VonS

Hello gents, please find attached below the latest data inis for the big update pack of Geezer's aircraft, posted several posts above. The data inis are for the Nieu. 24, 24bis, Nieu. 23, 23 Lewis, also the Nieu. 17, and 17 Lewis. These files have improved, more subtle performance at different altitudes under the "engine" section - by mistake the files weren't included with the pack posted above (but slightly older files with simpler altitude performance data). All the other aircraft have their latest data inis already included. Happy flying, Von S

Good info. Crawford, the 24/25/27 Nieups. are often hard to distinguish. Also possible is that the Nieu. 27 had strengthened v-struts and a thicker single spar in the bottom wings, in comparison to the 24/24bis. The 25 may also have been strengthened, although some 25s were just engined-up 24s as on the eastern front. Von S

Hello again fellow flyers of FE2, Please find attached below Geezer's latest, nearly complete version of the Nieuport 27. You will also find included two versions of the general ini file, one with shadows and the other with shadows disabled. Many thanks to Crawford, Jeanba, Coupi and Mike Dora, and of course Geezer. Your friendly neighborhood FE2 aircraft construction team will now focus on the Breguet XIV, Junkers J.1, also prop disc tweaks for the Nieu. 21 series, and engine/prop tweaks for the Nieu. 23 Lewis variant and the N.28/28a. The Nieu. 27, like the Halb. CL.IV and other models, may be able to work in FE/FEgold too. Happy flying, Von S

For must-have mods, I recommend installing as many planes as you can find in the downloads section for FE and FE2, also pick up Stephen's pilots and observers, located under "cockpit mods." As well there are several good ground objects in the "objects mods" downloads section, and of course don't forget to pick up the excellent terrains in the relevant mods section, such as gterl's Italian terrain and other great ones - drill down to about the year 2012 and 2013 in the downloads sections to pick up the latest impressive additions for FE2. The FM/realism pack should be installed after all of the other mods are installed. If there's anything I've missed I'm sure the rest of the FE2 community can pitch in with suggestions. You will also find some of the latest in-progress aircraft ready for download under the "new aircraft" thread. Von S

Third DiD Mission for Ltn. Fritz Müller, Palestine theater, following the 20 rules for DiD (by Von S) --- August 31, 1918 "Seeing that it would take some time for me to recuperate from my ordeal at Port Said, Von Winklermann, our flight officer at Jenin, decided to send me temporarily to the aerodrome at Amman to oversee some of the novice pilots. I have been here already for two weeks but had not been in the air once since arriving. Amman is an Ottoman base and is lacking in equipment. Available is one obsolete Fokker E.II type that is no longer airworthy and sits dismantled in its hangar; also present is a Rumpler that is barely airworthy and on occasion engages in short reconnaissance flights; and the other three remaining aircraft are two Albatros D.V types and a solitary Pfalz döppeldecker as I had flown on missions from Jenin. One of the Albatroses was on an escort flight today with the Rumpler. This left me with the other Albatros and a young fellow by the name of Viktor Weihs with the Pfalz. I was by now feeling well enough to engage in short flights and was assigned an evening task, consisting of a wide circle from the aerodrome to the Amman Observation Post and its balloon, about five or six kilometers southwest of us, and then back. The flight officer at Amman had a propensity to send his men out on afternoon or evening flights, and to while away the hot days reading or playing chess in his tent, in contrast to the morning discipline found typically at Jenin. As we got underway, it was already raining and the clouds were settling low, with a light breeze. Vzfw. Weihs was comfortably sitting in his Pfalz with the engine started, before I could even climb into the cockpit of the Albatros. Eventually my mount sputtered to life too, and I immediately noticed that it was much noisier than my lovely Pfalz that the fisherman and I had to destroy unfortunately, for fear that it would fall into the hands of the English or Bedouin tribes that would often be found in that area. Soon we were off, climbing to an altitude of about 1200 meters, but not higher since we would become disoriented in the rain and fog. Checking our maps from time to time, we floated along from one point to another, and eventually to the outpost that was southwest of us. We cut our throttles slightly and circled several times but were unable to spot the observation balloon through the thick clouds. A buzzing sound directed our attention to two of those maneuverable English types, Sopwiths, that were about 500 meters above us - but these fellows seemed to have been coming back from a mission and did not notice us in the rolling fog below. Cautious of these types, I signaled to Weihs that we avoid engaging them - they could climb faster and were already at a height advantage, and there was no use in pursuing them since our observation balloon was safe from prying eyes in the fog, at least for tonight. We turned back gradually towards our aerodrome at Amman when the chattering of a gun drew my attention to a third aircraft, the same type of maneuverable British scout, closing fast on Weihs's tail - my companion being about half a kilometer behind me. Weihs also spotted this fellow and began a wide ascending turn in the Pfalz, but I had in the more nimble Albatros already pointed myself in the direction of the British scout. All three of us now did several oscillations to the left - once, twice, thrice. On the fourth or fifth one I fired my guns - but the difficulties in getting behind his tail were evident. This Englishman was indeed slippery and had a better plane than either of us, but I persevered. A few more well-placed shots were sent in his direction - and he turned on his back and disappeared into the rain and fog. Weihs soon rejoined me and we proceeded back to the base at Amman. There was no use loitering about too long since the weather was worsening and we were also not very enthusiastic to meet more of these maneuverable foes. It was a relief to be back at the aerodrome. The rain had settled in for the night with a slow but rhythmical wind thumping against our tent. Weihs had already fallen asleep, no doubt exhausted after the flight. I on the other hand remained awake a few more hours to read some notes on aerial tactics that I had been penning ever since my arrival here from Jenin - and also to contemplate my sixth victory."

