Menrva

Fans of ThirdWire's Strike Fighters, I'm happy to announce an upcoming re-release of Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition, due between this December and next January (yet to be defined). Since the last public release in January 2022, the development team has worked in spare time for more than a year in overhauling the mod with brand new creations, tons of improvements and bug fixes, additional content and much more. Here below some sneak peeks at what's to come. With the intent of delivering the most complete Gulf War experience, players will now be able to fly with the three unique F-4G aircraft that were deployed to the conflict with Euro I camo (namely serial numbers 69-0269, 69-7566, 69-7234) and the only Grey colored F-111E (serial number 68-0050) deployed alongside the more common camouflaged F-111Es. F-4G aircraft 3d model and skins courtesy of @ravenclaw_007. To complement the already huge list of flyable aircraft offered by the mod, new aircraft have been added! Say hi to the wonderful, brand new Mirage F1EQ-5, Mirage F1EQ-6 and Mirage F1CR by @ludo.m54 and his Mirage F1 Team. Moreover, let's welcome a couple of two-seaters; the F-16D-40 Fighting Falcon by @ravenclaw_007 in its Bahraini livery (skins and decals by @Viper63a) and the F-5F available in Royal Saudi Air Force camo and Grey Bahraini livery (skins and decals by @paulopanz). I decided to allow players to choose from experimental camos devised before the Gulf War for some of the most known aircraft of the war. The A-10As are getting the experimental Flipper and Peanut camouflages (both were meant for the Gulf War, respectively for night time and day time missions) and the F-16C Block 25, serial number 84-1212, gets the unique desert camo it sported during Desert Shield, before it was later decided to remove it. These three new skins have been made by yours truly. The original Lizard camo for the F-16C Block 25 is from the Viper Team, it has been upscaled and detailed a bit more by yours truly, as a bonus. On the fun side of things, additional skins have been added to important aircraft of the war; these include prototype paint schemes for the F-117 and the F-15E, Iranian liveries for the F-5E, MiG-29, F-14A and F-4E, and the VX-4 black livery for the F-14A. These skins exist only for player use and won't be seen in normal gameplay during the campaign and single missions, so rest assured the mod won't be breaking any reality check by default. The F-117 skins are brand new and made by yours truly. Okay, so we get to see more variety and beauty in third-person view, but what about cockpits? Numerous cockpits have received a face-lift in the way of brand new textures, mapping fixes, recolouring, better calibrated and standardized HUD colors, corrected view-points and much more. The Mirage Factory's F-14A cockpit now takes the place of the stock one by ThirdWire which looked inappropriate for early 1990s Tomcats, alongside small texture improvements by yours truly. Cockpits for the F-15C, F-15E, RF-4C and for F-7s were revised by yours truly, given hi-res textures and/or proper recoloring for consistency's sake. The S-3 Viking is now flyable, with Foxmonter's original cockpit getting a fresh hi-res repaint by @Viper63a. MiG and Su cockpits received similar treatment by yours truly, and thanks to the works of @OlWilly and @michaelk. If you've had enough of the sky, do know that our master 3d modelers have been busy producing dozens of brand new 3d models for land and sea warfare. One huge, major update regards the Iraqi ground forces; @yakarov79 produced a vast number of brand new vehicles never seen in a flight simulator before; from exclusive Iraqi versions of known Soviet tanks to not-so common howitzers, proper Iraqi command vehicles, artillery units, APCs and more. The Iraqi ground forces have never been reproduced so accurately before, so you can be sure they are a real treat of the mod. Coalition units also got a high-definition treatment with brand new objects by fellow @guuruu, including the M270 MLRS, M102 and M110 howitzers; he also worked on brand new ship 3d models, from generic boats and bulk carriers and cargo ships, to the Iraqi Zhuk-class patrol boat. Moreover, he reworked all data and sound design of guns used by most ground objects; guns now feature unified warhead weight based on caliber and standardized light range and tracer size. Ground battles feel much more intense and gun-only dogfights now feel incredibly realistic, as you or the AI can survive multiple hits (whereas in stock Strike Fighters it's usually an unrealistic one-shot one-kill). The terrain has received noticeable improvements. All terrain objects have been given DetailLevel statements in order for them to be scalable depending on Ground Object graphics settings; this means that less important terrain objects will appear only at Medium, High or Unlimited settings as required. More importantly, Iraq got brand new airbase 3d models by @Jimbib accurately portraying the layouts of the time, alongside a proper Kuwait Int'l airport and Iran's Kharg island airport. Be on the look-out for easter eggs, especially at Iraq's Tallil Airbase. You'll be able to see @Jimbib's recreation of the Ziggurat of Ur, and you might find a bird by @guuruu inside one of the hangars, seemingly out of context. This actually is an historically correct easter egg; history aviation enthusiasts should know about it. There's also a not-so secret single mission available for you to experience. It's not Gulf War related, apart from the fact you'll be flying an F/A-18A of the VMFA-314 Black Knights. Mission date? July 4 1996. Hmm, what could it be? You can tell the amount of effort and passion that went into the mod by reading the complete changelog below. Changelog: Remade installer to allow users to install the mod folder to a