With the release of service pack 3, things have heated up in the mod-community of Strike Fighters. Several aircraft have been uploaded to Biohaz, among them updated versions for the A-5B Vigilante and A-1H Skyraider by Monty_Cz and his team. New arrivals include the Mig-23 Flogger and a highly-anticipated aircraft, the BAe Fmk.6 Lightning. To check out these new aircraft, head over to the file-section at
Biohaz
The latest version of the Dynamic Campaign Generator has been released for the IL2 series.
Originally Posted by Lowengrin Based on the Dynamic Campaign Generator for Combat Flight Simulator 2, this program generates dynamic campaigns for IL-2 Sturmovik, IL-2 Forgotten Battles and Pacific Fighters by Maddox Games. Over time, the front lines will shift, airfields may be captured and recaptured and objects appear and disappear. Squadrons will transfer closer to the front as friendly ground forces advance or bug-out should the enemy break-through. Armor, truck columns, and trains will also move from city to city during missions and ships from harbor to harbor, starting the next mission at the city or harbor moved to in the previous mission. Build ups of guns and armor will also appear at the "front" and captured locations will have new defences generated.
IL-2 DCG will also track plane losses, pilot deaths, and the replacement of both, awards and promotions, as well as the destruction and replacements of moving vehicle and tank columns, trains, and ships, and static ground defenses. All in all, DCG offers IL-2/FB/PF players a dynamic world in which to fly.
Although IL-2 DCG does all the above and more, it remains a work in progress. Bug reporting, comments and suggestions are welcomed. For the latest news, support, and bug reporting visit www.lowengrin.com.
Support the Dynamic Campaign Generator
The Dynamic Campaign Generator software is free. However, those of you who would like to make a financial contribution to help cover the costs of the website and compensate the time spend providing support on forums and by email are more than welcome to do so through PayPal.
Additions to Version 3.00
Reworked plane data from three tables into one (the original class.dcg) file. Available planes are determined by the plane folders found in the "Skin" directory and not by game version. Static planes now display correct markings. Moved all payload data from the class.dcg file into the payloads.dcg file. Fixed upgrade/downgrades so on the first mission of a change, the weapons for the new plane type are used and not for the original plane type. Added aircraft carriers - to start on a carrier, you must use a squadron associated with that carrier or manual transfer your squadron over after creating the campaign. Added function so capital ships are permanently removed from a campaign. Because armor was not queen of the battlefield in the Pacific, added (in abstract) counts for troops as well. Tweaked anti-shipping strikes and activated medium/heavy bomber anti-shipping strikes. Moved the campaign front setting and supply zone settings to the Ground War panel. Added campaigns for Wake, Coral Sea, New Guinea, Guadalcanal, and Midway with the new services/nations required to fly them. When using DGen/NGen replace options, these new Pacific campaigns are found under "DCG" specified campaigns. Note: the pilot images in Pacific Fighters are compressed in a format that DCG cannot read so they will not display on the DCG pilot panel.
The current version 3.01 (3.01m) is not compatible with the previous versions of the game when playing via network. Both the server and client must have appropriate versions of the game in order to connect.
For your convenience we’ve introduced different version numbers for the stand-alone installation and the joint FB+AEP+PF install. 3.01 – for stand alone PF 3.01m – for FB+AEP+PF And of course, the versions 3.01 and 3.01m are not compatible with each other playing via network.
Notes on the Patch Installation
This 3.01 patch may be installed over the previous 3.0 version. The 3.01m version can only be installed over the merged PF 3.0 install. To install the patch, download and run PF_patch301.exe (PF_patch301m.exe) and follow the on-screen instructions.
In this version we are also offering the players to test a new method of running the game. This new method should increase the game’s performance. Both the old and the new methods are available at any time, and are fully compatible online.
If you want to test this new method, install PF_patch301.exe (PF_patch301m.exe) first. After the installation, run PF_patch301_new.exe (PF_patch301m_new.exe). After that, run the pf_new.exe (il2fb_new.exe) executable in your PF game folder.
You can always run the game using the tried-and-true old method using the old shortcuts or pf.exe in the game folder. These remain unchanged. The new executable is not added to the start or the autorun menus in this version, but will be added there in the next patch/add-on if enough positive feedback is gathered.
