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Menrva

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Everything posted by Menrva

  1. 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.
  2. 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 The money would go to no-one and the website and store are no longer maintained since then.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.
  3. 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:
  4. 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.
  5. DID's EF2000 legacy DID's EF2000 v2.0 monstrosity
  6. It's all described in the download page of the mod.
  7. 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.
  8. @daddyairplanes Clever solution. I want to point out that decals use their own shader for rendering, though. They get a different lighting compared to the rest of the aircraft's textures. This means that under certain angles of sunlight, you might be able to see the box being illuminated differently.
  9. @OlWilly I may be wrong, but IIRC by setting the flight model difficulty to Easy, the rudder should work more like it should, but the overall flight modelling then becomes Ace Combat-like. Just another test case that is worth trying. Compared to many other flight sims, the rudder is not useful at all in Strike Fighters, so this thread is of my interest.
  10. Joint Strike Fighter Squadron Somewhere over Afghanistan Year 202X
  11. NATO Air Force Somewhere over Norway Year 202X
  12. During the development of ODS 30AE, we used to have sounds in higher quality, some WAVs even were some MBs in size. They made loading times much longer and definitely required more memory. I wouldn't say it's due to the soundlist as we have some 300 entries in it for ODS 30AE. Try reducing the quality of sound files instead. The game prefers low frequency mono sounds, low quality ones overall.
  13. Not always. I think Ludo already knows that textures are needed, he's using his own Mirage F1 add-ons. Black textures happen when you run out of VRAM. @ludo.m54 reinstall DirectX 9 redistributables, update video drivers and make sure you're using your dedicated GPU in the game's options (Strike Fighters 2 usually defaults to the integrated graphics card of the CPU, and that is obviously insufficient for high quality add-ons).
  14. What Gepard says; I cannot remember the exact number, but there are hardcoded limitations in regards to how many vertices can be rendered for TODs. Simply put, reduce the number of buildings on the TOD or the game won't render them all.

  15. Congratulations Coupi

    Menrva replied to GKABS's topic in The Pub

    Well deserved, @Coupi! I thank you for your continuous support on the ODS 30AE mod.
  16. @omegaeleven Apologies if I didn't reply to your PM in time. RL is not being kind to me at the moment. I'm happy that Gepard and mehlhorndirk gave you help. This is the best I can offer at the moment, a zip of data mainly recovered from CombatACE, you'll find a DOC and a PDF, alongside links to useful posts that can be found in CombatACE's forums: SF_Campaigns_KB.zip I'm no campaign data guru. What I did for the Desert Storm campaign data is an impressive amount of work, but the complex ground war does not work yet as intended. You'll find out that you learn a lot more by doing, trial and error. I'm also happy to see that my Horn of Africa terrain is being used, it never got a review by users so I consider it the most overlooked of my terrain mods. If the terrain ever needs some additions or fixes, feel free to let me know and I'll work on it if RL gives me some breath.
  17. In response to dsawan's thread (https://combatace.com/forums/topic/93782-moon-scenery/), I decided to create a realistic Moon scenery. I will use this thread to remind myself that I have one in the making, LOL. Jokes aside, I have encountered various limitations of the game engine in regards to the environmentsystem.ini file, but hopefully I will solve everything. I wish guys like @Stary were still around, their knowledge would be of help. Gravity and Inclination Angle are that of the Moon. Earth phases have been created as well. The terrain features a high quality 250m heightmap of an area between Mare Crisium and Mare Smythii. Right now, I am using some repainted objects as stand-in Space AAA guns and SAMs. I also modified two fictional aircraft available here (KF-2 and KF-1) to be used for this scenario. The scenario pits a joint alliance (United States Space Force, Russian Space Forces and People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Forces) against a fictional Settlement Defense Front, in the years 2038-2048. Those interested are invited to contribute with fictional yet "realistic" objects of a future Moon settlement, as well as new aircraft designs (IIRC X-Plane had some study aircraft designs for flight on Mars).
    One of the best tilesets ever done for Strike Fighters. Impressive amount of work! After many years being stuck with old tilesets, it's good to see a brand new one in 2024.
  19. No problem, I think swambast will understand. Like Wrench reminded, it is suggested that @Lacsap replaces the uploaded package with one which includes just the tileset files and the updated terrain's data.ini file. No need to repackage your whole terrain with it.
  20. Wonderful tileset, but I wasn't expecting it to be a standalone terrain with some other material included without permission. I see that swambast's Mosul Dam has been included and that was meant to be exclusive to the IraqWA terrains I released long ago. Nothing wrong on seeing stuff like this being re-used on other terrain mods, but I'd make sure to contact the authors involved next time, as well as including a proper list of credits. If only the tileset stuff got changed, it would have been best to release the updated tiles and data files alone, just like many other tileset mods made in the past by the likes of Stary and Brain32.

