MigBuster

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10191448.stm

Non Fiction This one is a truly fantastic - read "Loud and Clear - The Memoirs of an Israeli Fighter Pilot" - by Iftach Spector - their second highest ace of all time - such an interesting life Its very recent 2008/2009. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loud-Clear-Yiftach-Spector/dp/076033630X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275137430&sr=1-1

http://www.thirdwire.com/ Flip - despite the readme - TK has put this May 2010-B update for Strike Fighters 2 Israel is out! This update is for Strike Fighters 2 merged with SF2 Israel but does not have Expansion Pack 1 installed. ============================ Strike Fighters 2 May 2010-B Readme File ============================ ----------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Update Notes 2. Troubleshooting 3. Contacting Customer Support --------------- 1. Update Notes --------------- This update is for Strike Fighters 2 Israel, either stand-alone or merged to other Strike Fighters 2 games. This update contains all the fixes from previous updates, and it can be applied to any version of the game. Earlier updates do not need to be applied. If you have installed any mods to the game, please check the ChangeList.txt for a list of updated files. If any data files you've extracted have been changed, you must manually delete and/or updated these files, or the patched game may not run correctly. Previous campaign saved data may not load after an upgrade. List of changes in this Update include: May 2010-B ---------- * Alt-N sometimes causing bombers to not show up on time is fixed. * Speech subtitle not displaying correctly is fixed. * Messages not displaying even on Normal or Easy HUD mode is fixed. * Some campaign crash bugs have been fixed. * Campaign now ends properly when the player squadron has less than 4 active pilots.

