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File Name: A-10A/C High Resolution Pilot Skins for Default Aircraft File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 08 January 2013 File Category: A-10A/C Skins ModMan 7.3 with the November 2012 update is required to use this mod. If you arent using ModMan 7.3 (Nov 2012), then see the bottom of this file for manual installation instructions. This mod replaces the default 1024x1024 pilot texture with 2048x2048 pilot textures based on the pilot texture for the F-15C. The high resolution textures were ported over and adjusted where required to maintain compatibility with the slight differences in the A-10 pilot texture. On top of this, I have added unit patches to each of the default USAF squadrons included with DCS World. This also includes unit morale patches on the right shoulder where applicable and the proper Major Command (MAJCOM) on the chest. I have also tweaked the description.lua files to apply the F-15 helmet (the Kevlar grey helmet), replacing the default white helmet that is better served for USN aircraft. I did not replace the helmet texture to ensure compatibility with other aircraft; should you wish to apply the kevlar helmet to other 3rd party A-10 skins you can analyze the description.lua files for the proper lines to add to your other files. Finally, I added a default pilot_a10.dds file to TempTextures, which ensures that the high resolution skin is available for 3rd party A-10 skins. Since there is no designated squadron for a generic skin, I used a "Hawgsmoke 2012" patch on the right shoulder to add color. If you do not wish to use this for the default A-10 pilot skin, just remove pilot_a10.dds from the Bazar\TempTextures folder, and the original A-10 pilot will be restored for all other skins. Manual Installation: If you wish to manually install this mod, then back up your Bazar\Liveries\A-10A and Bazar\Liveries\A-10C folders. Once you have done this, then just unzip the files to your DCS World folder, ensuring that the recursive folder structure is intact. Manual Removal: 1. Restore your original Liveries folders (you did back them up, right?) 2. Delete "pilot_a10.dds" from the Bazar\TempTextures folder 3. Delete the folder Bazar\World\Textures\A-10 (don't worry; the original files are in the A-10.zip file in the Textures folder) Enjoy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file

An observation and a couple of questions: After looking at the video again, I noticed that the first missile was fired at the secondary target and the second missile was fired at the primary target. Is this a bug that needs ironing, or is there a reason for this? Also, I was wondering how the secondary target is determined if there are more than two contacts. Is it by proximity to the first target, range to target, priority by closure rate, or something else?

Not sure why, Topcat, but I would start by reinstalling ModMan to something other than c:\program files (assuming that's what you meant). With Vista and later, Program Files is a folder tree protected by the OS, which limits or prevents the use of mods.

Looks awesome! Can't wait for the update. Did they fix the bug with not being able to access the ME for flight planning on the ported FC2 campaigns? Being able to use TWS in Over The Hump would be awesome.

It appears that the Realsound mod has been packaged with the October 2012 update of ModMan, which uses the folder above DCS World as the master folder (as opposed to DCS World itself). It also sounds as if you're using the November 2012 patch, which corrects this issue. Look in your DCS World folder to see if there is another DCS World folder nested. This is likely where the mod lies. If you are using the November version of ModMan, it's an easy fix. First, back up the original Realsound zipfile and then do the following steps: Extract the original zipfile to a dummy folder Use the Mods Installer portion of modman, select RealSound, and select "Edit pack" Select the "recursive addon directory" option and point to your dummy folder\DCS World (make sure you select DCS World) Press "Delete All Row" Press "Add to Package" Press "Update Package" You should now have the mod nested in the proper folder for the November update. BTW, you can also remove the nested DCS World folder from your actual DCS World folder. ModMan won't recognize it for you, so you'll need to do it manually.

I haven't been able to get it to work with the RAZBAM cockpit because the RAZBAM cockpit uses textures for the surrounding cockpit as well as the dash. When you enable the B/N using the code above, it shows off the B/N as part of the default object, and doesn't mesh well with surrounding textures. It works just fine with the original A-6A cockpit from WoV.

