Menrva

Thanks, Gepard, I had this map already. Unfortunately, this map lists Indochina airfields, pre-Vietnam war AFAIK. The ones I am looking for, Khe Phat and Ben Loi/Dan Loi/Ha Tihn, were only existent since 1972, and most likely were temporary airfields. I managed to find aerial photos of Quan Lang airfield, which nowadays cannot be seen, it's covered by farmlands. This may well be the case for those two mysterious airfields.

Hi, everyone. As some of you know, I am working on a huge revamp of the stock VietnamSEA terrain which is a complete mess to say the least. I have moved numerous airbases and cities to their correct Real World locations, and fixed much of the tiling throughout the various regions. I found real info about most airfields that TK added (even with some mistakes, there's no such thing as a Hue Airbase, for instance). However, I have been unable to find anything useful on two North Vietnam airfields, which are shrouded in mystery; Khe Phat and Ben Loi. By googling Khe Phat airfield, I only found the following: https://books.google.it/books?id=A4W2AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=khe+phat+airfield&source=bl&ots=IuFDTnJJy5&sig=ACfU3U0Gy-xoTdk9ksldZkzm7oZzBez8_g&hl=it&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY2cnX3sbnAhUOT8AKHb9xDIkQ6AEwDnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=khe phat airfield&f=false This confirms that Khe Phat existed, being under construction in 1972. The link also mentions Ha Tinh airfield, but there's no such thing in TK's terrain. Looking for the other "mythological" airfield, Ben Loi, I have found nothing at all. Ben Loi either is invented, or is the Ha Tinh airfield mentioned above, or even is a mis-spelled Dan Loi airfield, as featured in this overview chart I found by chance: I am aware that most users do not care about details such as accurate target area coordinates or correct runway headings. However, I really want to feature those two airfields (Khe Phat and Ben/Dan Loi). The above chart is not enough for me. Most of the airfields I corrected in my revamp, I was able to find them on Google Earth; wiki gave me correct coordinates for them, so I could easily see where those bases are/were. Even if Quan Lang airfield no longer exists, I was able to find its remains through some photos of the Vietnam War period. But Khe Phat and Ben/Dan Loi are a complete mystery. I would like to have info on those two airfields, so I can pinpoint their location in the Real World, and hopefully see which heading their runways had. Any help is much appreciated!

I seem to recall I have read in another thread that the SF2 engine does not support it. Not sure though, I don't remember well.

I was unaware of the aerial stand-off that followed, between my country's fighter jets and the US aircraft; kind of amusing.

I stumbled upon two short documentaries, they are inspiring and eye-opening. The channel where they come from has more of them. Viewer discretion is advised.

So true; I find myself in the same situation when it comes to terrains.

That's strange, mate. I always test my packages, so I don't see why those two you mention do not load in-game. I suggest that you unpack the archives with the latest version of 7-Zip. It's freeware, it's what I use to pack my mods. They usually change 7-Zip's compression algorithms from time to time. It's not the first case I see of an unpacked mod that does not contain all of the necessary files. Make sure you do have IraqWA_03.INI and LibyaCM.INI files inside their respective terrain folders.

I know, man. I'm on it, there's still a lot to improve.

Man, I totally did NOT question the fact users may want to use such functions because those are not realistic. I simply stated why TK didn't include them nor highlighted them; his SF series is described as a lite flight sim, so realism is still a factor in his original product. This is not an arcade flight sim like Ace Combat, so I don't see why TK should have included such "rearm while in flight" option by default. So, it is a cheat in my view and in TK's as well. I'm the one working on the Moon and Mars terrains, but that does not imply I despise realism, nor I criticize those who would like to rearm in-flight. My apologies if my opinion wasn't clear enough.

Yes, it's possible. Have a look at my menu mod, as it includes additional files for such changes: https://combatace.com/files/file/16900-strike-fighters-wings-over-world-menu-screens/ I have removed cones (but you can re-add them back, just tweak the huddata.ini file). I have also made other changes, among which the waypoint indicator is now yellow (no longer white). It's all tweaked to my personal preferences, so feel free to edit what you do not like.

Because those are cheats. I mean, you can press those key combinations while you're flying, and your plane instantly gets new ammo and weapons; not really a realistic thing. You have to pretend that you've landed somewhere...

Wow, I didn't expect such kind words... And I feel like I have bothered you with a few requests of changes from time to time, LOL! Without your offer and determination to help (I was simply asking about adding missing rail launchers and pylons at the time), we wouldn't have this much detailed 3d model. Likewise, it was a fantastic cooperation! Without your great support (and Crusader's and baffmeister's) I wouldn't have accomplished this project; you guys have provided me with your expertise (modelling, FM, avionics) and raised the quality bar of it

Of course, yakarov79 almost remodelled it completely with many additional details, including a reworked cockpit 3d model. Crusader improved the avionics, baffmeister created a realistic flight model. I coordinated the team, made tweaks here and there and improved effects, sounds, and of course skins! Here below a comparison between the nozzles of the current 3d model, and the ones of the old 3d model released in alpha stage by Heberth. Credits to yakarov79 for the 3d model, better textures by yakarov79 and yours truly. Old Nozzles New Nozzles

I agree with you that those tiles are too vibrant. The ones included in that expansion package are actually a repaint/mod of a tileset made by Brian32, which is way more subdued in its original form. The original tiles, which I prefer, should be available here: https://combatace.com/files/file/5300-vietnamsea-tile-repaint-v10/ Green Hell 2 is actually a complementary TOD improvement (trees and city buildings) for that tileset by Brian32, made by Stary and available here: https://combatace.com/files/file/7095-green-hell-2/ Green Hell 3, instead, is Stary's creation completely, both tiles and TODs.

