Skyviper

CombatACE Interview With JSF_Aggie In this week's CombatACE Spotlight Segment we have the wonderful oportunity to interview a member who has been here since 2004. JSF_Aggie who is reffered to as the Campaingn Guru and kind enough to do an interview with us. So, JSF_Aggie, can you tell us a little about yourself? I'm married with two children, a daughter who's a freshman in high school, and a son who's in 1st grade. I'm a software engineer, and I work in a flight simulation lab. My wife is a teacher. I run a youth basketball league and spend a lot of time coaching. What interest you about aviation? I'm an Air Force brat. My dad was a gunner on the B-52H until they took the gun off, in about '92. I grew up at several SAC bases, went to high school at Edwards AFB, and worked there on the flight line, during high school and college summers. The plan was always to become a pilot, but my vision was not good enough. What is your favorite aircraft and why? B-52, because of the family connection, but also because of its history and service length. What got you interested in flight simulation? Just general love of aviation. I grew up around aircraft and every job I've had has dealt with aviation in some fashion. Being able to tweak and create like you can with the TW sims is important to me as well. Do you remember the first flight sim you ever played? Probably Jane's USAF. I didn't have a computer until my last couple years of college. I didn't have one that you could really enjoy a flight sim on until after I graduated. What motivated you to arrive here at Combat Ace and stay here 9 years? Thirdwire's sims cover what is my favorite eras of aviation. CombatAce has some StrikeFighters guys that were around before I discovered the game. Most everyone here has always been very willing to help out when I had questions, and the mods that have been created by these guys take the sim to a whole different level, compared to the stock game. When did you start modding? Shortly after I started flying Strike Fighters, sometime in 2003, I think the first thing I uploaded was high res skin/template for the Beagle. What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing, a neat hobby, etc? It reminds me of building aircraft models as a kid. Outside of family and work, it's one of the few hobbies I try and make time for. What motivated you to make the Operation Desert Storm Campaign mod? Dave's constant nagging. What events led to you being called the Campaign Guru? I think Dave stuck that there after the original ODS was released. I think there were fewer guys doing campaign stuff back then, so I think it had more to do with quantity rather than quality. What is a campaign you would like to make provided the resources are available? A Soviet vs. US campaign for the DBS terrain. I've gotten pretty far along three different times, and eventually started over. The last time was to take advantage of what SF:NA gave us. I plan to get back to it soon. What modding tools do you use and why? Photoshop for texture editing. TW's TerrainEditor and gerwin's TFDTool for terrain work. And gvim and examdiff for text files. What is your favorite mod you have created? The skin template for the B-52 is the only time I've skinned a model totally from scratch. I begged Dave to do it and I think it turned out pretty good. I've also been on the team of some really good stuff like ODS and OTC, and I think it was really cool to be able to contribute to large mods such as those. What is your favorite mod that you did not create? I haven't been able to come up with just one. I lean towards the effect mods that deuces did back in the day, and what Stary does now. Also, I think there are several really good add-on terrains that add a lot to the sim. Who is a Modder you admire or inspired you to start modding? Lately I would say eburger68. I hope everyone realizes how much work goes into the mods he puts together, and the older ones he's updated for us. Do you have any favorite quotes or thoughts about being here at Combat Ace you’d like to share? I'm sure I'll take crap for this, but what the hell are all the references to the Eels about? Thank you for reading this week's CombatACE Spotlight Segment. There is still more to come, until next time, I'm Skyviper wishing everyone out there happy landings.

