The pictures don't mean much to me since I don't play the game very often. I can see that there is a loss of atmosphere. I don't think it's a terrible loss but still.......

As a compromise how about my suggestion that the text be a secondary option if there is no mini-pic?

If a modder wants to include a mini-pic, so be it, but if not, the display would be text specific to that plane rather than the generic "mini-pic not found" which really does put a dent in the look of the game.

Sidebar question to Jel. What determines the font we see on the screen. Could a more informal script be used to simulate handwriting?

FWIW, the mini-pics Jel has been making for me are simple picture files with nothing but text in place of an aircraft picture. So we're already heading in the direction of having some planes with pictures and some without.

EAW fonts are nasty

They are not scaleable like normal fonts, and in fact are sets of "*wsp" files like minipics.

Apart from the one I used for the names just about all the ones available that are appropriate are used in parameters screen.

I have succeeded in making an exe with a toggle.
If there is a "NoMiniPics" file in the root or theatre folder you see the text. Otherwise you see the minipics

The best and worst of both Worlds!

Thanks Tony.

Ah, good. I can delete that damn mini-pics folder. Thanks for the effort.

Hi Guys,

Yes, I like the mini-pics and they do improve the atmosphere as Ray says, but I gather they are hard work and in all honesty they are not to my mind essential to running the game so perhaps the effort could be better spent elsewhere?

Just a thought.

Pete

The thing is that if a modder makes a theatre and does not want to make minipics then if the "NoMiniPics" file is in theatre folder only the text will be displayed. That is where the "NoMiniPics" file really needs to be, otherwise if it is in the root folder it works globally.

I am just going back one step to make a pair of exes with Ralf's original "encounter" spawn code in it. The current ones have my modified version which spawns things online. That would be great, but knowing the ways that multiplayer often uses the player's settings, I would expect that if planes are spawned for one player, they might not be, or different ones might be spawned at different airfields, for other players.
In Ralf's code spawning is turned off for multiplayer games.

We are in agreement on this Peter.

Jel, what is the exact name of the no mini pics file? I can't find it.

The "NoMiniPics" file is a completely new one and I am just about to upload a 7-zip wich generates an "EAW Versions" folder the four new exes (V87), and a separate "NoMiniPics" file.

The exes are old and new map versions with the minipic toggle. One pair has Ralf's original encounter spawning code, the other pair with (Encounter) in their names has my modified version of his code.

"V87.exe" is now in your folder at FTP site

For anyone running "140Multiplayerl2016" the "V87.exe" is now at the OneDrive site in my signature

Ok, got it.

Do I install this AFTER the 1.4Multiplayer2016 file or INSTEAD of it?

Run it in the "140Multiplayerl2016" folder.
It will add the four new exes to the "EAW Versions" folder for selection by the DSPicker.
It will put a "NoMiniPics" file in the "140Multiplayerl2016" folder.

There is nothing special about the "NoMiniPics" file. The exe just checks for the presence of a file named "NoMiniPics" in either the root or the selected theatre folder. If it is found, then you do not see the minipics