Main modifications and fixes
Damage model
1. Ships have improved damage model for small unprotected gun mounts. Now when they receive enough damage they can be “shot off”. NOTE: this will not affect the ships that were built for the original IL-2 which are still available in the merged install. Only the later ships (cruisers and battleships) that shipped with FB, AEP and of course all PF ships will be affected. 2. B-17E and B-17F damage textures are fine-tuned. 3. The left wing damage model are corrected on the P-63C. 4. Visuals for wing and engine damage model are corrected on the A-20G. 5. Additional thorough testing was performed on damage model physics for most planes. In some cases additional changes were made to the damage modeling.
3D models
1. All currently reported inaccuracies in cockpit gauges are corrected (however several cockpit changes with some levers will be available only in the next add-on due to big size). 2. Pressure gauges are added to the F6F. 3. Graphical inaccuracies in arrestor hooks are corrected on some planes. 4. Additional aesthetical changes which don’t affect gameplay are made to some cockpits.
FM and aircraft performance
1. Additional individual tuning of flight models and aircraft performance were made for the F4F, F4U, F6F, Ki-43, Ki-61, A6M, Spitfire, Seafire, SBD and other planes. Note: Spitfire and Seafire engine overheat model was finetuned as much as possible within the constraints of the current global engine model.
2. Engine cylinder compression and prop pitch modeling was extensively redone, which now results in the planes losing airspeed faster as engine RPM decreases.
AI
1. Many users requested additional control over the ship flak guns. We’ve added a new ROF(rate of fire) function to the FMB. This function controls the time it takes the ship to reload the weapons. Acceptable values range between 0.5 and 100, where 0.5 - half the historical time (i.e. ships fire twice as fast) 1 – historical reload time 5 – recommended value for lower-end machines. 100 – the absolute slowest reload value possible. You will see virtually no flak with this setting. Note: this function is a compromise between historical accuracy and the requests of many users who have lower end machines but want to participate in large-scale battles with many well armed ships. Increasing the pauses between salvos will lower the ship flak’s calculations during the game and thus introduce increased frame rates. 2. Japanese planes now use also the V formation 3. When the AI plane’s aircraft carrier is sunk, it will look for a nearby friendly carrier. In case none are found, the aircraft will attempt to locate a nearby friendly airfield; barring that they will ditch in the water or a nearby island.
Other improvements:
1. Improved water explosion effects. 2. B-25J bomb sight units are changed from metric to imperial. 3. Added fire extinguishers to A-20G and B-25J. 4. Fixed co-op track playback bug. 5. Fixed 3D A6M2 folding wing bug. 6. Fixed rare cases of aircraft raising gear while parked on carriers. 7. Added several stationary planes. 8. Several void.bmps added to several planes. 9. Corrected names and ammo loads for Ki-61s. 10. Removed fire extinguishers from P-38. 11. Corrected take-offs from damaged aircraft carriers. 12. Extensively reworked sinking behavior of ditched planes. 13. Added the ability to use time-delayed bombs against ships. 14. Corrected service dates and designations for some planes 15. Corrected the bug that occasionally appeared in co-op games when using the No User Loadout option of FMB. 16. Added new skins for B-24, B5N, F4F-4, FM2 and J2M (Thanks Dani Santos)
Dynamic Campaign fixes and improvements
1. Wrong objects in final missions in case of autonomous install 2. Wrong airfield in New Guinea 3. Crashes in mountains in New Guinea. 4. Crash in second Midway mission when using Hard campaign difficulty 5. Collisions of Rufe at Iwo when using High Air Intensity 6. Wrong objects on some maps. 7. Guadalcanal NGen campaign did not work when selecting Hellcats as bombers. 8. Occasional start on water when moving to Iwo map 9. Text corrections 10. All ships now fire in DGen and NGen, but their rate of fire is lower. By default in these campaigns it is 5 times lower, but it can be modified.
To change ship rate of fire in DGen campaigns, add a line to conf.ini
SlowFire=n.n, where n.n = 0.5 to 100.0
To change ship rate of fire in NGen campaigns, add a line to corresponding camapign file, look as an example at /NGen/CampaignCoralSea.dat
It starts with lines:
[$select] SlowFire:5.1
All ships in this online campaign will have their fire rate 5.1 times slower than original.
