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Tips and Tricks

Posted By: Sandbagger

Tips and Tricks - 05/08/05 09:46 AM

Hi all,
This thread is for EAW newbies and veterans alike. It's only purpose is to make available any advice or information that is needed to sort out problems such as settting up EAW, use of OAW, hardware or software issues etc.

This stops the need for repeat postings for the same information or advice.

Input to this thread will be controlled by me using the lock/unlock feature (moderator). In this way the thread content can be controlled and not get cluttered with non-related postings. Any questions/answers can be posted on other threads in the usual way.

If anyone has useful advice/information to give to the community, please feel free to E-mail the contents, which I'll cut and paste into the thread.
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The 'Starting Gate' is a set of pages dedicated to general 'Frequently Asked Questions' (FAQ) about EAW.

If you have any information that could be of use to members of the EAW Community, E-mail 'Sandbagger' (link on forum as Moderator or see regular posts).

The 'Starting Gate' Home page can be found HERE
-------------------------------
Useful pages at the EAW Tally - Ho Tally-Ho site (clink links below):

EAW Latest News page (with links to other useful EAW sites)
SEAWC
EAW Community Page
Aces Rising
Cord\'s EAW Page
Wings Over ByTom site
Captain Kurt\'s EAW Collection
Redeyes\' EAW Page
Frontlines Site
EAW Lost & Found
EAW Key Files page
EAW SSS site (Screens, Sounds and Savers)
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Cheers for now, [Linked Image]

Sandbagger M.S.C.
[Linked Image]

Contact:
sandbagger
address is at btinternet.com

Adderism:
'Percy, you ride a horse rather less well than another horse would!'.

Pythonism:
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Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 05/12/05 06:52 PM

OAW Essentials!

********************************************************************
Files and folders
********************************************************************
Essential files that should be in you EAW folder:

1. "OAWSelectV200OR1.exe" or a recent version of the OAWSelector (The program itself).
2. "background" (a picture OAW uses for display)
3. "kc" (The keyboard control settings that modify the degree of difficulty)

OAW also uses the "OAW" folder, and the EAW "Music" folder and "Savedata" folders, so these folders should all be in the EAW folder.

Essential files that should be in you OAW folder:

1. "oaw.ini" (a list of the folder "letters" used by OAW and the type of files that the folders should contain.
2. "Linkscreen" (Another graphic that OAW uses)
3. "Newpic" (Yet another graphic that OAW uses)
4. "Links.txt" (A text file used by OAW to access links on the net)
5. "Helpfile.txt" (which is basically redundant, but is referred to in links.txt).

Essential OAW folders that should be in you OAW folder:

1. "Autoscripts" (Where you store combinations that you have set up and really like).
2. "Skinfolder" (Where all the A-00 xxxx to A-29 yyyy folders go, each containing an individual aircraft skin).

********************************************************************
Why you need to run EAW before installing OAW:
********************************************************************
Running eaw patched to V1.2 for a single mission will force EAW to generate an "eaw.ini" file and a "Savedata" folder.
When it first runs, OAW will make back-up copies of the "eaw.ini" and "eaw.exe" files, and stores these copies in the "OAW" folder so that they can be recovered if they need to be.

********************************************************************
Files that OAW actually creates:
********************************************************************
During the development of OAW it was suggested that a user might want to have more that one OAW folder, such as "OAW Europe", "OAW Pacific", and "OAW Desert". So I produced a version which accommodated this request.
This created a need for the selector to know which OAW folder it is currently working with.
This is why when you first run OAW you are required to set the path to the OAW and EAW directories. These paths must be set correctly, it is done with a few easy mouse-clicks.
They are saved in a file named "LastOAWDir" which is stored in your EAW directory.
Next time you run OAW it will use the path that have been saved, so you should not need to reset it, especially if you only run the one OAW directory.
Currently my LastOAWDir file reads as "c:\EAW\OAW".
If something goes wrong, and the path cannot be found, then if you delete the "LastOAWDir" file, and the next time OAW runs you will be required to set the paths again.

There has always been a need for OAW to keep track of what it has actually loaded.
So, from the very first version onwards, a "FoldersLoaded.txt" file is saved in the OAW directory which tells OAW which folders have been loaded.

********************************************************************
How OAW manages files- just a simple outline:
********************************************************************
When you select "T-Euro Summer", OAW reads the files in the "T-Euro Summer" folder in your OAW directory, and makes a copy of every file in that folder. The copies are made in the EAW folder.
When you run EAW it uses these terrain files in preferece to the default ones stored in the "Terrain.cdf" file. The fact that this folder has been loaded is recorded in "FoldersLoaded.txt".
If you wish to switch to "T-Pacific" at a later stage, OAW will check and find that "T-Euro Summer" is currently loaded, so it reads the name of each file in the "T-Euro Summer" folder, and deletes any file with the same name that it finds in the EAW directory. So it deletes the copies it made in the first place. Then in the same way it copied the files in "T-Euro Summer" to the EAW directory, it now copies the files in "T-Pacific" to the EAW directory, and records that "T-Pacific" is now loaded.


;\) Jel
Adelaide
May 2005
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:03 AM

Hello!

Many newbes complain about unstable planes in EAW, while others talk about very stable gunplattforms, here are some tips to get a good stable but still most agile plane.

If your plane wobble badly, never fly strait with somewhat strange sidewardmovements, you probably need to edit one entry in the EAW.ini.

This isnt difficult!! You can find the EAW.ini in the EAW-directory(the folder where your EAW got installed, its maybe called C:\Microprose\Europeanairwar\ ). You can open the eaw.ini with 'notepad', by doubleclicking to the ' eaw.ini '.
You need to edit this line : Windows Joystick=0 to Windows Joystick=1
After this the joystick should work better!

But thats not all!!!

