Nordic Theater
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I have been working on a preliminary DB update for Nordic Theater. Chuckles and Starrats were kind enough to invite me in on their project this summer and I believe they have a really nice plan put together. I am going to skip posting up a lot of pics as has been my custom in past dev work. Instead, I will leave that up to the theater leads to post when they feel appropriate since I want to focus on the DB update exclusively for the next few weeks to get their new beta put together and then get out of their way. Once this is done I need to move on to other projects.
Later, I will check back, from time to time, and see what kind of progress has been made and what things might need to be addressed. Theater work is an iterative approach, and the focus should first be on getting the units to move, campaigns working and when it is - then the eye-candy can be applied.
I hope folks with an interest in this theater will not hesitate to step forward for testing and further development. In the latter stages of this theater we are going to need some model folks who can add lights, afterburners, misc, and clean up models as well as some skinners to make some skins for a/c like the Gripen, Draken, and Lansen. Of special note is we have obtained permission to use Anders Lejczak’s JAS-39A Gripen model - it is in standard OBJ format - if you are interested in converting this model to BMS LOD format please contact me - I have a deal for you - get it in usable condition, under 30K poly, textured to one 2048x208 main texture and one 512x512 alpha texture and I will skin it and integrate it. The goal being to produce something that can be integrated into the BMS Database for all to use.
The basic 1st Round Upgrade is shown below. This is only the aircraft added or upgraded and isn’t intended to be all inclusive of what is in the theater.
DB2 was primarily a build that integrated updated models of aircraft, selected 3d wings models, and adding cockpit subfolders using existing BMS cockpit parents for 3d wings models and set the hardpoints and weapons loadouts sufficient for basic testing.
DB3 Upgrade builds on previous DB work but upgraded several models with boarding ladders, new nav lights, corrected hardpoint definitions, and added considerably more 3d wings models as well as adding several new 3d cockpits for testing purposes. See below for detailed plan:
DB Specific:
Add new ACD record for Su-27 Winter
Check SSD vs vehicle usage of weaponsRepurpose CTs for:
- F-35B Lightning II
- F-35C Lightning II
- Bac F.2 Lightning
- Bac F.6 Lightning
- PAK-FA
- Victor Tanker
- Nimrod
Wpns DB Fuel Tanks
- Eliminatd shared parents for fuel tanks
- linked wpns back up with a/c
- cleared SSD’s
- restored proper fuel tanks to parents
- added additional tanks
– F-4F 370 gal
– F-4J 370 gal + 600 gal
– F-4D 370 gal
– A-7D 300 gal
Removed TomCatz MiG-29A --> returned Hayab MiG-29A
BMSRACK.DAT
- Nordic a/c definitions
- acdata updates
================================================== ==============
3d Models:Upgrade F-35A Lightning
- rescaled
- added chin sensor
Fix F-104G - DONE - F-104G Denmark
- F-104G Norway
- F-104G Germany
Add-on J-29 Tunnan - vehicle
- 3dwings
- Ckptart
Add-on Bac Lightning F.2 - vehicle
- 3dwings
Add-on Bac Lightning canopy model
Add-on Bac Lightning F.6 5th Sqdn/11th Sqdn/23rd Sqdn - vehicle
- 3dwings
Add-on Redtop
Add-on F.2 overwing tank
Add-on F.6 overwing tank
Upgrade F-4G
Upgrade F-4F N72 (9slot –>13-slot)
Upgrade F-4F N81 (9slot -->13-slot
Upgrade F-4E (13 slot - Euro I and/or Hill 2 Schemes)
Upgrade Gripen C
Upgrade Gripen D
Upgrade Su-27 - vehicle
- 3d wings
Upgrade Su-27UB - vehicle
- 3d wings
Upgrade Su-34 - vehicle
- 3d wings
Upgrade Su-24A - upgrade vehicle
- add-on 3d wings
Upgrade Tu-22
Upgrade Tu-95
Swedish Weapons Package
- Viggen recon pod
- RB-04E ASM
- RM-05 AGM
- RM-15F ASM
- 1100L for AJ37 old model
- 1275L for Draken & Gripen
- 1700L for for JA37 new model
- M/70 rocket pod
- BK39
- NSM
3d Wings/Integration Add-ons
- Tornado ADV
- Tornado GR4
- Tornado IDS-I
- Tornado ECR-I
Fix Sorbitsya Pod positioning -
- Offset pod - DONE
- Slot move - Su-27
- Slot move - Su-27 UB
- Slot move - Su-27 Winter
- Slot move - Su-34
- Slot move - Su-35
Replace missing a/c visual data in vehicle records
Reverse F-104G main gear wheel spin direction
