F-35B Lightning II

[kickbuttakis01 14]

Great MOD!!!

Just a quick fix for the missing picture: In the '@CHO_F35B' folder in your install folder, edit the 'mod.cpp' file with notepad. Remove the 'P:\F35B\UI\'. Should just be: 'picture="picture_f35b_ca.paa";'

Edited May 11, 2014 by kickbuttakis01
spelling

[scajolly 14]

Sorry for being a bit dumb here, am new to A3 retexturing, but... In the config.cpp you can define the hiddenselection (necessary when tinkering with retextures). I'd like to have more than one hiddenselection to try at a time, but in the CfgSkins.cpp there is only

		hiddenSelections[] =	/// we want to allow changing of colours, this defines on what selection are the textures used
	{
		"camo1"//,"camo2"
	};
	hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {"\f35b\textures\skins\f35_co.paa"}

Attempting to make it = {[ "... 1.paa", "... 2.paa"]} does not work, so how does one go about doing this? I'd like to not go through the fuss of creating a standalone pbo before having the textures for it.

[Crielaard 435]

The presence of AIM120s is extremely natural. People who produce addons must generally decide if they want to try to balance their addon for gameplay. To me, Neptune's comment is made purely in the interest of balancing a series of gameplay concerns that he perceives are at odds with real issues. Arma's lack of scale is in my eyes not sufficient grounds to attempt to remove a capability that is both realistic to begin with, and fundamentally important when the addon is balanced against other addons (like say the Su-35). If an internal standard was developed for Arma addons that laid out new rules for air to air combat, then we might have a framework from within which to work. Currently we don't really have anything but vanilla. Therefore I reckon it best to leave it to the users to decide how they want their servers to handle air to air combat, and afford them enough options to choose. Ie, leaving the AIMs in. =)

Oh yeah that's fine. I was just passing on some thoughts.

I do miss the difference between the AIM9X and AIM120 in ArmA. To me they are exactly the same. While in real life it behaves VERY different. Hence my idea to get them out. (Just saying)

[Stekelenburg 10]

Good work! But I don't like the ArmA 2 textures, it would be great if someone could retexture the model and update the cockpit. The ArmA 2 textures doesn't look at the real textures at all.

[scajolly 14]

@^

I am currently trying to map the texture so as to provide a PSD template for people to repaint. Will take a day or two more. However, a lot of the rivet details are in the _nohq. Those rivets will make the swishy-swooshy-looking jagged texture that we see on current US aircraft a bit difficult. I'm shit at manipulating those maps, but am speculating (HAH) that a lot of good effects can be achieved with relatively modest effort there.

Having said all that - we don't really have a clue how the RAF one will end up looking. I've heard it reported that non-US aircraft won't get the deluxe treatment as far as radar coating goes, and that may impact the looks rather considerably. For now I am f* thankful for BI's rivet approach however, because it makes unwrapping the textures a great lot easier.

I assume an easier way to sort the textures apart are through unwrapping the p3d, but my Oxygen crashes whenever I try. vOv

If I can finish this I hope to publish at least a template, if not also a few liveries - hypothetical RAF and RNoAF.

[armaman1 10]

dude, with this update jet cant taxi anymore, jets start hovering without hover-mode. but when i use previos version plane it does taxi without any problem. please fix this.

Kind Regards

[scajolly 14]

The flight model currently seems all out of every whack there is :D You can do a takeoff with thrust+stick back that lets you make a loop straight off the bat.

[armaman1 10]

well first of all thanks for the quickest response ever :) Mate, so no more taxing like other jets?

[scajolly 14]

You must have mistaken me for Chortles, the OP. ;)

[Crielaard 435]

Taxing is no problem boys.

Switch auto hover on and use your hotkey 'flaps up'. To make the nozzle rotate slightly off 90 deg.

Now power up just a littlebit...and you start to roll.

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Chortles, I´ve updated my "Air Combat Extravaganza in Takistan" steamworkshop mission (Eagle´s Nest Takistan) -> http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=254650324 with your updated bird! Hope you enjoy ;)

[kimi_uy 135]

Is there a way to taxi this aircraft? BTW other than that, it has become my favourite aircraft for arma 3. Cheers!

