Lexx_Luthor

ezlead:: TE reads airfield locations from the CityList file that can be found in each terrain folder -- sometimes its called different, like Euro citylist file is called EAWEuro_cities. Open the citylist file when inside TE, then TE knows where the airfields are. You don't need cities to have airfields though. The airfield sizes in km relate to how much tiling is done around each airfield....I have found that there is always a little offset compared with the x,y locations in terrain-name_TARGETS file which holds information on airfields used in the sim and the Kreelin Mission Editor, so I must adjust the terrain-name_TARGETS locations a kilometer or so to make them fit in the center of the airfield tiles. Be careful, often the airfields don't work, and its a stumbling process to figure out how to make them work all the time. I think you can use any tile for the airfields, but maybe not water tiles, or tiles that have water. Also, you really don't want to use a transition tile. The Euro texturfile is called EAWTexturesAdj I think the dirt and metal runways are *not* related to TE, but are the airfield skins used by the airfield models in the sim. edit ... the TARGETS file airfield locations are meters, CityList uses kilometers. ... and I typed in "data" instead of "targets" ... I give sloppy instructions here

I can thump the learning thread, czech there....keep it going for the Terrain Newbies (.like me)!!! Its in the Mods and Skinning forum though, so you won't see the thread in the General Discussion forum.

Hi ez. If you are interested in spending time experimenting, LOTS of time, here is my own Terrain Editor learning thread. ~ http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=8781 It's great!!

Are you getting any destruction in nearby objects? If so the bomb is working but the grafix are not. If you are not getting destruction as well as no grafix, have you loaded the weapon into WeaponEditor and saved? Saving adds the weapon to the encrypted weapon data file that the sim uses. * possible * One thing I may have noticed is NukeExplosionEffect may not work if another file with a name having an earlier alphabetical first letter or number is "in front" of the needed effect file. I mean....if you have two effects files, only the first one is searched by the sim at startup (NOT SURE ABOUT THIS). Try renaming the file to 0_NukeExplosionEffect and it should be at the top of the folder list of files. If you have another file that also calls effects, it will be ignored but the Nuke effect file will work. We may have to combine the text of the files into one. I am not sure of this, and have not asked anybody about it yet, so do not trust me on this. Otherwise, there are a few ways to trip up. MissileObject file is one that can be overlooked, another is mission date (instructions say 1960+). I am not using the "latest" super weapon pack, but the most recent one before that. The prospect of splitting them up and merging some of them scares me hehe. quote from readme file... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION: 1) I highly recommend that you download and install the latest SFP1/WoV weapons pack (dated 11/19/04 at the time of this release), available at www.biohazcentral.com. This Beta is designed to work in conjunction with that weapons pack, and besides, it'll also give you three nuclear weapons to play with, instead of one : ) 2) Before you install the Nuke Beta, you may want to play it safe make back up copies of the following files, if you have them: Soundlist.ini, Missileobject.ini, and Weapondata.ini. 2) After you've installed the weapons pack, copy and paste (or drop n' drag,etc.) the folders included in this beta into your Strike Fighters or WoV directory, maintaining the same directory structure, and overwriting the existing folders and files. 3) That's it! Nukes should now be available for loadout, from 1960, onwards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What I did was just copy the needed text into my files rather than replacing the files. But to do that, make sure the weapon is correctly numbered, and make sure you save the new weapon in Weapon Editor.

Aircraft draw distance -- depends on the settings for individual level of detail (LOD) draw distances. Here is the default F4-E settings for example, in the file F4-e Increase the last LOD distance number to the value desired. Airbase view distance...I experimented very briefly one time with that, and go no results. Sometime later perhaps. I have not yet looked into ground object draw distances. Someday.

haha...its not so complex as I feared. I tested it on an un-modded un-touched SF 3.2 and my modded WoV, and it takes a little work but not too bad at all. I will provide complete written instructions. The 12MB TGA cloud file compresses down to about 1MB ... aussom!! However, perhaps I should test it after un-compressing it -- everything must be tested.