10. Iwo, Chichi, Okinawa, Wake operations added to USMC career 11. New Guinea aded to USAAF career. 12. Midway removed as USAAF operation. 13. Some plane choices are changed. 14. P-38 can be used in Japan 1945 operation 15. Marianas operation added to USN and IJN 16. CampaignLength parameter does not affect Pacific maps anymore (otherwise it could lead to very short campaigns) 17. British markings on B-29 in USAAF Japan campaign - fixed. 18. Kates dropping torpedoes to ground in Pearl Harbor - fixed 19. In order to allow planes with arrestor hook to fly from ground bases, it is possible now to use classes file associated with your career. For instance, this is a file from IJN fighter career classesIN1.dat
A6M5A Palau BASE A6M5B Palau BASE A6M5C Palau BASE A6M5A Iwo BASE A6M5B Iwo BASE A6M5C Iwo BASE A6M5A Okinawa BASE A6M5B Okinawa BASE A6M5C Okinawa BASE
Syntax:
Plane_code Operation_code BASE (or CARRIER) This file allows A6M5A and A6M5B which are carrier based planes by default to fly from airfields at Palau, Iwo and Okinawa.
Graphic engine changes
1. Improved icon visibility for ground objects and planes. 2. Improved water effects such as explosions and wakes. 3. Improved water rendering: a. Decreased tiling with Water = 0 b. Removed noise dots and squares in sun glint for all modes c. Improved waves and whitecaps with Water=3. 4. Improved multiple visual effects. 5. Removed black dots that sometimes appeared around clouds 6. Improved caching for faster rendering in the Perfect mode
Version 3.00 of the Dynamic Campaign Generator is nearly ready for release. Limited testing will begin in the next day or so and if all goes well, DCG 3.00 should be available for download next week.
In addition to supporting all the earlier campaigns from IL-2 "Sturmovik" and "Forgotten Battles", early Pacific War campaigns will be available including Wake Island '41, Guadalcanal '42, New Guinea '42, and two "test" campaigns using aircraft carriers (a mini Coral Sea and mini Midway). In addition to supporting all the existing services, the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army, the US Navy, Marines, and Army Air Force, and Royal Australian Airforce will be supported in the initial release. The remaining services will be released in future versions.
As always, feedback and suggestions are welcomed. And so is your continued support of DCG and this website.
This is a new release of the IL2-MAT Manager program designed to work with IL2-MAT and enable easy selection of alternative aircraft markings. The download includes the following:
—IL2-MAT program & updated il2hook.dll.
—IL2-MAT Manager program
—All neccessary MAT & TGA graphics files
—Full Program installation and operational — documentation.
Ratty announced yesterday the release of a temporary SP4.2 BMS data patch:
For 1.03/2.0 users it provides the necessary data changes and patches for mouse look, trackIR, Rack fixes, independant elevation control, move speeds, BMS enhanced Flight models, etc.
For BMS 2.0 users it incorporates the HFFM's and associated drag index files and also adds all the blocks back into the dogfight module.
Please note that all blocks will be in the dogfight menu for both 2.0 and 1.03 users however in the case of BMS 1.03 only the block 52 will have the correct flight dynamics and limiters All other blocks will have the block 52 flight dynamics in dogfight only.
Please install this patch LAST after everything else.
The 3.01 patch for Pacific Fighters will be released tomorrow:
Dear folks,
Our programmer finally come back (but another got sick ) He said he need week or so that to get listed by me planes finally coded. So we decided to release tomorrow the separate of new planes patch with fixes and improvements.
It is already compiled today, but not ready final readme. Should be ready by tomorrow morning. I think it is the best way for the current moment that to do not wait for another week (and maybe you'll find something more that to fix? ).
We will offer this patch as v3.01 for the stand alone PF and v3.01m (merged) for the common install PF into FB+AEP
All I promised (even more) will be included in that patch except new planes. Sorry, see above
Today a Strike Eagle cockpit was released by Aeyes:
The Strike Eagle cockpit has a front and backseat ability and included is a nighttime cockpit with backlit panels. When you visit the cockpits.nl website you can see a preview at the gallery, splashes and full functionality description.
A full rampstart is possible, and besides the easy to use installer by Homercide and the excellent checklists by Red Dog there are many other features in the cockpit that makes it different and better. A moving map in the Tactical Situation Display, instruments lighting, lock lights, DED functionality, TACAN maps, digital ADI/HSI are a few of those features.
Thrustmaster released a complete fully installable version of the TM software. Foxy remains at current version so do not desinstall Foxy. This version fixes the lock and unlock with axis statement and changes the DirectX axis name for more convenience, amongst other things. Thanks James for having uploaded the software.