path of their choice. Major overhaul of effects with great help by guuruu; improved Stary's Unified Effects package and fixed various issues. Modified DTV filter data for all avionics files to use a different BlendOp for better visibility at night. Resized various cockpit and aircraft .TGA textures to improve performance and reduce memory load. Cleaned up Pilots folder of unnecessary files, fixed few occurrences of missing textures. Optimized Decals folder, resized void and/or plain color decals to 1px, removed unnecessary decals. Standardized control keys for all kinds of animations on all aircraft. Standardized HUD color values, gunsight textures and night lighting for all cockpits. Added DetailLevel statements to all terrain objects in order for them to be scalable depending on Ground Object graphics settings. Added new runway models for major Iraqi airports (as well as Kharg Island and Kuwait Int'l airports) recreated very accurately by Jimbib. Added proper 3d model of the Ziggurat of Ur in the vicinity of Tallil air base, by Jimbib. Added realistic Easter Egg to Tallil air base, 3d model by guuruu; history aviation enthusiasts should look for an aircraft. Added four missing Saudi Arabian airports: Buraydah, Al-Artawiyah, Jubail and Al-Khafji. Added Veltro2k's C-2A(R) aircraft released by Wrench and properly reworked for the ODS environment. Added FastCargo's F-5F with brand new RSAF and BAAF skins made by paulopanz. Added brand new Mirage F1CR by the Mirage F1 Team, with specific tweaks for the ODS mod. Added brand new Mirage F1EQ-5 and Mirage F1EQ-6 aircraft by the Mirage F1 Team, with specific tweaks for the ODS mod. Added latest versions of the Mirage F1EQ-2, F1EQ-4 and F1EDA aircraft released by the Mirage F1 Team. Added proper Saudi Arabian E-3A (E-3A with CFM engines) 3d model made by Sundowner, with brand new skin and decals done by PeacePuma. Added huge ground objects update by yakarov79 with brand new 3d models for tanks, radars, SAMs, howitzers, anti-air guns, vehicles for the Iraqi faction. Added dozens of nicely detailed 3d models standing in as destroyed models for ground objects, by yakarov79. Added new, nicely detailed 3d models; M270 MLRS, RORO ship, Zhuk-class patrol boat, Bulk Carrier ship, M102 and M110 howitzers by guuruu. Added revised weapon data for all AIM missiles including additional sub-variants, all by Crusader, and revised loadouts for aircraft. Added missing CBU-78 and updated 3d models for some other CBUs, all made by ravenclaw_007. Added airburst version of the 1000-lb GP Bomb Mk.13 and more realistic SEAD loadouts for the Tornado GR.1, by dtmdragon. Added smokeless rocket effects by simonmiller416 for the AIM-120A and for all AGM-88s and all AGM-65s. Added specific Kuwait skin to the BMP-2 ground object by yakarov79, for use in the Invasion of Kuwait campaign. Added experimental desert camo skin applied on one F-16C Block 25 aircraft before Desert Storm began. Added experimental Peanut and Flipper A-10A paint schemes conceived for the Gulf War (scrapped before Desert Shield). Added prototype Lizard camo to the F-15E Strike Eagle as a fun bonus, with its correct serial number. Added prototype paint schemes to the F-117A Nighthawk as a fun bonus, with proper serial numbers. Added overhauled skins and decals for all Mirage 2000 aircraft, as well as new hi-res textures for fuel tanks, by ludo.m54. Added period correct Euro I camo and Shark Mouth skins to the F-4G aircraft with correct ODS serials and decals, by ravenclaw_007. Added overall grey skin for the F-111E representing the unique 68-0050 serial number that took part in Desert Storm. Added Improved Countermeasure Effect mod by simonmiller416, increasing realism and improving looks of flares. Added BQM-34 Firebee by yakarov79 as a target drone eventually for training missions for the Coalition aircraft. Added KDS-155 dispenser by Coupi to the MiG-25PD, with specific tweaks for use by the AI in the ODS mod. Added much better detailed AGM-62 Walleye bombs made by ravenclaw_007 in place of old ones. Added F-16D Block 40 aircraft made by ravenclaw_007, with Bahraini skin and decals previously made for ODS by Viper63a. Added new hi-res skins and decals for the KC-135s by daddyairplanes with templates produced by yakarov79. Added Lizard camo skin based on the F/A-16C proposal to the F-16C Block 25 aircraft as a fun bonus, with correct serial numbers. Added Iranian camo skin to the F-5E aircraft by Crusader as a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skin to the MiG-29A aircraft by The Mirage Factory a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skins made by ravenclaw_007 to the F-4E aircraft as a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skins and VX-4 black livery skin to the F-14A aircraft as a fun bonus. Added improved sight textures by michaelk for Stary's Su-7 cockpit. Added M992A2 and proper V-150 APC, 3d models created by GKABS. Added MovementX and MovementZ data to all cockpits to allow XY slewing for TrackIR users. Added The Mirage Factory's F-14A cockpit in place of the stock one by ThirdWire, alongside reworked textures and data. Added Foxmonter's original S-3 Viking cockpit to make the aircraft flyable, with a hi-res repaint by Viper63a. Added working canopy animation to both aircraft and cockpit 3d models for all MiG-21s/F-7s. Added shells ejection update for the MiG-29s and reduced MiG-29UB's gun rounds to 50, as suggested by Crusader. Added KS-3 and KS-4 ejection seats created by 76.IAP-Blackbird and Flogger23 to all Iraqi Fitter aircraft. Added correct list of serial numbers to the Iraqi skin of the Su-24MK aircraft. Added reworked, higher resolution strobe light texture for aircraft and runways, for improved in-game looks. Added numerous real Gulf War pilots to the campaign data and correct ranks for the Iraqi air force. Added bonus Unknown