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VonS

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Posts posted by VonS


  1. @kcoun,

    a) if you have the "historical weather" option enabled in the WoFF series you will often see lots of clouds/bad weather, as was the case frequently in WWI (the historical weather option can be turned off, of course); also possible is to load various ReShade profiles to spice up the colors and to improve spotting (see this link for various representative pics with customized visuals, particularly the three pics near the bottom of the page, located after my long post regarding a dual-CPU computer build)

    b) UE/PE refers to two previous versions of the WoFF series - UE is "Ultimate Edition" and came out around 2016; PE is "Platinum Edition" and was an add-on to UE that came out sometime around 2019 if I'm not mistaken; neither of those previous versions are available for sale anymore; the latest version is BH&H2 - "Between Heaven and Hell II" (take note that several of the pictures available under my various posts may be from the UE/PE-era or from one of my hybridized WoFF installs, although I also run BH&H2 - I usually indicate what version the pics are from, per post, to minimize confusion)

    Good flying to you,

    :smile:


  2. @Sabre,

    Here's a brief extract from the "Read Me" file located in the "consolidated mods'" files/folders - regarding the various PWCG modulations files:

    -----

    The modulations files are "a series of 'RoFCampaignSpecific' files that should be installed, ONLY ONE AT A TIME, into the 'Pilot's Name Folder' of your RoF Campaign folder that is generated by Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator (ver. 16.3.x); you will find a series of files there, organized by period of war and by theater (whether eastern or western front); those files [...] change a variety of settings, ranging from AA gun frequency, distance between M.G.'s available on the front, chance of aircraft encounters, size of flights, also changes in aircraft/engine reliability, availability/number of observation balloons, and so on, depending on period of war; there will be noticeably less encounters with the enemy with those modulation files loaded than in stock form, in turn with greater difficulty of racking up large kill tallies, as historical, particularly on the eastern front."

    -----

    That description is for the "version 2" modulations files that are included in the larger "consolidated mods" files/folders, by the way. For an even more hard-core experience, suggested is to download the "version 3" modulations files that are located as a separate download in the first post of this thread. See also the "Important Note" in the top post of this thread, regarding differences between the version 2 and 3 modulations files. You might also wish to check over this link regarding other info. about the various modulations files.

    Happy flying,

    :smile:

     


  3. FE2 is still alive and well - more obscure than RoF and WoFF - although that may be a good thing. :smile:

    Let us know what kind of "augmentation" you are interested in - and perhaps some of the FE2 specialists will pitch in with good info.

    If interested in FM modifications/integrations of (and into) FE2 - suggested is to begin with this post, in particular the bottom link of that post that outlines what aircraft packages many of my FM tweaks correspond with.

    For terrain editing, placement of targets, modification and/or installation of airfield objects, and other misc. objects, I would recommend contacting Stephen1918 (he has developed many excellent aircraft models for FE2, as well as several, important airfield objects). Geezer is also an encyclopedia of FE2-related knowledge (terrain/airfield and aircraft modding and development) - but I don't think that he mods anymore for FE2 (or at least hasn't posted here in a couple of years).

    Cheers to you & good flying in the FE2 skies.

    • Like 1

  4. @toot, the general rule of thumb is that the physics/world model in SF2 (i.e., winds, atmosphere, flight dynamics, etc.) is best suited to jet aircraft and to some extent to fast(er) prop aircraft - let's say with a minimum speed of 400 kph or so.

    The simulated "world" in FE2 on the other hand caters much more effectively to slow(er) flying, and showcases better the flying (and fighting) characteristics of pre-WWI, WWI, and inter-war era aircraft of, for example, the 1920s (think "barnstorming").

    To give an example of the different atmospherics and physics, an early 1950s (late model) F4U-5 Corsair has a historical top speed in the 750s kph in SF2, while, when dropped into FE2, it goes into the 880s kph.

    Recommended also is to check over this thread regarding swapping of aircraft from FE2 to SF2, and vice versa - sometimes such swapping works, but often it doesn't. Furthermore, FE2 has higher-quality terrains (smaller-sized terrain pieces, as far as I know) and more subtle fog effects, I think, than SF2 - such things help with immersion because most aircraft in FE2 fly fairly low - on the other hand, use of such terrains in SF2 would probably result in an FPS hit, and is not really needed for jet aircraft scenarios where everyone is usually flying high and at great speed.

    Cheers,

    :smile:

    • Like 1

  5. On 2/29/2024 at 7:24 PM, whiteknight06604 said:

    [...] It's pretty sad to see just how much of a ghost town the FE forum has become. 

    Indeed a shame - hardly any regular posts in the FE2 forums anymore. Hope everyone's doing well - haven't seen names like Geezer, Crawford, and others in these forums for years.

    Fully-modded FE2 is still my go-to sim for single missions with variety, and for tight-knuckle flying and dog-fighting - I'd say better than modded RoF, and also easier to set up and quicker to get into than the WoFF series (although the latter is definitely the gold standard for full-blown campaigning).

    Come to think of it, the WoFF forums on SimHQ have also largely dried up over the last couple of years. And DiD IV, the latest Dead is Dead campaign being run in WoFF (on their CombatAce forums) is pretty much literally DiD too (compared with DiDs II and III from several years back).

    Perhaps newer generations of simmers have mostly gravitated to multiplayer; or tablet/phone games have saturated the game market.

    I hope to return more regularly to FE2 in the future - there are a few aircraft that I haven't tweaked the FMs for, and I still want to try to introduce (if possible) realistic turbulence into the sim. Also, there's something wholesome and relaxing about tinkering with FE2 - the virtual equivalent of an old, wooden hangar or quaint WWI aircraft factory.

