Fubar512

I've just assembled a new system, based on an Intel E8400. After extensive testing, I've determined that this series is more CPU than GPU limited. I achieve about the same FPS as Spinners, using a mid-range GFX card, a GeForce 9600GT, with all the graphics options set to high. If I down clock the system (to 1800 MHz), I get approximately 25% less FPS. If I overclock to 3600 MHz, my FPS goes up. If I set the horizon distance to "normal", as opposed to "high", my average FPS goes up by 15%.

Well, why don't you try it and let us know?

As the name implies, it effects how shadows are rendered by Radeon cards. In extreme cases, shadows radiate out from the model, like spikes. In mild cases (such as on my X800XL), they appear to be disassociated from the model, depending on the view angle. Perform a search on 'Radeon Shadows' here, and at Third Wire's site, and you'll see what I mean.

The only nagging "constant" that I'm aware of with Radeon cards in all the TW series, has been the shadow bug. I do not know if this was corrected in the 2, 3, and 4 series, as it was still present on the X1K series.

The Mirage Factory's (unofficial) Motto: "No Model Shall Be Released Before its Time"

Not until the '9L was fielded in late '79 and early '80.

There are two callouts for effects emitters (in the aircraftobject.dll) that might be of interest to you, one for fuel leaks and another for damaged engines.

Did you change the windloop sound itself? If you replaced the original monaural version with a stereo sound file, then that would be your problem. Another possibility is that you're using surround sound on a system configured for 2 speakers.

Ahhhh..OK. The misunderstanding was on my end. Yes, you can have a "virtual" air brake (in this case, called a brake chute), by just creating the proper entries in the aircraft's data.ini. Now, getting deployable 'chute animations, well, that's something else, entirely. If we had a weapons class for, say, refueling pods, then that would be the way to go.

You may have disabled the animation, but not the braking effect (DragArea=50.00). To prove this, disable the entire brake chute entry, and check again.

No offense, but what purpose would it serve if it did not provide any braking? Also, even if you could add it on as a weapon (which woud not work, BTW, as animated weapons when deployed, drop off the model), the necessary parameter "deploy when on gears", isn't in the related .dll, and therefore, doesn't apply to weps.

It can, but it will have no impact whatsoever on the aircraft carrying it, as once it's released, it is "gone".

The brake 'chute is part of the model. One simply cannot add one to another model, if it's not there to begin with.

TK did not do anything "special" with USAF: Air Dominance. He simply used what was available in the existing game engine to simulate F-22 avionics to a degree. Without a dedicated F-22 or F-35 cockpit (one that has the right disply nodes, etc,) one cannot use those same parameters.

In RL, your chances of having an IRM older than a second-gen R-73 lock on to an F-22 from anything other than a rear-quarter aspect, are slim and none. That being said, a trick I employ is to give the AI a bit of a chance by adding the following lines to the data.ini of any aircraft model that might be equipped all-aspect IRMs equipped with wide angle seeker heads (off-boresight). That would include the R-60mk, R-73, AIM-9X, (etc.) [AIData] ASIRMFireAngle=60.0 That equates to 30 degrees off-boresight angle, which is the actual value for the R-60mk and early run R-73s. Interestingly enough, if you go much beyond this figure (even after adjusting the seeker angle and track-rate values in the weapondata.ini), you'll see the AI miss more often.

Here's something that'll be easy enough for the noobs to accomplish, allowing them to get their hands dirty without hosing anything, and something that should be a cakewalk for more experienced hands. *The following step is only necessary if you do not have the missileobject.ini and soundlist.ini already extracted* First, using the SFP1E extraction utility (you'll find it under downloads, in the SF utilities section), extract the following files: From the ObjectData.CAT (it's located in the Objects folder), the MISSILEOBJECT.INI From the FlightData.CAT (which is located in the Flight folder), the SOUNDLIST.INI Next, open the extracted MISSILEOBJECT.INI by double clicking on it, and perform the following edits: [LargeMissileEffects] GroundHitEffectName=LargeMissileGroundExplosion GroundHitSoundName=SmallExplosion.wav WaterHitEffectName=MediumBombWaterHitEffect WaterHitSoundName= ObjectHitEffectName=LargeMissileAirExplosion ObjectHitSoundName=SmallExplosion.wav ArmorHitEffectName=LargeMissileAirExplosion ArmorHitSoundName=SmallExplosion.wav AirBurstEffectName=LargeMissileAirExplosion AirBurstSoundName=SAMBurst.wav CraterModelName= CraterType=2 Save your edits by closing notepad or whatever editor you've used, and leave the file in place (in the Objects folder). Now, go to your flight folder and locate the soundlist.ini and add the following line to the list section, numbering it as required: SoundFile029=SAMBurst Then, scroll down, and add this data entry to the very bottom of the page: [sAMBurst] Priority=HIGH Looped=FALSE NumBuffers=4 3DSound=TRUE DopplerEffect=FALSE MaxDist=3500.000000 MinDist=10.000000 InsideConeAngle=360 OutsideConeAngle=360 ConeOutsideVolume=1 Save the edits, close the editor, and leave the file in place in the Flight folder. Now, download this .wav file attachment and drop it into your Sounds folder: I did this several months ago, and had forgotten about it, until I experienced a near miss from an SA-6, that detonated a few hundred meters behind me...

From what I've read, it would have to be real close. So close in fact, that you'd more than likely hear fragments pinging off the airframe and canopy That's why I made the comment regarding realism...but, after all, this is a game. As Sparko would often say "Full realism would entail one getting doused with jet fuel and then set ablaze"

That weapon editor is (currently) incompatible with SF, WoV and WoE. It states on the download page that it's for FE and WoI.

File Name: WoE Shader Effects 1.0 File Submitter: Fubar512 File Submitted: 21 Jul 2008 File Category: Environmental Mods INSTALLATION: Assuming you have WoE (ie., "Wings over Europe"), the process is simple...just extract and place the folder named "Terrain" into the your Wings Over Europe Folder, and you're ready to go. In all other titles, extract the watereffect.fx and the waternormaldot3 into the Terrain subdirectory of your choice. In Strike Fighters, that would be "Desert". In Wings over Vietnam, it would be "VietnamSEA. In WoI, it's "IsraelME". This effect is optimized for use with Brain32's WoE terrain using Cellisnsky's widesky 1.0 mod. *NOTE*: I cannot guarantee that it will work to everybody's satisfaction with other ThirdWire titles, terrain sets, or environment mods. KNOWN ISSUES: Cards that lack FULL DX9.0C support, such as ATI Radeon 9x -X1K series and the nVidia GeforceFX(5) series, may experience pixelation issues when close to the "water's" surface. The only workaround is to either turn off the shaders, or to break down and purchase a card that supports DX9.0C. This effect is all but unusable in Windows Vista, due to its poor DX9 support. The .FX files contained in the zip archive are based on ThirdWire's original's, and were re-compiled & debugged using ATI's RenderMonkey. Click here to download this file

That's where the 3D "skybox" ends. It's controlled by the skyheight and horizon distance values in the environment system and flight system.ini files.

That's roughly the same distance that it is from my home in NJ, to Washington, DC. It's not a pleasant drive, by any means.

For ground objects, too. Green vehicles look quite out of place in the desert, and visa versa.

Unfortunately, no. They'll use whatever the default camo is for that aircraft.

No, that's just a water tile that does not lend itself to using shader effects (because of its color and surface texture). It is one of the reasons that I do not recommend it for anything other than Brain32's WoE terrain under Cellinsky's widesky mod. To stand out, the effect needs a solid and preferably dark background.