Contact mission as a fun Easter Egg, inspired by a rare demo video of F22 Total Air War. Added more RWR sounds specific to certain aircraft in order to increase variety. Fixed many inaccurate hitboxes for most of the more 170 ground objects included in the mod. Fixed inaccurate hitboxes and/or collision points still present on few aircraft. Fixed weapon stations data for the F-117A so that now it carries LGBs only, including GBU-10s. Fixed weapon stations data for the UAE Mirage 2000s, the RAD variant now carries the Harold recon pod. Fixed weapon stations data for the F-15E in order to avoid weapon 3d models clipping between each other. Fixed data for the F-15E so that the AVQ-14 pod does not appear on loadouts with dumb bombs, by dtmdragon. Fixed wrong gun ammo count for the MiG-21F and the F-7s; the MiG-21F-13 carries 1x60 rounds, the F-7s 2x30 rounds. Fixed exaggerated BaseRCSModifier value for the F-117A, now it can be targeted by other aircraft. Fixed exaggerated jammer strength value for the MiG-25PD, now it can be properly locked on by other aircraft. Fixed AimAngles values for the internal gun on all F-15s, so that the HUD gunsight is properly aligned. Fixed Hawk's cockpit so that it features correct viewpoint, working HSI, lighter reflections and proper gunsight data. Fixed some cockpit data for all MiG-21/F-7 cockpits, as found in a topic written by Crusader. Fixed misplaced RWR screen on the Jaguar GR.1A's cockpit 3d model. Fixed misplaced wingtip vortex effects on all F-111s, all Su-20/22s, the MiG-23UB and the Su-24MK. Fixed missing exhaust emitters on the A-10A and OA-10A aircraft. Fixed exhaust emitters on the AV-8B so that they appear not just on thrust vectoring controls. Fixed nose landing gear being textured improperly on the S-3 aircraft. Fixed pilot's head stuck looking in the same direction on the AV-8B aircraft. Fixed excessive fuel flow values and sluggish flight model on all F-16C aircraft. Fixed wrong, outdated flight models and data for all F-15 aircraft. Fixed few loadout.ini files referencing the AGM-84A instead of the more period correct AGM-84D. Fixed few gun sounds not playing in-game due to their filenames containing a dot character. Fixed overlapping parking spot reported by Viper63a on Ali Al-Salem and Ahmed Al-Jaber airfields by Jimbib. Improved terrain target areas and objects, removed unused and duplicate terrain objects. Improved AI altitude and strafe, rocket and bomb attack values to reduce weird flight behavior at low altitudes. Improved ViewList.ini file, now you can take better screenshots of your preferred aircraft and gameplay instant. Improved and optimized all files of the Sounds folder, now being less than half the original size for faster loading, by guuruu. Improved guns data, now featuring unified warhead weight based on caliber, standardized light range and tracer size, by guuruu. Improved visibility of ground objects at night through the DTV camera by increasing MaxVisibleDistance, by guuruu. Improved aircraft data for all Mirage F1s for proper AI use of ECM and countermeasures, by pvince. Improved all MiG-21 cockpits with reworked gunsight and cockpit textures, removed gunsights embedded into the 3d models. Improved F-7B and F-7M cockpit textures by using the hi-res repaints of MiG-21 cockpits by comrad. Improved MiG-25 cockpit and avionics with tweaks done by OlWilly. Improved MiG-23 cockpits between variants with OlWilly's improvements and with different gunsight textures. Improved Su-7 cockpit with fixed typos and additional tweaks, by OlWilly. Improved A-6E cockpit by reworking few textures and by making the bombing gunsight reasonably sized. Improved RF-4C cockpit by using and tweaking hi-res cockpit textures by streakeagle made for the F-4 cockpits of SF1. Improved F-15C and F-15E cockpits, repainted HUD glass and needles, moved misaligned 3d model parts through .ini tricks. Improved F-16A cockpit with more accurate position of indicator light boxes. Improved little skin texture details on the MiG-23UB, added cockpit files to make it flyable by the player. Improved small texture details on the F-7B, F-7M and Hawk aircraft. Improved F-5E with flight model and cockpit tweaks by baffmeister. Improved exhaust emitter effect size on most aircraft, by guuruu. Improved viewing angles in all F-16C cockpits to feel more natural, as suggested by TaktischesGenie. Improved SpeechText subtitles, now on par with the Speech Enhancement mod by yours truly. Improved data and drag values of chaff and flare to be more realistic, by orsin. Improved FlightEngine.ini values to provide better texture quality on lower settings and to reduce out of memory events. Improved realSKY mod with modified cloud shaders, purple-ish twilight transitions and reworked lens flare textures. Improved SoundList.ini data for better doppler effects, extended sound range for engines and explosions, guuruu. Removed the Maverick EO aiming symbol from the A-10A's HUD, to reflect Gulf War avionics, as suggested by dtmdragon. Removed GBU-15 from being selectable for the F-15E, as no data confirms it was used by F-15Es during ODS. Removed double versions (EOGR and ASM) of AGM anti-ship missiles, now only ASM ones are selectable. Removed SA-13 9S80 radar as it is historically inaccurate for Iraq in 1990-1991. Removed anachronistic AIM-7 and AIM-9 missile variants from the Weapons folder. Removed RWR from the F-117A since it never had one in reality, as pointed out by dtmdragon. Removed ECM from the MiG-25PD aircraft as it did not have any in reality. Removed R-73 missile from the mod and corrected loadout of the MiG-29UB to use R-60s instead. Removed JATO from C-130s and from Tu-22s as they are not needed and not proper for the Gulf War scenario. Removed tracer texture from specific guns where tracers rounds were not used operationally, as suggested by dtmdragon.

