Eagle114th

Hello everyonem, My wfie and I are contiuning with our excellent health recover. Ther is onething I have been wondering about and that is DLL files. The reason why I am asking about DLL files editing / modding; SF2 is not maintained nor update for many years. It is modders that have been keeping it alive. I am in the wonderful community that have passions as I do for Jane's combat simulation series and weare modding it. Even though I am on break from SF modding, in order, to allow my eye recover, I was wondering if it is possible to edit one of ancient simulation file, such as Jane's Fighter Anthology .exe files, because of awesome active modding community. We honor the ethics by keeping mods free and sharing our hobbies, as we do in here combatace. So I was wondering how can exe be understood? Out of curiousity, I took a look at HEX editing and then used x32dbg diseassebly and realized that the codes coudl be read in an assemlby langauge. However, I am not that experienced nor famliar with it yet. At the same time, by using AI to interpret the codes (Whiel being well aware that AI is currenlty still flawed and alwasy give geneic responses, still now is good time to experiment with it, due to the rapid advancement of AI technologies.) However, there is one thing that came up as an idea; What if we could edit the codes in DLL files that allow us to have unlocked moddability of avionics, enabling Gs limiters, and something like that. But again, I am concdenred about it becauser I do not know what combatace community feels about it. This is precisely why I haven't touched DLL files yet. I want to ensure it is done in ethical ways. If we contiune on the very limited methods of modding (Only iini. editing and adding 3D models), then we are stuck with the same limitatino of moddings. The community is currently small. We want for communty to be alive and become bigger again, therefore is why I want to ask about it. There is no another simulations out there that did excellent jobs as Thirdwsire did with Strike Fighter 2, as well as Jane's combat series did, what they managed to create; - Low Fidelity simulation that is semi-realistic This means we do not worry bout 'study sim', but we are required to learn about the limitations and characters of each aircraft, weaopns, avionics, etc.. IT is not arcade like ace combat nor too hardcore like "Study sim" DCS. It is just golden balance. Even though SF2 is missing air to ground radar veatures in avionics aspect. - Moddiblity, SF2 in heart, is desigend to be most moddable sim out there, it would be wasted potiental if DLL wasn't studied to allow expanded modding in ethical ways. EDIT #1: I talked with oen of modders, he / she gave me an excellent ideas. What I understand is that historically, TK do not mind the modding, however as long his files wasn't shared. So the idea is to create the installer that would modify the DLL files and allow us to add an external files that would enable DLL to read? EDIT #2: I realized we also could use Wrapper DLL, it intercepts calls to the original DLL and modifies them as needed before passing them on. I would like to know what combatace feels about this. Eagle114th

From now on, you will see two picturs (TOP / BOTTOM) which is Jane's orignial pictures (resized by either x4 or x8 of the orignial size) / New texture version so you can see the difference.

Hello everyone! I want to let everyone know that there are modding community for Jane's Figther Anthology and Jane's USAF. You can find us by discord: https://discord.gg/a8rjdVEh I started the project overhauling the texture with upscaling and "super resolution" techniques. Jane's USAF runs smoothly on Windows 10 / 11. I wrote the guide a while ago about how to install and run jane's USAF on Windows 10, which can be used on Windows 11. Here is the link: (OUTDATED, no longer need to install new .exe and reshade, all is included in JUCE now. The only thing you need to do is to install Jane's USAF and update it with offiical Jane's USAF patch.) https://www.vnfawing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=31023#31023 DOWNLOAD LINK for JUCE v1.2: https://www.mediafire.com/file/hvkjh94pshc6x6m/_JUCE+v1.2.zip/file Jane's USAF deserve to be revived so people can re-experience masterpieces made by Jane's combat simulation team. Here are screenshot, so you can see the difference: Originial Jane's USAF: JUCE version: The texture is based on excellent work of MigBuster airport texture for SF2. His name is included in README file as well. Please note, the texture is upscaled to 8x, then the texture get replaced with new texture, then re-sized back to 2x of the orignial resolution. The reason why I stay with 2x resolution for now is due to the limitation of Jane's USAF engine for now. UPDATE: With help from Tcklbrry, I am able to have texture maximum of 1024 height / width instead of 512. The new version of JUCE (v1.1 onward) will start using higher resolution texture up to 1024 height / width. Thank you for enjoyng the mods Cheers!

