VonS

Didn't think this thread would prove so popular but happy to see some fresh posts here gents. Regarding the Corsair, I'm surprised to learn that they used wooden ailerons, fabric covered, for later models such as the F4U-4, was thinking initially that this is something only typical of early war types like the Hurricanes, early Spits, and the "birdcage" variant of the Corsair. Apparently trim tabs were also made of wood on many of the types...a legacy of WW1 maybe?...wood/fabric being easier to fix from bullet holes perhaps. In terms of my further testing of the FMs: It appears that MaxThrottle values manipulated beyond 1.00 (100%) to something like 1.2, 1.5, 2.0, etc., don't make any noticeable difference. I am testing this with WEP tables and values removed entirely. I do have another theory that I want to test, to see if max throttle values beyond 1.00 are somehow relevant only to WEP data, but not to regular alt table data values and regular throttle gradients. Will look at the stock SeaFury data ini with WEP enabled and will toggle max throttle settings further to see if I can at all hit max historical top speeds at alt. I'll also look into tinkering with max throttle values of between about 1.05 and 1.10 or 1.15 - perhaps a slight increase beyond 100% will, however counter-intuitive, give better results than noticeable increments. I'll report back if any of these tests and combinations manage to give higher top speeds at alt. than at sea level. For now, I'm still running the late prop aircraft with SL top speed uncapped and with engine power increased to give historical top speeds recorded at alt., but in this case reachable only at sea level. A compromise of sorts yes but I can tolerate it . Would be nice however to get WEP power realistically implemented (in SF2), although for FE2 there's no need for it. Von S