Hello fellow FE2 flyers, Please find attached below a zipped file that includes improved level-one lod views in the general ini file for Geezer's Pfalz D.3 and 3a. Also included are corrected, extra skin folders in DDS and lower-resolution (but easier to paint) BMP format for the Pfalz D.3a, not the D.3 (the early D.3 has one standard skin only in DDS format that Geezer made). Please read the directions included in the "note" on the pic. below, if painting/skinning the Pfalz for yourselves. Also, if you are installing the BMP skins instead of the DDS ones, install as well (copy over and replace) the older lod and out files provided in that folder, since otherwise the BMP skins won't show up. The Pfalz D.3a is available in the big download pack posted earlier in this thread. Happy flying, Von S

Hello Crawford, thank you for those out and lod files for the Nieu. 23 series by Geezer. I can now confirm after testing that they fix the static blur problem on the Nieu. 23 rotary engines. I recommend that, if you have downloaded the big pack with several of Geezer's latest works-in-progress models - you also download the out/lod files that Crawford has posted above - simply drop the files into your Nieu. 23, 23bis, and 23dux folders - and you will have proper rotation of the engine. Excellent discovery Crawford! Perhaps we will be able to fix this same problem on the Nieu. 23 Lewis variant soon too. For the Nieu. 27 - the latest files I have by Geezer, while almost done, do not have correctly aligned left/right wheels...I will PM you the files for testing. Von S

Hi Bob, if I've read your post correctly - I think you made a copy of the actual game folder for FE2 and were installing mods into that folder. The correct way to install things in FE2 and the SF2 series is only to mod the "user folder" for your game, not the actual game folder (see Wrench's helpful post above mine for more info.). In terms of sub-folders available in my folders (in the realism/FM packs), some brief info. follows below: - never copy over my folders into your user folder for FE2 but look for matching folders, or make copies of similar folders, rename them to match the folders I have (for new variants not present in your user folder for FE2), and then only copy over files located in my folders into your matching folders, overriding previous files that are there (this will provide correct installs since my FM packs only contain changed files, but not all the files that come with third-party addons such as for aircraft, ground objects, etc.) - ground objects, weapons, and other addons are of course found in the relevant download threads for FE2, such as Stephen's Palestine terrain, and those objects, weapons, etc., should be installed first before any further modification is attempted using my further modded files (for example, you would have to already have installed in your ground objects folder of your user folder for FE2 various balloon types, such as the Drachen, etc., before you can further modify those files to give you early-war, low altitude balloons as I've modded for ver. 9.1 of the FM update pack - the relevant balloon folders in your user directory would then be copied, the copies renamed to the modded folders in my FM pack, and only the files located inside my modded folders copied over to the new folders you've made) - also, when you are installing my files (such as for the modded ground objects, etc.), make sure to drill down all the way inside my folders since, for example, the low-lying early war balloon folders also contain "new" skins inside a skins folder that is nested further inside - skins in that folder should be copied over to the relevant skins folder that's already inside the relevant ground object folder of your user folder for FE2 (sounds a bit confusing but it's easy once you get some practice in installing the files) - the general rule is always to copy over files into matching folders, or into folders that have been renamed to match my folders - but never copy over the folders themselves from my FM packs since I only include changed files in most cases, not full folders that will give you flyable planes, objects, etc. Also, see the two pics. included below to see the difference between the actual game folder for FE2 and the user game folder for FE2 where you are supposed to install mods, additions, etc. (you will notice how the second pic., of the user folder, has different folders available). The best thing to do is to delete the modded copy you have of the actual game folder for FE2 (that is a botched install), run a stock/unmodded install of FE2, quit the program, and then navigate to the user folder for FE2 that will have been created automatically (then make as many copies of the user folder as you like - and you can start modding those folders). Happy flying, Von S

