peter01

A few pics to describe how I do bombing stikes with the large bombers, pretty successfully. Have also changed AI parameters and that makes a difference I think. For bombing I have set the HP400 AI parameters so that they "prefer" level bombing at 1000 metres, both the first and second passes, and release all there bombs in about 1.6 secs. These are in the FM, the // are TKs standard numbers. [LevelBombAI] PullOutRange=100.0 PullOutAlt=1000.0 ReleaseAlt=1000.0 <---- 1000 metres "preference". About 3000-4000ft is normal flight altitude in FE so fits well. SecondPassRange=500.0 SecondPassAlt=1000.0 <---- 1000 metres if they need to do a second pass. Same as initial, so they don't start going all over the place. ReleaseCount=8 <---- as the HP400 has 8 bombs. If a plane has 20 bombs, then 20. ReleaseInterval=0.2 <---- release quickly, 8 bombs in 1.6 secs. If a plane has 20 bombs, then 0.1 or so. // TKs Standard Values //[LevelBombAI] //PullOutRange=100.0 //PullOutAlt=100.0 //ReleaseAlt=1000.0 //SecondPassRange=500.0 //SecondPassAlt=800.0 //ReleaseCount=4 //ReleaseInterval=0.5 This could be changed. Eg, the release interval is fast, if slower you get a far bigger spread of bombs, but you would probably need to do ALT+2 a little before the target otherwise they won't release all their bombs, and go around for a second run. I haven't tried if that works or not. Started at 4500ft, dropping down to just over 3000ft (AI prefer this now, and the sight is optimised for that alt). Throttle was reduced to slow the dive and hence allow AI to maintain formation. Everyone's still in formation. Adjust speed to around 70mph with throttle, use wing leveller to keep steady, and use rudder with stem on sight to line up target. You would normally have a couple of minutes to do this, so a gentle touch is best. Last check before bombing that flight is still in formation. Pressed TAB+2 (attack ground target) once the pip was just a fraction before the target, I'm in the lower plane, then started releasing bombs. You can see that one plane has immediately started dropping bombs on the command. 2nd AI plane drops bombs about 1-2 secs later. 3rd AI plane drops bombs about 1-2 secs later. So all released within 3-5 secs of being commanded to do that. The Ist AI plane bombs hits and mine are almost perfect. The speed the AI starts dropping bombs could relate to the skill level, and if so, you could improve the overall skill level with AI parameters. About 10-20 secs after all bombs released - everyone is still in formation. Best FE AI I have seen! The mission debrief: 32 bombs of 32 available released. 32 hits. 12 kills (4 by me). Result "Outstanding Success".

Great skins Hansa. Keep 'em coming But should the N17 skin include the "propfast.tga" file?

Just trialling out bombing with a sight (p10ppy's gunsight) in FE2. Works well, maybe there is a better one around for bombing though. But the sight with the stem is useful for both leading and lining up a target - you would increase the lead at higher altitudes. The plane and the target. Lining up the plane using rudder and auto wing leveller, throttle reduced to maintain reasonably steady altitude. Into the virtual cockpit with the bombardier . Target lined up, bombs released ... internal view. Target lined up, bombs released ... external view. Precision or what! Direct hits .

Are you using the formation.ini that I posted in the download? It probably makes a difference in that the bomber formation is spread out more so the AI bombers have room to make minor corrections in aim before bombing without rolling or changing course too wildly - once they do that they find it hard to get back into formation. I'm considering defining all two seater type bombers as "Bomber" instead of "Attack" in the data.ini after some more testing as I think that this spreqadout formation for bombers helps them in maintaining formation too. If defined as "bomber" they use the bomber formation defined in the formation.ini. On the other hand OlPaint, if your bombers are having trouble staying in formation bombing a bridge or something small - that is diifferent, I wrote about that, I don't believe any more than one AI will stay in formation because the "target area" is smaller.

Its AI data, so anywhere between the [FlightControl] and [Aircraftdata] sections in data.ini, eg HP400_data.ini. I don't know whether it works or not placing it anywhere else. I don't think you can unload all bombs in one key press. It would be useful I agree.

You need to place the gunner bmps in the specific plane folder into EACH skin folder. In fact you need to place several files for many planes into each skin folder (some modellers already did this, many did not - it was unnecessary in FE1)- clrglass/glass (they are named differently by various modellers), both the slow and fast props tgas too (otherwise no prop, also named differently). LOL, fun and games.