Recently I've had the desire of working on a project like ODS 30AE again, but based on the Vietnam War. I'm all in for this, we have many talented modders in here who are still active, most of them I had the pleasure to work with for ODS 30AE. Next year it'll be the 60th anniversary of Rolling Thunder, so how about ORT 60AE? If I'm on it, I can guarantee my best to make it happen with care and passion, just like we managed with ODS 30AE.

The package had been re-uploaded few days ago to include a very small bug fix for a detail nobody will ever notice. Today it got re-uploaded once again because all screenshots that show the mod on the download page had been lost somehow. Don't bother re-downloading if you already did since May 13 2024.

View File Wings Over World Menu Screens Wings Over World Menu Screens January 13th, 2019 (1st Release) by Menrva >For Strike Fighters 2 games This package is my personal conversion of the beautiful Strike Fighters: Project One menu screens, with a number of enhancements for use in Strike Fighters 2. The main menu screen is a reworked version of the NACA Main Screen released by Camouflage (Checksix-fr.com). The title I chose for the main menu screen is "Strike Fighters: Wings Over World", in honor of the old WOE/WOV/WOI series of SF1 games. I find this name suitable for those who have a large mod folder spanning different world scenarios. Here below a quick summary of enhancements and additions: -All the music tracks from the SF games have been included; now there's a unique track for each screen. -Hangar Screen has got the hangar noise sounds which were present in the SF1 games. -Option to turn Lens Flare off as in the SF1 games is back. -Opportunity to change pilot at the Campaign Screen is reintroduced, as in the SF1 games. -Briefing Screen has been reintroduced for eye-candy (it has a small string "bug" with certain missions, since ThirdWire's removal of the FAC mission type). -Added generic _briefing.ini files for all the stock SF2 terrains (terrains without a _briefing.ini file might cause CTDs when accessing the Briefing Screen). -Added Launch/Fly button in the Briefing, Loadout, Flight Roster and Planning Map screens. -Added the missing PILOTPIC25 bitmap which is available in the SF1 games. -Loading Screen shows a generic runway and a new, longer loading sound is used. -Mission Editor DLC is supported with a new screen in the same style of the other screens. -Campaign Customizer DLC is supported with a new screen in the same style of the other screens. -Disabled unnecessary functions of the the System Menu, such as accessing ThirdWire's online site for viewing the game manual. As a bonus, the package includes 42 single missions taking place across all theatres of the SF2 series; most of them have been made by ThirdWire and released in their SF1 games. Five single missions are Instant Action scenarios of Strike Fighters 2, which I converted to be choosable and playable in the Single Missions Screen. Additional missions include historical scenarios created by guyran for the Israel theater. I renamed all single missions to use a nicer naming convention. Needless to say, all SF2 titles must be installed to be able to play all the missions. In addition, I have tweaked some Flight folder files to improve the realism of the game's HUD and in-game map. Since users may not like such changes, those files are not included by default, they must be installed manually. They can be found inside the "(Additional Tweaks)" folder. Here below a quick summary of changes they bring: -Disabled all the unuseful Labels when viewing the in-game map. -Disabled the arcade cones; lock your target and press F4 to visually track it. -Tweaked icons' colours so that they match the text's colours. -The in-game text background is less noticeable. -Text's font is now different, it is generally smaller and less obtrusive. -No more red and blue arcade squares when locking objects on; a faint yellow square is now used. -The white triangle showing the next waypoint is now a faint yellow, unlike the default strong white. -Disabled the radar box display; check the radar of your plane's cockpit, instead. >Credits (in no particular order): -ThirdWire, for the fantastic menu screens which are included in the stock SFP1 game. -kout, for the System Menu icon I have taken from his SF1 Grey Main Menu Replacement mod. -Camouflage, for the NACA Main Screen (still available at the archives of Checksix-fr.com), which I have reworked. -HomeFries, for the planning map enhancements available in his Semi-Transparent Map Icons package. -Viper63a, for the Loading sound, which I got from one of his menu mods. -paulopanz, for collecting and updating guyran's WOI custom missions properly to SF2 standards. -guyran, for the original custom missions he created for Wings Over Israel. -KJakker, for his interest and welcome support. >Disclaimer: This is a freeware; yet it can be redistributed ONLY in other CombatACE mods/mod packages. Any changes to the package's files and/or any copy-and-paste attempts of their contents are NOT authorized if you plan to release them in other mods. But permission might be granted to those who request it to me at CombatACE. This mod may NOT in any way, shape or form be used in any payware additions. Submitter Menrva Submitted 01/13/2019 Category Menus  

Add-on package has been updated to Version 1.2; read the change log for further details.

View File F-19 Stealth Fighter F-19 Stealth Fighter September 13th, 2022 (1st Release) by Julhelm, Dels and Menrva >For Strike Fighters 2 games This is a rework of Julhelm's fantastic F-19 stealth fighter 3d model, now featuring a centre strut canopy structure (thanks to a cheap trick of repainting the bubble canopy glass) and a new cockpit, a purposely modified F-117A cockpit by Dels. Among the improvements, it now features proper hit boxes and collision points, proper location for position lights and landing gear lights, reworked skins, aircraft characteristics and loadouts meant to resemble the ones of Microprose's F-19 Stealth Fighter game. It still features two internal weapon bays (unlike Microprose's exaggerated four bays), but with properly reworked limits; you can have 4x Sidewinders or 3x AMRAAMs per bay, 2x bombs or AGMs depending on their overall weight and size. A 20mm cannon is on the nose with 680 rounds, and an extra 1,900 lbs fuel cell has been added for a total of 11,800 lbs of fuel; non-afterburning engines are used for stealth reasons. An (invisible) arrester hook has been added as well, since Microprose's version could also operate from aircraft carriers. Skins feature the 83-019 serial number and an F letter on the vertical tails; these two details come from a picture of a menu screen in one of the releases of Microprose's F-19 Stealth Fighter game, where you could choose between an F-19 or an F-117A. More serial numbers couldn't be featured as the 3d model of the aircraft does not support decals without decal bleeding issues. Just imagine piloting the only example of F-19 in very black operations! Three new skins were created: a Prototype Black skin created from the specular texture Julhelm had made, and Desert and Arctic camo skins made by modifying the USAF Euro camo skin created by kblomkvist. NOTE: Strike Fighters 2 has no proper IRST functionality, so for the purpose of launching AMRAAMs a very basic ACM radar mode has been added to the avionics file of the aircraft. Moreover, the default cockpit features an obtrusive front strut which makes the cannon difficult to use. You can activate an alternative cockpit LOD in the relative INI file. >What-if Backstory During the development of the Have Blue demonstrators, Lockheed's Skunk Works division also conceived a third experimental stealth aircraft featuring an entirely different shape, rounded fuselage and wings, and meant to have air combat capabilities. The CIA got wind of it, classifying it at the highest possible level and using it as a cover-up story for the stealth aircraft that came to be the F-117A Nighthawk. In 1986, the Testor Corporation released a plastic model aircraft kit, calling it the "F-19 Stealth Fighter". Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987-88 book listed an RF-19 as a Lockheed development project. The conceptual drawings of it were generally similar to Testor's design. In 1988 a combat flight simulator game, F-19 Stealth Fighter by Microprose, was released just moments before the public unveiling of the F-117A Nighthawk attack aircraft, which is said to be what it sought to represent. The reality is that a single F-19 existed and, during secret flights over Groom Lake, this experimental aircraft showed unique strength and was deemed a super-aircraft. Due to its funding and mantaining costs, the project was officially abandoned in 1983. Unofficially, this single example of F-19 took part in black operations all over the world until 1997. It is named F-19A Nightowl, internally nicknamed "Flying Frisbee" for its rounded shape and also referred to as "Ghostrider" for allegedly being affiliated with the 416th TFS Ghost Riders flying the F-117A Nighthawk. "The view would have been frightening to most men, there were solid clouds overhead at 4000 feet. He flew through the showers, he more heard than saw on this black night and the dark outlines of the trees appeared to reach up and snatch at his speeding fighter. Only a madman would be so low on such a night. 'So much the better' he smiled in his oxygen mask" - Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising >Credits (in no particular order): -Julhelm, for creating this well-made 3d model of the F-19. -Dels, for his kindness in reworking the F-117 cockpit following my request. -kblomkvist, for his USAF Euro camo inspired by Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising book. -guuruu, for sharing his RWR symbols improvement mod and for his improved sound files. -simonmiller416, for his smokeless rocket effects mod. -Crusader, for the more realistic weapons data for AIM missiles. -TaktischesGenie, for his suggestions and chats we've had about the F-19 concept. -My girlfriend, for supporting me in all of my endeavours. Submitter Menrva Submitted 09/12/2022 Category What If Hangar  