I am very much interested in taking my skinning talents to DCS. Flanker 2.0 is after all where I cut my teeth skinning, so the circle is appropriate. That said, I'm confused with the entries in the description.lua file. The following entry was taken from Dave's A-10C from the 107th FS (Selfridge ANGB): livery = { {"A-10C_PAINT_1-a", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-a",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-b", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-b",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-c", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-c",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-d", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-d",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-e", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-e",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-f", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-f",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-g", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-g",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-h", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-h",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-i", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-i",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-j", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-j",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-k", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-k",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-L", 0 ,"A-10C_107_1-l",false}; {"A-10_Number", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_F", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_T", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Wheel", 0 ,"empty",true}; } countries = {"USA"} I know in the old days there were a limited number of slots available for skins, and you had to insert the skin into the right slot. It looks as if this legacy has carried on into the original A-10C, and the existing description.lua defaults to the first skin slot for the A-10C. With the new DCSW livery system, should all description.lua files reference the first slot, or does this even matter at all as long as one legacy slot is selected? Also, It's evident that the True/False is whether to use the file in the livery folder (false), or use a common file (true). However, what does the "0" entry between the legacy entry and the new file entry mean? Thanks in advance. I can't wait to get a crack at that new crane!

Dave, On another tangent, is the unit patch worn on the chest always a USAF MAJCOM, or can it be the parent air wing (we always considered air wings major commands in the Navy).

Looking forward to it, Dave. On another note, I discovered another caveat to my observations above. Not only do you need to call all "optional" textures if they are part of the same LOD (such as the body and helmet), but they must also be together in the description.lua file. For example, I tweaked the original 74th FS Moody AFB, Georgia (FT) A-10 skin in order to put the kevlar helmet on the pilot. When the file read <...> {"A-10_Number", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_F", 0 ,"empty",true}; {"pilot_a10_body", 0 ,"pilot_a10", true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_T", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Wheel", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"pilot_a10_helmet", 0 , "pilot_f15_helmet", true}; } Then the body texture wouldn't display, and the helmet would display as the original white texture. When I moved the body line to be next to the helmet line like this: <...> {"A-10_Number", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_F", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_T", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Wheel", 0 ,"empty",true}; {"pilot_a10_body", 0 ,"pilot_a10", true}; {"pilot_a10_helmet", 0 , "pilot_f15_helmet", true}; } Then everything looked OK.

I used to think that, but you develop different scan habits for different aircraft. It just takes some time, but even when you get familiar with it you don't "lose" your proficiency with the Western ADI.

Cool. Any ETA?

Big question: is CA worth getting at this point? It looks fun and something of a diversion from serious flying, but I've heard mixed things about it. I also noticed that the lead and elevation in the first video was manual and not laser automated. Is this the case with the Abrams as well? I'm not expecting SB Pro, but does CA have or are they planning on implementing laser ranging and targeting for ground units?

Looking good, DSP. Which squadrons are you doing? This is so that If I decide to do some others we don't duplicate efforts. I've also done the 104th FS (MD ANG) for the A-10A/C, though decals don't work with the A-10 yet.

