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I found the answer to my own question. I couldn't get it to work because tweaking cfg files with modman doesn't work with the latest DCS engine. http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/59549/

I confirmed that it works, Skate. Thanks again!

The helmet was with Skate's help. He provided the material name, and I added the following line to my description.lua: {"pilot_F15_00_helmet", 0 ,"pilot_f15_helmet_hf",false}; You can find pilot_f15_helmet.bmp.dds in Bazar\Textures\F-15.zip. For the other customizations, this is the good stuff! The F-15 has 2 tga files (converted to DDS of course) with alpha channels that act much like decals in SF. You can find them in the default skins in F-15.zip, and in the description file they have in their names "decol" and "patch" for the plane and flightsuit respectively. Here is the relevant section of the description.lua for the default 493rd FS (LN) skin: livery = { {"f15nose", 0 ,"f15_nose",true}; {"f15nose", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15bottom", 0 ,"f15_bottom",true}; {"f15bottom", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15centr", 0 ,"f15_centr",true}; {"f15wingl", 0 ,"f15_wing_l",true}; {"f15wingl", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15wingr", 0 ,"f15_wing_r",true}; {"f15stab", 0 ,"f15_stab_v",true}; {"f15stab", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15numbers", 0 ,"f15_numbers",true}; {"pilot_F15_patch", 0 ,"pilot_F15_patch_493_sqdn",true}; {"pilot_F15_00_body", 0 ,"pilot_f15_00_a",true}; } Of these, the lines you want are: {"f15nose", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15bottom", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15wingl", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"f15stab", 3 ,"f15_decol",true}; {"pilot_F15_patch", 0 ,"pilot_F15_patch_493_sqdn",true}; The following are graphics of the files with the alpha channels highlighted. Here's the layout of pilot_F15_patch_493_sqdn.tga.dds (annotations mine): The alpha channel is pretty obvious here, so not much else needs to be said. Here's the f15_decol.tga.dds file, though with alpha highlighted in neon green: You may have noticed that this file is called a number of times in description.lua. This file also stores decals for different material names/textures, as described above. What this means is that you can make a clean F-15C skin and use this file to create your customizations (wing, squadron, serial prefix, individual name and nose art), meaning that you could skin an entire fleet of aircraft by changing a single file (or 2 files if you want to do individual squadron patches as well).

yes, the drop tank. It doesn't load with the viewer when you load the f-15c.edm, and ED has not varied the texture for any of the skins, including aggressor. I'm thinking that there's currently no way to tie it into a skin, but I figured I would ask.

No problem, Skate. You've been a big help thus far. Now I'm sportin' my old squadron logo on the helmet, and I have the JOPA patch on the right shoulder! Life is good! BTW, is there a way to do the same thing with the F-15 PTB, or is that a separate object entirely?

Sweet!. I'll give it a look. Question: Is there a way to get material names without loading the object into Max (which I don't have)?

I just finished a batch of F-15 personalizations using the f15_decol and pilot_f15_patch files. Both are TGAs converted to DDS, and both allow items such as canopy names, nose art, fuselage/tail art and unit patches to be displayed on the aircraft (decol) and pilot model (patch). I'm trying to find out if there's a way to do this with other aircraft such as the A-10A or A-10C, as this makes for a much easier time to make skins and updates for personalizations like these.

Gave it a try: {"A-10C_PAINT_1-a", 0 ,"A-10C_BVS_1-a",false}; {"A-10C_PAINT_1-a", 3 ,"A-10C_Decol_BVS_DRH_1-a",false}; The base layer worked, but no luck with the 3rd layer.

Another tangential question: Since someone online must have my skin to see my skin, and I can't expect everybody to have my personalized skins, is there a way to have DCSW find the closest match. For example, I decide to use the a custom 493rd skin which adds my personalized markings to the default skin. Is there a way to make sure that DCSW will display the default 493rd skin for everybody else who doesn't have the markings? If not, an "alias" line would be a great idea for an additional line in description.lua.

Awesome! Thanks, Skate. I'll give this a try tonight.

Thanks, Skate. It's good to know that those are the material names and not just the textures. Unfortunately I already tried that with pilot_f15_helmet and had no success. I guess it's like the PTB; no way to assign it to a particular skin.

Thanks, Dave. No USN reflective helmet for me I guess, though I did fix the flightsuit. What's up with the blue railroad tracks anyway; ours were white! I also noticed that they put the squadron patch in the wrong place as well*. *J/K; I did my advanced flight training with the 562nd FTS at Randolph, so I know how the AF wears patches.

