Any cockpit builders out there will need this file.

looking good Col...

heres a prelimary camo update for the DVII from Jasta 10, a departure before getting back to more 3dz tweaks...

Nice - NICE Flyright,
You guys are doing some real EAW justice to these old warbirds, good on you all!

DeanH

Wow you guys are amazing. Can't wait for the "Hat in the Ring" campaign.

Don't wanna be nitpicking but I still miss the aerodynamic shape of the wing, the curvature.
I know shading can do a lot of good but were those wings really that flat? I've allways believed that wings had a slight curvature to generate lift. Sorry for my ignorance about planes but every plane I've seen had such a curvature on the wings.
I'm mentioning this because I believe it's better to have it right from the start, if later on such a change is implemented then all skins previously made have to be remapped and I don't think there are many left who would take on such a job. I also understand that it won't be easy and might involve serious r/s problems but a big flat square element on the wing just doesn't look right.
Can't they be several strips next to eachother?
I do love the skins and the basic model though, so hope that puts a plaster on the wound.

http://www.hellsangels.firstflare.com/images/The_Barons_Last_Sunset.jpg

VBH

the DVII wings are based on J.Tumas previous work except of course for the missing shading and for this sim is the only remedy!!! (quess by misspelling "preliminary" that idea went over some heads )...the rib curvature i think that you're talking about though? NO eaw planes had them anyway!!! at best they have some kind of dimensional thickness which this also has but you really can't tell unless seeing it ingame or the 3dz editor...my higher screen resolution hinders the shape in general too.

on the other hand Jans Albatros looks right-on because i know of the plate he used fixed that issue almost perfectly. i have plates for fokkers but the bmp aren't big enough to paste any clean patterns such as that lozenge camo let alone being remotely palette compatiable, so any such examples by me will be from scatch which turned out to be the easier way to go anyway after finding this web site...oooops! i'll post it as soon as i find the bookmark again!

if anybodys still interested... http://www.wwi-models.org/misc/Colors/index.html

It is looking nice but I must wonder. FE does have much better graphics and all. The many issues with that game are being solved. It seems to me that the biggest issue is for FE satisfying flight models. So is it easier to change EAW in many areas and never have as good as eye candy as in FE and not have the 7217 error OR is it just terribly difficult to make the kind of flight models we would want in FE? On the other hand I know making a WWI-EAW is just for fun. Cheers.

Hi FlyRight,

it's not the rib curvature I'm talking about but the overall shape of the wing. EAW does have such curvature on any wing you see and I think that within the limmitations the programmers had to work with, they did a very good job too.
With the present knowledge the shape can be further improved, I mean improving doesn't mean creating wingshapes which use less elements but more.
I have no critisism about Jan's models, he's merely trying to get the best out of what is on offer but I wonder what he could do if the wing is really shaped like in the Baron's_Last_Sunset.
Fact is that a wing simply doesn't have a flat square polygon on top and under the wing, the shape is far more complex, as you can see on all EAW lores models.
If those lores models can portray a reasonable curvature allready then surely with our present knowledge we don't have to stick to a single flat element being the main part of the wing.
Each wing can have 256 elements in a highres solution, the lores solution of default EAW planes allready uses around 20 or 30 elements for each wing. A wing wich consists of 10 to 12 elements isn't really a wing but a piece of plywood, and that is how it looks too I'm sorry to say.
It's not that I don't appreciate the effort going into building the model but I still doubt that any Red Baron pilot will find EAW an attractive alternative, not even speaking about FE pilots.
If we want to attract others then I think we have to try and get the most out of our models within the limmitiations of EAW. The models themselves are very complex allready and as such are a mayor improvement on understanding the problems of 3DZ moddeling.
To get the most out of 3DZ models is to use every available node and element and if possible piggyback elements where ever possible to improve resolution and detail. In short I think that any model which doesn't even surpass the ammount of elements of a lores plane isn't much of an improvement. The only improvement I can see is solving a number of r/s problems present in older models, but if models are restricted in shape because of not being able to solve r/s problems in newer models because for instance you can not create a 3D gunbarrel without running into problems, or a true 3D machinegun then basically we're not progressing much.
I know that over time things may improve, when understanding of the r/s will allow whatever we want but when you can't create what is needed then it's still not much of an improvement, no matter how beautifull the skins you make are or no matter how many other parts you can add to a model.
True understanding lies in being able to create what you need, and that is without restrictions.
If you have to sacrifice a wingshape because of not being able to solve an r/s problem and if that get's you stuck to forever having to use this solution then it's not progression.
Even EAW's default wingtips are a very complex structure, trying to model the true shape of a wing and not a piece of plywood, no offense meant.
I simply feel that this shape needs a lot of improvement and if possible should use all 256 elements to be called an improvement, especially if you want to attract RB3D pilots, who allready have far better models inspite of being just as old as EAW.

VonBeerhofen

Hi Uriah,

If the above are the only problems between EAW and FE, the it would be a NO BRAINER.......FE winns hands down and most of us would go to FE without much arm bending.

Yes the FM in FE is very poor.......All it would take is for one or two good FMs to be made as a basis to work from, and I am sure some of our FM experts would be able to make decent FMs from that base.
The trouble is that there is not one decent FM in FE (When I say decent, I mean one that the EAW ONLINE community is happy with). The flight engine in FE is far superior to what we have in EAW, just it is not being used anywhere near it full capability.

Even this FM problem is not the big killer to mass migration for many of us.

The biggest problem is the way TW have set up the distribution of their games.
Each new release of the game is dedicated to a new time era.
The Game engine for each version of the game is locked into it's respective time era. (this is something that does not sit well with our EAW modding community)
Yes it is possible for us to overcome this limitation, and modify the protected configuration files (CAT FILES) within that game. We have already made the tools to do it. But it is against the games condition of usage, to fiddle with the internals of the CAT files...so we can not do anything with them.

If the EAW community had the freedon to do what it wants within the FE family of flight sims, then it would lead to a situation where TW would no longer be able to sell any new versions of their Flight Sim.(remember TK has to make a living from this family by re-releasing different time era versions of this sim....it is his livelihood)
If TW Keep their family of flight sims locked up the way it currently is, then that family of flight sims is not suitable for this current EAW modding community as it does not give us the flexibility that we require to pursue our modding desires.

Regards sydbod

heres one quick fix to the top wing shaded just a bit updated with ribs and now showing a distinct visual change from the lower unshaded wing...

and underneath, maybe too much but its just experiments for now...

...as we have been down this road before and no point in debating the obvious! besides as someone already mentioned this is just for fun! and really meant for this forum, not to impress the Redbaron , thats a metaphor btw. cheers for now!