EAW only have one sensitivity-slider for all joystick-axis, and this slider have only one 'best' position!!!
You can find the slider if you start EAW, then 'configure game', then go to 'controlls' (dont mix it up with the camera-sensitvity-slider )


1.) You need to test if your joystick act in the usefull range of the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider. If your joystick is to aggressive by default, you can set the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to minimum, but the planes still will stall to easy and are unstable gunplattforms. On the other hand, if your stick is to less aggressive by default, you can set the slider to max, but your planes rarely will stall and dont will turn very tight.
1. Start EAW and set the slider to the left side(min), take a 109E4 and pull the stick backward, if the plane is very stiff and stable, all is ok. If it still stall easy and turn tight, you need to reduce the aggressivity with the Joysticksoftware, if your stick dont have such a software you have a problem here.

2. Now set the slider to the right side (max), take a 109E4 and pull the stick backward, if the planes stall very easy all is fine. If the plane still is stiff and have problems to stall, you need to use the sticksoftware to enhance the aggressivity, if you dont have a sticksoftware, you have a problem.

First if 1. and 2. is ok, you can go on!


2.) Setting up the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to the 'best' point.

Here you need to know that the EAW-Flightmodels provide a max turn and rollratio and sideruddervariation for all planes. If a joystick is more aggressive as needed, the planes dont turn and roll better than the maximun, but they get more unstable, on the other hand, if you make the planes to stable by reducing the sensitivity (EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider more left), you lose turn and rollperformence, thats why there is only one best point for the slider.

1. Start EAW, set the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to max (right side),
2. Take a 109E4, fly close to the ground and make turntests with help of a stopclock. Fly with full power and turn most tight without to stall. The best is if the hud-display always stay yellow.
The E4 should need roundabout 16sec with 225km/h in 100m Alt, and it should stall very late while a constant turn!
3. Reduce the sensitivety (slider left) step by step and test by test, until the plane start to lose turnperformence (normaly thats if the plane stop to spin, even the elevator got moved maximum backward).

I for myself like to fly with a bit more stable plane and give up a bit turnperformence, most its more usefull to avoid a spin or blackout than to turn a bit more tight, a less sensitive setup is as more a advantage as higher the plane fly, cause there the planes stall earlyer and lose turnperformence!!

If you use one of my realismpatches (EAWrp2.2), probably you need to push the slider a bit more to the left side than for default EAW1.2!


May this help!!


Greetings, Knegel
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:04 AM

Hi All

I have an EAW Add-On Tutorial on my site.

This tutorial consists of the following parts:

- Introduction to European Air War

- Reviews

- How to start using Add-ons in European Air War

- Skins-n-More Tutorial by Relent

This is an attempt to help the new EAW player to enjoy the many add-ons available. Add-ons can be used in many different ways and this tutorial is based on my own personal experiences since I installed EAW in November 1999. My main interest is to play campaigns in the European Theatre and I don't play multiplayer at all.

Cheers
__________________
vonOben
“Wer den Tod fürchtet, hat das Leben verloren.” /Johann Gottfried Seume

vonOben's Flight Sim Mods
EAW Newbie Tutorial
Finnish Air War
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:06 AM

This is a reply JWC32 made on another thread concerning screen resolutions and how to change them. It pretty much covers everything, so JWC32, I hope you don't mind, I thought it should be posted here as it comes up frequently:

Changing the resolution is handled through the "eaw.ini" file. This can be changed yourself, or by using one of the programs that change this .ini file setting.

To edit the .ini file yourself, just open it, and go to the end of the [GRAPHICS] section. Find the entries for "Width=" and "Height=" and type in whatever you want. If you don't see such entries, add them. Then save the changes, and you should be set. My own .ini file looks like this:

[GRAPHICS]
TestDrawPrimitive=0
DisplayDevice=2...
...3dCityTargets=2
Gamma Value=250
Width=1280
Height=1024


The next way to change the .ini resolution setting is with a program that does it for you. There are two that I can think of off the top of my head. Alan White's "EAW Control 2000" and Mr. Jelly's "OAW" ("Online Air War"). EAW Control 2000 is a program designed to change the .ini settings for MANY things, and is a great utility to have. Presently it can be found at Alessandro Borges' Aces Over Gyn.....click on "Downloads" in the navbar at the left, and scroll down to the very bottom of the page. Click on "EAWControl2000" to start the download. OAW is a file manager for EAW add-ons which most people swear by. In addition to swapping files in and out of EAW, OAW also allows for several changes to the .ini file. And despite the name, OAW can be used just fine offline. But it has some excellent features that also make it useful for online pilots, hence the name. OAW can be found at Sandbagger's OAW Basic Page.

Note that running in higher resolutions than 640x480 has some side effects. First, the 2D fixed cockpit view is no longer available, so only the virtual cockpit will show up (in 640x480, the 2D view is what you get when you press F1; the virtual cockpit is what you see when you press F8). In addition, using different resolutions causes changes in the field of view. In general, 1280x1024 seems to be the closest to the default FoV. 1024x768 usually results in a narrower FoV (you seem closer to the cockpit frame), while 800x600 and 1600x1200 give a wider FoV than the default. Finally, the higher the resolution, the smaller the onscreen text will get. At very high resolutions, the text may be almost unreadable (although the EAW community has developed downloadable fixes if you find the text too small at whatever increased resolution you decide on).
__________________
Brian "Crashin' Jack" Baker

"The hardest thing about flying is the ground". - Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, early Australian aviation pioneer.
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:08 AM

Hello,

since there are so many newbes online the last weeks, i thought i write a little letter to help this people to get a bit faster into it.

I know how frustrating it can be to get shot down without a chance all the time. Even though i was already very experienced when i came online(2,5 years EAW offline, and some more years other flightsims + x-wing), i got into bad trouble again the Online-Veterans, this Veterans often had the same skill like i have now, so it was pretty hopeless for me, so i know how frustraiting it can be(actually in the beginning i thought there is a big cheat going on, cause i couldnt believe how easy they got me. ).