CombatACE Spotlight Special With ravenclaw_007 "This place was and still is great ...Especially the willingness of helping newbies to make there first step into moding and eventually to become a modder is something I like very much on CA" -ravenclaw_007 For this week’s CombatACE Spotlight Special our next mod author calls Germany his home; a home served well, and who has been a member here at CombatACE for seven years. He is also known for his helpful nature and for the many weapons he creates that many of us enjoy dropping on our digital enemies. Thank you, ravenclaw_007, for taking the time to do this interview with us. So, can you tell us little about yourself? I´m 55 years old and single again; I´m disabled and on pension as result of a brain surgery where a large part of my tumor was removed. I served for 12 years in the German army aviation as [a] flight mechanic; my aircraft was a Sikorsky CH-53G After my Army time, I was in [the] Philippines for 10 years as [a] technical consultant. After my return to Germany, my tumor was detected and my troubles started. What interest you about aviation? The flying and the technique. I love the challenge to hold a aircraft airworthy and to fix and solve problems during flight. Have you ever seen the faces of passengers during a refueling when a flight mechanic is going out on a rotor blade and fix a delamination with a [piece of] duct tape and then tell them to go back onboard? This [these] faces you never forget. What is your favorite aircraft and why? For WWII fighters the Me-109, we made a formation flight with CH-53 a Ju-52 and Me-109 (Buchon) over Switzerland during an air show. Something I'll never forget, we opened our loading ramp to make some pictures of the Ju-52 and the Me-109, to see them up close in the air [which] was really special for helicopters. The Sikorsky CH-53G for obvious reason for fighters the F-4E/F, I have some special memory there (long story). Can you tell us a little more about the air show? This air show was at a small lake in the mountains the location is called Hütten and the benefit was for disabled children, date 19.07.1987. The German Air Force and Army was invited because the Swiss Air Force could not participate because of some legal issue. It was only the second time after the war that German aircraft are allowed to participate at such an event in Switzerland Aircrafts from the German armed forces: - Tornado (German Navy) - C-160 - Bo-105 - CH-53G This is the only air show where the audience can look from on top on the aircraft approaching [as] they stay above the edge of the valley. After we made our presentation, we landed on the left side of the valley for static display and almost blew [a] hotdog stand away! What got you interested in flight simulation? During my time in the Philippines, I saw a guy playing an A-10 simulation. That was the moment I got interested and bought my first game. Playing on that old 386 I had is no comparison to today; but this A-10 game was great You’ve been a member here since 2006. How did you find CombatACE and what made you stay for so long? It is only 7 years now, so [it’s] not that long. I was searching for an add-on for SF1 and found CA , this place was and still is great so I stayed and enjoy it every day. Especially the willingness of helping newbies to make there first step in to moding and eventually to become a modder is something I like very much on CA When did you start modding? I don’t remember the year but my first mod was a Me-109 skin for IL-2 and after I discovered CA I started to make skins for SF-1 What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing and neat hobby etc? In the beginning it was a hobby, today it is much more than that it is a way to keep me busy and my brain working I´m not the fastest modder but I like to finish a project and make it as accurate as possible I think the weapons I made for SF-2 shows that. What modding tools do you use and why? 3ds max and paint shop pro x3, 3ds max is the only program which models can be exported from and paint shop is easy to use. I see you released an F-4E USAF Pack, which is an awesome update to the TW, BPAO, and Crab_02 models. How long did it take you to complete the project? It is still an ongoing project, I don’t remember how long it took because I was working on it the same time on other projects as well like the Rafale or the F-16 but I hope I can finish all the F-4E/F soon. Do you have plans to make or update other types of aircraft? There is a long list already but after the F-4E/F I have to finish the RF-8A/G, other projects on the list are - Viggen family - Recce Kfir - A-4K cockpit and a lot more weapons. What is your favorite mod that you have created? It was the Buccaneer project I took over from Russouk2004 and it is now even available for FSX. What is your favorite mod that you did not create? AH-64 and Su-27. Who is a Modder you admire or has inspired you to start modding? There are two; I admire Bpao for the work he did and how willing he was to help. He always gave you an answer to your question. He will be truly missed, and there is Amokofloo/Florian who patiently help and teach me 3ds max without him I could not have done it. Thank you ravenclaw_007 for taking the time to do an interview and for sharing your story with us. Come back next week for another CombatACE Spotlight Light Special. Until then I'm Skyviper wishing everyone out there happy landings.

I posted the link on another site I hang out on and someone then posted that. I'll ask them.

