Ford Class Carrier MOD

[currenthill]

11 hours ago, Beldin said:

Ummm, I've not noticed that.

I've had no issues putting all 4 Ford class ship in a group for testing. And I used I've used the Ford ships in many different groups without issue. But not sure I've done a mixed group with TWO Ford class ships??? I'll take a look. I can't recall at the moment if/what ship are "sharing" a single edm or if I copied and renamed different edms for each ship.

For the ED Nimitz class there is a separate EDM for each ship in the class. In "theory" the different ships should be able to share a single edm but maybe not .

I've had the mod setup both ways but my guess is has something to do with this issue.

 

But yes the last update seems to have caused a few conflicts for me.

And to be clear. I have not fully tested the Ford MOD since Mr. Currenthill repackaged his GREAT MODS.

Any conflicts with his amazing stuff are totally MY fault

Hey! Did you see the Discord message I sent you a week ago. I sent you an updated Ford Class mod with the sensors fixed and other errors issues removed.

[Beldin]

2 hours ago, currenthill said:

Hey! Did you see the Discord message I sent you a week ago. I sent you an updated Ford Class mod with the sensors fixed and other errors issues removed.

No Sir I did not see that THANK YOU very much. And great job with the new asset packs and new MODs on your site. Amazing stuff as always

I will take a look tonight and update thread. 

 

[Beldin]

12 hours ago, Ironghost said:

Hi Beldin, I wanted to ask you if there will be graphic improvements on the models or can't we do more, thanks.

 

9 hours ago, EA-18G_BlockII said:

yeah for now the biggest gripe is the texture of the Ford is not very good, no offense though

Trust me, while the fix Fury provided made the Ford almost acceptable looks wise no one more than me would like a better looking ship .

I can't make any promises but there are efforts being made to get a better model for the Ford. But it could be six months or six years at this point.

When I was asked to help out with the FORD mod I was under the incorrect impression that the textures could be improved rather easily. This misunderstanding was mostly do to my complete ignorance of 3d modeling. But for me this model/texture combo was only for development purposes. 

But all the feedback about how the ship actually WORKS is invaluable. The somewhat dedicated mod team of me, myself and I can only test and think up so many scenarios . So if the code ever really gets solid I MAY, repeat MAY, be able to get someone that can help on the model end. Because If I have to learn the modeling stuff myself (which I am slowing working on) we are looking at the 6 year part of the time frame I mentioned earlier. 

And thanks again to all those that have helped out or showed any interest     

Also I have deleted the download link.

I will post a new version with some code updates shortly

[Ironghost]

10 ore fa, Beldin ha scritto:

 

Credimi, anche se la soluzione fornita da Fury ha reso la Ford quasi accettabile, nessuno più di me vorrebbe una nave dall'aspetto migliore .

Non posso fare alcuna promessa, ma si stanno facendo sforzi per ottenere un modello migliore per la Ford. Ma a questo punto potrebbero volerci sei mesi o sei anni.

Quando mi è stato chiesto di dare una mano con il mod FORD avevo l'errata impressione che le texture potessero essere migliorate piuttosto facilmente. Questo malinteso è dovuto principalmente alla mia completa ignoranza della modellazione 3D. Ma per me questa combinazione modello/texture era solo a scopo di sviluppo. 

Ma tutti i feedback su come FUNZIONA effettivamente la nave sono inestimabili. Il mio team di mod piuttosto dedicato, io e me, possiamo solo testare e pensare a così tanti scenari . Quindi, se il codice diventa davvero solido, POSSO, ripeto, MAGGIO, riuscire a trovare qualcuno che possa aiutarmi con il modello. Perché se dovessi imparare da solo le cose da modellare (su cui sto rallentando il lavoro) dovremmo considerare la parte di 6 anni del periodo di tempo che ho menzionato prima . 

E grazie ancora a tutti coloro che hanno contribuito o hanno mostrato interesse    

Inoltre ho eliminato il collegamento per il download.

A breve pubblicherò una nuova versione con alcuni aggiornamenti del codice

That's fine too, thanks my friend.

[Beldin]

I have some updates for those that would like to try.

Important. You must have Currenthill's CH Military Asset Pack USA installed.

Currenthill was nice enough to fix the sensor file. So many thanks for that.

SAM range is limited for game balancing reasons. This is to prevent the carrier from wasting the Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missiles on targets her escorts are shooting at. So while her anti air defenses don't have that much more range than the standard Nimitz class but  RIM-162 missiles are much more effective than the standard Sea Sparrows.

I think I fixed the group spawn issue. I was able to recreate an issue when spawning CVN-79 after CVN-78 in a group. It seems gone now but I'm not sure why.

Because after trying a few things that didn't work I basically wound up with files that had just been renamed back to the original problem. Which now seems gone.

Other small fix is to the RIM-162 launchers. The launcher tube covers have been operating backwards. They now show when the launcher is loaded. BUT unfortunately they stay covered after launch. This seems to be a model issue, either the animation is backwards or none with the covers on. I'll keep looking for a code fix but having the cover always on is better than working backward.

If anyone is up for testing I'd like to know if......

Player take off and landing is working (it should be)

Are the landing aids working correctly (they seem to be but I've never really flown the F-18 or F-14 modules)

Is ATC/radio working (maybe?)

Can you detect the ship on the aircraft RWR and at what range. (may require currenthill RWR mod)

Weapons performance seems good but the Port side RIM-116 SAM has a poor hit rate when firing to the rear quarter.

But there should be no missiles or CIWS firing through the ship.