Add-on package has been updated to Version 1.3; read the change log for further details.

View File F-22A Raptor Skin Pack F-22A Raptor Skin Pack October 13th, 2021 (1st Release) by Menrva >For Strike Fighters 2 games This is an extra skin pack for the high quality F-22A Raptor aircraft add-on. Most skins are based on ideas and depictions from other videogames. Here below a list of the included ones: -YF-22 Paint Scheme (inspired by the real YF-22 prototype) -Sea Raptor Livery (inspired by the F-22N Sea Raptor concept) -Saudi Grey Camouflage (as depicted in Digital Image Design's F-22 Total Air War) -Egyptian Woodland Camouflage (as depicted in Digital Image Design's F-22 Total Air War) -USAF Pac West Camouflage (as depicted in Digital Image Design's F-22 Total Air War) -Desert Lightning Camouflage (as depicted in NovaLogic's F-22 Lightning 3) -Phoenix Livery (from Namco Hometek's Air Combat, as depicted in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown) -Phoenix Livery, Dark (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat Infinity) -Scarface One Livery (as depicted in Namco Hometek's Ace Combat 2) -Z.O.E., Red Livery (from Namco Hometek's Ace Combat 2, as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat Infinity) -Mobius One, ISAF Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies) -Abell, Black Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies) -Razgriz Livery (from Project Aces' Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation) -Pegas, 3-Tone Blue Camouflage (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation) -Indigo Wing Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation) -Gryphus One Livery (from Access Games' Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception, as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat Infinity) -Warwolf Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat: Assault Horizon) -Mobius One, IUN Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown) -Trigger Livery (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown) -JASDF 2-Tone Blue Camouflage (as depicted in Project Aces' Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown) As a bonus, different aircraft configuration files are included in the "(Alternative Data)" folder. You'll be able to choose between realistic loadouts (default configuration of the aircraft add-on package) and what-if loadouts inspired by the mentioned F-22 videogames of the late 90s, namely weapons included in F-22 Lightning 3. Both configurations are also available with the addition of invisible skids; those will allow you to perform belly landings, which are a feature of good old F-22 Total Air War. Notes: -The B61 tactical nuclear bomb is a retarded version, but drop it safely from high altitude at high speed. Take note that it does not damage the stock Runway object, due to the armor values of it. The B61 is meant to be used against naval fleets you may encounter on some custom terrains. -You need to tweak the SoundList.ini file in order to fully experience any new sounds. Read "(Add to SoundList)" for further details, and remember to extract the SoundList.ini file from the FlightData.cat archive, if you do not have a custom one in your mod folder already. >Credits (in no particular order): -yakarov79, for his high quality templates which allowed me to easily put some new paint on the aircraft. -ravenclaw_007, for sharing some of his latest weapon 3d models for the bonus what-if loadouts. -Astore, for providing me with better Ace Combat themed emblems, and for being one of the few Italian Ace Combat fans like me. -godrugalultimate, from DeviantArt, for making incredibly detailed Ace Combat themed decals. -RythusOmega, for providing all Ace Combat 7 emblems and whose skins have been used as reference for the Phoenix liveries. -Lanzerince, whose Ace Combat 7 skins have been used as reference for the Scarface livery. -mue, for his LOD Viewer which helped immensely in the making of the skins. -Blade, for sharing info about the purpose of the game's decal levels. -My girlfriend, for supporting me in all of my endeavours. >Disclaimer: This is a freeware; yet it can be redistributed ONLY in other CombatACE mods/mod packages. This mod may NOT in any way, shape or form be used in any payware additions. Submitter Menrva Submitted 10/13/2021 Category F-22  

Add-on package has been updated to Version 1.3; read the change log for further details.

