Lexx_Luthor

Another way to look at this is to ask, here in USA or England, would playing Japanese CFS2 or German IL-2 missions be acceptable back at the time of the WW2? Assuming home computers were around then. Granted that megawar was more keenly felt by the people back home. How do you best multiplay online or LAN when only one side is playable? One sided play may be a deep sinkhole for the Fighter Ops sim. Anyways the largest backer of "playing the enemy" is Pentagon war game simulation on mega computers. They've stopped some simulations when they caused embarassment, so there is politics in gaming. ...Sometime, try asking a TheSims developer for a dedicated Strategic Air Command game. They get mad if you say "just a game" -- as do tac TheSims players on the boards. I predict a Russian developer will be the first to create a dedicated flyable SAC, with out~of~box PVO play as well, game, like Maddox first made June 1941.

Old but good read on this ~> http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/Features/PrivateMiGs.html

I used bpao's Method to conduct experiments on Veltro's F-102. You can delete many intricate 3D components that are inside the aircraft not ever visible in normal gameplay, and I got maybe 20% or 30% fps improvement if I recall, and I may not recall correctly. High poly models must come with lower poly LODs for distance rendering. The lucky thing about F-102 is it's not used in mass formations. F-86s (Antons, Emils, Frederichs, etc...) are different in that respect, excepting Dora and Kurfurst strategic interceptors. EXAMPLE: Below is bpao code deleting the outer engines on TK's An-12 to gameulate twin engined An-8. The component name, Outer_Engine_L (and Outer_Engine_R) must be found in the LOD file with hex editor, or the model's OUT text file if available. [AircraftData] : : : Component[010]=OuterEngineLeft Component[011]=OuterEngineRight [OuterEngineLeft] ParentComponentName=Fuselage ModelNodeName=Outer_Engine_L_ok DestroyedNodeName=Outer_Engine_L DetachWhenDestroyed=TRUE HasAeroCoefficients=FALSE [OuterEngineRight] ParentComponentName=Fuselage ModelNodeName=Outer_Engine_R_ok DestroyedNodeName=Outer_Engine_R DetachWhenDestroyed=TRUE HasAeroCoefficients=FALSE You need the "_ok" to broaden the number of components this works for apparently. I've read bpao discovered this technique.

Sold to me! I'll have to get this now. Thanks alot Veltro.

Fubar:: Almost. I suggest a slight change ~> ...differences in the sun's maximum apparent altitude. Near sunset/sunrise, the sun's apparent altitudes through the day for both seasons converge to the same value, zero, thus the length of atmosphere the sun rays must travel through become the same -- near sunset or sunrise -- no matter the season. Possibly, an alternative way to think about this is to consider the vertical terminator in the first diagram as drawn, and how it cares not about the Earth's polar tilt. By far, none of this is important as much as, like you mention, the effect of cold winter air, as well as high altitude air, on general atmospheric clarity -- low humidity. This seasonal effect, and high altitude effect, is what I'm gunning for in my SF moldings. TK's Red Tide at sunrise must be disabled for this, especially given how it floods over terrain and objects. That I can't tolerate. He poasted he liked it though, so its probably gonna stay.

Outside of the spotting factors FC mentioned, not all modeled in TheSims, there is the issue of visual "zoom" in computer games. Notice if you "zoom" in your view, you can see objects much better, or from far greater ranges. Standard playing zoom (actually, field of view) I guess for all TheSims is probably 90 degrees. That's artificially compressed into about 20 degrees on your computer monitor in front of you. To get realistic apparent field of view, you would have to zoom your game view to 20 degrees to *see* objects at realistic apparent sizes. Monitor size, how close you sit to your monitor, and resolution it can support all combine to effect this as well. Now, zooming in chops off peripheral vision. Its hard to FLY the plane with your view set to 20 degrees. Try it, approach and land using 1950s panels with view stuck at 20 degrees. And you can't keep situational awareness around your airspace with peripheral vision chopped off like this, so you have to switch back and forth between narrow and wide field of view -- field of view is inverse to zoom. This is not too bad though, as changing zoom can be thought of as simulating how we focus attention on things; general wide search and situational awareness, or narrow attention focus looking for suspected targets. But its a hassle having to thumb a joystick control to do it.