Fire damage effect is a bit of a hack at the moment but there should be a slight increase in the fire(s) amount as damage increases

But any feedback on what's working and what is not is helpful.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArIUQEKgEWp8gfccYyPRa2xK9WeNWg?e=GbjZLx

 

Edited March 21 by Beldin

[ienatom]

With the Super Hornet mod, this spawn point behind the island collides with the ship model. Same happens with the standard F18 and it gets shifted and rotated 45° aft due to the collision.

I also tested ATC and it seems to work.

TACAN is a bit messy but ICLS works. The TACAN range seems to be correct but the bearing is doing weird things. When approaching from starboard the TACAN position oscillates by around +-5° and the bearing is not correct at all. See attached screenshot for reference. I also tested port and around the carrier but there seems to be a lot of inaccuracy regarding the bearing and the position of the TACAN: I was flying directly outbound from the carrier but the TACAN showed about 5 my 190° bearing instead of 180°.

The RWR is detected and the bearing is correct but even with the CH RWR mod it shows unknown (I don't know if it's supposed to be already fixed so I'll just report it)

You can see the carrier at my 11 o'clock with that tiny dot on the sea.

 

Edited April 8 by ienatom

[Beldin]

On 4/8/2024 at 11:00 AM, ienatom said:

With the Super Hornet mod, this spawn point behind the island collides with the ship model. Same happens with the standard F18 and it gets shifted and rotated 45° aft due to the collision.

Thanks for the update and sorry for the late reply. I had a nasty bit of food poisoning and haven't really been up for modding. Getting back to things now. I should be able to adjust that spawn point. As for the TACAN stuff I'll start looking into it. I have no idea how it's supposed to work but I'll dust off the hotas and do some testing with the Nimitz class soon.

I'm also seeing the same results with the RWR so I'll look into that as well. Many thanks again for the feedback

[Beldin]

I've update the spawn spot behind the island, Although after looking at the picture I'm unsure if that's a spawn point or parking spot ?  I tested the new spawn point and the take off /taxi seems ok. It's still a bit messy for the last few planes but it works. I'll try and clean up the taxi routes /catapult selection soon. I did make a small adjustment to the parking spot behind the island (based on the new spawn point) but I've not tested it yet.

Here is the updated runway lua. Just overwrite the current file in the scripts folder

ford_RunwaysAndRoutes.lua

[ienatom]

Hey mate, I might have lost it in the different replies, but do you have any plans on correcting the deck model? I mean like position of cables, catapults (?) and JBDs? This way a more accurate texture for the deck can be made, as I believe the one you are using now is a picture of the actual deck (which means the positions on it are correct I guess)

[Beldin]

2 hours ago, ienatom said:

any plans on correcting the deck model

There will not be any changes to the model/textures until someone wants take on making the new model I have DCS ready.

I will eventually sort out the basic 3d model/texture stuff myself but learning that software/skill set is not an easy thing .

 

[ienatom]

13 minutes ago, Beldin said:

There will not be any changes to the model/textures until someone wants take on making the new model I have DCS ready.

I will eventually sort out the basic 3d model/texture stuff myself but learning that software/skill set is not an easy thing .

 

Gotcha. I was just asking because I might be able to create a more accurate texture for the deck, but there is not point if the model does not align with the actual positions of those things I mentioned 

I can make the new deck texture, but I have 0 knowledge of 3D modeling 

[Beldin]

8 minutes ago, ienatom said:

Gotcha. I was just asking because I might be able to create a more accurate texture for the deck, but there is not point if the model does not align with the actual positions of those things I mentioned 

I've not taken a close look at it in awhile but I'm unsure what placement issues you are taking about with the deck. Are the cat/JBD in the wrong locations per the real ship?

I do recall thinking the cat textures were a little off at one point but I thought the general location of things was correct. I'll look at pictures of the Ford and see what's up.

But if there is anything you can do to improve the look of the ship by all means go for it. She's always been a bit of an ugly duckling but I enjoy having it as an AI asset and she's doing "ok" in that role.

I did come across some landing issues with a large group of F-35C landing after a hour plus long mission. Last time I check the F/A-18 was landing correctly but the F-35 pilots seemed to get a bit confused

[ienatom]

7 minutes ago, Beldin said:

I've not taken a close look at it in awhile but I'm unsure what placement issues you are taking about with the deck. Are the cat/JBD in the wrong locations per the real ship?

I do recall thinking the cat textures were a little off at one point but I thought the general location of things was correct. I'll look at pictures of the Ford and see what's up.

But if there is anything you can do to improve the look of the ship by all means go for it. She's always been a bit of an ugly duckling but I enjoy having it as an AI asset and she's doing "ok" in that role.

I did come across some landing issues with a large group of F-35C landing after a hour plus long mission. Last time I check the F/A-18 was landing correctly but the F-35 pilots seemed to get a bit confused

I'll try to take some screenshots to better explain this but AFAIK the Ford has only 3 arresting cables and in the mod we have 4 which are not aligned with the angled deck.
The JBDs seem to be a bit off, both by position and by form (comparing it with the deck texture). Then something else that I don't remember 

What program are you using to model the 3D model?

[Beldin]

2 hours ago, ienatom said:

What program are you using to model the 3D model?

I'm not able to to the 3d model stuff atm, that's the problem. But I did not know about the extra wire

But if I'm ever able to get the new model made ready for DCS I will certainly check those details.

Note, This model was always meant to be replaced. Unfortunately that proved a bit more difficult than planned