Dagaith

Dagaith you can count me as someone who is waiting as patiently as I can for the strutter release.your work on the terrian sounds interesting too.Not trying to push you or anything but do you have any plans on making anything after the Sopwith finished?

Nah, I don't think I'll start another project - even though I do love modelling. The thing is that I'll be having my exam session at school soon and after that I'll be going to the military service for 11 monts or so... No time, unfortunately :/

Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter will be here soon, let's say in a fortnight.

What I really miss is the terrain suitable for late 1916, early 1917 era (the end of Somme and Bloody April campaigns, the frontline was quite static then). I've been working on a rework of the existing Cambrai map (changed the front lines), but I'm not good at terrain editing...

Great job indeed. But what about some earlier, 1916 skins? (say Fokker D.II/III, Halberstadt)

Indeed, it's best to keep it simple. So yes, most probably the best would be having two versions, 110 and 130hp ones that are for both British and French.

Tam-di-dam

Heck: Unfortunately the unarmed version for Strutter cannot be produced in that way, because in addition to the gun removal (no problem with that) the cockpit edge/padding/whatever it's called should be altered too + a windscreen should be added.

It's no problem for me to make different models, as it's an easy change, though.

Let's hope it gets flying soon...

Oh, and I've added two in-game screens

Also, how do I make a transparent glass? Just setting a texture with opacity doesn't seem to work.

whiteknight06604: The single-seater was bomber only, I think. And the removal of Vickers would need some more than just .ini editing, the cockpit needs a few minor changes too.

Heck: I guess you're right. Perhaps, then, three versions?

British two-seater fighter-recon with Vickers and rear Lewis gun

French Sop. 1.A 2 (In most pictures I've seen, these didn't have synchronized gun. Only rear gun. Comments?)

French Sop. 1.B 1 (single-seat bomber, most of them, I think, had only unsynchronized gun on the top wing. Am I right?)

I've been thinking about the different variants of Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter lately... There seems to be many. But I (and I think most of the simmers) wouldn't want 8+ variants of same aircraft listed in their menus. That means, we should make a decision.

At the moment, I have a completed (only 1 LOD though) model of two-seater with synchronized Vickers and Lewis with the Scarff ring. That would be the most used/popular one I guess? Let's say, it's the Sopwith 9400 series...

This of course had different engines (mostly 110 and 130HP ones, is there a correlation with date, ie. early and late Strutters?)

Then, a 9700 series, 1-seat bomber would be needed. Most of them had synch. Vickers, I think. And again, different engines.

I don't know what was the difference between two-seater fighter and reconnaissance versions, anyone clarify this?`

We cannot exclude the French ones either, as they were really numerous. They had three general versions:

SOP. 1 A2 (two seater, recon?)

SOP. 1 B2 (two seater bomber)

SOP. 1 B1 (single-seater bomber)

They all had different engines throughout the war, ranging from 80HP to 135HP. Again, any relation to the date?

The French ones were a bit (but not too much) different from British ones, eg. not all of them had synchronized MG etc.

Also, the earlier variants of Strutter didn't have Scarff ring (Nieuport rings mostly then?).

I care more for early/late differences, as I love 1916 scenarios mostly (and fully armed and fast, late 1917 Strutter would be too tough).

But let's discuss!

Oh, and let's exclude the Comic at the moment. Perhaps later. :)

Wow, looking great!

I'll try to get my Strutter ready soon... Just have to find some more time.

For me at least they are audible in-game too.

Hmm... I still get these 'clicks' with some sounds... I tested with two soundcards (SB Audigy and ESI Maya44) and with my regular speakers (some Creative 2.1 set) and headphones (AKG K141 Studio).

It's quite strange situation. I do like the sounds though.

I like those sounds alot, but some of them have annoying crackling sound (lerhone, lewis, spandau and vickers). Or am I the only one?

Try to lower graphic settings. Those "unlimited" settings might give such a problem, I've noticed.

Wow, thank you all for helpful recommendations, I shall try to put them into practice. Yet, it seems all those hints and tips can probably be summed up in a single word: discipline. It takes a lot of discipline to maintain one's height/speed advantage and not to fall into turning fight; only after that are the masterful tactics of any use.

Thanks again!

Hi all,

I love WW1 flight sims, I've flown them since Red Baron (the original game). But my tactics haven't evolved since, I guess. I exclusevly use the good old turn fighting tactics. But I know that I should develop some new manouvres, especially with planes like SPAD or Pfalz, they are both very good aeroplanes, but they are not for usual turn fighting as it seems.

