Here is the 10% setting that I am playing with now (plus an extra 10% chance of a 1% hit per minute):

I have reduced the one-off 70% hit to 50% and I think it works better - still a lot of damage inflicted, enough to force an emergency landing, but not instantly fatal.
I have also combined the one-off coolant and oil lines in with the accumulators to leave just the accumulator for each (but with the same chance of occurrence as the two combined), as I think damage to these systems would most likely accumulate (fluid leaking, filters becoming clogged, overheating) rather than something part failing but not then getting any worse.

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="111" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="9" frequency_secs="35" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="111" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="9" frequency_secs="35" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="coolant_reservoir" average_hrs="35" damageAmount_pct="4" frequency_secs="32" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="45" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>

B.

That makes sense, B, although I am not sure that the 70% hit is always immediately fatal, at least to the non-engine components. I agree about eliminating the "one-off" damage events for the oil and coolant systems, however, in favor of accumulating damage. I had even done some experiments of my own with slowly accumulating damage for the oil and coolant reservoirs, and I think it works fairly well, with the engine eventually quitting if you don't try and land your aircraft.

I'll try and experiment a bit with your new settings whenever I get a chance, but real-life is kicking me a bit in the arse right now, so I can't make any promises.

"The AI pilot generally brings the aircraft safely back and lands successfully, but as 'damage effect' continues to go up even after the engine has been switched off I guess there must be the possibility that aircraft that have landed safely may eventually burst into flames if the game continues for long enough (!)"

This does not appear to happen - although an aircraft will continue to accumulate damage to the engine even when on the ground, this doesn't appear to result in destruction of the aircraft. When the damage to the engine reaches 100% (e.g. 65/65), it stops accumulating damage and there is no indication that the aircraft has been destroyed, so I guess it does not burst into flames on the ground as feared.

Also, after suffering a failure of the cooling system I can confirm that the engine DOES reduce in power as the failure progresses, with this type of failure, before finally cutting out.

I have made a slight change: I have made all the time intervals for cumulative engine failure 60 seconds, so that the player will not be able to distinguish one from the other by the interval, and will therefore be kept guessing at the severity

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="15" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="15" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="coolant_reservoir" average_hrs="35" damageAmount_pct="4" frequency_secs="32" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="45" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>

B.

I have tweaked this line from 15 to 10, to give the AI pilots a bit more time to land:

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="15" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>

to

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>

This should reduce the number that crash in flames before they reach the airfield...

B.

Here is my final (?) version: I am reasonably happy with it, but make any changes that you wish!

Early-Mid Rotaries : 10% per hour minor failure rate plus 10% per hour major failure rate : Oberursel U.0 (Fokker E I; Pfalz A I), Oberursel U II (Fokker D II; Fokker E II; Fokker E III; Pfalz E III), Oberursel UR II (Fokker Dr I; Fokker D VI; Fokker E V); Gnome Mono (DH2), Le Rhone 9C (Bristol Scout; Caudron G4; Nieuport 10c1; Morane Saulnier L; Nieuport 11 Bebe; Sopwith Pup), Le Rhone 9J (Nieuport 16, Nieuport 17; DH 5; Sopwith Strutter RFC), Clerget 9B (Nieuport 17 bis; Sopwith Camel early RFC; Sopwith Triplane), Clerget 9Z French built (Nieuport 12, Sopwith Strutter), Gnome Mono 9N (Nieuport 28C-1 USA), HS 200 hp (geared) (Spad XIII, Se5a)

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="80" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="105" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="coolant_reservoir" average_hrs="35" damageAmount_pct="4" frequency_secs="32" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="45" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>