Thirdwire Productions have just released the long-awaited service pack 3 for Strike Fighters: Project 1, which includes many features and bugfixes improving wingman behaviour, moving carriers with cat launches and arrester landings and improved weapons behaviour. It also includes many improvements for 3rd party aircraft modellers. A lot of 3rd-party aircraft were on standby until the release of this servicepack so expect to see a lot of new aircraft for this sim appearing on the web soon. This patch comes in 2 variants, one (7.95MB) for users of the original version of Strike Fighters: Project One and a version (1.96MB) for users of the gold-version, which was recently released by GMX.
A first patch for Wings over Vietnam was also released, to bring its code up-to-date with the Strike Fighters SP3-code. This patch weighs in at 7.71MB.
SP4.2 was released today, here is a part of the change log:
Spconfig Editor updated:
In the "Settings Advanced" folder a new patch has been added called "Threat Circle HSD Display Update". This patch alters the values in the air defense unit records 'air' field to correct the range of the threat circles displayed on the HSD when in cockpit in 3d world. This patch when applied will cause the range of threat circles on the UI planning map to be displayed incorrectly as a result of the km > nm figure conversion. 2D statistical war calculations may also be effected by the perceived reduction in range due to the km > nm conversion.
In the "Settings Advanced" folder a new patch has been added called "Realistic Attrition". Prevents recycleing of destroyed aircraft. Note: *overrules* each hitchance air and ground setting, this means the calculated hit chance is not modified
New Folders:
In the 'Settings General' folder a folder called "Aircraft Spawning Times at Airbases" has been added. This folder contains f4p files to allow various settings of aircraft deagg and reagg (spawn) times.
In the main (SP) Falcon Configuration section a folder called "Alternative Campaigns" has been added. This folder containd f4p files to alow switching of the default campaigns with files edited as follows:-
Set 1 - A stonger OPFOR airforce. Mig19's, 21 etc have been replaced with more modern aircraft such as the SU30MKK, J11, SU24 and Mig29S. Set 2 - Blue team aircraft changed to reflect an 'older' OOB. F16's, 14's, 18's etc have been removed and replaced with A7's, F100, F105's etc. AWACS and tanker aircraft have been removed and all SAM systems have been downgraded to 'older' models.
Multiplayer Folder Changes:
A new folder called "Airbase 'bubble' distance options" has been added. This contains f4p files to allow selection of various 'bubble' (deagg) distances for airbases. Settings are 27nm and 15nm (the SP3 setting). Both reduce the 'overlap' of deagged airbases, espically on the West Coast of Korea around the Seoul area to reduce stuttering and FPS hits.
A new folder called "Reduced Object Files" has been added. This contains f4p files to allow selection of files with varying levels of tree and object density.
GRAPEVINE, TX – Nov 5, 2004 - HiTech Creations, producer of the award winning online WWII combat simulation Aces High, has released a new version of its massively multiplayer flight simulator.
The new version 2.01 continues the tradition of continuously upgrading and expanding the most popular massively multiplayer online flight simulator in the world. Aces High, first introduced in 2000, has continuously expanded through 14 different versions. Each version added new features such as integrated voice communications, expansion into land and sea combat, a combat film recorder, a terrain editor, and an ever-expanding assortment of combat equipment that grew from 15 units to nearly 80 planes, vehicles, and boats.
Version 2.01 adds three new combat units showcasing a stunning new level of graphical detail. The new units are the Consolidated B-24J Liberator, the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, and the Russian T-34 medium tank. The Liberator was the workhorse heavy bomber of the U.S. Army Air Corps and remains the most produced multi-engine plane in history. The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate was considered the best fighter of the Imperial Japanese Army. The T-34 was a revolution in tank design that came as a surprise to the Germans when they first encountered it.
Despite new graphical upgrades in this version, system requirements were lowered to allow Aces High to be run on even the most basic of graphics adapters.
"We are making a strong development effort towards visually upgrading Aces High to further enhance the online experience,” says company CEO, Dale Addink. "It’s important for us to make these advances while keeping our system requirements low. Aces High transcends the normal computer gaming market and appeals to a much broader audience than just those people who enjoy computer games. We are very pleased that Version 2.01 makes Aces High more accessible to people with basic computer systems without compromising our high-end capabilities.”
Over the years, more than 150,000 people from over 50 countries worldwide have played Aces High. GamesDomain called it the best online flight simulation experience and Simulation Headquarters twice awarded it Online Flight Sim of the Year.
Aces High II can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.flyaceshigh.com and includes a free two-week online trial. Massively multiplayer action requires a monthly subscription of $14.95, an Internet connection, and 850 MHz computer running Windows 95/98/ME/2K/XP, a DirectX 9 compatible video card, and a joystick.