I have seen them and they are Aussom!! They are certainly a much easier install then these things here will ever be....and you don't need to drop a ... Cloud Bomb

Thanks. I'm still working it. I need to make more cloud patterns for one thing. But I could use some advice on how hideously complex this thing is. I'm just starting with this. If you or others would like to help experiment, I can perhaps upload some stuff or email -- a smaller 4MB 1024x1024 cloud TGA actually works well, but I've been working with larger cloud files (12MB). At least while experimenting, it may be best to start with a seperate SF/WoV install (or copy folder) because of the changes listed below... This is no texture replacement and possibly (?) goes beyond basic new effects. It will require radical changes in FLIGHTENGINE grafix distance settings, and may require an almost complete replacement of ENVIRONMENT file. The visibility distance requirements are extreme, but I handle them nicely with my primitive ATI-9200 video card (my 9800 lost fan). There is only one new "effect" and that is the TGA cloud so at least that is simple, and one new weapon (bomb) to drop that calls this cloud effect -- so weapon editor is needed by downloaders. Not so simple is the following...in fact, its quite nasty...but I reason its because of the core nature of this potential pre-mod... For the first time in SF, these are "real" clouds, in the sense they exist in space or position above the map, and you can be hundreds of miles away from them, thus they can be seen as thin strips just above the horizon, far away -- exactly where the static SF/WoV horizon clouds are located -- that's the problem. You notice, I use no horizon clouds as I've found a way to disable them and I don't know if there is any official method. It may be okay looking to leave both working together, but I'm not sure. If there is no "official" way to disable them, then I should include blank replacement horizon cloud TGA files which is my method of disabling them. What I did is make multiple copies of the almost blank Horizon Cloud 11 and re-name them as all the other clear sky horizon clouds -- and then only use "clear" weather and never use heavier weather which brings up the darker horizon clouds. I continue to use the OVERCAST though, as it does not need the SF horizon clouds. Thus, my SF horizon is always clear of the static clouds, making way for real clouds (cirrus/cirrocumlus only) distant from the player's cockpit or camera viewpoint. It would be best if I did not require the downloader to have to copy and re-name TGA files, so I should include any replacement "blank" horizon clouds to be dropped into Flight folder. I say "cirrus only" but assume somebody will find a way to make these non-transparent. In fact, I just now thought that may be a great idea. One issue I'm having is that the terrain below is not just visible through the clouds (which is okay) but is also illuminated slightly, but not too bad, but can be noticeable at night. Non-transparent may solve this. I am as ignorant about flight sim computer grafix as any mere skinner or campaign builder. :yes: So all I do now is post pretty screenshots, showing what is possible with the sim, which is getting more impressive the older it gets!! I've been posting recently on other boards that SF is the sim to watch over the next few years. Sim Lite but Environment Hard could be very attractive. Also, I would hope TK could incorporate the *basic* cloud ideas here, since they are so simple and very fast performance (recall -- I am getting great performance with these clouds on ancient ATI-9200). Thanks~

