LanceCriminal86

As we were discussing it, I figured maybe somewhere in the laser scanning or building up photo based textures something got misaligned or stretched, resulting in that locking port being off, and the simple fix being just to move the port texture. And seeing that none of them have a right side NACA, I figure better to point it out now before the A model ships so base textures and templates wouldn't have to be redone, right?

I may end up getting murdered by @ensamvarg and the other art guys, but the NACA ducts are still white/glowy/weird, and it turns out the Tomcat shouldn't have any NACA duct on the right engine nacelle. I threw a bug thread up in case y'all want to review the pics, but basically go look for F-14 walkarounds and pay close attention to the area where the main gear locks into the fuselage, and the area immediately behind it, then look at the model and textures in game. The port for the locking bar things doesn't align with the little panel "cutout" on the textures, and there's no NACA on any photos I can see of the right engine. https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=4421787#post4421787

I feel like the art guys might shank me at this point, but a few more things a fellow skinner and myself found while discussing the F-14B First, it appears the NACA duct issue persists as of this patch despite the patch notes: Secondly and mainly, it appears the existing model is incorrect for both the B model and forthcoming A model as well. After looking at the textures on the EXT 3 and 4, we noticed the black headstone shaped port where the landing gear locks into the fuselage when deployed, but noticed it seemed the black port was not aligned with the nacelle texture where that port should be. So, I booted it up in the model viewer and was surprised to see that the port does align with the landing gear locking bar, but does not seem to line up with the textures. I don't know if this was an issue of the model not aligning to textures first, or the textures made from photos not matching the model, but here's my screenshots and reference pics of some 14Bs, and a 14A to see if corrections to that panel need to be made. And before I get into the screenshots, the 3rd thing is that there appears to be no NACA duct on the right engine nacelle on the F-14A, B, or D models. While my current sample size is small, I looked at photos taken of a VF-74 B model, VF-11 B model, VF-2 D model, and an A model in a museum and none of them show a NACA duct on the right behind the landing gear port. All of them however did show the left engine having one, almost directly behind the landing gear locking port thing. I also did notice the fire panel location looked to be different on the A model versus the B and D, for reference for the upcoming A model release: Onto the screenshots and photos, I'll provide the links to where they were posted as they are naturally the property of their photographers respectively: This is the EXT_3 texture, so the right engine nacelle: We first noticed how that black shape seems to have an exactly shaped area below it, so I assumed it was an accidental bump in the base texture folder. However, the model viewer showed that was not the case: There's the gear fitting into that black shape. So, naturally I went looking for real F-14B gear area pics, and here's what I found. These are first a B model from VF-74, and then some from a VF-11 B model (BuNO 162911) at what looks like an airshow, and also a VF-101 B model: And just for cross reference, here's an A model in a museum, BuNO 161134: And additional cross reference, a F-14D from VF-2: Notice that with all of those being right landing gear, I didn't see any NACA ducts on the panel behind the gear locking doohickey. Now, here are some pics of the left gear side, same general order of reference pics: VF-74 VF-11 F-14A from museum: VF-2 F-14D Left side on all models clearly shows the NACA duct, B/D sharing the same fire panel spot while the A's is different. Basically, the right engine nacelle's NACA duct should go away, and the textures may need to be re-adjusted so the landing gear locking port thing aligns correctly with the panels on the engine. Please don't stab me. References: Squadron Walk Around F-14 Tomcat, by Lou Drendel (VF-2 F-14D photos) Lock On No 18 Grumman F-14A/B Tomcat, by Willy Peeters (VF-74 B model) http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/bill_spidle2/f-14b_162911/ https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f-14/f-14b_walk2.shtml http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/bill_spidle2/f-14b_163218/ http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/howard_mason/f-14a_161134/index.php?Page=3

Honestly, even if the VSN mods end up broken I'd still very much appreciate them if they can stay as AI aircraft. I have used them quite a bit as such and would be a shame if they completely fall out of use.

I hadn't heard the F-18 HGU-68 had issues, in fact I thought they recently updated it or redid it? I was just mentioning it because the HGU-55 differs from the 68 in a number of ways and it would have been cool to have 3 options rather that one. But realistically, most of the squadrons from what I understand that would have had the 68s may have been after the time period of the A models we are supposed to be receiving and of the B model we have now, with the exception of VF-201. The Hunters transitioned to F/-18As at the beginning of 1999 officially, so their last flight pic I showed above it seems they already had their HGU-68s on hand seeing as some had already begun the transition and had been to the F/A-18 RAG and they had some Hornets on deck for the official last flight and changeover ceremony. But for the remainder of line squadrons before that and after it looks like they either completely stood down prior to the ~1997 date of our Tomcats (VF-111, 114, 21, 33, etc.) or they didn't transition to Super Hornets until the GWOT in the early 2000s and thus after the timeframe of our A and B models. Basically I'd just like to have the -68 TACAIR so I can do those last flight VF-201 skins from 1998, specifically The JimBob Express.

