Bodcap8

Still wondering if a Modder could create some ZELL barges, that would function as pre-placed, unpowered Aircraft Carriers. A "What If" expansion of real world experiments with Zero Length Launch ramps. Search "ZELL" to see my 2017 crude adaptation of these launchers. FIXED the link for you: It would be so cool to use these in early and mid-Cold War missions!

Wilches, I used a crude work-around for the Me-163 rocket smoke. I have an 'AIRSHOWESMOKE' effects file (not sure if this is stock TW or where I downloaded it from). Within this file are 6 different [white] smoke emitters. Right now I'm experimenting with the Me-163_ DATA.ini. AfterburnerEmitterName=AirshowSmoke3 AfterburnerEffectSize=0.50 MinExtentPosition= whatever works best (still playing with settings) MaxExtentPosition= whatever works best (still playing with settings) While these smoke EFFECTs are not ideal, they are an interesting starting point to experiment with.

Thanks Major Bloodnok and Wrench. One terrain I am having this issue with is "Angola/South-West Afrika". I made sure the [AllowedMissionTypes] included SEAD (which it does). Today, I built a Strike mission for my squadron and assigned various additional squadrons to perform SEAD on my target area (I varied the number of squadrons and the number of planes in each). All the aircraft I Assigned to SEAD have SEAD designated as their Primary or Secondary mission types. All SEAD assignments worked on the first try, but when attempting to fly these saved missions again none of the SEAD assigned squadrons would attack the SAM's or AAA's, even though they were calling out 'spikes'. I'm running full-four merged (no SF2NA).

I'm having an issue with SEAD assignments for other squadrons in some terrains that I downloaded from CombatACE.com When I build a mission for my squadron -say a Strike mission- and assign other squadron(s) to perform a SEAD on my target area, they never engage, just fly on past the target area and head for their home base(s). It doesn't seem to make any difference what time on target value or anything else I try with the SEAD squadron assignment, they just won't attack SAM's or AAA's. All of the terrains that I purchased and downloaded from Third Wire work fine. I can even get silly and assign 5 or 6 squadrons of 16 planes each to perform SEAD missions on my target area and they work fine, obliterating all SAM's and AAA's for miles around. What the heck is going on with these other terrains? What am I missing?

Hahaha, that guy in Seattle a few weeks back did a miraculous job of controlling a twin-engine commuter plane through all kinds of 'flight envelopes', then he kissed the earth, big time! I think 'auto-pilot programming' would be far too much for most people to handle correctly, in such a short period of time. Best bet would be to try to 'hand-fly' the plane down to a low-speed controlled impact with the ground, and hope that some people make it out. I went about 2/3 through a private pilot course, years ago. I'll always remember my flight instructors words, "if your not actively flying, your dying"!

I want the weapons in my Weapons folder to be tagged by military nomenclature (AGM-86C, not ALCMC). So, I made a copy of the ALCMC folder and renamed it 'AGM-86C'. I changed the pertinent (ini.) titles within that folder and then used AGM-86C in my B-52G_89 Loadout.ini. Works great !

daddyairplanes, this is good info. I tried many Loadout configs and couldn't get them to work either. Then, I noticed that the AGM-86C was not listed as such in my Weapons folder, but as ALCMC (yet, the TypeName was AGM-86C). I changed the Loadout[#].WeaponType=ALCMC, and they showed up as preloaded in every mission. What's up with that, I thought TypeName was always the identifier?

Nice work, daddyairplanes ! It looks just like the old video clips of 52's belching smoke as they lifted off.

Truly awesome !

The difference between MaxThrottle and FullABThrottle controls the percentage of throttle that kicks-in the afterburner. In KJakker's posted example of 0.78 and 1.12, the afterburner will ignite at 69% of throttle. Changing the 0.78 (MaxThrottle) or the 1.12 (FullABThrottle) will change the percentage of throttle that ignites the AB.

dtmdragon and others, I upgraded to Windows 10 about a year ago (not running a dedicated gaming system) without even thinking about the potential consequences. End result was that SF2 (fully merged) runs perfectly fine, with no 'tweaks' on my end! One caveat however, I'm not using Strike Fighters 2 North Atlantic.

