pcpilot

ME? MODEL? I couldnt model underwear if my life depended on it... (...and you ought to be glad.)

LOL, I know the feeling man... I am wondering the same thing. Hopefully someone will figure this one out. I cant find the decals in the SF folder either.

Same here, the Migs are all working now and Im working on making some loadout and hanger BMP's. I made a post in the other forum about this question I have though... I was wondering though about the AvionicsDLL and the AvionicsDataFileName in the various aircrafts' configuration settings that are in each aircrafts' folder. I used the A-4C avionics as well as her cockpit for the Mig-17 and -19. For the Mig-21 I used the F-104 avionics as well as cockpit. Does the avionics mean that the migs fly like F-104's and A-4's? Or is that simply a referance to the guages or something else? I am hoping that the AircraftDataFile used in the configuration file is what holds the performance for each aircraft. Thanks...

I found your post about making the aircraft flyable SD. I have been working on the MiG-17, -19, and -21. They are all flyable now in my game's single player. I am now working on making my own hanger BMP's and loadout BMP's. I was wondering though about the AvionicsDLL and the AvionicsDataFileName in the various aircrafts' configuration settings that are in each aircrafts' folder. I used the A-4C avionics as well as her cockpit for the Mig-17 and -19. For the Mig-21 I used the F-104 avionics as well as cockpit. Does the avionics mean that the migs fly like F-104's and A-4's? Or is that simply a referance to the guages or something else? I am hoping that the AircraftDataFile used in the configuration file is what holds the performance for each aircraft. Am I even making sense here? My middle initial is "B" for babble... By the way, thanks Jeff, thats a fine attitude to take on the community. I hope all the sites display that sort of comaraderie. This game will go a LOT farther if so.

I just noticed that when I change the skin of my aircraft in say, single player, to something other than the original default skins, my aircraft shows up with the new skin but the planes flying with me such as my wingman, have the original default skin. Is there a way to make ALL the aircraft flying with you have the same skin? I'd at least like to see my wingman be from the same squadron... :?

Just had a thought... hope I didnt step on your toes Madjeff by posting this about a different website. My motives were pure, I was hoping to tell the community about something neat I found... My apologies if this wasnt kosher...

Just a comment fellas... I noticed when I first started flying this sim that all the aircraft seemed to roll excessively. I could see maybe the F-104 with a small wing area but not the F-4 or F100. And as you say, the A-4 should be a very stable aircraft. It had to be to be an effective ground attack aircraft.

You were able to catch that? WOW! Good timing! That is a cool shot... 8)

I'll try that Flight of the Intruder campaign SD! Sounds really cool. Me and a pal have been wanting an A-6 for a long time. I hope the D.I.A.N.E. system can be modeled, thats what made the A-6 such an awesome aircraft. It stands for Digital Integrated Attack Navigational Equipment, (I LOVE the military's proclivity for acronyms, hehehe). Excerpt taken from "The Vietnam Experiance, The Tools of War" by Time-Life Books... "The DIANE's visual display screen, a radar console in the cockpit, provided the two crewmen with a picture of the terrain in front of them regardless of weather. When the coordinates for a target were fed into the plane's computer, the time and distance to the target flashed on the screen. An onboard computer then calculated the course to the target and showed it on the DIANE screen as a 3 dimensional line on the picture of the terrain. At the end of the line the bombs could be released automatically by the computer at the correct time to hit the target." Can this be done? If not, it'll just be another aircraft.

And what better ship to model than the USS Independance, CV-62. She sailed off 'Nam not to mention plenty in the Med, then finished her career in Japan. Just a humble plug and suggestion from one of her former sailors... :0)

*HICCUP*

You are correct SD, it does say in the manual that the sidewinder shouldnt pull more than 2g. I also read later on an article online that said something very similar. I wish I could find it again. But the pilots had a derisive name for the missle. It wasnt till later versions that its manueverability was improved. Ill try to find that article for our info.

Dive bombing works, just keep your speed way down by using dive brakes and throttle way down. Level bombing will likely require a good altitude like say 500 feet, a set speed like around 300 knots, and practice on your timing.

Dont forget two things on your missles... 1.) If you are using your radar guided sparrows, keep your target in the radar "envelope" once you fire the missle. the missle "follows" the beam to the target. If you turn away, the missle will miss. 2.) If you fire a sidewinder, dont fire it in a high "G" turn because the missle cant follow the turn. Its manueverability generally was poor. Make sure you only fire it at the aft aspect of the aircraft as it is a heatseeker and only locks onto the heat of the exhaust. It is a "fire and forget" weopen unlike the sparrow but can still be fooled by tight turns by the intended target before impact or by flares or even the sun by a plane flying into the sun, then turning off sharply. I wonder how well the game models all this? Just thought I would amaze you with all my brilliance...if that dont work, let me know, I have another tactic...

Remind me NOT to get in a dogfight with you SD...I HATE getting waxed...

WOW! Exodus, betcha never figured to get this kinda responce eh? LOL! Simmers take their hobby SERIOUS! :shock: Good discussion fellas...