Hello gents', Thought I'd post some speculations and observations on the FM aspects of some things in FE2 and SF2 that I've recently been tinkering with. This might be an interesting post for those who like to follow these technical threads. I was recently installing more aircraft into my small SF2 install - something I wanted to get to last year but had no time - and I decided to install a couple of the late prop aircraft too, particularly the SeaFury and F4U-5 variant of the Corsair. Overall pleased with the handling of the types, I tweaked a few things such as desensitizing the rudder on them, and also giving them slightly heavier aileron feel - since those late model prop aircraft were fairly heavy, about 4500 kg on average. Further testing involved flying and inspection of the [FlightControl] and [Engine] sections...couldn't get much beyond about 500 kph near sea level or at alt. in the types...so I commented out the MaxSpeedSL entry for the FlightControl, and tweaked prop speeds to close to historical, within the 2000 to 3000 rpm range, also pushed up the value for the SLPowerDry entry for the Engine, usually by a noticeable amount, and then tested further. Some of the things I've noticed, in terms of SF2 specifically (but this post is relevant to FE2 too): a) WEP power is not modelled realistically, since you can keep running it without engine damage b) WEP power doesn't give much of a boost, if at all (although I've only tinkered with the SeaFury and Corsair so far) c) a better way of simulating, however simplistic it is, the potential of WEP power, is to manipulate the AltitudeTableData numbers instead (for example, I plugged in values ranging from about 1.05 to 1.35 around the 6000 m alt. band, which should be where the Corsairs benefitted the most from max. throttle) d) after manipulation of the AltitudeTableData, it's best to get rid of the WEP entries entirely, and set up "throttle gradients" instead under the engine sections, such as: ThrottleRate=0.65 IdleThrottle=0.12 CruiseThrottle=0.45 MilThrottle=0.70 MaxThrottle=1.00 The numbers above I've plugged in, for example, for the Corsair. The space between Military throttle and Max throttle would be where "WEP power" would theoretically in this case be engaged, somewhere around the 0.85 mark for the band I've selected above. For this to work somewhat realistically, the player should restrict themselves to about 85% throttle max. except in extreme situations, depending of course on where military and max throttle are set. Also important for this to work is to make sure that the max SL speed under the FlightControl section is left uncapped (commented out) - otherwise artificial barriers are set up that cannot be bypassed by more than about 20-30 kph. Speed caps work beautifully in SF2 for the jet engines, but, at least from my experience, don't work that well with the late prop planes since you can then never hit top max. recorded historical speeds, not even at alt. - and not at SL either. Also noticeable in the example above is that I've increased the throttle rate from the default of about 0.25. Historically, late prop aircraft would have had better acceleration than early jet planes (not better top speeds, but faster acceleration to their own max speed). By the 1960s/70s, jet engines should surpass the props even in acceleration. I then re-tested by dumping the modified Corsair into my FE2 install. In SF2 it can get into the 760s kph, as historical, using the engine and throttle values I've included in my graded throttle settings above, while in FE2 the same tweaks push the top speed into the 880s kph - a difference of about 120 kph for top speeds, across FE2/SF2. This is why it's not a good idea simply to transfer data inis from one of the sims to the other. I'm assuming that the discrepancy in top speeds means that TK went with calculations to give less air resistance in FE2 (maybe FE as well?) - to fit better with the more fragile and maneuverable WWI aircraft types. One thing that remains constant between FE2 and SF2 is that, at least from my observations, the WEP modelling is not very realistic - there was no high alt. band where I could push the top speed beyond, for example, a reasonable top speed that may have been possible at near sea level (such as 500 or 600 kph). Some preliminary conclusions, to be tested further: a) speed caps at sea level should be kept in place in FE2, as done in the data inis in my FM packs, since they fit better with the lower top speeds of the early aircraft anyway, and mach limits should also be kept fairly low (I have them set at 120% of the "top speed" of the WW1 aircraft....this allows for realistic dive speeds that I haven't been able to push beyond about the 460 kph mark even on the late war types such as the SE5a) b) flying late WW2 and early Cold War prop aircraft in FE2 is not recommended, but FE2 may be good for "Golden Age" stuff, as Geezer speculated upon in another thread (can't remember the link for that now), in other words for aircraft that don't have a top speed higher than about 350 or 400 kph c) the difference between top speeds at alt and at sea level are modelled just fine for the jet engines in SF2, since caps on SL speeds, and Alt speeds, work fine for those (have seen this in some Flogger tweaks that I did for my mini-SF2 install); in other words, SF2 respects the wet/dry mach values and alt table entries beautifully for jet-age stuff d) I think that the MaxThrottle value in SF2, for the prop aircraft, could use some more tinkering/testing...I've set it at 1.00, but will try other values of 1.20, 1.50 etc., to see if this creates more realistic differences between regular power and WEP, or some kind of "accordion" effect e) as it stands, I'm enjoying the SeaFuries and Corsairs but only with SL speed uncapped and giving historical top speeds not at alt. but near sea level (this is a compromise of sorts since, at alt, they still make about 600 kph and sometimes a bit more - so I'm not terribly irritated by not attaining 740 kph at 7000 m alt or so, for example, in the SeaFury, as recorded for that plane) f) a couple of pics included below of the AI in SF2 now losing control of their F4U-5 Corsair during a scrap, and doing several back flips (too much throttle applied perhaps?); he then bails out of the otherwise undamaged plane; so, overall, I'm liking the realism of some of the haphazard maneuvers they now make, and also the increased speed at which these late prop fights now happen, even on the deck g) anything that I find of further use in the SF2 data inis, and if relevant to FE2, I will tinker with more to bring even more realism into FE2 (the lockout speed trick implemented for control surfaces in the alternative Morane-Saulnier type N data ini posted under the FM thread for FE2 is an example of things discovered while combing through the SF2 files) Happy flying, Von S

Further testing of FE2 cloud tweaks in my mini-SF2 install, with a slightly modified data ini for the SeaFury to get it into the 730s kph (model recently posted by Paulopanz if I remember correctly, and a beautiful model too). Works great for early Cold War scenarios, as do the F4U-5 Argentine Corsairs. Thank you modders! Von S

