully by the time the board transitions are completed, and the downloads section is back up, I'll have it ready to go wrench kevin stein

Oh, man, that sucks!!! And i was going to pm you about almost done update for Okinawa; I've moved a lot of the carrier stations closer to japan, added some more static ships, some more shipping routes and other semi-minor changes. Map now is 99.9% complete ...and almost ready for uploading DRAT!!! Hope you get up and running soon. wrench kevin stein

the readme shoiuld be in the sub-folder, "add to ground objects". I forgot to move it up one level, to the main terrain folder. Actually, I've been placing them in BOTH folders, as a 'just in case' measure wrench kevin stein

YAAAAAHHHH!!!! Ed, you need serial number decals, you let me know. Them be super easy to make (as everyone knows just how I am....) Thank goodness it's an easy paint job!!! Gonna hafa go find me some Black Widow books now....if anybody needs me, I'll be searching the Farposst forums. I KNOW they've got the Osprey "Black Widow Units of WW2" up ther somewheres..... wrench kevin stein

thanks, that's EXACTLY what I was striving for. And, if you think the flak's bad here, just WAIT until the Okinawa/Japan map gets released!! wrench kevin stein

This is a cropped down image from a map by MKShepard; the original HFD covered pretty much the ENTIRE western Pacific basin, from the top of New Guinea to Kamchatka -the HFD weighs in at 840+ megs!!! I'm marked the 'region in question'. Now, I just need MK to create an HFD I can import (and tile using GermanyCE as that seems to be the closest 'fit', expecially with the snowy mountain, and the Forest and Fields mod) This'll also give all those nice JASDF aircraft we have somewhere's to play in. And perfect for a Harrier campaign (just like USNF) wrench kevin stein

Looks right! Here's mine (standard summer version, I guess). I always have mine cat listings at the end, don't know why, just do! Safe to assume you're using ONLY SF??? Or have only the SF Desert terrain available?? (not that it should matter) And yes, that IS the correct Lat/Long wrench kevin stein

I'm glad you enjoyed the answer!! Yes, and no. There's a lot a birds that need MUCH more help ... P-38s (all variants) come to mind immeadeatley. When my PTO install went belly up, I thought I'd give the 08 level a try ... spent 10 minutes fighting the L or H model stall/post stall ... on my back with minus (!!!) airspeed, doing a Cobra, full throttle and trying not to get shot full of holes by a ****load of Franks. Finally, gave up and spent a day and half rebuilding from a backup copy. A lot of DAT birds (Hurricanes and Spit come to mind right off) need some serious 08 tweeking. Hurris tend to go into unrecoverable inverted flat spins "for no apparent reason"; the AI just can't seem to handle it at all (as obviously, neither can I!!) So, in the unlikely event that 400 odd aircraft (including sub-varients) get their FMs rebuilt, I'm sticking to my 06 guns. Now, mind you, some work really well, as long as you don't push them too hard -- Monty's AD Skyraider and Wolf's Mustang (D model) are both pretty good, as is AD's Zekes. The Jugs DO need some work, as do the Corsairs and just loads of others. For me, the descision is "who do you want to fight: the Bad Guys or your airplane?" btw, SF2 "NextGens" are pretty much 08 level, in regards to FMs. Plus the Vista/Winge7 nativness etc, and added eye candy and stuff that mean absolutely nothing for the WW2 player (in MY opinon, only) wrench kevin stein

Hangs head in shame.... wrench kevin stein

Have you checked your Cat Pointer line?? wrench kevin stein

Well, our handy-dandy, patent pending Knowledge Base would be the place to start. It can be a little daunting at first, getting famaliar with all the terms and structures, but in the long run MOST rewarding. There's also QUITE a bit of reading to do, but well worth the time -and not just for WW2-ish variants of the game, but for ALL the games. Lot's good info, more or less colated into some kind of sensible order (!!) On creating an 'era specific' install, read this little thread: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=19630 now, mind you, this might be jumping ahead a little for those as yet unfamaliar with the structures, but it outlines what needs doing. Follow those instrucions pretty much exactly; remember, don't patch your WW2 install past the 06 patch level, or much oddness will ensue :yes: Getting the needed aircraft is another thing, as a good percentage of the WW2 birds were created by the Dev A-Team. To gain access to their aircraft, you'll need to register with them at Capun's site. http://cplengineeringllc_bb.cplengineering...d69516a4ece53ec Follow the instructions in the "Board & File Policies" forum on that front page. more aircraft are found here and more over at my site. Link is below in my signature and Welcome! wrench kevin stein

Hmm....notable by it's absence is the CombatAce advertisement sign...I'd reccomend adding one (or a dozen!!) Those floods could make workable too, via ini edits like comprnt did for the 'lights in hangars' in his airfields mods wrench kevin stein