I made another discovery. There are some mat names that don't need to be called in the desc lua (e.g. pilot, helmet, PTB). However, if you call one of these "optional" mat names without calling other optional names, you will get texture corruption with the wrong texture applied to the wrong object. Case in point, I made the PTB entry as quoted in the previous post. On some skins (namely my own personalized skin which has a personalized pilot and helmet) it worked fine, but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working on other skins in the virtual squadron. I was also getting unique corruptions for each member, though the corruptions were consistent. I just had something similar happen with the A-10. I was trying to put the F-15 helmet on the default A-10 skins (which shouldn't be using the USN white fiberglass HGU-55 as defaulted) and I found that I was getting the original default helmet, and the flightsuit was taking on the F-15 HGU-55 textures. Here is what I originally had, using the 25th FS (Osan) as an example: {"A-10C_PAINT_1-a", 0 ,"A-10C_25th FS_1-a",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-b", 0 ,"A-10C_25th FS_1-b",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-c", 0 ,"A-10C_25th FS_1-c",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-d", 0 ,"A-10C_25th FS_1-d",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-e", 0 ,"A-10C_354th FS_1-e",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-f", 0 ,"A-10C_354th FS_1-f",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-g", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-g",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-h", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-h",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-i", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-i",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-j", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-j",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-k", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-k",true}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-L", 0 ,"A-10C_47th FS_1-L",true}; {"A-10_Number", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_F", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Noze_T", 0 ,"TactNumbers-USAF-Light_black",true}; {"A-10_Number_Wheel", 0 ,"empty",true}; {"pilot_a10_helmet", 0 , "pilot_f15_helmet", true}; Note the last line calling the helmet texture, which was what I added to replace the USN helmet with the Kevlar helmet. When I inserted the following line: {"pilot_a10_body", 0 ,"pilot_a10", true}; in front of {"pilot_a10_helmet", 0 , "pilot_f15_helmet", true}; It worked fine. I now realize that this also applies to the PTB. If you want to change the skin of your fuel tank, you need to make calls to the pilot and helmet files, even if you are using the default files. @Dave, This also means that if you want to create specific external tanks for your ghost and mod eagle schemes, you should be able to add the following lines: {"pilot_F15_patch", 0 ,"f15_decol_empty",true}; {"pilot_F15_00_body", 0 ,"pilot_f15_00_a",true}; {"pilot_F15_00_helmet", 0 ,"pilot_f15_helmet",true}; {"f15PTB", 0 ,"<customname>",true}; Then add your custom PTB texture to Bazar\Textures\F-15

Ooh Yeah! Christmas comes early this year! Thanks, zzzspace

File Name: F-15C/E Default Skin Enhancements File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 07 December 2012 File Category: F-15C Skins Since at least Flaming Cliffs 3 Beta 1.2.2.7570, the left and right patches on the F-15C pilots are reversed (the squadron patch should be on the right shoulder and the organizational/aircraft patch should be on the left). Additionally, all F-15 pilots wear unit patches on their flightsuits except for the 19th Fighter Squadron out of Elmendorf AFB, AK. This mod places the patches on the appropriate shoulder in accordance with USAF uniform regulations, and provides the pilots of the 19th FS Fighting Gamecocks with accurate squadron and wing patches as well as an organizational F-15 patch for the left shoulder. Additionally, the mod adds squadron insignia to the crews in the default USAF F-15E skins, and adds and enhances Israeli Pilot/WSO textures for the IAF F-15C/E skins. Finally, the mod replaces the brown captain insignia on the USAF desert flightsuit with the proper black insignia. Installation (JSGME): This archive file is structured so that you need only create a folder in your JSGME Mods folder for the F-15 Enhancements, then copy this folder tree into that new folder. Then enable the mod using JSGME. Installation (Manual): Prior to extraction, back up all default F-15C/E liveries ( Bazar\Liveries\F-15C\ and Bazar\Liveries\F-15E\). Extract all files to your DCS World folder with the included folder structure intact. This will add the replacement graphics to the Bazar\TempTextures folder and overwrite the description.lua files in your folders. Removal (Manual): Remove the following files from Bazar\TempTextures: pilot_f15_00_b.bmp.ddspilot_f15_01_a.bmp.ddspilot_f15_01_b.bmp.ddspilot_f15_00_IDF_a.ddspilot_f15_01_IDF_a.ddspilot_f15_patch_58_sqdn.tga.ddspilot_f15_patch_65a_sqdn.tga.ddspilot_f15_patch_65b_sqdn.tga.ddspilot_f15_patch_106_sqdn.tga.ddspilot_f15_patch_390_sqdn.tga.ddspilot_f15_patch_493_sqdn.tga.dds Restore your backup description.lua files to the appropriate folders in Bazar\Liveries\F-15C and Bazar\Liveries\F-15E. If you did not back up your original description. lua, then for the F-15C you can delete the last line in the files (regarding the helmet), and delete the line referencing pilot_f15_patch_19_sqdn in the 19th Fighter SQN (AK) folder. For the F-15E you can delete all lines including and after the entry "--added by HF", then delete the pilot*.dds files in the folders. Custom Helmets (optional): One thing I discovered when making use of custom helmets: if you have a custom helmet on one skin, you need to add a helmet line to the description.lua of every skin of that aircraft type, else you will get corrupted textures when displaying different skins. To assist in this, I have placed a line in the 19th Fighter SQN (AK) description.ini (currently remmed out) that you can place in every one of your F-15C skins that is not using a custom helmet. I left the line remmed out because adding this line without adding it in other description.ini files will cause the same texture corruption. Enjoy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file

