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I didn't know you grew up in west germany. I always thought you grew up in east germany. I don't understand, what east german propaganda has to do with climate change? That's straw man fallacy. Of course you are allowed to say that 2+2=5. But if scientist then say that's incorrect because 2+2=4, that's not shouting down!

@Gepard you sound like the typical climate change sceptic . All of your climate myths are already debunked. e.g. here: https://skepticalscience.com/ Maybe the climate experts? 97% of climate experts agree humans are causing global warming. Source: https://skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus.htm and https://skepticalscience.com/empirical-evidence-for-co2-enhanced-greenhouse-effect.htm https://skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm https://skepticalscience.com/surface-temperature-measurements.htm They believe they are right, because they are backed up by most climate experts and scientist. https://skepticalscience.com/mitigation-cheaper-than-adaptation.htm

I love this community! @Nyghtfall Thank you for giving user support

The LOD exporter isn't compatible with blender 2.80. They made a lot of API changes in 2.80. I haven't found the time yet to update the LOD exporter for the newest blender version. But the exporter should work in 2.79. You run the exporter via File->Export->Strike Fighters 2 LOD. In the User Preferences->Add-ons section the plugin is listed under Supported Level = Testing!

This guy is hilarious. Quite entertaining. I already had a laugh when he described the fighter generations

He removed the link. His answer to my comment to his latest SF2:Vietnam Ep 43 video:

It seems as he started his SF2 video series the Thirdwire store were down. From the description of his first SF2:Vietnam video: I think at this time he thought the SF2 games were abondoned. But later as the Thirdwire store were up again, although he now mentions that you can purchase the games from the store, he still provides the link to the illegal copies.

I really like his videos. What I don't like is, that he provides a link to a download site where you can download illegal copies of all SF2 games.

I'm curious what features FE has what SF doesn't have? Regarding flight models, I would think the (prop) FM in both games are (nearly) identical. Maybe the AI or campaign system is different? What else?

The stall modeling in SF2 (e.g. the Stall*TableData) is still a big unknown to me. The regime between -AlphaDepart and AlphaDepart I mostly understand. Currently I'm implementing the SF2 P-51D FM in JSBSim/FlightGear. In the normal non-stall/non-departure regime it already "feels" quite similar to SF2. But I still have to run some validation tests. Yes, while sifting through the TW forum archives I noticed that back then there were several FM guys active. And according to the questions they have asked, it seems they know that they are doing. I think one guy was from avhistory.org and wanted to port CFS? flight models to SF.

In your TrackIR profile (in the TrackIR software) disable the z-axis.

Note: The LODViewer has a bug. If you reload textures while an animation is "shown" (like in the first post, where the gear is extended and the gear doors are open) then the decals are (erroneously) applied to the current (animated) position of the mesh and not the original one.

AFAIU: If you want proper 44100Hz sounds, you have to change ALL (incl. stock sounds) to 44100 Hz.

Yes GPL means General Public License. Only if you want your aircraft included in the official FlightGear hangar "FGAddon", then the GPLv2 is obligatory. Otherwise you can license your model as you like (assumed the whole model is your own creation and don't contain or uses GPL content) and use it in FlightGear.

Correct! But the buyer/recipient also get the same rights as you from the GPL. He can use/modify/distribute/sell the content under the GPL. His right to modify the content also means that you have to give him the "source code" of your content. The GPL says about the source code: "The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it." I think (maybe Richard can confirm or correct me here) that means, that if you sell the lod file then you must also include the e.g. *.3ds or equivalent file.

For those who don't know the GPL: If you use GPL content for your aircraft then the derived work, i.e. your aircraft, is also automatically licenced under the GPL. That means you can not distribute your aircraft under the CombatAce Modders License Agreement, because the CombatAce Modders License Agreement forbids the sale of the content (as payware). However the GPL doesn't allow those restrictions. Under the GPL the user has the right to sell the content!

Maybe you FM gurus knew this already, but I only recently noticed that: Internal fuel and the pilot (and internal ammo too?) don't change the center of gravity (cog) of the aircraft. The additional weight will always be placed at the cog. Only the inertia tensor (Ix,Iy,Iz) is changed as follows: Ix = (mass_total/mass_empty)*Ix_empty, Iy = (mass_total/mass_empty)*Iy_empty and Iz = (mass_total/mass_empty)*Iz_empty

Ok, now I understand. I forgot/haven't considered that you use the official multiplayer network with it's civilian traffic.