To avoid sacrificing external environment brightness, Please make the canopy "reflections" less intense, or offer the ability to turn them OFF totally and allowing the full external environment brightess to be shown when the "reflections" are turned off. Computer monitors do not have the brightness depth to realistically model glass without crippling the view beyond, especially in low light levels. Flight sim canopy "reflections" are modelled by first drastically reducing the brightness of the external environment by 50% or more -- as can be suddenly seen by switching to external view, then "brightening" some selected portions to represent canopy "reflections." The limited monitor brightness depth cannot cope with the crippling reduction in external environment brightness needed to model light or bright canopy "reflections." This is especially crippling to flying in low light levels where everything external -- even stars -- are reduced in brightness because the developers never give this any thought (although they probably never think their sim would be so successful as to expand to include extensive night operations). Real glass reflection does NOT reduce the amount of light entering the canopy. However, reducing the amount the brightness of the external environment is needed to create canopy "reflections" on limited computer monitors. Be aware that canopy "reflections" come between the simmer and the sim in the most brutal way possible -- the core visual interface. For a pure daylight dogfighting game, you have lots of light available to reduce to make canopy "reflections" but not if your twilight and night environment are also sacrificed. Most flight sim canopy "reflections" are static, and offer no realism to begin with. The (very) brief time I tried LOMAC I did enjoy the tiny dynamic canopy scratches glinting in the sunlight, mostly because they did not (I think) require reduction of external environment brightness, but I never bothered to find out if they still happened in clouds or after sunset -- a common oversight in the creation of flight sim canopy "reflections" and one of the main reasons to ignore them completely by turning them off. In the screenshots, we can see how dim the external environment is, including surface and sky. I may be wrong on aspects of "reflection" creation, but I am frustrated by how dark the external environment is in flight sims that offer canopy "reflections" -- a darkness that vanishes when the "reflections" are turned off or you switch to external view. Thanks~

HounDog would be Aussom, but would require much larger SF maps.

F-106 was never in Vietnam. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. Some were briefly based in South Korea. USAFMTL, or somebody, I can't post at simhq, but the next time you are there can you post a reply in this new SF thread "Views and Zooming"...? ~~> http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bb...;f=145;t=000718 Copy and paste this reply... Thanks~

Wow, a bit late. Its the Controls folder. The file is called "Default." If you have backup install, it should be there too. Move it over. I have a "Default_sav" backup of the file, just in case, and _sav's of many other files too.

I voted Other -- Air warfare battlefield environment. Training is something to think about. The successful sim of the future will include basic and intermediate Flyable trainers of historical relevancy, and offer immersive training missions with these trainers up front on the game menu. I am not thinking of the crusty combat flight sim Old Timers, but the tender flight sim Newbie -- stepping into combat flight sims for his/her first time. Dante:: If so, please know or remember that clouds are "game" and not just eye candy, something Shockwave was the first to figure out very recently (BoB-2). I think...not sure...that Shockwave will soon have the first combat flight sim with large cumulus clouds and AI that can't see through these clouds. My theory is that small white flak puff "flight sim" clouds are an industry standard because nobody takes the time to program AI not seeing through clouds -- just offer small flak puff clouds and any AI/Cloud complaints will be minimized. The industry standard flight sim clouds are indeed just eye candy that has no effect on anything except the player his/her self. The bizzare thing is that Online human vs human play with no AI offers the ideal potential to create very large clouds and weather patterns -- a true air warfare simulation environment -- without having to program AI for clouds and weather, but for some reason this has never happened. I assume this is because of the recent focus on the quick Online Dogfight and Online kill scores since the 1990s. Multiplayer:: Please, if we must support Online Dogfight, do NOT let this cripple Offline play ability to configure the sim. For example, Offline players may wish to change the sky colour and sky effects -- some may think the Devs got the colour not right (say, for winter or summer skies) -- but the ability to change sky colour could be used to give competitive Online advantage in visual spotting. Thus sky colour must be a server option -- another complication Devs may wish to avoid by hardcoding and thus denying any configuration ability to Offline players. sim looks great !!! Thanks~ I can't wait to see the southern stars of JT.....mmm........ ;) Will Jet Thunder have real stars? Be advised that if this sim takes off unexpectedly like FB, the JT starry sky may need to handle northern hemisphere ops.

~hi~ my first post here too (Jet Thunder) I started out with DOS Su-27 Flaker 1.0 -- it was "different" from all the rest and so I was interested in trying a flight sim. Nothing else interested me until FB Eastern Front (also different) and now StrikeFighters which I am trying to mold (not mod !!!) into Cold War strategic bombing/interception simulation. I just want to thank the Devs for thinking up a wonderfully *different* arena for a flight sim. Falklands. Who would have guessed? My main interest (as of now) is Mirage III, even if JT may become popularly known as "The Harrier Sim[tm]" You never know what will happen. This could take off so make sure the Devs are planning the sim so they can easily expand it if and when they are pleasantly surprised -- I hope expand back in time and not forward. Mirage III creates an exciting scent of Mysteres, Hawker Hunters, Su-9s and B-47s.

