NEWS "RAFALE PACK EVOLUTION II" Version 2.8.7 August 2023 by the Cuesta Brothers Team

[toan]

3 hours ago, Beldin said:

Thanks for the heads up on the parking spots. I'm just about done with the take off side of things.  As for landing and parking what I'm planning will most likely mean that take off from the cats will be disabled. Without elevators I see no way to park that many aircraft without messing with the take off AI. So mission can have take offs at the start and landing at the end. But most likely not both happening during the mission (except maybe a few planes). Sadly I've had ZERO luck with the Mod VTOL aircraft landing on any of the Mod/stock carriers. The Harrier/Tarawa combo works, but no joy with the VSN F-35 vertically landing on anything. Take offs are fine and either stol or vtol depending of load out/weight. But landings......I promise I will at least get the stuff I got for the French carriers posted soon or made available to those interested.  

Thanks Beldin. Indeed, the location of the catapults on the French carriers forbids simultaneous landings and cats operations. So your plan is absolutely correct. As for the VSTOL aircraft, I had problems landing the Harrier on the L61 a while ago. It would land behind the end of the deck.  But I didn't try again since long. Looking forward for your Mod, many thanks for your work

[Beldin]

Ok here is a very early version of my NATO Naval Aviation MOD. This is a pre pre pre release of the Charles De Gaulle and Rafale. Many thanks to the Cuesta Brothers Team for their work which inspired this project.

My overall goal is to get all (most) of the Nato Naval Mods that are out there working together.

This is only lua file updated to allow the AI to launch up to 16 aircraft ( 2 cat 14 ramp) from the deck with no magic spawn ins. I've only tested it with AI and single player but I'm guessing a player should be able to takeoff from the cat position. As for MP I have no clue. 

Some (much?) assembly required. You'll need the following mods installed to replicate the pictures (aircraft) you want. BACK UP your files and use at your own risk.

CDG 2.7.10

Rafale Pack 2.5.6.55960

Super Etendard Pack 2.7.2

VSN_F-35

Military Aircraft Mod

Super bug F-18E/F/G

Then you must "mod" the Charles de Gaulle by replacing the Charles de Gaulle vide.edm file with the Pour PAUL completement vide.edm file in the orig mod shaped folder. This will clear the deck of the Static E-2 and Rafale. Just rename and replace.

Then just replace the lua file for the carrier and aircraft you want.

Known issues. nose wheel shuttle/cat alignment is not perfect. what's strange is depending on the parking space it's better sometimes and depending on the aircraft it can be off a lot, but plane will launch. (I can fix it ). Starting position and takeoff order is not based on anything real, just whatever I could get working. Planes should not run through anything but no Air Boss would be happy, but it's a game and it works (?) A few starting spots will pause their taxi for no good reason, then continue on like nothing happened? It only happens with the F-18E for the most part do to it's size but in some cases a plane will stall for 30 seconds to a few minutes. Not really an issue if you stick to the Rafale or Etendard. Deck heck might be off for a few spots so you might see a nose wheel sunk in the deck a bit. etc.... (I'll fix it)

Lastly I've only tested with 2 plane groups because of the two cats. 4 plane groups may work fine for ramp starts, I've just not tested.

For those brave few, back up your files and enjoy.

P.S What's pictured should works, but mixing aircraft and starting positions will have mixed, and in many cases, not working results. Put the E-2 on the cat and get it off the deck first, lol

P.S.S. These files will also allow the Rafale and Etendard to AI takeoff from the USN CVN-7x and the CV-59 I believe all 16/12 starting slot will work on the American carriers. Will post Clemenceau later today

C2A_Greyhound.lua ETENDARD_IV.lua Rafale_M.lua Rafale_M_NOUNOU.lua SEM.lua VSN_F35C.lua Charles de Gaulle vide.lua

Edited January 19, 2023 by Beldin
update text

[Beldin]

And here is Clemenceau. Up to 20 aircraft AI takeoff (2 cat 18 ramp) Notes same as above. A little easier as there is no need to edit the edm file to clear the deck. Just replace the carrier lua file in your current mod and use the aircraft lua from the earlier post I will release the updated CV-59 lua with the extra parking spots later as part of the larger mod. Etendard should work with the stock CV-59.

E-2 and C2 work from cat and should work from ramp, but you may have to play around with the "spawn" order to get a parking arrangement that works

Once again back up all files and enjoy.

P.S. I've changed the display names for some of the units. Look closely at the list in the mission editor as the ship/plane may not be listed as before.

Clemenceau.lua

Edited January 19, 2023 by Beldin
update text

[toan]

1 hour ago, Beldin said:

And here is Clemenceau. Up to 20 aircraft AI takeoff (2 cat 18 ramp) Notes same as above. A little easier as there is no need to edit the edm file to clear the deck. Just replace the carrier lua file in your current mod and use the aircraft lua from the earlier post I will release the updated CV-59 lua with the extra parking spots later as part of the larger mod. Etendard should work with the stock CV-59.

E-2 and C2 work from cat and should work from ramp, but you may have to play around with the "spawn" order to get a parking arrangement that works

Once again back up all files and enjoy.

P.S. I've changed the display names for some of the units. Look closely at the list in the mission editor as the ship/plane may not be listed as before.

Clemenceau.lua 24.3 kB · 1 download

 

Thanks so much Beldin !  I'll test all those files in the coming hours Also, in one of your first screenshots, there were F-8 Crusader parked on the deck. Even if these are only static aircraft, I'd love to park some of them on the deck of the Clemenceau Many thanks again for your excellent work !

Edited January 19, 2023 by toan

[Beldin]

You are very welcome. After reading the forum guidelines I hope posting these lua files is ok. If anyone wants them removed I will certainly do that if needed and if ED flags them i will beg for mercy. I'm hoping since this is more of a "patch" to existing Mods than a stand alone mod I'm in a gray area and it's ok? No credits were removed or added from/to the files. That being said I'm not able/ready to post the model for the F-8. I will post the lua file for it if that turn out to be ok, but it seems like that mod/model has be pulled as it was very hard to find a working link and while cool, it was a bit of a mess working with the Carriers. I knew that once the first takeoff was VTOL, lol. After fixing that I notice that the model is not "centered" like other and getting it to line up on the cat without it tail sticking through the JBD was impossible It's also HUGE and wrecked the taxiways, lol Also there is an official mod for the F-8 in the works so..... I did purchase a model for the F-8. Now if I can just figure out how to animate the gear (d'oh) I may be able to post something AI only later. Hopefully everything you need is there. I've made so many changes over the past month, lol. The changes to the aircraft was mainly just adding the "folding wings" stuff. If I recall that is needed for the AI to takeoff from the ramp. Even if there are no folding wings on the model that line must be there otherwise the plane would launch and get stuck at the end of the runway/cat and hang in mid air???? which took a bit to sort out because it would launch from the cat just fine if it spawned there. (thanks to A-4 Mod group for the fix). I did make other changes like display name and some flight data like max speed etc. If you already had the AI taking off from the ramp the aircraft files may not be needed. Let me know if something is missing/not working. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Beldin
update text

[Ted Striker]

Great! Looking forward for the next versions of your work!

Just out of curiosity: Would it be possible to configure a mod to be carrier capable? As an example, to make a Eurofighter mod capable of starting from a carrier. Is it in general possible, with let's say some changes to the aircraft's lua file, or are there any other prerequisites that have to be fulfilled, like animations for the launch bar, or something?

Thanks!

[toan]

1 minute ago, Ted Striker said:

Great! Looking forward for the next versions of your work!

Just out of curiosity: Would it be possible to configure a mod to be carrier capable? As an example, to make a Eurofighter mod capable of starting from a carrier. Is it in general possible, with let's say some changes to the aircraft's lua file, or are there any other prerequisites that have to be fulfilled, like animations for the launch bar, or something?

Thanks!

Hi Striker, Yes, there is a small Mod which consists of  text lines with the names of the aircraft that you want to make carrier capable, but if memory recalls, only for landing on the carrier deck. The lines, that you can add and edit easily look like : "make_aircraft_carrier_capable('A-29B',{"AircraftCarrier","AircraftCarrier With Tramplin"})"

It works for WWII aircraft for sure, but I didn't test it for modern fighters. The name of the Mod is "Carrier Based Aircraft". Unfortunately, I don't remember where you can download it... Maybe someone can help to locate it. Fly low...

[Beldin]

Ted Striker. Yes you should be able to make a Eurofighter carrier capable.  For landing the the lines toan mentioned are needed, for takeoff as I understand it. the model does not have to have things like a launch bar or movable wings. but the lua must. If you don't mind the missing animations I believe any plane could be made carrier capable. I shot a car model off one of the Nimitz's cats for a video am doing.

[Ted Striker]

great, thx! I will test it as soon as I get into dcs on the weekend

[toan]

52 minutes ago, Beldin said:

Ted Striker. Yes you should be able to make a Eurofighter carrier capable.  For landing the the lines toan mentioned are needed, for takeoff as I understand it. the model does not have to have things like a launch bar or movable wings. but the lua must. If you don't mind the missing animations I believe any plane could be made carrier capable. I shot a car model off one of the Nimitz's cats for a video am doing.

AaaaaH ! Excellent !  I'm looking forward to watch your video ! This reminds me of a very old TV ad for a car model that showed the car being shot by one of the Clemenceau carrier cats .... Nobody was paid I think to dive and get the car back to the surface...........

[Beldin]

Yeah I had to change out the Ferrari for a Maserati. It scaled visually  a bit better with the deck crew,lol. That video is to David Bowie's song "I'm Afraid of Americans"  and would get flagged if I posted it here. Which is a shame because it's got some great Rafale shots in it. I've got an idea for a video using a song I own the rights to. I'll see what I can put together later today.

[toan]

15 hours ago, Beldin said:

Yeah I had to change out the Ferrari for a Maserati. It scaled visually  a bit better with the deck crew,lol. That video is to David Bowie's song "I'm Afraid of Americans"  and would get flagged if I posted it here. Which is a shame because it's got some great Rafale shots in it. I've got an idea for a video using a song I own the rights to. I'll see what I can put together later today.

Excellent ! Thanks !..... And concerning your video, you can edit it to delete the problematic track that includes a contoversial song...

Edited January 20, 2023 by toan

[toan]

Hi Beldin, this is my first test of your nice Mod concerning the aircraft cat launches. Below is a screenshot of a 4 Rafale flight that has just landed on the R91 Charles de Gaulle deck. As you can see, they park with their nose wheel and radar cone crossing the red and white landing safety line. See my screenshot below.

It would be nice to push their parking slot well back towards the edge of the deck, where there is a lot of free space. Maybe 5 meters back would be OK. What do you think ? Thanks

[F2C]

Quelques photos  

 

[Beldin]

8 hours ago, toan said:

Hi Beldin, this is my first test of your nice Mod concerning the aircraft cat launches. Below is a screenshot of a 4 Rafale flight that has just landed on the R91 Charles de Gaulle deck. As you can see, they park with their nose wheel and radar cone crossing the red and white landing safety line. See my screenshot below.

It would be nice to push their parking slot well back towards the edge of the deck, where there is a lot of free space. Maybe 5 meters back would be OK. What do you think ? Thanks

Great to hear that it working and thanks for testing it. I've not yet even looked at landing/parking but I will soon, and your info on the redline most likely will have saved me a lot of time wondering what the heck is going lol.  But as long as the take off and parking are treated as separate events moving the planes back a bit should not be an issue for landing/parking. What I found with the TO stuff is even a small change to 1 planes position can throw the whole thing off. Meaning, moving plane X back .5 will cause the TO order to change for some reason and wreck the whole thing. It can be a bit frustrating to say the least,lol. But given that I really have no clue what I'm doing I'm just happy I've gotten this far. But while the parking will be a few days on the plus side I will upload a new video later today you and others will enjoys (hopefully).

[Beldin]

Here is a video featuring the Rafale and other Cuesta Brothers Team Mods. A few cameo appearances from SuperBug, Military Aircraft Mod, VSN -35, and some of the Chinese Aircraft and Ship Mods. Many thanks the all the Mods creators and I hope you enjoy the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Beldin
video fix

[toan]

6 hours ago, Beldin said:

Here is a video featuring the Rafale and other Cuesta Brothers Team Mods. A few cameo appearances from SuperBug, Military Aircraft Mod, VSN -35, and some of the Chinese Aircraft and Ship Mods. Many thanks the all the Mods creators and I hope you enjoy the show.

