Geezer

Baffmeister - Thanks for your effort - much appreciated. I'm making steady progress on the Gauntlet, and it should be ready for testing soon.

Bummer. Looking forward to when you resume 3D modeling.

That looks pretty good for a low poly model. You did a good job of aligning/matching the artwork too. The guys who make maps should respond if you wait a while.

I will let other guys comment on gameplay, campaigns, etc. My perspective is that of a modder who has worked as a professional 3D model and skin maker. FE/FE2 are variants of the SF/SF2 system that was first released in the early 'oughts, roughly the same period as CFS3. Both systems had, and still have, strong points and weak points. They both suffered from a lack of development - lots of hard work is required to realize the sims' potential. To over-simplify a bit, SF/FE got better devlopment initially but hit a plateau when the developer changed his marketing focus to mobile devices. Third Wire has ignored FE/FE2 since 2010, so what development has occurred since then has been due to modder efforts. Meanwhile, the OFF/WOFF guys slowly developed and improved their mod, initially using the CFS3 system. Over time, they have made so many improvements that WOFF2 now only uses a modest amount of CFS3 code, and only realized the sim's visual potential in the last few years. What's the bottom line? FE/FE2 is more accessible and easier to mod than CFS3 - that's why there are more aircraft, theater maps, ground objects, campaigns, etc. However, the general level of graphics and immersion for FE/FE2 suffers from lack of development and is now a bit outdated. Simply put, more time and talent has been devoted to WOFF over the years and it shows.

Looks like the original data files are mistaken? The .303 (7.7mm) cartridge was the standard British rifle round, fired by most any rifle or machine gun built to British contracts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.303_British Towards the bottom is a link to the Lewis gun. Lewis guns built to US contracts used the American .30-06 cartridge. The French used several rifle caliber cartridges so I don't know what French manufactured Lewis guns fired.

Agreed. I have been experimenting with modding a number of different combat flight sims. What I found was none of them have a clear superiority over any of the others - in every case, it was a matter of balancing complexity against capability. The TW series have always suffered from a lack of development which probably explains their lack of commercial success, but they are some of the easiest to mod and have significant unrealized potential.

LOL! Next, you'll accuse him of being a bounder and a cad.

Good to see you are still alive and kicking!

Sorry, but I'm in the process of disengaging from FE. I have a couple more aircraft that I will complete enough to pass on to other guys, but that is probably all. With the SCW mod dead in the water, I am looking at more modern sims with better graphics systems.

Even 'simple' is very time consuming - I have other things to do. What I plan on doing is converting some of my 1930s China war 3D models to either .3ds or .obj format, then let you guys finish the development process. I will not convert models to LODs, nor will I map the models so an artist can make skins. You guys will have to do that yourselves.

Thought I'd add some useful info about terminology that may help you guys. 3D models exist for their own sake in the model space of the 3D program (Max, Blender, etc). Models are built, tweaked, and finalized in that 3D model space, which has NOTHING to do with any game software. Only after the 3D model is "finished" is it then converted to a LOD (Level Of Detail) for use in a game system. The conversion process can sometimes be quick/easy, and other times be involved/time consuming - it depends on the situation. Because of actions the modeler takes to convert the 3D model to a LOD, the two are NOT automatically the same object with different names. Assuming "model" and "LOD" can be used interchangeably can sometimes get you in a lot of trouble because they are actually two different things. Related, but different. I've been thinking about making a small batch of 1930s aircraft models available, but the devil is always in the details. Its actually a lot of work, and - because of format issues - could easlily be a big waste of time if not done right. Specifically, how many of you guys can open a .3ds format model? How many can open an .obj format model? Its a time consuming PITA to make these conversions, so I am NOT going to make both. You guys need to decide which it will be.

Hi, Steve - While I have new priorities, I have not lost all interest in FE - I still check in from time to time. I have some excellent refs for several SCW aircraft, so lemme know when/if you get interested and I'll send them to you. I've also made a start on SCW ground objects - I'll look them over and see if they are compatible with my new priorities. If so, I'll continue work and contact you. Speaking of contact, I've tried several times to re-establish communication with gterl but he does not respond. I hope he's OK.

Yesterday was my birthday - I hit the big 70. While celebrating with a bottle of wine, I realized I had better get to work on my bucket list. It's time to move upscale and make/texture some very high end models in an advanced game system. Samples below. I'm not saying "goodbye." I'll eventually respond to messages, but won't work on any new Third Wire aircraft.

Thanks. I'm not completely going away - just mostly. If Gterl were to resume work on his SCW map, I would reconsider my priorities as that is also something I have always wanted to do.

OK, I'll start converting them to 3ds files. When I get a big batch done, I'll contact you and let you post them. BTW, they are all 1930s items!

Guys - Thanks for the kind words. I am not completely walking away from TW modding. There are a couple of aircraft inwork that I want to get to LloydNB, Baffmeister, and Whiteknight06604 - eventually. What has changed is emphasis. I have always wanted to make some high-end models, and get them running in a graphically advanced gameworld. So, I am starting to learn the Arma3 ropes for a series of WW2 softskins used in Tunisia and Italy.

Agree with ojcar. Take your time, and work 'til you are happy with it.

LOL! It does resemble several 1950s projects. I was an avid reader of RAF Flying Review in the 1960s, and watched the slow destruction of British aerospace. Many of the survivors fled to DeHavilliland Canada, and then fled to the US when Canada destroyed its aerospace industry in the 1970s. I worked with several ex-Brit, ex-Canuck engineers at Northrop in the 1980s.