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DB4db6 - Continues to build on previous DB efforts but finalizes new models with selected upgradesModel Upgrades:
- F35B
– upgrade vehicle
– add-on 3dwings - F35C
– upgrade vehicle
– add-on 3dwings - MiG-19PM 3dwings
- MiG-19SF 3dwings
- MiG-17 3d cockpit
- MiG-19 3d cockpit
- EF2000 Germany
- K.1a Victor Tanker (model/skin added only)
- Su-47
– upgrade vehicle
– add-on 3dwings - Su-15TM
– upgrade vehicle
– add-on 3dwings - PAK-FA
– upgrade vehicle
– add-on 3dwings - 3d Cockpit EF2000
- F-16AM Norway Package (Jan Has 331st Sqdn only)
- AC-130 Package (Jan Has
- Saab 340 AEWC Swedish AWACS Addon)
Sea Vehicles
– PTM Skjold
– FF Nansne
– FFL Visby - F-4B Upgrade (13 slot Thoarek)
- F-4J Upgrade (13 slot Thoarek)
- F-4N Upgrade (13 slot Thoarek)
- F-5A:
– Vehicle Upgrade (includes two versions w and w/o wingtanks)
– 3dwings (includes two versions w and w/o wingtanks)
– 3d cockpit (one version shared by both vehicle upgrades) - Su17
– Vehicle Upgrade
– 3dwings - Su20
– Vehicle Upgrade
– 3dwings - Su22UM
– Vehicle Upgrade
– 3dwings - Su-7bkl Upgrade
– Vehicle Upgrade
– 3dwings - Afterburner Upgrade
- AGM 62 I and II Upgrade
- Mi-26 Addon
- Ka-52 Addon
- Mi-28N Addon
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Long Term DB Projects:
Define racks for Nordic specific a/c in BMSRACK. DAT
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F-104
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JAS-39C/D
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Draken
– J35
– F35
-Lansen
– A32
– J32 -
Sk60
– B
– C -
Tunnan
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F-100D
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F.2
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F.6
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Compact DB and rebuild w/3ddb (2x and counting)
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Update/Recalculate vehicle/units
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Rework rack/pylon weapons records move at >602
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Swedish Ground/Sea Upgrade
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JAS-39 Hipoly
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J-35 Draken Hipoly
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Dispersed Airbases
Phantom Upgrade: -
RF-4C (9 slot Thoarek)
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F-4E (13 slot Manos)
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F-4F (13 slot Manos)
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F-4G (13 slot Manos)
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A-7D
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A-7E
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Of special note is we have obtained permission to use Anders Lejczak’s JAS-39A Gripen model - it is in standard OBJ format - if you are interested in converting this model to BMS LOD format please contact me - I have a deal for you - get it in usable condition, under 30K poly, textured to one 2048x208 main texture and one 512x512 alpha texture and I will skin it and integrate it. The goal being to produce something that can be integrated into the BMS Database for all to use.
That would be great!
Cheers
Biker -
Good to know all yours above, Ranger.
And about volunteering for testing, you know what I think about, so please count on me since now.
With best regards,
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I have been working on a preliminary DB update for Nordic Theater. Chuckles and Starrats were kind enough to invite me in on their project this summer and I believe they have a really nice plan put together. I am going to skip posting up a lot of pics as has been my custom in past dev work. Instead, I will leave that up to the theater leads to post when they feel appropriate since I want to focus on the DB update exclusively for the next few weeks to get their new beta put together and then get out of their way. Once this is done I need to move on to other projects.
Later, I will check back, from time to time, and see what kind of progress has been made and what things might need to be addressed. Theater work is an iterative approach, and the focus should first be on getting the units to move, campaigns working and when it is - then the eye-candy can be applied.
