Wrench

MeshName= the part of the aircraft lod (or 3d mesh) you want the decal to appear on. ie: LeftWing, InnerWing, fuselage, nose, verttail, etc. As defined (if included) in the OUT file. NOTE: not all aircraft & model builders use the same naming conventions for their mesh names!!! Without the OUT file, you'll need to use a hex editor to search for the "usual suspects", looking for mesh names as defined in the aircraft's data ini. DecalLevel= at what "level" a marking will appear Level=0: national markings, appears ALL the time Level=1: individual squadron marking, only for THAT particular unit/squadron Level=2: individual aircaft serial/modex/ID numbers. Also for individual nose arts, etc Level=3: killmarkings DecalFacing= which direction the "top" of the decal points. IE: right, left, top, bottom (ie: USAF star on TOP of left wing, "NationName" (USAF) on BOTTOM of left wing) Rotation= number of degrees off center or 0; Example used to angle national marking to fit wing sweep, etc. Uses both positive and negative numbers. NOTE: the positive numbers do NOT require the plus (+) sign. Only negative uses the minus (-) sign. Scale= Physical size of the decal with respect to the size of the aircraft. Larger aircraft like bombers will most likely use a larger scale, smaller aircraft like fighters a smaller scale. NOTE: there is no set ruling as to units of measurement that I've ever discovered. For locating purposes, I always start with a 1.0 or 1.5 size, base on a 128x128 pixel decal, and adjust up or down accordingly. MaxDecalLod= how "far off" in distance the decal will be visible, usually linked to multi-lod aircraft models. The average seems to be MaxDecalLod=3 There's TK's decals turorial over in the downloads section, look in the Utilities & Tools Thread. It's several years old, but the basics are all the same. Reccomened reading! Be advised, it says "don't go over 4 decals per mesh". I've found that 3 is the max number that is usable before the LOD becomes transparent (ie: the aircraft disappears) Locating the exact coordinates is a matter of trial and error, and educated guesswork. For wings I use the location of the wingtip ID lights, and come "in" approx 1 meter. Fuselage/Nose I use the location of the pilot. After that, it's just a matter of even MORE trial and error dailing in the exact location. Meaning, given a know lenght of an aircraft; say for example, 10 meters, the tail light is at -9.50 meters aft, you'd place the fuselage national insigina at approx -7.5 or -8.0, and see where it shows up. Wrench kevin stein

AHAAA!!! Found you out Skippy!! Now we really KNOW what you do for a living .... trade Brit Brews for Russian Vodka!!! OTOH, it's nice to see more ships starting to come "down the ways", expecialy modern variants Wrench kevin stein

Check TKs repsonse over on the 3rd Wire boards.... interesting to note he describes is at a terrain height problem (which is a known issue of pre-patch terrains in the post=patch world), and the Z-Buffers, in either/both the terrain or effects or particlesystem Read his response throughly ... "raises" some interesting thoughts for experimentation The DS terrains should have all the new height field info already in the DS_Data.ini Wrench kevin stein

It's REALLLLY good to know the backwards compatibility is working!!!! I know in my heart, TK wouldn't desert all the previous YEARS of mods we've all worked so hard on. Wrench kevin stein

irfanview (free)--also great for inserting text into images for decal creation! GIMP (free) and of course, and of the Photoshop series WRench kevin stein

Here's a El Salvadoran Mustang.... methinks the green is a little too blue (thats what I get for using RLM colors!! -swartzgrun and RAF Mid-stone) I'm going for the "oh *&^%$ we have to camo these planes in a hurry" effect, wherein the erks dash into town, and borrow spray guns from the local auto body shop. Well, at least the serials & fin flash came out nice!! It's definately going back in for a repaint.... Wrench kevin stein

I'm sure we can find a way to blame Micro$oft for that..... (vista+unicode= frustrated gamers?? ) Wrench kevin stein

Don't I wish!!! Like trying to herd cats!!! Hey, you got the important "basics" down! Wrench kevni stein

thanks for the compliement, but that's RussoUK's Thunderjet. I've only done a few skins and things for it! Wrench kevin stein

Let me make things a little easier...the attached bmp has the placment for the "face" on those with no visor, or the visor UP. In this case, its a womans face for the Talon You can also see the placement on the "USMC50s" pilot in my F4U-4B mod here in the d/l section Wrench kevin stein

That's right!!! That's the ticket Or, just patch to the 9/08 or 10/08 levels and works perfectly 'out of the box" Wrench kevin stein

There ain't nothing to that.... it's just another layer on the XXpilot.bmp. The hardest part is judging the size to reduce down to for the "open faceplate" section, on the upper left of the bmp. Now, mind you, there is some "bending"on the finshed in-game, but the faces are usually recongizable. How do you think I got Josh Lucas' face on the Talon pilot?? Or Dave got his mug on the Bronco pilot figure!! If I can find it, and you want to attempt it, swam, I'll send you the Talon pilot psd Wrench kevin stein

Still need screenies to see the problem... And, it does sound like you messed up the install somehow ... "the cockpit dosen't move" meaning???? the horizon dosn't move when initiating a roll? It also sound like you're NOT using the proper LOD files. The pack I uploaded works just fine -- leave it alone. Everything is already set up for nearly instant use. Well, other than tweeking the avionics a bit, and it uses "nationalized" InAF weapons. Does you Type 96B (India).ini look like this inside: If not, you messed something up. Cause it works fine for me!! Wrench kevin stein

