VonS

Well, have now experimented with the data ini for the HD1 - it was missing a TakeOffRotationAngle entry so I plugged that in, reduced the values; also reduced values for OnGroundPitchAngle, for Min and Max Pitch for Altitude; also reduced the value for the PitchForAltitude entry, set the cg to slightly nose forward - and no change, it still likes to ascend vertically and do a couple of loops to impress everyone on the field. This leads me to believe that the problem is too high a value for the Alpha Stall/Max/Depart entries on the airfoil sections (FM stuff) - will reduce those and see if it gets rid of the problem, since those remain untouched from the original unmodified data ini. Happy flying, Von S

Yes Stephen is right, I had written OnGroundPitchAngle but was thinking in my head of the TakeOffRotationAngle value (have now edited my post to read TakeOffRotationAngle) - and yes that is exactly what it controls, pitch as the plane leaves the ground. Tails lifting before the wheels, on some types, is either the result of the TakeOffRotationAngle value or of the CG value located under AircraftData - if the y value of the cg is set forward (a positive value) - the nose usually goes down and the tail up, rather quickly, as the plane is accelerating for takeoff. The CG value can also be manipulated to change your view in the cockpit, although a cleaner way of doing that is to change the seating position in the CockpitSeat entry of the cockpit ini file. Von S

A few other tips to stop the AI from taking off "vertically" if you are having such trouble: Reduce values under the TakeOffRotationAngle entry located under AircraftData in the plane's data ini. Sometimes those values are around 15, reducing them to 10, 11, or 12 works well - this value tells the AI at what position to "sit" while taking off (nose high, tail high, tail level with nose, etc.). Two other values to tinker with are the MaxPitchForAltitude and MinPitchForAltitude ones located under the AIData section of a plane's data ini. Typical values are usually about 20 for MaxPitch and -15 for MinPitch. I usually like to see these numbers around 15 and -10 if a plane likes to behave too much like a helicopter. As indicated previously, a good value for PitchForAltitude is something like 0.0003 (often the default values are much too high, around 0.08, sometimes higher). And if a data ini is missing such values but displaying strange, vertical ascents on take off - simply include the entries listed above (PitchForAltitude also goes under the AIData section). Happy flying, Von S

Recommended "Position" value to use, under CockpitSeat001, in the AEG_G4_Cockpit ini file, if you have Stephen's files for the AEG loaded to make the HP 0/400 flyable, is: Position=0.0,3.0009,0.3014 This gives realistic seating in the HP 0/400, ahead of the engines and wings, and close behind the observer seated in the nose. For the flyable Spad 7 types, I recommend the Spad 7 cockpit ini file located in the IRAS Skin set linked to above - it gives better seating in the cockpit (lower) than the cockpit file and cockpit folder available for the A-Team Spad 7. Happy flying, Von S

Always a good idea to compare the default FE2 inis with some of the third-party ones from CombatAce. The Cat extractor file is excellent! I also recommend the following post (and the ones that follow below it) - it's from a while back but Von Oben and I were discussing some of the particlesys.ini variants, and other effects there: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/88700-fe2-bad-framerates/?do=findComment&comment=724830 Also possible is that there is a mismatch between the individual ini names called up in the Particlesys file. and the ini files stored in the Effects folder, such as AircraftEngineFireEffect, AircraftExplosionEffect, and so on - and then some of the effects don't show up. Von S

Hi Don, The MacOSX folder and .dsstore files can be deleted (that's stuff that OS X automatically creates in each folder - it's not related to FE2). I'm including a zipped version of my particlesys.ini file - try it out, it might fix the gun flash. If you take out the particlesys.ini file from your Flight folder, FE2 then uses the default game settings - so either approach is fine. (The particlesys.ini file controls density of particles for effects, which can improve frame rates if the numbers are lowered, under the ParticleSystem section that is at the top of the file. It also contains settings for colors and density of vehicle fire effects, exhaust emitters, fuel leak colors, artillery fire density and color, and a whole lot of other fire and smoke effects.) FE2 calls up its own embedded values for this file if a "custom" one is not placed into the Flight folder of the FE2 user directory. To make the AI take off more gently, lower the values for the PitchForAltitude setting located under the AIData section of the data inis for planes that have that problem. A good number to use is something like 0.0003 if they pitch up too much on takeoff. I've fixed the number in most data inis but there may be a few plane types that still display the vertical pitch up problem on occasion. Yes the sim is a great one - one of my favorite WW1 sims. Happy flying, Von S

