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I'm interested

Regards,
Stratobat

2 replys..that it    

_zero_ IF this get any further (which it should) you could always be a beta tester  

Also if anyone else is intrested (which it dosen't look like you are) then i have put a quick word file together that lists all the planes, airfields etc. If you want a copy PM me your e-mail and i'll send it on 


Stiz

you can test the damage moddling then if it gets done 

Stiz

im kinda good in graphics. I wouldnt paint the most beautiful plane but it would look good. i edit weapons (NOT boxes or boxmaps) too. i could also help with the testing as i am a sort of perfectionist (until i get fed up with it and call it good )

Poppa_J

If theres anything that you now that would make this campaign more real, please dont hesitate to say so..or PM if you dont want to say it over the forms.

Quick peek of the Camel 


Stiz

Felix are they FSDS models?? looking at the prop thats what i'm guessing. Are you offering to model??..or hand over those 2 planes 

Dont know off hand what the first plane is but that Eindecker sure looks good 

Stiz

looks like i was a bit wrong on the 2nd one 

As for detail, the exteriour dosn't have to be ultra detailed, as long as it looks good and real then its fine. As for the VC i love em and want them all to be up to date but thats just me. As long as it looks good and real then i dont mind at all

Stiz

Nearly done 



Stiz

Stitz - haven't forgotten.

Am working also on a Nieuport 17 and updating my single seater Strutters.

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Hmmm - you like them that detailed, eh?
I guess that put me out.   I'm a minimalist by nature. hehe

Hi again.

Sorry; don't mean to annoy anyone with my thoughts; it's just that I've tried making missions with good numbers of aircraft in the past (12-16 a side at times).
Very fun, exciting missions and they work with stock (or simpler) aircraft. Many addon craft are utterly lovely and brilliant to fly; but adding any more than 2 or 3 of them into a mission can cause serious lag problems, IME.
(I tried doing and Eastern Front campaign a couple of years back. I found a totally lovely Se-5 and Geman Albatros on SimV. Flying alone; fps of 24. Turn my head to look at my wingmates - whoa! 6 fps! )

Stratobat's suggestion is ideal, I think; if the devs want to go to the extra work.

BTW: Totally forgot to say; that's an absolutely lovely Camel - can't wait to try it out.

Cheers!

Hi Guys,

I've been thinking about this, and I think the best way to go about the Campaign/ Expansion would be to create a seperate install of CFS2 specifically for the Campaign. That way you could include AI aircraft without over-population the Aircraft folder. For the AI aircraft you could even leave out things like Polygon Smoothing, that should lower the sizes a little. For the AI aircraft, you could even get away with not putting any detail in the open cockpits, save for the pilot. You could even leave some of the parts untextured.

Regards,
Stratobat

I think the plan is to built an entirely new set from the ground up, but you'll have to get into contact with Stiz with regards to that, but before you can even design any scenery or airbases you need to do the research and build the campaign on paper. Otherwise you might end up doing a lot of work for nothing!

Regards,
Stratobat

I don't know nothing about modelling; but it looks luvverly to me!

Yeah Staiduk, I'm up for it. Drop me a line.

If we begin with the idea of creating missions from
historically accurate airbase locations, we could get
started quickly. Certainly, we can plan out the campaign
flow in any event.

RabbitHawk

Just a quick comment on the frame rate issue. After a lot of experimenting we've found that multi-LOD models are the way to go for all aircraft used in missions. Where possible most of the Fox Four aircraft have now been updated to multi-LOD. Providing you have the original source files, poly count can be reduced considerably with a little thought & the extra models are easily added once you understand the principle. Collin has done the same with his ships & nobody could say they're not highly detailed. The improvement in frame rates is dramatic & makes those furball type missions possible even on low-end systems.

Highly complex visual models are very nice to look at but this makes them very graphics intensive. When you're in combat all you're likely to see of the Player aircraft is the DVC if it has one. You won't get close enough to the AI aircraft to notice small details. The ideal is one model for both Player & AI aircraft. This is not always possible & if necessary you can create special low poly unflyable AI drones without a DVC & all the other bells & whistles.

PS. To save time we tried updating a couple of our old CFS1 AI Only drones for our new Red Star campaign. This works very well as being comparatively simple visual models these are far less graphics intensive than FSDS2 or Gmax models. This works fine for jets but might not be ideal for WWI aircraft as the animated prop disks will not display. They obviously don't have breaking parts or a DVC. Here's a shot of the ex CFS1 F-84E drone during testing of the DP. The MiG 15 is Fang's latest multi-LOD Player aircraft with full DVC & breaking parts.

