Old Diego

O-1 Bird Dog Series View File Read Me O-1 Bird Dog version 1.0 1 July 2009 *************************************************************** 3D Model .....................................Diego Lozano Textures ......................................Diego Lozano Flight Model .................................Kreelin INI Work ......................................Diego Lozano Weaponry.....................................Diego Lozano Sounds ........................................Kreelin & Diego Lozano Firsthand Knowledge.....................Steve Dunn Beta Testers ................................Steve Dunn, Kreelin, Aaron Watson, David Hobbs and David Slavens ************************************************************************************************************************** O-1 Bird Dog information can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_Bird_Dog , http://www.talkingproud.us/HistoryBirddog1.html and here http://www.ibdaweb.com Included in this package are all the O-1 variants with the exception of the O-1C. Maybe in a future release the C model will make an appearance. Until then, enjoy the A,B,D,E,F and G models. Instillaton instructions: *********************************** The O-1 Bird Dog has been made for Thirdwire's Strike Fighters2 Vietnam (SF2V). It has been tested in Thirdwire's Wings Over Israel by reworking the file structure. Those instructions are beyond this scope and not supported. Keep in mind that its next to impossible to keep file names unique and some files provided in this package may overwrite some existing files. To reduce the chances of this happening, please back up your Sounds, Guns and Weapons folders....just in case. Extract the contents of the file O-1Bird Dog.7z to a temporary directory and place those contents in your SF2V directory example C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\My Documents\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 Vietnam. Disclaimer: *********************************** - This add-on package is a COMMERCIAL package. Thirdwire does not officially support it. Please do not contact them for technical support. - All rights remain the sole property of myself, Diego Lozano. - You are not allowed to distribute/share this add-on package in any way shape or form. You are not allowed to modify this package in any way. This includes cutting off parts of the packaged file it comes with or conceal its origin. - If you wish to modify this add-on package you must request permission. Any part of this package modified and submitted for download as a new or modified aircraft without prior consent will be considered a violation of this notice and the Website hosting these files will be requested to remove the file immediately. This package is considered intellectual property of the project contributors named within this document. All rights reserved. Comments: ************************************* All my textures are a max size of 2048x2048 pixels. If you don't need, require or your PC can't handle larger textures, feel free to either adjust the size using an image editing program such as Photoshop or use the 1024x1024 textures provided in the skins folder. If you are experiencing any issues or wish to get more info, please visit us at Combat Ace. We can be found in our sub-forum OverKill here http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showforum=238 I'd like to personally thank everyone involved with this project. It has been a labor of love and learning. Submitter Old Diego Submitted 07/02/2009 Category 0-1 Bird Dog  

*

Check your PM

Curious about this...can you import your model into DCS? I heard that they were going to be developer approved mods and released only through them. I could be wrong, of course. If things go south for all things Thirdwire, I wonder if all of those other possible moddable game devs out there notice a community waiting in the wings. Many with new ideas, game engine exploitation experience and the artistic skills.

Since I was the focus, I'll try to explain - B) I'm far from being THE old head around here but I've been around this block since day one at Wal-Mart. It seems my point about people being sent to CA to get there issues answered was lost on you. I meant, if you are running a forum and a customer has a problem with your product, don't expect your customers elsewhere to take care of it. My reasoning is that if you take the helping community for granted, the day the are not there to do your help desk work, will be too late. C) If you've been around as long as many of us have, you tend to start creating a mental tally of what has not been fixed yet, what has been eliminated, what has been broke and will never be fixed and what you would like to see added. In my case, I still want what was on the back of the SF:P1 box to be fixed. Why? Because I paid for it. D) Locking of the LODs or CAT files is not going to keep people from accessing the content within. I mentioned that to emphasize how the relationship has eroded to the point that soon we will have zero access or zero modders who care enough to continue to bring you things like TMF F-14. Do you think we just randomly started hen pecking INIs until we got one that worked or did we open a CAT file and seek out the info? E) You placed a comma after the word "alone" where a period should have been used. To your point, we aren't playing a spelling bee simulation/game and TK is not writing the same code over and over...or, he shouldn't be. Bugs due to a random comma or misspelled words are common in all software but incomplete terrain and non-tested game play should not be. Beta testers should never ever be the paying customer. This thread was for ranting and venting. I did that. You've done that. Lets keep the focus on Thirdwire and not on each other because I would like to continue reading how others feel about Thirdwire or the future of how this community can continue.

I meant what could be done visually with the old terrain engine vs the new engine. See Gerwin's Iceland effort to get a better idea of what I meant. To your point, locking the LODs is an idiotic move and does not keep anyone from accessing the contents. It only keeps honest people honest and honest modders from creating the free visual marketing Thirdwire exists on.