A letter of Oleg Maddox was posted at the IL2 Sturmivok site:
Dear users,
Due to illness of one of our main programmers we had to delay a bit the release of the add-on with the patch and dedicated server of both versions. However, during this time we took into account the comments and suggestions you sent in to make many changes to the code that will fix most, if not all bugs and will improve (!) the sim with the new features.
The add-on with the patch will include:
1. Fixes. 2. New DGen (dynamic campaign generator), which will include new campaigns and improvements of gameplay. 3. New features for the control of gunfire power of the ships, that will help to tune custom-made missions (especially for online gameplay) and to allow you to fine-tune the Dynamic campaign. 4. New planes: Flyable F2A-2, Ki-100-I Ko, G4M Betty AI only G4M + MXY7 as fully working system. 5. New map - Marianes (Singapore still in development)
In addition, if all is OK, you will enjoy AI Tempest MkV (for the merged install only). The cockpit for this plane is also in development. A very talented third-party modeller did an incredible good work without any bugs in 3D technology. His name and his skins you will be announced with the release.
I hope to release this add-on/patch next week when our programmer involved in this development gets better.
For the future we are also preparing some other nice surprises for the community.
A couple of days ago the history of IL2: Pacific Fighters was posted at the official IL2 Sturmovik site:
The first flight sim in the series, IL-2 Sturmovik, was released in November of 2001 and single-handedly revolutionized the genre. Not only did it instantly make all previous flight sims obsolete, even many of the competing products developed and released at a later time seemed dated to the original IL-2. The graphic engine, immaculately accurate and detailed aircraft exteriors and interiors, as well as highly advanced flight, damage and weapon modeling create a total package still unmatched by any flight sim to this day – three years after the original release!
IL-2 was met with universally great reviews and quickly built a very dedicated and strong community. The developers have showed incredible dedication to the project, releasing multiple free add-ons for IL-2 that added new content such as new flyable and AI-controlled aircraft, vehicles, ships and many new features. In March of 2003 a sequel was released, titled IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles which expanded the series to even more European battlefields, this time including some of the important aircraft from Russia’s Western Allies. In total, the IL-2 line of sims have sold over 650,000 units in Russia, and over 600,000 additional units in the rest of the world.
Aristoteles has released a new texture pack for FreeFalcon 3:
The High Resolution Forgotten Textures patch is ready for download. It contains over 200 new and reworked textures that will improve the appearance of most civilian buildings, hangars, depots, bunkers, bridges, some vehicles, some helicopters, explosions, trees,... They are in DDS format so no need to recompress anything. Works smoothly on any computer with no FPS effects and no problems were found using it with BaZT Elevation patches and Tom´s or Deuky´s Hitiles. The installation is easily done with the Clickteam Installer, point it to KoreaObj folder (backup first) and let it overwrite the low-res textures. Be Advised: this is the FreeFalcon3 Version. The SP+BMS one is close and contains even more enhacements! Aristoteles.
LONDON, UK (November 5, 2004) - GMX Media and Shockwave Productions have announced they have decided to produce a new WWII air combat game entitled, "Battle of Britain: Wings of Victory!" Earlier this year, GMX Media acquired rights to the former and critically acclaimed "Rowan's Battle of Britain." Shockwave Productions is developing the new title, which is scheduled for release in early 2005.
"With the huge success of Firepower Shockwave were the obvious choice for the development of Battle of Britain: Wings of Victory, we are glad to be working with the great guys at Shockwave again." commented COO for GMX Media, Eugene Perry. "The game is looking fantastic, we look forward to showing it to the public."
"The original game from Rowan released in 2001 is still the most complete and authentic reproduction of the Battle of Britain ever done. Battle of Britain 'Wings of Victory' is building on this strong foundation to create something truly special. Every member of the team brings passion to their work and it shows in the quality of the game," said Scott Gentile of Shockwave Production Inc.
The website for the Lock On: Modern Air Combat add-on 'Flaming Cliffs' is now live. This product will model the SU-25T ground-attack aircraft in great detail. Special attention has been paid to weapon systems and a significant overhaul of the flight modelling for this particular aircraft. Other highlights include new ground objects, new ground textures, 3 new campaigns.
It will only be available in stores in the CIS, customers outside the CIS can purchase it through the website when the product becomes available, probably in November 2004. It will work with French, German and English versions of LOMAC.