Okay, I will quack. It is only a 3-step or 4-step process, including adding p10ppy's gunsight to the weapons data pack. Very useful, and I'll post the numbers that I have and use. - positions I use for gunsights (can be tricky, takes some testing) for the AEG G4, Staaken, Ca3, Gotha, HP400 heavy bombers. - AI data level bombing data. It is the same for all these planes. But, I'm not posting anything anymore for FE1 (with one exception). I've moved on to FE2 exclusively, and retrofitting various things to FE1 can be troublesome because ini's sometimes are not recognised, and various other things. The exception is the Caproni 3, which I have done. It is a nice plane too. I'll post the data.ini in that thread. In a few days.

Tested a few variations on skill levels, release interval, number of bombers 6-8, and this is what I think .... - Changing skill levels does not make a perceptable difference. - Release interval is important. If too long (say more than 2 secs for all bombs) some AI won't drop the bombs and go for a second pass. I think this could be because they won't be able to drop all bombs on the target area, so they go round and try again. Hence smaller number of bigger bombs are better than a larger number of smaller bombs for AI purposes. I think. - If you press TAB+2 too early, the flight will scatter. Do it just immediately before you release AND you as leader are on target. - I tried flights of 6 and 8, and the more heavy bombers are involved, the more the chance of some not dropping bombs or going for a second pass. I think this may be how the game is programmed - on command some drop bombs immediately (if on target, led by you), then the next 1-2 secs later, then 1-2 secs the next, etc. So if they are no longer over the target area (or something), the last will go around for a second run. So, the best number of heavy bombers would be 4-6, no more than 8 (1-2 will not bomb or go around again). Any more isn't pretty. This is probably true of 2-seater bombers as well. This "on target area" thing means it is best to bomb at slower speeds, as you will stay over target area for your AI longer if you are going 70 mph instead of 90 mph or more. - If you are bombing a smaller target area than a airfield, say a bridge, ony the bombers that immediately react will bomb (the first 1-2 AI). The rest will go around because the "on target area" is smaller, I think. Better to have smaller numbers of bombers in this case if you want neat bombing and/or formations. - Keeping the second pass altitude the same as the first pass is important (in AI level bombing parameter). Even if all in the flight don't bomb the first time, they either don't bomb and stay in formation with you, or go around for a second pass at the same altitude, ie not all over the place, and can then catch up to you if keep your speed lower than maximum. So ... bit more to bombing than meets the eye, me thinks. A lot depends on how you lead the formation. -

OK, so that mission I described isn't typical for many? I have made a few changes to things, but I think it is also how I set up the bombing run that makes it work. I have now tried about 10 missions, more than half went perfectly, a couple of times a bomber or two made a second pass to bomb (with great accurracy I might add), but fairly quickly rejoined me as they stayed at the same altitude and I stayed at 75mph. One time we were attacked by fighters, and everyone scattered - but I may be able to improve this with the AI parameters (for the heavy bombers only). Another time I was hit by flak on approach. BTW OlPaint, in terms of accurracy, I forgot to mention that the speed is critical far more so than the altitude. The sight placing is optimised for 70-75 mph. 10mph over that will mean bombs overshoot considerably, probably by the length of the gunsight ring outer circle. I'll do another mission and post screenshots. On a new thread, too many pics on this one.

Not sure what others experience is with bombing in the big planes, but I just tried a flight of 4 HP400s attacking an airfield. We approached slowly in perfect formation at 3500ft, I released bombs, and commanded the others to attack the ground target (an airfield), which they did immediately. We scored 31 hits (of 32 bombs available and all released), and maintained almost perfect formation and altitude of around 3500ft before, during and after, and then flew home.