Someone please tell me, how should I learn the "energy fighting" method? I've seen some instructions for IL-2 game, but couldn't use them very well on WW1 planes.

And the second thing, I think it's linked with my turning tactics problem, is that I fail to shoot down 2-seaters. Getting on their 6 is easy, but usually I get shot down if I don't stay low (and I can't shoot from there very well).

So, tell how do YOU fly those fast and perhaps not so manouverable planes and shoot down those 2-seated devils. :)

Just open the campaign_data.ini, you'll see all the squadrons listed there. First come the player-flyable squadrons and after that, AI controlled. Just change the lines AircraftType= for any squadron you want, it's really easy. Don't forget to change the MissionChance lines too, so that fighters do fighter stuff, bombers bomb etc.

Oh, and the AircraftType value is the name of a folder of aircraft in Objects/Aircraft/ folder. E.g. To get 150hp SPAD 7, you should write SPAD7_150 as a value.

Hope it helps. Just look at the campaign files, and everything should be self-evident.

Thank you all for kind words :)

And I'm glad, peter01, that you have the patience to do the FMs.

1. I guess it's possible, but you'll have to do some modification though.

2. It's available in FE expansion pack, but A-Team made one too before that ( http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/ you have to register to be able to download it). Be aware, it's not supported (for new patches etc) for some time I guess. Best to get the Expansion Pack 1

3. Sure, you can play as Japan and fight against Allies, but it would be quite ahistorical, wouldn't it? I mean, the Japanese fought for Allies against Central powers. Plus I don't think there was any airwar in far-east in WW1, perhaps a few reconnaissance planes and that's it?

Don't know about carriers though. I guess they are moddable, too.

Well, I'm progressing quite slowly as I'm mostly occupied with my studies (my last exam this semester will be day after tomorrow). But I hope to get the plane airborne soon, I will not give any dates though. When all goes well and I manage to finish what I've started then I guess making the 1-seater version would be reasonable. I'm afraid the biggest problem lies with FM. I just have to hope that peter01 would like to make FM for it, without it the plane's no use. But it takes some more time to get to that point.

Anyway, a few shots of my progress too

You could be right re Albatros Dv Dagaith. What happens when you use the Dva for the model?

The textures didn't work, the plane was all white when using Dva. After checking your .ini, I figured out what the problem was. It's ok with Dv (which is what you've used in .ini):

e.g, in AlbatrosDI.ini you have

[LOD001]

Filename=AlbatrosD5.LOD

Distance=50

Not AlbatrosD5a! Hence the problem.

Thanks again Peter!

I noticed though that the Alb D.I and II are based on TK's D.V not D.Va as said in the readme.

Otherwise, great job. Thanks!

So I've had some time lately and developed my plane a bit. A few questions have arisen:

1. What should I do about the fuel tank? Those are mentioned in data.ini's and they have Min/MaxExtentPositsions there - but where do those values come from? I see no trace of fueltank model (node) in other data.ini's. So, should I make the model of it and place it inside the plane or...?

2. The same thing about the pilot. I have no pilot model, of course, in my .lod. Where do I get the extent positions?

3. Landing gear is quite big and bulky object. Yet I see no trace of its Extent positsions or collision points in data.ini's. Why so? Without collision points, other planes would simply fly through my wheels without a scratch, wouldn't they?

4. What's even stranger - control surfaces (eg elevators) too have no collision points or extent positions. How come do I shoot them off every now and then if they have no extent position values?

5. The Strutter has 4 ailerons altogether. The top and bottom ailerons are connected with a wire. So, which one should the wire be linked to, upper or bottom aileron? I guess the answer has something to do with RemoveNode thing, but does this allow the removal of any model/object in the .lod or only it's "children"?

I'd be thankful if anyone could answer those questions :)

And beware - I have a lot more of these to come!

Ah, yeah... forgot that forum and downloads have different passwords :D

It's okay now, thanks!

Somehow I cannot access the files on SkunkWorks page, although I typed my user/password correctly - and I can log in to the forums, too. Anyone else has this problem? If no, then I'll probably ask there for help.

Oh, and I noticed one thing flying Fok E.III: I stalled (wanted to make Immelmann turn. You know, the original one with stalling the plane not the roll-off-the-top manoeuvre), but quite weirdly - the plane was insanely vibrating while it was falling down vertically (that is, the bottom of my plane was pointing towards the land not the nose). I did recover from it, though, quite nicely when I pointed the nose down and played with rudder a bit. But it was weird.

Yet, you've done fantastic work again :)

Thank you!