Here is the Second DiD Mission for Ltn. Fritz Müller, Palestine theater, following the 20 rules for DiD (by Von S) --- July 29, 1918 "This morning our new flight officer decided that I and Vzfw. Arnold Nowotny would do a reconnaissance flight to Port Said. The weather was pleasant enough with a light breeze and scattered clouds, but the flight would be a long and grueling one, and cold at the high altitudes we were to undertake the journey. We ascended slowly from our aerodrome at Jenin, gathering speed and altitude gradually, and making our way towards the open water. By this time we were at an altitude of about 4000 meters and were frequently battling a constant westerly wind* that kept pushing us in proximity of the coast, so that we had to fight our aircraft controls to go further over the water and remain unnoticed by any English forces that had crept northwards during these trying months. The journey was indeed a monotonous one with no friendly or enemy aircraft in sight* but at least the pretty clouds made our long flight to Port Said feel shorter. Eventually I lowered my left wing, peered over the side of the cockpit, and noticed the mouth of the Suez Canal coming into view, emerging here and there through the light cloud cover. I idled my engine and began a gradual, spiraling descent towards the port, with Nowotny following me. Feeling sure of ourselves, we descended quite low and sprinted across several fields and villages slightly south of the port when we noticed a caravan, made up of seven or eight camels and carrying supplies that seemed to consist of munitions and various boxes. I quickly signaled to my flight companion and we dove on this caravan - three or four passes were required but eventually the whole was a fiery mess, with black clouds of smoke being blown across the countryside. Seeing the commotion below, I began a wide ascending turn only to see that Vzfw. Nowotny had been caught unaware by a sly Nieuport that may have been hiding in some cloud cover. I was still about half a kilometer away but pointed my wide turn in the direction of the Nieuport that was already chattering away with its gun, following closely behind my companion. This Nieuport was not piloted by any novice however, for he soon broke off his attack and turned directly into me. We circled and danced, I doing wide turns to maintain speed and this brave fellow doing a few loops over me, and then below, and then with some tight turns thrown in to impress me further. I seized on the opportunity, found myself slightly below the fellow, and opened my guns. His engine began to burn soon. I did not wait to inspect details but began a fast climb away from him. When I leaned over my cockpit to survey the scene I saw that he had plummeted down in the vicinity of a village, trailed by a long plume of smoke. Nowotny had in the meantime joined up with me and was pointing upwards with his finger, towards what to my satisfaction was an observation balloon, roughly above the Canal and near a bridge. This balloon was surprisingly high, over 1000 meters, so we climbed some, did a few wide circles around it and then attacked. It was quick work and a descending ball of fire was then seen heading towards the bridge, with no sign of the balloon's occupant. We did not bother to circle the area any further but climbed slightly and headed in the direction of our lines, across the Canal. All was going well I thought, given the excitement of this flight, but I was premature in my conclusion. My propeller's revolutions suddenly slowed, and slowed some more, and it came to a stop … and then there was only the sound of the wind. Had I pushed my engine too much during this flight? I was close to 1500 RPMs for most of the journey. Perhaps it had overheated and seized?! But there was no evidence on the instruments that something was wrong. These and other questions went through my mind for the next minute - I realized the situation was serious. My flight companion had slowed down and was observing my still propeller. I had no choice however and, very grimly, signaled with my left hand that he fly back to our base at Jenin and inform all of my engine failure. Now I concentrated on bringing my crate down, careful not to stall since I knew the Pfalz's vices. I landed somewhat roughly but intact, and rolled to a quick stop about three or four kilometers east of the Canal, and about half a kilometer away from what seemed a fisherman's hut (I was very close to the coast). There was no way of knowing if English or our own and Ottoman troops were nearby since the front lines here were always changing, as the waves on the coast. I did not wait too long to think but gathered my map, compass, other items of sentimental importance from the Pfalz, and ran into the fisherman's hut. To my delight the old fellow inside, after calming down from seeing my strange presence, informed me pleasantly that he was helping to get much-needed supplies to the Ottomans and would frequently ferry such items in his fishing boat, back and forth - using the cover of moonless nights to slip by. For the next several days I remained huddled at the bottom of this fishing boat, feeding on salted fish and crabs, and viewing and reviewing my map, to see that we were headed east and slightly north towards our lines, careful to keep the coast visible but not to come too close. By the time I reached Jenin I had grown a beard and was unrecognizable to Nowotny and Steinmann. I would require several weeks rest before any flights were attempted; these were the orders of the flight officer. While I did not want to rest that long, I could still rejoice since my victories were confirmed two days before I arrived - the British caravan, an observation balloon, and the Nieuport that had impressed me with its aerobatic skills. This had brought my total aerial victories to five, and I would be receiving the Iron Cross 2nd Class!" --- Notes: The effects of wind drift are noticeable in FE2 above about 3500 meters altitude (11,000 to 12,000 feet) in these wooden planes (but not so noticeable lower down, which seems realistic) - and also it depends on the strength of wind in the environmentsystem.ini file that's installed in the Flight folder (see my FM update packs for those files). The low congestion modifications are also working very realistically - only a few aircraft so far are spotted per mission, as typical of these obscure theaters.

