Saavedra

This mod looks positively mouth-watering, but I´m running into some issues with crashes and the like. I am working on those still, lowering settings here and there. But there is one thing I don´t think lowering settings will help me with: mission start time. I´m afraid that starting a CAS mission at five in the morning on an A-10, when it is pitch-black and I can´t see past my cockpit is... a bit too much of a challenge. Is there any way to change mission start time?

I already do this with SF2, though. Granted, I also use mouse and keyboard at the same time (easy to do when you know what you are going to need when), but the Xbox controller is perfectly functional for SF2.

After several months without playing SF2, and having upgraded my PC and gotten a new XBOX 360 controller, I decided to get back into the action. However, something weird is going on with the gamepad (yes, I know, but no, I´m not buying a joystick). When I install the game and the window pops up allowing me to play the game immediately, I can go in, configure the buttons, sticks and triggers, and everything works properly. However, when I start the game normally using the exes, the whole thing goes to hell. The sticks don´t work properly (in fact, I lose sensitivity, meaning the plane will only do extremely gentle or extremely hard turns) and the buttons configuration is all sorts of messed up. Just to give you an example: I use the shoulder buttons (L1 and R1) to reduce and increase thrust respectively. Normally, when I press those buttons in the controls configuration, it will name then Button 4 and Button 5. However, with this strange error, it will call them ALT+Button 4 and CTRL+Button 5. Other controller buttons will be named AV PAG and RE PAG (so, keyboard keys... for no reason I can discern), and so on and so forth. I´ve experimented with this a bit already: I have deleted both the game and the folders in /users/ several times and then checked if it was a specific update somehow hurting the original installation. So far, the error is being consistent, and the only exception I can replicate is entering the game through the prompt right after installation. Note that while entering the game through that prompt will let me play properly, every single other time I enter the game (through the exes, as normal), the controller will stop working as it did before, and the buttons will have returned to what they were before I configured anything. Now here is the kicker: the old Trust GTX 28 controller I played the game with all those months ago... it works perfectly fine! In fact, I can plug in both controllers at the same time and the GTX will work while the 360 doesn´t. And bear in mind that my 360 controller has never given me trouble with any other game. I´ve noticed this in the files section: https://combatace.com/files/file/12963-360-controls-for-strike-fighters-2/ So, I assume this is a problem inherent to the 360 controller, and that it can only be fixed through that? Because in that case, I think I´ll be returning to my old GTX. It´s positively old and the control surfaces are not quite as smooth, but hey, if it works...

I haven´t tried it out yet and probably won´t because it would be a pain in the ass to uninstall and install again to test it, but I´ll keep it in mind for next time. Thanks a lot for your reply.

Having a Xbox 360 controller instead of a full-blown HOTAS is the only thing keeping me away from playing this... and yet, it being on Steam for 9,99€ is one hell of a siren call. I may dare go for it despite that limitation. I have heard nothing but good stuff about the game. In fact, it has something that makes me think it may well be better than DCS, which is the whole dynamic campaign deal it has going on. I read somewhere that DCS was about learning to fly aircraft, whereas BMS was about learning to fly fighter aircraft, precisely because DCS feels stale to some people, whereas the dynamic campaign for BMS makes it feel more alive. Those who have played both games here can surely offer a more informed opinion on that than me. And I must say, I am really impressed at how games as old as SF2 and specially Falcon 4.0 still hold themselves up as quality products going a bit beyond being pure entertainment.

Look in your controls menu for a key that reads "Last Radio Target". That, as far as I understand it, will designate as target the last entity mentioned in the radio. When an enemy launches a missile at you, using this key will automatically select the launching platform. If the platform in question is a NATO plane launching from afar, and you have no RWR sound, chances are he just launched an AMRAAM at you. It also works with SAMs and MANPADs, so you can discern between IR and radar-guided missiles.

Tanks in the Black Sea Crisis mod will shoot their machineguns at you while engaging their opposite. Infantry in Vietnam Expanded shoot as well (both cases are particularly noticeable if you are flying a helicopter, since you spend more time within their range). I do not remember if infantry can fire RPGs at you, though. I´d swear I´ve seen trails in VEx and Desert Storm.

