Geezer

Found an interesting article about the classic WW1 movie, Paths Of Glory. https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/

Agreed - but the gradual process that led us to our current situation started decades ago. Mark Twain once wrote that history does not repeat itself, but it DOES rhyme. For those who enjoy thinking about the lessons of history, this recent video about Julius Caesar is food for thought. Rome began as a small, vigorous republic with robust laws and conscientious citizens. It succeeded beyond anyone's expectations and grew into a mighty empire. Rome outgrew the institutions designed for a small republic, and was gradually paralyzed by governmental gridlock. In particular, the Senate had become hopelessly corrupt and no longer served its purpose. Sound familiar? Caesar was not the first Roman to realize the system need overhaul, but he was one of the first to implement changes - but few Romans liked them. Hence, he was assassinated.

Progress shot of 1938 Munich Crisis camo.

Not yet. It takes just as much time to do FMs and files as it does to make models - sometimes more. The China stuff is on hold until somebody makes an appropriate FE map, but the SCW stuff is progressing nicely. The Spanish CR32 has been sent to Baffmeister for FM development, and the Spanish SM79 is inwork. I also plan on making a pack of dedicated SCW ground objects sometime in the future. Stephen1918 also has SCW stuff inwork, with more to come.

Stumbled across some old shots of MontyCZ's excellent 1938 aircraft. In one, I've revised the skins of the Avia B534 fighter. He also made an early Messerschmitt Bf109 and Heinkel He111. Almost the full spectrum of 1930s aviation technology - except jets - is possible in one mod. I've also thrown in test shots of some of my stuff, suitable for both the SCW and 1938.

I just sent it to Baffmeister - he'll develop another of his excellent FMs for it, plus other stuff. Meanwhile, I will complete the artwork with panel lines, weathering, etc. It will be a while before everything is complete and it can be released. Also in the works is the last operational version of the CR32, used in Libya and Italian East Africa as a ground attack machine.

1938 was a transition year for the Armee de l' Air, Luftwaffe, RAF, and Regia Aeronautica - older aircraft were still in service as newer aircraft began to flow from the factories. Many future models planned for the SCW will also work for 1938, such as the Potez 540. Lots of fun with biplanes and early monoplanes.

Sometimes the above happens to me, when the wrong artwork has been assigned to the model in 3dsMax. When the model is exported to the game, the LOD looks for the art assigned to it in 3dsMax - even if it is the wrong art. If this is the case, only the modeler can fix the problem: assigning the correct art to the model and then exporting a new LOD.

Funny you should mention the Heyford. Its on my mental list of aircraft for the 1938 BEF.

Had to make some German bomber crewman for this. I've got a bunch of pilots/gunners made, but it just keeps growing larger. Still gotta make Spanish and French crew.

The Snipe compass is - probably - an .ini fix. Dunno what can be done about the Nieuports because the LODs are based on 3D models that appear to lack a compass. Any solution would require revising the original cockpit model, or making a new one. Both would require permission from the guy who made the original model.

Correct - the stock game Aldis sight is wrong. Woodman's Early Aircraft Armament gives a detailed description of the Aldis sight. Early aircraft were plagued by vibration which made aiming with a telescopic sight harder than aiming with the Mark 1 eyeball. The Aldis sight's image was not magnified. Instead, it used the same optic principles as modern, parallax-free reflex sights for rifles. The two engraved rings on an internal lens were always the same size and always appeared in the EXACT CENTER of the eyepiece, even if the pilot's head was off-axis to the sight. I have wrestled with this problem for the CR32 - there are four choices. First shot shows an attempt to copy the Aldis sight with two physical 3D rings placed inside the sight eyepiece. Second shot shows the real world CR32 optical sight offset to one side so the gamer will use the back-up iron sights. A third choice is to delete the optical sight entirely, and just use iron sights - this will improve pilot visibility when tracking a target. The fourth choice is to fiddle with .ini's so glowing rings appear inside the eyepiece, like yubba's experiments. Starting around 5:45 in the old propaganda film, you can see footage of CR32 gunsights: Now is the time for you guys to vote, as I am still working on the cockpit. Yubba - sorry to hijack your thread.