View File F-22A Raptor Add-on F-22A Raptor Add-on October 13th, 2021 (1st Release) by yakarov79, baffmeister, Crusader, guuruu and Menrva >For Strike Fighters 2 games This is a high quality add-on of the F-22A Raptor aircraft. The original model had been made by Heberth, and it was released in alpha stage. Upon noticing room for improvement, yakarov79 helped finalize the 3d model with numerous, additional details; accurate pylons and rail launchers, new external fuel tanks, highly detailed rack and small diameter bomb 3d models, canopy and thrust-vectoring animations, high-res skin with specular and bump maps, updated cockpit model, and so on. A realistic, well-thought flight model has been produced by our expert, baffmeister. Moreover, Crusader offered his great expertise to improve upon his previous modification for the Raptor's avionics. All their efforts have raised the quality bar of the project I had started; much credits to them all. I further polished the package by adding historically accurate weapon loadouts, my selection of sounds (including authentic engine samples by guuruu), realistic camouflage shapes and colours, reworked decals for the actual USAF's F-22A squadrons, new cockpit textures and other tweaks here and there. Each squadron has got historically correct serial numbers, and they appear in chronological order in the loadout screen; the serial numbers at the bottom of the list are those of aircraft that joined that squadron for last, while the serials at the beginning of the list indicate those aircraft that were available to that squadron for first. Like you would expect in an opera omnia, I even reproduced three unique paint schemes of real Raptors; the air superiority camouflage of the EMD 91-4001 Prototype of September 1997, the temporary "Blue Nose" decoration of the "Cripes A'Mighty" Raptor assigned to the 149th Fighter Squadron in April 2010, and a generic Mid-Production livery sporting the markings of the last Raptor ever produced that flew for the first time in March 2012. Templates by yakarov79, tweaked by yours truly, are included for your skinning fantasies. Notes: -The cockpit is not yet accurate, as various details couldn't be reworked due to RL and time constraints. We were working on a brand new cockpit with accurate HUD and displays. Slimers with correct illumination were also planned. Hopefully they will be a thing in a future re-release. -The aircraft folder is named "F-22A", just like the one included in a number of mod packages which use an old 3d model by Dels. In order to avoid mismatches and bugs of any sort, it's highly suggested to either remove or rename the aircraft folder using Dels' Raptor 3d model. -GPS guidance bombs (EOGB) do not work as intended in SF2, there are issues about them not locking on target and about AI behaviour. The GBU-39 has been set as an EOGR, so it works like a missile; this is a needed workaround to have them loaded properly on a rack while keeping the GPS guidance property. -You need to tweak the SoundList.ini file in order to fully experience any new sounds. Read "(Add to SoundList)" for further details, and remember to extract the SoundList.ini file from the FlightData.cat archive, if you do not have a custom one in your mod folder already. >Credits (in no particular order): -Heberth, for making this (once forgotten) fantastic 3d model. -Julhelm, for sharing the files of his superb F-22A cockpit 3d model, allowing yakarov79 to improve upon it. -yakarov79, for his invaluable help in finalizing the 3d model and remaking the base textures; you have my gratitude. -baffmeister, for his excellent flight model; it's thanks to him if this beauty flies as good as it looks. -Crusader, for reworking the avionics enhancement made for Julhelm's F-22A cockpit, and for improving the AIM missiles. -guuruu, for sharing his RWR symbols improvement mod and for making better engine sounds. -ravenclaw_007, for the AIM missiles from his top notch Weapons Pack 2, the GBU-32 JDAM bomb and the ACES II seat 3d models. -viper63a, for his old F-22A USAF Raptors Redux package, from which I borrowed decals. -simonmiller416, for his smokeless rocket effects mod. -mue, for his LOD Viewer which helped immensely in the making of the skins. -Cocas, for further help given to Heberth for the aircraft's 3d model. -My girlfriend, for supporting me in all of my endeavours. Additional ReadMe files by yakarov79 and baffmeister have been included among few others; be sure to read those to know about their work in better detail. >Disclaimer: This is a freeware; yet it can be redistributed ONLY in other CombatACE mods/mod packages. This mod may NOT in any way, shape or form be used in any payware additions. Submitter Menrva Submitted 10/13/2021 Category F-22  

Mod package has been updated to Version 1.5; several improvements to bring the mod in line with features introduced in the ODS 30AE mod.

@ravenclaw_007 your specs are fine. You don't need a new computer as someone suggested. I was able to work on 4k textures with a mere GeForce 310 (512MB, later I had upgraded to a 2GB GeForce 710) on an old Pentium Dual-Core and with only 4GB of RAM. Point being, the software should be the issue.

Battle of Khafji

@GKABS Is a template available for this EF2000 Typhoon? The only templates I found are for a pretty old model for SF1, there are no templates available for Bongodriver's Typhoon 3d model that you reworked.

Thank you very much for these posts on the game's flight models, they are very informative! I'd ask admins to pin this topic and this other one you created: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/98829-trying-to-cure-rudder/

I already explained why in that other topic, but I'll repeat myself. YAP for SF1 monetized upon freeware mods from CombatACE without permission from the respective authors. I'm not talking about the quality of the assets (of which I cannot talk about, as I do not own these products) but about their legality. On the surface the YAP products look amazing, but they did wrong to some modders and 3d modelers of CombatACE. Up to you if you wish to play with such contents, some of which were sold while they were freeware at CombatACE. I hope this is clear enough. I'm not referring to YAP-RW which is an entirely different project with a different aim.

Just for context, John Shelton and Mike Figursky passed away in 2019. The money would go to no-one and the website and store are no longer maintained since then. Fans of YAP managed to contact Shelton's wife and obtain access to the front-end of the website, where now they're sharing reworked YAP content for Strike Fighters 2 for free, under the name YAP-RW: http://yankeeairpirate.net I'm not involved in any of this, I always stayed away from YAP content (and that's what I'd suggest doing to anyone), but I deem necessary to point this out. What Soulfreak says still applies IMHO, it's all in a grey area. Nonetheless, YAP-RW exists and it's not related to the YAP owners, it's a group of end-users who had bought the products and are updating them for SF2 for free. Up to CombatACE admins to decide how to deal with YAP content; if what I heard is true, that 3d modelers never received agreed compensation by Shelton, it's not like this matter can be solved anymore. YAP also monetized upon freeware content by modders here at CombatACE without permission, so I also very much doubt the original YAP was exactly legal back in the day.