REPORT from JUCE v1.2: What I have learned about creating texture and working with transparent background for Jane's USAF: The system is primitive compared to modern where we can use .TGA, .PNG, and other file formats for texture. In the old days of gaming, we had to use 256 color 8 bit BMP. And in order for texture to have transparent, the game developer use one of color and turn it nto alpha. For example, in Jane's USAF, the transparent color is 00FFFF (HTML color or 0, 255, 255 RGB). It mean I can not use semi-transparent colors for smooth curves. Therefore, I am forced to try to 'smooth' the curve with rough edges. It is one of big challenges. Another challenge is to preserve the 00FFFF cyan color as I work with texture in GIMP, then move them to paint.net and save them in 256 color 8 BIT BMP while making sure cyan color is saved properly with exact 00FFFF. Here is interesting projects I have worked on, but firstly, I want to thank to all aritsts out there who made the materials available for me to use, as well as powerful tools, such as chatGPT that saved my time A LOT. Allow me to explain how i use AI to help me: By heping me with upscaling the texture 4x and 8x while using various methods. There is no perfect methods, so I use what is avaiable out there, especially with my RTX 3080TI and Stable Diffusion. However, for texture part, I use my hand to polish, replace, or tweak when needed. AI is not that advanced yet, so I must be very involved. However, I have this philosophy that AI is meant to be your partner, teammate, not your leader. You are the one who leads with creativity and passions. I, as artist / military aviation fan and hobbist, always make sure there is no mistakes with the textures. However, without AI, I would probably get burned out working on over 130 texturs, and AI have saved my time from years to a few weeks. For that, i am forever thankful. How do I use AI upscaled texture? let's say I have 8 different methods of upscalng, then I compare them, then cut off what I like the most, then paste into one template,. If none of them provide good texture, then I find the excellent texture materials online. If there is none, then I use my hands. When working with P-14, P-35, and P-40, that was quite interesting part, used my hand to create the radar lines. For example, here is P-14, so you can compare between orignial Jane's USAF and my new version: Jane's USAF orignial (resized to 1024 pixel height / width): By using this photo as reference: This is my new version, took me a while to finish the radar dish part. Here is P-35 (Jane's USAF orignial texture resized) My new version P-40 radar (Jane's original version resized) My new version:

Hello everyone! The new version of JUCE v1.3 is now released with oaver 130 texture updated. The file sizes jumps from 76 MB to 156 MB. All texture files in stationary folder (in Resouce folder) is now completed. I am moving on to the next texture project, especaily on aircraft. The screenshot from JUCE v1.2 will be posted here as soon I get the chance. Cheers

Hello everyone! I am certain that there are simmers out there in this community that still fly old simulations for sake of nostalgic and enjoyment. For me, it is the wonderful old Jane's series simulation. There is no another sim that do amazing jobs with it, especially with the ACCESSBILITY. I had to say it many times. there were time when people asked me "Why didn'tyou fly Flaming Cliff 3 for "low fideity' sim? SF2 is so old? Jane's series sim, it is so ANCIENT sim!" Becasue it does not have accessbility that Janes' series sim and SF2 have: Subtitles and target box that help me spotting them, along with arrow for padlocking, due to sensory disability. Another amazing features of Jane's Fighter Anthology / Jane's IAF / Jane's USAF and another Jane's sim is amazing tutorials and training. it actually feel very involving and immersive experiences for me. No another sim does that before. I wish SF1 / SF2 would have that immersive experiences, but again, it was develloped by 1 man so it can't be helped. Jane's comat simulation was developed by team. However, another thing I love about Jane's series sim is excellent "low fideity" envoriment. SF2 is the only sim that came in excellent envoriment after Jane's series sim. However, SF2 still is lacking of enriched air to ground targetting system / radar / other anvionics that Jane's IAF / USAF / other sim have. (Jane's FA is too basic, I do realize, but it was their firs tsteps toward advacing into more advanced features in next generation simulation in the 1990s.) And this might will surprise peope, I am currently working on mods for Jane's Fighter Anthology and Jane's USAF. for jane's USAF, it is texture overhaul projects. I am currenlty on a break from SF2 because it requires too much times of researching for accurate data, being just one man project, I do not have that time for now. If I do have time for it with great resources on my hand, I might will restore the projects (SFCE). However, .I have been looking everywhere to find the right tools to view / open .P3D files for Jane's USAF. Have anyone successfully opened or view the old 3D models? With that, I wil be able to quickly preview the 3D model with the new super resolution texture (By upscaling them 4x or 8x, work on it, then re-size it to 2x of the orignial resolution). Just in case, if any of you wonder why I am modding ancient simulation? It is the same reasons with the people who mods the old classic car and modernize them. Same thing with old furnitures and technologies. I am like that with the old simulation. I want to modernize them as much as possible.with excellent software and technologies we have now. It is straight from passions and heart. it is a shinig gems for us who loves old simulation that enriched us with childhood joyful memories. I still fly SF2 from time to time, because it is also one of my gems. I wish there are newer simulation that does 'lwo fideity' like Jane's series sim and SF2, with excellent accessiblity features. Thank you, Eagle114th