Some basic tips: 1- Use communications. Tactical control can tell you where the closest bandits are, and you can ask your wingmen to engage them on their own or cover you. 2- Sidewinders are for close shots from the rear. Until the Sidewinder L, most famous for its use in the Falklands, no Sidewinders can lock enemies from the front. Sideshots are tricky and I do not recommend them with any sort of missile. 3- Remember that accomplishing the mission is the most important thing here. If you are engaged in a dogfight after killing your target, why stay around?

Ah, radars that you cannot detect at the appropriate distance for your HARMs. The bane of my life...

Pretty much. You get shot down. Is your pilot killed? Sorry, campaign is over. Is your pilot captured? Hit "Refly", take a screencap of your pilot´s current status, and fly a helicopter mission to see if you can continue flying with that pilot in the future, or if you were unable to recover him/her. Ideally, you would use two transport Hueys escorted by two gunships (Hueys or Cobras). The idea is flying to the point in the map where your aircraft went down (or the closest point on land if your plane went down in the sea), and landing with your transport Huey there. Wait for a few seconds, then take off and return to the closest friendly base or ship. If you lose two choppers/transport choppers on the way in, the mission is aborted (the LZ is too hot). If the transport chopper carrying the captured pilot is shot down with no survivors, the mission is aborted. If you return home with the captured pilot, however, your pilot has been rescued and you can continue the campaign. Say, Stratos, are those troops I see sitting on the edges of the Hueys? And another question: has anyone gotten the doorguns on the Hueys to work?

It occurs to me that we have non-Skunks helicopters in the files section such as Hueys and Cobras. Depending on timeframe and conflict, it would not necessarily be out of the question to postpone pilot retirement until you have tried a CSAR mission. Just hit "refly" and take a screenshot of your pilot before doing a rescue mission. If the CSAR fails, that´s the end-state of your pilot. If the CSAR succeeds, you continue flying. Conflicts like Vietnam and Desert Storm may be considered particularly conducive towards adding this mechanic to Dead is Dead.

Recently, I downloaded Yakarov´s awesome Cobra mod and added it to Vietnam Expanded. I realized that by doing this, I could make combined flights of Cobras and Hueys carrying out CAS missions in South Vietnam. However, when I tried to do it, I found two problems: 1- If I chose to fly the Huey as Army Aviation Unit (nation), I could not choose the Cobra for my wingmen. I switched to USMC, and I could make flights combining these two. However, this led to the next problem. 2- I could set up the mission with one chopper, but then, the weapons they could take would correspond only with that chopper. The other one would be unable to take those weapons. All the stores/pylons would be greyed out. So here is my question: how can I set up things so these two helicopters can use the same weapons? Is this related to the weapons´ nations and can I fix it by simply fiddling around with the ini files? Does this require some other form of heavy editing?

Thanks for the replies. As soon as I have some free time, I´ll get to fixing stuff.

We already have a Falklands/Malvinas campaign, so I´m guessing he means expanded terrain? For example: you cannot use land bases with the optional Vulcan bomber because... well... you would have to take off from an island that is simply too far for the map to include. I´m guessing he wantsa map big enough to make this possible, for example?

An amazing milestone indeed. I don´t think many games can boast of having such a dedicated and talented modder base.

Some planes have laser pods/systems integrated. With others, you have to take the laser pods in the loadout section.

Great write-up! And all those photos really add to the atmosphere.

Perhaps he could do something like put the Strike Fighters games up on Steam? Making them more visible to the average player would no doubt help, particularly if we give them some nice reviews on day 1 of publication there. Put all the SF2 games up in Steam at a discount as a weekend sale or something similar like that, and you are guaranteed to get attention. And money. You all know how much we love those little green squares...

