VonS

This is great stuff Geezer, thanks for posting. I remember reading somewhere that the Germans continued using cloth belts well into 1918 but had ironed out some problems with the system, while the Entente was running away from the cloth belts because of all the problems. Maybe the Germans were trying to save weight on the planes by continuing with cloth instead of going with steel belts? An interesting theory that I'll think about for the 8.0 update of the FMs...maybe something along the lines of greater frequency of gun jams, and longer wait times to unjam would approximate these problems in FE2, especially with earlier planes. More jams with cloth fed ammo, fewer jams with the steel belts...but also to have shorter jams with steel fed ammo later in the war. I'll think about this in terms of smaller ammo loads and also the version of gun being used on the plane types (Vickers 1, 1.1, 2) since the rate of fire becomes faster later on....this will make it more exciting overall, with greater realism. Coupled with arbitrary engine failure, it looks very promising. Happy flying, Von S

Try tinkering with these settings located under the "Engine" section of the aircraft data inis: GasTempChangeRate=0.1 OverheatTemp=100 DamageTempDelta=20 OverheatDamageRate= I haven't dug into those yet but they look promising...increasing the overheatdamagerate, maybe also lowering the overheattemp slightly, and increasing the gastempchangerate might do the trick. Try something like this for starters, to see if there's a difference: GasTempChangeRate=0.2 OverheatTemp=80 DamageTempDelta=20 OverheatDamageRate=30 I will experiment with this too - interesting find. ReLoad for RB3D has random engine failure settings, it sure would be nice to get an effect like that into FE2. Von S

This is all very fascinating information, hadn't thought about the synchronization improvements too much but it makes sense that the rate of fire would increase by the second half of 1917 approximately, this will help further with ammo depletion and make FE2 more realistic. Have now tested the general aircraftaidata ini file further, with one-on-one dogfights with a DH.2 and Fokker E.IIa (comparable opponents) - and noticed that aces now shoot only when very near, sometimes being too conservative to shoot unless very close. Will readjust the maxcannonrange values a bit for more realism - perhaps something like 600 or 800 for the novices, 400 for the regular pilots, and 300 and 250 for veterans and aces - this will probably result in more variety and quicker ammo depletion (150 and 200 seem a bit too short from what I've tested, although I will admit that historically aces would open up only when right on your tail...although René Fonck is rumored to have been accurate even when shooting from a distance). Will post back with further results. On an unrelated note, it dawned on me that it's more realistic to have separate aircraft folders for Belgian Nieuport 16 and 17s, and have them co-exist in the Western theatre with French Nieuports, also to have a separate folder for an RFC Nieuport 17 than only one folder where you have to switch nations in the game's menu. This will provide for more historical realism. Also, I will add a Belgian Hanriot to the Western theatre but designate it as VERY_RARE so that it shows up less than other aircraft types in that theatre. The Italian theatre has had a Hanriot for a long time already. This will all be included in a 7.9 maintenance update. I will leave machine gun rate of fire, also gun belt lengths, for further testing, to be incorporated in an 8.0 update that will feature another 7 or 8 important aircraft for the Western theatre, as listed below: Beardmore or French-built Nieuport 12 BE.12 Hannover CL.II Hannover CL.III Albatros C.III Avro 504C Farman F40 Vickers FB5 I may leave these aircraft for a 9.0 update and focus on revising gun belt lengths and rate of fire advancements in an 8.0 update (I think this may be more beneficial, to increase realism further). Happy flying, Von S