    Was busy for a while with AI mods for RoF (an exercise in frustration considering that RoF is so locked-down); and also re-discovered FlightGear in the meantime, a very nice, free sim for monoplane simulation and civilian flying - but be selective when choosing aircraft to fly in it. Some of the FMs are questionable, particularly for multi-wing aircraft. Recommended there is to stick to large airliners like the 707, 747, DC-10, also single-wing, small aircraft such as Pipers, Cessnas, Tecnams, gliders, and so on.

    (Thinking to myself: sure would be nice to introduce the live weather and advanced weather systems from FlightGear into FE2 - i.e., METAR system, also moisture formation, storms, and so on - although that would require some way of having an open connection to the internet, from within FE2, to siphon in live weather data per whatever location you're flying through in FE2 at any given moment, etc.)

    Cheers all,

    :smile:

    • Like 7

  6. Let me thank you for your stellar tales in DiDs II, III, and IV Raine. I often go back to re-read them and encourage you when convenient to compile a "best of" pdf collection of your pilots' exploits. I wish you good health and happiness, rest and recuperation, and hope that you will continue in some way to be connected with WoFF/WoTR in the future.

    All the very best to you.


  7. @OP, something similar occasionally happens to me if moving the WOFFKeys.xca file from computer to computer, so that it is no longer recognized in WoFF. For the Logitech stick, it's important to double-check that its correct identification is always in place in the relevant xca file.

    The full path to the file is:

    C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\OBD_Games\OBDWW1 Over Flanders Fields\WOFFKeys.xca

    Once you open the WOFFKeys file, drill all the way down until you get almost to the bottom of the document, to the joystick section. Then search for the device type name indicated below and make sure that it is identical (or, if not identical, change to the info. below and then save the file) - the joystick should then be recognized in WoFF (i.e., all inputs will be registered, including programmed keys on the joystick and x/y/z axes).

    <Device Type="Logitech Extreme 3D Pro USB">

    Cheers,

    :smile:


  8. Recently I had an opportunity to re-install FlightGear (stable ver. 2020.3.19) on my 2013 Mac Pro and was pleasantly surprised - with no crashes, decent FPS for the most part, and various other improvements that were incorporated over the years. I had dabbled briefly in FlightGear a couple of times before (around 2013, and again around 2020) - but eventually removed the flight simulator from my hard drive on both of those occasions.

    Since my particular setup(s) are with dual AMD video cards, I thought I would post some (illustrative) tips below, as well as representative pics of the sim when at best, or very good, settings. I will this time around keep FlightGear on my hard drive - makes for a good, free flight simulator.

    For command line entries and tips that should be plugged into the "Additional Settings" option of FlightGear, see the info. immediately below. Make sure to remove the info. included in brackets if copying the commands into the relevant settings section.

    -----

    --prop:/sim/gui/current-style=0 (better GUI style for AMD cards)
    --prop:input/mice/mouse/mode/button[2]/binding/value=2 (gets rid of horrible mouse-as-yoke feature that sometimes automatically turns on)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/photoscenery/enabled=true (gives more photo-realistic scenery whenever possible; to be fully implemented in later FG versions)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/hdr/envmap/update-continuously=false (disables continuous siphoning and updating of terrains, to enable seconds command below)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/hdr/envmap/update-rate=5 (terrain refresh rate set in seconds; good values are 5 or 10, for minimal stuttering)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/max-paged-lod=1300 (stock max paged LOD no. is "200"; recommended is not to exceed about "1900" on AMD)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/plod-minimum-expiry-time-secs=60 (stock min expiry time is "180" secs.)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/multithreading-mode=DrawThreadPerContext (should improve multithreading capacity, at least slightly, and add a few extra FPS)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/database-pager/threads=12 (stock thread rendering no. is "4," with more threads improving ave. FPS; set as per your CPU threads no.)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/vsync-enable=false (force disables vsync to improve FPS)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/multi-sample-buffers=true (this is anti-aliasing; set to false to disable and remove entry immediately below it)
    --prop:/sim/rendering/multi-samples=2 (anti-aliasing value; lowest is 2, also good is 4; avoid 3)
    --compositor=Compositor/HDR/hdr (modern rendering pipeline for better graphics details and shaders; rarely breaks scenery; still mostly experimental on AMD vid. cards)
    --units-meters
    --disable-splash-screen
    --disable-horizon-effect
    --enable-distance-attenuation
    --enable-specular-highlight
    --enable-clouds3d
    --fog-nicest ("nicest" improves look of fog with more subtleties while "fastest" makes fog appear and disappear more quickly; no real impact on AMD FPS)
    --shading-flat ("smooth" apparently improves look or depth of shaders; preference is for "flat" since I have not noticed difference in quality on AMD)
    --texture-filtering=2 (this is anisotropic value; lowest is 1; also good is 4 or 2; avoid 3)
    --bpp=32 (can also use 24 but have not noticed an FPS improvement with 24; would say 32 is better for FPS overall)
    --terrain-engine=pagedLOD
    --lod-levels=3 2 5 3 1 (also good is 4 3 6 4 2 for best visual quality on AMD but still mostly FPS-friendly; recommended is 3 2 5 3 1 for balance between visual quality and solid FPS)
    --lod-res=2 (default is 1; also good is 3; avoid any other values besides 2)
    --lod-texturing=raster (better than "bluemarble" as far as I have been able to test, with smoother loading of textures)
    --lod-range-mult=3 (default is 2; also good is 1; avoid all other values besides 3)
    --enable-texture-cache

    -----

    On a broader note, it's important to tweak the rendering, shaders, and LOD range settings in FlightGear - to get the best experience on your AMD video rigs (be it a dual or single AMD setup).