4th mission in my campaign: Strike the SAM site at Binakh I had to take a flight path not unlike my last mission´s to accomplish this one, and I didn´t fancy my chances against the Grumbles that seem to be stationed around the Gulf´s "armpit" (the upper-right corner of the sea). Knowing this, I opted for a somewhat unconventional solution. I loaded HARMs, AMRAAMS and Mavericks, and something a little special... The AGM-158 JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range). Basically, a cruise missile weighing almost a ton, with a range around 1000km, or 620 miles according to Wikipedia. A mighty weapon of war. After the drop, the JASSM extends its own wings, pops up to gain some altitude, and flies toward the target. A cruise missile in Strike Fighters? Sounds awesome, doesn´t it? Unless it falls short of its intended victim by fifty meters, failing to take out the tents marking the target. While I was pondering if I wanted to run that gauntlet with just two HARMs and two Mavericks on me, I noticed bandits approaching from behind. Turns out that while I was circling around, waiting for the JASSM to not do its thing, there had been a furball to the north-west between what seemed to be a French Rafale squadron and some Irani Fulcrums. The Iranis were, for some reason, heading straight for me. I engaged two Fulcrums with my AMRAAMs, dodged some missiles, missed my own, and my wingman downed both enemies. Another pair of Fulcrums came after these two, but they had no missiles remaining. Because they were not flying in formation, I got on the first one´s tail easily and shot it down with guns. Then, I made the mistake of trying to engage the second one. I did not fancy my chances in a head-on, so I let him pass on my right and then I turned hard after him. But what do you know, the arch-rival of the F-16 turned out to be as agile as the Falcon, which is far, far more agile than the F-15E Strike Eagle if this dogfight was anything to go by. Not ejecting the HARMs and Mavericks still attached to my wings probably didn´t help me much. Once my opponent was on my six, I was unable to shake him off with hard turns or trying to get him to overshoot or slow him down so my wingman, on his six, could get him. Then, I found out what happens when 30mm rounds connect with one´s fuel tank. It was not pretty to watch, and it marked the end of my Op Darius campaign.

So, Operation Darius (well, actually Operation Marathon, which is like Darius but with a ground war going on) flying the F-15E Strike Eagle from Iraq to strike at targets in Iran. I am not a huge simmer, so I have the HUD elements active (speed, direction and so on on the left corner, target distance/speed and so on on the right low, and radar screen on the upper-right). All gameplay options are set to "Normal" except for Blackouts, which I put on "Easy" because, while I have no idea how fast a pilot should black out in real life, I think one blacks out a bit too fast in SF2. So now it´s been established I am a FILTHY CASUAL, how did it go? I am three missions in so far. The first two were milk runs. Attacks across the border, almost like prodding water with your toe. One was a barracks building in the middle of the desert that made me discover how inaccurate Mk.84s can be if you do not adjust for the weight despite what the pipper may say, and the second one was clearing AA assets off an airfield. The second one saw more action as missiles flew at me, but nothing I couldn´t handle. Then came the third mission. Fly west-to-east, reach the eastern side of the Gulf, and blow up a bridge. Nothing too hard, right? I mean, unless you count the F-4s and Saeqehs on the way (about a dozen of them), plus the several batteries of Hawks and, best of all, the three separate S-300 SAM sites on the way. So I started above the clouds, and dived past Phantoms, SAMs and the burning wreckage of my wingman to end up burning ahead at treetop level, pumping out ECM and chaff all the way. I started out with two AGM-88 HARMs, two AIM-120Ds, four Cs, and two AIM-9Ms (all those AAMs only accounted for two planes), and a 2000lbs LGB, plus two droptanks. By the time I was afterburning back across the Gulf, not even daring to follow the same ingress route, I was out of everything but cannon and flares. And no wonder. Looking in the log afterwards, I saw the computer had launched 12 Grumbles at me on top of some Sparrows and a bit of AAA. The only thing that I´m wondering is the whole asking for reinforcements thing. As soon as you do that, you get up to eight friendlies in the immediate vicinity launching AMRAAMs at enemies. While I think it is handy, it is also fairly unfair against the computer. But while I would gladly do away with this for the sake of realism and difficulty, I really don´t think I would survive eight bandits.

Tried it, couldn´t get to work, probably because I didn´t understand the install instructions right. Will wait a bit before trying again, see if some of the things you guys are commenting get ironed out in the meantime.

I was not expecting direct communication like that, anyway. I´ve noticed you are as discriminating about asking for help as your average Nigerian prince, except you give less info and qualify asking for it (and pointing out it may be useful for recruitment purposes) as "having an attitude". I suppose I will have to live with not being in semi-constant contact with an ego like yours for several weeks or months. Truly a great loss.

If you are going to ask people to play beta-testers for you, you may want to give them some more information other than "please possibly waste your time sending me a PM to which I may reply with a negative". At least, tell us what game you are going to use, so we know if we are going to be able to play beta testers for you.

I would love to get in on that, but I´m not jumping through A-Team´s hoop to get their LODs. I don´t even know why they force people to go through that.