Since the multiplayer protocol is open, you always have the risk of cheating. I don't understand how releasing the python code increases the risk of griefing? I assumed the FlightGear combat community isn't that big, means you know each other, and therefore cheating isn't that much of a problem.

TK posted this in Sep. 2007 in his forum. See this forum thread: LOD file format. - Third Wire Forums.htm. And I wrote already that he used obfuscation methods later. Just to clarify: I don't want to distribute any assets. I only want to use assets from the game I purchased or assets from this community within FlightGear. For this I plan to write a tool that automatically converts the SF2 data ini files into FlightGear files (Edit: the .lod file itself can be directly loaded into FlightGear via the OSG pluging, so no conversion of lod files needed). Again: no distribution of any assets! I think that's legal within TWs EULA and CombatAce Freeware License Agreement. And I see benefit for Thirdwire and the community: Maybe some will buy SF2 games if they know they can use the aircraft in FlightGear too. And maybe FlightGear can be enhanced to be a fully community driven open source air combat simulator. Then why not use the already by this community created assets? And yes, everybody has access to FlightGear assets. Most FlightGear assets are released under GPL or other "free" licenses. I was told recently, that FlightGear aircraft were already converted to SF2.

Yes...if engineers make games... I've implemented an OSG file loader plugin for the SF2 3D model file format (*.lod). So the SF2 3D models can be directly loaded into FlighGear. I'm still not sure if I should make the LOD loader plugin open source. I myself wouldn't mind, but I don't know what the game developer and the 3D modders would think about it. In the past (Sep 2007) the game developer himself wrote in a forum post after he was asked about documentation about the LOD format: "...although we didn't publish LOD format, we also don't stop people form reverse engineering it either ;) Its not encrpyted or anything, so its fairly straight forward to figure out..." Unfortunately later LOD format versions contain some obfuscation, so maybe his opinion has changed? I also think the 3D modders consider the (non published) LOD format as a kind of intellectual property protection. But keeping it closed source would mean it can not be officially distributed/supported by FlightGear and it would only work with FlighGear versions/platforms for which I compile/release the binary (e.g. Windows). If I understand correctly, only hit notifications are transmitted, but no bullet or missile positions? Does that mean, that no tracers or missiles from other aircraft are visible? Is damage calculated by the "receiver" or "sender"? Do you have a link or pointer to the "automated enemy" code and the Python AI system? Thank you for the clarification.

Richard, thank you for coming to CombatAce and offering assistance regarding (military) FlightGear. I'm fascinated by the flexibility of FlightGear and JSBSim. Currently I'm implementing the Strike Fighters 2 FDM and the (very light) systems in JSBSim. The developer of SF2 has an aerodynamic engineering background and therefore his FDM uses "standardized" aerocoefficients (My notes about the SF2 FDM: sf2_fdm_notes.pdf). Because of the "openness" of SF2 the aerocoefficients of each component (LeftWing, RightWing, LeftOuterWing, RightOuterWing, LeftStab, ...) are easily accessible from aircrafts data text (*.ini) files. Currently I'm doing the FDM/systems "conversion" to FlightGear/JSBSim manually, but I think this could be done later automatically by a tool. As I wrote, I haven't looked in detail at the combat stuff in FlightGear yet. Maybe you can give a short overview of the features of the "OPRF" combat system (and maybe "Bombable")? What weapons are supported (guns, rockets, (guided) missiles, bombs)? I assume it works in multiplayer? How is the damage modelling? Since you mentioned SAMs, do you support AAA/Flak too? How sophisticated are the automated (AI?) enemy aircraft?

I think it's a TOD object (a tree) and therefore not listed in the target list window. You can show/hide TOD objects via View->Show TODs or the respective toolbar button. TOD objects are contained in *.tod files. TOD files are associated with tiles (textures) via the <terrain>_data.ini.

This is the current state of my attempt at reconstructing the SF2 FDM. Maybe someone find the information useful. I welcome comments and corrections. sf2_fdm_notes.pdf

Maybe I'm getting old...but, how can I embed youtube videos in forum posts? I couldn't find it in the editor. I know I have done it in the past but that was before the site update.