    The frequencies, by the way, on my dual FireProD700s have been OC-ed, via MSI Afterburner, from a clock/memory of 850/1370 to 1024/1380 MHz.

    Be sensible with the rendering options - particularly with the maximum number of scenery and aircraft tiles - anything above a value of 1900 or so is both useless and an FPS hit. (The scenery/aircraft tiles no. may also be set via the relevant command line entry indicated above in this post.)

    Take note as well of cloud density and visibility values. Anything beyond a visibility of 35 km or so is questionable since it does not widen further the cloud carpet but is, once again, an FPS hit.

    FG_rendering.thumb.jpg.f13120a206947a986d9fcda0df6ef95a.jpg

    Pic 1 - Sensible/Best Rendering Choices for AMD Video (in FlightGear)

    Next we look at the shader options that also require careful thinking and tweaking. Take note that "landmass," "urban," also "water" - give different visuals if they are set to the maximum level (of five). I personally prefer how the landscape/terrains look with those three settings at a value of four - with crisper graphics - but tweak according to taste. Also worth noting is that I always run the LOD value on my rig(s) at "-1," via the excellent little program "ATISetLod" that is available under the top post of this thread.

    FG_shaders.jpg.84ba04a37a55f04dbbff32a11c80dd93.jpg

    Pic 2 - Sensible/Best Shader Options for AMD Video (for crisp and fairly realistic graphics)

    Also important is to tweak the LOD range settings to get a good balance between visual quality and decent FPS, with no stuttering or crashes. Focus in particular on the maximum distances for the detailed, rough and bare scenery ranges - I decided eventually on cutoffs of 3, 17.5 and nearly 45 km. Other cutoffs worth considering are 2.5, 15, and 40 (or so) km, as well as 3.5, 20, and 50 km. Anything beyond the latter values will, again, most likely not make much of a difference with the visuals but will contribute a noticeable FPS hit. Take note also of the "high detail" and "AI/MP interior" values. I'm getting good results with values of 250 - 260 pixels for those options; also good are values of 300 (or so) pixels. Those two values may be tweaked to taste, for the most part - but, again, be sensible since they may impact on FPS.

    FG_LODranges.jpg.e58f78fc3b8d4ef8cc1b3634e698cb78.jpg

    Pic 3 - Sensible/Best LOD Range Values for AMD Video

    Last, let's not forget to tweak our custom FlightGear profile (in our AMD settings panel) as best we can, to minimize stuttering, pausing, or crashes. Take note in particular how the shader cache is set to "On," not to "AMD Optimized," and how, even though I have enabled CrossFire mode, frame pacing is set to "Off" (which eradicates stutters on my rig in FlightGear - had tried with frame pacing "On" and was not pleased with the results). If you have only a single AMD video card, experiment with leaving the CrossFire option on (set to "AFR compatible"), or turning it off entirely. (NOTE: I have not noticed any FPS downgrade with anti-aliasing set to 4EQ and edge-detect, anisotropic value at 8, and tessellation at 16. Tweak to taste obviously.)

    FG_AMDsettings.jpg.452593946e3a9db91730361ab14e5bf3.jpg

    Pic 4 - Good AMD Settings for a Custom FlightGear Profile

    Recommended also, if having any instability with FlightGear on AMD video, is to stick with the "Pro" variant DLLs (drivers) for AMD, instead of the consumer/Adrenalin ones. I particularly like the ver. 19.x.x Pro series of drivers, as well as the venerable ver. 17.x.x ones (the latter of which I have installed on the 2013 Mac Pro). To find links to the Pro 19.Q3 DLLs (the last version of the Pro DLLs to support CrossFire, by the way), see this page.

    Below follow several representative pics with the settings illustrated above applied - FlightGear provides a nice selection of aircraft with usually very good monoplane FMs, especially for tricycle-gear (small) civilian aircraft such as Cessnas, also for airliners like the (classic) Boeing 707. For multi-wing contraptions on the other hand and more realistic/historical FMs for biplanes, triplanes, and the odd multiplane, the gold standard(s) remain heavily-modded First Eagles 2 and RoF, as well as recent iterations (UE edition onwards) of the excellent WoFF series.

    fgfs-20240129232925.thumb.png.1e0a255ea21f053adf2d74dd02aeca93.png

    fgfs-20240130010147.thumb.png.ac1f329b57323f1aa3fa2a6e2accc244.png

    fgfs-20240131023133.thumb.png.1bae84551bcdeece6cfd6da2e530983b.png

    fgfs-20240131062750.thumb.png.00bd33904061cda49c8faee85a7d34c6.png

    fgfs-20240130003259.thumb.png.2715d927d7094e9fe0f153d0039e843a.png

    fgfs-20240130003709.thumb.png.35f8b2bafae07e98b909b0e6bf77f38e.png

    fgfs-20240204003828.thumb.png.820c964f16a85d8137df5d94f1931e5b.png

    Happy flying,

    Von S :flyer:

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 1

  9. Hi Tonci, I had a post from yrs. ago regarding that topic (I also think that Burning Beard, Buckeye Bob, and other BB's commented on the topic with excellent info.) - but I can't track down the post now since it was in some obscure thread on SimHQ that got buried by other posts and info. On that note, I'll just copy out from some of my "flight notes" that I have in front of me here, for the WoFF series.

