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MASSUN92´s Animated ground crew and lights MOD -- DOWNLOAD IT FROM: HERE! What a journey, right? As mentioned in today's newsletter (May 17, 2024), the asset pack will become part of the DCS core, allowing everyone to use the assets in their missions without needing to download anything. This does NOT include the animated ground crew and lights, which will still be available for download from the link above. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Before addressing some questions, I would like to thank all of you, the community, for your support and positive vibes. This achievement is also partly yours. On one hand, your support for the asset pack pushed me to make it better and bigger. On the other hand, I'm sure ED wouldn't have noticed the asset pack if so many people weren't using it and creating wonderful bases with it. So feel proud, we've achieved something fantastic! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - What's going to happen with the mod? I will continue developing content because I enjoy doing it. I love seeing what I create come to "life" within the simulator. According to my discussions with the people at ED, there's a possibility of adding more objects in the future, so feel free to leave suggestions below. - What will happen to the missions created with the latest version of the mod? As far as I understand, and I could be wrong, they should work fine WITHOUT the mod installed. - Will there be improvements? We have an agreement where I will make some minor future corrections to the models. Beyond that, I don't know what the future holds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Who I am? Hi to all! My name is Patricio Massun, I'm a 3D artist and architect from Argentina. My job is mostly related to arch visualization and asset creation for renders. I use this mod to practice some lowpoly, game-ready, real time rendering technics. I use Blender for all my work. All the models of the mod are created entirely by myself and the textures are from ambientcg (old cc0textures.com). All the export process is based on the EDM exported made by Tobi and use the tutorials from Grajo (Without them the mod would not have been possible). - About the mod:

So, one thing I've floated around all over the place, including in a few related topics here in the forums is proper ground handling for the planes in DCS. Now, since all of these topics are scattered, I figured I'd create a more comprehensive list of the various subjects I've seen, and my own personal vision of how I think it would look and feel in the game. 1. Ground Crews When you load in you'll first be greeted by the aircraft ground crew, who are busy with the aircraft making final checks, and then they clear out. When you are ready to start, the marshal will give you the appropriate hand signals to guide you in starting your jet (and letting you know that you are clear to start), he/she will also tell you when ground air/power is hooked up or detached, when the chocks have been removed, and a host of other commands. When you're cleared to taxi out, he'll guide you to the ramp (sometimes with wing-walkers helping), and then salute you as you pass by. These same guys will also greet you when you land and taxi to your designated parking space. The wing-walkers will meet you at the edge of the ramp, and hold up wands marking where the parking space is (or where you enter the parking area), and then walk with the plane until you're lined up with the marshal who will guide you to your stop point. Once you've stopped, he'll give you further instructions depending on the aircraft, such as telling you to shut down (by doing a 'cut' hand signal), and telling you to open the canopy. (this will be especially useful for those using FC3 planes, as you have to be shut down to rearm/refuel) 2. Ground Support Equipment (GSE) On top of the normal ground crews, you'd also see various vehicles running around the base doing their normal activities (including maybe some Easter eggs like the HotShots! baggage cart and some guy roasting a hot-dog), but also when your plane arrives, you will be greeted by several vehicles that will assist the ground crews with doing various tasks. Tugs: In instances where you're needing to be pushed back to leave, a tug will latch onto your plane and push you back to a point where you can taxi out. Repair Crane: When you request a repair, a repair crane (similar to the ones you see on the Carriers) will rush out to you and lift the plane up off the ground while repairs are made. As a bonus, instead of just placing you back down where you were (if on grass obviously), it'll put you back down on the concrete where you can actually taxi away. Fuel and ammo trucks: When you request rearm and refuel, a fuel truck (appropriate for your aircraft, so an F-16 will see a fuel HEMMT while a Mig29 will see a Russian truck), and either an ammo truck or a tug towing ordinance carts will come to your aircraft. When they arrive, they'll park just outside the aircraft "Safety Diamond", and then the refueling and rearming process will begin. If a tug towing the ordinance is what meets you, you'll actually see the weapons you requested being towed. This will include a drum for the gun (if you requested gun ammo), a 'hot box' for flares, and since it exists, a 'hard case' for the Mig21s nuke. These may be things that are optional though, and able to be adjusted in the game settings. For example if you only want to see your ordinance being loaded, just select it, if you want to see everyone's ordinance, you select that option, if you don't want to see any of it, you can select that. (or just select a simplified option, which is just the trucks). Once you're loaded up, the tug and fuel truck will depart back to where they came from and 'despawn' (which will usually be a shed not far from where you parked) Guide vehicles: As some of you know very well, some of the air fields are massive, and if you're not that familiar with them, you may need assistance getting to where you need to go. If this is the case, you can stop on a taxi way, and request a ground vehicle to a specific point (such as to the parking area). At which point, a truck of some sort will come out, lights flashing (or just 'on', this will be an option for those that have epilepsy to turn off), and guide you to where you need to go. Not everyone will need this obviously, and not every airfield will have it (just the bigger ones), but if you do need it, it's an option for you. 3. More options for static objects in the mission editor Aside from all of these things, we should get some more airfield related objects in the mission editor as well, such as jet blast deflectors, sheds, and other assorted items to place down when building our missions to make the airfields feel more alive. Some of the stuff made by the guys behind the VPC airfield objects mod should become something that is part of DCS naturally (if not the actual assets, something akin to them). 4. ATC While I know that a new ATC system is coming, the details haven't quite been fully fleshed out, so here's what I'd like to see. First off, tell us which runway we're cleared to use, and what the weather conditions are when we request clearance to land. Also, like a real world ATC, we should be hearing from multiple members of the ATC crew, one that handles things outside the airfield, one that handles approach/departure, and one that handles ground, unless it's a small airbase/airport in which we may only hear from one or two of such a thing. 5. Renaming the airfields Although a rare thing, it would be nice if we could rename the airfields in the mission editor to reflect certain events, or just to have a different name as needed. For example if during a multi-week campaign one faction captures an airfield, they may choose to rename it, and even if it's something silly, it should be something we should be allowed to do (within reason). So what do you guys think? Would you like to see any of these? Feel free to discuss below.