ArgonV

Jedi Master, these are all valid points you bring foward. However I think you do not realize one thing or maybe have overlooked it: The CFS3 engine was designed to be scaleable as system specs improved. So while when CFS3 was released it looked and ran like dog poop, with todays powerful PCs it can be made to look and run much much much better. On par with any modern flightsim out there today. Infact, I enjoy OFF P3's down-low terrain better that DCS Blackshark's! IMO it just looks better in OFF P3.

I've ordered my copy. Phase 1 and Phase 2 were well worth the price (FREE) and Phase 3 is no doubt a production style effort. For that much past entertainment and enjoyment for free they've earned my dollar. :)

I have found one bug already.. It seems a tree SM file slipped in the install that messes up the number of trees present with the stock terrains. Simply delete the Tree1.sm file in the Media\terrain\rhineland folder.

Hello! I think I know why. Per the Patch 1.6.0.6 Readme: There are three new keywords to use in the sdemons.ini file: Joystick, Joystick1 and Joystick2 These have to be given the exact name of the game adapter you want to use as it appears in the control panel or in the FSSDOEJoystick utility (included in this package too) e.g. Joystick=Logitech WingMan Force 3D USB Joystick1=CH F-16 CombatStick - Rev 2 These being defined, you can now use JoystickAxisX, JoystickAxisY, etc.. in the keyboard.inp file in order to refer to the game adapter defined by the "Joystick" entry and Joystick1AxisX, Joystick1Button5, etc... Of course, same applies for Joystick2. If you do not define any Joystick entry in sdemons.ini, Joystick will be assigned the first game adapter, Joystick1 the second, and so on.. Side effect: even if you plan to use a single game adapter in SDOE but that you have more than one linked to your PC, there is no need for it to be the first one any more. Force Feedback will be limited to the "Joystick" entry. So it looks like you need to add your Joystick=CH Fighterstick USB joystick1=CH Pro Throttle USB Joystick2=CH Pro Pedals USB to the sdemons.ini file.

Some WIP pictures of Snowy Somme at dawn: What do you all think?

Thanks! Atmospherics..? The above is a real photo from 7:00 A.M. Here's another one from somtime in the morning: Of course our sun is not perfect, and as you say the engine is 10 yrs old now..

A closer look at the buildings:

I am of course referring to the Plane Pack 5 release candidate. At least that is what was told to me by a close friend and Beta tester. Now with AI that can take off and gain altitude along with a terrain that has many new ground objects, targets, populated towns and things to shoot at/run into plus newly reworked airfields; Plane Pack 5 may well put FS-WWI back on the WWI sim map. I am working very hard with terrain Beta testers to finish up Somme as well as working on getting things wrapped up for a Plane Pack 5 release soon after the New Year. With 52 flyable aircraft, two flyable balloons, one flyable Zeppelin, three drivable ground vehicles, 430 Training missions and 185 Campaign Missions to choose from FS-WWI has a lot of content to offer!!!

Plane Pack 5 is not yet released. Its close tho!

don246, that is the last official release: Plane Pack 4. Plane Pack 5 is what's next, and it will need to be stand-alone from SDOE WW2. :)

gwar, Fighter Squadron Screamin' Demons Over Europe (SDOE for short). The add-on has been around since about 2001 and has continued to gain content, updates, conformity and bug fixes.

Hello all! Thanks for the replies. :) don246, you might have Plane Pack 5 Public Beta. This will be Plane Pack 5 Final.