CombatACE Interview With Gaijin Entertainment Because flight simulation is a pasion and hobby for most of us here at CombatACE, we are always staying on the watch for new flight simulation programs. War Thunder, an award winning MMO, has definately grasped our attention as well as the attention of 3.5 million users. But who is behind this awesome MMO? To answer that question CombatACE contacted the developer of War Thunder; Gaijin Entertainment. We are honored to have met with its founder and president, Anton Yudintsev, who agreed to do an interview with us and tell us the awesome story of Gaijin Entertainment, which is Russia's largest independent game developer. Thank you Anton for doing this interview with us. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your role as President of Gaijin Entertainment? I founded the company together with my brother Kirill, who became Creative Director, and Alexey Volynskov, who had became Technical Director, and since then we take part in everything our company does: development, talking to press, running business, working on technology. Our team isn't that big yet (it's like 100 people in different offices), so we have the unique opportunity to oversee every department and every member of our team which larger companies lack. What interest you about flight simulation and gaming? We started to make games when we were in school. Some of those games had become very popular (for example, Doom2D, which was side-scroller game inspired by famous Doom 2, had audience of millions of players), some not - but games were our passion. And Russian developers always had passion about WW2 history and especially, aviation. The best flight sim games were always from Russia, and one of the most famous was IL-2 Sturmovik. When we were offered to develop the console version of IL-2 Sturmovik, we saw it as a unique challenge. This legendary flight sim was already one the most famous (and well-received) games created in Russia. To make our own version, updated for modern (at the time) Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems, and to show everyone that you can make a popular flight sim for consoles - you just can't miss an opportunity like this. What are the events that inspired the creation of Gaijin Entertainment in 2002? When I was a student at the Moscow State University, I was already employed in game development studio. It was the end of 90s, so there weren't a lot of them around in Russia. Anyway, I had a lot of my own ideas for new games and for the development process and wasn't satisfied with the inefficient development processes. That's why I decided to found my own company. Becoming Russia’s biggest independent game development company must have been challenging. What were some of the obstacles Gaijin Entertainment encountered and how have they been overcome? One of the hardest things was evolving into a self-funded company and loosing the big publishers grip. A lot of Russian gamedev studios were basically living from one game to another (and spending publisher's money) without any means to survive on their own. When the economical crisis of 2008 struck, almost none of them were left afloat. But we already had switched to console development and started working with such companies as Activision and Konami and gained international renown by that point. The next big challenge was embracing the free-to-play model and getting to know how MMOs work as it is obvious that in current market it is the only way to create a truly popular game for PC. Did you ever think Gaijin Entertainment would be as big as it is today compared to what it was when you first started? I don't think a lot of people create their own game development studio and think "Eh, I'll just stick to making some small budget titles". Not us, that's for sure! Almost everyone wants to achieve success, earn a lot of money and become famous all around the world. And we're proud that our hard work and dedication made it possible. Of course, back in 2002 that size of game development company was something unusual, we would be very big (that time) if we would have 100 people. Nowadays, 100 developers are considered to be a "rather small" company. Over the years Gaijin Entertainment has received numerous awards for its games such Flight of Fancy, IL-2Sturmovik, and the recent 2013 War Thunder that has numerous awards for its quality. Will Gaijin Entertainment continue to make more flight simulators and if so what types of aircraft would you like to use? War Thunder already has like 300 planes inside. And it is going to have more. That is impressive to have 300 aircraft in one game when most games only offer a handful. Besides flight simulators what are some the other games that Gaijin Entertainment make and will continue making in the future? Right now we're focusing on the development of War Thunder and we still have a lot to do - main goal being implementation of ground and naval forces in addition to aviation in our game. And this enormous task will take all of our resources for a couple of years to come. What do you think the future of gaming and flight simulation is and how do you see Gaijin Entertainment doing its part to shape that future? We see one of the main missions of our company as showing everyone that military vehicle simulation in general should be accessible and popular genre, like racing games, not some niche one. This was our thinking during development of Birds of Prey, Birds of Steel and Apache: Air Assault. And success of War Thunder with its 3.5 million players is living proof to that. Living proof indeed. Once, Anton Yudintsev, again thank you so much for taking the time to an interview with us and for making the awesome games you make. I wish you and everyone else at Gaijin Entertainment continued success. Thank you for stopping by. I’m Andre “Skyviper” Ford with the CombatACE news team, signing off. If you are you interested in more titles released by Gaijin Entertainment you can check them out here. The photos are links to their respective pages. Click on the Gaijin Entertainment logo for a complete list of all of their games. Please note that Modern Conflict 2 is an app. .