Waouh ! Superb video ! Thanks Beldin....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by toan

[Beldin]

8 minutes ago, toan said:

 

 

Thanks. You can find the other one I did with the car on my YouTube page . Giving that YouTube said the copyright was ok I'll post it here as well. Both videos still have a lot of rough edges as they are first two that I've ever done but I'm stating to get it figured out

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Beldin
Text update

[F2C]

7 hours ago, Beldin said:

Here is a video featuring the Rafale and other Cuesta Brothers Team Mods. A few cameo appearances from SuperBug, Military Aircraft Mod, VSN -35, and some of the Chinese Aircraft and Ship Mods. Many thanks the all the Mods creators and I hope you enjoy the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing video ! Thanks for your work

[toan]

1 hour ago, Beldin said:

Thanks. You can find the other one I did with the car on my YouTube page . Giving that YouTube said the copyright was ok I'll post it here as well. Both videos still have a lot of rough edges as they are first two that I've ever done but I'm stating to get it figured out

Excellent ! Thanks Beldin !....

 

 

 

[Beldin]

Thanks to all for the kind words on the video(s) . I've started on the parking and made a break through, lol. I'm not so sure that the "Red line" matters at all. I believe the 5th parking spot was "invalid" and hence the AI would consider all spots were full after four and cause the wave off. I've gotten 6 planes to land but I have to work out the parking spot for them and hopefully, at least 8 aircraft. If were lucky maybe 12-16. I'll see what I can do over the next few days and work on the nose wheel/shuttle alignment for the takeoffs as well . 

[Patrick56]

5 hours ago, Beldin said:

Thanks. You can find the other one I did with the car on my YouTube page . Giving that YouTube said the copyright was ok I'll post it here as well. Both videos still have a lot of rough edges as they are first two that I've ever done but I'm stating to get it figured out

 

 

Beautiful Beldin video that makes you want to fly thank you

Magnifique vidéo Beldin qui donne envie de voler merci 

[Patrick56]

12 hours ago, Beldin said:

Here is a video featuring the Rafale and other Cuesta Brothers Team Mods. A few cameo appearances from SuperBug, Military Aircraft Mod, VSN -35, and some of the Chinese Aircraft and Ship Mods. Many thanks the all the Mods creators and I hope you enjoy the show.

Waouh ! Superb video ! Thanks Beldin... un régal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eole]

Merci Beldin pour ces modifs qui donnent un peu plus de vie à l'aéronavale.

J'ai testé en démarrage de mission :

2 parés au catapultage / 1 pontée en démarrage en simultané / 1 pontée en démarrage + 5 min.

-> Ne décollent que les 2 en catapultage + le 1er de pontée.

 

1 Pontée en démarrage / 1 Pontée en démarrage + 3 min 

Ca fonctionne sans télescopage des deux pontées. 

1ère pontée : Rafale 1/2 sur 1ère catapulte et 3/4 sur 2ème catapulte.  La pontée au complet apponte.

2ème pontée : les 3 1ers s'alignent sur la 1ère catapulte et le dernier sur la seconde. (trop de monde à faire la queue sur la 1ère catapulte ?). Elle orbite sans se poser après l'appontage de la 1ère pontée. 

 

Les Rafale M_Air-Sol gèlent à la sortie du catapultage avant de disparaitre. Les Rafale M sont catapultés normalement.

 

Voilà pour le petit test 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Eole

[Beldin]

14 hours ago, Patrick56 said:

 

Thank you, I' m glad you enjoyed the video You guys have done some amazing work with both the planes and the carriers. Well done sir and thank you. I'll send you my files at some point if you'd like to include them in any future updates. I've upgraded all the Carriers to handle as many AI planes as possible, up to their real world capacity. I'm try to enhance the landing/parking now. You are welcome to use the "Precious/Rafale" for any non commercial use if you want. (I own the music copyright) And again, thanks for putting out some great Mods.