Hi Nick, thanks for the detailed comments as always. Here's what I have currently added to the aircraftaidata ini file (that's missing from the version 3 upload of that file). novice CannonFireAngle=8.0 MaxCannonRange=300 MinCannonRange=50 CannonBurstLength=7 green CannonFireAngle=6.0 MaxCannonRange=300 MinCannonRange=50 CannonBurstLength=7 regular CannonFireAngle=5.0 MaxCannonRange=200 MinCannonRange=30 CannonBurstLength=5 veteran CannonFireAngle=3.0 MaxCannonRange=200 MinCannonRange=20 CannonBurstLength=3 ace CannonFireAngle=2.0 MaxCannonRange=150 MinCannonRange=20 CannonBurstLength=2 The cannonburstlength info. I've just added today (thanks to your advice) and will see what happens with it - ideally I'd like to see the novice pilots more quickly getting rid of their ammo and disengaging from a dogfight (that would be more historically realistic). Speaking of ammo usage/load, this is a topic that I've been digging into somewhat, also on the forums at TheAerodrome website - and I've tried in many cases to give historical approximations for ammo load in the data inis for the planes (although there are several files I'd like to revisit regarding this). For example, the Germans well into 1916 used 200 or 400 clip belts in their single Spandaus (on such types as the Eindeckers). By the second half of 1917 from what I could research, total load that could be carried went up to about 1100 clips, this is 550 clips per Spandau on the two-gun planes like the later Fokkers, also the Albatros. Loads were usually kept a bit lower to save weight and not hit performance of the aircraft too much. Typical loads of the later war period would then be something like 450 or 500 per machine-gun, for the Germans. I frequently see a load of "380" given to the Spandaus in many of the data inis and have changed this in several cases, but will more consistently revisit that data somewhere down the road. Entente powers were using 200 and 250 clip belts well into 1916, maybe also 1917, on guns like the Vickers, changing over somewhere in late '17 or early' 18 to the typical 400 clip belts that are seen in several of the data inis for Entente aircraft. The Lewis guns would have the smaller 47-bullet drum until about late '15/ early '16, and would standardize on the 97-bullet drum by the summer of '16 approximately. This is all interesting since it means that some of the Nieuports from '17, also earlier examples of the Camel, should have about 250 bullets per gun (this means a total of no more than 400 or 500 rounds for earlier Camels, even though they have two guns....there may be several other examples to draw from, especially on underpowered aircraft of both sides in the war, with shorter belts being chosen to save weight). Overall, this is another excellent (and historical) way of cutting the ammo loads down in the game and making the dogfights more realistic - shorter gun belts coupled with longer gun bursts - I see this as an excellent solution (particularly to have novice pilots disengage more quickly). I've increased the GunnerFireChance from the default of 70 or 80, to 90 (in the current upload of the aircraftaidata ini file) - this change from what I could see in previous testing makes the gunner fire more frequently, or may also impact on his determination to fire at targets - I've left that setting at 90 since I think the more frequent firing is once again more realistic for novices. GunnerFireTime I haven't tested yet - and left at its default value - I think that setting is either interval between bursts or delay from the gunner fixing targets on the enemy and deciding actually to shoot. It seems that that setting is linked to GunnerFireChance somehow - will test in a later iteration of the aircraftaidata file since I think there may be something important in those settings. The suggestion about advancing to waypoint 8 makes a lot of sense. I've also found that in certain tight situations it's best, after a dogfight, especially after running out of ammo myself and being outnumbered in a fur ball - to signal my flight to regroup, and we would then do a wide ascending turn, at full speed, out of the area and on to another waypoint. Usually I would give the order to regroup while already ascending and turning out of the area - the flight would soon follow - the higher up I was at the time, the more quickly they would get out of the area too, with stubborn enemies following but usually not being able to climb so quickly (works best to give the order to regroup when you are already at least 500 meters above the rest of your flight, since it then pushes the remaining dogfight below into the "vertical"...and is safer than giving the regroup command from the same altitude, since many from your flight then leave their six open to lucky shots). Happy flying, Von S

A quick update and some more musings. I'm happy so far with the results of the general aircraftaidata ini file that I've included with the 7.5 FM upload. Planes now fly well in formation without "waltzing" back and forth - the reduced value of 3.0 for formationroll seems to have been a good choice. I've also noticed that the gunneraimaccuracy setting is a very important one...and have been tinkering with possibilities. The default value was something like 20 or 30, but I had increased it to 40 in the aircraftaidata that's been uploaded here. Further testing revealed the following: values of about 60 provide for challenging dogfights values of about 80 provide for very dangerous fur-balls where one or two well placed shots can blow off your wing or kill your pilot, or give you an engine hit (and fire) values above about 90, also tested at 100, sometimes give peculiar results where the ai hesitates as to what to do - to shoot or not to shoot (interesting stuff) values of 40 are also more challenging than the default value for aimaccuracy, better than no alteration certainly - and a good choice for variety of dogfights encountered I've set the aimaccuracy to 60 now and will upload the changes in a small 7.9 FM update - I've also included the additions for cannonfireangle and maxcannonrange for the different dogfight skill levels and results seem to be promising so far. The general aircraftaidata file is proving to be a good one since any values missing from the individual aircraft data inis are then "plugged" into the game by this file. On an unrelated note, also changed now is the seating position of the pilots in the Morane Bullets (with their eyes at mid-level with the wind screen...they were sitting too low previously), and I've redone the Nieuport 17bis folder posted here with my earlier tweaks into a proper 17bis folder, a 17 C.1 folder (the common type of Nieuport 17), and the Siemens-Schuckert D.1 folder (pics are available above in this post, of that one). The three types now display their own quirks, with the 17bis a powerhouse more effective in many ways than the type 23, the C.1 being the delicate and slippery type it was known for, and the Schuckert D.1 being the "poorer" copy of the Nieuport, underpowered by 1917 and less maneuverable somewhat than the real 17. Wings can be broken when power-diving the C.1 and Schuckert more easily than on the 17bis. Will post these latest additions after readjusting the service dates for the different theatres. Happy flying, Von S