Hello everyone, Here is screenshot of JUCE v1.1, to show you the result of improving the resolution from 512 heigth / width to 1024 height / width, along with an improvement to the hangars. I am working on the rest of various building and bridge textures. Eagle114th

Hello everyone! After working with "Shack" hanger, I learned a lot about transparent. It is quite tricky. I can not include 'semi transparent blur edge for curve part', otherwise bright blue would show up around edge of texture. In order, to have clear transparent, I must have very clear texture without 'semi transparent' edge. It works now after several attempts to get 'Y" shaped metal bar showing up without bright blue around edge. It turns out a little bit rough looking, but still much beter than orignial Jane's texture. Original version: New version: Eagle114th

Hello everyone, There is a breakthrough in updating Jane's files, thank to Tcklbrry for making it possible to have 4x resolution instead of 2x. The new version of JUCE is on the way and I do not have ETA for now. The new 4x resolution texture is currently being polished and fixed. I am still working on re-laligning the lanes and sand textures. For now, here is the current process: Eagle114th

Hello everyone, The new version of airbase in 4x resolution (up to 1024 width / height) are being worked on. Tcklbrry, one of modder in our community, did amazing job editing Jane's USAF, so it can support up to 1024 width / height texture. The progress is looking good so far, more works to do ahead of me. When airbase is completed, I am moving on next to the buildings and other textures. The previous release have 2x texture (512 width / height) texture. I hope that in new version, you can see the big difference. Eagle114th

That is noted and thank you for the advice. Eagle114th

Hello everyone, I have managed to find a way to view the codes inside dll. It was quite journey. However, it do not mean I have the full access or can edit it well yet. What surprised me is that, with the right tools, I am able to view the classes of files in C++ languages. It is quite interesting! Keep in mind, I want to do this ethically and the right way. I do not know what to do next, but to any modders who want to give it a try (experimenting with dll fiels), PM me.

Excellent suggestions for DLL editing, theoretically (I use word "theoretically" for now until it DLL editing experiment is actualy start being done by modders here.) I want to add more as well! Every avionics that is available in SF2 should be expanded and be experienced immersively in SF2. For example, when flying variants of A-4s, right now, it feel like they all are almost the same except for perfomance and cockpit. Now imagine, if having computer / avionics that is actually installed in different variants of A-4s? For example, computer level bombing guidance for specific variants of A-4 that have it? CCRP in F-100s? Being able to do extra tasks when using ECM? Actually being able to take photo when using recon pod? A bit more challenging when using radar, such as ground clutter if diving toward ground? More realistic technical limitation and issues when using radar in certain situations. WIth that, each variants of aircraft and their avionics upgrades actually can be experienced more depths, immersive, and details differently.

Ah i see, that is noted. My apologize for misunderstanidng. That is a good point. I agree with this. Same thing happened with Il-2 1946 that became IL-2 1946 B.A.T.S. If you don't mind me asking, I like to learn new thing severyday; What is the biggest leap or changes from Falcon 4.0 to BMS?