I have read that even his daughter died in the crash... My condolences to the Bryant family. I was shocked about the news. As a European, it's difficult for me to follow NBA. But Kobe Bryant was such a famous name in the sport. He will be deeply missed.

Sorry, guys. I have been dealing with RL issues lately. I have good news for the add-on, though. Since I had to postpone the release, I have asked for some more changes to the cockpit and aircraft 3d models. The new changes are well worth the wait IMHO. The release is going to happen (on February or March), I have worked too much on this add-on, as well as the other members of the development team did. Just wait a little longer.

@beachav8r I see from the screenshots that your installation of Green Hell 3.5 is somewhat messed up. The terrain still uses Green Hell 2 TODs (trees and buildings) and some GH2 tiles still appear together with the new GH3 tiles. It's suggested that you use the original Green Hell 2 tileset (the one that comes with SF2V Air & Ground War Expansion) because target areas have been built by taking into account the placement of trees and buildings of the Green Hell 2 tileset. The SF2V Air & Ground War Expansion should also provide original GH2 tiles with more subdued colours. Those tiles were created by using satellite images, so it's more lifelike IMHO. Also, there should be a proper Skyraider cockpit already included in the SF2V Air & Ground War Expansion package (it's the one made by Dels and linked by Crusader in the post above).

What the man said. Once AI aircraft have been modified to be flyable, it's good to change their file properties to Read Only, and the game no longer overwrites their .ini files. As for the SF2V Air & Ground War Expansion, IIRC the Skyraider should be available in the other campaign set during the mid-late 60s, Operation Steel Tiger, not Rolling Thunder.

Not all is lost. AI strikes are indeed a problem, but let's see if starbases AKA flying carriers are possible. I wonder how the AI would take-off and land on those objects with huge z-offsets.

I am happy to inform all who are interested in the subject that @nuni has offered to experiment and to build more proper objects for the terrains. This is a great opportunity to push the game engine to new boundaries, and I'm glad for the help I have just received! Nuni, feel free to post screenshots of your works in this thread.

I wish... my PC is low-end for today's standards. Any video capture software degrades FPS on my end, so I would end up with a video which is much low-res, heavily stuttering and so on. Sorry about this. But I'll keep you guys updated with screenshots if there's anything new worth mentioning. When I feel like the terrains are in decent, playable state, there won't be any need of videos.

Keep us posted, then. Thank you for offering to help! In other news, I reproduced the Pulse Laser weapon/gun as seen in Ace Combat 7, with custom sound (placeholder) for better immersion: PLSL Stuff.zip

Well, the game does allow to fly up to 115,000 ft or so; when you get above the limit, the camera sways and you lose both view and control over your aircraft. I think this is really doable. The recent battlecruiser by @nuni (https://combatace.com/files/file/17224-bc-304-daedalus-class-battlecruiser/) acts like an aircraft. While parked on the airbase, it is made so that it floats; in reality, below the visible 3d model there is an invisible part of it which touches the ground. To create floating ground objects like orbital ships and space warfare carriers should be doable with the same principle; the 3d model should be created with a big z-offset. I'm no 3d modeller, though. The engine does allow to change gravity values. Moon and Mars have got their correct gravity values each, but to fly on Mars in SF2 is much easier than in reality (theorically) due to the fact that pressure values are Earth-like in-game (this is hardcoded and cannot be tweaked in any way).

Far away, into the clear starry sky... on the Moon... Farther away, a land of blood and ashes... that is Mars... I wasn't able to gain help from Stary regarding a texturing experiment in the TFD format. The terrains currently use a single yet nice tile texture. Both heightmaps have been remade from scratch, in order to overcome engine limitations explained in previous posts. Mars no longer features Vallis Marineris, but another portion of the planet with less elevation changes yet beautiful valleys. AI is limited to aircraft using custom userlist.ini files which refer only to specific terrain nations, which are United States Space Force, Russian Space Forces, People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (Blue Side) and fictional Settlement Defense Front (Red Side). There is no need to edit the game's global _nations.ini file, it's all contained within the terrains' _nation.ini files. The terrains need specific ground objects for Moon bases and Mars settlements, and custom spacecraft and maybe even flying aircraft carriers. The scenario wants to be what if but somewhat realistic; I'd love fictional yet believable designs, not fancy ones.

I'd say that about Iran, I am not convinced that much about Turkey. Since the fake coup d'etat in 2015, Erdogan has really strengthened his power. Add to that the fact the EU has given him millions to keep Syrian migrants away from Western Europe (shame on us); I am betting he is using the very same money to reinforce his army. Turkey is not to be underestimated; Erdogan has got interest in Libya, and I cannot be very happy about this; my country is way closer to Libya, and we do have important oil companies there. As for the list of future weapons, we can all agree that they would be lucky if they manage to complete 50% or less of them; it's really ambitious and in such cases only some abandoned prototypes come out of it.