I think I've figured out the basics of skinning the F-15, including the TGA files vs. BMP to create "decals" similar to those in SF2. This opens the possibility of creating custom nose art and canopy names for myself and other friends. However, doing so on skins other than default skins (already zipped and in path) will require a huge amount of storage (liveries) or manual entries into graphics.cfg (common files to a zip). The most elegant solution is the zipfile for the skin (the tga dds files go into the livery), but I can't figure out how to get modman to make dynamic entries into cfg files. I know there are cfg and misc options in the mod maker, but there are no instructions or tutorials that I could find. The closest thing, the CDDS tutorial, seems to be obsolete with DCSW which now does the same thing with conventional zip files and native use of DDS. Does anybody know how to use the cfg/misc features of modman, or if not is it still a feasible solution to bundle files in a CDDS? Thanks in advance.

Skate, you're a genius! I thought that the path commands in graphics.cfg pointed to zip files. In fact, they point to folders, and DCS recognizes a zip file as a folder. Here's what I did to test: Extracted bazar\textures\f-15.zip to the folder bazar\textures\f-15. Removed f-15.zip. Ran mission with default skins and tested SAT. Removed files from F-15 folder and reinserted f-15.zip. Added custom skins to F-15 folder. Ran mission with combination of default skins and custom skins. Tested SAT. Renamed files in F-15 folder from *.bmp.dds and *.tga.dds to *.dds. Ran same mission with combination of default and custom skins. Tested SAT. What this means is that we can have our cake and eat it too! Even with the existence of a F-15.zip file, DCSW will continue to read files from both the zipfile and the folder named in the path. There is no need to extract the existing zipfiles, nor add files to them. This is great for maintaining compatibility with the autoupdater. Likewise, we can create the F-15 folder in ModMan and add common files without having to add a path to graphics.cfg. Finally, since ModMan can't handle the multiple-extension DDS files that are required for the zipfile, being able to have "regular" named DDS files in the folders allows for the use of ModMan to keep track of our common files. Bottom line: packaging aircraft fleets like this will save a lot of space, loading time, VRAM, et al, yet we can still maintain a compact delivery using the RAR/Zip feature in ModMan.

Now that's an interesting idea: adding ta tweaked F-15C.lua to the modman package. Solves the graphics.cfg problem. In the existing graphics.cfg, a number of files have path lines, many of which are in Bazar\World\Textures. I was under the impression that the files themselves had to be in the path line, as opposed to a folder being in the path and having all of its contents in the path as well. Like you, I'm at work, so I can't take a look right now, but this is definitely something to build on.

That's exactly what I would like to do, Skate. The VRAM hit is something else I thought of as well since I'm running with a 512Mb graphics card. Question is whether it is possible to do this without adding a line to graphics.cfg. I've already tested this by adding a couple of ZIPs with common files to Bazar\World\Textures and adding them to graphics.cfg, then putting the personalized files in the livery folders and setting the appropriate lines to True/False. The big hang up is whether there is a way to automate this for people who don't want to tweak their config files. I would rather spend the time trying to simplify the system than spend the same amount or more time helping people who are afraid to tweak their file, or have done so incorrectly.

I was trying to get fancy. I saw that the CAW Su-25T package uses common zips and requires tweaking the graphics.cfg, and I was looking for a way to automate it. I also thought that doing this with a virtual squadron skin and using the decol/patch files in the individual liveries for the members would save on HD space and require fewer changes overall in the event that the skin was updated. I wish ED would just add a single folder in the path, and every file in that folder would be read as part of graphics.cfg. This would make things much simpler for custom skins, though no question the livery system is a huge step in the right direction.