My problem was missing experience and tactical knowledge. Most of the old Aces was very nice and often made traininglessons with newbes to share their knowledge, in the hope to get better oponents and so a higher challenge and more fun.

Ok, training is one part to get a good skill and so to get more fun, the 1st Step is the setup, and here i saw horrible things lately!!

Here i must say that i be sure, that its most important to have the chance to win a game, to keep the fun up. Someone who only get shot down, without a bit of a chance to strike back, lose the fun after short time or must be a 'bit' masochistic.

You need to be aware that noone can get good without a playable setup!!

Noone will ever be able to play in a good way if he only have the front and rearview , while to the other directions all is dark!! Noone can get good, if he dont know to use the Hud-display(icons) in a good way. Some dont know to switch through the different targets and only know the 'T' button to target the closest enemy, to find a wingi, and so to make teamplay is impossible then(at least if icons are not dissabled for all)!!
Or if the player cant use the flaps or the map or the zoom etc, all this options are needed to be able to get better.

This is the minimum what a personel setup need to provide:
1. The player need to be able to look around, to spot and to keep the target in sight.
2. The player need to be able to switch from target to target. Closest enemy, next enemy, closest friend and next friend is the minimum what the player need!!
3. The player need to be able to use all controll´s 100%(i dont talk about the skill here, i mean the controllvariation), like Elevator, Aleron, Siderudder, Trottle, Flaps, Undercariage, Droptank release, choose Bombs/Rockets and release them.


To 1.:
Here EAW, like most other Flightsims, provide more than one possibilitys.

1.) Padlock(in combination with front/rearview)
This is often the best solution for newbes and people without a 8-wayheadswitch or Trac-IR, cause
it provide a simple setup and the user dont need to learn to follow the target. Padlock often confuse in the beginning, but with the right setup and after some hours usage this will stop.
1st you need the 'Target Buttons' good reachable. In the beginning, if you dont play teamgames, 'Target closest enemy' and 'target next enemy' are enough.
Now you need 'Padlock current target' also good reachable. This button troggle padlock on/off, so if you get confused you can push this button and the sight will switch back to the frontview, so you can find back the orientation.
Also important is the 'snapview front' and 'snapview rear', this buttons dissable the padlock as long as the button get used, if you leave the button, the padlock switch back to the current target.
This setup is very effective, need relative less training to get used to it, but limit the player to the usage of icons/target-butons(what is good enough in the beginning).

2.)Mouseview:

Some people simply use the mouse to look around, and some are very effective with this setup.
The disadvantage is that one hand is mainly blocked then, so its not easy to keep sight and to reduce the power for example. The advantage is that you can play also without icons in a 'full real' mission, it work in almost all fightsims in the same way and that you can keep sight to more than one target, at same time.
With a Saitec X45 or a similar sticks, where is a 'mousebutton' on the left throttle-unit(next to many other buttons), which u can use with the left thumb, the Disadvantage is gone. I think this setup need a 'bit' longer to get used to it and so to get good. S! to the people who are good in this.


3.) Snapview´s (NumPad)

By default the snampviews are programmed to the Numpad, and there you need spiderfingers to use them in a good way, but its of course good possible. The disadvantage is the same like with the Mouse, one hand is mainly blocked, but spiderman of course can handle this.
Also a S! to the people who be good with this setup.

4. Snapview´s (Headswitch)

Here you need to program the 8 horizontal snapviews to the headswitch of your Joystick, which of course have to be a 8-way-headswitch then.
The 'snapview up'(NumPad 5 by default) you need program to one of the buttons on the stickbase.
So you use the headswitch with the right thumb and the 'Snapview up' with the left forefinger.
Now you need to program your Neckmuscles to the fingers, then you can look around like with your head(in steps thougt, but fast). To program the neckmuscles to the fingers need some weeks hard training, but once done, this setup feel very realistic.
The advantages are mainly the same like with mouseview, but it have one important advanatge more. Due to the fixed, not moving different viewdirections(45° front/up, 125° rear/up as example), you can overcome the problem of the smal wideview, which hinder you to keep orientation. If i look 45° rear/up(or to any other direction) with snapviews, i know exact the position of my plane in relation to my viewdirection and so in relation to the ground, also if i fly a P51 without frames. With mouseview, but specialy padlock, you fast get disoriented, cause you dont have sight to your plane due to the smal wideview. This make exact flying nearly impossible or at least very difficult.
The disadvantage of the snapviews is that you only have the fixed viewpositions, this is bad if you wanna play without icons and zoom in to identify a planetype. Then often you need to move the whole plane to keep the target in sight, cause while zooming the wideview get even smaler.

TrackIR

TrackIR actually use the Mouseview, but you control it with your head. This probably feels most realistic, but the biggest advanatge is that you have one hand total free. I never did try this, but i know people who swear on it, but they did need long time to get used to it, cause you need to keep the head always fixed, cause a smal move already let the view move. Normaly they use buttons to dissable the mouseview if the target is in the frontwindow, cause only with a total stable view its possible to Aim good. The disadvantage is the price.

Ok, this are the mainly used viewsystems, they all can get used in combination with each other, what often provide the most effective Systems.

Who wanna play online need one of this viewsystems to keep his own fun and the fun of the others up!! (I dont know anyone who like sitting ducks as targets in EAW and who have fun to fly often with a blind Wingi).

To 2.

Since we often play with icons, the player need to be able to switch from target to target and wingi to wingi and sometimes from groundtarget to groundtarget.
Of course this is pretty unrealistic in WWII, but it help to overcome sightproblems and specialy for newbes and snapviewers this is the only way to play.

To 3.

