Stonehouse

Not to worry. It appears that it is impossible to add sounds to a new aircraft without access to the sdk given to third parties by ED according to the sound modding thread. The only workaround available that I can find is to make appropriate recordings of the engine sound from the front, side and rear and then place these files in C:\Users\your username\Saved Games\DCS\Mods\aircraft\aircraft mod name\Sounds\Effects\Aircrafts\Engines and the files need to be named Tu95FrontEngine.wav should be the front engine recording, Tu95BackEngine.wav should be the back engine recording and PlaneAroundEngine.wav should be the side engine recording.

After reading through the sound modding thread I have managed to get the sdef files recognised by DCS World when they are located under the DC3 Cargo main folder by adding a Sounds\sdef\Aircrafts\DC3cargo folder structure and placing the sdefs in the DC3cargo folder under Sounds. However the game totally ignores the wav files I've given it and plays the default sounds. From the posts in the sound modding thread it seemed that is not currently possible to add sounds to a new aircraft as there is no way to associate an event with a sound eg engine start = play this sound. I got the impression this was only possible if you had access to the 3rd party sdk and that this linkage is buried in a dll for the published modules. So it may be that we're back to FM v's sound effects. I can understand the argument for the sounds being correct but know from what I have seen that having DC3's take off in near vertical climbs when you try to attack it in your FW190 is not a desirable outcome.

Similar questions raised recently but not answered in the Sound modding thread under How to. There was a comment about a month or two back from Skatezilla that he thought that sdefs were picked up automatically somehow and he was going to check and advise but hasn't so far. Another user I_Gamer bumped the question of how the new sound method worked about a week ago, presumably to help with his F18 sound mod without response so far. I've checked the newer modules that I can view the lua for an there doesn't seem to be a direct link to a set of engine sound files and the sdefs anymore. There is a linkage for in cockpit sounds however as there appears to be specific folders for aircraft cockpit sounds under the main sound folder. ditto for cockpit sdefs. However there doesn't seem to be anything relating say a Spitfire to the contents of the RollsRoyceMerlin folders. Could also just be not seeing something too.

Still need some radial engine sounds as per DCS requirements - whatever those are plus the sdef files however they work. I don't know anything about sound mods other than I agree I do recall the same as you about reading somewhere that it loads from saved game folders first. No idea if it still works that way but I know there is a large sound mod thread in the how to area. I can try to see if I can get a different sound being used though even if it's something dumb like a stock siren or something. <edit> ok did some quick reading over there and it seems the mount_vfs_sound method is now obsolete (although it may still work). It would be nice to conform to whatever the new DCS method is if possible to future proof the mod.

Looking for some assistance. Due to crazyEddie pointing out a sound glitch in the recently released DC3 mods a little more insight into how piston engine mods work was discovered. See here https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3666270&postcount=15 So I guess what I am hoping for is someone who is a sound mod person to volunteer to create sound files to be added to piston engine aircraft mods with the thought that even if the DC3 is declared a turboprop it can still sound like a piston engine aircraft as well as tell me how to include them (although I can possibly work out the last bit myself) as I have zero sound crafting skills. Note I believe the above problem affects all community released piston engine aircraft mods. Alternatively if someone can provide info to figure out the detailed engine values for a piston engine I'll try to figure out the setup for a Pratt & Whitney radial.

Ok but the editor will be ignored if the aircraft come under attack. eg your DC3 or HE111 will outclimb your Spitfire IX by a decent margin. Take offs will be very, very short at max weight despite what you tell it in the editor as well. But in any case your vote is noted. I'm hoping that someone who is a sound mod whiz might volunteer to help out so a compromise might be possible.