Most of that list is here ~> http://www.column5.us/aircraft.shtml F-94B, MiG-15bis, F-80C, F-84s, etc... Its two (2) pages of downloads, and growing just so you know. B-29 is here ~> http://www.majorleesaerodrome.net/

Ya, dfang's LOD file is 42kb, different from the 37kb file I had been using and it did not show the nose. I just had another StrikeFighters Moment....I was testing afterburner changes, using Kreelin's mission editor, and slipped in a PFU and there was NO NOSE. I forgot to add a loadout command (Air~Air or Air~Air ALongrange) and the PFU nose is modded as a weapon, so there were no weapons and no nose. Panic ensued.

Keep punching away at mission editor, it works well and smooth once you learn the tricks. When you make any change to an aircraft flight, be sure to click Apply and Save All before selecting another aircraft flight, or all changes to previously selected flight will be lost. Make sure Red or Blue aircraft are set to takeoff from airfields on their "side" Friendly (blue) or Enemy (red). I missed these concepts among others when I was just starting out. If you need help with editor, ask.

hehe this is GREAT Thanks Deuces. Novaya Zemlya, not so flat on the western gtop30 panel. There I go posting too fast again.

Can AI be made to engage afterburners for supersonic dash?

Or, just try setting text coordinates far off the screen--left, right, high, or low--so you never see them. That might work.

Wellcome Its in the file HUDDATA in Flight folder, but its hidden inside the "cat" security file and you must extract it first (okay?) and modify it. Get the cat extractor in the Utilities download section. Extract the file and leave it in the folder so the game will read it first and ignore the original file hiding inside the "cat" file. Here is the part of my HUDDATA dealing with flight text. Try it first, you may like the improvement.....if I recall (?), all I did was make the text smaller but still readable (Font size). I may make it even smaller. TextFontName=Arial TextSize=9 [infoDisplay] //BackgroundImage=TextBackground.tga (.....the // means my game ignores this line so I use no background box) BottomLeftPosition=0.01,0.985 BottomRightPosition= //BottomRightPosition=0.99,0.985 DisplayWidth=0.30 VerticalBorder=0.0015 HorizontalBorder=0.008 EnemyTargetColor=1.0,0.0,0.0,1.0 FriendlyTargetColor=0.0,0.0,1.0,1.0 UnknownTargetColor=1.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 WaypointColor=1.0,1.0,1.0,1.0 TextFile=HUDText.str NormalColor=1.0,1.0,1.0,1.0 WarningColor1=1.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 WarningColor2=1.0,0.0,0.0,1.0 AGLAltStart=609.6 AGLAltWarning I am sure there is an "official" way to turn it OFF if you wish, but I don't know it (I have a feeling I will soon know!!!). If not, I guess set the Font to Zero, that might work. Maybe just set TexFile= ... that may work too, or crash. Or change the text coordinates so it becomes microscopic at the lower left corner of monitor.

Yesp that works. The LOD file was different (42kb) from the one I had (37kb) in weapons folder. I see Green now. Thanks.

Thanks, I am off to work now but will try tonight.

Hey, this is nice. Flying over Novaya Zemlya -- very flat though. Try the Kamchatka DEM sometime, the peninsula is choking with nice mountains, and may (somehow) make a nice wintery Cold War scenario but with some nice short summer mountains too. Lots of 500m high tidal waves surrounding Kamchatka. I tried the Adjust SeaLevel thinking that may level the sea, but I kept crashing my TE. Any advice on this? Dueces, I am trying in the TE text file to make a larger map than 1000km but I don't know if its possible. I need that extra 250km or so of playable empty sea like that surrounding the Euro map. How did you make that sea border for EAWeuro?

My PFU folder has loadout and loadout.ini