I'm very happy to announce that v0.9.8 of Operation Desert Storm has just been uploaded and will soon be available for download here at CombatACE.com once it's approved. You're advised to read all details on how to properly install and run the mod. In case of issues, also have a look at the offered suggestions included in the mod's page, which have been updated with new solutions. In case you missed the previous announcement showcasing many of the new additions and improvements, you can read about it all here: Since the announcement was made, in a mere month the team has worked much to fix some other long-standing issues and improve the overall quality consistency of the mod even further! Here below a change log of all major tweaks on top of the ones already mentioned in the previous thread: Standardized brightness and range values of landing lights for all aircraft of the mod. Standardized values for the DetectSystem data of all aircraft, namely MaxVisibleDistance, BaseRCSModifier and HeatSignatureModifier. Added brand new Mirage F1CR by the Mirage F1 Team, with specific tweaks for the ODS mod. Added brand new, proper 3d model for the CVA-59 Forrestal-class aircraft carrier, made by guuruu. Added proper Saudi Arabian E-3A 3d model (E-3A with CFM engines) made by Sundowner. Added Victory Arch aka Swords of Qadisiyah landmark to Baghdad, with 3d models recreated by swambast. Added new hi-res skins for the KC-135A by using templates produced by yakarov79, alongside improved tail decals. Added new hi-res skins for the E-3B/C Sentry by daddyairplanes with templates produced by yakarov79. Added improved skins with more accurate panel lines and colors for the F-15C, F-15D and F-15E aircraft, by daddyairplanes. Added unused AI-only Transfer mission type to all cargo aircraft of the mod. Added missing position/navigation lights on the KC-10 and VC10 K2 aircraft. Improved all ECM data (fixed or removed where necessary) in all relevant aircraft of the mod in order to provide more realistic gameplay. Improved aircraft data for all Mirage F1s for proper AI use of ECM and countermeasures, by pvince. Improved SoundList.ini data for better doppler effects, extended sound range for engines and explosions, by guuruu. Improved LandingAimPoint values for the decks of the CVA-63 and CVN-68 carriers to prevent aircraft from missing the deck. Fixed several issues with AI failing to properly land with more than two dozens of aircraft in the mod (mainly cargo planes). Fixed the AI not landing properly on carriers with S-3, F/A-18s and AV-8B aircraft. Fixed inaccurate values of service ceiling, radius/range, empty weight and fuel capacity on AI-only heavy aircraft (cargo planes, tankers, etc.). Fixed missing or wrongly displayed landing lights on several aircraft of the mod. Fixed overlapping parking spot reported by Viper63a on Ali Al-Salem and Ahmed Al-Jaber airfields by Jimbib. Fixed weapon stations for the F-15C and F-15D aircraft, so that AIM missiles won't be hanging in mid-air without CFTs and their pylons. Fixed Harold pod hanging in mid-air on the center pylon of the Mirage 2000RAD. Fixed inaccurate ECM/CM data and avionics for the Jaguar A, by pvince. I want to thank all previous modders and contributors of CombatACE.com mod that have helped make this happen. In particular, I want to thank @guuruu, @Sundowner, @daddyairplanes, @swambast and @pvince for their last minute efforts in producing brand new additions and improvements. Brand new Forrestal-class aircraft carrier with working weapons and night lighting by @guuruu. Brand new Saudi Arabian E-3A (E-3A with CFM engines) 3d model by @Sundowner with skin and decals by @PeacePuma. Victory Arch aka Swords of Qadisiyah landmark in Baghdad with 3d models recreated by @swambast. While you're waiting for the mod to be approved or while it's being installed on your system, you can enjoy this video by fellow YouTuber and flight sim enthusiast "damson", whom I thank for his testing of the mod and for the very useful feedback he provided about it:

Stock shaders ReShadeFX shaders Stock shaders ReShadeFX shaders Stock shaders ReShadeFX shaders ReShadeFX is a sort of SweetFX, actually it's SweetFX plus many other special effects. It is easier to install since it comes with a framework/graphical user interface, so it's very easy to use; it allows to create and share presets and to choose the rendering mode (OpenGL, DirectX9 or 10, etc.) for each particular game executable, among other things. Unlike SweetFX, where you have to copy various files to your mod folders, ReShade automatically adds all the relevant files to the main Strike Fighters 2 directory, then it loads it regardless of the fact that you are running a mod or the stock game. If you want to know more about it and/or download it, this is the link: http://reshade.me PS: Comparison shots above were made with my (pretty bad) preset. Those who have better eyes than mine can, of course, create better presets.

