Footmunch

Aerodynamics, I think you mean  It's about thrust to weight ratios, coefficients of lift, flat plate areas, and all that stuff. The Flanker can 'turn on a dime' - google for some vids of Pugachev's Kobra - but there's some debate about how useful that move is... The F-14 wasn't 'designed' to dogfight. It's primary role is to stop Russian bombers launching missiles at the ships in a carrier group - hence the term Fleet Defender. In order to do this, it travels _very_ quickly from A to B, and launches _very_ long range missiles (AIM-54) at these big old Backfire and Blackjack bombers. It also carries a _lot_ of fuel in order to be able to hang around on station for a long time. The biggest A2A threat at the time was the old MiG-21... Also, the Flanker is about 15 years 'younger' than the F-14, so the Tomcat isn't doing too badly for an old bird Â

Neph - Lengths taken from FAS (in metres): Su-27 : 21 Eagle : 19.5 Phantom : 19.1 Tomcat : 18.6 Fulcrum : 17.3 Flogger : 16.6 F-16 : 14.8 The F-14 is slightly smaller than the F-15, and the wingspan 'folded' is about 1 metre smaller. The Fulcrum is about 1 metre smaller than the F-14. The Flanker is _huge_ and the Falcon is _tiny_. Avon - (SFM speed) Well, 'realistic' speeds for OFP planes tend to make things happen _very_ fast indeed. You should try the Q and Z keys - it improves mouse flight a _lot_ imho. There are no 'special' FX on the KAB, but the FX packages sometimes do strange things depending on the class of ammo. The KAB is probably under- powered. I'll correct it in the release.

I'll try to answer some more points in here: So, I did something right then. The F-16 is more 'nimble' than the -14 or the -15 (Link for _beta_ F-15 : http://www.footmunch.org.uk/beta/f15ce.zip ), and the model is setup to resemble that. The F-14 has improved a little between betas, but it is _not_ a nimble dogfighter. I tried the SFM Flanker - it's very fast, isn't it? That high visibility is part of the design of the real plane. It would be nice to have slightly 'reflective' glass, but that's impossible in the engine. The other option is to have a 'semi- transparent' reflection texture overlaid. This is being considered. And what do I say to those people who find the joystick control too 'twitchy'? It's a hard thing to balance, believe me. BTW - when you say mouse control, you are using 'Q' and 'Z' for the elevator, and the mouse for roll, yep? Any cockpits in particular? The Jag/Bucc/Flogger/F-5 are all due for an overhaul. Is there a problem with the more recent planes -16, A-6, Su-27, Phantom, etc? Being added right now. I don't usually include height,speed or compass stuff, because you've already got the info in the top left corner. Horizon's, engine and dive-climb will be added where necessary. Best (ie easiest) way to do this is for me to increase the initial Field of View. In game, you can use the numpad (2) to change the view angle, rather than drag the mouse down. Tell me about it. It's looped in scripts, rather than natively in the game engine, so there are sometimes little 'hiccups'. A solution is being sought, but is not going to be done soon. It's partly so that you can hear the RWR warnings and so on - my PC's sound card isn't very spectacular, so sometimes the sounds aren't great. I'll check the KAB-500 damage parameters, they might be a bit low. This is without any FX package, yep? The KAB's are 'missiles-without-motors' - they will guide and hit the designated target if you get 'close' enough to the correct launch parameters. The MiG-27 should recognise a lased target. Where your East soldier finds a laser designator is a task accomplished by the mission maker  MiG-21 is in the hands of 'A.N.Other' - expect some news soon. MiG-17 has been upgraded for a 'Nam pack - expect some news soon. PanzerG - The 'released' addons contain a readme. The beta's come 'as is' - they're more of a check that everything's textured correctly, and that they fly properly. If I say a beta is roundel capable it means that the scheme used on the released addons is being used by the new addons (ie it's _always_ selection number 0 that is the roundel). BATPBC - Yep. F-14 gear will work like the A-6 gear in the released addon.

I haven't had to do this for any custom rotor (or propeller) blurs I've used. Is the new texture PAC or PAA? Try the other format?

The MiG's are roundel-capable, but if it's not specified, they 'default' to the USSR. Get the roundel pack and: this setobjecttexture[0, "/rktroundels/r_egypt"] as usual. The Tomcat _isn't_ roundel-capable - the only other people to get the F-14 were the Iranians: do we want an Iranian version of the 14A? Maybe for Res side?