Phsssssssst (I just spit my mouthful of beer all over my keyboard) laughing. Thanks for that , Wrench, 'good on you' !

Wrench, I understand your frustration and your 'short temper' with these types of questions. But hold your temper for a minute. Many of the questions come from newbies that don't have your knowledge and aren't familiar with the site, but do love military flight simulation (remember that time long ago when you were a newbie?) The site itself can be frustrating for the uninitiated (I have spent many, many hours plodding through the 'knowledge base' to try and find answers that would resolve my questions). Perhaps, some of the reasons for your ongoing frustration is the layout/functionality of the site and not just "a lot of serious dumbshits" ! Just my thoughts. Best regards.

Thanks for all the feedback. The real world simulation over 'arcade game' aspect of Strike Fighters is important to me also (precisely why I did not include weapon edits or screen shots in my original post). I don't want to just dump a weapon creation into the community and see it corrupt the simulation. I enjoy modifying existing weapons, guns and ground objects into new versions based on real world research & development projects, experiments or cancelled projects. All of my modifications exist only as a series of one's and zero's on my hard-drive and are only a delete keystroke away from not existing at all. Some of my modifications I keep, many I just experiment with and then discard. While some 4th and 5th generation real world fighters can enter battle with 8, 10 or even 12 air-to-air missiles attached, I'm fully aware that a proposed/experimental Triple-IRM-Rail (the horror...) may not be acceptable to some people. Thank you.

Would you like to have a IRM rail that mounts 3 missiles, close together? It can be done, if you are fluent in 'editing' the weapons files. Use the SOVIET APU-62L as a base rail, and go from there. My fighters are now set with 6 wingtip or underwing 'micro' IRM's on only two stations, fantastic!

Further to the above post. I am not a Modder, just a 'tweaker' (and I have limited experience at that). I can't create 3D models, skins etc.. So, one of the reasons I am posting my ZELL Launcher to the community is in the hope that some real Modder's would take interest and create a more realistic Zero-Length Launch system. With some expert input I think we could have a system that, while bordering on the "what if" category, could still be used as a very fun and worthwhile addition to 1950's-1960's missions! Here's some questions/requests/thoughts on a better ZELL: 1.- Is there any possible way to rewrite DATA.INI's or combine the ZELL as Objects/Weapons/Guns to create a launch system similar to mine that would be 'Land-Placeable' (instead of a WARSHIP) and still allow the AI to recognize it as an aircraft launcher which could be placed on any mission map and be assigned at least one functioning AI aircraft ? 2.- If 'NO' to question #1, could an experienced Modder design a flat-decked unpowered barge with two ZELL launch-ramps, clamshell weather covers and a small radar/launch tower? The launch-ramps should be orientated to 'shoot' the aircraft off the beam of the barge. This 'ZELL Barge' would be recognized by the games AI just like an unpowered Aircraft Carrier with 2-assignable aircraft and could be placed, at will, on Mission Maps that allow shipping. 3.- If the 'ZELL Barge' files could be written to only allow assignment of the aircraft types that were actually used in Cold War tests (F-84G, F-100D, F-104G, MIG-19/SM) that would add even more realism ! Thanks in advance for any input from the community.

I've cobbled together some SAM-Launchers to use as ZELL ramps. Right now, I can only get them to work if I designate them as 'Warships" in the Ground Objects DATA.INI. Still pretty cool though !