In expectation of FS-WWI Plane Pack 5, and to further the completion of the FS-WWI mod for SDOE I have decided to further enhance the Somme terrain in light of Recon3's texture improvements. The list of improvements I have already completed or wish to complete are as follows: -Fixed many shading oddities. Some still remain around the airfields and towns however. I'm still looking for a fix for these... -Add blown-out buildings and rubble near the front lines (In Progress) -Create more forests (In Progress) -Add more buildings to all of the existing towns (In Progress) -Add "fields of battle" to front lines area (Done) -Remove "invisible ground" that aircraft crashed into or ground objects got placed ontop of (Done) -Add a permanent Zeppelin Shed to the terrain (Done) -Make the two bridges able to be driven or landed upon (Done) -Correct shading on many of the tents, hangars and buildings (Done) -Airfield building and hangars are now mostly hi-res (Done - Recon3) -Airfield tiles are hi-res (Done - Recon3) -Add hi-res support to the terrain (Done) -Fix "floating" windmills and lighting issues of the windmill object (Done) -Correct the error that the windmills all were either Axis or Allied in the Mission Editor. Now each of the three windmill targets can be set to either/or (Done) -Correct all Training Takoff and Landing missions so the Allied aircraft take off on the Allied side of the front and the Axis aircraft take off on the Axis side of the front (Done) -Correct all of the airfield AI take off coords and positions. They are now not so randomly placed on the airfields (Done) -Create a new Allied and Axis observation balloon object. The placeable object now has a squad or so of men to protect it, a few tents around and you can see the cable ran from the balloon to the ground. The men do fire on enemy aircraft, and they can also be killed or ran over (Done) -The above mentioned object has been modified to have a flak gun. These objects are permanent now on the terrain up and down the front lines on both sides. I would not venture to the front so half-hearted now!! (Done) -Add balloon bases to all airfields (Done) -Add more buildings, houses and trees to the town of Bertincourt (Done) -Add a stationary train object to the railroad station (Done) Not all of these are 100% completed, but I am getting close. I'm also looking to add more objects on the terrain to shoot at and to liven up the atmosphere a little. I expect this terrain project to take me a couple of more months. When it's finished, I will attempt to transpose these modifications to Snowy Somme. Then, FS-WWI Plane Pack 5 will be completed and released. :) Some quick screenshots: A new deflated and burning damage model for the balloons: After it reaches the ground: New tree textures Permanent Zepp hangar

Ok lots of updates to report!!! New bridge textures (Included rail tracks and better looking brick), added more hangars for the airfields, fixed take off positions for German airfield 3 (Now named Epinoy), and a few other goodies for the airfields (Lamp posts, crates, a wind sock that moves and a AEC truck).

Lots of things happening on this front! Tons of bugs are being squashed and the Somme terrain is still undergoing vast improvements. Recon3 is actively retexturing the towns and areas around the factories. An effort has also been made to flatten out the terrain (The old Somme had mountians and plateaus which was totally unrealistic) and add many new tree objects and forests as well as to fix the old ones. A pic: At the front lines inbetween the German and Allied battlefields smoke has been added to a couple of the craters. This spreads up and down the front lines and makes spotting the battlefields from a distance a bit easier as well as adds a touch of realism.

Please report any bugs and errors found with FS-WWI Plane Pack 5 Public Beta here.

Fixed a bug with the Albatros D.I in that its top speed was too high. This also fixed its accel rate and take off issues. Fixed a bug with the Fokker D.VIII in that it had no nose/fuselage drag. This was causing the top speed to be too high as well.

Hehe all of these views and not a single comment! ;)

Found bug where the bridges in Somme could not be landed on or driven on. Found a bug where the Bleriot XI and Fokker E.III could not properly follow targets that were engaged. This would cause them to bank too sharp, and lose distance on their targets. There were many unoptimized sounds that the aircraft and other objects used. These were up to 1mb in size! This taxed the system greatly during a heavy battle.. These sounds have all been reduced to not use such a large memory footprint. Fixed a couple of bugs with the Bristol F.2b where damage to some parts would cause the game to slow way down and the view system distance settings to get corrupted. Fixed a bug in the Alb D.Va FM where it could not accel past 100 mph unless put into a shallow dive first. Also fixed the max speed from 129 mph to 116 mph.

That's some good news!!! :) Glad you got it up and working.

Hello! Sorry I have not seen this until now.. To me it sounds like the file you downloaded has gotten corrupted. Have you tried redownloading the file by any chance? gwar, try changing the video resolution to 1024x768 and see if the black screen goes away. You might also want to change the API to something else. (OpenGL32 or D3d T&L) Hope that helps!

Yup that's right! Mr. Jason Root is dawning the "ball and chain". ;) I will be getting hitched tomorrow evening and then going on my honeymoon for about a week and a half. That means no SDOE or FS-WWI for me! If you have any questions, comments, updates and so fourth please either PM me here or E-mail me at ArgonV at AOL dot com. Hope you guys are still here when I get back!

Found bug where the Vickers F.B.5a would just slow spiral down until crashing when engaged with enemy aircraft.

Found bug in the Morane Saulnier N damage code that was causing a CTD when the right wing breaks off.