We'll be happy to help out - you will find the FE2 community to be one of the best WW1 sim communities on the internet. Also see the thread "Downloads for First Eagles" for other helpful links that I've just posted. Von S

Here's also my convenient post again under this thread for those who need direct links to many of the important downloads to FE2 - the link is also included in the PDF guides included with my FM updates packs. https://combatace.com/forums/topic/91337-problems-with-my-fe2/?tab=comments#comment-738368 And this one too is helpful for the different aircraft sub-types offered in the FM updates packs: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/91337-problems-with-my-fe2/?tab=comments#comment-738514 Happy flying, Von S

Also, please see this thread if you are having trouble getting aircraft to show up in the FE2 game menu that are available in my FM updates pack (for several of those, modified copies of already available full aircraft folders will be needed, as outlined in detail in the post): https://combatace.com/forums/topic/91387-black-planes/ Von S

Hello RIBob, the four different "front" folders I have in my FM updates pack is to help with organization of different aircraft types per theater, and also since sometimes the same types have different service dates for different theaters. In order to access all four fronts (Italian, middle eastern, western, eastern, etc.), you need to build up four user folders in the relevant user directory for First Eagles 2 (in other words, you need four full folders ready that First Eagles 2 will access). For FE2 to call up the user folder, it should be called as follows and located in the appropriate place on your hard drive: user/Documents/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2 For example, I have four full folders installed under "Documents" (ThirdWire eastern, ThirdWire western, etc.) - in order to activate the theater I want, I rename it to ThirdWire, and I deactivate the current one I'm flying by placing extra info. in the name of the folder. A bit cumbersome, but once you're all set up then it's easy to toggle different theaters on/off. Same procedure applies to the SF2 titles as well. The good part to this kind of approach is that you can then have different ground objects installed per theater, weather, clouds, etc. - since each folder becomes a full install. For SF2 I tend to have only one full folder, but several terrain folders inside that one, several aircraft folders too, and a couple of weapons and ground objects folders - and then I toggle stuff on/off as per taste - but for FE2 I recommend the full four theater approach (or full five if you are also running the North Sea terrain) - since FE2 will give you full immersion in WW1 that way. Von S