Be sure that you have calibrated your joystick and that you realy can use all Stick-Axis to 100%(Read here some posts above).

Then you need to know that planes often turn better with usage of the flaps, so you should be able to use the flaps nextby. I have programmed 'flaps out' and 'flaps in' to two buttons right next the headswitch, there i can use them fast.

To be able to start the engine and to remove/extract the gear is most only important while a groundstarted mission.

Rockets shouldnt get used online cause many get a frozen screen, also if others shoot the rockest, but its necessary to know to use the bombs while a interdict.


Here is my personel setup and some tips, maybe other can post their personel setup in this theatre to help.

I have a simple cheap Joystick, no pedals etc. The Joystock have a Siderudder in form of a 'Twist'(the stickgrip get twisted right and left), a throttle slider it have, a 8-way headsitch and 9 buttons (2 left and 2 right of the headsitch, one trigger, and 4 on the stickbase,Logitech wingmen extreme 3D, and some MS Sidewinder-typs have the same setup) and i have a shiftbutton to use the base-buttons double.

I use normaly only the snapviews from inside the cockpit, never i use externals in fight!! Only from the Pilotposition i can calculate the course and position of a target in a easy way(like in reality).

Here are the important buttons of my current EAW.ini setup:

[Remappable Keys]
FLIGHT CONTROL=Joystick
CAMERA CONTROL=Mouse
RUDDER CONTROL=Rudder
THROTTLE CONTROL=Throttle
FRONT VIEW=Joystick_Btn_6
SNAPVIEW FRONT=POV_hat_Forward
SNAPVIEW RIGHT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Right
SNAPVIEW RIGHT=POV_hat_Right
SNAPVIEW RIGHT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Right
SNAPVIEW LEFT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Left
SNAPVIEW LEFT=POV_hat_Left
SNAPVIEW LEFT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Left
SNAPVIEW UP=Joystick_Btn_7
SNAPVIEW REAR=POV_hat_Back
SNAPVIEW INSTRUMENT=NUMPAD0
PADLOCK CURRENT TARGET=SPACE
PADLOCK CLOSEST TO CENTER=DELETE
COCKPIT ON/OFF=DECIMAL
TRACK VIEW - NEXT PLANE=F9
TRACK VIEW - PREVIOUS PLANE=F10
FREE CAMERA VIEW=F12
ZOOM BUTTON=Mouse_Btn_1
ZOOM IN=Joystick_Btn_3
ZOOM OUT=Joystick_Btn_2
PAN CAMERA UP=UP
PAN CAMERA DOWN=DOWN
PAN CAMERA RIGHT=RIGHT
PAN CAMERA LEFT=LEFT
RUDDER FULL LEFT=
START ENGINE 1=ALT E
START ENGINE 2=SHIFT E
THROTTLE ENGINE 1 UP=ALT UP
THROTTLE ENGINE 2 UP=SHIFT UP
THROTTLE ENGINE 1 DOWN=ALT DOWN
THROTTLE ENGINE 2 DOWN=SHIFT DOWN
FLAPS UP=Joystick_Btn_4
FLAPS DOWN=Joystick_Btn_5
WHEEL BRAKES ON/OFF=Joystick_Btn_11
LANDING GEARS UP/DOWN=Joystick_Btn_12
FIRE SELECTED GUNS=Joystick_Btn_1
FIRE SELECTED WEAPONS=RETURN
SELECT BOMBS=W
SELECT ROCKETS=R
RELEASE DROP TANKS=SHIFT D
TARGET NEXT ENEMY=Joystick_Btn_9
TARGET PREVIOUS ENEMY=
TARGET CLOSEST ENEMY=Joystick_Btn_8
TARGET NEXT FRIENDLY=NUMPAD2
TARGET PREVIOUS FRIENDLY=NUMPAD1
TARGET CLOSEST FRIENDLY=NUMPAD3
TARGET NEXT GROUND=NUMPAD6
TARGET PREVIOUS GROUND=NUMPAD4
TARGET BEST GROUND=NUMPAD5
TARGET CLOSEST RUNWAY=Joystick_Btn_13
DESELECT TARGET=BACK
FLIGHT INFO DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT F
TARGET INFO DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT T
TARGET DIRECTOR DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT D
TARGET BOX DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT O
TARGET ID DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT I
TARGET RANGE DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT R
RADIO MODE=TAB
CHAT MODE=GRAVE
PILOT MAP=Joystick_Btn_10
AUTOPILOT ON/OFF=A
WING LEVELER ON/OFF=SHIFT A
BAIL OUT=ALT B

You need to know that my Keyboard is placed up/left close to my Stick, so i can easy use the right side of the keyboard(NumPad, Arrows, etc) without to leave the throttle and the 'snapvie up', so i have roundabout 30 buttons for my left hand available.


Training!!

When i cam online i already was used to my preferred viewsystem, so i dont had to work on that. Total newbes of course 1st need to find and to get used to their setup( i did need 1 year to find a good setup wthout help , so please read and find your setup ). As long as they dont have a good setup or dont be used to it, they should mainly make coops vs AI´s, there they have a chance and the wingi can have fun to protect the newbe and to give him tips. Its in no way possible to make coordinated teamgames without that all players have a good setup, so the funfactor will be very low again human people.

Basic tactic-tips and often made mistakes:

1st rule: Stay fast and/or high(keep your energy up)!
A fast plane is a difficult target and only a fast plane is able to evade attacks!! So if you be lower than the oponent, stay fast!
Altitude is the same like Speed, its only a different kind of energy. To follow the rule 'Stay fast and/or high' you need to avoid to turn in horizon, cause there you only lose speed and dont get a altitudewin, so the stage of energy get down. Make a upturn or a downturn, then you change the direction with less Energylost. While a downturn you lose Alt but also gain Speed, and you dont have to pull hard to change the direction. While a upturn you gain alt but lose speed, but a slow climbing plane cant lose much Energy while turning, so also here you change the direction with less energylost!!