Then, we still need to know WHICH CV, so we can check the movements section of the data ini for the EffectSize= ??? and it's positioning. Silverbolt will be along at some point, hopefully, to enlighten us Wrench kevin stein

I don't remember the specific fix, but I do remember it's discussed in the Typhoon release theard. Might want to have a look in there... Something to do with the groundmapping radar callouts in the avionics ini. Wrench kevin stein

Is there a question here???, as I don't really see one.... Are you asking about the extended lenght of the wake on the OHP, or the lack of one on cruiser?? Be a little more specific, please? Wrench kevin stein

So, methinks we're getting an 108 Rapier. Most interestering.... Wrench kevin stein

So, what you're asking is how to add a pylon, as opposed to a launch rail (which would be part of said pylon) Well, first off, you'd need a pylon to add!! Unfortunately, I don't think there are any. Meaning: a new one would have to be created in MAX, then exported and blahblah and set up as a weapon (or, more likely using the "fake pilot'' method) -- just as used on the MiG-17PFs/PFU, MiG-19P/PM for the missile pylons and radar nose, or the 2nd cockpit as seen on the P-38M mod. If you look at the Paki F-6 Farmer, the Cuban Mig-17AS (and probably a couple others), you'll see that the additional weapons stations are added via ini edits, using an item from Ye Olde BunyPak called "F6" ... these are the pylons that attach to the wings. In the case of the Paki Farmer, the outboard sidewinder rails. (or on the 17AS, outer bomb rack). So, for the final answer, you need someone to CREATE a pylon set, spaced to fit between the drop tanks, and added via the known methods. Adding the weapon stations themselves, as you've done, is a pretty simple matter. Wrench kevin stein

Oi!!! I'll see what I can find ... used to have some stuff around here somewheres.... Wrench kevin stein

Welcome to CombatAce, AFCivilEng! We have amassed a tremendous amount of knowledge in "adjusting" things in this game, and I think the article you seek is located here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=27492 (this is a new place for it, as I just moved it make it easier for folks to find) Now, mind you, it speaks to some things you might not know how to do yet, so please spend some time reading the threads in the Knowledge Base; it'll help move things along easier (greasing the wheels so to speak) If you can't find something in the KB (and belive me, it happens a LOT!), don't hesitate to ask! Someone is sure to have the answer, or point you to the relevant article Wrench kevin stein

Another easy way is to just change the "CastShadow=" to FALSE. Also eliminates the problem for that single aircraft. WRench kevin stein

Of course I have templates for the Corsair! Look at all my WW2 versions!!! they're 2048x2048, so nicely detailed. I'll get them to you one way or another. Remember, a different "wing" is used for the cockpit view (making for odd views if using anothr camo pattern - which is why LazyBoy wrench went with the blue) Wrench kevin stein

I'll take any help I can get!!! For the FAS Mustangs, I've chosen the SEA 3-tone as seen on the Cavailier 'stangs used by them. Just a bit simplier in excuation. Of course, doing them up in the "COIN" gray is even easier!! Obviously, the Ouragon tanks are "data ini edited" out, and easily remounted Most of the data I've found shows they didn't use them too much, but they were put back on eventually. The photos I've found of the "stored or museaumed" ones all have the tanks. Nobody noticed the wing lights! It's an extra set, just for the wings themselves. Thanks museli! The Ouragon skin is brandy new, from fresh home-made 1024 templates, with all redrawn panel and rivet lines. I even fixed the mapping issue on the lower right alerion (that nobody's noticed for 5 years!!) with a decal cheat! The template WILL be included with the aircraft upload. On the subject of Corsairs, here's qickie shot of the FAS FG-1D (ok, my F4U-1d which is Wolf F4U's) in FAS colors (not camo!! I don't even WANT to try and attempt that weird mottle!! Worse than WW2 Luftwaffe!!! ) Still need serial decals Please notice the 'removed' tail hook, also via data ini edits. And TMF's Corsair (again, my F4U-4 mod of it) in it's complted FAH skin, with serials. Departing Toncontin Airport All these aircraft are 'nationalized' versions, so they won't intefere with any other mods of said aircraft. All will get their own WoE-style hangar screens, too! (that actually takes longer to do up than the cursed decals!!) As to the map itself, I'm unable to add the capitol of El Salvador (sorry Flogger!) BUT!!! on the El Salvadoran side, you'll get Santa Rosa de Lima (city and airport), La Union port. Honduras get Nacome, San Lorenzo (city and airport) and a not-so-accurate coastline for the Gulfo de Fonsecia. I HATE these fracking tiles!!! Wrench kevin stein

2 more for the stable... FAS MD-450 Ouragan (anyone notice anything different with it??? FAH F-86E I'll have to redecal Museli's FAH Sa'ar skins, as I found a complete listing of their serial numbers. Still haven't decieded what to do about the Mustangs... On the "What If" FAN Fishbed, what type of numbers should it have?? And color!! Many are near completion, just needing decals and readme (that's the hardest part, ya know!) Wrench kevin stein

I remember reading the LOTR books in the early/mid 70s....just when there was a resurgence of interest in Tolkien.... but I don't really think the NATO codename folks would be that into fantasy books. (they'd been around since, what? the late 40s/early 50s?) I like the "fish-" idea, as it keeps with it's MiG-21 heritage. I'd go for Fishtail...maybe it has some deficiences in yaw control?? Or due to a small radar antena, the pilot has to keep pivioting side-to-side to get a good sweep??? Just ideas, thrown out there Wrench kevin stein