Thank you for posting your thoughts, and I can understand your frustration. It is perfectly normal to be skeptical and it is understandable. We all have been there. However, you will probably be quite surprised when I say this: There are still community that are still modding simulation that are even older than SF2, they are Jane's series simulatoin, as wel as IL-2 1946. Jane's Fighter Anthology came out in 1996, and IL-2 1946 came out after 2000 (Please correct me if I am wrong about the year IL-2 was first released). It is true that vast numbers of modders moved on or no longer are in this world. And yet, some of us still come back and start modding the old simulation again because, no matter what age we are, we stil miss the genius designs of these simulations. Now I think about it, I remembered the people saying "It's time to move on, we have to drop the old sims, no one is coming back" with the Jane's series sim and IL-2 1946, and yet they come back to it later on. About BMS and other simulation, regrettably I have to disagree with you due to this reasons: I am not fan of 'study' sim, that requires me tons of hours just to fly one aircraft. I am 'low fidelity" simulation guy that loves semi-realism / semi-complex sim like Jane's series simulation and Thirdwire SF2. There is no another sim like this, therefore I stick with Jane's series sim, IL-2 1946 (With complex engine management turned off), and SF2. If you know another sim that are like SF2 that is moddability and is low fideity, please let me know and I will happily check it out. I forgot to mention, Jane's series sim, Il-2 1946, and SF2 have captions and other features that are user-friendly for my sensory disabiliites. For now there is none after good sim that matches my desires and needs in the sim after searching for long times. The only one I can find that have potient to become like SF2 and that is TCA (Tiny Combat Arena). We will have to see how TCA develops through time. However, the life taught me one thing, life is filled with surprises, just like the community that still mods Jane's Fighter Anthology. My jaw was dropped and I did a small modding with them for sakes of nostaglic. Even though the community here is shrinking, it does not prevent us from having passions for SF2, despite how TK handled the community and his alcking of communication with us. This is why I want ot bring this up and see if anything comes out from it. It does not hurt to at least try. I have the hopes that this community always stay alive from now on to the future. I want to add one more thing, if this ideas do not come out as I hope it would, then I have no regert. It mean I would try again in the future until something greater eventualy appear. Cheers!

I am glad you bought this up, this is what we, combatace modders, intend to do: - Do this in ethical and non-commerical ways, combatace always stand on being free mods. This is why I love combatace, we always share the mods freely. - While we find a way to either ehtically share modified DLL files only or create installer / DLL wrapper that would modify the DLL and have it read an external modder created files, it still honor the most important condition: it requires a legal copy of SF2, therefore honoring the copyright. This is ilke situation with SAS 1946 and another communiteis that goes deep into core of IL-2 1946 engine, they stil require people to have a legal copy of IL-2 1946, in order, to run the mega mod packs such as B.A.T.S as an example. They respect the copyright of IL-2 1946 / properities. Thank you for bring this up, in order, to ensure we do not forget to respect the properities of TK simulation.

I agreed with you! It is like you said, there are huge passions that the communty have poured into SF1 and SF2 for many years and is still modding it to this very day. As I have stated before and will state it again, SF2 deserves to be given another chance of being expanded further with moddability.

That would be interesting, and I would like to add my persepctive here. I lvoe discussing something like this! I would ike your thoguhts on this: I believe it would be great if we could add more features to it while keeping it in the scope of being 'low fidelity' with semi-complex / semi reallism to it. For eample, what I believe is truy needed for SF2: - Gs limiter (FInaly no more going over 10 or even 12= Gs or over -4 Gs, even for AI - More details / depths in air to ground targets radar operation (We need air to ground lockable targets and other features, thhat is as details, if not more detailed than Air to Air radar. However, keep in mind, we do not want to turn this into DCS "Study sim' with millin butotns, BUT we can stay in between where SF2 iis now and add a bit more spices to it. :) - moveable / controlable FLIR / TV in MDF -> this have been very needed for a long time! - no more gunsight / CCIP going beyond glass panel / HUD - More to list

That's right! I love this quote. This is very true especailly in my life experiences when going through many challenges. I always live by thiese quotes "Alwasy have hope", "Never give up", "have faith, even if thing seem not to work out." Thank you for the quote. Cheers!

That is noted. I stil have the hopes in this and that the misunderstanding would be solved. It is understandable that they want to protect the ethical ways of doiing things and this is what we are dong and bring this up in an ethical way. However, thank you for the head up about what can happen. By the way, thank you for the supports in this, SF2 deserve to be given another chance to shine even brighter if we maange to mod the DLLs files, in order to allow us to add more features to it.