The often made biggest mistake is to turn hard if you be much faster than the enemy, while the enemy is behind you. The result will be that you make a turn with a very big Radius and very high speed, while the enemy make a slower turn with a smaler radius, but both planes will need the same time for 360°, so the much slower plane can follow the faster and the fact the his bullets, if he shoot, will cross the course of the faster and more outside flying enemy, can be deadly.
So if you attack a slower plane, go strait after the attack and gain distance before the next turn, maybe with a smooth upturn + roll to avoid the bullets that the slower plane probably will shoot. A slower plane of couse need to turn or roll if he is under attack.

If you be in a close turnfight, and you fly the turnfighter(Spit1a vs Me109E4 maybe), dont forget to reduce power, cause even you can turn more tight, you cant do that if you be much faster than the enemy, so also here the same like above can happen.

Overshoot or not overshoot:
If you attack a enemy, you have to choose between this two possibilitys. If you overshoot, its possible that you be to slow and so the enemy get into shootingposition. If you dont overshoot, by reducing power, its possible that you miss the right moment to give power again and so the enemy get the chance to outaccelerat you, or the enemy simly have a better turning plane, so he can easy turn behind, while you 1st need to accelerate again.
It need much experience to find always the right choise, if you overshoot, you need to be much faster thats for sure, specialy in EAW1.2, where 1200m kills are possible. So in a turnfighter its often better to stay behind the enemy, but if the enemy have a wingi, thats of couse very dangerus, so check your 6!
At least all is on the edge, and need a good reacion and much experience.

But for sure you cant do any sencefull manouver if you cant keep the enemy in sight or if your plane maybe dont have 100% power due to a wrong calibration, or if you never can use the flaps or if you cant 'target' your wingi or a other than the closest enemy.

May this help, specialy to stop the myth that my skill is somehing special(actually the half of my squad is same good or better than me and so are many old EAW players and now FB players).


Greetings, Knegel
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:10 AM

Hello,

after it looks like there are still some misunderstandings regarding OAW, here is a little clarification.

All you need to have the full onlinepotential is a EAW1.2 installation updated with OAWbasic_5 and the OAWrtinstallfiles(actually thats the Visual Basic runtimefiles, cause OAW is written in visual basic).

All other stuff is more offlinerelated and is only necessary to make the game more eyecandy!!

OAWbasic_5 include the a OAWselector with all necessary options for onlinegaming! Later OAWversions have only offlinerelated changings for now, but the update is very easy, simply by changing the old exe-file and creating a new shortcut!!

OAW Basic_5 include this:

1. OAWSelector100MY.exe
2. F 1 (EAWrp2.3)
3. M 1 (onlinemission)[inclusive interdict1 and 2]
4. G 2 (smooth hilli world)
5. G 4 (Alp)
6. G 5 (Real_hills)
7. G interdict2
8. G LargeFonts
9. Some different Horizons/Sky´s
10. Some different Gunsights
11. A good folderstaructure in for of many empty folders as example, they need to get filled up with addons by the user , ONLY if he want or is able to.

With OAW Basic_5 you can do this:

Taking part of all common aonlinegames!

Example:

Clean EAW1.2
Clean EAW1.2 with different hilladdons
EAWrp2.3
EAWrp2.3 with different hilladdons
EAWrp2.3 included in different Autoscriptsetups
(with different planesetups, M1 and hillsetups).

All this above with or without different challengesetups(no externals, no free front/rearview, no padlock, reduced icons etc), all this with or without cheatcheck.

So with two simple D/L´s (OAWbasic_5 and OAWrtinstall) and a bit reading and following of the readme and some basic knowledge of your Operationsystem, the full world of EAW Online lay down in front of you.

All other OAW problems that you can see or will have are not onlinerelated!! Thats the typical EAW-Addon problems, that you will see and have with every other EAW addonmanager!!

OAW is a Addon and a Addonmanager in once!!
Also who use a other addonmanager, can used the OAW-addonfeatures.
The addonsfeatures are:
1.The Keycontrolls, the newest Selector have #30 different challenging 'limiting' controllsetups, which are not that easy possible without OAW. You can reduce the icons or dissable the, you can dissable the external views and some more things. So you can have many different settings from the default EAW 'full real' to the 'full real', like we know it from IL2/Forgotten battles, where you have to fly like a real pilot only in the cockpit, without padlock, and icons.
2. The EAWrp´s additionel planes, you can use them only in combination with OAW.
3. Groundstarted Mission while onlinegaming, you need M1 and some of the EAWrp additional planes to play it online.


Greetings, Knegel
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 06/21/05 11:11 AM

Some more thought´s regarding viewsystems!!!
(this got written for a other forum, if i refer to my signature, read my post regarding Key/Stick setups above instead).

What is a good working viewsystem??

A good working viewsystem make me able to look around like with my own head, from the pilotseat position(inside the cockpit)!

Why a good working viewsystem is most important??

Cause a pilot with a 'stiff neck' cant be a good fighterpilot at all!


Is there a viewsystem that provide the same possibilitys like my head/eyes provide??

Not realy, but we can get pretty close to it(in Aces High even closer).


Since EAW seems to be somewhat a 'Flightsim kindergarden', at least i see many real Flightsimnewbes comming here, and cause its a old EAW tradition to bring rookis fast into a good skillevel( to get worthy oponents and/or content campaignplayers ), see the need to explain specialy the 'snapviews' more exact.

Unfortunately its very difficult to explain all this, without to leave open questions, on a messageboard. In the old EAW times such things got explained online, there its much easyer to answer questions. Back then we was much more Veterans than rookis, so this wasnt a real problem, but today there are only a few people online, who dont get limited by their viewsystem. This people have by easy a much higher skill than all others, only cause a working viewsystem!