I loved playing Super Strike Eagle that game was awesome. Great interview thanks for telling us your story WhiteBoySamurai.

He sure does ... a clean new pair of pants... I'm kidding. But kudos to that guy. Bravo.

So a nine year old tried to go to Las Vegas and took a flight across five states with no ticket. Here's the story

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tom-clancy-dead-celebrated-thriller-141800682.html R.I.P

Interview With 76.IAP-Blackbird From the other side of the Iron Curtain this next modder, who now resides in the Chez Rebublic is 76.IAP-Blackbird. He has been member here at CombatACE for nine years. His most notable file is the TU-22KD. Thank you 76.IAP-Blackbird for doing the interview with us. "I`m amazed to have been here for 9 years... Thank you guys for the great time ..." -76.IAP-Blackbird So, can you tell us a little about yourself? I was born in Prague in 1984, on the other side of the iron curtain. We escaped into West Germany in 1989 and established a new life there. Not a better one but politically different. If we knew the wall was going to fall down, we would have never escaped. But that’s how life is sometimes. What interest you about aviation? I was 3 years old and on holiday somewhere in Czecho Slovakia next to a training area of the Czech Air Force. The Czechers flew in formation of 3 and 5 planes, so damn low, that you could literally touch them. They scared me to death! So I had to know what the noise and machines were. That`s how it started... What is your favorite aircraft and why? I don`t have a specific, each era has some nice birds. I love the Spitfire from WW2. The MiG-15 from the Korean era. The F-4 is great, the Starfighter, Suchois .. oh man I could talk about it the whole day What got you interested in flight simulation? It was the ability to fly "missions" back in WW2 with "Aces over Europe" from Dynamix. In a different time and a different place on earth. It`s like a tale, you travel with your mind. As a kid it`s easy and you create fantastic adventures. The graphics were so "simple" in comparison with today, that your mind filled the gap. You flew over cities, over beautiful landscapes, under bridges and trough a cloudy sky... What would be the perfect flight sim in your opinion? It`s simple, moddable as Strike Fighters, with systems like Jane`s ATF/USNF and LOMAC and a open and connected world like FSX. You could even travel from Britain or Germany to the near East. (Please don`t let me fly from the US to Iraq) What motivated you to arrive here at CombatACE and stay here over the years? To be honest, no idea, I was searching for a Forum that had info and Mods for Strike Fighters 1. I think I have started over at Column5`s site. When did you start modding? I worked with Maya but this software wasn`t made for games like SF. I have modded since DOS in 1992, you could change stuff with a Hex editor, or simpler with a notepad like the one on Norton Commander, today it`s Total Commander. With this method I made all planes flyable in ATF, you could even stand there as a Building... a bit boring but possible. I loved to change things in games, not go with a predefined way. That`s why I love open world games like Flight sims, Total War series or Operation Flashpoint/ Arma 2 What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing, a neat hobby, etc? Relaxing, not really. I would say it`s a different kind of work. You can lose yourself very easy in your projects and make people angry when you lose the interest, ah.. that`s not the right word, motivation. But I if you build a plane you love to fly, or just see it in a game, makes you a bit proud! And[so does] the feedback of the people. How long did it take you to make the Tu22KD mod? All in all 2 months, cause I had to learn a lot about MAX. This mod was something to test the new Fakepilot Method from FC. TK`s Tu-22. It was nice and a good point for me to start. I have some more variants of it on my HDD, but never released them. I was surprised of the positive feedback this mod received. My Mapping skills were less than basic at that time and I was happy to create a Template for it. What motivated you to make that mod? It made the Tu-22 from Strike Fighter useful in a different aspect and made it look "cool" too. What modding tools do you use and why? First I have switched from Maya to Max, for the Skinning part I’m using Paint.net and Gimp, both powerful and nice tools to use. What is your favorite mod that you have created? Tu-75 variants out of the Tu-4 Bull That reminds me, I have to finish it .... What is your favorite mod that you did not create? I think it will be the Mig-25 and the new Tornado IDS by GMG Who is a Modder you admire or has inspired you to start modding? It`s the GMG, those are highly skilled guys who I can ask [for help] in German if I have some problems. And they are offering me core files to learn and expand my skills. Those guys have a lot of patience. Do you have any favorite quotes or thoughts about being here at Combat Ace you’d like to share? "Nice to meet you guys!" I`m amazed to have been here for 9 years, damn what a time, but I enjoyed it. This is one of the most cultivated and most friendly forums [i've] ever seen. Thank you guys for the great time we have here. .