Yea. The first diagram shows the seasonal variation of maximum altitude angle the sun attains during the day. The second diagram illustrates how maximum altitude angle also varies with latitude of observer. At sunrise/sunset, the sun attains its minimum altitude angle during the day -- zero -- and its the same for summer and winter. At sunset, sun rays are tangent to the Earth's surface and so must pass through the maximum amount of atmosphere, summer or winter. Although dust and smoke can have profound effects, differences in sunset among seasons come from varying amount of water vapour in the troposphere -- humidity, which varies with season in general. You can have hazy winter air, and clear blue summer air. But in general the winter offers the clearer air. This is for continental climate which I'm interested in (USSR for example). This does not include sunset reflections on clouds, which can be yellow gold or (kout's 2nd pic) red, with clear air seen between the clouds. In Fire In The Sky, Eric Bergerud writes about the South Pacific sky being superbly crystal clear blue...outside the dense white tropical ocean cumulus clouds, and how this effected visibility in the air warfare there. That goes year round there, near the equator. Different climate. In addition to the lack of sun centered skyglow, the effect I can't use is TK's new blood red sunset camera lens glare flooding over terrain and objects. I play assuming I'm not looking through a camera.

Interesing quote, but I'm not so sure now. It sounds true. Perhaps as important as nucs is if a non-nuc nation's citizens are responsible and fully armed personally. I keep thinking back to how the nucs dropped on Japan didn't do anything new, except for being novelty bombs which I'm guessing gave the hardcore a way out to surrender. Limited fallout from high airbursts not withstanding. Also of importance is if non-nuc states have friends, and together can economically isolate a bully nuc state.

That's an F-4E panel though. I need the RWR as soon as SAC starts flying F-4C's over Siberia roundabouts 1964 or so. The high altitude stratospheric clarity of sky is another reason I need the sunset/sunrise moddability of early SF versions. There is a purpose behind my psychosis.

No, its something else. Bear me out. The sun does not have to shine through the atmosphere at a more oblique angle because when the sun is on the horizon, the sun is on the horizon. Same altitude -- an angle measurement here. You may be thinking of the lower altitude angle of the sun for any given time of day in general during winter. In the case here, when the sun is on the horizon, its at the same altitude angle no matter the season. Time of day will differ however, as will sun azimuth angle. Now, the cirrus clouds can turn blood red after a clear winter sunset (or before sunrise), but that is the sun shining through a very long distance, through lower altitude "over the horizon" atmosphere -- er -- so to speak. We can't get near that in the TK Sim. Note kout's Switchblade shot has a little bit of sunset red reflecting off the cirrus clouds. This seems to be the time between red cirrus, where the sun shines through extensive atmosphere to get to the cirrus, and dark cirrus, where the sun has set as seen by the cirrus, so the unlit cirrus goes dark against the still sunlit air above and beyond. Had the photo been taken a few minutes earlier, assuming sunset, the cirrus would have been a much brighter red. But, carrier ops wait for no one. That colour variation of clouds during sunset would be like a pot of gold at the end of the JetSims evolution (or PropSims too). As always I forget THANKS kout for that photo...! One of my fave "winter" looking shots. There does need to be a slim strip of more reddish colour along the horizon, but we can't do that in the game. F-4C stargetic pit. The open canopy does not leave much frame.

An old example, B-57, stargetic pit. Reading between the clouds, the sky to the left is blue, and gets brighter toward the setting sun near the right edge. This is with camera lens effects taken out. These show the sun centered sky glow fairly well. Very olde colours though, I need to take new shots.

Yea, the river of blood. In 2008, TK went bananas going for a red "camera lens" look, flooding terrain and objects with red. I tried to mod into something useful, but the newer Enviro system handling this is a mess. Notice nobody tries to mod this. The game is now restricted in visual appearance to very low altitude, and to humid summer days; not even low altitude clear winter skies are available now, unless the red river can be modded away. I did make some limited progress, but gave up on it eventually. Maybe I should try again so I CANNOT complain just have to dedicate the time.