That is the one I used OlPaint. It's not a bombsight. BUT, the stem on the sight is extremely useful on the approach run - these planes yaw and torque, and if you make last minute approach changes you start going all over the place. This sight allows you to approach and line up the target slowly, steadily and accurately. Are you going to do this for FE2? I ask because if so, the gunsight is already included in the Weaponsdata.ini in my FE2 game files. If FE1, you will need to add it - just follow p10ppy's instructions. To get the sight working the way I have (which is optimised for 3000ft, you would need to place the gunsight further forward or backwards to optimise for other altitudes), you need to do 3 things after you add the gunsight to the Weaponsdata file. 1) Add SystemName[003]=Gunsight01 to nose section 2) Mod Loadout to include gunsight, this is mine: [8 x 230lb Bombs] DefaultFor=STRIKE Loadout[01].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[01].Quantity=1 Loadout[02].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[02].Quantity=1 Loadout[03].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[03].Quantity=1 Loadout[04].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[04].Quantity=1 Loadout[05].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[05].Quantity=1 Loadout[06].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[06].Quantity=1 Loadout[07].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[07].Quantity=1 Loadout[08].WeaponType=RFC230 Loadout[08].Quantity=1 Loadout[09].WeaponType=Gunsight01 Loadout[09].Quantity=1 3) The fidily bit, first add this to the end of your // Weapon Stations --------------- [Gunsight01] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=9 StationGroupID=1 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.50,-0.50 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 LoadLimit=5 AllowedWeaponClass=FT AttachmentType=NATO ModelNodeName= PylonMass=0.0001 PylonDragArea=0.00 NoJettisionTank=TRUE FuelTankName=Gunsight01 The AttachmentAngles=0.0,-90.0,0.0 where -90 rotates the gunsight to the horizontal for bombing purposes :) (0 is standard, ie, vertical). AttachmentPosition=0.20,3.50,-0.50 needs to be fiddled with - these are x,y,z (left/right, forwards/backwards, up/down). Mine are optimised for 3000ft so that you hit the target with the target centred in the sight AND the your view (by panning) has the end of the stem on the gunsight aligned with the bottom edge of your screen. If you are at a different altitude, eg say 6,000 ft, you would release bombs with target at outer circle of the sight. I'll be interested in what you come up with .... I'm doing the Staaken and Gotha too and the AttachmentPosition's need to be different. It is very accurate with some practise, almost pinpoint accuracy. But those bridges are very tough!! This is in the Gotha with two 300 kg bombs and the accuracy is pretty consistent - this time one bomb a few metres in front the bridge, one a few metres after (I pressed the release twice almost immediately). The previous mission I scored a direct hit, but no pics ....

LOL, that's funny. But hey, if it works ... it works. Well done.

Yes it is from the A-Team, but made flyable. With a cockpit and a new FM among this lot here: 108 FE1 and/or FE2 FMs March 2010 . But if you want to fly this (and the other big bombers) without problems, there are things you would need to do: - install a formation.ini (so formations are not too tight) and a WWI_AIRFIELD1 (so the planes won't collide with one another on takeoff - they are quite big). Both files are in the section "3 - FE Optional Game Files" in the above download. See readme for instructions. - the guns are done differently. If you don't install all the game files, you will need to manually change the HP400_data.ini in the plane folder, change for 3 guns GunTypeName=303CAL_LEWIS_MK2_HGunner ... to .... GunTypeName=303CAL_LEWIS_MK2 If you do install the game files in that download you don't need to this manual change. If you have any problems or queries, just ask.

"I had to paint on the gun ports and change the flash position." Great idea, & nice work too quack.

yeah, the incremental FM updates to the forum got messy - meant to make it easier for others and myself, but turned out completely different. One upside to me and maybe others however was that I started playing around with gun loadouts - I wouldn't have done that if I just did one download when I had finished the FMs without posting along the way. So, no more "white" planes? Another thing that may also be causing some confusion about FMs not working is that the FE2 patch replaced ini files for TKs stock planes - so for his non-flyable planes, they are non-flyable again! To fix, you need to reinstall the plane folders for those planes I did. They are the AEGG4, DFWC5, RE8, Spad7(150), Spad7(180). And for TKs Strutters - I think I posted the Strutter stuff on the forum somewhere - but the cockpits need a fair bit of work, so no real loss. If you had a flyable Salmson from somewhere, you would not to reinstall what you had for that too.

Very nice. I like the weathered look, and the D8 skins are "must haves" IMO. Thanks for posting.

Have you considered making your skins FE2 "ready"? This is not for me personally, I can do it in about 1 min or less. But FE2 will take over down the track with a new EP, and you are so prolific. People that move to FE2 or buy the game in the future will need to set up decals for every plane - believe me it is a pain to do individually, I'm reducing my skins already because of this, I've got hundreds! Not everyone likes modding, at least not all the the time. To make them FE2 compatable would be simple and quick. Include the "D" folder and the Decals.ini file in a new subdirectory-> Decals/(plane name)/(skin name) in your download ... Eg, Decals/N24bis/Camo with "D" folder and Decals.ini in the Camo folder. Just a thought ...

