This information applies to 1.29, 128F and 1.28e.

If the EAW folder contains a "dir.set" file with the folder paths then when the exe looks for files any in the root folder will have first priority and files in the theatre folder have second priority.
If a planeset has been selected then files in the planeset folder have third priority.

At this point the exe will look for a "PDir.set" and a "FMDir.set" file in the planeset folder. If they are present then the exe will read them to get the paths to the skin and FM data files.
This is the "smart" system because these files reference "planes" folders which are effectively libraries of folders which can be selected. Multiple copies are not needed.

However, the "crude" system can be very useful without the need to make "PDir.set" and "FMDir.set" files.
Yesterday, as a response to a question from Moggy I re-assembled the 1.28c theatre for China with two plansets.

Planset1 has all the original China aircraft files, and aircraft selection screens etc:


Planset2 has Ade Kelly's Flying Tigers aircraft and selection screens:


The "crude" method also works in 1.28c, and using it yesterday saved me from having to split the 30 aircraft in each planeset into folders, make a "Planes" folder and the "PDir.set" and "FMDir.set" files.
It worked well with the 1.29 640x480 screen version of the eaw.exe.

Planeset1:


Planeset2:

Jel, Have you given any more thought to the idea of a central plane repository rather than these separate plane set folders.

It would be the ultimate EAW set up in which a player could build their own set of planes from the available inventory.

An "override" planeset selection would be neat. But I would think Jel would have to re-program his DSP front end extensively.

But picking the plane (or set) you want vs any plane (or set) is genius thought.

What I have never been clear about is how you think the repository is to be structured. I would assume that there could be 100s of folders, which could make searching difficult without a sensible structure.

Consider the pathnames in Ralf's ETO set-up:


One of my planeset makers is built around it.
Here I am looking for a spitfire skin:


If it is not structured well then the user may end up scrolling through some very long lists.

How many planes would a user be selecting, and if files are to be moved then where would the files go?

Once I am clear about how you want this to work I can set something up, but at the moment it is too vague

Ok, well let's see what we can do.

How about splitting up the inventory by side and country or just country? ( I'll be glad to do the scut work on this if we decide to go forward.)

So instead of this -

Malta140_Planes\Skins\DAW Fury and Malta140_Planes\FM\DAW Fury_FM

or

SPAWPlanes\Skins\SPAW_P38F_FM and SPAWPlanes\FMs\SPAW_P38F_FM



More like this -

Inventory\Skins\Allied\British\Fury and Inventory\FM\Allied\British\Fury_FM

or

Inventory\Skins\Allied\US\P38F and Inventory\FM\Allied\US\P38F_FM

I think you'd have to have an error check in the picker to make sure at least one bomber is selected per side as well as 16 allied and 14 Axis planes for a total of 30 to ensure no CTD's due to some issues with the campaign/squad/mission parameters.

As for where the files go I'd rather leave that to you as you're the maven with regard to file placement. I'm not sure what would work best but maybe a "custom planeset folder".

As Mark said, this would be a fantastic achievement. I'm not sure if ANY flight sim ever gave the players the flexibility to make their own unique set of planes.