You don't need to mark the texture file as a 'blur-file' - sounds like the model definitions are off: Velka vrtule - _All_ the rotor parts (basically, everything that spins round) Velka vrtule staticka - The parts that are 'hidden' when the heli is running. Velka vrtule blur - The 'simple' blur polygons to be used. (Same for Mala vrtule). Make sure that the model is derived from Helicopter in CfgModels.

I'll increase the Tomcat 'AIR' radar range. I think it might be a bit low at the moment. Thanks. What do you mean by "varied from plane to plane"? The missile spoofing works 'better' on the F-14 than on the MiG-23. There's an X% chance that the missile-deflection script runs for each incoming missile - for the Tomcat, X is about 70, for the Flogger, X is 45, or so. As I said, I could make this an adjustable parameter on each plane instance. Note that you can 'outfly' the missile, even when the missile deflection script doesn't 'fire'. Ahhh, there's the rub. While I do try to fly by mouse now and again, I'm sorry to say that my addons are really tailored to joystick flight. Someone suggested separate Joy & Mouse addons, but that's a bad solution, IMHO. I'll take a look at the SFM flight model - it's not just the config parameters, but has to do with the mass and the moment of inertia of the geometry as well. That means it's hard to apply any changes to ODOL releases, of course.

They rarely met or found each other. I tried playing both. The MiG-27 doesn't have any air-to-air missiles (just the gun). Try again with the -23? Which F-14 version? The Su-27 _is_ an A2A bird, so it _should_ attempt to intercept more agressively. The SFM Flanker has a very powerful (long range) radar. The -27 does have more 'modern' missiles. The Sparrow's on the Tomcat are good, but not great. SFM's missiles are _very_ good (perhaps a bit too much?) Yep. They should fire automatically when an incoming missile is detected. Are you getting the RWR warning sound? If so, then a few seconds later there should be some flares popped, and the missile spoofing script runs. There is a chance that the missile is _not_ spoofed, which is varied from plane to plane in an attempt to balance them slightly. I could expose this variable, to allow mission makers more 'latitude'? Hopefully, a lot of these balance issues will be resolved once ACES gets going...

Tomcat v0.99 (Final beta) - Zip File - http://www.footmunch.org.uk/beta/rkttomcat.zip Now has three versions - F-14A - 'Early' paint scheme - A2A: F-14B - Low-vis grey modern paint scheme - A2A: (Image edited slightly) F-14D - Low-vis grey modern paint scheme - A2G - Bombcat: Still gotta fix the gear to make it carrier-capable and add the eject system. And, to allow you to re-create the US vs Libya action: MiG-23/27 - New versions - Zip Files: http://www.footmunch.org.uk/beta/rktmig23.zip http://www.footmunch.org.uk/beta/rktmig27.zip MiG-23 (A2A) in simple two-tone grey: From left to right: -23 in Green/Brown/Grey pattern. -27 in 'Snake' pattern. -27 in Blue/Grey pattern. -23 in 'Desert' pattern. Improvements - model and mapping, cockpit, weapon textures, smoke trail added, new afterburner script (action-activated), auto-numbering, shine effects. Basically, everything Â

Bombcat, with LANTIRN and GBU loadout is on the drawing board. Well, it _should_ fire explosive ammo (API and HEI), but if you want to change it: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> class BulletSingle : Default{}; class RKT_F14_M61Bullet: BulletSingle Should work, I think. Ace - Not sure what the problem is there: Are you running 1.96 (TnL)? Any special mods installed? Does my Falcon work properly? It has the 'same' missile firing code as the Tomcat, so this would be an interesting test.

There are model tweaks going on right now. The sensor under the nose, and the fins on the top of the fuselage are being 'persuaded' into place. Expect a 'final' beta next week, along with some other news. Keller - The -54 is a _powerful_ missile, no doubt, but it's not used in the WVR environment we have in OFP. When someone makes a Tu-95 or Tu-160, then I'll do a 'Fleet Defender' F-14 addon with a Phoenix loadout. Getting the A-6 to attack _troops_ is a matter of telling the AI to do it, I'm afraid. Either place the AI under your direct command, or put a jeep in with the OPFOR. A static East M2 will do, as well.

Bucc: Green/Grey, RN Blue, Desert Pink, SAAF Blue. Jag: Low-vis Grey, Green/White, Desert Pink Lightning: Green/Grey, 'Metallic' (if I can get the finish right) Canberra: Green/Grey, Desert, 'Black' I understand that you are redoing all those aircraft? Â Yep. _And_ the MiG-23/27 Flogger.

