I was tempted to join the forum over there just to leave Max a little note of congratulations. He does great work, doesn't he?

Sopwith Snipe is probably right about it being a good game. No reason not to enjoy it.
As to reasons why our modders have gone elsewhere---I can only put it down to greener grass on the other side (or in Flanders).
Without new territory to explore, a modder can only go so far before bumping up against EAW limitations. Nothing new to do.

Von Beerhofen is right in saying a price must be paid for better mods---usually a newer computer. FPS may suffer for the vast majority here if higher resolution is achieved.
But there are other questions:
----Can we produce better results even with mods demanding more computing power?
EAW has a certain "look". I have not seen this change---except with some of Shreck's Far Eastern terrains.
I can only describe this EAW look as softer, more dull earth tones. Like a slight mist over everything.
Not as sharp and bright.
Could be a pallette thing. Slot pallettes ruin a lot of nice colors.
VB can probably say quite a bit about this.

Compare Col. Gibbon's church tower with Max188's. Fine work. But a certain crispness is missing. There is a sense of the tower being RIGHT THERE in Max's work. It's just the way EAW works.
Often, when flying I completely lose other aircraft against the EAW background. I have noticed that sharpness that attracts the eye to moving aircraft in other games.
As VB says, a price must be paid. Maybe it's time to pay it.

----Easier modding? Better tools? I haven't tried modding another game, but EAW tools are tough to use.
You have to know a LOT to do something like Col. Gibbon Sydbod and WB are doing in RS research.
(Though I have to add that SOMEBODY is damned interested with over 2500 views)
----I have to say most of my frustrations are due to ignorance and my own mental limitations. But not all of them.

Interesting. I play both and wish that EAW had some of what FE has and visa versa.

It would be greate if EAW could get full past the 7217 error for many people.

The 'light source' graphics do make FE nicer and so do the cloads. But it is not that big of a deal.

But the biggest problem for both is the massive multiplay does not exist. So few online fliers for both games.

FE could be greatly improved in one other area, if we could see dots for planes as far as we can in EAW.

I understand that creating flight models in TK's games is much more difficult than in EAW.

TK does not care about multiplayer so a dead end. EAW can't get any further beyond 8 player multiplayer - so it is dying in online play.

We can only pray and hope Oleg gets it right in his coming BOB.

If you can't find someone to play online try the 8 player mode in Aces High. It is free. Graphics about EAW and many planes in air if you want to pay the monthly cost. And you can see the planes from a far distance.

And why bother with EAW WWI - some year SAW will come out.

Hi Wuddy. The only difference between Max's original, and mine is his church uses a 512x512 32bit texture, and mine is only 256x256 8bit texture. Maybe, one day we can go 32bit, but for now, it's the best I can do.

It was not a difficult job to replicate such a simple church.

Wow. Nice church--already skinned! Of course your work is great, John.
And of course you are limited to a 256x256 pixel "drawing board"---the basic reason for the slight "softness" of EAW.

Wonders have been done (and are being done now) with both low-res and hi-res graphics by the fine artisans here, despite the "softness" of 256x256.
Having tried some myself, I am greatly impressed with their skill in computer graphics.
=========
If we want more players to join us, I am wondering what areas we can improve to make "our" sim more attractive.
A WWI biplane scenario will help-- though Spanish Air War (SAW) will raise a stir on that front, too.
With the support of such modders as Jan Tuma, we can expect much more of aircraft like yours.
==========

I like to think some other types of game improvements are well within reach without having to fool with the basic EAW.exe too much.

----Pallettes. Hoping Von Beerhofen will weigh in here in a positive way to help us.
We need a broad range of new color choices in slot pallettes.
This alone can change the "look" of the game.
And I think it may have something to do with modders moving on.
It's out of my area of expertise. I believe VBH has tried to point out some alternatives with his pallettes. A bit beyond me.
Any new pallette tools in the works?

----Cockpits. We have Crashin' Jack tackling this one very successfully.
He can't do it alone. Hundreds of "old" cockpits and instruments need help (to say nothing of new glider cockpits needed for 'Silent Wings'--unfinished by Shreck).
The pilot's view from the cockpit is VERY important. Any good changes will help. Read CJ's cockpit wiki tutorial thread here.
VBH and (I think) Knegel have been fighting the good fight for a kind of "Track IR" way to see around cockpit struts in EAW. Cross our fingers and hope!

----The "little things" that help immersion.
These can be anything from close-up inflight maps to "landmarks" like Col. Gibbon's church to navigate by.
Terrain layouts for cities, etc., can help a lot. (Seeing 40 copies of churches like Col. Gibbon's does not help navigation).
We are no Flight Sim 2*** with detailed ground layouts of distinctly different places. But we are no slouch, either.

----Would a new way of handling briefing and other screens be useful?

----Anything else? Knegel seems to have the best handle on what a flight sim player wants in a game. So I hope he chimes in on this subject, too.
Others here have opinions. Let's hear them.

So much has been done in the last year or so.
We have a new EAW exe 1.26e which helps on some "7217" graphic card errors and provides extras for smoke and contrails in the sky.
We have Jelly's JIM also for 7217 help.
We have a Wiki; we have Stickies on big subjects like online flying and EAW installs; we have new OAW game managers.
We have quite a lineup of Flight Models as good as anyone's.
Now we have new Rendering Sequence (RS) work.
What do we need?

Thanks VonBeerhofen -- hope you get the chance to try FE soon, and as I said, good luck with your modding endeavours (and yes, you're right, the FE buildings aren't really that different from EAW, more's the pity...)

S!

--Snipe

PS Great work on the church guys -- now, do you want to do some pitched-roof buildings for FE (only joking)

Just thougth that this link might be of interest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6450000/newsid_6450300/6450325.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm#

Looks great lads!

Ogs.

The advantage of FE concerning the ground objects is the shading which emphasizes the 3D effect, nothing more. The ground itself is no way better than in EAW - only the trees are placed in a better way. vonOben was doing this for his EAW terrains, too, afaik.

No bad models, guys, but - donīt get me wrong - arenīt we frittering our energies? Concerning biplanes shouldnīt we concentrate on the twenties and thirties where no other sim is present?

Just my 2€ct

Fran

Hi !


New 2nd generation Hi-Res 3D Bi-Plane model progress:

Albatros D.I / D.II / D.III/ D.V for EAWW1 !
















Slots for German planes ?

109E - Fokker E.III
109G - Fokker Dr.I
109K - Fokker D.VII
190A - Albatros D.II
190D - Albatros D.Va
262A - L.F.G. Roland D.VIb or Pfalz D.III
110C - Brandenburg C.I (?)
110G - Junkers J.I




Jan