Would be neat if they could "borrow" the Hornet pilot head/helmet without the JHMCS to give us a 3rd option.

I was debating whether these were 55 or 68s, because there were tacair 55s with the same visor. But, being this was their final Tomcat flight as they took the bird out to AMARC as they transitioned to Hornets, it could be 68s. VF-201 in 1998 VF-201 Last F-14 Flight 15 Nov 98-6 by NAS Fort Worth JRB, on Flickr

I remember when all those mods broke, why weren't they updated after that? Were the source models gone or the author just gave up?

I'll have to dig everything back up. I do remember trying to write down as many character names as possible at one point to fill out the squadron some. One place I kept coming back to was using Artemis or a similar goddess of the hunt and a Greek bow. I really wanted to do the 6 arrow symbology because the whole 6 targets, 6 Phoenixes thing but it's just not symmetrical as 5 arrows. It's also about damn time we had Afghanistan and Iraq maps, but we're also not getting GWOT era Tomcats so I guess that's somewhat moot. I really wanted to find a way to do some of the missions from the books, even the more boring ones to make a very real feeling campaign. Like the night mission where you've been patrolling for hours, almost out of fuel, the tanker breaks, and you try to make for UAE.

Oh shoot, I never did do those. I had sketched out a few ideas for the tails and such but never followed through with it. I had been thinking of something akin to a drawn bow with 6 arrows (Phoenix/Tomcat symbology) but never quite got exactly what I wanted.

Sometime in the last few patches, I noticed a change in the NACA ducts along the sides of the engine nacelles. It's almost as though there's an issue with the normals or a material. In some lighting these ducts "glow", even though the light is on the opposite side of the aircraft. Sometimes they almost seem see-through or hyper reflective. It's the same on the stock skins and on custom skins. I mentioned this in the skinner's thread but hadn't heard anything and wanted to make sure it was here in the log. In the model viewer, here's the "Albedo" render mode, note issue doesn't seem to appear Normals mode shows it (but doesn't seem to be present in the actual Normal map?) Roughness Metallic "Diffuse Light" mode shows it: There was nothing in the AO map or any of the other render options so I didn't capture them. Trying to add AO shadows in that spot did not fix or abate the issue at all. Still magical glowiness.

I don't think the RIO suit is a separately identified texture, like the Pilot and RIO helmets. Turn back a few pages and look for ensamvarg's replies on that question. They may look at enabling the RIO body to have a separate LUA callout.

If I remember I had the same problems with the modded French carriers, or at least on one of them. One I think they didn't have arresting wires at the time, the other like mentioned Jester bailed as I trapped. If a Carrier is a Carrier and a Runway is a Runway, why does Jester not recognize them as the same? I just seems to me he should only be told it's a carrier or runway, or neither. I mean, since you guys aren't doing the JFK what if someone mods one in? If Jester isn't Carrier agnostic then basically you're saying anything but SC, existing poopy Stennis/Vinson, and Forrestal will cause Jester to punch out?

@ensamvarg , lately I've noticed something strange about the NACA vents along the Tomcat's engine nacelles: Here's a default livery, notice how "white" the inside areas are of the recessed duct Same skin, different sky cube in model viewer and rotated the model to change the lighting a bit: Now here's my Korea really dark sea blue: On that last one, I had the model set to spin and it was like either I could see through that area to the environment box behind it, or it was a mirror reflection of the skybox. I looked back at my roughmets, the default roughmets, those areas are NOT set to have any higher metallic in the blue channel, and it was literally just like its surroundings in the green channel. I bumped the gloss a little on the Korea skin but, this exact issue is also present on all the existing schemes as well. I don't know if this was recent or not, but I thought I saw you guys were taking a crack at some of the areas where two portions were tied to one texture file, perhaps something happened on export of the model? Maybe a change was made? Also somewhat random but on the "right" side of the aircraft, ie the 1 and 3 EXT textures, usually everything is mirror, while on the "left" ie 2/4 it's "normal". I discovered that for whatever reason, in the 3 and 4 textures in the wing glove area where the assigned carrier, grim reapers, etc. type scripting goes, it's opposite. On the 3 file it was normal and on the 4 file the text is "backwards". Just found that last bit odd lol.