I posted something about this before, but now that someone else is experiencing these problems, I just want to emphasize: DO NOT MOVE aircraft ini files (planexxx.ini,xxxloadout.ini, and possibly the data.ini's (the FMs) as well) from FE2 to FE1. Do not use aircraft files done for FE2 in FE1. You will have major problems. Things won't work, you may not even be aware of it, and by the time you are, possibly a lot of the plane files will need to be fixed. Generally if you move ini or loadout files from FE2 to FE1, or those done for and/or on a FE2 game, many of these will have a problem. Either you will not see the plane as flyable or there will be no loadout options or both. If you then move them then to FE2, further or even new problems will occur in FE2 as well, as files become even further corrupted! These problems happen as FE1 and FE2 are essentially different. This is true not just of my FMs, but any - stock ones, other peoples FMs, anything. It is hard to be aware of, as not all planes are effected. Not sure why some/many are, and other are not. BUT, it is safe to move FE1 files --> FE2 (if not already corrupted). NOT vice versa.

Thanks wrench - explains the mystery (I think!). We're all new to the next gen FE2, and cos' we all have spent a lot of time getting the FE1 game working well I guess many of us never had time or interest to look at developments in SF2. Bit of a learning curve ...

Ahh, thanks. Similar. From my reading it seems you don't need to place the decals.ini file in the new spot? Just the "D" folder or whatever the decal folder is called? I think generally the path defined in the .ini for nearly all skins done in FE in the past couple of years is pretty standard and conforms to this. Some of the earlier pathnames were different and needed to be changed with the Expansion Pack.

It's here OlPaint: gunsight Not a beta and not designed as a bombsight, but available to everyone.

"... I am trying to get the CamelF1_110_Lewis into the game with no success. I don't even see the aircraft listed in the Single Mission menu." Uh oh. You have some problems then. And thanks for raising it. Firstly, and importantly, don't try to fix anything before you understand the problem - both your FEG and FE2 games could get very stuffed up. If you don't see loadouts (shows only NONE), your loadout.ini is corrupted. If you don't see the plane at all as selectable, your .ini file is corrupted. It could be both. The problem from my experience is if you move the FE2 and FE1 loadout and ini (not the _data.ini which is not a problem) between the games it often is a problem. For many planes, those files will be corrupted. Oddly not all stock or all addon planes, but the Camel, yes, and many more. So, first question, did you move files from FE2 to FE1, then to FE2 again or something like that? Via a mod enabler maybe (not sure how yours works)? Or via moving a Camel I did for either FE1 or FE2 and you installed in FE1, and then moved it acrosss to FE2? Let me give you an example of some of the problems: If you move an FE2 Camel folder/files to FE1, you will not see any loadouts - the loadout file is corrupted (if you open the file it is obvious). If you continue moving them between the two games (because you were not aware of the corruption - the game reads these files automatically when you fire it up ... and corrupts them!), then everything will become corrupted. Basically FE2 and FE1 are fundamentally different. So ... with your particular problem with the Camel - install the ini and loadout files directly from the "108 FMs" download, not from any folders in any of your games, and see if that fixes the problem. I have tested this and those loadout's and ini's will work in FE2 (on my machine at least) if directly put into your FE2 install. EDIT: Just noticed you posted something similar in another thread but also had a problem with "white" planes. Is that still the case? This is also likely a corruption of the ini (where skin locations are defined), but I haven't come across this one before. If you can select the plane, the ini can read the cockpit file location therein, but if white it can't read the skin file location - sorta like a partly corrupted file!

Thanks quack.

Neat. The other way of modifying the options.ini is hardly worth it. Thanks!

Holy Mo olpaint! And you couldn't get campaigns to work either? But I installed the FE2 patch and no problems. At all. The ordinance text is missing when selecting weapons, a bug, but it still works and always did. Addon aircraft or stock, Le Prieurs or bombs. TK has said he will fix the missing text. With the loadout guns, that could be due to my error, not TKs, the FE2 game files I provided in the "108 FMs" wasn't complete. Sorry, still learning about FE2. Just download and install the updated file REALLY FIXED FE2 Game Files and 4 FE2 FMs 2010 . Bit confused about the "white skins", TK's game is extremely robust to modding and mods, any error here especially is usually a user error, but you never know ... all the planes? Are they completely white or are some just partially white? If you are sure it is all the planes, I'd suggest opening one of the planes ***.ini files and see if it is corrupted.