[scajolly 14]

It's getting silly at this point - but at least for the top fuselage it's possible to align textures fairly accurately. Still struggling with the elevators. Got permission from Rene Spaan (freeware FSX texture artist) to use some of his material, but I'm really unsure if the model will look good with it. Feint tried his hand at this model some years ago, but that was mostly darkening and dirtying - no departure from the riveted map underneath. The sultry F-35 look may be beyond this model. :)

I suppose if I wanted to be ballsy I should take requests at this point.

[Crielaard 435]

To help this addon go in the right direction for Helmet-mounted sights, I made this script:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11221288/Arma3/fpm.sqf

At this point it will display a Flight Path Marker on ANY aircraft.

Unlike the flight path markers we have in all other Arma HUD's, this will accurately display where the aircraft is really going, as in real life.

The way I made it now is how it will be seen by the pilot when wearing a helmet mounted display. (Except I use a default Arma symbol)

Is there a way to taxi this aircraft? BTW other than that, it has become my favourite aircraft for arma 3. Cheers!

Autohover ON

Use keys for Flaps UP to raise the nozzle 1 notch.

Power up slightly.

Light backpressure on the stick

[kimi_uy 135]

Autohover ON

Use keys for Flaps UP to raise the nozzle 1 notch.

Power up slightly.

Light backpressure on the stick

Thanks, that works, but I'd like to have the option to manipulate the nozzle's angle so i can taxi like the airforce f-35 would. Why is this happening now? didn't the previous version have this capability?

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

The sultry F-35 look may be beyond this model. :)

I suppose if I wanted to be ballsy I should take requests at this point.

Pretty much, this is the X-35 model just enhanced from Arma 2. If you want modern day F-35, that'd have to be requested, as the model is MUCH more sleek, and extremely high detailed.

[kimi_uy 135]

To help this addon go in the right direction for Helmet-mounted sights, I made this script:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11221288/Arma3/fpm.sqf

At this point it will display a Flight Path Marker on ANY aircraft.

Unlike the flight path markers we have in all other Arma HUD's, this will accurately display where the aircraft is really going, as in real life.

The way I made it now is how it will be seen by the pilot when wearing a helmet mounted display. (Except I use a default Arma symbol)

Your script is not working properly, your fpm is moving all over the place and moving according to the altitude AGL, it only works when the surface bellow it is completely plain.

[Crielaard 435]

Thanks for testing!

Will correct it!

[scajolly 14]

I just don't know what happened, one minute I was doing work as usual, and then suddenly the F(X)-35 dressed up in vintage RAF Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green. Must've been a computer error, because who would waste time on an effort like that. :p

Now, on a serious note: How easy (difficult) would it be to tinker with the BI model to make it like a modern F-35? Extruding a bit here, a soft edge or two there? :p Additionally, as I see it, UV mapping it from the top would allow two 2048-2048 .paas - one for the panel + instruments+assorted gear bay/hydraulic non-paintables, and one for the paintable textures (your "camo"). That'd be no shortage of swell. Either of these feasible?

[p_siddy 58]

That texture does look pretty good! good job!

[chortles 263]

First off, the UI picture error will be corrected in the next update. :) Now then...

I'm really starting to like it! Also like the transition from conventional flight to hover.

But I'll repeat what I said in yesterday's PM:

- there is no way for the pilot to tell the position of the engine nozzle. Make some sort of indication in the cockpit or HUD to show what it's position is.

I don't suppose that you count the game HUD icon?

- The AGM65 is a poor (old) weapon. It is in fact dangerous in CAS missions for various technical reasons. In a type III CAS it is just plausible to use it as the most. The GBU-12 nowdays is the weapon of choice for CAS.

In consideration of this, I may well rename the displayName on the "CHO_F35B_CAS" loadout to "Strike" in a future update but keep the classname for 'legacy mission support' for as long as I'm still doing separate loadouts. The intent behind the Macers loadout was to give a degree of air-to-ground capability independent of any laser designation from outside (JTAC, SDV, AR-2 Darter, "buddy lase") or even self-designation (via a modification of Mattar_Tharkari's A-143 Buzzard self-designation script), although for CAS as you describe it there is the GBU-12-majority "LGB" loadout.

- In the 'CAS' variant of the aircraft, GBU12's still fall from the bays, while they are taken by AIM120 missiles. The bombs fall out of nowhere. Looks weird.

If you look real closely via Splendid Camera, you'll see that the internal weapons were arranged so that both GBU-12s and Zephyrs would fit into the space-as-modeled-by-BI, and that the "2 x GBU-12, 2 x Zephyr" arrangement is used across all three loadouts; this is not subject to change.

