Stephen1918

The real world has been keeping me pretty busy since August, but things are slowing down a little. I have a lot of projects started, I'm hoping to finish some of them in the next few weeks.

I have uploaded a new version of the Anatra DS. I made all new LODs with improved details around the nose, I completely reskinned the plane and cockpit, and I corrected some problems with node names in the FM. Skinning templates are included. http://www.combatace.com/files/file/12396-anatra-ds-anasal/

Thanks for sharing your work. I appreciate the new skins.

Great news! You've done so much work on this, even a "work-in-progress" version will be welcome.

In First Eagles, the text settings are scattered all over the place. It's hard to answer your question without more detail. There are a lot of ini files in the MenuData.cat which control the appearance of the screens. There is a CampaignScreen.ini file. Inside, it refers to other ini files (look for the lines that say #include). Some of the text will have a place to change the color in the CampaignScreen.ini, others will refer to another ini file (such as: InfoTextSetting=InforTextSetting which means that the text is defined inside the InfoTextSetting.ini.) The colors are all defined in RGB values - all colors in games are defined as mixtures of Red,Green,Blue, in that order. Each color has a value between 0 (no color) and 255 (full color) - All colors at 255 means white (255,255,255) all colors at 0 means black (0,0,0). Most graphics software has a place to mix colors, in there you can see the RGB values of any color, so you can copy the colors you like into FE.

When I started here several years ago, First Eagles had a lively community of modders - a lot of people were making planes, skins, ground objects, terrains, sounds and campaigns. None of it was perfect, but all of it was good. Over the years, we modders, working together, have pushed First Eagles far beyond the original game. When it was released, First Eagles covered the last two years of the war on the Western Front. After TK opened the game up for modders, we have added the early years of the war, opened three new fronts, added dozens of planes, skins, weaons, FMs, ground objects, campaigns, menu screens, medal packs, sky effects, terrain tiles, sounds, and visual effects. No one person has done it all, we did it together. We should be proud of what we've accomplished. Recently, I've noticed an increase in the level of criticism, and the number of modders has dropped off. I don't know if they're connected, but I, for one, don't like spending weeks making something only to be told that it doesn't meet someone else's standards. There is a way to suggest improvements, and a way to offer help that is not insulting. I'm not seeing that anymore, and I've stopped uploading. We seem to have lost our respect for each other. We may not like what someone has uploaded, but we should respect the effort they put into it, and their willingness to share their efforts with the rest of the community. How can we get back to that?

Vogesen2 works with FE2, but it does not work with Armchair Aces. The place names in the terrain do not match the names in campaigns. If you are planning to use Armchair Aces, then use Vogesen by Gepard. You can actually install both of them, Armchair Aces "knows" the correct terrain to use when it runs.

I think the problem is with the alpha channel in the TGA file, rather than with the graphic settings or render engine. For the rivers, the shade of grey in the alpha channel has to exactly match in all the tiles, if you're using tiles made by different people, they may not match. You may have to do some copy and paste. For the buildings, the shimmering is caused by having two surfaces on the same plane, the game is trying to show them both. In Jan Tuma's courtyard buildings, there are actually two buildings at the same location, but the alpha channel should remove the duplicate surfaces. Check the alpha channel in "Mesto.tga" and make sure it hasn't accidentally been altered or erased.

Nice! I see a Swiss flag. What terrain is this?

Thanks for finding that and letting me know. The sound is part of Nix's sound collection which he uploaded some time ago, and has been used on other planes. I assumed that everyone already had it. I have uploaded a new version of the Oeffag C2 which includes the sound file.

I think the terrain problem is due to the height maps for each tile (xxx_hm.bmp) The data file has a HeightMapScale setting which is set pretty high for some tiles. Try lowering the scale setting, or eliminating the height map altogether. I've found that the individual height map is really only useful along rivers or lake shores, it doesn't make a big difference in the farms. I don't know what is causing the shadow problem in the Nieuport 12. I've looked at my original files, and played with the settings in my installs and I cannot reproduce the problem in FE1. Has anyone else run into the shadow problem with the N12?

Cocas, a small number of Arado AR 68E were used by the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. So Yes, please upload it when you get it finished, we can always use more planes. Also, I am using FE1, will you make the skins are BMP, please?

The Heinkel He 51 was one of the main fighters used by the Nationalist side, so we'll make one soon. Right now, we're focusing on getting some variety and a balance between the two sides so people can start using them.