Wow good post man. Good post.

Viper: Yeah but can you take a message? Consuela: No ... No... Government no here Viper: Well okay do you know when they're going to get back? Consuela: No ... No... Government no here. We have no common sense you bring us some? Viper: Wait a minute the Government doesn't have common sense and you want me to bring you some? Consuela: Yes Viper: Can't you just take your heads out of your asses and get some your damn selves? Consuela: No... No... no one here to do it. Government no here. No committe to regulate ass getting pulled from head. *click*

I clicked on this tap to see what was up with it. .. just clicking sh*t for the sake of clicking ... clickty click click. So I see the member map thing I guess it shows where folks are in the world; but I noticed something odd ... If blue represents water ... green represents land ... then gray must represent space ... and there is a member way up there in space ... an E.T is among us and here's the proof.

lol. I know I'm silly but the thought of E.T pecking away at a laptop has enterd my mind ... EEE TTT FAAAACE BOOOOOOOK

HER DIARY Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong. He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. To my surprise, he responded to my caress, and we made love. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep -I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster. HIS DIARY The lawnmower wouldn't start today, can't figure out why, but at least I got laid. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man I will Cut you man that sh** ain't no joke ... gas high as a mothaf***a! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Seems that, after all these years, the romance and love just wasn't what it used to be for John and Jane. In an attempt to salvage their thirty years of marriage, Jane convinces her husband to see a marriage counselor with her. The counselor first asks Jane what she feels the problem is, and before he can even finish his sentence, she goes into a tirade listing every single problem the couple has ever had - even before things went south. She goes on and on for nearly an hour, and finishes in tears. Finally, the counselor gets up from his couch, walks over to Jane, embraces her and begins to kiss her passionately. The woman quiets down immediately, and sits there in a daze. The counselor then turns to John and says, "Your wife needs this at least three times a week. For the sake of your marriage, can you can do this?" The husband ponders this question for a moment, and confidently replies, "I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays... but on Fridays, I play golf." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart. 'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife. 'They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans he replies. 'Put them back, we can't afford them demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping. A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket. What do you think you're doing?' asks the husband. 'It’s my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,' replies the wife. Her husband retorts: 'So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price.' On the PA system: 'Cleanup on aisle 25, we have a husband down.' ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target. Dear Mrs.Samsel: Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samsel, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras. 1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking. 2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals. 3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom. 4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares.. Get on it right away! This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money. 5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway. 6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area. 7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged. 8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called. 9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose. 10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were. 11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously loudly humming the ' Mission Impossible' theme. 12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels. 13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!' 14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!' And last, but not least: 15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

So less than fifteen minutes ago I sucessfully took a shower, mopped the floors, cleaned the walls in my bathroom, cleaned the shower, and fixed a leak all at once. How I did it? I failed to properly shut the main water supply off. I thought I did I really did. But when I turned that little nut I found out quick fast and in a damn hurry that I did not. A fire hydraunt popped out of that llittle pipe damn near knocked me out and flooded the bathroom. It is bad that the whole time this was going on I was thinking about the water scene in down periscope? Anyhew had someone cut the supply and got everything under control. Got it fixed everyting is good now. Also found out that the plumber failed to put the damn washers on the main control valve to the shower unit which is why my stuff was leaking all the damn time. I'd been more mad if I had to spend several hundred bucks for a two cent part.