Guys, a tangential question: Is there a way to determine a MAX Material name from somewhere? I would like to modify my F-15 helmet on my personalized skins, and I've already tried the following line with no success: {"pilot_F15_helmet", 0 ,"pilot_f15_helmet_hf",false}; Thanks in advance,

Sorry Skate. Not to come off as a complete knucklehead, but I'm not sure of what that means, unless you're talking about assignment of the 3 digits of the serial number on the tail. What I'm trying to figure out is how to use these functions in the Modman Mod Maker: CFG (I think this is the one I want): Misc: The whole idea is to have a common set of textures for a virtual squadron with specific decol files and pilot files for each member, in order to avoid having to repeat each file in each livery folder. I'm also trying to do it in a way that dosen't require manual tweaking of graphics.cfg.

Thanks again, guys.

Thanks for the great explanation, SkateZilla. So what you're saying is that the first entry is simply the MAX object, and has nothing to do with legacy slots? If that's the case, then I should cover down with that every time. Regarding true/false, I can see a rationale for using true with commonly used things like letters/numbers and the like, but you mention using true for the F-100 as well. Is there any advantage to having a separate folder like you indicate in lieu of using the bazar/liveries folder? BTW, I've also seen this with the CAW Su-25T conversions for DCSW, and was wondering the rationale. Also, do you have two descriptions in the same file, or did you put two separate files in the same code block above? Thanks again!

Slick, That download is just a texture pack that fits the original A-6 cockpit from WOV. The means to get a cockpit for the A-6/EA-6B is listed in the readme. I apologize for the convoluted method, but intellectual property issues dictate the most conservative response in this case.

With the release of DCS World and the recent pre-order/beta acces to FC3, it appears that the LOMAC lifecycle has come full circle. With the transition of the franchise to DCSW and the modularity of the DCSW engine, I humbly propose a separate DCS forum and file section, separated along parallel lines from LOMAC much like Strike Fighters 1 vs SF2. Along the same lines of the SF1/SF2 Knowledge Bases, I would also love to see a DCS Knowledge Base. Topics of which I have interest include: Which BS1/FC2 mods are compatible with DCSW? Are A-10C/BS2 standalone mods compatible with DCSW? If not, what needs to be done to convert them? Which legacy skins are compatible with DCSW? This includes LOMAC/FC1 as well as FC2/BS1. What needs to be done to convert them to the Livery? Mission Editor tips and techniques. How to add LODs, and are there multiplayer issues? How to convert BS1/FC2 missions to DCSW (FC2 missions are bugged in FC3, but this should be fixed for release). Basic LUA scripting techniques (i.e. How do I fix a controller config file without having to clear category ) I would argue that a DCS Knowledge Base would be even more valuable than the SF series knowledge bases, since the community seems to be migrating in this direction, and because of limited activations the importance of not screwing up ones' install has become that much more prominent. Your thoughts?

All, In a couple of weeks, I'll be undertaking additional work responsibilities that will cost me the lion's share of my free time for the foreseeable future. At this point, I won't be able to take point on the Realism Mod. I have no problem staying on as integrator (I have professional experience in that department, and I can do that on the weekends), and I'll still do decals as required, but someone else will need to do the heavy lifting like sorting weapons, choosing avionics enhancement packages, et al. As it stands right now, we could put out a 1.0 framework as soon as the squadronlist.ini is finalized (and once we get permission as required), but unless someone steps up, this project may necessarily be reduced in scope.

Looks fantastic, Dave. Thank you.

I can't think of anything, Grinch, but if you see something you think would be cool, take some pictures and post here! We won't be doing 3D objects, but we can skin and decal.

I have no problem adding updated DLC data files as optional installs, but I'm not going out of my way to do so. I did the A-4L squadrons because the A-4L DLC didn't have any representative squadrons in game, and adding reserve squadrons apply to all of the A-4 LODs (and some of the A-7 LODs when I do those tails).

Re 142, I'm not sure. I've seen similar paint jobs for the E model, so I figure they must be more than Bicentennial. However, I've also seen the Red/Gold USMC pattern on the rudder as well. However, I already used the red/gold for VMA-133, so I opted for the fancier job with 142.

All A-4 Squadrons are finished. Next up is developing an A-7 tail template and adding the squadrons that transitioned to the SLUF. Two of my favorite tails: VMA-142 Flying Gators (front) and VMA-131 Diamondbacks (back).