Hi vonOben, Yes, it's best to edit the Default.ini from within Notepad for stubborn key mappings, retest in the game, then modify again in the Default.ini file if necessary and re-save in Notepad. All of my FM tweaks allow for unjamming. I think such was the case historically, with the rare exception of a Lewis gun on the top wing of a Nieuport or SE5a in a nasty slipstream or in the heat of a dogfight - you would then have to get above the dogfight, stop fighting, and reload the guns - clumsy but probably workable if you were fast enough. Although I'm assuming that pilots would just continue using the Vickers, or get away from a fight if they had a serious gun jam and no extra gun available. Most of my FM tweaks are tweaks of the Peter01/Ojcar FMs. In cases where this was not possible, I tweaked the older Laton/Texmurphy FMs available for some of the models here. My tweaks cover about 70% of the aircraft available in the game and on the site here, for the rest of the stuff I recommend the Peter01 mods - I will try to get around to doing another 10 or so planes in my next version 8.0 update of the FM tweaks but I think I have covered most of the important (popular) types so far. Only in three or four cases did I choose the Laton FMs to tweak over the Peter01 ones - for the Morane Bullet (N type), to differentiate it slightly from the Morane Bullet (I type) for which I used the Peter01 mod of the type N. Also for the Pfalz E.I and E.II I stuck with tweaking the Laton FM and used the Ojcar one for the Pfalz. E.IV, again to give a sense of differentiation but tweaking for similarity, to give a historical sense of the same line of aircraft, with different capabilities of course. Also for the Nieu. 11 and 24 I had to tweak the Texmurphy FM since I think that is all that's available for those types - but eventually this worked out well, though those FMs were tough to tame. The only other FMs available for some of the types are the old Bortdafarm ones, but those are difficult to tweak - I was lucky to be able to fix up the Fokker B.II (single-bay Fokker version of the D.II) since there is an Ojcar/Peter01 FM available for the D.II that I already tweaked - this required some combination of data from the D.II with the B.II file but eventually resulted in a flyable Fokker B.II in FE2, a rare plane but fun (and dangerous) to fly. Happy flying, Von S

Is this the same great vonOben who hosts the vonOben mods site that still includes a nice section for Red Baron 3D? Welcome to FE2 by the way. I'm unable to answer all of your questions but I can try helping out with a few of them. One thing to keep in mind, in order to reduce flickering of tiles, towns, objects, and other things in FE2 - is never to set anything to "unlimited." I see two settings are set to unlimited in your choices - those should be reduced to "high." That might also help with frame rates. Turning off lens flare and in more extreme cases reducing the resolution to 1600 x 900 might do the trick with better frame rates too. Since I run the game in WineSkin on a Mac, I am frequently aware of mapped keys getting stuck or not working - the only solution to that is to go into your user game folder for FE2 (not the game itself but the user game folder) - and search for a folder called "Controls" - inside that folder is a Default.INI file that can be opened in any text editor. Go in there and modify key mappings manually and re-save the file. That should solve the problem with stubborn or stuck key mappings. FE2 uses multiple cores - FE1 and FEgold used a single processor core I think. "Bouncy elevators," also known as porpoising - can be reduced by lowering the "ElevatorDeltaPitch" value in the data ini file for the aircraft that is displaying the problem. (Values should be set to between about 1.0 and 1.5. Often they are as high as 3.0 and this causes nasty bouncing when the AI is chasing you.) Same thing with gun unjams. The gun unjam setting can be toggled either to true or false (allow or don't allow for gun jams) - this is in the data ini file too. Those files reside in the aircraft folder that you've installed and can also be opened in a text editor and modified. Planes that came stock with the game probably don't have the data ini present (for those you have to extract their data inis from one of the game's files known as CAT files). A much simpler solution is to download my FM tweaks for the game and install either all the data ini tweaks or choose the ones you want, since I've extracted and modified the data inis for the stock planes too, and I've tried to get rid of elevator "porpoising" whenever possible too. There's a detailed Read Me file included with my FM tweaks - if you are familiar with the Greybeard tweaks for RB3D - mine are similar in the sense of trying to be historical. My FM tweaks are located at: http://combatace.com/files/file/15857-tweaked-flight-models-for-fe2/ To improve accuracy rates for guns fired by AI, try tweaking the following three settings located under the AIData section of the data ini file for the plane that's displaying the lousy marksmanship: GunnerFireChance= GunnerFireTime= GunnerAimOffset= The above three settings are still a mystery to me as well and I haven't yet bothered tweaking them. Also, if you want more easily to try improving AI accuracy (of opponents) - set the enemy skill level under game settings from normal to hard and see if this improves things, before tinkering with the data ini settings. Happy flying, Von S