If I remember my Bleriot XI readings correctly, the two-seater variants had an 80hp 7-cylinder engine, and some of the one-seater types had a 50hp, 5-cylinder job - both are of course better powerplants than the original Anzani 3-cyl variant that gave about 25-30hp. Will have to read more into the top speeds of those engined-up Bleriots. Great to see the satellite terrain taking shape! Happy flying, Von S

Was always bothered by some of the oddities of the Nieu. 28 data ini...even though I had tweaked it a couple of times already. Finally I realized where the problem was, today (drag values were too high for the wings in the unmodified sections of the data ini). Also corrected now are stall moment values (with the type dropping tail first, slightly, in a stall, as is correct for such a thin-winged fighter). Most of the data from this post is still relevant: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/90447-fm-numbers-4-fes-nieuport-28/?do=findComment&comment=731547 But it is now much improved in turns...bleeds energy slightly more slowly - tight turns are possible with the sensitive rudder now, but apply opposite aileron (and try not to drop much below about 100-110kph in tight turns). The type also does well in faster turns above about 150kph. If encountering a stall, put the nose down and use rudder to correct. The AI has also been slightly tweaked now to avoid tail "porpoising" because of the new stall moment values that make it slightly "tail heavy." Also, I recommend using about 30% throttle when landing, as with the SPADs - otherwise the type may stall and spin in. Throttle values are also now improved, giving smoother acceleration. (Will roll this into a ver. 9.1 update of the FM pack, but I'm posting it below, already.) Happy flying, Von S Edit: Added the 24bis data ini file too with drag reduction values and proper stall moment characteristics (it had similar problems to the Nieu.28, with high drag values); now it stalls tail first as correct for thin-winged aircraft; also possible now are flat spins in it.

Hi Don, Lack of gun flash and plane sounds means that some of the effects and sounds are missing. I've compiled a long list of helpful links below, taken from the Read Me files in my FM update pack, also from CombatAce - this should be convenient for a quick install of proper mods/effects/sounds if anyone suffers a HD crash and loses lots of FE2 files: My Install Order for Effects (this should bring back the "big" gun flashes...there is a short muzzle flash also available somewhere here in the downloads section, but I can't find the link now) https://combatace.com/forums/topic/88700-fe2-bad-framerates/?do=findComment&comment=716531 Good Skins for the 135hp Fokk. Dr.1 "gaskammer" variant (particularly good are the generic Jasta 15 skins) https://combatace.com/files/file/8994-jasta-15-fokker-dr1-4-pack/ Good Skins for the 150hp Josef Jacobs Dr.1 (or extract Jasta 7 skins from the relevant cat folder in FE2) https://combatace.com/files/file/10081-josef-jacobs-3-pack-dr1s/ Tutorial for Pilot Folder Organization for FE2 https://combatace.com/forums/topic/88951-some-newbie-questions/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-720051 Stephen 1918's Pilots https://combatace.com/files/file/15832-pilots-with-helmets-for-first-eagles/ Stephen 1918's Armed Observers https://combatace.com/files/file/16424-armed-observers-for-first-eagles/ Tweaked Smoke and Balloon Explosion Effects (for better framerates) https://combatace.com/forums/topic/88700-fe2-bad-framerates/?tab=comments#comment-716980 List of My Engine Sound Names and Original Engine Sound Names https://combatace.com/forums/topic/87403-tweaked-flight-models-and-realism-pack-for-fe2/?page=5&tab=comments#comment-727507 Engine Sounds Pack (any sounds not available here, for engines or guns, are located in the relevant folders of my FM update pack, see both ver. 8.9 and 9.0 folders) https://combatace.com/files/file/13385-realistic-engine-sounds/ Green or White Parachute (to be used with aircraft fire or balloon explosion effects, see Effects folder in my ver. 8.9 folder of the FM update pack for the relevant ini files) https://combatace.com/files/file/8008-ejecting-pilots-mod-v10-update/ Albatros Serial Numbers https://combatace.com/files/file/10904-serial-s-for-diii-diiioaw-dv-dva/ Albatros Skin Pack https://combatace.com/files/file/10905-17-pack-of-albatros-models/ Stephen's AEG G.IV Cockpit https://combatace.com/files/file/16589-new-cockpit-for-aeg-giv/ A-Team Website (HP 0/400, Gothas, etc. are located there, also the SPAD 7 cockpit folder and cockpit ini file) http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/ Flyable SPAD 7 Skins (contains a cockpit.ini file that makes the types flyable using the SPAD 13 cockpit, use the A-Team cockpit if you prefer a sparse SPAD 7 version; I recommend the cockpit.ini available in the skins folder instead of the A-Team cockpit, since it sits better and gives a more realistic view from the SPAD 7) https://combatace.com/files/file/13215-flyable-spad-7-iras-skin-set/ (I have my cockpit.ini files and data.inis in the relevant plane folders, not in the "Objects" folder by the way.) Happy flying, Von S