I've done some experimentation and discovered something that I guess is not that amazing with some hindsight and should have been seen before. If you set typeng = 2 or type = "Piston" then the values of thrust_sum_max, thrust_sum_ab and the values for each mach number in table_data in the engine section have little or no impact on the performance of the aircraft. This is based on several observations. First these values are identical for the Spitfire, 109, 190 and P51. Second and most important I've tried setting these value all to 1 and the DC3 will still accelerate and climb too quickly as if there is an excess of power. Particularly at MTOW I am seeing ridiculously short take off runs. I have come to the conclusion that internal DCS code is using typeng=2 or type="Piston" to switch to a completely different module of logic for power calculations based on the detailed engine values. Therefore by using similar values to those found on the Spitfire I think I've given the DC3 two late model Merlins at approx. 1300kw each compared to two P&W at about 890kw each. Like giving it an extra engine for free. Fairly obviously (as I said isn't hindsight wonderful) this new code was introduced for the P51. This would apply to all other community piston engine aircraft that have been released so far too I think. So bottom line is at present I do not know how to derive the detailed engine values required to represent the correct engine for the DC3. Possibly if I set the engines to be turboprop then the old DCS code and values of thrust will come back into play - I will have to experiment and see but think it will as this is how the stock C130 etc is set up. Obviously though the sound will be wrong. Perhaps some other mod maker who specialises in sound mods can do something here so that if a piston engine mod uses turbofan or turboprop values we can still hear piston engine noises? Therefore the community needs to indicate what is more important to them at present for the DC3. More realistic performance in the air or having it sound right? <edit> I have confirmed my thoughts. Setting the aircraft to be a turboprop gives it back believable performance and allow the detailed engine section to be deleted. Setting the aircraft to be piston allows the thrust values to be ignored (probably have to be non zero) and requires the engine section to be present for the AI to be able to start the engines. However the performance is very wrong.

Someone has pointed out to me that the last change to fix the sound has impacted the performance of the aircraft and I have double checked this and they are correct. With either type = "Piston" or typeng = 2 you get different results than what I originally released and the aircraft accelerates and climbs much more quickly..........so I suspect I am going to have to rework the power values again unfortunately to get things back to what they should be. People using the mod need to take this into account.

Ok user files has been refreshed with a corrected upload to sort out the sound issue. Thank you again Eddie for spotting the problem. To save hassles for those people who have already downloaded the mod, please download the attached lua's and replace the one in the main mod folder. ie replace DC3.lua with this new one, DC3paratroop.lua with the new one and DC3cargo.lua with the new one

Ok, think it is more likely the typeng = 2. Pretty sure the mapclasskey really only sets the map icon but you do need to make it match the attributes I believe or else things stop working. Piston is used in some of the new WW2 aircraft like the Spitty. I thought it was the same but I can see I goofed in the lua and I would have been ok with type = "Piston" but instead I've ended up with typeng = "Piston" I'll have to re-upload them again with the correction. Sorry but probably it will be tomorrow before I get to it as it's past 11pm here and I have to be up at 5:30am to head into work. <edit> yep confirmed that changing the line typeng="Piston" to type="Piston" or typeng=2 works fine.

Hmm don't know Eddie. I didn't do anything in the way of sound changes and the engine is declared as a piston engine but perhaps it's defaulting somehow. I tend to hear somewhere between piston and turboprop myself. I'll see what I can do. <edit> no you are right, it's more jet than anything else

Paratroop version went active overnight (for me), first post updated with the link. Thank you both for the positive comments and thanks also Rudel for providing confirmation that things appear to be working ok. Cheers

