VonS

June 15, 2018 Update: Several planes and airships added, including the mid-war Schütte-Lanz types 6 to 11, Zeppelin Q class and British R.23 type airship (all player-flown), the Spad A.2 110hp and "retrofitted" 80hp variants, the Lebed 7 (unlicensed Tabloid copy), an obscure, lower-compression 210-220hp variant of the Spad 7 possibly flown by Rudolf Windisch, a very rare Nieuport 16 for the eastern front (possibly DUX-built), lower-flying Zepps and R.23 type airships for the GroundObjects folder, new fire, explosion, and gun fire and smoke effects, reworked snow and rain effects by Stary, high- and low-variant cloud effects, new ambient sounds (more subtle), and other tweaks as explained in the included "Read Me" file. Please look over that file, and the included pic. of the ver. 9.5 FM updates, for more info. regarding what's new. Happy flying, Von S

The R.11 from what I'm aware was capable of doing a modern Immelmann, although sources are confusing on what an Immelmann is too (old-style chandelle, pirouette? or was the Immelmann always the same maneuver, as Dan-San Abbott suggested on the Aerodrome forums...). The R.11 has powerful engines, historically, so should be capable of such stunts if done gracefully I suppose. To minimize wild maneuvers from the AI in the R.11, try the following tweaks (haven't tested this yet but will get around to it eventually...still busy with the ver. 9.5 FM update pack). ------------------- R11 Caudron AI Tweak [AIData] -----> change values in two lines below as follows MaxRollCombat=15.0 MaxPitchCombat=25.0 -----> replace dogfight skill level entries with ones below [DogfightNovice] SafeAltitude=160 LookoutAngle=90 DefensiveAngle=60 ChanceDefensiveTurn=0 ChanceBreakTurn=10 ChanceHardTurn=10 ChanceTurnDirection=10 ChanceContinue=80 ChanceCheckNewTarget=5 ChanceUseVertical=5 FightWithoutAmmo=0 CannonFireAngle=20.0 MaxPitchInput=0.75 MaxCannonRange=500 OptimalCannonRange=80 MinCannonRange=50 MaxRollForGunAttack=45 CannonBurstLengthShort=2.5 CannonBurstLengthLong=2.5 MaxRudderForGunAttack=0.5 MaxRudderForManeuver=0.7 [DogfightGreen] SafeAltitude=140 LookoutAngle=120 DefensiveAngle=90 ChanceDefensiveTurn=15 ChanceBreakTurn=20 ChanceHardTurn=20 ChanceTurnDirection=20 ChanceContinue=70 ChanceCheckNewTarget=10 ChanceUseVertical=10 FightWithoutAmmo=0 CannonFireAngle=20.0 MaxPitchInput=0.75 MaxCannonRange=500 OptimalCannonRange=80 MinCannonRange=50 MaxRollForGunAttack=60 CannonBurstLengthShort=2.0 CannonBurstLengthLong=2.0 MaxRudderForGunAttack=0.8 MaxRudderForManeuver=0.9 [DogfightRegular] SafeAltitude=120 LookoutAngle=150 DefensiveAngle=90 ChanceDefensiveTurn=35 ChanceBreakTurn=30 ChanceHardTurn=30 ChanceTurnDirection=40 ChanceContinue=50 ChanceCheckNewTarget=20 ChanceUseVertical=20 FightWithoutAmmo=0 CannonFireAngle=12.0 MaxPitchInput=0.8 MaxCannonRange=500 OptimalCannonRange=70 MinCannonRange=30 MaxRollForGunAttack=75 CannonBurstLengthShort=0.75 CannonBurstLengthLong=1.0 MaxRudderForGunAttack=1.0 MaxRudderForManeuver=1.0 [DogfightVeteran] SafeAltitude=100 LookoutAngle=150 DefensiveAngle=120 ChanceDefensiveTurn=55 ChanceBreakTurn=30 ChanceHardTurn=30 ChanceTurnDirection=30 ChanceContinue=50 ChanceCheckNewTarget=30 ChanceUseVertical=40 FightWithoutAmmo=0 CannonFireAngle=12.0 MaxPitchInput=0.85 MaxCannonRange=500 OptimalCannonRange=70 MinCannonRange=30 MaxRollForGunAttack=90 CannonBurstLengthShort=0.75 CannonBurstLengthLong=1.0 MaxRudderForGunAttack=1.0 MaxRudderForManeuver=2.0 [DogfightAce] SafeAltitude=100 LookoutAngle=150 DefensiveAngle=120 ChanceDefensiveTurn=65 ChanceBreakTurn=50 ChanceHardTurn=50 ChanceTurnDirection=50 ChanceContinue=25 ChanceCheckNewTarget=40 ChanceUseVertical=50 FightWithoutAmmo=1 CannonFireAngle=12.0 MaxPitchInput=0.85 MaxCannonRange=500 OptimalCannonRange=70 MinCannonRange=30 MaxRollForGunAttack=90 CannonBurstLengthShort=0.75 CannonBurstLengthLong=1.0 MaxRudderForGunAttack=1.0 MaxRudderForManeuver=2.0 ------------------- Von S