Stephen1918 has already released two SCW aircraft and some ground objects, plus has plans to release more aircraft. Shot below shows what I have in the pipeline. Over the next year or two, the SCW is going to get lots of love.

Two more shots of REAL fighter planes!

Taking a break from ground objects, and fooling around with SCW aircraft. I just love Steve's I-15 and Brequet XIX! Plus, I'm slowly getting the CR32 and Northrop2E ready for Baffmeister. EDIT: use of some Republican aircraft is controversial, as what data survives is contradictory. I have already made models of the Northrop 2E, Dewoitine D510, and Boeing 281 (export version of P-26) for China Skies. As the models are built, mapped, and the skins started for China, only new skins are required for use in the SCW - even though they may not be "accurate" they should be a lot of fun and add plenty of atmosphere to a fascinating period of aviation history.

Well, no hurry but maybe we can work out something that uses the game code combined with a 3D model? Atmosphere shots of the gondola below.

Thanks. I have a lot of other projects to finish before I can wrap up the SM79, so it probably won't be until autumn that I ask for assistance. The Jozza bomb sight, mounted in the front of the ventral gondola, looked like shot below.

Really interesting stuff. Can I contact you when my SM79 is releasable? It will need some bomb-aiming file work.

Quack74 notified me that two BMPs are missing from the pack - they can be found below. I will add them to the pack when I issue a revision that includes more stuff. Missing Stuff.rar

File Name: Euro Objects File Submitter: Geezer File Submitted: 01 April 2017 File Category: First Eagles - Golden Era - Object Mods This pack contains several dozen new, high-res Euro ground objects for upgrading the really outstanding maps produced by FE modders. The intent is to push the envelope and see if FE can approach the immersion of more recent flight sims. There is a lot of confusion concerning FE objects. Generally speaking, mainstream objects (mostly buildings) are 63% of actual size. However, combat units and airfield objects are 100% full size - so they don't look strange when close to full size aircraft. The screenshots show all of the buildings contained in this pack. They are ALL 63%. Shown, but not included in this pack are airfield objects and WIPs of fortifications and terrain. They will be in a future objects pack and will be full size. Also included in the future pack will be more 63% walls/fences at 5 and 10 degrees for placement on sloping ground, plus more 63% railroad objects. Use MUE's excellent LOD viewer to identify each object as I don't feel like making explanatory diagrams. Click here to download this file

I just posted the latest pack of hi-res Euro objects - more will be available in the future. Because railroads are perfect targets for FE, I am working on many more related objects. Most of the items in shot below are available in this or previous object packs.

Wrench: we've been down this road before and the subject still lacks clarity. Snippet below from earlier thread: "Hat tip to Wrench for explaining this in an earlier post. GROUND objects, such as buildings, are scaled down to 63% of original size but terrain objects are not. Stephen1918: If you land a plane close to a city, you'll see that the buildings are quite a bit smaller than they should be. But that's OK because you usually just see them from the air. Objects you would find on an airfield are normal size because you do see them from the ground. Check out the trucks driving through a city." Possible sources of the confusion are: - Distinguishing between ground objects, terrain objects, and perhaps even combat units - The stock games appear to have a mixture of both sizes - Checking just a few combat units may not be a valid sample - FE and SF game map systems are not identical Shot below from screenshots thread shows the stock trees appear to be roughly in proportion to the stock buildings, but the trees appear to be too small when compared to the vehicles. This suggests that objects are two different sizes: 63% and 100%.

Got another question for the map makers. I've completed a selection of walls and fences for the release, but they are made for level ground - see shot below. For sloping ground, would variants angled at 5 degrees and 10 degrees have any utility or would they be useless?

Good question. I got the 63% from Wrench. I know some ground object models are 100% so airfield objects don't look undersized compared to the aircraft. Can any FE map makers shed some light on this?

Nope, I don't have enough time to do my own stuff, let alone duplicate someone else's stuff.