I am in the same boat as you are, I am clueless about this. At least, what we can do is share what we see is avaiable for modders to look at. Hopefully modders can get hand on this.

I want to add one more thing, if we are going to start looking into DLL files, we should create seperated theads that discuss about modifying each DLL files, such as avionics60.DLL, avioncis70.DLL, HUD.DLL, and any another DLL related to flighht model (like adding Gs limiters as an example), AI and etc... If we discuss about all DLLs in one thread, it would get quite chaotic.

Agreed wholeheartedly! Just to show what I see from x32dbg (Please note, there are x32dbg and x64dbg, if we want to look into 32 bit software, then we use x32dbg) when opening Avionics60.dll This could be hlepful to the modders when looking at DLL files.

Good morning everyone! I have been looking for information on how to install Jane's USAF big mod package known as Super Pro 9.4 for Windows 10. I have successfully set up Jane's USAF and have it running on Windows 10 with Tcklbrry patch. I have been spending a long time trying to get Super Pro 9.4 working. The links for a fully upgraded Super Pro 9.4 are also unavailable. Many of the websites related to Jane's USAF and Super Pro 9.4 ar also not avaiable anymore. If any of you have the information or the knowledge on how to set up Super Pro 9.4 or have the links to the fully upgraded Super Pro 9.4, please let me know. Thank you very much! Kind regards, Eagle114th