Late Rotaries and Early-Mid Stationaries: 10% per hour minor failure rate and 5% per hour major failure rate : Le Rhone 9Ja (Nieuport 17), Le Rhone 9Jb (Nieuport 23, Nieuport 24; Nieuport 26; Nieuport 27; Sopwith Camel), Clerget 9Bf (Sopwith Camel later), Bentley BR1 (Sopwith Camel RNAS), Bentley BR2 (Sopwith Snipe), Beardmore (FE2b), RAF1a (BE2c), RAF4a (BE12; RE8), Mercedes D I (Aviatik B I), Mercedes D II (Aviatik B II; Halberstadt D II), Argus AS II (Halberstadt D III), HS 8a (SE5; Spad VII)

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="100" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="160" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="210" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="280" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="100" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="160" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="210" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="280" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="coolant_reservoir" average_hrs="70" damageAmount_pct="4" frequency_secs="32" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="90" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>


Late Stationaries : 10% per hour minor failure rate and 2.5% per hour major failure rate : Benz Bz IV (DFW C V), Mercedes D III (Aviatik C I; Roland C II; Albatros D I, Albatros D II, Hannover C LIII; Albatros D III; Albatros D V; Albatros D Va; Pfalz D IIIa; Fokker D VII), HS Viper (SE5a Viper); BMW IIIa (Fokker D VII F); Renault 300 hp (Breguet 14A2), Mercedes D IVa (Gotha G IV; Rumpler C IV), Rolls Royce Falcon (Bristol F2B), Rolls Royce Eagle (DH4)

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="200" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="320" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="420" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="560" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="200" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="320" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="420" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_two" average_hrs="560" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="coolant_reservoir" average_hrs="140" damageAmount_pct="4" frequency_secs="32" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="180" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>

I haven't included those aircraft that have their own failure rules - I will have a look at those next, as they will also need adjusting.

Edit : I have simply added some of these to the general categories - so the geared 200 hp HS (Spad XIII and SE5a) are in the 10% major failure section. Note that the SPAD VII is in the 5% section (generally reliable 150 hp HS with only initial teething problems), and the individual failure rules in the Aircraft files should be removed (I think there must have been some confusion between the 150 hp HS, which was generally reliable, and the 200 hp geared HS which was not). The direct drive 200 hp HS Viper is in the 2.5% section (Se5a Viper). The engine failure rules should be removed from the Gotha GIV - the GII had the unreliable Mercedes DIV engines, but the GIV had reliable Mercedes DIVa engines (a completely different engine, so I think there must have been some confusion here).

Here is a 'special' set of engine failure rules for the Fokker E IV, the DH2 (early) and the Sopwith Strutter (RNAS only). These all had rotaries that were somewhat more unreliable than other early rotaries, so I have given them a 15% major failure set:

<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="10" damageAmount_pct="1" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="25" damageAmount_pct="31" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="50" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="engine_one" average_hrs="50" damageAmount_pct="10" frequency_secs="60" dump="y"/>
<FailureRule SystemID="oil_reservoir" average_hrs="20" damageAmount_pct="5" frequency_secs="50" dump="y"/>

B.

I am testing an Engine Failure mod now, one based on the above post but applied to all the 'aircraft' files (i.e. each aircraft has its own failure rules now, as discussed in previous posts in this thread). Happy to send this to anyone who wants to try it out. Once this has been applied (and I would strongly recommend JSGME to do this) there is no further need for any swapping in or out of modified 'simulation' files (as the generic engine failure rules of this file becomes largely redundant). One new change: air-cooled stationary engines such as the RAF1a (BE2) and RAF4a (BE12 and Re8) will no longer suffer a water leak in the cooling system due to random engine failure (although this is still possible if they are damaged in combat). Please PM me if you would like a copy of this mod to try out. This is a test version only at the moment, and I would welcome feedback. The mod appears to be working fine with my BH&HII patched to v.1.35 (the latest patch), but might cause problems with earlier iterations of WOFF and WOFF BH&HII. It will not work with any other mod that modifies the 'aircraft' files, as it overwrites the xdp files and will probably cause errors or a crash (but if you apply via JSGME and you experience problems of this sort you should be able to roll it back again). It is also likely to be effected by further WOFF BH&HII patches, but I will try and keep up to date with these, making any changes to the mod as required (I think a new version of the mod might need to be re-applied after every future patch, unless someone knows a better way of handling this, as cumulative WOFF BH&HII patches may change or re-set the 'aircraft' files to WOFF default).

The failure rate for early-mid rotaries, as in the post above, is very similar to that of the original WOFF failure rate pre BH&HII, the failure rate for late stationaries is very similar to that of WOFF BH&HII, and that for late-war rotaries and early-mid stationaries is mid way between the two. There is also a 'minor failure' rate that is applied to all engines and is fairly common, but rarely leads to anything more than a very gradual loss of power (and only then some considerable time after the engine failure message first appears on your screen). I have done as much research as I can in the time available to make these failure rates as historically accurate as possible in a relative sense (i.e when one engine is compared to another), but the range of failure (currently between 15% per hour for the most unreliable to 2.5% for the most reliable) could be moved up or down for the released version of the mod, dependent on test feedback and the preferences of others who have collaborated in this venture (foremost among them, BuckeyeBob!)

B

Bletchely good luck with the testing, just one thing the SPAD VII in the sim is 180 HP.

Ah, OK, thanks Polovski. From what I can gather the 8Ab 180 hp was also fairly reliable, a higher compression version of the 150 hp 8Aa.

I made a few changes to the positioning of aircraft within the three main bands: most notably, nearly all the Nieuport variants are now in the early-mid rotary (10%) section, with the exception of those late variants with the Le Rhone 9Jb. Similarly, Camels are also in this section, with the exception of the Bentley Camels that are in the 5% section (there is no WOFF Camel with the Clerget 9Bf, which had similar performance and reliability to the Bentley). German aircraft with the Mercedes D.III are now in the early-mid stationary (5%) section, leaving just the D.IIIa and DIIIau of this series still in the late stationary section (2.5%).

B.

Hallo @Bletchley,

yes, I would like to test it. I think, it's a very interesting theme!

Greetings!

Hi Becker01, if you PM me with your email address I will send you a link to download it.

B.

OK thanks Bletchley.

Just a quick report on progress so far...

The engine failure mod works fine for me at the moment, and is generating differentiated engine failure by aircraft type as expected, without the requirement to swap in and out edited Simulation files. But the 'alpha' version did generate an initial run time error and CDT after application on starting the first campaign mission - followed by error messages on the second attempt for a small number of aircraft 'slots' (Alb D.III early SQ3, Fokker D.II SQ3, Nieuport N24 SQ2). Suspecting corruption to these three xdp files I replaced them and reapplied the mod successfully, and it now appears to be running perfectly on my system. I uploaded this 'good' version of the mod to my Dropbox for testers to download and try out as the 'beta' version. So far only one other tester has tried it (much thanks to Becker01), and he had the same initial problems with this 'beta' version (now running absolutely fine for me) as I did with my initial 'alpha' version (although with different xdp files generating the errors). More worrying, he could not role it back to the previous un-modded state with JSGME (getting the same error messages for the same xdp files after roll-back) and had to reinstall WOFF BH&H 1.35 to clear the problem. When he downloaded a second version that I uploaded to Dropbox, he experienced the same problem with error messages - but for different aircraft 'slots' this time. As it appears to be different xdp files generating the errors each time the mod is applied, my best guess is that this is caused by corruption to a small number of xdp files when either uploading to or downloading from Dropbox, or during the process of mod application itself (where they overwrite the original xdp files, and there are 869 of them!), but I do not want to release this as a mod if it creates these issues on other peoples systems (and particularly so if JSGME roll-back does not work successfully to clear the problem). If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about this I would be glad of the input - in the meantime I will continue to test it on my system...

B.

And for supplement for all, who are interested in:
After I registrated, that I could not role it back to the previous un-modded state with JSGME (getting the same error messages for the same xdp files after roll-back), I copied the aircraft-folder back from a WOFF1.35-backup, I have made a few weeks before, to the real installation and all was okay again on my system.