I'm in a similar situation. Even though I bought 20 or so aircraft for Rise of Flight recently (at discount for about 2 dollars apiece), I still spend most of my time flying FE2, there's no beating the ThirdWire sim for seat of the pants flying and action, and the AI is very good too. If you're having trouble with solid telephone poles or square cows in the terrains, try the following tweaks I may have posted elsewhere on the site: Go into the relevant data.ini file for whatever terrain you're flying (such as Palestine_data.ini), scroll down to the SolidObjectTextureMaterial section and change the following entry: BlendOp=ONE should be changed to: BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA Also, go to the following link and download Mue's FE2 shaders and copy the shaders into your terrain folder: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/85970-shimmering-tods-and-target-objects/ Once you've done that, go again into the terrain data ini file, under the SolidObjectTextureMaterial section, and tweak the following values: ZBufferOffset=2.0 change to: ZBufferOffset=5.0 Also I recommend using the improved flightengine.ini file located in my FM update pack for wider horizons and less popping in/out of scenery. The aircraft you're missing are located here... The Voisan type 3 https://combatace.com/files/file/12351-voisin-las-2-pack/ The Aviatik-Berg D.1 (early variant, my 160hp mod. is for this one, as is my early 200hp mod.) https://combatace.com/files/file/13044-aviatik-berg-di-early/ The Other Aviatik-Berg D.1 (late variant, my 230hp mod. is for this one, as is my "late" 200hp mod.) https://combatace.com/files/file/11953-aviatik-berg-di/ The 200hp variants are easy to install (simply drop the data inis into the relevant stock folders and override). To make the 160hp and 230hp variants, make copies of the relevant stock folders, rename to the names I've given my 160hp and 230hp folders, and then copy over my tweaked data ini and general ini files into the stock folders you've just renamed. This should give you the whole Berg "fleet." Happy flying, Von S

Also for further realism, I recommend gents the following modifications to the gun entries, if you are running my fm/realism pack: For the left gun: GunTypeName=303CAL_VICKERS_MK2boost MaxAmmo=400 For the right gun: GunTypeName=303CAL_VICKERS_MK2 MaxAmmo=400 This will give you about 850 rounds/min on the left gun, and about 600/min on the right gun, as typical of some of the later Entente planes (Spad 13 235hp, the Bentley powered Camel, etc.). Von S

Beautiful skins, now I'm motivated to tweak the FM for the Snipe. Been holding off for a couple of years on it since I had strange purple and neon artifacts present with the old original skin. Von S

Thanks for the nice words gents - the sound variety is very good also for situational awareness...you can usually pick up on what's in the vicinity based simply on the sound of the engine on enemy aircraft. I'm using one of the low-hp, early rotary sounds for the inline engines on BE2c and BE2e types in the sim, because of the nice rickety sound....but if I can find a Beardmore sound on the internet I'll see if I can eventually modify it and substitute that instead for the early two-seater types. Speaking of small communities, I'm also pleasantly surprised how many talented modders we have working on FE/FE2, considering that this is a "niche" simulator within an already niche category of simming (WW1) where most people only know about RoF and WoFF. Happy flying, Von S

Always liked the damage modelling in this one, especially with several dozen mods added to tweak it further for more robustness to the aircraft, the "gavagai" mods in particular work well. Bit of a mishap during a balloon attack in the pic. below, but the pilot was mostly okay. Von S

Additional gun sounds and the latest engine sounds can be found in my FM update pack folders (see the big ver. 9.5 folder, also the smaller ver. 9.7 folder in that pack). As well, double-check that you are using the latest soundlist.ini file in your Flight folder (I have included my latest one in the ver. 9.7 Flight folder). Any sounds that are missing from my packs should be available on CombatAce over at this link: https://combatace.com/files/file/13385-realistic-engine-sounds/ And this other link offers a comparison of sound names from the CombatAce pack, above, and names I use in my FM update packs: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/87403-tweaked-flight-models-and-realism-pack-for-fe2/?page=5&tab=comments#comment-727507 Names of sounds in the data inis from my FM pack match the soundlist.ini file included in the pack, and also match the names located in the comparison chart above. If you want to use your own sound files, you will have to change the name in the "EngineSoundName" entry of the data inis. Happy flying, Von S

That's good news - if some instability remains, the old advice always works well - re-install FE2 to get it to stock settings, and if all goes well on a stock re-install, run FE2 at least once and it should automatically make a folder under the appropriate mod directory (in Windows it's Saved Games, on the Mac side it's generated in the Documents folder). If no mod folder is created, just move over your previously modded one but make sure to follow the appropriate names and folder hierarchy structures. Von S