Interesting, first I'd encountered it. I've been skinning not flying lately so hadn't encountered it myself. In the past if I got hit that bad and landed I didn't know how to properly get Jester to redo the INS alignment so I never did a repair. Realistically if you get all shot to hell the bird's done but that sucks for the persistent missions or MP.

During a strafe run, I took a few hits to the fuselage and it appears lost primary FLT hydraulics. On the right needle it was zero but the left/comp hydraulics were still good, tried to flip the hydraulic bypass on as soon as I saw it but I guess the system was completely drained or dead already. Aircraft flew as normal, landed it at Kutasi. Parked the aircraft, turned off the engines, and requested repair. 170 seconds later, bullet holes all gone. Go to start up the aircraft, and the right hydraulic needle stays dead. Shut down, request repair again, nothing. Start back up, still dead. Hyd Press light still illuminated and FLT HYD still pegged at zero with both engines running. Tried doing the hyd bypass switch, nothing changed there. Nothing with emergency hyd in high or low either. I tried to save a track but got an error about how it couldn't read the temp file for the track. Mission log shows these failures after the hit: INS : Total INS : Nav Computer RWR : 315 quad receiver/antenna

So, cross-checking those: 163227 - VF-102 07APR97 AB-103 APR97/APR00; to FITWING 07SEP00; to VF-11 17OCT02 AG-214 MAR03, Looks like that FITWING was missing it coming back to the squadron? It shows VF-11 in Oct 2002, so that would seem to be post-cruise. 162917 - to VF-102 20DEC96 AB-107 MAR97/APR98, W/O 21MAY98 near MCAS Cherry Point Written off in 1998? crashed 23.05.1998. The two-man crew of the Tomcat ejected safely after take-off from MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. 163219 - to VF-102 23FEB99 AB-110 MAY99, AB-113 SEP99/MAR00, W/O 17MAR00 off USS John F. Kennedy 17.03.2000: The F-14B was lost during operations from USS John F. Kennedy. Both pilot and RIO were rescued. Not trying to undercut your efforts here, I've been trying to do similar for VF-201 and it has not proven easy. They took on many of VF-202's aircraft but there were gaps in MODEX, and some may have been moved off to other squadrons before usage by VF-201.

So going from "CVW US Navy Carrier Air Wing Aircraft 1975-2015 Volume One by Mike Crutch" book, I think 110 may have been 163407: VF-102 24AUG00 AB-110 SEP00/MAR02; March of 2002 it showed that aircraft going to VF-143, and the cruise ended in March 2002. I couldn't find any matchups for 101, 103, 107, or 113. It's possible those MODEX weren't in use at the time.

There's another nice document out there matching BuNO to MODEX. If you can find me the MODEX you are missing, I can take a look and see if I can find them.

But Big John was generally assigned to the Med, which means it is a historical carrier for both the Caucuses and Syria maps, plus she launched strikes during OIF/OEF. She's just as important for A and B model history and scenarios. I know they're not going to change anything, they already have their hands full. But it would be nice if, perhaps along with the Intruder (if that becomes a reality), they threw CV-67 on in there.

Dude everything is apparently "needed urgently". Right now trying to make sure the existing stuff works well enough that the playerbase doesn't bounce from DCS in the next ~30 days while ED cleans house is probably the more important driving focus. I haven't even looked at the DCS icon in about 2 weeks due to the issues, and I'm taking a break on skins because I can't motivate myself to work on something I'm not even using at this point. Not HB's fault that the code keeps bucking underneath them, but there are some immediate things to work on that are actually "needed urgently". Hell, I'd say the Kennedy would be a "must have" addition but guess what, it's not happening. Big John was there all the way from the beginning (VF-14 and VF-32 on their 1974 cruise) to the end (Final Tomcat cruise with VF-103), and in-between (1989 Gulf of Sidra incident). But they are doing the Forrestal, so that's that.

Heatblur has stated they do intend to add the HGU-55/P helmet at some point. There's a few skins of the -33 that look alright as a -55 but better to just wait.

I have seen similar issues as well, where a stack of 4 Tomcats in the pattern will have issues with jamming up in the landing pattern so both keep getting waved off. It's an endless cycle, and basically one is nose to tail with each other trying to land. I'll re-try the mission I had the problem in and see if it is persisting but it really seems like the Supercarrier had a LOT more work that needed to be done. Like aircraft spawning inside each other.

Would very much like to see this as well, though not as pushy as it being with the "A". I'd just like to know if it's actually coming at some point here.

@ It's a year or so late probably but you'll be getting your wish soon. Finally getting VF-201 nailed down: