Ford Class Carrier MOD

[AvgeekJoe]

AWESOME!

[nghitran]

8 hours ago, Beldin said:

Actually.......

AI flight operations working.

Weapons and Sensors working

Basic collision shell and fire effects working. Carrier can be sunk.

Things to do......

Complete animations. For example the jet blast deflectors are missing their struts/supports right now and the catapult shuttle is not animated yet, etc...

Fix some texture issues. I had  to remove a few small elements from the model because the texture are not displaying correctly.

Add player functionality.

Maybe a beta release for Christmas

 

Many thanks to those that sent links for models. I've yet to look at them yet as this is a model I purchased awhile ago. Many thanks to Admiral189 for the 3d software tips. I look at the other models soon, Maybe for CVN-79-81

 

Glad to see you back 

[Beldin]

Update,

So I jumped into the stock F/A-18C, set a runway start and to my surprise I did not fall through the ship I actually took off. Landing worked also, well sort of.

When playing back the track in external view is seems the nose wheel dipped into the deck a bit. Also the catapult launch was not what you would call smooth so a few issues to work out. But considering I expected the player aircraft to fall into the ocean I'm presently surprised it worked at all .

 

[Beldin]

Some progress,

Struts added back to the jet blast deflectors. Animation is not technically correct but workable. Catapult shuttles are moving, but not correctly on launch. They do return correctly.

[Beldin]

Recent ai take off testing on CVN-78 and Admiral189's C550

24 F/A-18Es

10 F-35B

Edited December 20, 2024 by Beldin

[Ironghost]

5 ore fa, Beldin ha scritto:

Recenti test di decollo dell'intelligenza artificiale su CVN-78 e C550 dell'Admiral189

24 F/A-18E

10 F-35B

Which version of the F-35 is used for testing?

[Beldin]

1 hour ago, Ironghost said:

Which version of the F-35 is used for testing?

The latest VSN-35B. But while it's a great mod it's twice the weight of the AV-8B so there can be issues with the landing. F/A/-18E is the Superbug MOD

[Ironghost]

36 minuti fa, Beldin ha scritto:

L'ultimo VSN-35B. Ma nonostante sia un ottimo mod, pesa il doppio dell'AV-8B, quindi potrebbero esserci problemi con l'atterraggio. F/A/-18E è il MOD del Superbug

Ok thanks, but unfortunately I have to remove the Su-57 Felon mod because it conflicts with F-35.

[Beldin]

9 hours ago, Ironghost said:

Ok thanks, but unfortunately I have to remove the Su-57 Felon mod because it conflicts with F-35.

I've been testing a few custom versions VSN F-35B. I'm trying to make it more ai compatible with the AV-8B/Tarawa module. Aircraft weight plays a big role in how DCS handles "the Harrier" for take off/landing modes and there is a big weight/payload difference between the two aircraft. I'm trying to lower the weight of the F-35B without just using the AV-8b numbers. But still keep the the fuel and weapons payload "correct". I'll look into the conflict as well. I'll share the aircraft lua as long as no one from VSN objects.  

[Beldin]

Merry Christmas to all.

Here's an extremely early access version of the Ford class. Not really concerned with "bug reports" right now but please PM me if you have a conflict with another MOD.

For use as an ai asset. Very limited player testing/functionality

Here's what works.

Weapons, Sensors and ai take off are working.

What's not working is landing, the animations for the jet blast deflectors is simplified and the cat shuttles are not working correctly.

Model is missing a few small elements due to a texture issue I need to resolve.

I will keep this link active for a limited time.

A real beta/release is probably 6 months out at least. 

But she can launch ai aircraft (up to 28) and if nothing else can be used as a background element. 

USS_Ford_Class_Alpha1.zip

Enjoy and once again Merry Christmas

Edited December 25, 2024 by Beldin

[nghitran]

9 hours ago, Beldin said:

Merry Christmas to all.

Here's an extremely early access version of the Ford class. Not really concerned with "bug reports" right now but please PM me if you have a conflict with another MOD.

For use as an ai asset. Very limited player testing/functionality

Here's what works.

Weapons, Sensors and ai take off are working.

What's not working is landing, the animations for the jet blast deflectors is simplified and the cat shuttles are not working correctly.

Model is missing a few small elements due to a texture issue I need to resolve.

I will keep this link active for a limited time.

A real beta/release is probably 6 months out at least. 

But she can launch ai aircraft (up to 28) and if nothing else can be used as a background element. 

USS_Ford_Class_Alpha1.zip

Enjoy and once again Merry Christmas

Thank you for your work. This might not be a bug but rather a difference between DCS version 2.9.4 that I’m using and the latest version. I encountered a small issue with the new Runway Lua file that caused the game to crash. Everything returned to normal when I replaced it with the Runway file you made last year.

[Beldin]

17 minutes ago, nghitran said:

I encountered a small issue with the new Runway Lua file that caused the game to crash.

I'll take a look take a look at the 2 files. I doubt the old runway lua will work for spawning, the positions are not the same.

I get random crashes on game exit or mission exit sometimes. But I have so many mods installed.......... any number of them could be causing my issues.

But you can update the runway positions in the "old runway lua" with the new and runway positions and it should at least work for runway starts then.

 

 

[AvgeekJoe]

 Without landing Beldin, not interest in this alpha release.  Kinda important  .  Keep at it, you're getting close!

[toni]

hey, just tried the Ford with CJS  Super Hornet out of Kola, and was not able to trap after 4 atemps .  But will be a good mod indeed.