Runs fine in my 64bit Win10 install - I'm running the Oct. 2018 update of Win10. I recommend placing the dx9 driver (from the ENB website, generic version 0.0076, directly inside the FE2 game folder...has done wonders for the frame rates on my FE2 install on the Windows side, and also in WineSkin on the Mac side)....the driver is available in my FM update pack but can also be downloaded from the ENB website...link to the generic dx9 driver follows below: http://enbdev.com/download_mod_generic.htm Hope you're able to get FE2 running again. Von S

Thanks gents' for the quick replies...have now double-checked everything and it is definitely the "wall" in the Himalayas map, good to know that it's not a data ini problem. Map pic. below of where the wall emerges in the Himalayas map...somewhere approaching 70 longitude. Von S

Thanks for the reply Wrench...the MiG-23 S is from the following pack: https://combatace.com/files/file/12151-sf2-mig-23-mig-27-floggers-part-1/ I'll also test the 23 S with a different data ini (maybe one of the stock ones such as from the 23 MS that comes with SF2 and will post results in a day or two). Probably it's just a data ini problem. Only tested this out with the Himalayas terrain...will test the Alaska terrain too and compare. Von S

The Eastern front is usually sleepy but occasionally gives some fine skirmishes. Enjoying ver. 3 of Stephen's Galicia terrain below (looks fine even at medium settings in WineSkin on the Mac side and with the improved flight engine ini file installed - pics below are with dx9 only enabled). Now with the Aviatik C.1 FM modded, I can set up some flights against Be2c and Be12 types...recreating the goodness of the 70s' BBC show "Wings" . Happy flying, Von S

Hello gents,' See pics below for oddities on the early Flogger-A (MiG 23 type S)....occasionally the plane drifts sideways at a 90 degree angle, throwing the cockpit view off...this also happens sometimes in spins/stalls...the only mods I've made to the data inis that come with the early Floggers is copying/pasting of stock CD0 values from SF2 (from the MiG 23 MS export variant)...otherwise it was impossible to push past about Mach 1.2 at alt. I haven't noticed this oddity on later Floggers, only the early ones with the narrower wing (have tried limiting yaw values but doesn't seem to make a difference). The Floggers I'm using are from the big 2-pack MiG install available on CombatAce, by the way, with Stary's enhanced cockpits installed. Comments/suggestions appreciated. Von S

Yes, the beauty of FE/FE2 is that, unlike SF and SF2, these two are largely cross-compatible. Most info. applicable to FE2 is applicable to FE/FEgold, except for some directory paths for file installation, and I think that FE/FEgold do not have a separate "user directory" as does FE2. Even most plane types made specifically for FE2 are backward compatible with FE (Crawford has figured out an ini trick to get FE2 aircraft loaded in FE....I think he posted some of the info. under the "new aircraft" thread...somewhere around page 20 of that thread). And most FE aircraft are flyable in FE2 (only thing requiring tweaking is usually decal placement and decal files). I fly several FE-era aircraft in FE2 with no problems. Happy flying, Von S

On heavy settings, you should indeed be getting some occasional traffic going back and forth. For bombing and ground strafing, I don't have much experience with that but I'm sure someone will pitch in who flies FE2 frequently in ground attack mode or bombing runs. There should be a command to send your flight to "attack ground targets" - I've tried the command a few times but it's usually hit and miss, although I've only tried it by sending my flight to strafe an AA post or something similar...from what I learned later (I think from Crawford), FE/FE2 does not have the ability to tell other aircraft to do a strafing run, using the attack ground command - "attack ground target" being limited to bombing/grenade runs. I'm sure some of our fellow flyers know more about air-to-ground technicalities in FE2. (It's possible also that the attack-ground-target command is limited to the type of mission being flown....with limited effectiveness, for example, in offensive-type missions...but I'm sure that someone knows more about this.) Von S