- The Lrange missiles (AIM120) don't really make sense in the ArmA environment. The maps are 25x25 km at the most. While BVR enagements are at 15 miles at the very very least. An F35 enganged in ground combat would 'bug out' allready and start firing them from 25 miles out. I'd say leave them out as whole

- If you DO want to leave them in, let's make it right: When you launch they should fall from the bay and activate a second later.

The idea behind the AA loadout is for a comparable counterpart to the Buzzard (AA) -- the only such loadout in the Arma series' history, by the way! -- and the choice for Zephyrs was specifically because they were used on the Buzzard (AA); I am looking at having the internally-carried Zephyrs fall from the bay and their rocket motors ignite afterward.

@ SCAJolly: I found that the heat haze effects did not seem to move with the nozzle when thrust vectoring/auto-hover, and I believed that 'heat haze remains horizontal while the nozzle is vertical' would look worse than simply omitting it altogether.

Also, I'm guessing that you've since figured out what was supposed to be going on with retexturing? :D

For what it's worth, I'll note that the "camo1" selection that I defined in CfgSkins.hpp (and in model.cfg) is itself in the model (the //,"camo2" bit was commented-out-but-left-in as an example of the form when there are multiple named selections), not least because it appeared that the BI modeler only created that one selection as 'intended for use when skinning/texturing the exterior', so it was seemingly the only option insofar as what to do/make to get retexturing going without having to create new selections and textures/maps. (It was remarked early in Arma 2's life that apparently BI only included a hiddenSelections array for cross-faction hardware, which to me suggested that the BI modeler created that one selection even if the config-creator never actually intended to use the hiddenSelections/hiddenSelectionsTextures functionality so I decided to add the config lines to make use of it.)

Re: the form -- back when Arma 2 was just coming out, Myke posted a neat explanation, and the VBS2 2.0 manual explanation on this is solid too.

[Crielaard 435]

I don't suppose that you count the game HUD icon?

Ohw...did I mis something? :eek:

If you look real closely via Splendid Camera, you'll see that the internal weapons were arranged so that both GBU-12s and Zephyrs would fit into the space-as-modeled-by-BI, and that the "2 x GBU-12, 2 x Zephyr" arrangement is used across all three loadouts; this is not subject to change.

Roger ;)

I am looking at having the internally-carried Zephyrs fall from the bay and their rocket motors ignite afterward.

Cool!

Hey if you need any help. I gladly will!

Scriptwise, technicalwise, testing

[chortles 263]

Ohw...did I mis something? :eek:

If you use the default game HUD (i.e. the one available on Recruit/Regular) you'll notice that there's a portion of the vehicle status HUD reserved for a ↨ icon to indicate when the aircraft has auto-hover enabled.

[Crielaard 435]

Oh yeah.

Actually I meaned the actual position of the nozzle. As you may know, it has multiple positions (5?) between the vertical and horizontal position.

Would be a great and logical indication. Shouldnt be hard to make, would it.

[scajolly 14]

@ SCAJolly: I found that the heat haze effects did not seem to move with the nozzle when thrust vectoring/auto-hover, and I believed that 'heat haze remains horizontal while the nozzle is vertical' would look worse than simply omitting it altogether.

Also, I'm guessing that you've since figured out what was supposed to be going on with retexturing? :D

For what it's worth, I'll note that the "camo1" selection that I defined in CfgSkins.hpp (and in model.cfg) is itself in the model (the //,"camo2" bit was commented-out-but-left-in as an example of the form when there are multiple named selections), not least because it appeared that the BI modeler only created that one selection as 'intended for use when skinning/texturing the exterior', so it was seemingly the only option insofar as what to do/make to get retexturing going without having to create new selections and textures/maps. (It was remarked early in Arma 2's life that apparently BI only included a hiddenSelections array for cross-faction hardware, which to me suggested that the BI modeler created that one selection even if the config-creator never actually intended to use the hiddenSelections/hiddenSelectionsTextures functionality so I decided to add the config lines to make use of it.)

Re: the form -- back when Arma 2 was just coming out, Myke posted a neat explanation, and the VBS2 2.0 manual explanation on this is solid too.

No, I've not figured out how to make two variants of the F-35 use two different .paa's when defined through the same config.cpp. :)