Yesterday, I uploaded the Polikarpov I-15 for the Spanish Civil War. The Golden Era section in the download area divides aircraft into "Allied" or "Axis", which seems wrong for the 20s and 30s, especially for Spain. I put the Polikarpov in the "Allied" section because it was designed in the Soviet Union and they eventually joined the Allies. http://combatace.com/files/file/16209-spanish-civil-war-polikarpov-i-15/

View File Spanish Civil War, Polikarpov I-15 Spanish Civil War Polikarpov I-15 Read Me The Polikarpov I-15, nicknamed "Chato," was one of the primary fighters used by the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republic bought a large number of them from the Soviet Union, and manufactured even more in Spanish factories. The Polikarpov I-15 was armed with four machine guns and could carry a light bomb load. They were used mostly as fighters, escorts, and interceptors. They were used for ground attack missions on occasion. My Polikarpov includes a basic green paint skin, decals, two loadouts, and a 25kg bomb. Instructions for installing the bomb are included with the download. I have also included my skinning templates with the download. Credits Thanks to Ojcar for making the data file for the Polikarpov I-15. Thanks also to Crowford who provided valuable resources for the plane and loadouts. And thanks to Geezer for resources and inspiration. Installation Instructions For FE1 - Unzip the file. Move the folder named "PolikarpovI15" into your FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. You will also need to install the bomb. The bomb and instructions for installing it are included as separate files. For FE2 - Unzip the file. Move the folder named "PolikarpovI15" into your FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create a new folder named "PolikarpovI15". Move the folder named "D" from your Aircraft/PolikarpovI15 folder into the Decals/PolikarpovI15 folder you just made. You will also need to install the bomb. The bomb and instructions for installing it are included as separate files. Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 06/23/2016 Category First Eagles - Golden Era - Allied Add-On Aircraft

Looking good Geezer! The AA gun will come in handy I like the level of detail you put into the skins. For the lighting, I think darker shadows would help get the effect you're looking for. Try lowering the AmbientColor at the same time you increase SunColor and SunLightLevel.

The bombs for the Polikarpov I-15 are done. I went with the Soviet AO-25. Normally the I-15 carried up to 25 kilograms on each wing, but we know that they sometimes overloaded it for short runs. I did two loadouts, one with only one bomb per wing, and another with two. I will include the bomb and installation instructions with the plane. Looking through the GunData for FE, I noticed that there are several post WWI machine guns included with the stock game, including the Soviet 7.62MM PV-1. So the guns for the I-15 will be from the stock FE guns. I also noticed a 1928 Fiat-Revelli, and a 1927 Madsen. There may be others... I had a minor computer glitch and lost a couple of days on the cockpit, so I won't be ready to upload until I get the cockpit re-skinned. The plane is done, the LODs are done, the decals and skins are done. I'm still working on the FM and the cockpit.

Thanks Crawford! This is an excellent resource for the I-15. The information on bombs came in handy, it looks like the I-15 could carry four different sizes, now I'm trying to determine which kinds were available to the Spanish Republic. I am also using the other info to make changes to the plane.

I found these (copied and pasted from a larger drawing.) The bottom one looks like the one on the drawing Geezer posted. I'll probably go with that. It looks like there are 3 mounted under each wing.

I've been working on the cockpit.

This discussion has gotten lively! That's a good thing because I'm learning a lot. Crawford, the photos of the I-152 give me a good idea of where the bombs were mounted. I spent some time looking for info about the 8kg bombs it carried. Does anyone know if the Spanish Republic manufactured their own bombs or did they buy them from the Soviets? I'm trying to figure out what the bombs on the Chato should look like. One the things the pilots liked least about the Chato was that it was so short and wide that it was impossible to see forward while on the ground. Pilots had to zig-zag when they taxied, but once it the air, it was very maneuverable and relatively fast. I've armed my I-15 with PV-1s. I think it was more common than the ShKAS, and (importantly) I found several photos of the mounts. I do need to make the models of these things.

Thanks Crawford! These are excellent photos. The plane is actually a later version of the I-15. The upper wing is not attached to the fuselage. But The cockpits were the same in both versions, so these will be most helpful.

Thanks Geezer. Over the years I have built up an extensive reference folder for WWI, with dimension drawings of the guns, detail photos of engines and gauges, etc. Now in the Spanish Civil War, I'm having to look up everything and it's slowing me down. I was sort of hoping to find a shortcut. Your references will help me start a new collection.