    -----

    Engine Types Management (Simplified)

    - very early rotaries on Bristol Scout, Fokk. E.I, Pfalz. A.I two-seater, Morane Parasol Type L (early variants before 1916) at 100% power, fine adjustment and blip for limited control

    - Gnome rotaries on Camel, DH.2 at 80 or 100% power, fine adjustment and blip for limited control

    - (somewhat) early rotaries such as on later series of Fokk. Eindeckers (the II and III), also the Pfalz E.III, Parasol Type L beginning with 1916, etc. at 60, 80 or 100% power, fine adjustment and blip for limited control

    - all other rotaries (mid-war, late-war, etc.) at 40, 60, 80 or 100% power, fine adjustment and blip for limited control

    - early inlines to about Alb. D.III and SE5, full throttle range but no fine adjustment (always full rich)

    - later inlines from about Alb. D.V and SE5a Hisso onwards, full throttle range and fine adjustment available

    Realistic Fuel Consumption Tips

    - either use the Orbyx "fuel mod" available with JJJ's MultiMod for WoFF, or, if you prefer a static solution, set fuel to about 40% for approx. two hrs. max. flight as mostly historical (avoid 50% since it sometimes crashes WoFF, or at least did crash it during the WoFFue era)

    - from Aug. 1918, for Germans, elites get 20% fuel supply since rations

    - less important German units from Aug. 1918 get only 10% fuel supply

    -----

    Cheers,

    :smile:


  10. Hi Tonci, for BH&H2-compatible mods, best is to check over Becker's excellent mods-compatibility post at this link.

    RJW's "Custom Consolidated Airfields and Facilities" mod(s) are must-haves and are compatible with BH&H2. Also worth checking out are BuckeyeBob's cloud/weather mods (those I think are listed under Becker's post, and available also on Sandbagger's website where RJW's facilities mods are hosted too).

    In terms of my FM mods, make sure to use with BH&H2 only the ones that are indicated to be BH&H2-compatible in that package (I've organized things by folders so it is easy to figure out what is compatible - for example, my older WoFF UE/PE FM mods are all in a separate folder and may be disregarded).

    The "FrankenBHAH Enhancement Package" is a terrain/FPS-tuner package tweaked to eradicate screen tearing and to improve FPS whenever possible, in BH&H2. There are also various realism tweaks included in that package. If you want to run the enhancement package, the recommended order in which to load it via JSGME is as follows:

    Step 1: Base Enhancement Package (ver. 1.1)

    Step 2 (optional): Hardcore Addon (ver. 1.15)

    Step 3 (optional, load only if not installing 1.15): Hardcore "Compensatory AI" Addon (ver. 1.16)

    Step 4 (optional, always load after 1.1, 1.15/1.16, etc.): FrankenMiniTuner ver. 1.2

    If you are interested in the mods listed immediately above, recommended is first to install only the base package 1.1 and mini-tuner 1.2, for FPS improvements and smoothness - and to leave the addon 1.15 and/or addon 1.16 for later, once you become more familiar with WoFF (because addons 1.15 and 1.16 include some modifications to AI routines and chances of such routines in WoFF BH&H2; those addons also increase chances of engine breakdown, fire, etc., and further remove you from the stock WoFF experience).

    To find all of those various mods, simply scroll up/down through the posts in that support thread where I also posted info. about the dual-CPU X79 build.

    In terms of Bletchley's mods - I don't know if they are compatible with BH&H2. Hopefully someone will see this thread and comment on those other mods. The "Historically Populated Airfields" mod by JJJ (ver. 1.5) works for the most part, as far as I know, only if you are also using JJJ's Java-based "Mission Editor" for BH&H2. Standalone, I don't think it provides full results - namely, historical aircraft types (static models) at airfields, depending on period of war.

    Regarding those other terrain mods you've mentioned - largely a hit-and-miss situation - some may be compatible, others may not be - best is to experiment slowly with those (I think that most of those terrain mods were made for WoFF UE, possibly not even updated for WoFF PE).

    Cheers,

    :smile:

    • Thanks 1

  11. Brief update to this thread - instead of opening a separate post, I thought that it would be best to bump this particular thread up with fresh(er) technical info. regarding WoFFing on AMD-vid cards. Those who are sometimes troubled by flashing and/or dark terrain tiles in WoFF on AMD video might wish to have a gander at this article located at the bottom of the WoFF FM and other mods. support thread, wherein I outline an X79 server build and a few tips/tricks that might help to resolve any oddities if WoFFing on AMD GPUs. Will also update regarding this under the relevant AMD thread on SimHQ if I have not already done so.

    Cheers all & good WoFFing to you,

    :smile:


  12. BHaH-Two WoFFing on a Dilwe Dual-CPU-Socket X79 Motherboard with Dual Overclocked AMD RX 580s, for Kicks and Giggles

    Recently, on a lazy winter's afternoon, I had the good fortune of finding two new/unopened Intel Xeon E5 2690 v.2 processors (3.0 GHz; 3.6 GHz TurboBoost; 10-core) on Ebay and decided that, for 37-38 USD a piece, they were a wholesome buy.