Hello Gents', Thought I'd post here instead of starting a new post since these are musings on FE2 anyway. Has anyone been able to get the streamers going on the Morane Bullet, or the Le Prieur rockets on the Nieuport types? Also, what about the mystery/invisible Vickers machine gun on the late, "Vickers" Nieuport 16? I was tinkering with the Vickers Nieuport 16 today, thinking of "converting" it to a Siemens-Schuckert D.1, but the invisible machine gun is making things difficult. This is possibly so since the multiple Nieuport 16 variants pack available here was probably made for FE1 initially. I did have good luck tweaking the basic "Nieuport 16" folder and data ini file for FE2 many months ago - that Nieu 16 has a single Lewis gun above the top wing, "baked" into the skin of the model I think, and works beautifully in the Mid east and Western theatres (assigned to the RFC and French). The late Vickers Nieu. 16 on the other hand is ghastly to tweak. I did manage to get the muzzle blast for the Vickers visible, but no gun. Frustrated with the poor results, I tweaked the Nieu. 17bis data ini today instead, that I had previously tweaked anyway to remove the top Lewis gun, and it now behaves beautifully as a SSW D.1. The cowling should of course be opened at the bottom, a spinner added to the prop, and the top wing lowered by about 6 or 7 inches (in real world terms...don't know how much of a change that would require to the wing in game) - for it to look more convincing as an early Siemens (this is beyond my talents) - but for now I'm happy with this temporary solution. If somebody figures out how to make visible the Vickers for the Nieu. 16 - I'll try "converting" that one to a Siemens-Sh. D.1 instead since it already has the half-open engine cowling. Here's a couple of pics of my current solution...will perhaps upload this for a Version 8.0 update. Siemens-Sh. D.1s were used on the Eastern front, not so much in the Western theatre where they were largely trainers. Happy flying, Von S

The Bortdafarm FMs are indeed a mystery - I "fixed" the Fokker B.I by Bortdafarm a while back and the revised FM is available in my FM tweaks for those interested. It now flies as well as that single-bay, wing-warping Fokker should have flown. Previously it would just hurtle into the ground in FE2. The type is a good climber though - for most of the fixes to work I had to transplant some info. from the Peter/Ojcar FM for the double-bay Fokker D.II - and revise through trial and error - otherwise I tend to avoid the Bortdafarm FMs, although the models are indeed beautiful and cover some of the rare types. Happy flying, Von S

Yes, the fuel leak effect happens on occasion - I've seen it happen a bit more using the Starry effects, but it's possible to get going once in a while with the Laton effects too - a nice white stream of fuel vapor, then the engine cuts out after about 10 seconds of the fuel vapor effect. This of course requires either a lucky shot on your opponent or a well-placed round usually from below, and right into the engine area. I maybe get one fuel vapor/leak effect into an opponent every 7 or 8 missions - they are quite rare but aesthetically pleasing. Von S

Hi Nick, I'm assuming that you're using the Starry effects for FE2 since it's difficult to get flamers going in those. Check out the older Laton effects that are here on CombatAce, they are more flamer-friendly. Install using these links: http://combatace.com/files/file/8462-effects-3-first-eagles/ http://combatace.com/files/file/3765-smoke-effects-pack-v2/ I usually install in reverse order since it works good for the effects I want, but experiment with it. Also, check out my post number 23 here: http://combatace.com/topic/88700-fe2-bad-framerates/page-2 It gives some more info. on how the Starry particle system ini can be swapped into the Laton install for a good balance of effects, including engine emitter smoke on some models plus the greater chance of flamers. Von S

