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@toro The campaign is like this by design, just like the campaigns of Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam. Naval fleets ala SF2NA only work in so called naval campaigns, but naval campaigns remove night-time missions and force the enemy aircraft to find and attack the opposing naval fleet, which is not proper for the Gulf War scenario. We cannot have the best of both worlds, so the campaign won't feature fleets. One possible workaround I'm planning for a future update is to add other ships as terrain objects, they'd be static but at least would populate the Gulf during the campaign.

An hot-fix has been uploaded and it requires admins to approve it again. Wait until the mod gets approved again. If you downloaded all four split parts of the ISO of the mod before January 19th/20th, after installation you're advised to manually install the hotfix. If you did not download all parts before the latest reupload, I'm afraid all parts need to be downloaded again, old ones cannot match the checksum of the new split ISO. Apologies for the mix-up and thank you for your patience and understanding.

An hot-fix has been uploaded and it requires admins to approve it again. Wait until the mod gets approved again. If you downloaded all four split parts of the ISO of the mod before January 19th/20th, after installation you're advised to manually install the hotfix. If you did not download all parts before the latest reupload, I'm afraid all parts need to be downloaded again, old ones cannot match the checksum of the new split ISO. Apologies for the mix-up and thank you for your patience and understanding.

@Muesli Disregard what EricJ said, please refer to this post for the issue you're having: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/95630-operation-desert-storm-30th-anniversary-edition/?page=8&tab=comments#comment-810329 I'll be updating the mod's page to include the following more complete info about the installer: The installer will automatically detect your installation of the required Strike Fighters 2 games by reading through the registry keys. Pirated copies and/or game folders that are 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 their original installers by ThirdWire, 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. I have to hope users read all that I write, though.

@MurmanskPrPr I'm sorry to see you posted a 4-star review for something you couldn't even play. If you need assistance, this is the right place to ask. The installer of the mod looks for where your games are installed by reading through the registry keys. You need all three Strike Fighters 2 games I mention and those must be installed with their original installers, not manually copied nor moved elsewhere to other folders or drives. If you own all required games and you install them with the official installers by ThirdWire, the installation of the mod should then proceed correctly as intended. Game folders that are manually copied from or moved from where they are originally installed are not supported.

That's weird, I'll have to double check. EDIT: @mono27 It pains me to see that there is a mistake, the cockpit.ini file has the position that's used on the A-6E. I focused on fixing so many bugs and this slipped through, argh! Here's the fixed file: EA-6B_ICAP_COCKPIT.INI

Yes, but that's something I feel most users wouldn't like to hear. So my main suggestion is to find a balance between the graphics settings of the game and what your hardware allows, so that you can run consecutive missions without major issues. My second suggestion is to give the DXVK wrapper a try, apparently it makes the mod playable on weak integrated GPUs (given that they are Vulkan-compatible) whereas without it the mod wouldn't work on such hardware.

No.

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:

I think Easy equals unlimited fuel. I never play with Easy settings, but they literally turn it into an arcade flight combat game.

It has been discussed already in the past, the start from ramp is an incomplete feature from SF1, it never got implemented properly. It can be made to work for the player only by manually editing mission files, but it won't work for the AI aircraft:

Transport missions are generated for any campaign since SF1. We have them working also on ODS.

I was surprised to find this out, I've been modding the game for so long and noticed about it only now. The secret was all about saving a campaign mission. I think that without saving, most of us would have thought a cargo plane was doing a mere Transport mission. I don't think there are any other hidden features, mission type wise. Also, I don't think it's related to SF2NA, I think it existed before it. In DLL files, the extra mission types of SF2NA are called after disabled ones from First Eagles 2 (balloon busting and the likes), while Transfer is before those. Moreover, my ODS campaign is not a Naval one ala SF2NA, thus SF2NA's extra mission types don't work in it.

Nope, these others don't seem to work, they do not appear in the mission editor at least.

I once saved a campaign generated mission of the ODS 30AE mod and discovered that it somehow assigned a Transfer (not Transport) mission to a cargo plane. After further investigations, it seems it's a valid mission type that can be assigned to AI-only aircraft in ThirdWire's Mission Editor. Just add Transfer to the roles of the aircraft in its data.ini file, and it'll appear in the Mission Editor. I don't know the exact differences between Transport and Transfer, but on the campaign generated mission it seemed to make the aircraft take-off from one airport and land on another. I want to reiterate that this is an AI-only mission type, so it won't appear for the player, regardless of the aircraft type.