Your advice is sound Dagger. Everytime I try to get in a turning fight with a mig, I get toasted becuase he can turn inside me and hit me with his guns at close range. The F4 is a high energy aircraft which loses it quickly in a turn. This brings the plane down very quickly to the migs speed, allowing him to use his guns at close range. I read were the F4 pilots hated the Mig-19 more than the -21 becuse the -21's missles werent that great of a threat and it was a high energy aircraft also that suffered some of the same problems. Were as the -19 was a nimble and fast opponent who's advantage lay in the turning dogfight. Thats what it was designed to do. American fighters have traditionally been heavier, powerfully engined, and massive firepower. They are not generally good, manueverable dogfighters. Though of course, there are exceptions to the rule. The F6F was a good opponent for the Zero. The F-86 could take on the Mig-15. The F-16 Falcon and F-18 Hornet are no slouches in a dogfight either. American fighters tend to be oreinted more to Tactics like Claire Chennaults' Boom and Zoom tactics against the Japs in China. Thats why it always amazes me all those who prohibit BnZ tactics online like in IL2. They dont know their history or tactics when they do that. They are removing a legitamate Military tactic. I persoanlly think the same for so called "vulching". If you dont like being vulched, then get off yur butt, devise some good response tactics, and take your airspace back. Ask the Germans near the end of their war if they hated vulching? Of course they did. Now ask them if it was effective and cut down on American and Brit losses. Of course it did. But I digress... Of course, in all things there are exceptions. The F4 is no different. I have been looking all nite nearly for a diagram of the dogfight that Randy Cunningham got into with a North Vietnamese pilot named Toon who had 13 kills to his credit flying against American bombers. This was a dogfight of close range manuever that lasted nearly 5 minutes finally ending in Toon's death and Cunningham being made an Ace. The diagram I have in my Time-Life books on Vietnam is absolutely fascinating, I wish I could post it here but dont have a scanner. What an amazing job cunningham did besting a pilot (Toon) and aircraft (Mig-19) at their own game, and he did it using the F4's advantage in the vertical using the F4's strong climb ability. When you look at the diagram you can see it CAN be done and you wonder how the heck WAS it done? Obviously by a very good NAVY fighter jock. If your that good, you can do it too. If you aint, learn to BnZ first, then maybe learn to dogfight the F4. Here is an excellent article on the dogfighting F4 and R. Cunningham...http://www.donhollway.com/writing/topgun/topgun.html A Damn good story... motor mouth out...

That is one nice skin Denzil. Rat is doing a really nice job. Ill be using it fershure! When'll it get done if ya have an idea? These are all hires?

Gotta have that editor. I love to make mah own battles and campaigns.

This is a VERY COOL shot! When I was a Boatswainsmate on the USS Independance back in 77-79, we would put on an airshow everytime we hit a foreign port. The finale was a low flying Phantom about 30-50 feet off the carriers deck make a pass at the speed of this aircraft. They often told us they were going supersonic and to plug our ears. Occasionally we would here the BOOM as the plane worked on his approach. The Flight Deck Boss would call out the approach of the Phantom and as everyone watched, that dot would grow with surprising speed. As it approached you couldnt hear a thing either from the crowd or the aircraft. But I destinctly remember this "halo" around the craft everytime. I always thought it was vapor as you could see what appeared to be vapor sweeping back off the wings also. Anyway, the aircraft would pass overhead and suddenly WHAM! BOOM! It was always a hoot when the people who werent paying attention hit the deck, hehehe. Thought they were gonna die, hehehe. I still chuckle. Loved those pilots, they had a pair of brass ones I tell ya and loved a joke. If they werent looking back chucklin Ill be surprised. Good ole VF-102 Diamondbacks. Good ole Indy...ahhh the memories...hehehe.

I have a Radeon 8500 64 MB card. Is there an ingame keystroke to view framerates? Or must I use a utility of some sort? Thanks.

I would suggest getting the AI more involved. The wingman is nearly useless though on occasion they do nail a mig or two. I havent seen one yet attack a ground target I've ordered attacked. I also followed a mig in a circle for probably 6 or 7 times last nite, he didnt try anything else in the way of manuevers. (I did however get one on my tail that wouldnt let go till he apparently ran outta fuel and turned for home.) The ship models need a serious overhaul as does the water. The wakes are not very good in my opinion, looking very flat and local, (no trailing wake), and the ships' models are pretty basic, they can be a lot better. How about warships in this game, I havent seen any yet. I like to see an eject "sequence" and be able to toggle the engines on in midflight if this was possible for these aircraft. (I know they mostly used a machine on ground to start them, what was it called?) There is no way to cycle thru fuel tanks either. (Does this game use the droptank fuel first before the main tanks?)

Thanks for the tutorial Dagger. I finally read the ENTIRE manual yesterday at work, (hehehe), and with your tutorial, its all starting to come into focus. I found one thing I was doing wrong was trying to use "T" to cycle thru radar targets when I needed to use "Home". "T" is for visual targets...duh... ...its hard being me, espesially early in the morning before coffee...

I have to agree with Seawolf, the game has its problems. But Third Wire has made known their intention to fix a great deal of these things, plus some other enhancements. The modding community is probably the best I've seen, not only in skill but also enthusiasm. Dont let my negative sounding thread earlier bug you too much or mislead you, I DO like this game. Oh, and something I noticed yesterday...I had a Mig on my butt that wouldnt let go. Sucker kept chewin away on my bisquits. I decide to head down as fast as I can in AB to the deck. Once I got there, I was pleased to see that the terrain, while a bit bland, DID actually have low hills, and at one point a rather long valley. Mind you, there was no mountains, but there was terrain undulations and some hills. It was pretty cool. By the way, I managed to finally evade that sucker, I think he ran outta gas. So I pull up, throttle way down, head for base...and ran outta gas about a couple miles short of the runway...rats! :)

Thanks Jeff, I had a feeling there might be an "ingame" method for checking framerates.