It would be lovely if random engine failure could be modelled on some of the geared engines such as the lower-hp Hissos, also for earlier variants of the SE5a (should models for an SE5 pop up eventually in FE2). Have studied the engine section of the data inis very carefully over the last couple of days, experimenting with manifold pressure values, also oil pressure numbers, etc., including introduction of WEP values and separate delta number lists for WEP power values (as on many of the WW2 data inis available for StrikeFighters2) - and there are no changes. It's likely that FE2 does not recognize WEP entry calls (I realize that WEP was not available in WW1 but wanted to try "behind the scenes tricks" to see if this would give random engine damage...so far no results but will keep trying with other things...although I am very happy with the current state of things in FE2 when it's modded up). Also have tried negative numbers under the BaseWindSection of the environsys.ini file, to test for evidence of turbulence (so far not possible...only implemented are horizontal winds...although there is some vertical "rumble"/buffeting in aircraft when they are close to stalling). Also tested arbitrary entries such as "BaseVerticalWindSection" and "BaseTurbulenceSection," but none of this "connects" with the game engine - I will try tweaking the "StallModel" entry in the aircraftobject.ini to see if more consistent buffeting can be exploited across aircraft types - this might help to create the illusion of turbulence in game. Beautiful work on that Nieup. 28 Geezer! I see that we have a whole factory of WW1 types now up and running. Happy flying, Von S

Hi Don, Ground objects go into the "user/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Objects/GroundObject" directory. Gun flashes and most other effects should go into the ""user/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Effects" directory. My FM and Realism Pack largely contains modified data ini files for the different plane types; most of those should install into the relevant folders of the ""user/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Objects/Aircraft" directory. Other files located in my FM pack are organized by relevant folder name, such as "ForObjectsFolder," "ForSoundsFolder," etc. - files in such folders should go into the Objects folder, the Sounds folder, etc., of the "user/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2" directory. I recommend that if you want to get the full benefit of the FM and Realism pack, once you get a clean (stock) user directory for FE2 set up - make four copies of the "user/Thirdwire" directory, and then mod up your Aircraft folder of each of those directories with the data inis from my four aircraft folders, such as "Aircraft_EastFront," "Aircraft_MidEastFront," etc. - this will give you four modded theaters in the end (four modded user directories) that give you the ability to fly on four fronts. All you need to do then is rename the user directory you want to "fly" as "ThirdWire," place in your "user/" directory, and you're good to go - easily switching out between theatres when you feel like it. The process is a bit of a pain to go through but once modded up gives you one of the best WW1 flight sims on the market, and more than 190 plane types. I also recommend making a back up of all modded user folders to a DVD, and maybe on an external HD too, for extra security in case of technology failure. Happy flying, Von S