The balance is gone. No longer is Thirdwire focused on fixing the content that was offered in SF:P1. For those of you who remember what was broken in the first release and fixed in the long awaited patch, who even recalls what was not fixed? Ever wonder why those FAC sound files were hardly even touched? Where is Snoopy anyway? There was a lot promised on that game box. Instead we got a molasses slow series of features that never worked out of the box after that. From that first patch to the pay-to-beta-test situation that exists now, all I've heard are the same lame excuses - we're a small shop, not my idea of fun, too difficult to implement etc. There use to exist a friendly co-existence between modding and TK. In the beginning the modding was unofficially smiled upon and even supported. I assumed it was a "reward" for sticking by the game. Slowly the help from TK became few and far between. Lately it has grown into a down right lock out. I still remember the box for WoV actually claiming the huge modding community as a reason to make the purchase. How far we've come. Anyone with a question or problem asks on the Thirdwire forums and is quickly sent to this community. If CA shut its doors today, TK would be making Angry Fighters tomorrow morning. I wonder sometimes if TK wasn't just stringing this community along over the years. Each one of us holding out for our personal wish list while he held on to those now famous excuses. It wasn't until I really stepped back did I see how much of a fool I was for slipping dollar bills into his g-string that I was never going to get my personal wish list. The sad part is neither will any of you. Instead I keep reading excuses for TK for not fixing things, for not updating the terrain or for not doing what his customers are asking for. For those that have been around since day one - raise your hands if you think the terrain in NA was the major breakthrough you envisioned or a one off that can be easily outdone by our usual terrain artists? What a waste of effort on his part. Its not even finished - no shorelines, some islands are still blocks and not by any stretch of the imagination new technology - maybe new to us but not worth the effort. I see the end of this symbiotic relationship with this last release. Last nail in the coffin if you ask me. When modders are angry with you for killing their babies, you have killed their idea of fun. For those who feel that everything is fine in SF land, keep worshiping at the TK altar and keep your wallets open but don't say you haven't been warned.

Somehow, this all looks vaguely familiar.

I think its the TK Mod Crippler that loads up around 80%.

You are absolutely correct, Stary, I have had my fill of WW2. That is why when SF:P1 came out, I was all over it. I tend to be very cautious and read reviews and especially the technical support forums before I buy any new game. Take On Helicopters has my eye but until Aggressor Blue's problem is fixed, I won't touch it. Another patch you say, probably. But that really isn't my point. Its whether PFunk should even be asking us. We aren't a cog in TK's wheel anymore. So, the question, in my opinion, should be posed to TK or based on what is released and not on some rosy future of unknowns. That kind of hype is what got us into expecting that NA was going to be what SF2 should have been and not some unfinished and untested money grab.

Why wait? Any product should be able to stand on its own, right? With the erosion of modding focus in Thirdwire products, why look to us for permission? Did TK state that this was patch 1 of 2? I would assume that this is it for the paying beta testers.

This is the reason I stopped. There is no worse feeling than spending days/months on various aspects of a product, only to have it wiped in in one patch. Usually, its 25% of the work that is wasted and now you're scrambling to find fixes and keep ahead of the emails asking for help. Not worth the trouble.

This might be exactly what I'm looking for, BG. A modern game engine with mod support tools, detailed rotor flight models, weaponry, MP with CoOp as the norm and my favorite - more than two people on the developers payroll.

I knew they were adding the Hind but didn't know that combat was being added as well. I'm in.

You should be able to export your 2012 model via 3Ds or FBX and re-import it into 2009. Should keep everything except maybe the anims - not sure about that. Before you go through all the trouble, email TK to see what version they are currently working with. They may have upgraded for work on NA.

I must not be seeing the same things that you are. Much of what I see belongs to Dan's brush work. You are jabbering on about industry norms while I'm trying to explain that Thirdwire is not f***ing normal. Want a perfect illustration of my point? Look at all the stock terrains and then look at the WOI terrain textures. Not like it matters much anyway. If you think TK is too lazy to finish his work - great, I'm not defending him. I think I hit a nerve with you or somehow stepped on your ego so, if you say that I'm wrong, then that must be gospel.

I think you miss the point. In the mainstream developer side of the game industry, studios have art departments. In the Thirdwire universe, DanW is the art department. If anyone here can match his artistic style so as not to disrupt the texture continuity, I'm sure they would have a place for you. Every artist has their own virtual thumbprint. Major studios have a variety of artists and can absorb the inconsistencies easier because everything is unique while Thirdwire games appear as if they're made by one person.

Something that could prevent him from accepting texture help is the continuity of the game "look". I'll assume DanW is doing much of the texture work. Suppose The Crayola Bandit took on the rest of the ships DanW couldn't finish, how would you explain the obvious sore thumb sticking out? Or the opposite could happen and you have a DDG that is light years ahead of the rest and you get the same thing.

I think its the old Douglas engineering building they moved into - fitting location.

Hmmm...good work around. I only asked because I know others will run into this and wonder what the outcome was. Thanks for posting it.

So, what was the solution? You said the vertices were already welded.

Don't hold your breath but I've been pleasantly surprised so far by all the extra visual detail. Good to see that TK...or who ever convinced TK, has been listening to the customer.

He's SO 'ronry, CH.

Dave, you have every right to speak your mind. Unlike other sites, CA has always been a place where BOTH sides could be heard. I understand what you're thinking but you're using normal people logic. Ask yourself - am I expecting something new from TW or do I feel like I've bought the lobster dinner, sent the roses and now its time to start up the bang bus? You're fooling yourself, man. You're gonna get what you're gonna get. Even TK says not to be expecting much. So don't get all worked up over what you know you won't get. I'm with Sundowner - there are people outside these walls.