Geezer

Thought I would start a separate thread for general historical background, leaving the original Storm Over The Sahara thread for specifics like aircraft. Again, the 1940 desert war was quite different from the later, more famous, desert war (after the Germans showed up). WW1 equipment was still in widespread use, frequently outnumbering more modern WW2 equipment for two reasons. Further north, the Battle Of Britain was raging and British industry was struggling to make good the losses from Dunkerque, so no new production could be spared for Egypt. On the other side of the frontier, the Italian industrial system was failing miserably to provide modern equipment, so the Italian armed forces also used large quantities of left-over WW1 equipment. This accounts for why so many biplanes were still in use along the Libyan-Egyptian border in 1940 - there was nothing else available. Some examples below. After WW1, Italy received several hundred Austrian artillery pieces as war reparations. One example, the Skoda 100mm howitzer of WW1, was still widely used by the Italians in 1940 Libya. Shot below shows a Skoda, captured from the Italians, being used by AUSTRALIAN troops during the 1941 siege of Tobruk. After the 1918 Armistice, the Brits overhauled the Rolls-Royce armored cars used in the Palestine campaign and continued to use them until the 1940 campaign. Also, both sides were still - mostly - using the same artillery and small arms they used in WW1. Note that Italian trousers apparently came in only one size - too big!

RAVEN recently had a similar problem, and found a useful tool to recover lost files. Maybe this will help you? http://combatace.com/topic/84639-backup-backup-backup/ Bottom line: we should backup frequently, though I usually forget.

Just uploaded an update that fixes the Fort-4 right/left orientation problem, and attaches the art to Fort-12 LODs. Now, its back to making some industrial objects for the map guys (see below) and finishing the Halberstadt D5.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it and post an update tomorrow.

Yep, it will be interesting to see what they do. Some of the objects were requested by the map guys, so I'm sure they have plans for them.

I just noticed a mistake I made in the LOD names. Fort-4, an artillery battery, comes in a right hand and left hand version, so the map maker can fit the battery to his terrain. Unfortunately, I have the right and left LOD names transposed. Fort-4L(eft) is actually the right hand fort, and vice verse.

View File Fortification Objects This pack contains a wide selection of fortifications. Some of them, like the Austrian Fort, are enormous and are WW1-specific, but there is also a selection of WW2 Atlantic Wall fortifications, so modders can construct defenses for most any period. The fortifications constructed from concrete, masonry, etc have damage models but the simple trenches have no damage models. I was unable to convincingly design a damage model that replaced one pile of dirt for another. There are six straight trench sections for each major WW1 power, with an appropriate machine gun - Lewis (British), Maxim (German, Russian), French (Hotchkiss), etc. Hopefully, modders can deploy existing figures behind the straight trench walls. For grins and giggles, there is also a zig-zag trench section that more-or-less matches the trench sections of a 1024 FE terrain tile. The straight trench sections are generic enough to also be used in most any other period, even VietNam. None of the guns work, they are simply stage props. But if someone wants to massage files to make the guns operable, contact me and we will discuss the job. My thanks to the map makers - Quack74, gterl, Steven1918, Wrench - for their inputs. If I've forgotten anyone, my apologies - contact me and I'll add your name. Enjoy. Rev1: Fixed the missing art for Fort-12 - thanks to KJakker for spotting that. Also renamed the multiple Fort-4 LODs for correct right/left orientation. Submitter Geezer Submitted 12/14/2014 Category First Eagles - WWI and Early Years - Object Mods

Nice job! I wondered what you had been up to lately.

Wow! Great information. Thanks.

Adding Jpeg capability could significantly improve the tilesets and maps. I used four already existing 1024 art files to make one 2048 art file, and slapped it on an FE 500m tile in Max. Results below. Your hi-res improvement could be huge. It would probably mean revising or making new art, but the results would dramatically improve the sim's appearance.

Noticed in a thread about Gerwin's new map editor that jpg files are enabled for ground tile art - as stated, this should enable higher res artwork. http://combatace.com/topic/68667-alternate-tfd-terrain-tilemap-editorviewer/page-10 This is an area where TW is significantly behind the curve, so I am interested in finding a way to use larger, higher-res artwork - if possible. The average computer has improved significantly since FE2/SF2 were first introduced - has anyone experimented with larger artwork RECENTLY?

(chuckle) Shot of the Lost Temple Of Ozymandias: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away." The terrain tile is 500x500m (First Eagles), with 1024x1024 art. Think the art originally was from an SF source, but can't remember where. Same tile with lineup of vehicles for possible second phase (1941-43).