Currently I am uploading 3 versions of Markindel's DC3 mod with his kind permission and assistance with 2 new versions. These being a DC3/C47 military cargo version and a DC3/C47 military paratroop version. The civilian version is visually the same as before but has been packaged with a livery collection (by kind permission of CrazyEddie and Markindel) and updated FM. The new military versions have a new 3D shape for the fuselage and include new 3D shapes for A4 and A5 WW2 era soft supply containers courtesy of Markindel along with him providing me with the 3D shapes for the paratroopers and a fictional hard supply box that he built for Eric and Patrick's AC130 mod. Hard containers were not used in real life as it was found that the shock of impact usually badly damaged both the container and contents. Instead soft containers were used with padding on the point of impact. The A5 containers will deploy correctly coloured parachutes to represent the contents: red for ammo, white for medical, green for general equipment. There was also various other colours used in real life such as blue for water supplies but these have not been modelled. All droppable load-outs have an alternate version with smoke and a flare attached. I know in real life A5 containers had a special coloured light attached for night drops but I don't think any of them used smoke canisters or a flare but have added them in case people find a use for them. Similar philosophy for the hard container. As part of this I have also reworked the FM values in an attempt to get much closer to the real aircraft. While I did find some new sources for data and have included this I do not claim 100% accuracy but do believe that the new version is much better than those previously released. As far as dropping supplies or troops goes the best method is to use the WW2 carpet bombing action as manipulation of the bomb pattern length will change the frequency of dropping and provide something which visually is similar to real life footage. For the cargo version the rear cargo doors have been removed. For the paratroop version the jump door will open when the aircraft reaches the IP just before dropping troops. This uses the same DCS World mechanism used to open bomb bay doors in other aircraft. Couple of caveats. Unfortunately even when in WW2 bomber element formation tasked with being part of a WW2 Big Formation the aircraft will tend to manoeuvre when they are attacked. Probably this isn't that bad when you consider these aircraft are unarmed and in real life would likely do the same. But it may result in unplanned collisions so give them appropriate spacing when setting up the formations. Also a quirk of DCS World disallows dropping a mix of bomb types on the one waypoint action and it seems it is not possible to drop a mix of A5 types. I have therefore set up the load point so that you can only have the same type of "weapon" on each one. Some links: Civilian https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3302330/ Cargo https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3302331/ Paratroop https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3302332/ Note that the initial upload of the Civilian version had a glitch with a zero size file being in user files which I think is now fixed. Attached is a simple demo mission of the cargo and paratroop versions in action. The mods should be installed into your Saved Games\DCS\Mods\aircraft folder. So it should end up looking something like: C:\Users\your username\Saved Games\DCS\Mods\aircraft\DC3 Cargo I'd like to say thank you to Markindel for his work and help with the additional 3D shapes and liveries and his agreement for the revamp to take place, CrazyEddie for his permission to use his liveries, uboats and others for helping investigate the issue with dropping a mixed "bombload" and Eric and Patrick for showing it was possible with their AC130. Hopefully it all works ok for everyone and it's useful to people. Thanks, Stonehouse

Some NZ virtual squadron ought to start up a Skyhawk aerobatics team and use KiwiReds livery. They were one of the best display teams I've ever seen. Very sad when they got disbanded.

Ok found that it is a multi monitor issue and it seems to impact all drop down lists for people using multi monitors

It seems to be all drop down lists although in my case it is 2 screens 1 above the other https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3654661#post3654661

I'm seeing all the drop down lists like country, aircraft etc appear as drop "up" lists after the latest patch. ie instead of the list opening down the screen from the GUI entry box they open above the entry box and in the case of the country one I can no longer get to the first few entries like USA and Russia. Anyone else experiencing that issue ? Thanks, Stonehouse <edit> Ok it isn't just the mission editor but seems to be all drop down lists including the resolution and monitor lists in the configuration menu. I went to check if changing back to a single monitor fixed the issue but found those lists not behaving either.

Very nice but only really found at permanent airfields like Tangmere. The ATCs in Normandy were more a large caravan with a flip up side and tenting to cover the plotting area and presumably the sensitive electronics etc in the van. Believe they were referred to as Group Control Centres by the 2nd TAF. Any chance of something like that? I seem to recall that the equivalent of RAF FACs used modified Matilda's (no gun) towing a trailer full of radio gear and supplies plus a jeep as a 2nd vehicle. Think I vaguely remember that it was 4-5 men with an ex pilot as the air controller, a radio operator and the rest to maintain the gear. Any chance of things along those lines? PS Really did mean the "very nice" comment by the way in case I came across as sounding ungrateful. Definitely not the case.

