More default Skins for the B?

[Moorhuhn]

Hey,

 

did anybody know if we get more default liveries for the B during the EA?

Custom Community Skins are NO option, cause there always issue on multiplayer server.

 

 

Very important that there are more default ones to come?

Mabys some HiViz ones for example the Red Rippers, Swordsmen, and so on.

Also like to see the Jolly Jogers Christmas Version.

 

 

I know, I know, there are very cool and very good custom community skins.

But as I said there are always issues on multiplayer.

 

 

The liveries must be official and default in the game.

 

 

Thanks for feedback.

 

 

Greetings and fly safe :joystick: :pilotfly:

[Bearfoot]

It would be nice to see VF-84 at least to go with the CVN-71. And maybe tVF-31, to go with the Abe?

[Moorhuhn]

It would be nice to see VF-84 at least to go with the CVN-71. And maybe tVF-31, to go with the Abe?

I bet the VF-84 and 31 are coming with the A version. Both are legendary liveries and both are a must for the default liveries collection.

 

But there are so many good (HiViz) liveries for the B model which aren't included in the game.

 

 

Does anybody have any info if there are more liveries planned on the to-do-list for the B? Or is the B-Version finished in case of liveries?

Just wanted to know I we can look forward to more things to come or if the default liveries collection for the B is complete.

Just a little info ... Anticipation is the greatest joy

 

 

 

Thanks for feedback :pilotfly:

[RustBelt]

They need to do all the CAG birds. I'm sick of mostly only picking Grey, Grey, Grey, Also Grey.....

 

I hope the A has a bunch of those great White Belly paintjobs.

[near_blind]

They need to do all the CAG birds. I'm sick of mostly only picking Grey, Grey, Grey, Also Grey.....

 

I hope the A has a bunch of those great White Belly paintjobs.

 

Generally speaking, there were about 11 grey Tomcats for every colorful one :music_whistling:

[RustBelt]

Who cares? CAG birds are cool and this is make pretend.

 

I mean dig the VF-32 CAG B

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-squadron-vf032.htm

 

That's just classy.

Edited June 19, 2020 by RustBelt

[Moorhuhn]

Generally speaking, there were about 11 grey Tomcats for every colorful one :music_whistling:

Do you mean for the B?

There are some grey ones with no colorful counter-part. Swordsmen, Red Rippers,...

 

 

Are there any Infos from Heatblur if there are more default liveries for the B.

Date doesn't matter for the moment. Just to know if there are coming some more in future or if the liveries collection is finished for the B.

[Airhunter]

In my opinion the Tomcat has more than enough default liveries. The Viggen could need a couple on the other hand.

[Swordsman422]

With few exceptions, the reality was that by 1983 pretty much every Tomcat in a squadron save 1 or 2 was sporting low-visibility TPS. Grey was pretty much the norm, and enough people here (me included) like the low-vis work-for-a-living look.

 

While I am pretty sure the A we're getting is a contemporary of the B we have, I am also looking forward to the wider variety of liveries it'll offer.

[Gunslinger22]

I think the default skins are great. The only thing that I personally feel like could of been done better was the weathering and overal tones. Many of us skinners have done much lighter greys, as the default HB ones aren’t quite right. Nor is there really enough weather and sun spots on their skins. Simply look into pictures of VF-103/74 A+’s during DS where the water based paints dried unevenly causing blotches.

[Swordsman422]

It's not just uneven drying. After the advent of TPS, corrosion control changed. The paint was practically dispensed with an eye dropper and you shot whatever color was handy whether it matched the area around it or not, and even if the color was right on the label, it might have come from a different paint batch than the paint that was already there, so you got tint variances from paint cans with the same labels on them. The TPS colors also picked up and held dirt more readily and stains bled through from underlying layers more often. You want to see some really filthy birds, look at images of late-cruise aircraft or from time periods where the boat's fresh water plant broke down. It happened in 2003 to CVW-2 aboard USS Constellation and those jets were just disgracefully filthy.

 

I hope HB finally figures out a way for the F-14 to have editable modex numbers that would be accurate for each squadron. That translates to more aircraft represented with less work. But I don't forsee that happening any time soon.

[Moorhuhn]

Yes, the existing skins for the B are great.

But I am really looking forward for some more B default liveries just to make the collection biggerand have more options. It's those little details Heatblur is so great in. Hi Viz Swordsmen and Red Rippers are really famous and their missing in the collection is a big hole and not the usual Heatblur Standard.

I didn't mean replacing the grey ones with ViViz, just expand the collection by adding the Hi Viz next to the grey ones. Just to have the free choise and the option to use both of them. Now we are forced to use fly the grey ones.

