I've begun the project to upgrade SPAW in the same manner as the ETO2015 upgrade for the ETO. At the time SPAW was produced there were 255 ground models available which was a big improvement over the original 72 but well below the 1000 available later on.

In addition, now that Jel has figured out how to lift ground models above ground level, I can add all sorts of targetable models to existing ones.

So for example, in these shots the folded wing Corsairs are targetable as well as the 5 inch gun turrets and the light AA mounts on the carrier island.



As another nice touch, if you fly in 1942 or 1943 the Corsairs are replaced with Wildcats.



I plan to do the same thing with the guns on other warships and, as in the ETO2015 scenario, the freighters will have targetable cargo on deck.

The airfields will be getting upgraded too with many more ground models. If you play ETO2015 you know what I mean. If you haven't you should give it a try.

Since SPAW doesn't have the number of targets than EAW standard does the project will be quite a bit shorter than the year it took to produce 2015ETO but I expect it will be 4 to 6 months for it to be completed.

BTW, Jel if you read this I need some help with the target editor. See my post at the GEN.

Looks superb. Should add a whole new dimension of realism to the Pacific side of things.

How did Jel determine how to lift ground level objects to be placed higher up?

Is this the same way VBH has been doing it in EAWPRO?
or
Did it stem from something else?
(I vaguely remember a week or more ago something happen with ships "floating" to high, but I didn't get the gist of it)

Since we have separate TMOD.dat files for each of the 1000 available TMOD slots we can assign different characteristics to each one. Jel has made some programming changes that allow the TMODs to "float" above ground level at a specific height.

First I have to edit the individual TMOD.dat file with the TMOD editor and change the ground level "Z" value from Zero to another value. the first time is a guesstimate but once in the game I can get a pretty good idea how much I have to change the value.

Next I use the target editor to move the TMODs in the X and Y plane so that they are exactly where I want them on the deck.

It's a trial and error process but I have a lot of experience with both editors so I can make educated guesses as to their correct placement. The editors are a snap to use so moving them to the exact location is very easy.

I don't know how VBH does it in EAWPro.

There are some values in "TModXY.dat" files that are only used if certain conditions are met. Otherwise they are not used.
I did was to add new routines that use these values for different purposes when these conditions are not met