J18Dread

Peter01 Activating sideslipdamper=0.0 seemed to solve the problem for the Dolphin. De-activated Autotrim. Setting it to 0.5 made the Dolphin seem 'squirrelly'. Fix one thing, break another. Flys level now. Dolphin is good, but D7F better. Still trying to normalize. The Spad wants to stall at almost any speed. Is there a magic setting? It used to be a fun plane. I appreciate your insights. The SFnotes is not as helpful as I would like. Again, thanks.

I have been trying to create mmp (online) FMs for the D7F, Spad 13, N28, and the Pfalz D12 with disappointing results, especially after the Expansion Pack. My goal is parity. I want mmp to be about the pilot, not the plane. So within strict limits, I want the planes to have the same speed, the same rate of climb (+/- 10%), and turning radius (+/- 10%). This means that some planes will climb a little faster or turn a little sharper but run at about the same speed. Try as I might for 'normalization', I cannot do it. I can achieve what I think are the correct settings against AI in Coop and then be disappointed when flying in Dogfight. Any suggestions? Is there an FM Guide for Dummies? My search results have not been fruitful. Thanks

Thanks p10ppy. A lot to digest. I will start work right after this post. This will save me alot of time. Again, thanks. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks EmID, that is about what I have tried. I seem to get it right in coop against AI and then it is all wrong when I fly in Dogfight. Also, Third Wire (D7 and Spad) planes seem to respond differently than the non-Third Wire (Pfalz & N28). With each patch and pack the problem/challenge seems to get worse/more difficult. With the Expansion Pack the planes seem to lack energy, inspite of indicated airspeed. Is there a drag coefficient that I have been ignoring? I appreciate all of the comments, thanks. Personal note: Hope to see you back in the air, EmID. I have two mmp installs - one with EP and one without so should be able to join/host any game.

Eventually we will get coop to work. At which point we will want to fly teams - allies vs. huns. As you will notice, we have models from Third Wire and from other sources. They seem to need their individual data.inis, but I could be wrong. I have not tried to exchange the data.inis. because I still want the planes to have some 'personality', within a narrow range. Kind of like the match of a Mig15 vs. F86 - equal but different. Thanks for your suggestions. I may try the exchange and see how it works.

Thanks EmID the zip file was about what I was looking for, at least it tells me what the factors mean.

Once COOP is fixed (in-game respawn from designated drome) then Jasta 18 will follow.

Have you checked out peter01's fms? For mmp, I have adjusted the fm of the D7 to be comparable to the Spad (most fun to fly IMHO), and in turn the N28, Dolphin, SE5a, and Pfalz 12. The D7 was a dog in the first release, better in the first patch, and still needing more energy in peter's fm. The beauty of FE is that you can make this game anyway you want it. Read the posts and try it yourself, as long as you backup your work, you cannot hurt anything. If you decide to try online play (mmp), get teamspeak, a headset with mike, and both hamachi and hyperlobby. Right now we are using hyperlobby because one of our players still has 98 and cannot use hamachi. Because the SimHQ teamspeak server is down, we are using the CombatAce TS server TAC3 channel - 64.119.37.62:8769 log in anonymously no pw. MrCraig and I will be online monday-thursday at 1900-2100 CST. I will be in and out today and sunday. This will give you a chance to try my take on the D7 fm. Hope this helps. Welcome aboard.

I usually fly invisible cockpit and would like some suggestions as to how to reduce the size of the gauges. I am running at 1280x960, but the resolution seems much lower than that. Also, would like to convert the airspeed indicator to mph. I am running the PF+AEP+FB series. Any suggestions appreciated. I have manuals from Pacific Fighters and IL-2 Forgotten Battles Gold Pack, but they are less than helpful. Is there another online manual that might be more useful? Thanks. Any newbies or non-aggresive old salts that would like to mix it up, let me know. I am currently able to use HyperLobby, but not sure I have a kosher config. Patched to 404m with no additional aircraft or terrains. Anything else I should add or subtract? Again, thanks.

Seems to be working just fine. Not sure what has changed. Nice little applet.

On line play does not seem to be too popular. However, I am on most nights after 1900 Central US. Best way to contact me is through Teamspeak at the SimHQ server (64.72.121.17:8767 logon Anon with SimHQ_talk as server pw.). I usually fly one or more Coops on HyperLobby. Multiplay has some hurdles that have to be overcome, so it can take a little time to properly configure. Suggest you have Teamspeak2, HyperLobby, Hamachi, and Jelly's switcher installed before we settle on a satisfactory configuration. Hope to see you soon. The skies have been a little lonely of late.

BTW the reason Alt T did not work was because I was testing in multiplayer. It works as advertised in single player. Apparently acceleration is not possible in multiplay - which is a good thing. I am thinking that no speed hacks are possible in multiplay. I am liking this approach more and more, even with its setup hassles.

If the intent is to fly multiplayer, then I strongly suggest Jelly's, Hamachi, Teamspeak with headset, and HyperLobby. I would suggest a special folder with suggested mmp planes (TBD). This is all in the future, but it wouldn't hurt to be thinking about it. Also, as an aside, I had some problems earlier with the worn dromes and using BOTH the replacement tiles and the hi-res files with the Vogesen terrain. I settled on the replacement tiles. In this vein, I would suggest the drome re-orientation and Flanders parked planes. How difficult would it be to maintain a site or FTP where all these elements could be found? I would offer my old Earthlink RB3D Cold War site, but the 5 MG limitation is crippling.