    My original intention was to "upgrade" the single Intel Xeon E5 1650 v.2 (3.5 Ghz; 3.9 GHz TurboBoost; 6-core) sitting in my 2013 Mac Pro (my standard WoFFing machine), but I then decided that it was better to "build" a computer around the two Xeons that I found, for kicks and technical handiwork. The general idea was to create an office server/work computer setup - which would also fit well with WoFF BH&H2, considering that flying an Eindecker in WoFF is hardly leisure but instead very rewarding and hard work. :smile:

    Armed with such ideas, I then picked my way through various components, deciding that I wasn't interested in exceeding about 800-900 USD for the entire build. Various parts included the Corsair computer case (4000 D) with good ventilation, a Corsair 850 Watt PSU, etc. (No tacky LED lights for me or brown/beige Noctua fans.) For the computer and video graphics themselves, I decided on a dual-CPU X79 board and happily found mounds of rather cheap, single-CPU Chinese ones being offered on Amazon. Not to be maximally cheap, I decided on the ever-so-slightly higher-tiered (?) Dilwe brand (X79 dual LGA 2011 socket; EATX-sized motherboard). And, at any rate, the dual-CPU-socket offerings were not as plentiful as single-CPU mobos.

    The dual-CPU board I picked supports a maximum of 128 GB of DDR3 RAM at 1866 MHz but I went instead with a modest 32 GB (1600 MHz) of budget RAM (TeamGroup rebranded Micron chips) and a 1 TB NVMe M.2 (Kingston) SSD, also with two passive Supermicro heatsinks, and so on and so forth. For the video cards, being pleased with a dual team red (AMD) setup in the 2013 Mac Pro (two 6 GB FirePro D700s), I chose again a dual AMD setup (two 8 GB RX 580s this time around) for the custom build, even though it is generally suggested that WoFFing is safer on the team green side of the fence (nVidia). Luckily, the RX 580s were also Dilwe brand (making for a good fit with the Dilwe motherboard). And I found the Dilwe name attractive for some reason, possibly reminiscent of fridges and other gadgets from the 1950s.

    Several cables, fans and modifications later, over the span of a few days, I found myself in a position finally to test the Dilwe Dual-Xeon monstrosity couched in an elegant Corsair case. Installing Windows was no problem; neither was tweaking the somewhat limited options in the BIOS, but a few tips follow below (and no, I did not flash/upgrade the BIOS nor will I do so - not interested at all in bricking this strange build).

    Suggestions:

    - switch to legacy BIOS and format your drive to MBR (not GPT), for maximal smoothness of installation (of Windows); UEFI does work but I preferred the legacy/MBR route (if installing Linux, the latter will do its own formatting prior to installation)

    - disable such options as extended synchronization, pci-e clock/power management, and precision clock timers in the BIOS (helps to give a more responsive system and apparently minimizes GPU throttling)

    - set latency timers at least to 64, possibly 128, in the BIOS (default is 32); I went with 160 and haven't noticed any peculiarities so far

    x791.png.a5694b75808814077d2b01d767a2e26d.png

    Pic 1 - Initial Five-Fan and Mostly Passive Heatsink Setup

    The only other main area of concern, after having installed Windows and organized/tweaked settings, was how to keep the dual Xeons cool at idle. Initially I went with a five-fan setup (three intake on the front; two outtake, with one at the back and one at the top). The setup was perfectly sufficient to keep the two GPUs cool that way for most tasks - you could even turn off the GPU fans with no risk (with the fine program Fan Control) - but CPUs still remained quite hot at idle. The worst idle temperatures were with thermal paste applied between the passive heatsinks and processors (around 70 degrees Celsius).

    Better idle temperatures (of 55 to 60 degrees Celsius) were attained by placing thermal pads between the passive heatsinks and processors (never mind the general consensus that paste is better than thermal pads) - and by going to a six 120 mm fan setup (by adding an extra intake fan at the top of the case).

    I also oriented some of the fans differently, with the bottom two fans up front working as intake fans, also the two fans at the top of the case. The back fan remained an outtake fan; and the top side fan on the front was also reversed to function as an outtake fan - giving two nice exhausts on the top sides (front and back) of the case.

    x793.png.ba6147ab36ecb95e6b8db03ce220bfb1.png

    Pic 2 - Final Eight-Fan Setup and Orientation for Improved Cooling

    I could have left things alone at that point but then decided to custom-install two small, unassuming (and gray) Noctua fans (1600 RPM, 92 mm) to each of the passive heatsinks, through the miracle of some zip ties and wire clips. This finally gave me splendid results (with idle CPU temperatures in the 30s Celsius - see included pic., overview of temp. nos. via the excellent program HWiNFO). The eight fans in total, surprisingly, are not that noisy, especially with the case fully closed and the included dust filters attached. Also helpful was that I had - before the final arrangement of fans - sandwiched two 1mm copper plates between each of the Xeon CPUs and their heatsinks, also "framing" the copper plates with four strips of thermal pad for good measure.

    TempNos.png.13cbc7a562afe996a39bfc2d5e25d4ab.png

    Pic 3 - HWinNFO Allows for a Quick Overview of Temps. in the Taskbar (Details are Temps. for CPUs 1 and 2, Packages 1 and 2, Top and Bottom of Mobo, SSD, and GPUs 1 and 2; Choose Heads-Up Colors as per Taste in HWiNFO)

    The two RX 580 GPUs were easily overclocked via MSI-Afterburner from stock numbers of clock 1284/memory 1750 MHz to clock 1415/memory 2095 MHz. Numbers of 1420/2100 MHz and higher give the occasional crash and are not worth the risk. CPU overclocking is not possible with locked multipliers on this generation of Xeons; furthermore, it is also not possible to BCLK overclock the system bus on the Dilwe X79 mobo (or most such mobos).