Most people dont see that, and so the myth of a incredible talent get born!

If you click to the last link in my signature you can read important things about most viewsystems and more, but much to often i take notice that people get limited by their bad or less good viewsystem, rather than by their skill, although they are online for a half year or longer. Some people realy try to play with almost impossible viewsystems, probably cause they dont know a better one.

Mouseview is the only 'bad' viewsystem where i can see a agrument to use it, althought it limit the skill much!! Mouseview feel somewhat natural and it allow 'no icon gaming'.

The easyest way to keep track to a oponent is of course padlock, but since many get disoriented by padlock, or cause they see the 'radar cheat' behind padlock, they try to find other viewsystems. I think this is pretty homourable, but unfortunately most dont seems to ask others(at least not me and not here in the forum) for help and so they stuck sometimes with realy unplayable viewsystems.

I saw people using only horizontal views, or only frontview and rearview, the rest with the mouse, or the headswitch as mouse, or they use the NUMpad keys, where the snapviews are located by default(spiderman says hello ) etc.

Who dont like padlock, isnt willing to accept the 'mouseview handycap' or dont have the money for Track IR(read more about it in the last link of my signature), need to use the SNAPVIEWS!!!

The Snapviews represent for sure the most powerful viewsystem!!

What are the snapviews??

The 'snapviews' consist in 9 differen buttons, every button alone represent one viewdirection (front, front right, front left, right, left, rear, rear right, rear left, 90° up). If you push one of this button, the view snap to the fitting direction and if you leave the button, it snap back to the frontview.
So if you leave your hand from the keys, you always get the frontview back! This is very important to keep orientation!!
MOST IMPORTANT regarding the smapviews is, to know that you can combine the 'snapview 90° up' button, with any of the horizontal snapviews, to a 45° up view!!

Example: Push 'snapview right' + 'snapview 90° up' at same time and you will get = 'snapview 45° up right'.

So you can look to every possible viewdirection by using this 9 buttons.

Where to program the 9 snapview buttons??

The 8 horizontal 'snapviews' goes to the 8 way headswitch(POV).

EAW.ini [Remappable Keys]

SNAPVIEW FRONT=POV_hat_Forward
SNAPVIEW RIGHT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Right
SNAPVIEW RIGHT=POV_hat_Right
SNAPVIEW RIGHT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Right
SNAPVIEW LEFT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Left
SNAPVIEW LEFT=POV_hat_Left
SNAPVIEW LEFT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Left
SNAPVIEW REAR=POV_hat_Back

The 'snapview 90° up' goes to a button on your stickbase, which you can reach by easy with your forefinger, without to leave the throttle slider(this one is also very important for a good dogfight!).

SNAPVIEW UP=Joystick_Btn_7

With this viewsystem, you can look around while fighting!!

To be able to make a skillful dogfight with icons, its very useful to place 'flaps up' and 'flaps down' on the right side, next to the POV, 'select all guns' and select next guns' left to the POV and 'target closest enemy' and 'target next enemy' onto the stickbase, close to the 'snapview up' button, so that you can reach them with the midle or ringfinger, without to leave 'snapview up'.

THIS and ONLY THIS buttons are needed to get the best out of your talent while a dogfight!!!

If your stick have more buttons 'target closest friendly' and 'target next friedly' are good to be able to find your wingi and so to help him or to let you help by flying to his direction. Its also good to keep the own bombers in sight.

To enhance the number of 'stickbase buttons' there is a simple trick! Simply place your keyboard close left in front of your stickbase, so that your throttle is close to the arrowkeys!!
In this way you can reach the arrowkeys, the numpad block and the '6 key block'(page up/down, insert, del etc) by easy.

If you have a Saitex X45 or X53, you will have enough buttons.


Why the Snapviews are the most powerful viewsystem??

1. The snapviews work in almost all flightsims in exact the same way.

2. The snapviews allow no icon gaming(this is a very challenging and immersive way to play).

3. The static viewdirections of the snapviews overcome the orientation problems caused by the unrealistic smal wideview, cause they allow to keep always track to the exact position/direction/situation of your own plane in relation to the enemy and earth!!
Only snapviews make exact flying possible!!
(dont use external views, its much more difficult to calculate/estimate your own course in relation to other planes and the ground from outside than from inside the cockpit, next to that externals are real immersionkillers).
4. Snapviews allow to keep awareness of the whole battle, not only of the current padlocked target!


Is it realy possible to look around like with my own head?

Yes, for sure!! You 'only' need to program your neckmuskles to your fingers. Of course this can take some hours, but if you once got used to it, its a real revelation!!

If you think all the hundrets(maybe thousands) of 'full real'-'IL-2 FB/PF'-players are masochistic idiots, who fly around like a blind duck, you be wrong!! Even in IL-2, where the 'no icon/padlock/external' gaming is in my opinion unrealistic difficult, the snapviews still provide a good playability.


Iam pretty sure, that with the view/key system above also a medium talented player can get a remarkable skill! In cooperation with padlock it even easyer to get a god skill!

And who say 'to win isnt all, iam happy with what i have', should go to a knit group!

Greetings,

Knegel
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 07/27/05 07:03 PM

Install onto WIN XP Problem?
Submitted by Wallace 'Wudpecker' Wood

----------------------------------
1. Any of the special "EXE's" available will have to be renamed to just "EAW.exe"
XP will only run the name "EAW.exe"
For instance, Andy's Eaw2c.exe will not work until changed to "Eaw.exe"

2. Also in XP, your game version may cause problems. InfoGames EAW doesn't like XP on an install--though it works fine in XP without actually installing.
Only the Microprose original works well when you do an install from CD.
Solution: Try and copy ONLY the game itself without installing it.

Run it once, briefly, then quit. Then install the 1.2 patch from your CD. Why? Because this creates a couple of files the game needs.

Of course you had to install the game originally from CD, right? How else can you get the game files?

By "installing" EAW in XP, there are some registry problems that crop up and foul up the game in non-Microprose CD's. So you have to clean the registry or find a new "clean" Microprose version of EAW and don't install it. Copy it onto your HD. EAW doesn't have to be installed, once you have a copy on the HD.

3. How to clean the registry? Go to "RUN" under the Start Menu, type Regedit, pick "Find" and then find every instance of Euro Air War and delete it. That's right. Delete every instance. There are several.
There is a maker's folder under Program Files where the game is installed, but I forget the folder name. Delete that, too....IF it's not the game itself.
Remember, copy the game itself first (it will have the eaw.exe file in it and some other folders like music, etc.) and put it in a new folder. Run the game from that folder. Test it first, of course.

4. As a last resort, make a shortcut of the Eaw.exe file by right-clicking mouse and choosing shortcut. Put this on your desktop and run the game from there. This sometimes works when other solutions don't in XP.
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 08/09/05 07:43 PM

Never fail installation of EAW under OS WinXP (all versions)

Hello,

It's my way to install EAW underXP..and this never fail for me or on others
configurations where I (or others) install it.

The first and important rule..IS TO NOT INSTALL EAW ...........LOL.
Instead.......
Made ...or have a copy on a CD_R (or any other portable support) of a EAW
full install patched 1.2 (eventally also NO-CD) running good under Win98.
Simply past this copy in a created folder of your choice.

Why this operation....???
Mainly the probs with XP come from the record in the registry base of the
installation of EAW.
With the procedure above...WinXP don't know EAW is running on the system.

If you have a message error with NT in or Win32......please go to:
C:\\Widows\System32 and copy the file autoexec.nt and save this file in a
reserve folder.
C:\\Windows\repair...and copy the file autoexec.nt
Paste this file in C:\\windows\System32 and let overwrite.
It's must cure your error message.
If any probs...(normally no probs..) please past again in
c;\\Windows\System32 your saved file from the reserve folder.

Just a additionnal note:
If yiu intend to install OAWunified...please proceed to a exam of all the
files of EAW for eliminate the eventual files showing a read only attribute.
If read only attribute you will maybe have probs when you run first time
OAW.

Good luck and nice fights.

Dumo.
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS - 12/07/09 07:16 PM

The definitive 7217 stuff!

The cause of the 7217 error.

The error most commonly occurs when a user tries to run EAW on a PC which has an nVidia card and driver.
It happens when the eaw.exe runs this routine in the "setup" module which tests and reads settings at the start of the game:


if (!ddInit(ScreenWidth, ScreenHeight, 8))
clean_exit(7217, NULL);


In the first line of that code snippet it is testing that your graphic card/driver can handle 8 bit grapics.
If it cannot, then the the second instruction tells it to exit the program and print the 7217 error message.

After the driver version 66.93 most nVidia drivers no longer contained the code to handle 8 bit graphics, so the first solution was to roll back to the 66.93 version.
However, some users may have other software on their PCs which require later drivers, and this rules out the 66.93 option.
I had an nVidia 6600GT. The supplied driver gave the 7217 error but rolling back to 66.93 solved the problem.
Furthermore, as HDDs are relatively cheap these days, I set up my PC with HDDs in caddies, so I had on HDD with XP and the 66.93 driver and EAW installed, and another with XP and the latest driver without EAW.

This card eventually started to overheat seriously, and I replaced it with the 8400GS card. I found that series 8 and later cards cannot use the old drivers, so the 66.93 option was no longer available.
What I found almost by accident when I treated myself to a laptop was that the 7217 error does not occur with Vista. I bought a new caddy and drive, installed Vista, and I regularly fly EAW V1.28 online.


Other solutions:

As members of "The Code Group" have access to the source code Sydbod checked for the occurrence of "7217", and re-numbered them to "72171", "72172" and so on. He compiled an eaw.exe and sent it to me for testing on my 7217 prone machine.
Naturally I got the 7217 error but it read "Error Num: 72172" so it identified where this was occurring.
We changed the code to:


if (!ddInit(ScreenWidth, ScreenHeight, 16))
clean_exit(7217, NULL);


It was now testing 16 bit capability, and it worked in the sense that we did not get an exit with the 7127 error. However, there were still massive problems.
When EAW was written and HDDs were expensive and had very limited storage a number of space saving techniques were applied. All of the selection screens were written in 8 bit graphics, then compressed in size to a proprietary format.
The changed code "conned" the eaw.exe into reading the 8 bit screens as though they were 16 bit screens, This meant that they were displayed as technicolor nightmares, and selection was virtually impossible.
This accounts for the garbled screens when people try the early 7217 fixes. I tried to make some simple blank screens, and by using them a number of menu selections became possible with right clicking showing the various hotspots.
I was also able to find the bytes in the stock eaw 1.2 which needed to be changed from 8 to 16 and we had a 1.2 exe which worked with these screens.

An extension of this was to my writing the JIMMSN program. This allowed all of the single mission parameters to be set in an external program with readable screens including maps, and saved in a "*.msn" file in the "Savedata" folder.
It was then possible to use the simple screens, and load the "*.msn" files from the hangar screen. Then right clicking to find "Fly" and lft clicking launched the game.
At this point I must add that the game graphics are not 8 bit so the 7217 error does not come into play once you are flying.

Another approach, which is still being used for single missions only, is the use of "JIM".
This one uses a special eaw.exe which I compiled from source code. The mission parameters are set externally using the JIM program, and then saved in a special file.
The special exe reads this file to get the settings and then goes straight into the "Fly" routine. Hence it does not use any 8 bit screens at all.
The JIM program allows you to save the settings files, and to re-laod them, so there is no need to have to re-make them every time.
Of course, it is useless for careers or multiplayer games which need the 8 bit screens.