That cirrus sky I'd like to do, but I can't get the dark look against bright sunset/sunrise sky until I do some experiments with alternative tga files. Never got around to doing that. I need to. btw...note the blue sky to the left, getting brighter above the sun to the right. That sun centered sky glow effect was in SF from the beginning up to 2008 when it was eliminated. That's the sole reason keeping me from upgrading from SF 2006. Man I so want to upgrade but it just won't happen until TK brings this correct effect back. Who knows he might so I'm hanging in there.

Hellyea all contributions are wellcome, especially for the Cold War. I find this F4D cockpit intriguing as it sports a simple style one-piece airspeed indicator, thus making it useful for conversion to same era Soviet panels.

Awsim stuff mighty. Something I noticed: Every nation that got nucs suddenly developed responsible behavior with their new toys. Is this Correct Thinking? I'd like to share a thought bubble: The nucs did nothing new to Japan that conventional bombing hadn't already done, so I can see the nucs as offering a "way out" so to speak for hardcore Japan to surrender and so stop the war. Also, an interesting thesis I had heard some time ago is the nucs were also hoped to demonstrate to all of Asia not to resist domination. Sam Cohen recalls that the nuc designers were hoping to use the bombs on Germany, but they were too late, and Japan had to do. Fascinating stuff all around. Have you read Admiral Theobald's book Final Secret Of Pearl Harbor? I had faintly heard of this but never paid attention until I ran across the book's Foreword on the internet, which claimed I was required to read the book. So of course I ordered it immediately but I have not yet read. I already know FDR was *used* in the 1933 Emergency Banking Act to cause, with a flick of his pen, infinitely greater physical destruction to USA than the Wehrmacht and Combined Fleet together ever could do militarily in a thousand years. Given that FDR was used like this, I can very easily make space for Theobald's ideas.

christian:: I think the instructions tell how to vary the destructive effects, although something in weapon effects may have changed in SF2 I dunno. Use exponential notation its Aussom intuitive that way. Woah, thanks Julhelm!! I was eventually gonna do that but to be honest my SF molding has been on low simmer on the back burner for some time. I can ramp the effects indeed. I did run into a limit of 16 emitters per effect on the largest nucs however, but I hit that limit by making multiple emitters for one type of visual theme seen at varying distances to save frames. I can back off doing that now.

ezlead:: Finally been reading up on Tura Satana. She spent time in the camps. There's one amazing lady. I never saw Pussycat movie but I'm ordering it now. Another nuc would have been available for use by late August. Nuc Archive has some ideas on this...

I think it was added as a weapon or fake pilot, probably fake pilot. You need a skin for the object, the skin being the picture. I never used it but, have added stuff to a cockpit like an upside down folding fin rocket so the fin~less base is like a gunsight pad for WW2 Yaks (for rotations, you have to use the fake weapon method).

Yea FUBAR that's it you made my day. I loved the horizontal escalator(?) one, cave guy riding the...what do you call those things...? Thanks!!

5-Foot Sand Shark Forces Closure of Seaside Beach Cops arrested Snooki for disorderly conduct... Knowing nothing of today's Tele shows, I read that as arresting the shark. Snooki-the-Shark

He's a sad case shooting that thing off around neighbors. That's something you take out to the country where noboby is around.

Falcon, Caveman = Geico?? I don't remember that.

Nice. A sub-sequence of pics from Suicidal above shows why the JetSims should be different from the MudSims (that, and infantry don't Whine about flight models)... I assume the photos are taken in late day, with a cloud layer to the west and clear sky above the airfield. Assuming all this is the same day, later near sunset, the cloud layer has moved closer to the airfield, and one can see clear sky beyond, on the other side of the cloud layer. This is the best I could do over the StrikeFighters some time ago, purely experimental, and shows thin ice cirrus layers with thicker, lower altitude water stratus layers in the farther distance. The idea was to model an approaching continental winter warm front, moving across the map. Total size of the system is about 1000 kilometers.

Some American volunteers flew Polikarpovs, the biplanes and I-16 I think. One or more downed a -109Bertha, the first of many US pilots to down Messers in later years. One was later a Tuskeegee fella, another, ex-NAVY, committed suicide the story goes he was depressed over lack of US support for the Republicans. I forgot the site with all the SCW pilots.