  21. F-22A Raptor Add-on

    Menrva posted a file in F-22

    Version 1.4

    1,945 downloads

    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.-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. -simonmiller416, for his smokeless rocket effects mod and for reproducing the experimental chrome coating skin seen on Raptor 04-4065. -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. -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 endeavors. 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.
  22. @Erik Thank you for the info. I decided to remove the hot-fix, most users downloaded the mod after January 20th 2024, so it's not needed anymore. I might post it to the support topic if necessary. The mod needs to be re-approved even though nothing has changed.
  23. Oh weird, I'm glad you let us know. It's been up for so long, so it never worked so far? BTW, the hotfix is only for those few users who downloaded all four parts of the mod's ISO between January 17th and January 20th 2024. If you got the ISO parts after that date, you don't need the hotfix. @Erik This hotfix was uploaded as an attachment in ODS30AE's "What's New" section. Could you have a look and see what's wrong? Thanks in advance.
  24. @madvad I don't think you really solved it. Now you're showing gerwin's TFD version of the stock IcelandNA terrain. The one of this topic is Baltika's Iceland terrain, which is an entirely different terrain, it is standalone and features a more complex tileset and a full scale size, unlike IcelandNA which is only 60% or so of real world scale. Gerwin's replaces the stock IcelandNA terrain, Baltika's must be installed in its own separate folder instead.

  25. NovaLogic Terrains

    Menrva posted a file in Full Terrains

    Version 1.1

    651 downloads

    NovaLogic Terrains July 13th, 2021 (1st Release) by Menrva and gerwin >For Strike Fighters 2, Recommended Full-5 Merged This package was born after the discovery of similarities between the terrain engine of Strike Fighters and that of NovaLogic's flight sims from the late nineties. Upon my initial idea, gerwin helped make it true with his incredible programming skills; without him, these terrains wouldn't even exist for use on Strike Fighters. This package features not one, not two, but all thirteen terrains converted from all NovaLogic's flight sims. Due to differences between game engines, these terrains are smaller in scale in Strike Fighters compared to how they are in NovaLogic's games. Here below a summary of what's included: NL01_IslandGreen (Region: Meadow) from F-22 Lightning II NL02_IslandSnowy (Region: Tundra) from F-22 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor NL03_Desert1 (Region: Arid) from F-22 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor NL04_Jungle1 (Region: Forest) from F-22 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor NL04_Jungle2 (Region: Jungle) from F-16 Multirole Fighter and MiG-29 Fulcrum NL05_Savannah1 (Region: Woodland) from F-22 Raptor NL05_Savannah2 (Region: Savanna) from F-16 Multirole Fighter, MiG-29 Fulcrum and F-22 Lightning 3 NL06_Desert2A (Region: Brush) from F-22 Raptor NL06_Desert2B (Region: Desert) from F-16 Multirole Fighter and MiG-29 Fulcrum NL07_Steppe (Region: Steppe) from F-16 Multirole Fighter and MiG-29 Fulcrum NL08_Scrub (Region: Scrub) from F-16 Multirole Fighter, MiG-29 Fulcrum and F-22 Lightning 3 NL09_Glacial (Region: Glacial) from F-16 Multirole Fighter, MiG-29 Fulcrum and F-22 Lightning 3 NL10_IslandJungle (Region: Tropical) from F-22 Lightning 3 These terrains feature 500m resolution heightmaps and original low-res tilesets (tweaked for the Strike Fighters engine). Each terrain is meant to represent a generic region of the world. Nations are properly limited to ones coherent with each setting, and island terrains enable the use of naval fleets and aircraft carriers. As such, these terrains are meant to be used in a full-5 merged mod folder of all SF2 titles. At this stage very few target areas have been added to each terrain, providing basic support for all mission types, so just enjoy quick missions against the enemy; hopefully these terrains will be completed with more details one day. About development, gerwin took care of reverse engineering NovaLogic's files and converting them to SF2 format, plus writing the tools for that. Me and him manually fixed most water alpha channels and adjusted colors in few tiles. Design choices such as target areas, routes, terrain height and surroundings, are mine; if you have any suggestions about this package, contact me. >Credits (in no particular order): -gerwin, for converting these terrains to the Strike Fighters game engine and for expanding his awesome tools with new features. I included his very nice Airfield 7+8 Addon Pack, too. -Wrench, for permission to upload this package which is based on outdated assets from old games. >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.
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