Helmut_AUT

Yep, especially in the modern years (1990 and onwards) I also learned from my squadron visits that "drop tanks" are in name only most of the time.

Normally in SF2E I calculate my fuel so that I fly on external for the inbound leg, and on internal for the way home, with about 20 minutes reserve or a few minutes burner. I don't carry excess external (only one or two instead of three if range is not an issue) just the amount I need to have fuel + reserve. BVR I keep them, I throw them in the first turn after the merge when I'm really committed to a winder/guns fight, not before. They are usually empty by that time anyway. If no WVR fight, then I might as well bring them home since the campaign tracks ammo and tanks, doesn't it? It's a shame wingmen are so quick to drop their stuff, especially if you just tell them to land (Return to base). Waste of good stores.

Okay, so for flat Germany Terrain or First Eagles terrain - does height map detail actually matter? I could see it being an issue when flying over mountains... Not clear what the _nm.bmps do, if you want to explain that a bit more. Thanks for the answer

Okay, after a bit of testing around: Objectdetail determines the distance at which LODs are swapped. I assume it's the same for terrain features.

SF2E, 1979 Red Lightning campaign. This is what I see in the campaigne2.ini and campaigne2_data.ini. I'm not really a modder yet, so maybe I'm missreading, but shouldn't the Air Units match? From the .ini where player selects an unit for campaign: And from Campaign Data Also, AirUnit39 and AirUnit40 are both labeled as "I./JBG 31 'Boelcke'" I suppose Unit40 should be II./JBG 31 'Boelcke'. Is it safe to fix this by swapping unitIDs around?

Tornado is perhabs the one mod-aircraft I'm looking forward to the most. Has there been any half-official mention of when it might be polished for release?

I don't doubt that for the Mirage Factory, but for example I dropped a few addon-aircraft into FE, and the cockpits were definitely much below default standard. Very much below for some. Not to mention a default included flight model which made a 1916 aircraft perform better than my 1918 Fokker. And this is the part I never liked about mods (same for FS2004) that all to often the quality levels differ a lot, and you have to search for the best parts. I appreciate anyone with the time and skill to do 3d modeling who adds stuff into the sim, but I don't have to like it all, and I don't have the time to sort it all. Yet that is the beauty of such a "supermod" that stuff gets selected which matches each other. I've been checking the NF1 to NF4 readme's just now, and it sure makes me almost regret I didn't buy WoE.

Sounds like my kind of thing. I don't dislike the concept of modding as such, I just want the mods to be compatible with each other, no "this might not work if you install that", and it should be the quality level of similar stuff in stock. I think NF will do that.

Thanks for the link, looks sweet! Hopefully someone will get around to updating it, weird though that there are such things in the target list already. The funny thing is that the campaign text already tells you "No 1 Squadron is being forward deployed" when you give it a Highway Strip, in an otherwise stock campaign. So the game knows the function of these strips alright, it just crashes the aircraft at game load. I don't mind a "simple install" addon mod pack, but what I meant is that fiddling with core engine files simple makes the sim workings "too transparent" for me. I had this with FS2000 once I started changing some panels around (2d back then) - soon I was constantly aware when flying how this stuff is just some bitmaps and pieces. I think for now swapping some stuff in the campaign data around was enough for me, I need to fly more.

Well, the names and positions are in the target ini, but the aircraft starts in flight when you start "at the runway" so obviously it doesn't work. Shame really, it would make the Harrier much more fun - but then, can the AI handle short takeoff and landing? Besides, this shows why I'm not too much into modding - when you start looking at files in the background, you lose the "surprise factor" when things happen in game, you see something on screen and think "ah, that's because it's written in that file..." - not fun for me.

I found one, added it's name to the Harrier unit, and - got killed at start. Would be nice if the process was as simple as reading the names from the target.ini and copying them into the campaign_data.ini but it seems there is more involved? I looked trough the downloads section but couldn't find relevant mods.

I'm actually using all stock, so what I could upload would be usable for stock flyers. Spang Code I meant correct writing for the campaign_data.ini, but I found it. So basically I could move the 23rd TFS and give them a stock F-4E late model? And I suppose "Highway Strip Bases" are moded in, not stock?

Storm, what's the exact code for Spangdalem? And did you give them F-4E? I would like an US Phantom group in the late campaign too. The German squads have been corrected yesterday thanks to your guys help, but I'm hesitant to upload since I also changed some other things around, maybe not for everyone. It's true that it seems slightly hurried, for example Harrier3 has a 25% chance of doing SEAD - an aircraft with no ECM, no Chaff and Flares? Suuuuure... OTOH not a single squadron in '79 by default does shipping strikes.

Ah okay. So I don't need to change the order or numbering in the Campaign_Data file, just change the unit numbers in the Campaign.ini? The unit numbers there do not have to be correctly in order from top to bottom? That will be easier to swap then trying to get the campaign_data info correct. Posted at the TW boards, I don't mind the wrong airbase to start from (though as Austrian, I'm very familiar with JG74 and Laage AB) but I'm worried the incorrect unit IDs might even change the supply or mission priorities for the Squadron.