Great stuff gterl, pleased to hear that. I've already started with one completed DiD single mission in the Palestine theater, with a new pilot, for July of 1918 when some Pfalzes arrived there. Post is below for immersion, and some "period" pics. too - will be interesting to see how long Ltn. Müller survives using the 20 DiD rules for missions that I posted. Von S --- First DiD Mission for Vzfw. Fritz Müller, Palestine theater, following the 20 rules for DiD --- July 27, 1918 "Today was a morning mission to bust balloons near Jericho. Weather was broken and with slight winds. I had a headache from the previous night's celebration to welcome our new flight officer, but the cool morning air, I was sure, would be beneficial. We had also received some Pfalzes recently, prior to our previous flight officer's replacement. They were sent by train, with some delays, but we were grateful to receive them finally at Jenin airfield. The Albatros D.II we were still relying on was a nearly useless type and I dreaded getting into one of them. Today was my first mission in the Pfalz, although I had already trained some on them back home. Their acceleration and climb is pleasant, although I am now more careful to watch my speed and stay out of spins - this I learned unexpectedly in flight school. Flying with me was a new fellow, Ltn. Eckard Steinmann, who already had five combat missions under his belt but no kills. It was a comfort to have him fly with me - I have had only two combat missions so far, both uneventful, no aircraft encountered the first time and the other time a brief fight with one of those English pusher-types. My guns had however jammed on the old Albatros and I wasn't able to fire a shot. Today would be different, I hoped, and so it was. Working our way towards Jericho between clouds, at around 2000 meters, we noticed a solitary balloon further south of the town. My flight companion who was above and in front of me made a signal and we dove on the balloon. It lit up rather quickly in a small ball of flame and disappeared below; soon after I turned and noticed the observer parachuting down into a field. Some large solitary English aircraft had been lumbering around in the vicinity and decided unwisely to attack us after our adventure with the balloon. He was however slow and with poor maneuverability and I got on his tail quickly. I had already experimented with a cockpit-camera device on the old Albatros and was eager to test it out on the Pfalz too. Fortunately I had time to install the device yesterday but there was no opportunity to test it. You see it works intermittently - the gun trigger is connected by wire with the device and every 20 rounds or so fired is one full exposure for a picture. Somewhat clumsy yes but I was pleased with it, and today especially for it captured the lumbering English type as it began to smoke and steam profusely. Cold by now and tired of our adventure, I made a wide turn north, south of Jericho, only to see what seemed to be two English scouts approaching rapidly, a new maneuverable type they have here, although in small numbers, and that I had heard stories of several times. Steinmann went after the lower fellow while I began a gentle climb to meet the other Englishman. We circled and circled for what seemed like ages, with my adversary outmaneuvering me most of the time, but I was careful to maintain speed and to use gentle movements, getting out of his way whenever possible. My camera again worked well when I found myself on the fellow's tail. His fuel tank was punctured; eventually I saw his propeller stop as he drifted southeast, with Steinmann following behind and his own adversary nowhere to be seen. Apprehensive of meeting with other unpleasant things, we decided to climb north into the clouds again, above Jericho, and then over the mountains for the long flight back to Jenin. Later that day the report came in that I would be awarded with three kills - a balloon, the lumbering Englishman, and the maneuverable and pesky scout that kept getting on my tail and even managed to put a few holes in my rudder. Steinmann congratulated me and was surprised that my lack of experience in combat, compared to his own, had not gotten in the way. I amusingly suggested that perhaps my lack of combat experience is what helped me this time and that flight school was correct by putting me in the cockpit of a Pfalz. Sometimes at flight school they'll tell you anything, and sometimes they are right. In all the excitement, I had nearly forgotten that I would be awarded the Honor Goblet and was being promoted to Lieutenant!" --- Note: Early war, lowest congestion settings from my ver. 9.5 FM updates pack are being used in the Flight folder for this series of adventures, to help further with the "light" aircraft activity setting in the FE2 game menu.