Once you download all of the required planes for the armchair aces campaigns, it's likely that there will be more air traffic than currently. Having said that, if you try out some of the congestion settings in my update pack, you may (in early war scenarios) find yourself flying for an hour or two with no enemy planes in sight - as historical. The occasional enemy may come trotting by and engage in a duel, but otherwise it's pleasant sight-seeing until about the summer of 1916. For more obscure fronts, such as Palestine and the eastern front, low air congestion would have been historical well into 1917, even 1918. It's not really until the spring of 1918 that the Entente start putting up aircraft in greater numbers in Palestine, for example, while the Germans have the aerial upper hand to about 1917. For the Italian front too, not too much congestion until about late 1917/early 1918. And then keep in mind that the last couple of months of the war should feature lower congestion than the peak of action in Italy and the western front (basically the first half of 1918). The armchair campaigns should be fine on "medium" realism as long as you stick with the data ini files (the FMs) provided with the aircraft - don't install any other FMs. Yes, overall, my FM pack makes flying the planes noticeably harder than even the hard setting can provide - I like to think of it as the "historically realistic" setting....or at any rate good fun if you enjoy the surprise of flying early crates that are often like wild horses. It's not so bad from about 1917 onwards (with the newer plane types), but lots of luck is now needed to score well with crates typical of the 1914 to 1916 period. I recommend trying out the Morane Saulnier type H, also the type G variants, as well as the Longhorn and Shorthorn types, Parasol types, also the early Eindeckers and Pfalz monoplanes on the Central powers side - for a ripping good challenge. Von S P.S. Ver. 9.7 of the FM update pack will be posted soon so you might want to wait and download that version (the install will be simpler than the several versions of folders currently available in the ver. 9.5 pack).

Have double-checked the patches downloads link now and I think that patches and updates refer to the same thing, just a different choice of word. From what I could figure out, you only need to install the latest patch for FE1/FEgold to get it up to date...in your case it would be the November 2008 patch, which should include all previous patches in it already. The direct link for the latest patch for FE1 is: https://combatace.com/files/file/8942-first-eagles-nov-2008-update/ For the armchair aces campaigns, you have to download the necessary aircraft individually...and yes, if you're going to try out my FM pack, best thing is to download it at the same time as you grab the individual aircraft too - will save time on downloading since my FM tweaks override the older peter01 mods, so no need to download earlier FM tweaks unless you want specifically to try out the peter01 mods. My FM tweaks should be flown on "hard" mode in the FE settings menu, by the way, as should the old peter01 mods. No telling how they behave on easy or medium/moderate settings. Von S

Latest patch/update for FE2 is from the summer of 2010...no further updates have been done to it. Updates are usually bigger than patches but neither are being offered anymore for FE2 so that simplifies things. The peter01 FMs are quite old by the way, about 10 years if not more. Most of those have been re-tweaked in my huge FM update pack (see the relevant file under the downloads section for FE2). FE/FEgold I think were patched no later than about 2008...but I only have FE2, so FE/FEgold flyers can perhaps pitch in with more info. My FM pack covers more than 200 aircraft types for FE/FE2...there are another 10 or so I didn't get to...some were visited by peter01 long ago, others are still un-modded. My only suggestions, if interested in installing the FM update pack, is to read the directions in the read me files included carefully since it requires manual installs...making a JSGME friendly variant would take too much time unfortunately, and besides, hardly anyone flies FE/FE2 unmodded - modding it up either fully or at least with the mods you like transforms it from "sim lite" into a credible flight simulator. For campaign and redux questions, I recommend contacting Ojcar, since he has produced many of those campaigns...as far as I know, the planes required for many of those campaigns need to be installed individually, for them to appear in the campaigns. Happy flying, Von S P.S. WOFF goes as far back as 1915/1916 (with Eindecker campaigns, also with the Nieuport 10, DH.2, BE2 and so on)...older versions like OFF2/OFF3/Hat in the Ring, have a more limited planeset...WOFF has about 80 planes in total.