Bucc: Green/Grey, RN Blue, Desert Pink, SAAF Blue. Jag: Low-vis Grey, Green/White, Desert Pink Lightning: Green/Grey, 'Metallic' (if I can get the finish right) Canberra: Green/Grey, Desert, 'Black'

Neph - Thanks for the offer, but I've already seen the error of my ways. Bad Footmunch. (The NAVY logo is on the engine body - check Bobcatt's first pic) Eject - I've been working on some eject scripts for the Falcon. They will be re-used by the Tomcat. The pilot/guy-in-back sequence will require some 'timing' issues to be sorted out, but it should be okay.

Flaring is done fairly well in the OFP engine. You just have to hit the collective at the right time (easier with a joystick, btw).

Havoc - I'll check that in the model. Probably a few bad polys + binarize. Bobcatt - Nice work. Good to see the two old warhorses working together (the planes, I mean ) Maat - Poly count is under 3000 (without weapons), I think. Texture budget is a little bit high, but that's mainly because it's quite a 'big' addon. I could add a 'thin' smoke script. Heat - I may bump the speed up 10% or so. Still testing against the Flanker, and the new Flogger (pics + beta soon).

Isn't it just over-riding the FOV values in ViewGunner? From CommentedConfig: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> class JeepMG: Jeep { class ViewGunner { initAngleX=5; minAngleX=-30; maxAngleX=+30; initAngleY=0; minAngleY=0; maxAngleY=0; initFov=0.7; minFov=0.42; maxFov=0.85; }; So, make minFov = .6?

Neph - Yep, the 'black' US markings are too dark. I'll be lightening them slightly to better 'match' the main skin colour. Is the NAVY on the upper wings bad? Apologies. I'll remove it. As I said, the Beta is a bit of a 'mix' between skins. In the final, I'll do a 'low-vis' (shades of grey) modern 14D _and_ a more 'colourful' grey/white early 14A.

The wheel steering is an _error_ on my part. It's a small change in the config - add "wheelSteeringSensitivity = 2.5;" (without the quotes) to the Tomcat class in CfgVehicles if you want a 'preview' of the fix. HR - You meant to 'carry' the main texture inside the inlets a little bit? Done. Wing Stowing - I'll add this for when speed < 30 and z-pos is less than 50. Carrier Landing - I will 're-use' the gear from the A-6, once I've ironed out a few problems that the AI is having with it. Bobcatt - It's in 'beta' so that it can be tested. I _will_ miss things, or make errors, so any and all comments are appreciated.

You mean that white-to-black fade on the intakes? It's partly to compensate for the lack of self-shadowing, but I could put a 'dark' compressor fan picture on there, like this: Thanks. Forgot that.

Av - You've got PM.

Your's isn't too bad either  Any Typhoon news?

Gentlemen, start your engines: BETA-BETA-BETA-BETA Zip File here: http://www.footmunch.org.uk/temp/rkttomcat.zip BETA-BETA-BETA-BETA Features: Automatic swing wing and vanes (applies to the shadow and geometry as well). Wing swings between 250 and 750, vanes between 650 and 900. Standard burner, flare/missile spoof, multi-missile, gun smoke, shine effects. Random plane numbering. MLOD models and layered skins can be obtained via PM. Back seat is 'cargo' not gunner. If you make yourself a higher rank than the pilot, you can act as a 'spotter', and control the AB. The _exact_ grey tone is not perfect, as the gamma and shine effects are hard to predict, but close. I'll probably do a 70's 14A scheme as well, with the 'white' underbelly. PS - SEAL84 gets his VF-32 tail. As I said, the 'default' tail/fin are the 'black' with yellow trim. The sword and 'AC' are a transparent decal, which will be 'exposed' to setobjecttexture in future. PPS - The Hellden F-14 _did_ have swing wings, but the swing was attached to the 'flaps' action. PPPS - Fins are as blueprinted. They do look a little bit big on the model, however. I'll tinker and see if a better 'visual' can be obtained.

The speed of choppers seems to be _entirely_ to do with GeoLOD. None of the config settings seem to do anything. The 'XXXdive' values allow you to 'tip' the main rotor forward. Check the BIS Chinook, which has this IIRC.

Try increasing maxSpeed (which seems to apply to the AI, rather than the flight model), or reduce formationTime.