Hello gents', Any thoughts on starting up a DiD (dead is dead) series of single missions in FE2/FE? Should help to bring new life into our special sim. Rules don't have to be as strict as for the DiD campaigns running for WOFFue over on the SimHQ website, but a list of some sensible rules should help to get everyone started - and will be a good break from modding and skinning too. I'm including some preliminary rules below and will try to start up a series of (DiD) single missions soon, either on the eastern or western front (have spent two years already in the Palestine front and currently looking for a change). This may work in campaign mode too (such as for Ojcar's campaigns), but I've tried to develop the rules specifically around single, evolving missions, for variety and historical realism. If you choose to start up a DiD series of single missions, don't forget to post brief notes on your exploits and some good screenshots here on this thread - for immersion - posts can be brief or long, as per taste. RULES FOR DID STYLE SINGLE MISSIONS IN FE2 (probably works in FE/FEgold too) 1. make sure to begin with a new pilot if your current one is killed in action 2. missions must be flown from your base to the target and back again (no in-the-air or close-to-target beginnings); you may however skip/delete certain waypoints while en route if they are less important to getting to your target area 3. missions may be begun in scouts or two-seaters, whatever you prefer (no need to begin with a two-seater career) 4. if you are shot down and alive but "captured" behind enemy lines (such as sometimes happens after bailing out at low altitude), fast-forward six months for your next mission for the western front, and one full year for the eastern, Italian, and middle eastern fronts (we will assume you eventually escaped back to your side of the lines); these same rules apply if you manage to crash-land and survive on the wrong side of the lines (with wing missing, fuel leak, etc.) but have not bailed out 5. crashing into your wingmen or enemies will count as legitimate termination of your current pilot and will require that a new pilot be made 6. one out of every ten missions must be flown from start to finish in bad weather (inclement or snow, your preference depending on season, but avoid snow if flying in the middle eastern theater; I recommend the latest inclement/snow tweaks found in ver. 9.5 of my FM pack, for immersion) 7. use the following settings for "enemy air activity" in the FE2/FE menu, per theater and per period, for max. historical realism and to minimize extreme kill ratios: light - for the whole period in the middle eastern theater // for the whole period in the eastern theater // for the Italian theater to July of 1917 // for the western theater to October of 1916 // for the Italian theater from August to November of 1918 // for the western theater from August to November of 1918 moderate - for the Italian theater from August of 1917 to July of 1918 // for the western theater from November of 1916 to February of 1918 heavy - for the western theater from March to July of 1918 8. lighter "enemy air activity" than suggested per period and theater may be used, but not higher than suggested (no need to install my further congestion controls that are available in the Flight folder of ver. 9.5 of my FM updates pack unless you enjoy hard-core simming in WW1 with wide expanses of sky, with no aircraft for hours on end; I will work on those further to fine-tune them for a later FM update pack) 9. flight models should be flown at maximum realism (I strongly recommend my FMs for historical realism and consistency for a DiD series of missions but you can fly other ones too, as long as they are flown on "hard" settings) 10. no time compression 11. no autopilot (although the level flight command is acceptable for long flights) 12. make sure to have Cap'n. Vengeur's medals pack/ranking system installed since that pack gives awards more slowly and realistically 13. you may begin a DiD style single mission at any point in the war (for example, you may begin flying for the French in July of 1916, or as an American flyer in August of 1918, etc.) 14. if you are flying DiD style single missions, proceed chronologically from the date of your first single mission (for example, if your first single mission was in July of 1915, your next one should again be in July of 1915 or later, not earlier in the year) 15. fly a minimum of 2 and maximum of 5 missions per month in 1914 and 1915 (across all theaters), a minimum of 3 and maximum of 6 missions per month in 1916 (across all theaters), and a minimum of 4 and maximum of 8 missions per month in 1917 and 1918 (across all theaters) - this will produce realistic, historical attrition rates and also increasing risk of being shot down, captured, etc. (will also depend at what initial point in the war you begin your pilot's missions; for example, beginning in January of 1917 will put you in a situation where you will be flying a min. of 4 missions per month right away); if your mission is stamped with a date that is only a few days from the end of a month, start your next mission in the following month, overriding the rules set for min./max. flights per month - this will be the only exception to rule no. 15, for the sake of chronology 16. transfers from one theater to another are allowed if historically realistic and if made possible by Cap'n. Vengeur's medals pack (for example, flying for the French in 1916 but transferring in June of 1917 to fly for the French giving support to Italy, in the Italian theater, perhaps flying a Nieuport, etc.) 17. if transferring from one theater to another, skip one month of flying for realism 18. if you crash-land but survive on your side of the lines (for example, wing missing, engine shot up, fuel leak, etc.), skip one month of flying for realism (hospital) 19. any type of single mission may be flown, depending on the types available for the aircraft you are flying at the time, but one out of every ten missions minimum must include one of the following types of missions (these are usually the most rigorous): offensive patrol // balloon busting // (armed or unarmed) reconnaissance // army co-op; reconnaissance missions may sometimes be gruelingly long if they are the "long reconnaissance" type 20. settings in your huddata.ini file, in the Flight folder, should also be set realistically, as follows (notice the map and label settings giving limited info., and also notice that the target cone and other identification boxes for aircraft have been disabled; the waypoint boxes can be left on, and padlock view may be used): [HUDLabels] EnableLabels=TRUE LabelFriendlyAir=TRUE LabelFriendlyGround=FALSE LabelEnemyAir=TRUE LabelEnemyGround=FALSE [MapLabels] EnableLabels=TRUE LabelFriendlyAir=FALSE LabelFriendlyGround=TRUE LabelEnemyAir=FALSE LabelEnemyGround=FALSE [Map] MapDisplayLabels=FALSE [Display001] DisplayType=DIRECTOR ObjectType=TARGET_ENEMY //ConeSize=5 //BoxSize=5 //BoxType=TRIANGLE //BoxColor=0.0,1.0,1.0,0.75 //ConeModelName=redcone [Display002] DisplayType=DIRECTOR ObjectType=TARGET_FRIENDLY //ConeSize=5 //BoxSize=5 //BoxType=TRIANGLE //BoxColor=0.0,0.0,1.0,0.75 //ConeModelName=bluecone [Display003] DisplayType=DIRECTOR ObjectType=NEXT_WAYPOINT ConeSize=5 BoxSize=5 (pick size you want, I prefer smaller boxes) BoxType=SQUARE (use whatever shape you want, TRIANGLE or CIRCLE work too) BoxColor=1.0,1.0,0.0,0.75 (use whatever color you want for this) //ConeModelName=whitecone Happy flying DiD style, Von S