The general rule of thumb is to install contents from folders into other identical folders, overriding files in those folders. If a folder doesn't exist that corresponds with a folder to be installed, a similar procedure should be applied - create a folder with an identical name, and then drop the relevant files inside. Copying over entire folders can be risky since not all folders contain all necessary files. Another tip, if you are running different theaters in FE2 (Middle East, Eastern Front, etc.) is to make several copies of your ThirdWire folder (the one in your "games" folder in Windows, not the actual game contents folder) - and then to mod each of those theater folders....then you can simply swap in/out the theaters you want to fly by naming the folder you want to fly as "ThirdWire" (without quotation marks) and making sure that it's in your games directory of your user account in Windows. Von S

Ver. 9.7 FM update complete, now to package everything and write up the version notes, might take a couple of weeks. Have now combed over the Aviatik C.1, also the latest SAML S.2 (uploaded by Stephen yesterday) - and four different versions of the Aviatik Berg D.1 - an early 160hp variant, two versions of the mid-grade 200 hp variant, and a late 230 hp variant that also served as a test bed for the Berg D.II modification. The 230hp one is lovely...top speed around 210 kph on it. The 185hp variant was largely used for flight testing and has a similar top speed to the 200hp mount so I didn't bother with that one (I think there are enough sub-types now ). Also re-tweaked the Phonix D.IIa and went over the D.II variant as well. Pic. below is of a climbing test of the SAML S.2 - similar flying characteristics to the Aviatik C.1 but much more power and a good climb rate too. Will include a new sound to go with the Fiat engine as well. Happy flying, Von S

The Berg D.I has lovely lines - here are a few pics. of its triplane variant, this one never got beyond two or three prototypes unfortunately. Note the wider-chord bottom wing, in relation to the top and mid wings. Von S

And one more post for this thread regarding the ver. 9.7 update . Have now re-tweaked all of the Fokk. D.7 data inis for more subtle altitude table data numbers and subtler variations for control surfaces, also combed over the Dr.1 variants too and re-did the alt. table numbers, as well as re-touched the control surfaces, also for the Fokk. D.8. Alt. table data numbers are slightly more refined now than previously for the rotaries, with intervals of about 700 instead of the original 900 meters between power drops...should work well for the Oberursels and gives them about 50-60% of total power at their ceilings, as was typical for many WWI engines, rotaries and inlines (no power curves here dropping to zero as for later piston aircraft but more of a stepped decrease until the alt. ceiling is hit). Will take a short break now before looking over the Aviatik, SAML, and Anatra C.1 - then I have to package everything carefully by folder - hopefully this will all be released by Feb. or March. The packaging is often slower than the modding. Pics below of the OAW Fokk. D.7 and another classic that I need to fly more often since it's so much fun. (The OAW variant is a fine aircraft by the way - it can hold its own although with less power at alts. than the 7f variant...I think Mikael Carlson's D.7 has the 180hp (au) Mercedes typical of the OAW builds.) Von S

Just a quick note to fellow FE/FE2 simmers that the data ini file located in the Nieu21 pack on page 18 (link is https://combatace.com/forums/topic/91066-new-aircraft/?page=18&tab=comments#comment-747561) may or may not be interchangeable with Geezer's Nieu21Lewis mod for the Russ. N21. The relevant data ini to try out with Geezer's N21Lewis Russ. model is the one located in the "N21DuxLewis" folder of the post on page 18. That one is my latest data ini from Sept. of 2018, while the one in Geezer's N21 Lewis folder is from June of 2018. It's possible that the "N21DuxLewis" uses the same aircraft files since, from a quick check of the lods/outs, they are dated July 13, 2018 in both that pack and Geezer's post. EDIT: Have now tested the files...Geezer's post contains the latest skin folder for the N21Dux...two variants work well therefore...either replace your old Russian skin folder in the N21DuxLewis folder with Geezer's skin folder, or rename his Nieuport_21 aircraft folder to N21DuxLewis and drop in the data ini and general ini files from the N21DuxLewis folder available on page 18 of this thread...results should be the same and will give you the latest variant of the N21 Dux Lewis-armed...pic included below (don't forget to include Stephen's Lewis gun in your Pilots folder as per instructions on page 18 for this to work). Happy flying, Von S LATEST EDIT: Recommended is to download the "consolidated" file posted below (page 25) in this thread, for all of the latest updates to Geezer's aircraft that were released on pages 17, 18, and 23 of this thread.