Will Gee's work:
Will was one of the original EAW programmers. He helped the Code group in the earlier stages, and found some code which overcame the 7217 error and displayed the 8 bit screens normally, other than the Mission Parameters target/homebase selection maps, and the career maps.
There was some loss of speed, and jerky mouse movements, but running EAW was entirely possible. Will was hoping to improve what had been done, but real life prevented him from doing much more.
When 1.28 was released I produced a version with Will's additional code for testing by the 7217 club. It works on many cards such as the 6600GT and some series 7 cards too, but the release showed that a new problem occurred with series 8 cards and later.
This is the "screen tearing" problem.
The 8 bit screens are displayed, but a continuous screen refresh routine garbles them so that they look like this:



Selections are completely impossible. We are trying to solve the problem, but at this juncture we have not got too far.

My most recent work:
I am currently developing a new version of the "special" exe based on the latest 1.28 code (which is even more advanced that the code used in the 1.28 release) to use with JIM.
Of course, it can only be used for single missions, and does not use any EAW screens.

Problems with JIM:
Obviously EAW allows some settings to be changed via the configuration screen. This is not possible with JIM, so there needs to be some version of editing the "eaw.ini" file.
As the author of the OAWSelector I use the capability of that program to edit the "eaw.ini" to make a "tailor made" version. The bonus is that I can use the OAWSelector to load a "DAW" or "Pacific" scenario, and then run "JIM".
I can get "JIM" to make a new selection map, and pick my target and home base, along with the other settings.

Alternative solutions:
This document specifically sets out the facts regarding 7217, as it applies to PCs with nVidia cards. Therefore I am not elaborating on other solutions, such as switching to RADEON cards, or getting an older "legacy" PC to run EAW on.
My intention is to let a user who gets the 7217 error know what there options are, so they do not head odd down a myriad of blind alleys which appear to offer hope, but eventually no solution.
This must be most frustrating for the 7217 victim, and accounts for the high percentage who appear to give up in disgust, without realising that there are some working solutions.

I hope that the information here can become or be included in a "Sticky" in the EAW SimHQ forum, with links to the various pieces of 7217 software that are available.

Tony West
AKA Mr Jelly

Adelaide
South Australia
August 24th 2008
Posted By: Sandbagger

Re: Tips and Tricks - 01/22/10 09:55 PM

This is how you can change engine sounds for a plane slot, if you use EAW1.28c or d, you dont need to touch the sound files itself!

Here are the default sound numbers:


Code:
aircraft slot# start_sound run_sound

PL_P38H 0 SND0060.SND SND0061.SND
PL_P38J 1 SND0062.SND SND0063.SND
PL_P47C 2 SND0064.SND SND0065.SND
PL_P47D 3 SND0066.SND SND0067.SND
PL_P51B 4 SND0068.SND SND0069.SND
PL_P51D 5 SND0070.SND SND0071.SND
PL_B17 6 SND0072.SND SND0073.SND
PL_B24 7 SND0074.SND SND0075.SND
PL_B26 8 SND0076.SND SND0077.SND
PL_HURR_MKI 9 SND0078.SND SND0079.SND
PL_SPIT2A 10 SND0080.SND SND0081.SND
PL_SPIT9 11 SND0082.SND SND0083.SND
PL_SPIT14 12 SND0084.SND SND0085.SND
PL_TYPHOON 13 SND0086.SND SND0087.SND
PL_TEMPEST 14 SND0088.SND SND0089.SND
PL_MOSQUITO 15 SND0090.SND SND0091.SND
PL_ME109E4 16 SND0092.SND SND0093.SND
PL_ME109G6 17 SND0094.SND SND0095.SND
PL_ME109K4 18 SND0096.SND SND0097.SND
PL_ME110C 19 SND0098.SND SND0099.SND
PL_ME110G 20 SND0100.SND SND0101.SND
PL_ME410 21 SND0102.SND SND0103.SND
PL_FW190A8 22 SND0104.SND SND0105.SND
PL_FW190D9 23 SND0106.SND SND0107.SND
PL_ME262A 24 SND0108.SND SND0109.SND
PL_JU88A4 25 SND0110.SND SND0111.SND
PL_JU88C 26 SND0112.SND SND0113.SND
PL_JU87 27 SND0114.SND SND0115.SND
PL_HE111 28 SND0116.SND SND0117.SND
PL_V1 29 SND0118.SND SND0119.SND




And this is what you need to do:
1. Create a text file in the EAW root(right click to the screen -> new -> txt).
2. Open this txt file and insert the following:

[EngineSounds]
StartSound= <- insert here the wanted start sound number (list above).
RunSound= <- insert the wanted run sound number

3.Store the file with the following name:
PlaneSoundsxx.mpf, where xx get replaced with the wanted slot number.
Example:
Me262 slot = slot 24 = PlaneSounds24.mpf

So If you want to have jet sound in lets say the Spit14 slot, you need to create a txt file with the following contents:

[EngineSounds]
StartSound=108
RunSound=109

You need to store it as PlaneSounds12.mpf and place it to the place where your F86 flight model is located.

A additional feature:
If you want to use others than the default engine sounds(there are several different EAW engine sounds available), you can create a "Sounds" folder in the EAW root and inside this folder you need to create a "Engines" folder. Here you place the additional "start" and "run" sound. The sound file numbers need to be higher than 119, so the next "start" sound need to be "SND0120.snd"(or higher) and the next "run" sound need to be "SND0121.snd"(or higher).
So virtually we can store additonal engine sounds from "SND0120.snd" to "SND9999.snd".

Note: Since the PlaneSounds12.mpf files are very smal and easy editable, you can store one with each skin, or 30 of them with each plane set etc.

Greetings,

Knegel
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