Hello gents', Thought I'd revive this thread since it's stickied anyway so everyone will see it. Let's do a quick poll of what aircraft you would like to see the FM tweaked for next...there are another nine or ten WW1 aircraft on CombatAce, also a few on the A-Team website that I haven't touched yet. While this is a fairly slow process, I'd like to get some input on priority aircraft FMs and ones that can wait a while longer. Here's a list I have so far, in no particular order. Let me know here on the thread which one you would like to see tweaked first and I will deal with those types first that get the most votes. Happy flying, Von S List: - Hannover CL.II and CL.III - Albatros C.3 - Vickers FB5 - Roland D.6a - Airco DH.5 - Sikorsky S16 rounded back (ver. 3.0; my current tweaked FM is for ver. 2.0, will require carrying over of the FM data and testing) - Aviatik C.1 first generation (from A-Team) - Siemens-Schuckert D.III (from A-Team)

Hello Silberpfeil, the FM has been extensively re-done to fit historical characteristics of the CL.IV - didn't do any tweaking however to the Gunner AI but I did do some dogfights today between a Camel and CL.IV and it was a very tough fight. The CL.IV displays excellent defensive maneuvers...or maybe the particular aircraft I encountered was at the ace AI level. To sharpen the gunner further, change the following two entries in the data ini: under the AIData section, change: GunnerAimOffset=0.005 to GunnerAimOffset=0.08 under the // Internal Guns section, change, for the Tailgun section: GunTypeName=7.92MM_PARABELLUM_MG14_Gunner to GunTypeName=7.92MM_PARABELLUM_MG14_HGunner (HGunner) has about 70 percent accuracy, while (Gunner) is about 40 percent accuracy if you like, also change the burstamount entry for a bigger volley of lead: BurstAmount=10 to BurstAmount=20 This should keep dogfights entertaining with the CL.IV. A couple of pics. below - in one the CL.IV managed to put a few holes in my top wing but eventually I hit his fuel tank - in the other pic., after attacking his friend, I received a volley of bullets in my top wing that eventually gave me the Sopwith monoplane conversion you see in the pic. Happy flying, Von S

Hello fellow flyers of FE2, Please find attached below the latest version of Geezer's nearly complete Halberstadt CL.IV. The FM has been extensively re-done. Also included are Geezer's latest skins for the model and Crawford's improvements for the skin on the top wings. You will as well find included two versions of the general ini file, one with shadows activated, the other with shadows off for better frame rates. As well included are my notes on the FM changes and suggestions for handling of the aircraft. Many thanks to Crawford, Jeanba, Coupi and Mike Dora for suggestions, tweaks and improvements, and of course to Geezer for the Halb. CL.IV model. Your friendly neighborhood FE2 aircraft construction team will in the meantime continue working on the Nieu. 27, Nieup. 21, Breguet XIV and Junkers J.1 models and we hope to release those under this thread when they achieve "nearly complete" status. The Halb. CL.IV, like the previous models posted, may be able to work in FE1/FEgold too. Happy flying, Von S

Perhaps the unicode to ansi batch converter can help, link below: https://combatace.com/files/file/11290-unicode-ansi-file-batch-converter/?tab=comments Crawford has also found a way of flying FE2 aircraft in FE1/gold...he will probably see this post eventually and add some suggestions that I've missed. Happy flying gents', Von S

I like the effect very much, adds to the atmosphere, especially for the Italian front. Would like to see something similar done for the Palestine theater too, such as sand dunes with bits of grass or weeds sticking out. Now if we could only come up with some kind of ini trick to make the trees solid like in WOFFue/RB3D, or to place some kind of field of "invisible poles" in the same area where there are lots of trees - and I will be very happy indeed. (Already happy with FE2 but it doesn't hurt to push it further.) Happy flying gents', Von S