Gambit168 Nothing happened with AltT. Checked Options, Control, keyboard and closest was AltR which reset acceleration to normal, or so it seemed. Did get rid of time compress notice though. Will try opt2. Option2 reset all HUD data. Really like those little info boxes in the corners. Guess I will just have to live with it. Thanks anyway.

Gambit168; Still unable to start from 'Pause', so I was wondering: is there a way to get rid of the on-screen notice of "Time Compress = 1x"? Not a big deal, but if it can be done easily, I would like to do it. Searched for the text string, but what I found was not it. Thanks, still a great tweak.

The real jewel in all this is the accuracy adjustment. Changing from 70% to 80% makes a significant difference. I have only really been concentrating on the Spandau, so this appraisal only applies to it. I found 8 to be too light when using Tailspin's engine armor and overall wood armor of 36. I am currently at 10, but may adjust downward slightly. A great utility that I recommend to all, especially to adjust the accuracy. Thanks for the suggestion. Now, if I could get the Zeppelin base to work in Vogesen and weather to work in multiplay.

:yes: Did it the right way this time. Noticed Reliability was 97 for all guns. Somehow doing it the wrong way changed the reliability (jamming) to 75 for the Spandau. Retesting. Will let you know if there are any problems.

I am going to start over with a fresh gundata.ini and .dat. I have the worse case of gun jamming, I have ever experienced. I changed the reliability setting from 75 to 85 and it is still bad - not fun. The settings may be too agressive, to the point of being ineffective and frustrating. I might as well be throwing ping pong balls. Back to the drawing board. Thought this could be an easy answer, does not appear so. I will keep trying, but until I find the right settings and then publish the gundata.ini and .dat files, I will not suggest this approach.

Thanks, I found the guneditor and weaponseditor. Nice utilities. Many dimensions and variables. Interestingly, the manual changes seem to be picked up - registered as 8.3, 6, and 8 respectively. Was not able to find anything at the ThirdWire site except for the patch and manual. It would be nice to have all these useful utilities in one spot - hint. Thanks, again. Will keep testing. Could go a long way in fostering great game play.

Not finding the guneditor. Found this reference, but not the file - GunEditor_V_11_05_04. You are probably right that a direct edit will not work. Seeing some difference, but it seems to be in the wrong direction. Will keep testing.

Thanks Peter. I have made the changes and will be testing shortly. This is a much easier method of adding durability and hence playability than changing the dms. Just for the record and to avoid confusion, the changes will end up being on the order of 0.0083, not 8.3 but the method is valid. The gundata.ini is in the Objects folder. Again, thanks. On another note, you said that the Camel and Dr1 have been modified to fly under hard mode. Where might I find these fms? Not a radial/rotary fan, but some are and it would be nice to add them to the multiplay stable. Can the Dr1 do the flat turn, a la Voss? Let me add my voice to the chorus of commendation for the great work you are doing for this game.

Just finished a great Instant Action. What with your Accelerator and Tailspin's armor, I ran out of a double load of ammunition (after downing two F2Bs and 2-3 Dolphins) and had to fight (dodge bullets) all the way back to base against another 3 dolphins. Best Instant Action yet - so lucky that I will probably never be able to do it again. Damn, I really like this game. I want to thank you and all who are making this a truly great game that will only get better.

Great idea about mg effectiveness. In RB3D there was a bullet mass factor setting. Do we have the same thing in FE? Does it apply to all the guns - Vickers, Lewis, and Spandaus? One change and we are done? Where do I find it? Thanks.

For all its problems, especially mulit-play, the beauty of FE is its customization. The modders who have adopted this game have given it a dimension(s) far beyond what I am used to from RB3D. I enjoy making the game mine, but I fully understand where others might not. I agree that we need to incorporate many of the improvements that have been made to the planes and terrains, but how do you propose that the super mod be developed? Who gets to decide?Do you set it up for Normal or Hard? Which planes? Do they want to fly single play or multi? But in the spirit of your suggestion, I would propose that the Camel and Dr1 be fully modified to fly in Hard mode and added to the standard line-up. That Vogesen with replacement tiles be the standard terrain. And finally, that all planes be 'hardened' to sustain more damage. Firecage and Lothar have started working on a "Super-mod" for multi-play. Lothar is working on a map similar to the Island map in RB3D. And Firecage is working on the FMs and DMs of various planes- even we can't always agree on which planes to include. We think we have the mechanics down - Hamachi, Teamspeak, respawn times, altitudes, locations, etc., but need a major overhaul of Coop play before we can say that FE multiplay is fully functional.

Great tip, makes the action ever so much better. No problem with the D7F, Dolphin, or F2B so far. My game would not start with Pause start, even with several hits of the Backspace key. Other than that, its great. Using 1.3 with late war planes. Now if you could only get the AI to maintain speed in the latter stages of either Instant action (sequential furball) or Berthold' mission (highly modified). PS: Seems to work in Coop play also. Not sure if that is a good thing. Having enough trouble with Firecage and Lothar the way it was. I love this game. Where else do you get this kind of customization. RB3D was good, but this is so much better. Thanks TK and all of you who make this game great. The Pfalz 12 can be made to fly as well as the D7F.