Maybe at a later time I will try the test-version again, without Albatros, Fokker and Nieuport and will see what happens.

If you want to test it or if you have ideas for it, please contact @Bletchley here or via PM.


Greetings!

If you change xdp's, then at runtime bdp's a re created new. If you try to change them all, all bdps will regenerate and this will cause a problem (too many for runtime to deal with).

Contact me PM Bletchley and I'll explain it some and how to change all those.

Ah, OK, thanks Polovski. Will do!

B.

Hallo,

at first Thanks to you @Pol, that you have helped @Bletchley. That's not of course!

@Bletchley:
I have tested your new version.

1: With the activation of the full mod I have had the same problem as sbefore (sad!).

2: But the roll-back via jsgme is working now (success!!)! So I have had a base to test, if the mass of the files/data is the reason for the problem.
I don't write every step here but YES, the mass seems to be the deciding factor. And 2 hours later I have had the solution for my system (> 3).

3: I can pack 10 aeroplanes in 1 package of your mod. So I would need 9 parts to activate your full mod. That was too much in my eyes. So I have asked myself: Which aeroplanes do I need? Of course the aeroplanes in the sky of my actual campaign. So I have checked the intel in Campaign, noticed every friendly model in my region (Flandern in this case) via transfer-button and noticed all hostile models via enemy. In addition there are more than ten different aeroplanes. So I did need 2 packages in JSGME with the according aeroplanes of your mod. I activated one package after an other and ... it works.
With progress of the campaign an aeroplane is past one day and an other model is new in the sky. Then I deactivate the accoring mod-part, delete the old aeroplane and copy the new one in this mod-part (from your original mod) and acivate the mod-part again.
Of course that's not optimal but the best manageable solution so far (on my system!) and now I have a base to test your mod.


Greetings!

Hi Becker, it is great that you have got it up and running (at least in part), but not so good that the mod file that I sent you is still causing problems.

I was hoping that including the associated bdp files with the xdp files would eliminate the problem, as bdp files would no longer need to be regenerated 'on the fly' the first time, but it appears that this is not so. Or perhaps I did something wrong, and misunderstood the instructions that Polovski gave me. I guess it might also be system-dependent, depending to some extent on the processing power of the PC, or perhaps other files are also changed. Packaging the mod into smaller blocks and running those one at a time might be the solution, if it works for you. Once one set has been 'activated' you should be able to then 'activate' the next set without deactivating the previous set, as I think once the bdp files are linked to the associated xdp file they will no longer regenerate (until the xdp is changed again). So, if you have repackaged the mod into batches you should just need to activate the first, start a campaign mission, activate the second, and so on until the mod is fully activated.

B.

I think there is an easier way to do it through JJJ's multimod. If he can confirm/or has time to develop it, that might be a solution.

That would be great orbyxP, if that solved the problem (although I am somewhat loath to put out a mod that can only be loaded via another mod), but I am not sure it would (?). As I understand it, the problem is that the mod changes every aircraft xdp file, and when the game runs after the mod has been loaded the game regenerates every aircraft bdp file 'on the fly' and it is the sheer number of these changes (as ALL aircraft xdp files are changed by the mod, over 800) that causes the run-time error. Either the bdp files in the mod have to exactly match the xdp files, so that the game does not regenerate them, or they have to be loaded in smaller batches so that the player's PC can handle the process. Following instructions from Polovski I though that I had created a set of xdp and bdp files for each aircraft that matched exactly, thus eliminating the problem, but when Becker01 loaded the mod file this didn't seem to work.

The problem is loading the mod through jsgme. I am sure if Becker01 were to backup his aircraft folder, then overwrite the files with your mod, there won't be a problem. Can you send me a link to download the mod and I can test by overwriting my files as an experiment? If that's the case, then only the multimod can solve the problem. Unless OBD were to incorporate the mod, then that would be a permanent solution.