Looking further into the files, there's a TOTAL mixup of german units. JG74 Mödlers should be at Neuburg, but is at Lechfeld Airbase - because the unit ID from Campaign.ini is actually JBG33 which is at Lechfeld. The decals don't show either when doing a campaign. I'm just not sure how damn complicated it could get when swapping ID's round. Basically the Order of Human Flyable and AI-Only squadrons gets incorrect in Campaigne2_Data.ini after the RAF flyable squadrons. Where the human squadrons should be, there are a few unit numbers taken up by AI 104G Starfighter squadrons, and that screws everthing up.

Ah, I never noticed. Thanks!

MiGBuster, thanks for explaining the airborne flights. Wow, "virtual cargo" - warehouses as supply stores - that is a mighty campaign engine.

Holy cow. So the supply level of an airfield attached squadron can be reduced by hitting their parked stuff outside? Oh boy, there really is more to this than meets the eye. Anyone has a clue if the "raided at takeoff" scenario or similar also happens in First Eagles? There it seemed to me the first half of the flight to the front was pretty carefree - which is a shame, since I like to navigate by map and hand, yet not if there's zero chance of enemy encounters.

Kowalski - how is that possible? I thought in Thirdwire games all friendly and enemy flights start on the runway when you launch the mission. At least that's what I heard about First Eagles. So it is in fact possible to get surprised early, even during takeoff by enemy already airborne?

Yeah, maybe an idea for the next patches - have a "save mission" button at the debrief screen for a random single mission (or campaign mission too?), which adds it to the "Load a single mission" screen (which is empty in SF2E anyway, and not that full in First Eagles). Does this sound like something TK might consider , maybe for posting on the official boards? After all, during the debrief as long as you can REFLY, the mission has to be somewhere in the system still, and I would think the game would already be using the same format internally as with mission-generator designed ones, so maybe it's just a question of "writing them down" somewhere. I kind of wanted this for First Eagles today, first time I ever had to intercept a flight of AEG G.IV. I failed two times and would have loved more chance for practice, but had to quit for time reasons. With First Eagles, it's a bit of a shame that aircraft can not start before YOUR flight. That means you'll never randomly encounter enemy bombers over your side while flying to the front, because they are usually still on their ingress themself - seems the only downside of the current generator compared to, for example, IL-2 which spawns aircraft in air. Advantage to SF2E compared to First Eagles seems that the "radius" of aircraft engagements is much larger, so you actually get random enemy action before you cross the front, and the Air Defense is ready too. BTW, I deleted IL-2 and LOMAC from the drive today. While they have more details in some things (engine management in IL-2 versus always 100% throttle in FE... more proper avionics in LOMAC) they simple do not have the replay value and also IL-2 looks slightly dated compared to FE aircraft and cockpits, LOMAC really suffers from the static single player missions. For someone who for years ignored TK sims based on the "survey/light sim" myth I'm sure a convert now ;)

Hi all Small question about the F-15A: 1) Is the distance readout on HUD and HSI to next waypoint with a decimal, or not? IE 999 on the analogue HSI counter is 99.9 miles, or ninehundred? the HUD does use a decimal, spelling it 99.9 2) Is the HUD speed true Air Speed or Indicated Air Speed? It shows the same as the analogue speed clock. Solving those two mysteries should allow me to manage my fuel y calculating flight time, which right now I can't get my head around. Oh, and I gotta say I'm now hooked. It's not LOMAC in it's details, but the random nature of the missions, together with the "less than super lethal" missile tech of the era really make for some awesome BVR/WVR engagements. Very refreshing to not get fragged by every single incoming missile for once. And the AI plays it's part well too, even BVR. thanks for the help

Thanks, funny that someone else stumpled upon this today too. I did some math and found that speed is likely True Air Speed - at 400 knots, the average 180 miles to target are a small hop and leave a lot of fuel, so that is sorted.

Thanks, I just found this today as well and wondered about what's going on. Which .cat do I need to extract for the F15A_COCKPIT.INI, or has someone done the mod and can put it here as file? later

And yet another newbie question - but I couldn't find an answer. Is it possible to have more keymapping options, maybe by editing an .ini somewhere? For example, it would be nice if the "Fire selected weapon" Key (default: Enter) would also fire the primary gun if that is the currently selected weapon. The way it is now, this key makes little sense since you can cycle trough Sidewinder/Sparrow/Vulcan but you can only fire Sidewinder and Sparrow. Doing so would save me one key on my stick which I could need for other things, since I rarely use guns and missiles at the same time this would be okay. Padlock and Target closest to view center would be nice if it could be on the SAME key. IL-2's padlock is so easy to use - point the sight at an aircraft, hit it once, when you release it view goes back to front. In First Eagles and SF2, I need three keys for the same function: Target key (T), Padlock Toggle(F4) and Front Cockpit view(F1). Certainly there's room for optimization here? Also, is there really no way to have view control (pan view) and zoom on both joystick and mouse? Minor stuff, but would make the sim much more enjoyable.

If the Radar was as complicated as the real F-4 version, you'd be correct, but since the workload is reduced a lot trough "simplified" avionics and flying is also not as detailed as real life (engine overstress? Radio coms), you are much closer to the workload of an F-15 or f-18 single seater. Even if you switch off the aids.