DID's EF2000 legacy DID's EF2000 v2.0 monstrosity

View File Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition Welcome To Duty Built with the extraordinary expertise and dedication of modders from CombatACE.com, Operation Desert Storm – 30th Anniversary Edition promises to be the most complete total conversion ever made for Strike Fighters 2 by ThirdWire. Fly with more than 50 aircraft ranging from Cold War relics to the most advanced platforms. Gain air superiority in the mighty F-15C Eagle or challenge the Coalition with the agile Fulcrum. Support troops with the A-10A Thunderbolt II, bomb strategic targets with the stealthy F-117A Nighthawk, lead airfield denial operations in the iconic Tornado. Enjoy a beautifully rendered scenario on a scaled and accurate terrain. Fly over the lakes and rivers of Mesopotamia, the oil-rich fields of Kuwait, the mountains of Iran and Turkey. Take-off from aircraft carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf to watch over Kuwaiti oil rigs. Perform landings and patrols in more than 90 airports and air bases in the Middle East. Take part in different campaigns including the Iraqi blitzkrieg on Kuwait and the US-led liberation of the Kuwaiti Emirate. Discover how the Iraqi Army was one of the biggest in the world, through the eyes of American, British, Canadian, French, Italian and Arab pilots. Test your skills and abilities flying for the Iraqi Air Force during all stages of the conflict. Thirty years after, Operation Desert Storm still remains the largest air operation of modern warfare to date. Modders and flight sim enthusiasts at CombatACE teamed up to bring you a unique product in the lite flight sim world. Exquisitely detailed aircraft and paint schemes are delivered in a well-researched and thorough order of battle. The ODS 30th AE Development team would like to thank CombatACE.com, its admins, moderators and contributors. We are sure you will enjoy and appreciate this high-quality freeware product. From the aviation enthusiasts, to the aviation enthusiasts... and for the pilots of tomorrow. Minimum Requirements Required products from ThirdWire: Strike Fighters 2, July 2013 patch Strike Fighters 2: Israel, July 2013 patch Strike Fighters 2: North Atlantic, July 2013 patch Full support for: Mission Editor DLC Campaign Customizer DLC System specs: OS: Windows 7 x86 Processor: Dual Core 2.7 GHz Memory: 4.0 GB RAM Hard Drive: 17.0 GB Free Space Video Card: 1024 MB DirectX 10 Sneak Peek Disclaimer CombatACE.com shall at all times retain ownership of the Software as originally downloaded by you and all subsequent downloads of the Software by you. The Software (and the copyright, and other intellectual property rights of whatever nature in the Software, including any modifications made thereto) are and shall remain the property of CombatACE.com and of the respective developers/modders. In no event, unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, shall CombatACE.com, or any person be liable for any loss, expense or damage, of any type or nature arising out of the use of, or inability to use this installer or program, including, but not limited to, claims, suits or causes of action involving alleged infringement of copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or unfair competition. The Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition modification does NOT comply with CombatACE's Freeware Licensing. Various contents of this modification are exclusive, as such you are NOT allowed to share, redistribute and/or make use of the mod and/or its contents for other purposes, without the consent of the mod's developers. Contents of the modification are the copyright of their respective authors. Notes about the installer Beware, the mod is available only in the ISO format. You can either mount it on a virtual drive, burn it on a DVD like in the good old days, or unzip it with 7-Zip or equivalent software. The installer will automatically detect your installation of the required Strike Fighters 2 games by reading through the registry keys. Game folders that are copied from or manually moved from where they were originally installed are not supported. You need all three aforementioned Strike Fighters 2 games and they must be installed with ThirdWire's original installers, not manually copied from other sources nor moved elsewhere after installation to other folders or drives. If you do not meet any of these requirements, installation cannot proceed and you are on your own. If you install all required games properly, the installation of the mod will proceed correctly as intended. The installer then lets you choose where to install the mod folder; you can even install the mod on a different drive or partition than the one where Strike Fighters 2 is installed. No further user input nor manual edits after installation are ever required; the installer takes care of creating all proper links to your desired path for the mod folder. After installation is over, simply run the mod by using the created Desktop and/or Start Menu links. If you have a previous version of the mod installed, please use the uninstaller to remove it completely. Clean installation is mandatory. You might want to make a backup of the Controls folder, so that you can easily restore your controller settings afterwards. Suggestions on common issues Make sure that you are using your dedicated GPU. By default, Strike Fighters 2 usually selects the integrated GPU you may have on your CPU, which is much weaker in terms of VRAM. In case you have frequent crashes or black/missing textures, I highly suggest you download and install the DXVK graphics wrapper (x86 DLLs) into your Strike Fighters 2 game folder: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk. You need a Vulkan-compatible GPU. The wrapper can greatly improve the experience with the mod. With DXVK I can play the mod on a mere Intel UHD 710, whereas without it the mod would always crash to desktop. Go to Sound and set Sound Channels to 32. We got reports that 16 is not enough and will cause crashes on some systems, due to the higher quality sounds included within the mod. The mod is pretty heavy for the game engine despite huge optimizations. Strike Fighters 2's engine is 32bit only and apparently does not manage VRAM properly; consecutive campaign missions might show black/missing textures on objects or cause crashes to desktop because the game does not release the occupied VRAM from the previous mission you played, thus the more missions are loaded consecutively, the more easily you may run out of memory. Set Ground Objects to Medium or Low, Horizon Distance to Near, and Shadows to Medium or Low. These are the most troubling settings. Avoid Unlimited settings as much as possible. If the mod used to work and suddenly crashes to desktop, updating or reinstalling video drivers should help. Make sure that DirectX June 2010 Redistributables are also installed, they are included inside the ISO disk image of the mod. Inside the mod folder, you'll find some extra text files. "(Coalition Order of Battle)" should be of your interest; the mod's terrain covers the entirety of Iraq, at the cost of not having all of Saudi Arabia; this means that a number of important units are based on airbases that are beyond the in-game playable area. With those units you always spawn near the target area, you'll never get to start from a runway nor to land on the assigned runway beyond the invisible wall. You have an entire list of the affected units in the aforementioned text file. By pressing ALT+N, the plane returns to base automatically. The mod is fully compatible with the Campaign Customizer and Mission Editor DLCs by ThirdWire. The Campaign Customizer might be an alternative way to experience those off map units I mentioned previously, since it assigns you to a random airbase of the in-game flyable area. Escort missions are often broken, this is not an issue of the mod, but a bug of the stock game; sometimes the AI flight you escort does not engage its target and keeps flying in a straight line instead of following waypoints, thus the trigger for mission success will never happen. Abandon the mission or retry it if the issue happens, sometimes it works. Pray for ThirdWire AKA Tsuyoshi Kawahito to work on a 64bit version of Strike Fighters 2, maybe even with support for DirectX 12. With that done, any out of memory issues should become an old memory. Submitter Menrva Submitted 01/16/2021 Category User Made Campaigns

It's all described in the download page of the mod.

I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not suggesting to play it on Easy, I never do since I play with Hard difficulty. It's just something worth testing to see how that affects rudders in game. Probably my bad wording, I did not mean to say that rudders are not needed in Strike Fighters. What I wanted to say is that they are not useful in the way they have been implemented. Had they been working as expected, they'd have a lot of use indeed.