Since people keep asking here are the major differences in SF2 compared to the SF1 series. New items included by Thirdwire in the Strike Fighters 2 Series (As of Jan 2012) General changes Original 3D Aircraft look to have been reworked/replaced and have higher resolution skins Original 3D cockpits look to have been reworked/replaced with more functionality (working dials, switches. panel lights) and higher resolution skins. Terrains have higher resolution tiles. The Games support Direct X 10 advanced shaders if you have a DX10 capable graphics card and Win 7 / Vista. Better support for multicore CPUs. Vector RHAW scope and functionality added with radar frequency ranges. TEWS RWR with radar frequency ranges for 1978 Jets. New file structure to make modding and patching far easier. New Menu/hangar screens. Screenshots save as smaller JPEGs by default. Ability to merge all the SF2 games. Ability to save a mission you have just flown. "Request For Help" radio feature now works from June 2010 From Expansion 1 Bump maps can be added to skins Revised Campaign selection screen. Support for Force Feedback (Dec 2009). In game Mission Editor (Expansion Pack 2 or DLC) Radar On/Off command works(June 2011) F12 cinematic view works - also after crashes(June 2011) Year specific loadouts allowed in loadout.ini (July 2011) In game options for downloads and Online Manual (May 2011) AI terrain following improved DLC Support added in Patches. LAU-42 rack added for AIM-4s Twin AIM-9 rails added Aircraft made easier to spin on Hard FM (Jun 2010). Radar on/off radio command now works Attack my target Radio command added to command element (May 2011) Ejection sequence camera view changed(May 2011) Tree Fade added (May 2011). Installer reworked so games can be installed and merged in any order (May 2011) No guns option added when only left with Sidewinders in flight (Aug 2011). Multiple Carriers now launch flights in SF2V Campaigns. Aircraft Hangar screen can now change with skin selected Games can check online for the latest version and be updated from within the game.[May 2011] Blast damage to a target now counts to a players score. Pilot pictures can now be JPGs Rocket and Fuel pod combined armament (July 2011). Bombers less armoured against Missile hits (Nov 2011) Campaign Customiser DLC for SF2 released (Sep 2011) Carrier Starts in generated Single missions (Mar 2012 SF2NA) Multiple Ship launched SAMs and GunFire(Mar 2012 SF2NA) Fleet name and ship lists shown on Planning map (Mar 2012 SF2NA) AWACs name shown on Planning map (Mar 2012 SF2NA) new DX10 only Terrain engine - 3D ground objects with collision (Mar 2012 SF2NA) F-14 Avionics allow 6 targets to be simultaneously fired on in TWS mode (Mar 2012 SF2NA) Carriers now populated with random Aircraft (Mar 2012 SF2NA) New menu music (Mar 2012 SF2NA) New voice and calls for E-2C AWACS controller (Mar 2012 SF2NA) AI bombers can now launch Cruise Missiles from long range (Mar 2012 SF2NA) Expansion Packs can be installed over any game at May 2013 patch or later NEW Objects in the SF2 series ( That's in addition to the original Aircraft from the first series) Note: A lot of the new aircraft versions have their own 3D cockpits and 3D models specific to the version - there are too many differences to note so you will just have to have fun finding them. Strike Fighters 2 A-4B (65) A-4C (65) A-4E (65) A-4E (67) A-4F (74) F-4B (65) F-4B (67) F-4C (67) F-4D (67) F-4D (75) F-4E (72) - Slatted with longer gun muzzle F-4E (75) F-100D (64) - new model and new unique 1964 cockpit F-100D (68) - new model and new unique 1968 cockpit Hawker Hunter F.4 - model and skins (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.5 - model and skins (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.6 - model and skins (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.9 - model and skins (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.59 - model and skins (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.70 (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.73 (No Pit) MiG-17 - (No Pit) MiG-17PF - Has radar (No Pit) J-6 - (No Pit) MiG-21M - (No Pit) MiG-21FL - (No Pit) MiG-21PF - (No Pit) MiG-21PFV - (No Pit) MiG-21S - (No Pit) MiG-21SM - (No Pit) MiG-23BN - (No Pit) MiG-23MF - (No Pit) MiG-23MS - (No Pit) Mirage 5D- (No Pit) Su-7BMK - (No Pit) Tu-16 - (No Pit) Ground Objects SA-2E SA-6 ECM Pods AN/ALQ-71 AN/ALQ-101 AN/ALQ-119 Strike Fighters 2: Vietnam A-1H - new model and skins (No Pit) A-1J - new model and skins (No Pit) A-6A (No