As I stated in my opening post, this system is experimental. I have only been able to get it to work as a WARSHIP. It can be used in missions and assigned up to 4-aircraft (just like a carrier) but of course it's unpowered so no waypoint assignments. For now, I just place it in water and drag it as close to shore as possible for more realism. Assign aircraft to take-off from this launcher but land at an airfield. Any aircraft you wish to use on this launch system must have the following lines in their DATA.INI's; under [MissionData] CarrierBased=TRUE and under [AircraftData] OnGroundPitchEffect=10.0 (experiment with the Pitch value as some aircraft just explode on the ramp if the angle is too great). Some of the entries in 'ZELL Take-Off Launcher_DATA' may not be needed and can be modified or maybe even deleted (it's still a work in-progress). However, some entries are critical to system/aircraft launch performance and should only be modified at the users risk ! I've used the JATOSOVIET LaunchEffect for the catapult to simulate rocket take-off effects (rather than try to include rockets on every aircraft) but it fires continuously while the aircraft sit on the ramp. Can someone tell me how to rewrite the JATOSOVIET Effects file or the [Cat1] so the rocket only fires when the catapult launches ? Have fun/experiment/play with this launch system and please post any idea's or improvements !!!

For anyone interested in experimenting and improving this system, here's what I have done , so far, for the Western version; 1- In GroundObjects, I created a new folder and named it 'ZELL Take-Off Launcher'. 2- I copied everything from within the 'CIM-10_Launcher' folder over to my newly created folder. (FULL CREDITS TO WHOMEVER CREATED THE CIM-10_LAUNCHER !!!) 3- In the new 'ZELL Take-Off Launcher' folder only change the names of the two (.INI) files to 'ZELL Take-Off Launcher' and 'ZELL Take-Off Launcher_DATA', and delete the CIM-10A_USERLIST. Don't change anything else. 4- Then, here's what I have so far, inside the ZELL Take-Off Launcher(.INI) file: [GroundObjectData] ObjectFullName=ZELL Take-Off Launcher ObjectDataFile=ZELL Take-Off Launcher_data.ini [LOD001] Filename=CIM-10_Launcher.LOD Distance=500 [LOD002] Filename=CIM-10_Launcher-001.LOD Distance=10000 [Shadow] CastShadow=TRUE ShadowLOD=CIM-10_Launcher.shd ShadowType=1 ShadowCastDist=500 MaxVisibleDistance=500 [TextureSet001] Directory=Basic Name=Basic Nation=USAF Specular=0.300000 Glossiness=0.850000 Reflection=0.000000 5- And inside the ZELL Take-Off Launcher_DATA (.INI) file; [MissionData] NationName=USN ServiceStartYear=1954 ServiceEndYear=1970 GroundObjectRole=WARSHIP Availability=RARE FormationSizeBase=1 FormationSizeVariation=0 [GroundObjectData] DamagedModel= DestroyedModel=CIM-10_Launcher/CIM-10_Launcher_Destroyed.LOD DestroyedEffect= EmptyMass=15000.00 Component[001]=Structure [WeaponSystem] MaxPitch=12.0 MinPitch=10.0 DefaultPitchAngle=12.0 YawAngleRate=0.00 YawLimited=TRUE MinYaw=-180 MaxYaw=180 DefaultYawAngle=-180 YawModelNodeName=Erector_base PitchModelNodeName=Erector_Arm [Structure] ModelNodeName=Slab MaxExtentPosition= 21,27.1,15.0 MinExtentPosition=-21,-6.7,9.00 HasArmor=TRUE DamagePoint=70.0 ArmorValue=24516080.0 ArmorType=2 SystemName[001]=Deck SystemName[002]=Cat1 [Deck] SystemType=FLIGHT_DECK StartPosition=0.00,2.25,1.95 EndPosition=0.00,-33.50,5.94 FlightDeckWidth=10.0 CollisionMesh=FlightDeck PitchAngleRate=0.00 MaxPitch=12.0 MinPitch=10.0 DefaultPitchAngle=12.0 [Cat1] SystemType=CATAPULT CatapultID=1 StartPosition=0.00,2.00,1.95 EndPosition=0.00,-31.00,5.50 PitchAngleRate=0.00 MaxPitch=12.0 MinPitch=10.0 DefaultPitchAngle=12.0 LaunchTime=0.90 LaunchEffect=JATOSOVIET CatapultEffect= ReadyAnimationID=7 ReadyAnimationTime=2.0

Here' a Soviet version;