As every sqadron has grey ones the also have Hi Viz ones. There must be a CAG. But it's not possible to simulate that for us (at the moment) for some squadrons And as much I respect the community skinners and have to admit that you are doing a great job, your custom downloads always causes issues on multiplayer (other players just seeing placeholder textures/liveries and so on). Custom download skins are no option.

But what Heatblur could do, if they decide to add more B-liveries by themself, they could take some of your skins and add them to the game and the default liveries collection. Couse thats the point. They needed to be official in the game that we can use them without any problems.

Let's see if there will be a statement from Heatblur, regarding the possibility to add some more default liveries to the B. If their answer will be "no" we could ask them kindly to add round about five community skins ( we as community choose the best ones) to the game and the livries collection after a quality check. Of course just reallistic liveris, no fictional ones. With this option there will be not much work for Heatblur, just add them to the softwarepackage and roll them out with next update. Round about five to ten more and everything is great.

The other issue with the liveries are the static board numbers. The master livery must be extend by dynamic/changeable boardnumbers/modex.

 

 

Stay healthy and fly safe

Edited June 19, 2020 by Moorhuhn

[Uxi]

The bigger issue is being able to change plane numbers without a whole different Livery... is that possible or just too many variations?

[Swordsman422]

The bigger issue is being able to change plane numbers without a whole different Livery... is that possible or just too many variations?

 

Across 34 years of service with 30 different squadrons, the modex number placement, size, and typeface had a lot of variation. The F/A-18 had basically two locations for the modex on the nose. The F-14 had many, many more. There was some standardization, but almost as much variation. ED hasn't even fixed the kerning for the modex on the Hornet, so who knows what other limits HB might be having to deal with. And given this community's occasional behavior, you know that there are people who will squawk when their 1970's car show hotrod livery doesn't look exactly right because the modex placement doesn't match the racing stripe just right.

[draconus]

Of course just reallistic liveris, no fictional ones.

 

At least two currently ingame are fictional. It might have been fun at the release but now they could be removed. I doubt anyone uses them.

[Buzzles]

No thanks, because CoreMods is already big enough, no need to make it bigger by adding more default skins.

[Uxi]

Across 34 years of service with 30 different squadrons, the modex number placement, size, and typeface had a lot of variation. The F/A-18 had basically two locations for the modex on the nose. The F-14 had many, many more. There was some standardization, but almost as much variation. ED hasn't even fixed the kerning for the modex on the Hornet, so who knows what other limits HB might be having to deal with. And given this community's occasional behavior, you know that there are people who will squawk when their 1970's car show hotrod livery doesn't look exactly right because the modex placement doesn't match the racing stripe just right.

 

We don't have a full 34 year spread of equipment. It's a pretty narrow window of years on the F-14B we have and the F-14A we will have.

 

Then just pick one or two squadrons to get it right with adjustable numbers. The rest can be stuck static the way they are now.

[Swordsman422]

We don't have a full 34 year spread of equipment. It's a pretty narrow window of years on the F-14B we have and the F-14A we will have.

 

Then just pick one or two squadrons to get it right with adjustable numbers. The rest can be stuck static the way they are now.

 

Look at the liveries available for download for the F-14B that don't even belong on it. That's not going to work for a lot of players. You've got people wanting to replicate F-14s from the 1970s and 80's.

 

Hell, look at the variations in modex for the F-14 community in, say 1995. Still not going to work. People will complain. HB already made it clear that they want to satisfy the maximum number of people and also allow for the variation in modex numbers with the minimum impact. I support that and wish them luck.

[Airhunter]

I'd rather have proper AIM-54A textures. ;)

[Bearfoot]

No thanks, because CoreMods is already big enough, no need to make it bigger by adding more default skins.

 

Assuming that you are not joking, how much bigger do you a think a skin is going to add to your installation?

[Moorhuhn]

Across 34 years of service with 30 different squadrons, the modex number placement, size, and typeface had a lot of variation. The F/A-18 had basically two locations for the modex on the nose. The F-14 had many, many more. There was some standardization, but almost as much variation. ED hasn't even fixed the kerning for the modex on the Hornet, so who knows what other limits HB might be having to deal with. And given this community's occasional behavior, you know that there are people who will squawk when their 1970's car show hotrod livery doesn't look exactly right because the modex placement doesn't match the racing stripe just right.

So, where is the issue?

The dynamic modex numbers will look the same as the current static one? Same size, same location like we have them now, but we can make a 202 outta a 201. The dynamic ones shoudn't have a different size or location like the current static ones. The swordsmen have three versions. To make a 101, a 102 and a 103 they needed to remove the last number for every time. Just remove them again and fill in a dynamic field. Same technic like ED does for their modules. Can't understand why this should be such a big issues

When I look out my canopy to my left and right wingman and both have same modex numbers... thats trash. Not what I expect from an 80 bugs module.