    GPUoc.png.161e8d02d5b0371c5be41b8be7a8c7a0.png

    Pic 4 - Nice and Stable OC on the RX 580s

    Aside: I did in the meantime manage to overclock the bus to 103 MHz on the 2013 Mac Pro for a small performance boost and it runs well with no higher temperatures noted (to OC slightly your bus on a 2013 Mac Pro, download the obscure and outdated program called "setfsb.exe," choose as clock generator the profile called "ICS932S421BGLF," etc. - do track down other details regarding the program via Google before attempting the tweak, and also worth remembering is to download ver. 2.2 of the program, not 2.3, since 2.3 doesn't allow for the bus to be changed on a 2013 Mac Pro).

    Other information worth sharing, regarding WoFFing on dual AMD setups, is to point, in your AMD profile, to the WoFF.exe, not to the CFS3.exe run-time  (even though it sounds counter-productive). On older versions of WoFF, and also on single AMD video-card setups, feel free in most cases to point to the CFS3 run-time instead.

    AMDsettings1.thumb.png.48863f19ab85f82eeb88d60b7eb1516d.png

    Pic 5 - Point BH&H2 to the WoFF.exe (not to CFS3.exe) if on a Dual AMD Setup

    Further, if enabling crossfire in your WoFF profile in the AMD settings, make sure to disable crossfire in the "global settings" profile in the AMD settings program - having crossfire enabled in both global and individual program profiles will cause random black tiles/textures in WoFF (a common complaint regarding AMD vid. and WoFF, and that has appeared on the WoFF SimHQ threads, occasionally, over the years).

    AMDsettings2.thumb.png.ed7816d2a620c91ebad9048841240e8d.png

    Pic 6 - It's Important to Disable Crossfire in your "Global" AMD Settings Profile (To Minimize Risk of Texture Corruption)

    By making sure to enable crossfire per program, but not globally - if you have multiple AMD cards installed - you will get rid of any texture corruption effects. Last, it doesn't hurt to experiment with various versions of the AMD DLLs (drivers) that you install. For example, the latest AMD DLLs (as of this writing) work fine on the Windows 10 22H2 install that I have on the Dilwe X79, but crossfire is not present (and hasn't been present) as an option since about the ver. 20.x days of the AMD DLLs. To be on the safe side, I have installed  the Radeon Pro Software for Enterprise (version 19Q3) and it works fine, with no noticeable drop in FPS in WoFF BH&H2, and also supports the crossfire option (version 19Q4, for example, does not). On a broader note, if you are having any other troubles with the Adrenalin/consumer versions of the AMD DLLs and your WoFFing - go with the Pro DLLs instead.

    AMDsettings3.thumb.png.89b90330420f2a6555034996d284b64f.png

    Pic 7 - Detailed BH&H2 AMD Settings for Your Convenience

    I happily recommend the AMD Pro DLLs 19Q3 for your WoFF/AMD combinations on later iterations of Windows 10, such as 22H2 - just as good, if not better, than the venerable ver. 17.x.x DLLs that go well with Win10 ver. 1809.

    The link to the correct drivers is: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-pro-win-19-q3

    Overall, while I am not terribly interested in dipping further into the hobby of custom-building PCs for myself, I am quite pleased with the outcome of the Dilwe X79 (one-off) project. A few quick bench tests in CPU-Z (see included pic.) indicate that, on average, the Dilwe is giving me the multi-threading power of three 2013 Mac Pros - but will most likely also use three times as much electricity as the Mac Pro (e.g., the Dual-Xeon Dilwe X79 idles at around 93-94 Watts, at best, while the 2013 Mac Pro idles at around 46-47 Watts).

    CPUbench.png.42c17e7b85e0661c1e8d2f213dec3e6b.png

    Pic 8 - Quick Benchmark Results

    The experiment was a nice way to put two Xeon processors to good use, with the end result being a stable server/work computer as well as the occasional hosting hardware for a campaign or two (or three) of power-WoFFing. BH&H2 1.37 therefore moves to my Dilwe Dual-Socket X79 with its pair of OC-ed RX 580s, while I will keep my FrankenWoFF install (PE terrains and aircraft backported to WoFF UE 4.18) on the 2013 Mac Pro.

    bh21.thumb.jpg.b3ecdf6afaa02f3f5131ca92c6439e75.jpg

    bh22.thumb.jpg.ea11d2fe521d4740933b2c3fc4b331ce.jpg

    bh23.thumb.jpg.aaf53a0dc821b8f424c302e873982e78.jpg

    Pics 9, 10, 11 - BH&H2 1.37 on the Dilwe Dual-Xeon X79 (LOD set to -1 via the Program ATISetLod; Pics also Include a Variation on Xjouve's Ver. 1.1 Water Mod, etc.)

    Finally, worth considering for these DIY obscure computer builds are any bottlenecking issues that might emerge; easiest to avoid those problems is by choosing processors, motherboards, and video cards of roughly the same, or similar, generations. From what I could research the best choice of GPU, for example, for the X79 server mobo that I picked up, as well as for the ver. 2 generation of E5 Xeons I found, was either the AMD RX 580 8GB or nVidia's GTX 1060 6GB card. Minimizing of possible bottlenecks should help, theoretically, to minimize any FPS drops and stuttering nuisances in your WoFF install.

    Good current and retro WoFFing to all (on single or dual-socket CPU mobos; obscure, well-known, and everything in between),

    :buba:


  13. Hi Alpenman, those files that begin with an underscore are Mac OS files that are sometimes arbitrarily generated in various folders of my mods packages as I work on them.

    I usually turn off the setting to view invisible files, in the Windows 10 partition on my Mac Pro, so I did not spot those files earlier (typically they show up as visible files so I delete them before uploading my mods packages; this time they remained invisible for some reason).