Pit) A-7B (71) A-7C (71) A-7C - new A-7C model A-7D - new A-7D model and new unique cockpit A-7E - new A-7E model and new unique cockpit F-100D (64) - new model and new unique 1964 cockpit F-100D (68) - new model and new unique 1968 cockpit F-105D(66) F-4B(65) F-4B(67) F-4C(67) F-4D(67) F-4E(72) - slatted with longer gun muzzle F-8C F-8C(66) F-8D F-8D(66) F-8E(66) F-8H F-8H(69) F-8J F-8J(69) J-6 - (No Pit) MiG-17PF - (No Pit) Ground Objects SA-2C SA-2E ECM Pods AN/ALQ-71 AN/ALQ-101 AN/ALQ-119 Strike Fighters 2: Europe A-7D - new A-7D model and new cockpit A-7D(75) A-7D (78) A-10A(78) - New model with Pave Penny CF-104 - New skins - (No Pit) CF-104(72) - New skins - (No Pit) CF-104(76) - New skins - (No Pit) F-4C(67) F-4D(67) F-4D(75) F-4D(78) F-4E(72) F-4E(75) F-4E(78) F-4F(80) F-4M(75) F-84F - (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.4 - (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.5 - (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.6 Hawker Hunter F.51 - (No Pit) MiG-17PF - (No Pit) MiG-21M - (No Pit) MiG-21Bis - (No Pit) MiG-21S - (No Pit) MiG-21SM - (No Pit) MiG-23BN - (No Pit) MiG-23MF- (No Pit) MiG-23ML- (No Pit) MiG-23MLA - (No Pit) MiG-23MLD - (No Pit) Mirage 3C - (No Pit) Mirage5F- (No Pit) MystereIVA - (No Pit) Su-7B - (No Pit) Su-7BMK - (No Pit) Super Mystere B2 - (No Pit) Ground Objects SA-8 SA-8B SA-2C SA-2E ECM Pods AN/ALQ-71 AN/ALQ-101 AN/ALQ-119 Strike Fighters 2:Israel A-4H (68) A-4H (70) F-4E(72) F-4E Kurnass(73) F-4E Kurnass(75) F-4E Kurnass(78) Hawker Hunter F.6 - (No Pit) Hawker Hunter F.9 - (No Pit) Kfir C1 Kfir C1(77) MiG-17PF - (No Pit) MiG-21BisB - (No Pit) MiG-21M- (No Pit) MIG-21FL - (No Pit) MiG-23ML - (No Pit) MiG-23MLD - (No Pit) Shahak (71) - (New 3D model with correct engine) Ground Objects Centurion8 Centurion10 Centurion13 M48A3 M60A1 ECM Pods AN/ALQ-71 AN/ALQ-101 AN/ALQ-119 Strike Fighters 2:Israel - Expansion Pack 1 C-47A - (No Pit) Meteor F.8 MiG-15bis - (No Pit) P-51D Spitfire mk 9c - (No Pit) Spitfire mk 9e - (No Pit) Vampire F.5 - (No Pit) Vampire F9 - (No Pit) Vampire F.52 - (No Pit) MystereIVA - New cockpit F-16A - Corrected 3D model(Should also appear in June 2010 SF2I patch) Ground Objects M50_Sherman M51_Sherman T34-85 Strike Fighters 2:Europe - Expansion Pack 2 English Electric Lightning F.1 English Electric Lightning F.1A English Electric Lightning F.2 English Electric Lightning F.2A English Electric Lightning F.3 English Electric Lightning F.6 English Electric Lightning F.53 (if you have SF2 merged) Hawker Hunter F.1 Hawker Hunter F.2 Hawker Hunter F.4 NAA F-100A Super Sabre NAA F-100A Super Sabre (58) NAA F-100C Super Sabre NAA F-100C Super Sabre (65) English Electric Canberra B.2 (No pit) English Electric Canberra B.6 (No pit) English Electric Canberra B.20 (No pit - If you have SF2 Merged) Yak-23 (No pit) New Skins for C-47 and Spitfires (No pit - If you have Expansion Pack 1 Merged) MiG-15(No pit) Weapons Redtop A-A Missile Firestreak A-A Missile Lightning Gun Pack Strike Fighters 2:North Atlantic Grumman F-14A Tomcat Grumman F-14A_77 Tomcat Vought A-7E_74 Corsair II Grumman A-6E Intruder (No Pit) Grumman A-6E_79 Intruder (No Pit) Grumman E-2C Hawkeye (No Pit) Grumman EA-6B Prowler (No Pit) Tu-16K-10-26 Badger C (No Pit) Tu-16K-26 Badger G (No Pit) Tu-16K-26_73 Badger G (No Pit) Tu-16P Badger J (No Pit) Tu-16P_72 Badger J (No Pit) Tu-16RM-1 Badger D (No Pit) Tu-22KD Blinder B (No Pit) Tu-22M2 Backfire B (No Pit) Tu-22M3 Backfire C (No Pit) Tu-22PD Blinder E (No Pit) Tu-22RD Blinder C (No Pit) Tu-95RT Bear D (No Pit) Yak-38 Forger A (No Pit) Ground Objects CGN-36 California class Cruiser CVN-68 Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier Gearing FRAM IB class Destroyer Kashin class Destroyer Kiev class Aircraft Carrier Knox class Frigate Krivak I class Frigate Krivak II class Frigate LCC-19 Blue Ridge class Amphibious Command Ship LHA-1 Tarawa class Amphibious Assault Ship LPD-4 Austin class Amphibious Transport Dock Oliver Hazard Perry class Frigate Oliver Hazard Perry (82) class Frigate Spruance class Destroyer Spruance (82) class Destroyer Weapons AIM-54A Phoenix SA-N-3 Goblet (M-11 Shtorm) SAM SA-N-1B Goa SAM SA-N-4 Gecko SAM RIM-2F Terrier SAM RIM-7E/H Sea Sparrow SAM RIM-66B Standard SAM K10S (AS-2 Kipper) Cruise Missile KH22 (AS-4 Kitchen) Cruise Missile KSR5 (AS-6 Kingfish) Cruise Missile Items in SF1 series removed from SF2 A-6A Cockpit in SF2V (DIANE not possible) AV-8A in SF2E Multiplayer (All) O-1E Birddog (All) FAC over CAS(All) C-130 Hercules F-104 cockpit