Hi Jeanba, The Spads are now somewhat slippery, on ground and in the air, as historical. For the Spad 7 types, especially the 180hp and the rare 220hp variant, two variants work well for smooth take offs: 1. push stick full forward, increase throttle to about 45%, and wait for the tail to come up and the speed to exceed about 70kph; then you can go to full throttle (when the tail comes up, be ready to apply right rudder since the pull of the prop and the low alpha number, thin wings tend to swing the plane to the left); same advice applies to the 150hp variant, but it is most effective on the 220hp variant, and the 180hp one 2. the other alternative is to push stick full forward, go full throttle right away, but be ready to kick the rudder to the right and also to do a bit of "dancing" with the rudder (not too much) until the plane straightens out All of the Spad 7 types take off best around 120kph (any slower and they tend to flop about). The Spad 12 and 235hp variant of the Spad 13 take off best around 130kph. The Spad 13 types are slightly easier to take off than the type 7 (since overall better distribution of weight and larger rudder/elevator surface area). The worst one to take off is the Spad 12 (a real nightmare as was probably historical). Even the original, unmodified FM for the Spad 12 was difficult to take off, especially now with more correct numbers for the thin wings. All the single-seater Spads now tend to stall with the tail dropping first, especially the type 12. To take off in the Spad 12: 1. push stick full forward, and throttle to full 2. get ready to apply right rudder at about 50 kph ("anticipating" its spin to the left that comes at around 52kph) 3. once the plane starts to correct itself, to the right, get ready to "dance" with the rudder for the next 20 seconds or so , since it will now require left rudder then right rudder again, etc. 4. small or quick movements of rudder, left and right, will be necessary to get the plane into its best "groove" (for lack of a better term) - to let its engine inertia loose in a straight line - the nose will then start to rise so that you can see the horizon once you pass about 90kph - this is where you want to go with the speed - then it is easy to straighten out, accelerate to about 130kph, and climb gently (the type tends to stall below about 115kph when climbing...so be careful with the speed) 5. The type 12 is the most "misbehaved" of the types - no wonder it only went to the best pilots Also, when looping in the Spads, be gentle on the back elevator at the top of the loop (so as not to skid out of the loop), and try to maintain at least about 90kph when at the top of the loop. Happy flying, Von S

Geezer you are always full of surprises! Not only do I see chiaroscuro in that black and white image, but a Vickers installed on the Bullet - maybe a Morane Type I (or V) is in the bag for the distant or not so distant future.... I will load up some other theaters like the Eastern front and Italy, and see if I can reduplicate some of these new cloud effects. Happy flying, Von S

Stimulating thoughts gents' - have now checked a previous post and indeed "TOD objects are non-collidable and there is nothing" Mue can do about it, as he wrote there: Didn't notice those posts until now since they're under the SF2 section. Happy flying, Von S

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, and a good idea for extra "atmosphere" in the sim. I remember a few yrs. ago that Stephen implemented some random explosion effects across no man's land - some of those experiments were carried over into the Italian map if I'm not mistaken, and random explosions can be seen when flying across some sectors of the Italian-Austrian front for example, as if a battle is going on in the trenches. I'll have to re-fly the Italian map one of these days since it's been a while - I'm still stuck in late 1917 as a German pilot in the Palestinian theater, but hope to finish soon with missions there and load up a different map, maybe Italy or the Eastern front for a change. What I'd like to find out is a way to make the trees "solid" in FE2 - similar to how they work in RB3D. Many of the custom airfield objects, such as hangars for example, definitely feel solid when you crash into them and burn, if clumsy while taxiing around the field. Airfield towers, guns, ships, etc., are all solid. Only the trees and observation balloons, and Zeppelins perhaps (will have to double-check those) are hollow. Von S

It's a great sim - the dogfight action is really seat-of-the-pants stuff, especially with all the mods installed. Von S

Been tweaking the environsys file a bit more today as a short break from the FMs, particularly the section called [HighAlt] - and I'm now seeing results that I've never seen before in FE2, in terms of mixture of clouds, breaks in the weather, lovely plays of color and shadow, also in terms of depth of the sky (will roll this into a ver. 9.1 update of the FM pack eventually). Managed to almost get rid of the very thin band of darker blue (present in the pics above in my previous post) that separate the high altitude sky from mid-altitude and from the horizon, by putting in the same color values for the high alt sky, high alt horizon color, and high alt fog color that are used for the [Day1] entry that is for afternoon/late afternoon sky settings anyway. A slightly crisper blue emerges this way for the high altitude sky, and further reduces evidence of that thin darker blue belt that seems to sit at around 40,000 to 50,000 feet. Also interesting is that an increase in the values for the HighAltColorStart and ColorEnd entries seems further to help with this, but also seems to "position" distant clouds in a more realistic way in relation to clouds in the foreground - will test this further but these obscure entries are already producing new results on my rig. I'm now getting an obvious "sfumato" effect (fine shading and haze pioneered by Da Vinci) with cloud contrasts and breaks in the weather - particularly evident in the pics where I'm flying around the Suez canal in my trusty Alb. D.3. Happy flying, Von S