Hello everyone, This is the first time I am writing a letter to the people and the communities that I enjoyed being part of throughout my life. I want to write this before anything may happen to my vision. I went to the eye doctor, and he told me that I have between 10 to 20 years before I might go blind. As you can imagine a big shock for me. I decided to just quickly write a story about my life. That way I can have no regrets. As you can see, what I have is known as Usher Syndrome, which led to the loss of my part vision and deafness. Hence, I am deaf with low vision. I am also legally deafblind since I can’t see well in dark. So many challenges have been achieved throughout my life. When I was a young boy, I had two big dreams; To go to Japan and to be a Navy fighter pilot. Obviously, I could not be a Navy fighter pilot and that is where simulation comes in. Initially, it was found out that I am deaf during baby age, but my vision situation wasn’t found out until very much later in my life at the age of 16. It was a big shock for me. I was even told that I am going blind eventually as soon as I reach adulthood (the 20s to 30s of the age). You can imagine how scared I was, thinking my life was in ruin. My world was turned upside. My father always taught me to dream big, no matter what the situation. I had two choices: To live for my dream and try again or to give up and live in a dark world. I chose the first one and decided to try anyway. This led me to achieved what was considered impossible. There were always challenges to face, without any breaks in between. In the educational world, when I was in an elementary school, they treated me like I wasn’t smart because of my deafness. They refused to give me an equal opportunity of education as other children. Fortunately, the teacher told my parent about it and my parent fought the hardest for my right to have an education like everyone else. When I was transferred to another school, I was the only deaf boy in the entire school. It was a scary world. Decided to give it a try and made a few friends, that was when I started teaching sign language for the first time (At age of 9). Having never given up, I had to re-learn the 4th grade to the previous grade in one year to catch up with everyone and it was achieved. Into the High school, never given up, kept trying on and made it to graduate my high school. During high school, even with my limited vision, I joined the swimming team, a tennis game (Oh my god, I HATE THAT game. It was such pain trying to spot fast-moving balls), slotput / disc throw, and Tae kwon Do. And for my hobby at home, I could never stop flying ancient simulations. It was Jane’s series simulation! Even though I could not be real navy fighter pilot, simulation was perfect for me. I loved learning about various military aircraft and fly them virtually. When I got to university, I go through many challenges again. It was a socializing challenge, as well as learning subjects. What doesn’t help was being burnt out from too many studies and hard work. I gave up from time to time but tried again. I had good and not good teachers. I had many ups and downs. Made many mistakes and learned from them. There were so many things I wanted to do but did not have the courage to do because of busy trying to study and pass classes. Here were the big dreams I wanted to do throughout my life: - Successfully living and working in awesome company in Japan - Marry a wonderful woman - Write the fictional books for simulation or game - Write the stories for manga - Have my own gaming development company - Live a happy life without losing my vision After changing my major from aeronautical engineering to computer science, it has taken me 10 years to finish university. Even though it took me that long to finish, I still achieved getting a degree in computer science. Right after the university, did my best to look for the jobs, and got declined due to my sensory disabilities. Bless my parent, they sent me to Japan as my graduation gift. That was the best gift in my life. Took the opportunity to go to Japan for the first time. It was a challenging and fun journey going through Tokyo alone most of the time. I stayed in an apartment for 2 and half months. I was lucky to be able to figure out how to communicate with the apartment company. For your information, I do not have the ability to speak well. I use body language and gesture to communicate with people who do not know any sign language. My primary sign language is ASL (American Sign Language). Right now, I can read some Japanese (basic) and can hold the communication in JSL (Japanese Sign Language). After 3 months of my stay in Japan and returning to the USA, it feels like I was stuck. Nowhere to go because companies often do not give me an opportunity to work for them, even though I hunted for many jobs. I still was fortunate enough to work for my family’s business which gave me a lot of experience. (My family is awesome! They always have my back!) Then comes the 2nd opportunity for me to go back to Japan for 2 months. After that, I decided I am going to try and make a difference in my experience, despite that I couldn’t get jobs. I never forget that day when I was staying in Japan twice as a tourist. I would always keep that experience inside my mind and heart. Seeing people walking around happily, seeing the tall buildings, and seeing myself being successful there. I vowed to make it happen someday. Fortunately, I bumped into a new friend of mine in America. She gave me an opportunity to work as a volunteer for a non-profit organization. I decided to give it a try. 3 years later, I was contacted by a company in Tokyo with a job offer of teaching ASL. Even though it wasn’t related to gaming development or computer-related jobs, I decided to give it a try because it is what will lead me to the next steps toward successfully living in Japan. I have been teaching sign language since I was 9, so I had enough experience to do my best there. To my surprise, working in Tokyo was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. So many challenges and unexcepted things happening that require me to put a lot of effort into it. Having gone through the sleepless nights, I worked very hard for 2 years straight. Their ways of culture in the work are very different from America for sure! After my contract ended, I was only given 3 months to find a new job before my VISA no longer become valid. Worked very hard looking for the jobs and have gone through various interviews. To my surprise, unlike before, I got a lot of interviews for computer-related jobs! Unfortunately, they told me they found someone else with more experience than me. The closest one I got the job was from an apple company. With the time running out and the unknown of the future, I would still never give up envisioning myself being successful. Thank to my wonderful friend who owns a tavern, they gave me a part-time job as a website developer and interpreter (ASL to JSL). Did my best there and that is when I met a wonderful woman of my life too. With the coronavirus going on, a lot of companies started closing and my journey to find a full-time job in computer-related jobs did not yet happen. After being married to my wonderful woman and moving to Fukushima from Tokyo, continued to do my best with the jobs hunting, got various interviews, and then got declined many times again. With that, decided to try something new. Started doing graphic work as a hobby which led me into creating many things such as menus, short video promotions, and other kinds of graphic works for fun. It made me happy. Then you can guess, it led me into making the mods for SF2. One of them is a new screen/menu for SF2 inspired by Jane’s Fighter Anthology! And at the same time, one of my old dreams is being realized when I started writing a book about the fictional nations (Saad / Zafir) for SF2. That gave me so many joys! Many new skills were developed from it which I believe would be very helpful for the computer-related jobs too! My wife and I made the big goal of moving back to Tokyo someday and then the news hit me a few days ago. The eye doctor told me that I might go blind in 10 to 20 years. That was a huge punch to my stomach, and I felt like the world crumpled around me temporarily and thanks to my wife, she got me pulling myself back together. It wasn’t the first time I experienced this. Back there during my high school time, when I was told that I might go blind by my 20s or 30s, it never happened. I did not believe I would go blind and stayed with the belief I would still be able to preserve my vision. That still happened to this very day. I am going to continue staying with that kind of hope. A miracle can happen. However, as I said, just in case, if anything happens to my vision, I am happy I got this out of my chest and wanted to share with the community and the world about my life challenges. Thank you everyone for my wonderful experiences of simulation and modding. I will continue to work on SFAW mods slowly through time. Have to make to rest my eyes every day too. Cheers