" I am surprised that Iceland would have volcanoes since it's such a cold country. - Rick Sanchez, CNN"

I just use it in carrier landing practise missions - there is a landing version of Midway and Oriskany I use for different jets. No idea why the creator does not offer a version you can buy to land and take off on - bit sad really.

No B-2 that I am aware of. You may need to run the choppers on "Normal" flight model by setting that in the game options - although if the choppers were done for an earlier patch then they may need to be reworked. - and yes officially the game is not geared up for choppers - even though back in the 2006 versions you could fly them quite well - with a bit of practise:

Some FE2 campaign screenies from 1917 Cambrai and a um random one:

Another unfortunate tragedy - its main news here today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/10141297.stm

ooopsy - back to the drawing board - unless of course the contract went to the lowest bidder. Any idea how strong the winds are?

Yeah still no good at it 30 yrs later! fantastic idea to put it on the page though

There is plenty of stuff out for SF2 - but not as much as for SF1 for various reasons. An experienced modder can use a lot of things SF1 anyway and convert them over - whereas people who rely on downloads that are already 95% there need to wait until some one puts them here for SF2.

Yes too true - the same thing happened on Question time from what I remember and he made the other politicians look like idiots....okay they are idiots anyway....but all this extra coverage just gets them more publicity and popularity. Still we have the tories in now....so more of the same till Labour get in I guess.....then more of the same till the Tories get in again.........then mo..........well you get the idea

haha - rather them than me

The first series runs okay in Win 7 if you do the required and install Oct 2008 which TK kindly changed to make it work with Vista - I have 4 installs of it left (2 of them actually 2006 level). Have had a few CTDs. For anyone who is yet to get a Thirdwire game then my experience would suggest: Basically - if you have a 3+ year old PC with single core then the first series will probably run better - although with the Oct 2008 patch some settings will need to be lowered. If you have a newer PC with a Multicore CPU and a mid to high end graphics card then would suggest SF2 - TK has admitted himself he has added code in recent patches to make things run better on multicore CPUs - this in itself may make things not run as well on single core. For me - SF2 runs a lot better, looks a lot better (The P-51D pit is truly amazing!) and has more features which will hopefully be added to this year. Of course if you only have SF1 - then its still a good game, that still looks okay if you haven't played SF2 - and im sure there are years of play to be had from it still - for example there is an EAW forum on this site. I suspect as more people get a new machine they will support Thirdwire by getting the SF2 games - lets face it if Falcon 5.0 came out tommorrow I would probably be ditching AF for my 3D clickable pit With TKs original business model he would have brought out a new game for Vista and then given out free patches for the older games WOE/WOV etc - but I guess that was not sustainable for him anymore. The SF2 games are anyway dirt cheap for me - £10 for a suez add on, not bad for a hobby, I spend £25 a week on petrol!

SO now you are saying its just the add on effects that are not working? I expect your game is using DX10 - in which case go to the effects folder and open up a few old inis for the effects that are not working. check the last entries (usually material ones) have a new shader name: [DSmokeMaterial] EffectShaderName=twColor1.fx DepthBufferCheck=TRUE ........

If you mean during a campaign on hard settings - then their skill level goes up if they survive a mission I have noticed. Dont think there is a way to alter starting skill levels - thats coded in the game - Experience and morale is probably aready set to 100 in the campaigns data ini file.

This might be down to the pilot level of training - which is PilotTrainingStandard=POOR for Syria/egypt. Extract nations.ini and change to NORMAL or EXCELLENT and see if they are any better.

Have stuffed Vampires with every new plane so far - same cant be said for my wingies. On all hard settings you can generally out turn them in the P-51 while checking your 6 a lot - I rarely go head to head with the AI in anything with guns - its 50/50.

Yeah - its just the campaign - dont fancy taking out the runway with those peashooters on the P-51

What model of Spitfire are you talking about here just the Mk9? Does the clipped wing version fair any better?

It might appear to be because it can sustain a lot more energy - and Im normally in an F-4 when those things are about.