Menrva

In the skies over the Midway Atoll, Pacific Ocean, Planet Earth... (in the skies over Sand Island, Ceres Ocean, Ace Combat's Strangereal universe...) On a distant island, far away from civilization, the protectors of the peace take to the skies...

It's much on topic, I'd say. Something like this could be very useful. To get our hands on all different .dll files of each patch level (in order to investigate bugs and changes) is another story, though.

Good to know! I didn't know this was the cause of such bug! I think it's rather important to keep in mind this bit of information, at least for us modders and SF2 enthusiasts. I don't want to close it. TK won't react, but if there are more modders willing to share their infos on bugs, etc., a topic like this would be useful.

Alright, fixed. Although I don't think it matters that much at this point. I don't think we'll ever see interest from TK about all this. Just my point of view.

Another game-breaking bug I want to point out is the following: Environment : July 2013 patch-level, SF2NA In Single Missions, and in Campaigns In stock installs Conditions : The player flight is assigned an escort mission. The escorted flight reaches its waypoint for its ground attack. Expected result : After engagement, the escorted flight reaches the egress waypoint, prompting a mission successful for the player's mission. Result : For reasons still unknown, it happens from time to time that the escorted flight is flying straight instead of engaging its ground target, and it never heads back home. By never reaching the egress waypoint, the player's escort mission ends up in a loop, it can't be completed. Sometimes, simply restarting the mission is enough to trigger the correct behaviour of AI planes. Still, the bug is frustrating and it should not happen. I don't recall it happened in SF1 games. Another solution, if possible, would require that a "mission complete" statement is triggered when the AI planes fly over their ground target waypoint, instead of the egress waypoint. No matter what, in that case the mission would be complete even if the AI planes keep flying straight. Stock Frequency : 4 Specific Frequency : 0 Severity : 4

Very interesting post! Are you using my Madagascar terrain? Because in the latest available version I have disabled certain mission types (including ESCORT) to prevent all known bugs and CTDs. If we know that the terrain crashes with certain mission types, TK has enabled us the opportunity to disable them. I find it very handy in those situations. Still, much thanks for the detailed report. I wish everyone posts so much details when bug-reporting to us modders.

Wow, thanks for sharing, I love history! I already watched some of them. I knew nothing about the duel at St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge; it was incredible to say the least.

The surrounding tiles also have the TAG value set to 0? I have no clue as to why this is happening. Make sure to remove any _HM.bmp files and their relative entries from the _DATA.ini, it might help! Also, which terrain is that? I am asking because some SF1 terrains upgraded to SF2 standards need some changes to the _DATA.ini; for instance, if you find the following inside the _DATA.ini, remove it completely: [NoiseTexture] Size=256 MinColor=207 MaxColor=255 Frequency=1.7 ResolutionFactor=4.0 StartFadeDistance=200.0 EndFadeDistance=500.0 The NoiseTexture must not exist in the DATA.ini for SF2 terrains. Its function has been deprecated and can cause this kind of issue you're having. To be more safe than ever, also copy and paste the following entries for the terrains' _DATA.ini, replace the original values: [NormalTextureMaterial] EffectShaderName=terTerrainEffect.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE DepthBufferWrite=TRUE RenderedInOrder=TRUE AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE CullMode=CLOCKWISE LightEnabled=TRUE SpecularEnabled=FALSE EmissiveEnabled=FALSE FogEnabled=TRUE AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 ZBufferOffset=0.000000 BlendOp=ONE NumTextureStages=1 TextureStage[01].TextureName= TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP [WaterTextureMaterial] EffectShaderName=terWaterEffect.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE DepthBufferWrite=TRUE RenderedInOrder=FALSE AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE CullMode=CLOCKWISE LightEnabled=TRUE SpecularEnabled=TRUE EmissiveEnabled=FALSE FogEnabled=TRUE AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 SpecularColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 SpecularPower=10.000000 Reflectivity=0.00000 ZBufferOffset=0.000000 BlendOp=ONE NumTextureStages=1 TextureStage[01].TextureName= TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP [BackgroundMaterial] EffectShaderName=terFarTerrainEffect.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE DepthBufferWrite=TRUE RenderedInOrder=FALSE AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE CullMode=CLOCKWISE LightEnabled=TRUE SpecularEnabled=FALSE EmissiveEnabled=FALSE FogEnabled=TRUE AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 ZBufferOffset=0.000000 BlendOp=ONE NumTextureStages=1 TextureStage[01].TextureName= TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP [SolidObjectTextureMaterial] EffectShaderName=terSolidObject.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE DepthBufferWrite=TRUE RenderedInOrder=FALSE AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE CullMode=CLOCKWISE LightEnabled=TRUE SpecularEnabled=FALSE EmissiveEnabled=FALSE FogEnabled=TRUE AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 ZBufferOffset=0.000000 BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA NumTextureStages=1 TextureStage[01].TextureName= TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=NO_OP [AlphaObjectTextureMaterial] EffectShaderName=terAlphaObject.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE DepthBufferWrite=FALSE RenderedInOrder=TRUE AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE CullMode=NO_CULL LightEnabled=TRUE SpecularEnabled=FALSE EmissiveEnabled=FALSE FogEnabled=TRUE AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000 ZBufferOffset=0.000000 BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA NumTextureStages=1 TextureStage[01].TextureName= TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE

Exactly. The only way to avoid such issues is to make the player aircraft the only one of a flight/squadron. ODS for SF1 had some custom missions where the player is assigned to a squadron with 0 AI aircraft, like in Instant Action.

Either the airfield has not been properly flattened (check the HFD), or the tile's tag value is other than 0, most likely set to 1. Use gerwin's TFDtool, to check. The Latest versions of TFDtool can fix the tiles' tag values, which sometimes are wrong even on stock Thirdwire terrains. Wrong tag values can bring to a number of issues: airfields not treated like perfectly landable areas, the possibility of landing over water instead of sinking, etc.

It's the ONLY way, and the smartest I'd say. As I recall, whenever TK changed his stock campaigns, he always said that previous saves wouldn't work (they would crash to desktop), because new planes and/or modified OOBs wouldn't match with those of your saves. Your solution might work because the aircraft you've substituted exists already in the pool of those you can buy; basically, it's a matter of tricking the game into thinking that a custom aircraft is a stock one.

I might be wrong, but AFAIK it is not advisable to edit campaign files when a campaign has already started. If you want your changes to show up with no kinds of issues, you most likely need to restart the campaign.

Your AARs make me want to drop terrain modding and start playing SF2 again! I hope we can soon give you an updated Operation Desert Storm campaign!

That Target Successor thing is something that we'll be greatly useful for terrains with a large time frame! I have a WIP terrain ready for it!

The game will never support GIFs. It was programmed to use other image file types, the ones I mentioned before. We don't have the source code to modify the game's executable. So, forget about using GIFs.

You can't. The game supports .TGA, .DDS, .BMP and .JPG textures, but does not support GIFs as far as I know.

We have a Su-33 stand-in model that uses Marcfighters' Su-27; eburger68 added canards to it with the Fake Pilot method; it's available in the SF2: Black Sea Crisis Mod package. So, bazillius, you could also work on that legal model. It's far from perfect with the fixed canards, but everyone can enjoy it! Anyway, thank you for your interest in modern Russian fighters. We have some overlooked models which really needed some of your skins. Your other packages are really well done!

Yeah, that puzzled everyone. But I noticed that it's not really censorship, because the EU version is harsher in the first part, while the US version is harsher in the second part with the word "crap". Me thinks they are simply undecided on which bits of dialogue to use. They are really spending a lot of time on creating a great storyline. Yes, they got rid of that, and in addition you can perform Cobra and Kulbit maneuvers manually, although they won't be much useful in combat. Lightnings can damage your FCS and avionics, and bad weather can ice up your cockpit canopy. Assault Horizon wasn't meant to be an Ace Combat game, but more of an American spin-off set in the real world. Whenever you see a number in an Ace Combat title (now the number 7) you can rest assured they are not bringing that DFM crap anymore.

Uncensored International Version: Censored US Version:

Most likely _HM bitmaps messing with the heightmap, if the stock terrain uses any. Could also have to do with the FlightEngine.ini view distances and mesh detail values, some of which are also contained in the terrain's _DATA.ini. My advise is to live with it. I have such glitches too from time to time.

I am... speechless. My eyes are delighted to see all these details, it's fantastic! I must be dreaming My thanks to you for such dedication to this project. The F-5 is really a beauty!

The bugs I mentioned do not affect all target areas, so it's possible that such campaigns work with no hassle. Most CTDs that I experience in terrains have to do with air-to-ground missions. Could be for several reasons, missing objects and/or entries in the _TYPES.ini etc.

You're kidding, right? THIS... IS... AWESOME! Such amazing quality! Proper good job, mate! Just wondering, are you planning to make the AV-8B+ too, with Spanish and Italian Navy skins maybe? But take your well deserved rest now. It's summertime!

I had a look a the terrain's .inis a lot of time ago, and I found countless bugs, unfortunately. It was a first terrain effort by a small team. With their consent, I'll probably remake it and bugfix it in the future. For now, just live with it. It's not the kind of problem I can fix in five minutes.

@Wrench I was not expecting this update package. Thank you very much! Just one thing: you mention the G-222/C-27 but there are no .inis for said aircraft inside the package.