Menrva

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.

@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.

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.

@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.

That's understandable, the number of tiles and the size of the Korea terrain is already mind-blowing. The later we see Allied Force's Balkans terrain, the better for me. Otherwise it'd probably make my Balkans terrain the least preferable choice, and it took me years to develop it. For sure I'm not going to do something like that anymore, it got few downloads, it wasn't worth all the trouble of manually tiling all rivers and lakes; even in a scaled 60% terrain it was a crazy amount of time and work for details that pretty much no-one cares about.

@gerwin Outstanding work! I can't thank you enough for all the improvements made to TFDtool over the years and for the conversion of NovaLogic's terrains. This is another fantastic addition! I wonder if the same conversion process could be applied to Falcon 4 Allied Force's Balkans terrain. Given that F4 terrains are pretty much in Real World size and that SF2 does not support in-flight refueling, the 60% or so sized terrains we made can co-exist just fine.

Amidst the blue skies, a link from past to future. The sheltering wings of the protector...

No. Maybe one day it'll be available at ModDB, but at the moment it has to remain at CombatACE.com since it contains the works of many other modders from this site. I do not have the permissions to host it somewhere else. I cannot provide a torrent either, it means I'd have to seed it 24/7 for it to work and it'd become a cost on my end in terms of energy consumption, can't keep my PC on for just that. The mod has always been free, you actually paid for CombatACE's subscription to the site which also granted access to a work in progress version of the mod as a plus. I understand you feel like you paid for it, but we developers have not made any money out of it; we simply cannot monetize upon it for our own gains, out of respect of the works of previous modders of this site. I also bought a subscription last year, I'm trying to do my part in helping to cover the website's hosting costs. This is a place for us modders and players to gather, help each other and keep the old game alive with new creations. I wish I could help but I am not involved with DXVK in any way. If it crashes with the Nvidia RTX 2070 even with the stock game (you can change which GPU to use in the options screen), then I suggest you open an issue on the GitHub page of DXVK; there the DXVK developers can help you with troubleshooting. Besides, I suggest to use DXVK if you only have the weak Intel UHD integrated graphics card, because otherwise you couldn't play the mod. If you have an Nvidia RTX, you don't need it at all, the mod should run just as fine without it.

@ShrikeHawk is offline since May 2022. Before necro-posting, it's good norm to check if the user you're asking to is still active in the site.

Yes, but that announcement applied to 2021. These standalone aircraft are much outdated now. ODS 30AE received many updated since the first release in 2021, with aircraft getting much reworked data over time. Moreover, the F-15C and F-15D now got proper Compass Grey Ghost skins by @daddyairplanes instead of using the Mod Eagle scheme colors of this package which are anachronistic for the Gulf War. The F-15E also got reworked skins by daddyairplanes. The new skins are by daddyairplanes, so I guess this standalone package will be updated if Viper63a asks daddyairplanes permission to include his work in place of the old skins of the package. Given that ODS 30AE is still updated to this day, these standalone packages by Viper63a are currently two (almost three) years of updates behind.

@daddyairplanes yeah I'm aware of him, he's got his own website with reviews to flight sim games and a YT channel. I'm glad he enjoys the mod, indeed it's not from 2008 so I'm glad you corrected him.

You can't. Unlike with aircraft, it's not possible to hide nodes of the 3d model for ground objects. Only a 3d model edit could fix that, but those are stock LODs. Unless someone makes new ones from scratch, we're stuck with the SH-3 on them.

@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.