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Why not large bombers & Zepps? Collin's ships are bigger than both & making them multi-LOD increased frame rates dramatically.

If I was doing this I would choose a couple from your list to use as Player aircraft & create your own fully flyable versions with multi-LOD models & DVC as you wish. Depending on how much time you have there are existing CFS1 versions of most of the others. These are very small files & could be easily converted for use as AI Only drones for your missions. AI Only drones don't need panel or sound providing the folders are left intact so removing these could make them even smaller. Some might need the AIR files tweaking to perform properly in CFS2 as AI aircraft. The DP files might also need updating. They all have fixed gear so the only missing animation in AI would be the transparent prop disks. I've tried a couple in QC & that doesn't seem a problem. Of course, you should seek permission from the authors to use them but if it's done properly I can't see them objecting. These can always be replaced with your own versions when you have the time to do it.

You or someone else could create basic AI Only versions of aircraft you can't find. This would take less time than fully flyable versions with all the bells & whistles & allows you to get on with other aspects of the campaign. If this is an ongoing project these can always be replaced with flyable versions later. This is the way we do it at Fox Four.

Just curious - what's 'Multi-LOD'?

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Basically correct. The M$ default aircraft are Multi-LOD (Multiple Level of Detail) - sometimes known as Multi-Resolution -  models. These are actually several different versions of the same aircraft set up to display according to the distance they're viewed from. The number of models varies but is usually a minimum of four. With single resolution models the sim has to read the graphics intensive High Detail model even when they're tiny specks on the screen. On a multi-LOD aircraft the Low Detail model might be a very basic shape made up from a couple of flat double-sided polygons. This is obviously far less graphics intensive & obviously improves frame rates. This feature is ideal for use with AI aircraft & ships.

PS. Here's an example of the multi-LOD Yak 9 I've been working on. First LOD model #1, the High Detail model. which is only visible when you're close enough to see the details.


This is LOD model #4, the Low Detail model which displays at long distance.

well stiz it seems u have a small platoon or ?squadron? anyway i think someone should have a site that we can work things out. lol or give eachother email adresses so we can console.

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Thanks but it's very basic. As Mathias mentioned, Joe Amodea & Jorge Alsina pioneered the multi-LOD concept with the help of other developers including Louis Sinclair the FSDS developer & members of the CFS2 development team. Their P-40 was the first 3rd party multi-LOD model I ever saw. (This also had the first DVC with functional gauges so was a real breakthrough.)  Joe sent me his tute on the basic principles to proof read. This is still posted somewhere in the CFS2 section on this site & is how I learned the basic principles.

As a matter of interest I sent Greg Law the tute at the same time & bullied him into trying it on his new He 177 which became the second multi-LOD aircraft to be posted. This also had a full DVC which was explained in another of Joe & Jorge's tutes.

PS. The CFS2 developers led the way with both & many CFS2 aircraft have used these features ever since those tutes were posted. Even now the benefits of multi-LOD models for AI aircraft don't seem to be appreciated by the FS designers.

Thanks for the explanation.
Hagar; that Low-detail model looks about as complex as I'm capable of building.

On the missions front; just letting you all know RH and I are banging a few ideas off one another - we can firm plans a lot better once the devs produce scenery and airplanes. (But no pressure! LOL!!!)

Well got a website and forum up, nothing to complex but they'll do for now

Website: http://wireswoodandcanvas.tripod.com/

Forums: http://forums.cjb.net/wireswoodandcan.html

Would all the developers intrested in or is taking part please registar in the forums

Thanks

Stiz

I'm here for the duration. Good luck to all; can't wait for the finished product; will do all I can in the way of moral support.

Poppa_J

not sure if this is helpful or not but i could paint a few planes....

Another.

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I never got it 

As for the screens i like the buttons but i'm not so keen on the background of the settings page..must be that yellow 

I did a quick set set of screens for WW1 as well ( pics -> http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=cfs2;action=display;num=11... ) so maybe a combination of the 2??

Stiz

I am interested too! Got a lot to do myself, but that scenery ( Quote:
) I can do and am making nice progress on 8). I could also do some beta testing!

I was going for a different shade of "unpainted" canvas.  I can make it just about any color.  I have made about 90% of the main screens but can easily change the colors. I have played around with just using black & white or sepia photos to match the era and have some screens with color.  I would upload some more pictures but I do not want to go over the limit. I would be glad to combine ideas.  As far as the yellow goes, give me an idea of what you might like better.  Here are some swatches of colors I have already made.

Sure.

Is there a way to upload them to the wire wood canvas page?

stiz

I have sent you the buttons.  A few of them are not completely cleaned up.  Let me know if they work.

drivincar67