@bazillius You were credited in the Thanks page of the ODS mod, it's not like I'm taking credit for the work done by other modders. Anyway, I had already decided to remove your MiG-29UB from the next version of the mod. I'm not comfortable with featuring the work of someone who condones piracy and the violation of intellectual properties. Not to mention that I seriously doubt you made that 3d model from scratch yourself. Thank you for your understanding. PS: if you have a beef with me, just say it and insult me in private, I prefer it. This thing has dragged on for too long. When I posted the topic, I simply wanted to advise other respectable modders that their work was being shared without their permission and/or without them knowing. It seems it hurt you in some way (maybe because you like to download stuff from dubious sources) and now you're persecuting me. You want to impose your view on intellectual properties on everyone. You had the right to notify the admins that you didn't want me to include your aircraft in a package, I genuinely didn't notice you were not in the freeware licensing agreement. Just because you don't care about your own works, it doesn't mean others shouldn't care about theirs. But you don't want to understand it, this has been a pointless conversation. From now on, every time I want to post anything, do I need to send you a PM asking for your permission and blessing to do so? It seems so.

@Sundowner Agree to disagree. I'm not losing my sleep over such issues, but when they involve my works (and those of the modders I closely work with), I want to do my part to try and prevent that they are shared without permission. I may fail at it, but after spending months and even years in making terrains and other mods, I think I have this small right of pointing out where mods shouldn't be downloaded from. It's bad that some others repackage stuff as their own without crediting the original authors, especially since it doesn't take much to do so. I'm like this, like it or not. I won't be silent when things like this happen. You're entitled to being passive on the matter, but I certainly did not expect that my post is being called out more than those pages of piracy. It seems to me things are starting to become the opposite over here as well, and I truly hope it's just a wrong impression.

@PeacePuma I admit I might have been hot-headed in my post (I'd say reasonably once you see your mods worth months of work being stolen), but my point stands. UllyB confirmed that such page distributes a pirated copy of SF2NA. Of all those 500+ followers, for sure there are some who were just interested in seeing screenshots this hack posted; nothing wrong with that. However, his page still exists, which means that when he uploaded a pirated copy of the game, none of the 500+ followers did a thing about it. There are users who didn't notice and soon unfollowed him once they got aware of what happened, alongside reporting the page. Those may have felt offended by my post and if so I apologize to them. Now that the page has been exposed, to follow a group or account that condones piracy is a deliberate action to my eyes. I want to precise I'm not referring to users who started following that account long ago and even forgot about it. Of all 500+ followers, I feel safe to assume some are still active and condone piracy. One of the reasons why TK left was piracy, and I think it happens to a greater extent than we'd think if pages like this exist on FB.

While not publicly shown, the previous release of ODS 30AE offered reworked hit boxes and collision points for all of the over 140 aircraft of the mod; some aircraft required major fixes, others only needed small improvements. Referenced model node names have also been corrected in many cases. This (boring and time-consuming) work improves the hit detection of bullets and missiles and of crashes into the ground; overall it puts all of the aircraft of the mod on par with each other, for quality consistency's sake. Another detail that is often neglected regards landing lights. After several days of work, I'm happy to announce that the next release of the mod will offer standardized brightness and range values of landing lights for all of the flyable aircraft of the mod (not player-flyable aircraft will get the same treatment at a later time). Previously, many aircraft were missing landing lights or had broken values that caused rendering issues of landing lights. Each of the over 80 flyable aircraft (sub-variants included, not counting AI-only sub-variants that were also fixed) has been tested carefully to make sure that quality consistency on landing lights is kept throughout the entire roster of aircraft.

Don't be sorry, because you should be ashamed of this comment. This isn't the place for it, but since you bring the matter up, let me explain why it is not comparable. His site is open to everyone, it does not require accounts to access the info, and on top of that no one here is taking credit for the work he has done, I certainly won't. Yesterday's matter was about one guy taking credit of the work of multiple modders (mods that are not freely available without an account and that usually come with ReadMe files detailing explicit wishes not to share them elsewhere), sharing it elsewhere without any permission nor crediting to the original authors. Just because you're fine with someone taking your stuff and share it as their own doesn't mean that it should be fine for me and everyone else.

I told some dear friends of mine, one contacted the Internet Archive so that they can store his website, the other has dumped it all and now it can be browsed offline. Baugher just passed away, I don't feel comfortable about sharing it now, especially since his website is still available. Just wondering what would be a respectful approach, I admire the amount of work Baugher has done over the years.

Sad news. His site (Joe Baugher's Home Page) is a gold mine of references of military aviation history. My deepest condolences to his family and relatives.

@EricJ Also found a separate F/A-18 mod uploaded by another user, I think it's based on your work: F/A-18A mod for Strike Fighters 2: Europe - ModDB Most likely the same F/A-18 that SandMartin once uploaded over here (I think he got banned from CombatACE for it). Then we can assume that even Capun's stuff is being ripped-off. It's just best that we get rid of this guy's page and account ASAP, though who knows which is his account on CombatACE. Just FYI, I sent a PM to the admins of ModDB. I hope not to bother them. I guess they get tons of such posts every day, it's a huge website after all. Don't worry about seeing the ODS 30AE mod listed on ModDB, I posted news about it myself in the past. The mod itself is only available at CombatACE at this time.