As I said, I'm at work for now about the next 4 hrs or so and therefore I physically cannot load up DCS at home and try it out. Essentially I was just asking for news from anyone who might have tried after todays patch (eg perhaps Mustang had tried it and found he still needs to distribute a 900mb mod rather than a 130mb mod). If no-one responded I was planning to check later this evening. <edit> no, folder method still broken unfortunately.

Has anyone tried to see if the folder name method works again and having to replace the zip file is unnecessary? Just the collection of mods is starting weigh heavily on disk space so was hoping it got fixed...............(at work for the next 5 or 6 hrs so can't check myself)

Came across this https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3632339#post3632339 not sure if it is relevant or not. Particularly looking at the section dealing with additional lines in mainpanel_init.lua

I could be wrong but don't believe so as this is exactly how I have it. I have several large multi TB drives that have been partitioned appropriately for my needs. C drive is the system drive with the o/s etc and the location of the saved games folder as a result and DCS is on a different partition. To save space on my C drive partition I have placed a symbolic link to my third party skins on yet another partition. Everything except the Spitfire's cockpit livery works fine. Note that the C:\Users\username\saved games folder is part of the O/S file system not part of DCS.

Ok very strange that it doesn't work for you. All my 3rd party skins work fine even though they are accessed via a symbolic link to a different drive from C:/Users/<username>/Saved Games/DCS.openbeta/Liveries. I do also note that like you I do not see a default cockpit livery in the cockpit livery drop down for the Spitfire as I do see for every other module - I only see the 3rd party skin folder names and not the 3rd party skin folder names plus Default. It is like a reference somewhere to the standard cockpit livery folder DCS World\Mods\aircraft\SpitfireLFMkIX\Liveries\Cockpit_Spitfire_LFMkIX is not quite right and so the game doesn't see it and instead is pointing at the aircraft skins folder. Perhaps a typo in a path somewhere in some lua. The other thread is here https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=190778&page=11 with my post and some replies from some others who also have the same issue. At least one of them says they have a completely stock install and don't use mods or sym links and see the same issue. <edit> interestingly if I copy the default folder from DCS World\Mods\aircraft\SpitfireLFMkIX\Liveries\Cockpit_Spitfire_LFMkIX to the equivalent of C:/Users/<username>/Saved Games/DCS.openbeta/Liveries, I then see a "default" cockpit livery option. Which seems to confirm that the game is looking in the wrong spot for cockpit liveries for the Spit. Not sure it does much if I choose it though, although it is a pretty small change looking at the description.lua so it may simply be that I am not seeing the difference.

I have the same issue, thanks for finding out why. I see the issue with or without mods although as I mentioned in another thread I do use the symbolic link method as per Skatezilla/uboats explanations to move all my custom skins off my C drive. Isn't that the correct location for non official aircraft skins nowadays? I noticed there is an additional underscore in the Spitfire cockpit liveries folder name compared to the aircraft folder name. eg Cockpit_Spitfire_LFMkIX Could that have something to do with it? <edit> Just tried removing the underscore and it didn't help. However also noticed as you did that if I get rid of my non official Spitfire skins folder I no longer have a drop down for cockpit livery selection at all. All other aircraft skins work fine as does the custom cockpit liveries I use to get English language for other aircraft

No problems Kovee and glad you have a solution. I have requested for this thread to be unstickied and I can see that the mods already have done so (thank you to Nineline or Skatezilla). For anyone else stumbling into this thread please check the MOOSE equivalent of GCICAP. See here https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=138043 for the MOOSE thread. Lots of people using MOOSE will be happy to answer your questions and get a GCICAP solution up and running for you. Cheers, Stonehouse