    Have now removed all Mac-related files and have re-uploaded the RoF mods package. While those Mac indexing files don't alter the way the AI/DM mods work - I recommend re-downloading the package (the link is in the first post of this thread) - for the sake of improved cosmetics.

    The PWCG "ModulationsVer3" file is fine by the way (doesn't contain any Mac-related files), so that one was not re-uploaded.

    Cheers,

    :smile:


  14. Hi Alpenman,

    Recommended is to check over the following two posts on the IL2 forums, regarding AI takeoff fixes for RoF. As far as I know, the problem is present in PWCG 3.x.x but not in the older 16.3.1. I have included the takeoff fix tip in my AI mods, by the way. The only other thing that I can think of is that the AI doesn't like stronger winds so it might help to reduce wind speeds too in the PWCG menu, if all else fails to resolve that takeoff problem.

    https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/83819-possible-fix-for-squadron-mates-not-taking-off-during-career-missions/

    https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/84205-ai-not-taking-off-and-acting-weird/

    Cheers,

    :smile:


  15. Always stuck with the venerable SuMo/DuMo before they packed it in, unfortunately, sometime in 2023. Then I switched to UCheck_portable64 (not bad at all for a quick listing of updates but not as thorough as was SuMo). I thank thee for the WinGet suggestion; will most likely move to that one or at least note it down as a supplementary update tool.

    Happy New Year,

    :smile:


  16. Version 11.0 (RPM Control & Canons), Oct. 14, 2023 - New type added is the early, 200 hp SPAD XII. Also includes several modifications to the SPAD XII 220 hp, as well as to the late/rare Alb. D.Va 200 hp. Further additions include limited RPM control on the Fokk. E.Ia, E.II, E.IIa, also the E.III, as well as the Morane Saulnier Type N, etc. As always, check over the newest, included READ ME file for more info.

    Happy flying,

    :smile:

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 5

  17. On 9/18/2023 at 10:46 PM, Rooster said:

    ...

    indeed! the Mk2Boost rate of fire is not as high as the normal mk2 or mk1, it is similar to that of 37s on the migs

    The rate of fire entry is the one labeled "ROF" in the various gun data ini files. So, for example, "Vickers_Mk1" has a rate of 400, "Vickers_Mk1_1mod" a rate of 500, "Vickers_Mk2" a rate of 600, and "Vickers_MK2boost" a rate of 850. The muzzle booster used on some of the Mk.II's noticeably increased rate of fire, but somewhat decreased reliability (i.e., more gun jams possibly). A good post on the topic is available over here, on The Aerodrome website.

    Cheers all & happy flying,

    :smile:

    • Thanks 1

  18. 16 hours ago, Rooster said:

    ... may be i shoud tweak MuzzleVel or Ammowt ?

    or the aircraft itself for how much damage it could endure?

    The stock Albatros D.III and D.V/Va are rather difficult to take down easily in FE2. I've toned down the "DefaultArmorThickness" and "MassFraction" nos. on those mid-war/late-war Alby. types (among many other FM changes) -- but they still require either a good hit on the engine, or pilot, most of the time -- to take down (or the occasional lucky flamer -- lucky for you; not for them).

    Recommended, for those who like to tweak manually, and if you are still vexed by late Alby. types -- is to change the DefaultArmorThickness value in the aircraft data ini file from 25 to 24 (or from 24 to 23, depending on the sub-variant of Alby.).

    The alternative is to increase "AmmoWT" and "Accuracy" values in the various gun data ini files -- or to use a different gun type such as "Mk2boost" instead of the standard "Mk2" Vickers, etc. (Accuracy varies among the different M.G. types and different interrupter gears used per M.G., in my FM/realism pack, by the way.)

    Cheers all,

    :smile:

    • Thanks 1

  19. @Rooster,

    As far as I know, for incendiary choices, the best one is the Le Prieur rocket option available for some of the Nieups., such as the 11, 16, 17 and 23.

    In terms of the Vickers, there is the Mark I, one or two improvements for the Mark I (designated "I_I"), also the Mk. II, and others, available in a stock install of FE2 under Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Objects/Guns.

    If you are using the guns modifications available in my FM/realism pack for FE2, you will find other variants in there as well, such as a "Mk2boost" (Mk. II Vickers with booster on one of the guns, etc.). However, none of those are necessarily incendiary. The aircraft data inis, by the way, that are included in my FM mods pack(s), are linked to the modified gun variant data inis also included in the FM mod pack -- so there's no need to tinker with such details if my FM pack(s) are installed in full (aircraft mods, gun mods, etc.).

    To experiment further, regarding incendiary ammo, once you go into any aircraft data ini file of choice, search for the "Internal Guns" section. Once there, change the gun listed under the "GunTypeName=" to something other than what is currently listed. For example, in the late Albatros D.II data ini I've tweaked, the GunTypeName entry (for both the left and right M.G.s) is:

    7.92MM_SPANDAU_LMG08/15

    For Entente aircraft, on the other hand, there will be a Lewis or Vickers sub-type listed there. Then, change out the Vickers, or Lewis that is listed, for some other higher-caliber option that is by default included under Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Objects/Guns. I recommend trying the "1PDR_VICKERS_MK3" or "11mm_VICKERS_BALLOON_GUN" option, without quotation marks, to see if one of those gives more satisfactory results.