 

No thanks, because CoreMods is already big enough, no need to make it bigger by adding more default skins.

:megalol::megalol::megalol::megalol:

 

Look at the liveries available for download for the F-14B that don't even belong on it. That's not going to work for a lot of players. You've got people wanting to replicate F-14s from the 1970s and 80's.

The custom liveries are NO option. There were always issues on multiplayer servers. All the liveries must be default in game.

Hopefully there will be an official Statement by HB if there are more delault livery coming for the B.

 

HB already made it clear that they want to satisfy the maximum number of people and also allow for the variation in modex numbers with the minimum impact. I support that and wish them luck.

Does this mean HB already mentioned that they are working on dynamic modex numbers?

[Swordsman422]

So, where is the issue?

 

The issue is this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at all of these jets, all of these modex styles, all of the different placements. It's not just between jets in a squadron. It's between different squadron liveries and periods. VF-124's 1986 modex placement and size is different than VF-1's 1975 modex placement and size is different than VF-154's 2003 modex placement and size is different from VF-32's 2003 modex placement and size. The F-14 community had far less uniformity in modex placement than the F/A-18 community or the Su-27, where the borts were pretty much uniform and your method of single-digit or double-digit replacement would work. On DCS aircraft, your dynamic modex location is coded on the model or something like that. They'd have to create decal placement for Every. Possible. Permutation. If they don't someone is sure enough going to be mad that they can't have the modex numbers on their favorite livery exactly right. They'll say "when I look out my canopy to my left and right wingman and the modex numbers aren't properly aligned with the stripe on the nose, or they're too large, too small, to far forward or aft, too much space between the numbers... thats trash," and they'll be just as entitled to their own opinion as you are to yours. To them, it's going to be an issue. And you can say "well, they can just live with it not perfect. I want my dynamic modex numbers." Why do they have to sacrifice? Maybe you can just not have what you want instead.

 

Heatblur has repeatedly stated (because they've been repeatedly asked) since the beginning (here in fact https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3825758&postcount=1) that they're trying to fix this in a performance-friendly way, since people will also squawk if the framerate drops because Heatblur had to be prepared for Every. Possible. Permutation. But I can't imagine it's particularly high on their priorities list. It certainly has to be below the Jester using LANTIRN, because that's URGENT, or the F-14A, because that's URGENT, or the Forrestal-class, because that's URGENT, or the pilot body in the cockpit, because that's URGENT, or the cockpit engine instruments, because that's URGENT... if you believe all the posters that have been saying "when I can't launch from the USS Independence in my F-14A to go drop a bomb on a target found and lased by Jester while looking down at the correct instrument panel that's partially blocked by my pilot's knee yet... that's trash."

 

It's a sizable challenge to overcome for fairly minor return compared to all of the other projects they have to complete for this module, especially when this issue has something of a workaround now. But I trust that Heatblur will eventually take care of it in a way that satisfies the maximum number of people and looks right in the end.

[Buzzles]

Assuming that you are not joking, how much bigger do you a think a skin is going to add to your installation?

 

I mean, I've got plenty of space so it wouldn't affect me, but I know others don't judging by the recent spate of complaints in other sections.

 

That said, so far each skin in F-14's CoreMods averages at approx 175MB.

 

Currently there's 23 in my coreMods/f14/liveries, which totals ~3.8 GB.

 

The F-14 coremods folder is already the biggest at ~5.2GB, which is a substantial jump over the next which is ~3GB (Mig-21).

 

 

Compare that the F-18, which totals ~2.3GB with ~2.1GB for liveries. It has a lot more skins, each one a fraction of the size (generally either ~25MB or ~50MB).

 

Looks like ED are using some diff files though, so if HB can investigate that and bring their coreMods livery sizes down, it'd be absolutely fine after then to add more.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Buzzles

[Jackjack171]

I'm just happy guys like Swordsman and Isoko that have made authentic (real B) skins. May be you should check those out. True there is a ton of fictional skins and that's ok if you like but it kills the realism in a way for me. I'll purchase the A when it comes (even though the engines are not as good as the B) and I hope the Forrestal comes out with it to make it more true to the time period. That will be awesome.

[Swordsman422]

I'm just happy guys like Swordsman and Isoko that have made authentic (real B) skins. May be you should check those out. True there is a ton of fictional skins and that's ok if you like but it kills the realism in a way for me. I'll purchase the A when it comes (even though the engines are not as good as the B) and I hope the Forrestal comes out with it to make it more true to the time period. That will be awesome.

 

That's very kind of you to say. Thank you.

 

Just so you know, the F-14A doesn't require a second purchase. It's a planned part of the module, so you'll automatically have it when it's released.