Stephen1918

The Phönix D.II is built and rigged. I'm starting the cockpit and skinning templates tomorrow.

Thank you my friend. The drawing I found must have been a hybrid as whiteknight suggested.

Thanks guys. Did the D.II have a tail like the D.III or like the D.I?

I was planning to build a Phoenix D.III as my next plane, but it has been suggested that a D.II would be a more useful plane because the D.III came out too late to see much action. Most of the online resources say that the D.II had two ailerons. But I came across this drawing at this site: http://richard.ferri...vues/3vues.html Which clearly shows four ailerons, as well as tail like the D.I - I also found a .pdf file here: http://www.vintage-a...com/manuals.htm which says that the D.II had the guns moved up and had four ailerons. Are there any Phoenix experts out there who can clear this up for me? I am inclined to make this plane, unless someone knows for sure that it is wrong. Stephen1918

I seem to have become addicted... eventually I'll have to slow down, but for now I'm spending a lot of my free time making planes. Thanks for getting started on this. Stephen1918

Thanks for your comments everyone, I'm glad that everyone likes it. I'm most proud of the instruments, I had to make them from scratch so they would have Cyrillic lettering, even the compass has Russian characters on it. My next one will be the Phoenix D.III. I want to do a plane with double ailerons, and I know a lot of people want Austro-Hungarian planes. After that I'll try a double seater. I'm open to suggestion... Stephen1918

Mike, I played around with the exhaust emitters for the engines (because it was easy to see what was happening right away) and came up with this - it looks like the 4 numbers are for: Red, Green, Blue, Transparency It appears that the maximum value is 1.000000, although it doesn't crash if I go higher than one. I don't know how much you know about color thoery for computers, so forgive me if I seem to be talking down to you. Generally, for RedGreenBlue (RGB), if all three values are the same, you get a shade of gray. Higher numbers are lighter/brighter. Lower numbers are darker/duller. Red and green together makes yellow. All 1's would be white, all 0's would be black. so 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000 would be bright red 1.000000, 0 .900000, 0.900000 would be pinkish 0.500000, 0.500000, 0.500000 would be medium gray The last number is transparency, 1 means opaque, 0 means clear The engine emitters have several particles, each with a slightly different color. For the explosions, try making one of them reddish, and leave the others grayish or yellowish. It will take some experimenting to get the right combination, but I'm sure that, with patience, you can get the effect you want. Let us know how it turns out. Stephen1918

I uploaded the Sikorsky S-16 to the Downloads area late last night. My thanks to ojcar, who made the FM, and to Nix who made the engine sound. This is my second plane for First Eagles. Your comments and helpful criticisms are welcome.

View File Sikorsky S-16 The S-16 was designed by Igor Sikorsky as fighter escort for bombers and was the first Russian-built aircraft with a synchronized machine gun. The plane was small and highly maneuverable, but had a smaller engine than intended and was outclassed by German aircraft of the time. The dual axle landing gear was designed for landings on rough ground. Several versions of the S-16 were produced with variations in engines and wing configurations. Relatively few S-16s were produced, but were used throughout the war and in the Russian Civil War. This plane carries the markings of the Eskadra Vozdushnykh Korablei (Squadron of Air Ships), the world's first strategic bomber group. I have included four skins, several plain linen, and one gray-green. I have included my skinning templates so others can make new skins if they want. Credits And my thanks to ojcar, who created the FM to reproduce the nimble characteristics of the plane. My thanks to Nix, who provided the sound for the Gnome 80hp engine (and revised it until I was happy.) Historical Notes The Russian Banner with the yellow square and two-headed eagle was the imperial banner and was not used on aircraft, but the replica in Connecticut uses it, so I used it on mine. The gray-green version uses a more accurate fuselage marking. If historical accuracy is important to you, change the decals.ini for texture set 1 to use "EVKBanner" instead of "ImperialBanner". Wings Palette shows the gray-green plane with a red triangle on the fuselage. I believe this was a Bolshevik plane in which red was painted over the standard Russian markings. I used the standard markings on mine. Version 2 Notes I have made slight changes to model, especially to the way the plane is rigged, and Ojcar has made a new FM for this plane. I have also improved the skins and made new skins for some different Russian squadrons. Version 3 Notes I have made all new LODs, with higher detail and lower poly count, and with all new skins. Ojcar has made a new FM for this plane. Installation instructions This is a completely new plane, if you have already installed the Sikorsky S-16, delete it and replace it with this version, including the decals. The sound file remains the same. For FE1 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "SikorskyS16" into the "Aircraft" folder in the FirstEagles/Objects folder. If you don't already have it, move the sound file "gnome80m4.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. For FE2 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "SikorskyS16" into the "Aircraft" folder in the FirstEagles/Objects folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create a new folder named "SikorskyS16". Move the folder named "D" from the Aircraft/SikorskyS16 folder into the Decals/SikorskyS16 folder you just made. If you don't already have it, move the sound file "gnome80m4.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 05/25/2011 Category Other Entente Aircraft

I agree that an East European map would be great. That would get the Romanians, Bulgarians, and Turks involved too. Are there any map/campaign makers out there? I've been interested in the fighting that took place in eastern Europe after WWI ended. The Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Czechs, and others fought several campaigns as they established their new borders. They all flew surplus planes from WWI. There's another theater for FE.

The Sikorsky is built and rigged and the exterior skin is finished. I'm working on the cockpit now. I should be done in a few more days.

You, sir, are an artist!

These are all really, really nice. Are these all straight screen captures of the game?

Very nice! I like your attention to detail.

And my thanks to you, Ojcar, for improving the FM. I'm not a very good pilot so it's hard for me to judge the flight characteristics of the plane when I'm testing it. Nix sent me a better engine sound for the Aviatik, perhaps the two of you could post an upgrade for the Aviatik in the Downloads area? Stephen1918

Ojcar, I'm going to make a few more single seaters before I attempt a two seater. Making and rigging the gunner will require some brain sweat. I'm not opposed to making one from scratch and the HB CI would be fun to make. Stephen1918

The Sikorsky S.16 is coming along. I'm working on the cockpit now (tracking down Cyrillic instrument faces.) Then I need to tweak down the poly count, make the skins, and work on the data file. It will take another week at least. This is my second plane and is a learning experience for me. If anyone has constructive criticism or comments on the Aviatik, please post them so I can learn to make better planes. Thanks, Stephen1918

Ojcar, Nix, and Sockboy - I'm glad you like my planes, but I probably won't be able to do all of them. Those were made for animation, converting them for games is turning out to be an incredible amount of work. Still, I should be able to get a few of them into FE this summer. The Sikorsky is coming along... Stephen1918

I agree with Whiteknight, the skins look great. I'm looking forward to more.

Thank you! I'll only be doing First Eagles for a while. I'm interested in World War I airplanes.

Thanks for your comments everyone. I've been building WWI aircraft in 3D for several years (http://www.swroble.com/Aircraft/WWIAircraft.html). The Aviatik DI is my first one for gaming and I'm learning how different the game version has to be. Ojcar, thanks for the list and for starting a new FM. Someone who's a better flyer than I am should test it. My next one will be the Sikorsky S-XVI, it's not a glamorous plane, but I like it. It will be several weeks before you see it here. Quack74, I'm looking forward to your new skins. Stephen1918

I uploaded the Aviatik-Berg D1 today. This is my first plane for First Eagles, I learned a lot while doing this and the next one will be better. If anybody wants to revise the data.ini, please do. I included my skinning templates for those of you who want to make more skins. Quack74 has already started making skins and has posted some screen caps. Stephen1918

View File Aviatik-Berg D.I Aviatik-Berg D.IDesigned by Julius von Berg for the Aviatik company, the D.I was the first fighter completely built in Austria. The Berg was light and maneuverable, and after structural problems in the early models were overcome, it became a good combat plane. Although nimble, reasonably fast, and able to reach higher altitudes than many of the planes it fought, the Aviatik D.I was prone to overheating. Many pilots flew with the engine cover panels removed, so I built this plane without the engine cover. Early versions of the plane had the two Schwarzlose machine guns mounted low on each side of the engine. Later versions put the guns higher and within reach of the pilot to make it easier to clear jammed guns. This is a later version with the guns firing through tubes under the manifolds and projecting through the radiator. I have included a basic skin along with my skinning templates. I highly recommend the skins made by Quack74, available at CombatACE as a separate download. Revision 1 - June 12, 2011It appears that I made the original about 20% too large. I have rescaled the plane to the correct size, this involved making some changes in and around the cockpit. Since I was revising the cockpit, I put the correct guns in this version (Schartzlose instead of Spandau.) I have also included the FM written by ojcar, and the sound for the Austro-Daimler engine made by Nix.This version includes all new LODs, new data file, new cockpit ini, and new decal ini. If you have downloaded the previous version, it would be easiest to just delete the whole folder and replace it with this version. Revision 2 - September 20, 2011I have added a complete set of letter decals so you can set a flight letter in the Loadout screen, or the game will randomly assign a different letter to each plane. There will also be a different serial number randomly assigned to each plane as well. Revision 3 - June 5, 2012I have made slight changes to the model, especially in the rigging. This revision has all new LODs. Ojcar has made changes to the FM to work with the new model. All the decals are the same as before. Installation Instructions - New install For FE1 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "AviatikD1" into the "Aircraft" folder in the FirstEagles/Objects folder. You also need to move the sound file "Austro-daimler200.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. For FE2 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "AviatikD1" into the "Aircraft" folder in the FirstEagles/Objects folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create a new folder named "AviatikD1". Move the folder named "D" from the Aircraft/AviatikD1 folder into the Decals/AviatikD1 folder you just made.You also need to move the sound file "Austro-daimler200.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. Installation Instructions - Update existing install For both FE1 and FE2 - Delete the following files and replace them with the new versions: All the LOD files and OUT files - you are deleting three of each and replacing them with four of each. The OUT files are optional and not necessary for the game. AviatikD1.ini - the new one makes use of the extra LOD.AviatikD1_DATA.INI - The new one uses the new rigging and is slightly more compact than the original.Everything else is the same as in the Revision 2 download. Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 05/09/2011 Category Other Central Powers Aircraft