Excellent work as always, very impressive! Von S

Indeed, these are superb updates. I look forward to rolling many of them into the 7.5 update for my FM tweaks. Thank you for doing these hitbox revisions. Von S

Hi Nick - thank you for the thorough comments. I'm impressed by the developments on this. I've added in the meantime ChanceContinue and ChanceCheckNewTarget commands to the general aircraft ai data ini file and will test the modifications soon. I've also tinkered with the two-seater bombing commands but noticed they were beginning to crash more when attacking ground targets so I removed the two-seater commands entirely from the file and will rely on the game's AI for that. You're correct that I was testing with the early war planes - largely with the Pfalz and Fokker Eindeckers, also the Morane Bullets - the Tabloids and Schneiders are some of the earliest planes to contain dogfight skill levels in their data ini files so this general file is bypassed by those planes - this particular file is largely a stop-gap measure for the early monoplanes so that I don't have to plug in dogfight skill info. into each of those data inis for the earlier planes. On a related note, I will take your excellent advice regarding MaxCombatRoll and MaxPitch Combat and will increase the values for some of the late war (mid-1917 and later) planes like the Alb. D.3 and the Nieuport 17/23 - maybe using those as a starting point to tweak the relevant values higher - and will test the changes. If successful I will give the later planes these higher values and roll it into a later upload of my FM tweaks. To the wider audience out there, I'm currently revisiting the Martinsyde G.100 and G.102 data inis - there is a small "bug" in the game where, in a bombing mission (in the single mission mode), if you drop your bombs, the plane's weight is not dynamically reduced but stays as if there's a full bomb load present for the rest of the mission - I had initially tested the G.100 in such a setting, dropping all bombs, then testing the speed, thinking that its 158 kph was with the bombs gone - this proved to be a mistake because when flying the G.100 in offensive mode, the top speed would shoot beyond 175kph. That problem has now been resolved, with the G.100 having a top speed of 158kph with no bombs, a top speed of about 135kph when on a bombing mission, and the G.102 having a top speed of 171kph with no bombs, and about 150kph with a bomb load. Will roll those updates into a "Version 7.5" in a week or two. Also revisited was the Dh.2 - for a long time I was unhappy with the rudder input/effect on that one - now it is solved - it had the wrong (inverted) input and orientation for the rudder (a longstanding error) which required two settings to be reset to false. Will roll that into the 7.5 version of the FM tweaks, and will also include the latest hitbox modifications done by NBell. Happy flying, Von S

Hello friend, considering that you are a CFS3 fan, you'd probably feel most at home in WOFF since it is based on CFS3 code. I usually categorize the WWI sims as follows: ROF - if you're into multiplayer WOFF - if you enjoyed CFS3 and enjoy heavily immersive campaigns FE2 - if you like to customize and mod your flight sim heavily and enjoy single missions as much as campaign mode (I like the flexibility of FE2, realism is fine on top settings, and with the many mods that have come out, and the flight model tweaks too, it's no longer a "lite" sim but comes closer to simulator territory) Also think about the price points before purchasing: WOFF I think has several expansion packs that should be purchased to fully expand the game (haven't checked into how much it all costs) - ROF is free but gives you only a couple of planes for multiplayer, then you purchase planes separately (again check the prices of planes since they vary) - FE2 is about 20 bucks, a one-time purchase, and then you can add mods freely by visiting the CombatAce site. Happy flying, Von S

Very interesting developments Nick. I haven't tried reducing morale for pilots yet but for those who want to give it a try, here's a modified version of the AircraftAIData ini file to install into your "Objects" folder. I went through a couple of versions of the file, this is a second attempt at it - and from limited testing I've had good results, only one collision between one from my flight and an enemy plane, as they were firing at each other in a head-on pass. Otherwise from what I could see from my vantage point flying above the furball, planes generally seem more careful and methodical in dogfights, with a good variety of skills. Novices tend to avoid the vertical, aces like to swoop down or up underneath you. Some of the better pilots are now tough to shake off. In one flight with two wingmen (we were in Fokker E.IIa types), trying to attack a balloon in the Mid East theatre, four Bullets intercepted us. The really interesting part was that two of the Bullets headed directly at us, while the other two broke off and did a wide ascending turn, out of our reach, and tried to get behind us. That kind of variety I hadn't seen before tweaking the pilot skill levels. The file seems to work well in conjunction with data ini files that are missing pilot skill level info. - I looked at the pilot skill data that is in the data ini file for the Halb. D.V done by Geezer and modified it for the file posted here (since the Halb. is a good mid-powered, mid-war plane that works well as a benchmark of sorts). What's good about the skill set info from the Halb. D.V is that it gives some important parameters but isn't excessive and doesn't nail down everything, leaving some stuff up to variety and the game's default AI code. I've tried to provide for a spectrum of behaviors by tinkering with the "Dogfight" entries in the file. The "AIData" at the top of the file is a subtle modification on the default entry provided in the AircraftAIData ini when it's extracted from the relevant CAT file from the game. I haven't touched any of the "bombing" data info yet but that might be something to work with to improve two-seater behavior in the game. I'll tinker more with this file and include it in a Ver 8.0 upload of the FM tweaks, but in the meantime here's the file as it is. Von S

Hi Nicholas, I haven't noticed the problem too much with mid- and late-war scenarios and aircraft, but on occasion when flying early-war missions I do see or get into these crashes with AI. Usually the early monoplanes are involved in this, Pfalzes, Fokkers, Morane monoplane types - but it doesn't happen excessively, and usually involves a head-on collision between enemy pilots, or if a wingman and I are attacking the same plane and are too close this may happen. I'm currently tinkering with the AircraftAIData.ini file to fill the "gaps" for data ini files where there are no settings for AI pilot experience/training (since this is more efficient than plugging the info. individually into each relevant data ini file) - have already tested this a couple of times in the Palestinian early-war scenarios and noticed more varied and challenging dogfighting, with some enemy pilots obviously unexperienced, and others being difficult to shake off and using good maneuvers to avoid my shots - this may also help with collision avoidance. Will post the file here when done testing it (it should be installed into the "Objects" folder of the user folder for FE2). Von S

An interesting discussion. Here are also a couple of links to older posts for FE/FE2 that discuss similar problems and ways of tweaking AI accuracy, might be of some help. One discusses bomb target accuracy and the other has some comments from Peter01 regarding AI tweaking, its benefits and complications. Keep in mind that the AI stuff, by the way, is not located in the Aircraftobject ini file as Peter01 refers to it but in the Aircraftdataai file that needs to be extracted first from I think the first objectdata cat file for the game, and placed in the "Objects" folder of your user game folder to work. It's probably the case that the generic AI settings were located directly in Aircraftobject for FE1 and FEgold. A lot of the AI data is now located directly in the data ini files for planes in FE2, overriding the info. present in Aircraftdataai anyway, but some fiddling with Aircraftdataai might help improve two-seater behavior, especially when commands are given out. http://combatace.com/topic/25803-this-was-pretty-cool/ http://combatace.com/topic/20585-aircraftobjectini-changes-a-warning/ Von S

Hello Gents', I have been investigating the core string and ini files that make up FE2 - primarily to see if multiplayer can be reintroduced. The relevant files can be found in the MenuData.cat and MenuText.cat files of the "Menu" folder of the actual game (not in the user folder for the game). I managed to restore the "multiplayer" button to the main screen of the game, but it leads nowhere. Also possible to restore was the "network" button under the options settings - but again this led nowhere when you click on it. It seems that each STR (string?) file requires a corresponding INI (initialization) file to work at all. Most of the files have both components, such as is the case with OPTIONSSCREEN.INI and OPTIONSSCREEN.STR - the ini file contains the relevant buttons, lists, codes, placements, lots of other things too, and the str component file contains the relevant data calls that correspond with what is called for in the ini file. I was however stumped to find that most of the network sub-option files have the STR component files in place - but ini files for those are all missing, perhaps having been removed by the game designer - or perhaps there is a more obscure way of calling up those string files that I am not aware of with my very limited knowledge of program/app coding. As an example, the NETWORKCONNECTIONSCREEN.STR file and the NETWORK.STR file - obviously important ones (and it's obvious what they are for) - cannot be called up in game, likely because corresponding ini files for those are missing. Looking through some of those network option str files shows, in some cases, more than 30 or 40 different data calls. I can only imagine then how much time it would take to create corresponding ini files for all of those different data calls in the str files, with all of the relevant buttons, menus, submenus, toggles created in the corresponding ini files - to get mutliplayer up and fully functional in FE2 - a daunting task that while theoretically possible would probably take a good month at least of full-time work on it (and then there is the risk of how stable the setup would be when done). Those who are inclined to tinker further with multiplayer possibilities in FE2 are advised to look at the main Options.ini file first that's in the user folder for FE2. The multiplayer settings should read as follows to be enabled: [MultiplayerOptions] LobbyLaunched=TRUE The following should also be toggled but I didn't experiment with correct values: [Multiplayer] Connection=0 PlayerColor=0 SessionType=0 GameType=0 Password=MyPassword MaxPlayers=8 IPAddress=127.0.0.1 In the OPTIONSCREEN.INI file that should be extracted to your "Menu" folder, the following should be toggled: [NetworkOptionsButton] StickySelection=TRUE Active=TRUE In MAINSCREEN.INI, also to be placed in the "Menu" folder, the following should be toggled: [MultiplayerHotspot] Active=TRUE Enabled=TRUE Also, the following should be modified to look as you see here, from the same file indicated above: [MissionControl] SingleMission=SingleMission InstantAction=InstantAction Campaign=Campaign Multiplayer=Multiplayer And finally, the relevant STR files that are missing corresponding INI files - or maybe requiring some other kind of call that I'm not aware of, are: NETWORK.STR NETWORKCONNECTIONSCREEN.STR MPDOGFIGHTSCREEN.STR MPHANGARSCREEN.STR MPMISSIONSCREEN.STR MULTIPLAYERSTATUS.STR PILOTRECORDSCREEN.STR (this one is to enable flight recording in multiplayer) As far as I can see, it's more feasible to continue improving the single-player side of the game, such as improvements in AI, scenery, also the great plane and skin mods that often come out for FE2. And thanks to all who contribute to this game and make it great. Those interested in pursuing the multiplayer aspect further will hopefully find my post useful. I will not be pursuing this topic further since I don't consider the project to be worthwhile. Happy flying, Von S

Yes, it seems to be the case that the code needed to "make" the multiplayer part of FE work is missing from FE2. But the single player aspect of the game is excellent and more than makes up for lack of multiplayer. Thanks Streakeagle for the detailed info. I hadn't thought about the hook/reverting back to DX9 that's needed - but it makes sense, as does the absence of a lot of necessary code to enable the multiplayer part. Speaking of old games that are still good for multiplayer, I still have my dozen or so theatre installs of RB3D handy, also the MMP patches - I'm pleasantly surprised that there are still three or four servers up in MMP RB3D and ready for action. Another great one was the F/A-18 Hornet 3.x and Korea series by GraphicSim that I have from the Mac OS 8/9 days - very good multiplayer in that one and it still plays well. Just visited the GraphicSim site today but it seems they're now only supporting an iPad and iPhone version of the game. Oh well, not much point in tinkering with multiplayer in FE2 then considering that it was never the main focus of the FE/SF series. Happy flying, Von S

Thank you WhiteKnight for the helpful info. - have now PM-ed JonathanRL and will see if he has any comments on this interesting topic. Happy flying, Von S

I've noticed this too on occasion even in the single missions, or that I'm attacking a balloon and my wingmen don't bother attacking it but merrily fly around me and the balloon while I have to do all the work. Perhaps there is an option to toggle the "fixation" or lack of interest that the AI has on some targets and class of targets in the game? Von S

Hello Gents', as a follow-up to my previous post regarding tips for low-end hardware and good frame rates in FE2, I've done some more experimenting and noticed the following. The Panama Red clouds numbered 21 through 28 can also be installed with no major impact on frame rates, and they give nice, high cloud effects. While I still recommend the Laton effects instead of the Starry ones for lower-end systems, you can substitute the Particle System ini file from the Starry folder to get nice engine exhaust effects going since engine exhaust emitter entries are missing from the Laton Particle System file - engine exhaust effects also don't seem to impact frame rates from what I've been able to test. Good entries to use in the Starry Particle System ini are: [ParticleSystem] MaxParticlesPerEmitter=1024 MaxEmitters=512 MaxEffects=512 MaxFields=16 AdditionalEffectsFolder=Effects Also, I've tinkered with the AircraftSmokeEffect and BalloonFireEfffect inis for the Laton effects install since I wasn't too happy with the huge balloon explosion and some of the color contrast in the SmokeEffect. The smoke is a little bit more subtle now for the aircraft smoke trails (after tinkering with smoke transparency), also a little more dynamic looking. The balloon explosion is now smaller and I think more realistic, with a smaller fireball and a smaller ball of black smoke following after - at any rate this explosion effect doesn't affect my frame rates and I can fly smoothly through it - the previous big explosion would hit my frame rates very obviously. The two tinkered files, for your "Effects" folder, are included below and might help with FE2 on mid and lower-powered hardware. Von S Edit: Removed link since the files are now hosted in the posts under the main thread for the FE2 FM and Realism Pack updates.