Enjoying the technical posts gents': from what I could find, Alkan-Hamy, and then later Birkigt gears on occasion, were used on license-built aircraft in Russia too (as with DUX manufactured types). Experiments were done as early as 1915 by Dibovsky, also Lavrov, with interrupter gears - but apart from the Sikorsky S-16, I don't know if these early experiments were in use...Dibovsky, with Scarff, later developed the interrupter gear used on several Sopwith Strutters and some early Sopwith Pups (see pic. below). Scarff is best know for the Scarff ring moveable gun-mount for observers. Happy flying, Von S

Speaking of somewhat creative skins...here's another that I will include with the ver. 9.5 FM update pack...to go with a separate data ini for an early/obscure variant of the Spad 7 200-220hp that I've been tinkering with...Rudolf Windisch acquired a captured Spad 7 sometime in Jan. 1918 that he flew occasionally (180hp or higher? no data I could find)...Windisch "disappeared" after being shot down in late May 1918 on the French side of the lines. Those with skinning talents will perhaps create an accurate dragon to put on the sides of the fuselage...I've used Stephen's decals, and others, to improvise. The Hisso 8 sub-variants 8Ad to 8Be range from 210 to 220hp output, the 180hp variant is listed as 8Ab and possibly 8Ac...this gives some room to speculate on what Windisch acquired in early 1918, considering the variety of Hisso variants in use...the Germans did fly some captured Spad 7 types as early as April of 1917...those would have been likely of 180hp...perhaps 150hp only. Von S

Hello Crawford, that was my attempt at a mottled gray-green color...perhaps a factory paint-job gone wrong - while I like to be accurate with the FMs, sometimes I get creative with the skins (color filters, etc.) but within reasonable limits - no pink or neon green aircraft. Regarding the Dux Nieups., the sources I went with were these four...not the best ones probably but they do give me room to include obscure types such as the 16 Dux...although it's possible that the sources confuse the Dux-built Nieu. 11 (that has a headrest) with western-built Nieu. 16 types. Flyingmachines.ru, Historyofwar.org, Aerodrome.com, Wikipedia Nieu. 11 article... Happy flying, Von S

Beautiful pics. of the Pfalz D.VIII - also interesting is the four-bladed prop made by putting two two-bladed ones together. A couple of other pics. below - featuring a one-piece four-bladed prop, and a 160hp Siemens-Halske variant with a nose similar to the Siemens-Schuckert. Von S

Some more stats. for those enjoying Geezer's Pfalz D.8 WIP and its FM: A lovely aircraft to fly, takes off well at around 100 kph, stall speed is around the low 70s kph. Top speed near sea level is about 193/4 kph, the climb rate in the 120s and 130s kph to about 3000m alt is excellent - about 5-6 m/s. Avoid tight turns if slower than about 150kph however since she tends to slip out of a turn with the thin wings. Loops are easier than on the Pfalz D.3 (tighter loops possible), but be gentle on back stick anyway. Modern Immelmann's are easy to do on the type (the engine has more than enough power). Overall a more pleasant and powerful plane to fly than the Pfalz D.3/3a line, similar to the Triplane variant but not as quirky and with a slightly slower climb rate. Slightly tougher to break than the Pfalz Triplane also...can do about 5.5 Gs as historical for these later war German types. Also, an excellent diver; I managed to get her up to about 450kph in a dive - as long as you exit the dive fairly gently you won't lose any pieces. Ceiling is about 6000m on the type; the uncompressed Siemens-Halske has about 210hp max output (historically) at full throttle but even half throttle is significant, giving out around 130-150hp I'd say. I doubt the D.8 (Pfalz) was used on the front any earlier than about Sept. of 1918 (I think a total of about 40 were made before the armistice) - so it should be set to rare or very_rare. Note: the D.8 had several different power-plants installed, ranging from about 145hp to 200/210hp...this explains the different top speeds available for it all over the internet, from as low as the low 180s kph to about 190kph for the 160hp variant, etc. I've gone with an engined-up (uncompressed) variant for this particular FM. Von S

For those testing out Geezer's lovely WIP models for the Caudron R.11, also the Pfalz D.IIIa (not the D.III) - included below are the latest FM tweaks. The R.11 has a top speed of about 191kph near sea level - is fairly maneuverable too and can perform a modern Immelmann. Also included are some cockpit seating tweaks for the R.11. The D.IIIa file is not interchangeable with the Pfalz D.III (that download, in this thread, already contains the latest FM - the D.IIIa download is under the screenshots thread). Von S Edit: R.11 data ini has been removed, replaced with newer version posted below in this thread. Also removed is the Pfalz D.IIIa file. Please see the all-in-one download in this series of posts.

Welcome back to FE/FE2, one of the best WWI sims around...from what I'm aware, the Tuma files should work fine in FE2 as well. I think that several FE2 flyers have been able to install it - the other terrains too, especially the Vosges and Italian maps by Gterl, are also worth checking out, as are the Eastern front and Middle eastern terrains by Stephen. One peculiarity I've noticed with the Tuma terrains is that, while I'm able to download them, the compressed archive can't open and is listed as corrupt (perhaps this is only unique to my Mac) - but definitely give it a shot, should work fine in all versions of First Eagles. Von S

Been busy transforming the data ini for the ancient L.63 (from 2006) that's under the Central Power "other" downloads section into a Schütte-Lanz airship representative of models 6 to 11 (mid-war SL types)...the 3d model by Hitchinbrooke has a cigar-shape so should work well for this...bit more to tinker with the FM but will include this with the ver. 9.5 FM pack too. Couple of screenies below (will include the skins as well..the SL types had wooden construction and wire cross-bracing until 1918 when they shifted to metal...Zepps on the other hand always used metal frames). Happy flying, Von S

For those who have downloaded Geezer's lovely Pfalz D.III WIP (also the D.IIIa on the Screenshots thread)...the info. below might come in handy as you fly these Pfalzes and learn their peculiarities. Von S Tips: - watch tight turns that drop below about 110kph (might drop into a spin...using rudder in the direction of the tight turn might drop you into a spin even if you're as high as 120-130kph) - take offs are best around 115-120kph in both variants; use gentle movements of elevator - loops are peculiar in the type with lots of coordination needed: in the D.3 get up to about 220-250kph in a dive before attempting a loop, be moderate on the back stick and then ease up towards the top of the loop and try to go over the top at no less than about 90-100kph...otherwise you will slip out of the loop at the top; for the D.3a with its 180 horses, it's good enough to get to about 200kph in a gentle dive before attempting a loop...same rules apply....be coordinated and gentle, otherwise you'll fall out of the loop literally - try using opposite rudder to do a combo sideslip/tighter turn in the types....can be maintained for about 10-20 seconds before requiring that you level out - she lands nicely but watch your engine management on takeoffs, also the tail skid; digging roughly into the dirt with the skid can sometimes spin you out on the ground, causing a crash, especially if you're above 50-60kph - top speed on the D.III near sea level is about 170kph, top speed on the III.a is about 181kph (as historical) - the III.a is slightly easier to handle in tight maneuvers (bigger elevator surface and more rounded contours to the edges of the bottom wings)

A couple of simple color filter experiments for the Zepps too...will include these and the greenish skin posted above once I finish with these files. Von S

Yes, the R23's FM has been tweaked, as well as the L32. If there are any other rigid and semi-rigid airships available for FE2 on CombatAce I will definitely get to them eventually (I'm only aware of Stephen1918's R23 and L32 pack....if there are any more that I've missed, I will look into them over the next couple of months.) Obligatory screenies below. Von S

I'm hoping for a release date in late May/early June...most of the atmospherics tweaks are done, also successful reduction of aircraft congestion for early war theaters. Still tweaking the fire effects and hope to do another two or three FM modifications to some types I didn't get to so far...more obligatory screenies below, including the rare Nieuport 16 DUX. Might even release the update sooner and will leave the FM tweaks for other types for a ver. 9.6 of the pack. The atmospherics tweaks now work with SF2 also, but will release those separately as a smaller pack. Von S

FMs now tweaked for the flyable airships R23 and Zepp L32, will include them with a ver. 9.5 of the FM update pack. They float nicely now but rough maneuvers should be avoided, otherwise structural damage is possible. They float and descend more gradually now with power off, and can also take damage from flak more easily. Some pics below of a Camel attack and mishap on a Zepp, also the results of an airship duel. Also included a couple of pics. from the May 1915 edition of 'Flight Magazine'...those early Zepps are likely the LZ 29 types (or earlier) but noticeable is that they were more susceptible to attack and damage than initially assumed - at least the earlier variants. The Q and P variants don't show up until 1916 - the ones we have for FE2 are likely based on those slightly later ones. Have tweaked specs. to historical as much as possible...detailed info. will follow in the latest update pack. Von S

If you'd like to increase the chances of fire progressing, tweak the following settings in the aircraftobject.ini file (located in the Objects folder): [ObjectFire] FireCheckTime=20.0 APRoundFireChance=70 HERoundFireChance=40 HERoundExplosionChance=0 ExplosionChance=0 SuppressionChance=30 <---------- reduce this to something like 15, for a smaller chance of fire going out ProgressionChance=60 <---------- increase this to about 80, will guarantee fire progression most of the time (don't have the original values in front of me now but I settled on 30/60 for randomness) Happy flying, Von S

Some further pics. of the latest smoke/fire tweaks...this time attacking an AEG G.IV with a late-variant Tripe...takes a while but eventually it lights up (used up all of my ammo. on it - the left engine fire went out, then I worked on the right engine, with more success...wonderful randomness in FE2). Von S

As far as I'm aware, ultimate/unlimited settings will tax a processor more but won't give any (very) noticeable visual improvement over "high" settings. If you are using my tweaked flightengine ini file that gives wider horizon views, and less tree popping, there will be even less difference between high and unlimited settings. Another thing to keep in mind, if I remember correctly from some posts I read here a year or two ago, is that unlimited settings might sometimes (rarely?) result in graphical anomalies. So, medium settings are best for mid-range and low-range rigs, and high settings (with a tweaked flightengine file) should be fine for all high-end rigs. If anyone has more details on the unlimited settings, I'm sure they'll pitch in. Glad you're enjoying the modded FE2 - it's become my go-to WWI flight sim with all the mods installed. Happy flying gents', Von S

The following entries should be tweaked in the environmentsystem.ini file to get sky colors you like Geezer - this of course also depends a lot on the gamma/color settings chosen for a monitor (I tend to run mine slightly darker...around 2.2 for gamma). [Day] SunHeight=0.240 SunBrightness=1.00 SunLightLevel=0.99 SunRadiance=0.00 TwilightLensFlare=0.0 SunColor=0.680,0.694,0.641 AmbientColor=0.340,0.340,0.375 SkyColor=0.200,0.506,0.804 <---------- tweak to suit preference, this is for skies around noon, early afternoon HorizonColor=0.839,0.89,0.945 FogColor=0.839,0.89,0.945 SunSpecularColor=0.810,0.762,0.740 HDRSunColor=1.000,1.000,1.000 LightSrcModifier=1.0 [Day1] SunHeight=0.150 SunBrightness=1.00 SunLightLevel=0.95 SunRadiance=0.00 TwilightLensFlare=0.0 SunColor=0.555,0.560,0.538 AmbientColor=0.330,0.330,0.365 SkyColor=0.216,0.447,0.745 <---------- tweak to preference, this one is for late afternoon skies HorizonColor=0.839,0.89,0.945 FogColor=0.839,0.89,0.945 SunSpecularColor=0.810,0.762,0.740 HDRSunColor=1.000,1.000,0.900 LightSrcModifier=1.1 [Twilight1] SunHeight=0.008 SunBrightness=0.20 SunLightLevel=0.80 SunRadiance=0.10 TwilightLensFlare=1.0 SunColor=0.980,0.490,0.220 AmbientColor=0.201,0.201,0.214 SkyColor=0.408,0.455,0.490 <---------- tweak to preference, this is for very late afternoon skies HorizonColor=0.422,0.218,0.084 FogColor=0.422,0.218,0.084 SunSpecularColor=0.980,0.490,0.220 HDRSunColor=1.000,0.500,0.250 LightSrcModifier=2.5 [Twilight2] SunHeight=-0.080 SunBrightness=0.00 SunLightLevel=0.35 SunRadiance=0.10 TwilightLensFlare=0.0 SunColor=0.436,0.363,0.170 AmbientColor=0.146,0.156,0.185 SkyColor=0.278,0.282,0.353 <---------- tweak to preference, this is for early evening skies HorizonColor=0.220,0.150,0.200 FogColor=0.220,0.150,0.200 SunSpecularColor=0.436,0.363,0.170 HDRSunColor=0.436,0.363,0.170 LightSrcModifier=4.0 [Night] SunHeight=-0.170 SunBrightness=0.00 SunLightLevel=0.00 SunRadiance=0.0 TwilightLensFlare=0.0 SunColor=0.0000,0.000,0.000 AmbientColor=0.05,0.05,0.05 SkyColor=0.001,0.001,0.001 <---------- for night sky, tweak to preference HorizonColor=0.001,0.001,0.001 FogColor=0.001,0.001,0.001 SunSpecularColor=0.0000,0.000,0.000 HDRSunColor=0.0000,0.000,0.000 LightSrcModifier=4.0 Settings above are the ones I use in my environsys ini files. Below is the highalt sky section - I tweaked this section more to get slightly bluer, less purple high-alt skies. [HighAlt] HighAltColorStart=25000.0 <---------- this is in meters //previously 9500.0 HighAltColorEnd=80000.0 <---------- in meters again //previously 25000.0 HighAltSkyColor=0.162,0.380,0.564 <---------- tweak to preference for high-alt sky HighAltHorizonColor=0.439,0.59,0.745 <---------- tweak to preference, sets the high-band horizon panel colors //r value at 0.639 previously for more purple HighAltFogColor=0.509,0.60,0.805 <---------- self-expanatory, sets color of horizon fog at higher alts and when viewed from higher alts, tweak to taste //r value at 0.709 previously for more purple SunLightModifier=1.1 AmbientModifier=0.1 SpecularModifier=1.25 Again, settings above are the latest ones that I use, should work well for monitors using a gamma from about 1.9 to 2.2 (I tend to avoid the default gamma of 1.7-1.8 that's typical on Mac systems....too bright for my tastes, especially for simulators, photos, etc.). If you're running FE2 on Windows, your gamma is probably closer to the 1.9-2.0 range anyway. Obligatory screenies below. Von S

Had a nice early morning offensive patrol today, set to April of 1918, in the middle-east theater, with the latest atmospheric tweaks and smoke effects in use. Also tweaked is the missioncontrol.ini file now, and it's been giving me much smaller numbers of aircraft overall in the skies, in single missions (as realistic for some of these obscure WW1 theaters) - will roll those tweaks into a ver. 9.5 of the FM update pack as well. Happy flying, Von S

A few more shots of variations now available with the latest fire/smoke tweaks, and for balloon explosions...will package all of this with a ver. 9.5 FM update pack eventually. Happy flying, Von S

Should work fine, I run several of the older aircraft made for FE/FEgold in FE2 without any problems, as Geezer indicated. Main thing is to double-check your decals.ini file located in the skin folder of an aircraft's folder (might require some tinkering with file pathways in the decals.ini file for decals to show up properly, but otherwise there haven't been any problems from what I've been able to see on my rig). Good luck with getting FE2 up and running - you'll find it a great improvement over RB3D. Von S