mue

I'm curious what the root cause was and how you fixed it?

Wow, thank you all for the praise. It means a lot to me. Really! I still have plans to update the tools: TargetAreaEditor, LODViewer and LODExporter. And first and foremost I want to eventually release a first version of the TODEditor! I know I promised the TODEditor since by now more than 5 years(!). And three months ago I thought the first version will be "ready in two weeks"(TM). But than again RL stuff, vacation, etc. ... happened, and I haven't worked much on it since then. But right now I hope (again) the first release will be "ready in two weeks"(TM). TODEditor WIP screenshot:

I think you are looking at the wrong section. [LeftElevator] and [RightElevator] are the crucial sections: [LeftElevator] ... MaxControlSpeed=162.29 ControlMachTableNumData=4 ControlMachTableDeltaX=0.05 ControlMachTableStartX=0.86 ControlMachTableData=1.000,0.920,0.681,0.000 ...

Per default the games write the options.ini and version.ini to %Userprofile%\Saved Games\Thirdwire\<game exe name>\ (e.g. C:\Users\<username>\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 Vietnam\). By changing the Options/OptionsFile entry in the <game exe name>.ini file you can indeed change the location of the options.ini file: [Options] OptionsFile=F:\MyOptionsDir\MyOptions.ini But you have to make sure that the target folder (in the example above F:\MyOptionsDir) already exists. However, the version.ini (and I think some auto update stuff) will still be written under ...\Saved Games\... The %Userprofile%\Saved Games folder is actually one of the 'special folders' in Microsoft Windows. Windows allows you to change the location of the special folders and therefore also of the Saved Games folder: Right click on the folder -> Properties -> Location. After that all games in windows will write it's data to this new location. Unfortunately the SF2 games with the exception of SF2 North Atlantic are buggy in this regard. They will still write to the original location %Userprofile%\Saved Games .

https://combatace.com/forums/topic/93428-lodviewer/?do=findComment&comment=756172

I think you mean the directory (not direction) entry in the [Mods] section of the options.ini file(s), e.g.: [Mods] Directory=F:\ThirdWireMod\StrikeFighters2 Europe If you change it in every game options.ini to point to the same mod folder, then I think every game will use the same mod folder. But since I haven't tested it myself, I don't know if it causes any problems.

Is it possible to select the GPU from within the game: Options->Graphics->Display Device? I can't test it because I have only one single GPU.

@Wrench I think ponyboy meant the links to thirdwire.com (posted by crusader) are dead. @ponyboy314 The links crusader posted are indeed dead. But as Wrench wrote, you can also download the thirdwire tools here from combatace.com. But I also recommend the cat extractor from mues toolbox. After a small configuration step (i.e. setting the SF2 install directory) the cat extractor (from mues toolbox) searches all CAT files at once. In contrast with the thirdwire cat extractor you must open each cat file separately, meaning you have to know what cat file contains the file you are looking for.

I think Gepard is correct. Maybe the road you added is seen by the game as runway. Can you please check what TargetType the road is? Maybe something like MEDIUM_RUNWAY? I made some tests and it seems that if you add a second runway to a target area then the headings of both runways are added up and the other objects are rotated according to the sum of both headings.

In game at airfields the objects are oriented in reference to the runway orientation. E.g. if you rotate the airfield then the other objects are rotated too. The target area editor also supports this but with the following limitations: The runway object must be the first target in the target area. The offset of the runway must be 0,0. It doesn't matter if you first add the objects and then rotate the runway or the other way around.

You can try the dot label mod: http://combatace.com/topic/86215-showing-label-as-a-dot-mod/ This mod overlays all friendly/enemy objects within a 10 nm radius with a blue/red dot. The disadvantage of this mod is, you lose the target info box.

You must extract VIEWLIST.INI from FlightData.CAT (located somewhere in the game install directory tree, I think in the Flight folder). To extract the file you need a cat extractor program. You can use the cat extractor from the 3W toolkit or the one from Mues Toolbox. VIEWLIST.INI must be extracted into <mod folder>/Flight/ Neither SF2 games support multiplayer. The multiplayer entries you found are legacy from the SF1 games.

You can disable the view pitch and yaw limit in the VIEWLIST.INI with [ViewClass002] ViewClassName=CockpitViewClass ... LimitPitch=FALSE LimitYaw=FALSE

Back then, as I last played the game (around 2010?), the command bindings were hardcoded to key presses. You couldn't bind commands to your HOTAS from within the game. You had to use the programming software of your HOTAS to map HOTAS buttons to key presses.

EECH brings back memories. I haven't played it for years. BTW, with EECH I started my modding activities. Back in 2008 I implemented the MFD export feature in EECH. Having access to the source code definitely helped (TK, do you hear me? ) Regarding tutorials: have you checked EECH Central? Maybe the original game manuals are also still applicable?

Transparency of the material must be disabled. From the lod_exporter_readme.txt: And maybe you have to add something like [Shadow] CastShadow=TRUE ShadowCastDist=500 MaxVisibleDistance=500 to the object' .ini file.

I only know about two "domains", where the 3D model has an impact on the FM: Ground handling depends on position of the 3D model' gear nodes. Mass balance change by loadout depends on position of the weapon station nodes (e.g. pylon, ...) Are there any further "domains", where the 3D model can influence the FM?

Could it be that you already lost the file while moving the SF Israel mod folder, meaning the game is not to blame for removing the file?

Do you remember if it does happen on random or only after a game/DLC update/install?

I doubt that the game removes any files from the mod folder. I've never experienced such things. But what I think the game indeed does (and then only after a game update or a merged install of another SF2 game or DLC) is to revert stock aircraft and ground object ini files, i.e. Object/Aircraft/<aircraft>.ini and Object/GroundObject/<groundobject>.ini. I think no other files, e.g. *_data.ini files are touched. Can anyone confirm this?

There are no individual Effect.ini files in the CAT archives. All stock effects are defined in particlesystem.ini (contained in FlightData.CAT).

Yes the LODViewer has no problem with spec and bump (normal) maps, ... because the LODViewer completely ignores them

It seems every GIMP user stumbles upon this (myself included, of course ): https://combatace.com/forums/topic/93235-how-do-you-make-serial-number-decals/?do=findComment&comment=753952

Holding the shift key gives you finer control. From the readme: The position and heading of selected objects can be changed with the mouse: -translation (coarse): ctrl + left click + move -translation (fine): ctrl + shift + left click + move -rotation (coarse): ctrl + mouse wheel -rotation (fine): ctrl + shift + mouse wheel