    So, in short, while I don't think there are any incendiary options beyond the Le Prieur rockets available in FE2 (and while I haven't tweaked any higher-caliber options for my FM mods packages, beyond standard Spandau, Parebellum, Lewis, Hotchkiss, and Vickers variants, to change rate of fire and reliability across different periods of WWI, etc.) -- a higher-caliber option for any of the M.G.s might be worth trying out -- with results somewhat similar to those of incendiary rounds, I suppose.

    Have never used the gun editor program that Julio has kindly linked to above (I tweak the data ini files by opening them in text-edit programs) -- so I can't offer any comments on those various editors that are available.

    Happy flying (and flaming),

    :smile:

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  20. No need to uninstall such a fine sim as FE2 - keep at it when you find some free time and eventually, once you've tuned your install to your liking, you'll have one of the best single-player WWI flight sims that are currently available -- with good flight models, excellent AI, and solid scenery too.

    In terms of the continuing skin/camo problem for the Spad VII -- double-check the file organization indicated in the two pics. provided in this post.

    Couple of important things to note, so that skins show up on aircraft properly, are as follows:

    a) the skin files need to be in a separate folder, not thrown directly into the main level of the aircraft folder (e.g., my skins for aircraft "SPAD7_150_Brit" are located in "RAFTAN1," not directly placed into the 150_Brit folder)

    b) continuing with the example mentioned above, both the "TEXTURESET" file located within "RAFTAN1" and the general "SPAD7_150_Brit" initialization file (the latter is located in the main aircraft folder itself) need to contain correct info. that corresponds with the actual folder that houses the skin files (with the "RAFTAN1" folder in this case)

    In "TEXTURESET," there is the following entry:

    [TextureSet]
    Name=RAF Tan
    Nation=RAF
    Squadron=
    StartDefaultDate=1916
    Specular=0.400000
    Glossiness=0.150000
    Reflection=0.200000

    In "SPAD7_150_Brit," there is the following entry:

    [TextureSet001]
    Directory=RAFTan1
    Name=RAF Tan
    Nation=RAF
    Squadron=
    StartDefaultDate=1916
    Specular=0.400000
    Glossiness=0.150000
    Reflection=0.200000

    Particularly important is to make sure that "SPAD7_150_Brit," to continue with the same example, contains the "texture set" section listed immediately above. Same rules apply for all other aircraft too that have custom skins, or extracted stock skins, installed. So, in short, missing "texture set" entries in the general initialization file for any given aircraft, as well as skin files not being placed into a separate folder within an aircraft folder, etc. - will create the kinds of problems (such as aircraft missing skins) that you've mentioned in this thread.

    Anyway, I hope that some of this info. proves helpful. I might not be logging into the FE2 forums over the summer but hope to drop in again semi-regularly sometime by Sept. or so.

    Cheers & happy flying in FE2,

    :buba:

     

     


  21. 42 minutes ago, ThePony314 said:

    ... Mue's Cat Extractor didn't recognize the CAT files in my install folder.  It was just blank.  Another dead end. ...

    When the cat extractor opens, there should be a split window arrangement present. The top half should show a few (compressed) files, but in order to display all of the contents of each cat file within the second window (located below the main one), make sure to check the small box that is to the left of whatever compressed cat file is visible in the top window - might take about 10 or 20 seconds after that, but a long list of files should then become visible in the lower window.

    Also make sure, in the first place, that you are navigating to the correct install directory with the cat extractor, to view the relevant cat files. The correct path is ThirdWire/First Eagles 2/Objects/ - once you navigate into "Objects," you'll find the relevant cat files there: ObjectData001.CAT, ObjectData002.CAT, ObjectData003.CAT, and ObjectData004.CAT.

    Cheers,

    :smile:


  22. For any aircraft that were originally AI-flown in FE2, and then later made flyable via tweaks, mods, etc. -- best is to extract skins for said aircraft using the excellent program called "Mue's Cat Extractor" -- see this link for instructions and other important info. regarding the cat file(s) extractor. I also recommend, when you find time, going over the entire "New in FE2" thread since it's a good intro. to modding in FE2 -- the link to that thread is over here.

    By the way, stock skins for the Spad VII (150 and 180 hp variants) are found in "ObjectData003.CAT" -- see the cat extractor link above for more info. on where those various cat files are located (in short, they are found in the actual FE2 game install folder, not in the FE2 user folder located under "Saved Games").

    For illustrative purposes, see the pics. below that show extracted Spad VII skins and that I have then loaded into my middle eastern theater install, for a British-built 150 hp Spad VII. Pics. below point to the ThirdWire folder in "Saved Games," by the way (where all mods. and/or extracted files from the stock sim should be placed, etc.) -- not to the actual game install folder for FE2.

    Happy flying,

    :smile:

     

    01_StockSkinExtractTip.jpg.b8d20ef6f696fc4dd01ccb962310dc22.jpg

    02_StockSkinExtractTip.jpg.2bc6c1e5ea02d43f45d1dcf905c8effd.jpg


  23. Might be possible to solve that video effects/artifacts problem by using a third-party dx9 DLL (driver) solution.

    It's worth an attempt at any rate. See the details in this post to try the custom solution (disregard any references to WineSkin in that post). The attempt involves downloading a third-party dx9 driver and placing that driver into the main folder directory of your First Eagles 2 install (where the game is actually installed -- not into the user's FE2 folder located under "Saved Games").

    If that doesn't solve the problem, one other attempt involves opening the "Options.ini" file that is located in the Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2 directory and setting the entries indicated below (located under [GraphicsOptions]) as follows:


    AntiAliasing=2
    UseAdvancedShaders=0
    ForceDX9=TRUE
    ForceVSyncOff=TRUE

     

    Cheers,

    :smile:

    • Like 1
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