Well this is a very stimulating post. It reminds me of some of the detailed discussions over on the Aerodrome website from a few years back. I usually tend to fly the single missions, of different kinds, intercept, offensive, army coop, lots of other types, and noticed a variety of AI behaviors if the enemy AI is set to "normal." My observations are that it seems that normal setting allows for more variety than the hard or easy settings for enemy AI, although this probably requires more experimenting with. I was flying some more of the Middle Eastern theatre a few days ago and noticed that a pair of RFC-flown Morane Bullets did eventually break off their pursuit when we were at an altitude of about 1300 meters. I was in a Pfalz E.I. They simply turned around and went back to their base. I'm assuming that they ran out of ammo. and turned back. A stubborn Sopwith Schneider on the other hand still kept following me, while two other Schneiders that were also pursuing me finally turned around. The persistent Schneider still kept following and closing in on me slowly, while I was out of ammo. myself, having shot down a couple of Schneiders earlier on and a Morane Bullet. Thinking what to do, and being about 100 meters above and 300 or 400 meters in front of him - and noticing that he was still firing short bursts at me, a couple of which were hitting my wings - I turned on him (which was crazy at that point since I had no ammo.) and dived. He also went into a tight turn and dive, and we then circled about two or three times so that I got about 30 meters behind his tail - stayed there for about 10 seconds in that position and then ascended, doing a wide turn this time in the direction of my base again. I checked over to see what the Schneider was doing - and it was still racing towards its base, not bothering to attack me or follow me again. It was an interesting engagement. It looked almost as if the AI was fooled or changed its level of aggression based on my unexpected move and decided to run, after I got on its six. I don't think that he was out of ammo., this fellow in the Schneider, but he just "decided" to leave (or run away) when I managed to get behind him. This was all experienced with enemy AI set to "normal." Regarding the DH.2 FM, that's an interesting one - it is nimble with the ailerons, as historically noted of the type, but loses altitude easily in tight turns. I've found that turns are "safer" in it if the rudder is not used too much, and the ailerons gently. It gains speed best in a dive and has a top speed of close to 150 (148kph). There was some discussion of the DH.2 over on the ROF forums a couple of years ago I think - was it or was it not better than a Fokker Eindecker. I've set up some "homemade" single missions for myself where I go one-on-one in a Fokker E.IIa with a DH.2 - usually it's not difficult to take the DH.2 down. In another mission where I go up against two DH.2s, in one Fokker E.IIa - I might get hit some if I'm not careful, but usually you can take out both of them if you stay above and use altitude to your advantage. The DH.2s can get away slowly if they decide to, but otherwise they don't seem as impressive as is often mentioned of the type. I did notice however that when flying a Fokker E.III, I have a more difficult time of it with biplane-types, often barely getting in a kill or being shot down quickly. At any rate, FE2 provides a fun simulator-like experience where some of the myths and truths of these aircraft can be tested. That Lanoe Hawker survived for 5 or 10 minutes in his famous dogfight with Von Richthofen in such a crate then becomes even more impressive, considering that, at least in FE2, the DH.2 does not put an end to the "Fokker Scourge." Also significant is that the E.II variant of the Fokker Eindecker is the best of those types in FE2 - and may have been in real life too for the seasoned pilot. The E.II had slightly shorter wings than the E.III version, and was more maneuverable than the E.III, also a bit more maneuverable than the E.I version. Handling of the E.II was considered difficult, but flown well it is more deadly than the E.III, and also better than the E.I. It's also pretty much impossible to do a modern "Immelmann" turn in the Fokker Eindeckers in FE2 (of any version of Eindecker), but old style Immelmanns, with a stalled vertical turn, sort of like a hammerhead, is no problem at all, and looping, if done carefully, is also possible in them - but be careful of the inverted flat spins. While they occur less in my tweaked FMs for the Fokker and Pfalz Eindeckers, they're still a real problem to get out of. Happy flying, Von S

Glad you fixed the green smoke problem! To thin out the black smoke, try experimenting with the entries called "AmbientColor" and "DiffuseColor" that are under the "SmokeTrailMaterial" and "AnimatedSmokeMaterial" headings of the AircraftSmokeEffect ini file. Values of 1.0 are for fully opaque smoke, values of 0.0 are fully transparent: some values in between might do the trick to lighten the smoke trail effect. It's worth a try anyway. Von S