Have now double-checked my tweaked data ini for the SSW D.1 and it is indeed possible to solve the problem with correct rpm tweaks for slow and idle prop...the tweaks of 200 and 300 for slow and idle that are included in the modded FM don't display the static prop problem. Reversing the values, however, to 300 and 200 for slow and idle recreates the problem when the engine is throttled down to zero. For most other aircraft it's fine to have a slow number lower than idle, for better representation of prop spinning. Von S P.S. Results may vary across FE1 and FEgold (my comments apply to FE2).

Hello fellow flyers of First Eagles 2, Please find attached below an all-in-one zipped file of the latest works in progress by Geezer. Geezer may in the future return to work on these projects further, but he is currently busy with real life and other hobbies. However, he has kindly given permission to the First Eagles 2 community to release the latest versions of his works-in-progress aircraft. You will find included in the zipped folder various types and sub-types, also a couple of extra sounds, the latest sounds ini file for your Flight folder, and also a Read Me file that includes more info. on the latest FM tweaks for these models. Work on Geezer's models not released yet as works-in-progress happily continues behind the scenes. A great many thanks to Crawford, Coupi, Jeanba, and Mike Dora for continued input on these works, and of course a great thanks to Geezer for these beautiful models. (Note: the Pfalz D.III was also used in the middle eastern theater - suggested service dates for that theater are from about July to October of 1918.) Happy flying, Von S EDIT: Attachment removed, will be placed in separate post as "consolidated" file with all latest updates, for convenience.

This is most likely LOD-related. Rpms at idle can be manipulated to some extent using the slow and idle settings, but I doubt this will cure the problem. For example, numbers in my tweaked FM for the SSW D.1 are: SlowPropRPM=200 FastPropRPM=750 MaxPropRPM=1000 IdlePropRPM=300 I often like to have the idle number slightly higher than the slow entry, for better prop rotation animation (more realistic). You can try switching the values to see if it will solve the problem, 300 for slow, and 200 for idle. Fast and max prop entries should be left alone or they will upset the realistic top speeds and climb qualities of the aircraft, among other things. Happy flying, Von S Edit: further info. on the Halske engines (link to a post by the venerable Dan-San Abbott on differences between the Sh.I and Sh.III/IIIa series of engines): http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13891&postcount=5

Great pics Crawford....takes me back nicely into the history of WWI flight sims. The sequel "RB3D" with glide/3dfx graphics was a slight upgrade....see representative pics. below...and has inspired a lot of my historical FM tweaks for FE/FE2...especially inspiring were the wonderful Greybeard FMs used in RB3D...those were very hard FMs but I managed to "tip" the Alby. on its nose in the flight below, as seen . Von S

Hello gents', please find attached below the latest R.11 data ini file that replaces the old one posted in a previous post above, and that incorporates Crawford's correct node names. Also included is the cockpit ini file again if you find that a seating position fix is needed, and a general ini file with the correct calls. Don't forget to rename the aircraft folder itself to "Caudron_R11" for these files to work correctly. Some more info. on the latest changes below: ---------- Crawford's fix to one of the stuck engines (from previous updates) gave much more power to the aircraft than in my initial tweaks...with all the extra rpm now correctly at work (so that the top speed was exceeding 205 kph). The engines have now been properly de-tuned, and other tweaks applied to rudder/ailerons/elevator, for slightly less sensitivity. You will notice slight yaw if turning only with ailerons...also wing vibrations are present at extreme angles of attack and excessive climbs/dives. More specific stats on the latest data ini: - stalls below about 75 kph into vibrating side-slips usually - climbing below about 85 kph not advised - good climbs of about 3.5 to 4 m/s in 90s to 130s kph - climbs at about 3 m/s in 140s and 150s kph - elevator effective at maintaining dives to about 360 kph - take offs at around 120 kph are recommended - land at around 90 kph or so (wheels should touch down close to this speed) - speed near sea level is now close to 190-191 kph (sometimes recorded top speed for R.11) - speed at 5000 m alt. is 161-2 kph (close to historical of about 165 at that alt.) - rudder recommended for tighter turns and higher banking angles than possible with ailerons alone - fairly stable craft, tends to right itself if controls are let go - can still do a modern Immelmann but watch speed/coordination Von S Edit: link removed, please see all-in-one download link below.