Hawg11

I bought the F15 and Sabre. Gotta say, the work put into these is fantastic! Loving it.

One way to gain attention to DCS would be for Eagle and/or a 3rd party to create a RAW style online game. When I first really got into "flight sims" I stated by playing Novalogic Raptor Air War (RAW) online. The server could host 128 pilots online battling each other. The key was simplicity in the UI and simplified avionics, etc., If small maps were created to optimize performance and the net code expanded, this could really increase interest in ED sims. "Oh these guys make a more hardcore version? Cool!"

Very sad news. Deepest condolences to friends and family.

Lockonfiles has more realistic sized sun mod that I created for FC2. Should work for DCS too if you find the correct file path.

It is possible to add new buildings and such to airbases with existing scenery. Use the terrain tools provided by ED to do so.

That would be very possible, T-Bone..

Me too!

In either case below, you will need 3D Max and the ED created plug-ins. This would be one way... http://en.wiki.eagle.ru/wiki/Create_objects Another way... On the main Wiki page follow the procedures for placing objects... http://en.wiki.eagle.ru/wiki/All_about_land Media:Terrain Design.rar

T-Bone, I don't, unfortunately.

I think they probably eliminated the "advanced haze" that could be found in lockon 1.x. It was removed from black shark, so my guess they did the same with lockon 2..

With the terrain tools that ED released and 3D Max, a modder can make any object shape and place it anywhere he/she wishes in the game map (yes, even pre-existing maps). Actual 3D trees which are collide-able could also be added.

Clouds like this: are indeed possible using the terrain tools currently provided by ED. One could create the clouds in 3D max and assign the shapes to a superficial overlay (areas like runways and taxiways use the superficial system). These render at 80+ km in the game and will blend into the scene from a distance. Both top and bottom normals would then need to be assigned the cloud's texture. It would be preferable to assign the interior normal's (bottom normal's) texture as pure white or off white. The outer cloud shape (top normal) could be emphasized as a texture by doing a texture burn in 3D Max after unwrapping. The only problem with this method is that as you get closer, the jagged geometry of the clouds would begin to show. However, this could be solved using packets of sprites in a secondary superficial overlay (sprites like the kind used for runway lights and city lights http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=713217&postcount=10). Note 1: this method will actually render true 3D clouds not just a ceiling with a texture (as described in the cloud creation procedure for stratus clouds below). Note 2: If Eagle Dynamics were interested, they could use a fractal algorithm (http://www.outerra.com/wgallery.html) to solve the jagged cloud geometry problem which would eliminate the need for sprites. Note 3: Placing clouds like the ones mentioned above would be feasible if they were placed over large bodies of water. This would be congruent with real world phenomena as clouds tend to gather over moist areas. The true advantage would be that the polygon count could remain lower as terrain and clouds would not have to both be rendered in the same scene. For instance if one were to construct a Hawaii terrain, it would be ideal to place these clouds in the expanses without islands. Clouds like this: are very easy, by comparison and can be created using a .tif of the cloud image and assigning it as a superficial overlay (see above) on the y and x plane. Again this can certainly be done using the current terrain tools. Of course, these methods would take a lot of time to complete...probably why no one has done it thus far...

Unless you are flying the Cobra version of the A-10, then you have the turret on top...

Ah thank you.. With the terrain tools now available, it would be relatively easy for anyone with 3D Max to place in lights like that into any map.

The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com

No. It won't make it run slower...it's still a relatively low amount of polygons that are being rendered for what the game engine can handle (it can handle quite a bit!). It seems to slow down much worse with higher quality textures (as opposed to higher poly count). EDIT: The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com

About 1160 times more detailed (prior to optimizing), if my math is right. EDIT: The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com

Yes, that one. The file Template.max embedded in the file "9 Importing 3D max.doc" is only 193 KB. The file Template hi res.max associated with "9a A Better Template" is 22.4 MB. The reason why this is crucial is because there are much more data points that the DEM can use to form the terrain shape (prior to optimizing). EDIT: The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com

I guess I should have checked before now. I noticed that the guys who uploaded step 9: "9a A Better Template.doc" to the Wiki left out the actual template (it is too large to fit inside a word .doc). They must have missed this...I'll be uploading it to lockonfiles.com shortly. This is a MUCH higher resolution template and will result in a much higher quality terrain. The template embedded inside the "9 Importing 3D max.doc" word doc is extremely low res and the final product will (by comparison) yield very poor results. EDIT: The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com

75000 was found to be the number to use on the Nevada terrain I had worked on when writing the instructions that are on the Wiki page. It was very time consuming and took much effort loading the terrain into .max, exporting to the game, and comparing the height values for known mountains/valleys against real word data. I thought I mentioned this in the instructions (sorry if I forgot)... You will need to check the elevations in-game to ensure accuracy...adjust values as needed. Luckybob, since you folks started over with a higher resolution terrain mesh, it would definitely be advisable to check in-game elevation data...

Copy and paste two-triangle-squares in the LOD0 .lsa2 files and set land class as 'land with noise'

;)

Nice!

Batou, That sounds right... EDIT: The High Res 3DMax Template for Terrain Designers file is now uploaded to lockonfiles.com