Hi Jackson, the .dll of the particlesystem ini is a part of the game itself, as I can see from the folder structure "c/firsteagles/system" - then it's likely the case, as in my post above, that FE/FEgold does not create a user folder under "c/users/documents/thirdwire/firsteagles" as is present in FE2. While this does complicate tweaking somewhat, toggling of the settings in the game menu itself should help to increase framerates (the main culprits are usually shadows set too high, and the horizon set to medium or far). Keep us posted, hopefully some of these tips will help. Von S

Hi Jackson, Wrench is right - nothing beats a dedicated video card. Having said that, if you want to tinker to get the most out of your integrated card, try setting shadows to "low" in your FE menu, also the horizon should be set to "near." Other things to do...dig into the general ini file for your different plane types (not the data ini files), and set shadows to "False" - also, dig into your user folder for FE and open the options.ini file, scroll to the setting for antialiasing, and set that either to 0 or 2 (higher values slow down frame rates). Also worth tinkering with is the particlesystem.ini file, located in the Flight folder of your user directory for FE. Reducing particle sizes helps to keep integrated cards from slowing down too much. As well, check over the following posts: While those posts are for FE2, much of the advice may apply to FE/FEgold. Von S P.S. FE2 makes a user directory separate from the actual sim folder (I'm assuming that FE/FEgold does something similar...if not, disregard my comments about "user folder" or "user directory" in this post - what I've said about the individual files should still be relevant). Also, you might want to max. out the RAM on your computer if possible - the more system RAM you have, the more your integrated video card can use.

Thank you gents'! What a pleasant surprise - it's always a pleasure to work on FE2. Lots more FM tweaks to other plane types coming up and will also continue testing the possibility of including vertical winds or turbulence into the sim, also negative G effects on the engines. FE2 is a great sim and very mod-friendly! Happy flying, Von S

Hi Stephen, Have you tried toggling the horizon cloud, fog enabled entry to "False" in the environsys file for the Panama Red clouds? It's worth a shot...might get rid of that purple banding effect. I haven't noticed such banding running Stary's "Sarcasm v. 1.3" clouds, with horizon fog enabled on or off - perhaps experimenting with different environsys variables, and cloud types, will help. Von S

Thought I'd mention that for the Dux, Mann-Egerton, and 220hp SPAD 7, you should either extract skins for them from the relevant CAT folder in FE2 (no. 3 I think is the one to look for), or download a SPAD skin from CombatAce (otherwise you'll get an albino plane). I like the Russ. Air Service skins since they can be used with any insignia; also great is WhiteKnight's grey skin for the SPAD 7; stock skins work good too: NOTE: In the Russ. skin package for the SPAD 7 is a cockpit. ini file that will make the SPAD 7 types flyable in FE2 without having to download the A-Team SPAD 7 and transplanting its cockpit folder and cockpit.ini file into the stock FE2 SPAD 7 folders - only noticed this now, but very convenient (although this simpler trick gives you the SPAD 13 cockpit, the A-Team one looking slightly more sparse as was probably typical of the SPAD 7). Von S

Hello Jeanba, I think the file is still waiting approval from the administrators. Hopefully it will be available soon. Happy flying, Von S

Nov. 1, 2017 Update: Several planes added, such as the Gothas, the HP 0/400 (now player-flown), also player-flown SPAD 7 types, including by Dux for the Eastern front and Mann-Egerton built ones for the British in Mesopotamia and the Western front; also included is correct over-compression of the engines on the Viper-powered Se5a, the Ansaldo SVA.5, the 235hp variant of the SPAD 13, as well as the previously tweaked over-compression on the Alb. D.Va (200hp), Fokk. D.VIIf, AEG. G.IV, and the Pfalz Dr.1 (the Gothas III, IV, and V also feature subtle over-compression); also added are further tweaks to ailerons/elevators/rudders across the SPAD single-seater line, a couple of new engine sounds, larger sun size in the environsys files across the weather/wind types, and a simplified installation process with all previous versions being updated to 8.9 in a large, "consolidated" folder, and the ver. 9.0 tweaks featured in a separate folder. As always, please consult the included "Read Me" file for more thorough installation info., and more details about the FM tweaks. Happy flying!, Von S