By the way, I see some pixels up in some clouds when using VR . Clicked on VR in the settings menu and still the same, although everything is a lot more clear, Im using Quest Pro.

Any clue ?

[Beldin]

6 hours ago, AvgeekJoe said:

Without landing Beldin, not interest in this alpha release.  Kinda important

Landing does actually work for player aircraft, and ai, well sort of.  I've just not sorted out all the taxi/parking stuff. A recent update seems to have disabled the carrier plug in for the Model Viewer. And doing taxi routes without that is a pain. Hopefully the plug in will be fixed soon. But like I said this is a very early access version. I'm just glad it's loading at all for some.

Thank you all for the feed back and I'll be on the look out for stray pixels in the clouds

 

[Turbine 205]

@Beldin
I just found your mod and attempted to install.  Strangely the mod shows up in the mission editor.  However when I go to run the mission the ship disappears as if it wasn't even there.  Have you seen this issue?

[Beldin]

No but there have been a few updates since it was posted. I was planning on taking a look at the Mod this weekend so I'll see what's up.

 

[RWC]

16 hours ago, Turbine 205 said:

@Beldin
I just found your mod and attempted to install.  Strangely the mod shows up in the mission editor.  However when I go to run the mission the ship disappears as if it wasn't even there.  Have you seen this issue?

This usually happens when it is conflicting with one of your installed mods in the saved game mod files....

[Beldin]

7 hours ago, RWC said:

This usually happens when it is conflicting with one of your installed mods in the saved game mod files....

Yeah, It's most likely a weapons conflict. I know the last update or two caused some issues. I generally only worry about conflicts with CH's and Admiral's Mods as far as other mods go. 

I've had the Ford mod on hold until the carrier plug in for model viewer is working again. It's such a pain doing the runway script without it.

[Beldin]

I was able to load the Ford Mod as it was posted here and it showed in game just fine.

I tested the SAMs and the RAM missiles seem to splash into the ocean most of the time. But I'm seeing the same issue with the RAMs on stock ships and even Mods with custom RAM-116 missiles. Has anyone else noticed this?

I know a recent update did cause issues with some ships not showing in game. I believe it was certain aircraft Mods causing the problem. ED did release a "Hotfix" that seemed to clear up the issue for many.

My recent test had most of CH's latest mod installed and a few other ship/aircraft mods as well.

As I add more stuff back in I'll keep an eye on the Ford and see if I encounter any issues.

[RWC]

9 hours ago, Beldin said:

I was able to load the Ford Mod as it was posted here and it showed in game just fine.

I tested the SAMs and the RAM missiles seem to splash into the ocean most of the time. But I'm seeing the same issue with the RAMs on stock ships and even Mods with custom RAM-116 missiles. Has anyone else noticed this?

I know a recent update did cause issues with some ships not showing in game. I believe it was certain aircraft Mods causing the problem. ED did release a "Hotfix" that seemed to clear up the issue for many.

My recent test had most of CH's latest mod installed and a few other ship/aircraft mods as well.

As I add more stuff back in I'll keep an eye on the Ford and see if I encounter any issues.

Hi Beldin m8, glad to hear you are working on the Ford again. Why not install a missile that still works for the time being until you solved the RAM issue ?

[seabat]

10 hours ago, Beldin said:

I was able to load the Ford Mod as it was posted here and it showed in game just fine.

I tested the SAMs and the RAM missiles seem to splash into the ocean most of the time. But I'm seeing the same issue with the RAMs on stock ships and even Mods with custom RAM-116 missiles. Has anyone else noticed this?

I know a recent update did cause issues with some ships not showing in game. I believe it was certain aircraft Mods causing the problem. ED did release a "Hotfix" that seemed to clear up the issue for many.

My recent test had most of CH's latest mod installed and a few other ship/aircraft mods as well.

As I add more stuff back in I'll keep an eye on the Ford and see if I encounter any issues.

Let see, issues with systems, glitches being identified, tracked down and squashed, delays in a fully functional carrier.  Funny how this thread almost reads like reports of the real USS Ford in the newspapers over the past few years.

Who says DCS does not offer the most realistic simulation of weapons ever! 

Beldin, your work on the Ford as well as other carriers has been, still is, and will be much appreciated.

seabat

[Beldin]

3 hours ago, RWC said:

Hi Beldin m8, glad to hear you are working on the Ford again. Why not install a missile that still works for the time being until you solved the RAM issue ?

The RIM-162D SAMs work great. It's only the shorter range RAM-116 that have an issue.

[Turbine 205]

On 4/17/2025 at 4:25 AM, RWC said:

This usually happens when it is conflicting with one of your installed mods in the saved game mod files....

I typically test my mods after removing all my other mods.  However with the 2 patches between now and when I posted the comment it's pretty mute.  Just testing it again and the ship now shows up in game.  Though I can't get AI hornets to land on her.

@Beldin,  To help facilitate any support I could give to your project I've attached related errors and warnings in my log file.  This was without any other mods running in my game or mission.  Strangly these BACKENDCOMMON warnings have been ever increasing the last month or two.  Not exactly sure why, but I've been seeing them on other mods, including CH's.

Ford_Related_Errors_Warnings.txt

Edited Tuesday at 07:04 PM by Turbine 205

[TeTeT]

1 hour ago, Turbine 205 said:

Though I can't get AI hornets to land on her.

Check the GT.attributes and compare to other carriers. Maybe some value is missing there.