I hope folks with an interest in this theater will not hesitate to step forward for testing and further development. In the latter stages of this theater we are going to need some model folks who can add lights, afterburners, misc, and clean up models as well as some skinners to make some skins for a/c like the Gripen, Draken, and Lansen. Of special note is we have obtained permission to use Anders Lejczak’s JAS-39A Gripen model - it is in standard OBJ format - if you are interested in converting this model to BMS LOD format please contact me - I have a deal for you - get it in usable condition, under 30K poly, textured to one 2048x208 main texture and one 512x512 alpha texture and I will skin it and integrate it. The goal being to produce something that can be integrated into the BMS Database for all to use.
quite interesting… Let me know if you need my help
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@ Manos, When you have some free time for another modeling project - I have a Saab J-35 Draken in 3dsmax that could benefit from conversion to LOD format. If you will convert the model from 3dsmax to LOD, and create some separate pylon models, I will cover everything else. The model is much simpler than your Phantom . . . so the project would likely take far less time and of course I would owe you big time.
Also, I will be posting up the preliminary DB worksheet at the thread starter if anyone is interested to see what is in the works. The Nordic DB is based on 4.33u2. Haven’t quite gone thru U3 yet but overall we are just adding some additional theater specific aircraft models and swapping out existing models for more detailed ones. We are still in the preliminary stages of campaign building and if Chuckles and Starrats need something it will be added to complete the DB for their campaign work.
Folks, please don’t ask for an installer just yet. I think you would be disappointed. Besides, Chuckles and Starrats are still working on some important things and the DB has only gone thru the first stage of upgrades.
The next stage of DB work will include high-resolution skins for new models, hardpoint/rack definitions, and linking up cockpit folder material to models. So, there is a lot to do but progress is looking good. The other project ongoing that we are excited about is a new Gripen. We obtained permission to convert a 3dsmax model to LOD format and we have someone working on that model. We don’t have a completion date - it will be done when it is ready. We already have a 3d cockpit model for it as well as all the other necessary models to integrate this as a fully functional model for game play.
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I am on a break from a skin project - so I thought I would review where we are with the DB on Nordic. DB1 is done. DB2 update is currently on-going. The primary goal with this 2nd upgrade is to clean up the 3d cockpit folders so that most if not all the flyable a/c in the theater campaigns will have a clickable cockpit. We are really adding much new cockpit material but what we are doing is using existing cockpits (i.e. the instrument panels, cockpit tubs, buttons, etc) from other a/c, adding a new 3d wings model to give it a more immersive experience. I am also adding a few upgrades like the A-6 series of a/c, an SR-71, and some other smaller upgrades. It is also hoped to go thru the hardpoints/weapons loadouts and clean up some of that as well.
We ran into a bit of a snag on our JAS-39C model so it is being shelved for the time being until we can find another modeler to take the reduced model and convert it to LOD format and integrate it. We are hopeful to see an upgraded hi-poly model of the Draken, and some additional skin work.
I don’t have a specific deadline or target date but really what remains of the model updates is just appending the models and new parent records and linking things up. So, possibly not that far away.
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Ranger,
thanks a lot for this update. On my little own, I wonder for a full working Tornado cockpit… and not in nordic, if for this.
But at the same time ‘something’ warned me that could be a devs.’ affair before all the other considerations, hope sincerely I’m wrong. Anyway…With best regards,
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Good news on the progress on the theater. Iam also abit sad to hear about the snag with the Gripen (but thats me wanting to fly it in my area,Iam from Sweden) I hope it get sorted out.
I would like to contribute but I have to learn how to model or use 3dsmax or to make textures and so on, so I think it is not so much I can do besides testing and writing like anyone else. (did some testing and stuff with derStef on his Taiwan theater back in the days of freefalcon)
Take your time and make this theater totally awesome (I think it´s going to be);)
Keep up your exellent work.
Greetings YetY -
I am sorry to report we ran into another obstacle with the new F-22 Raptor. I spent much of my 3-day weekend attempting to resolve some issues but was unsuccessful. We will be reverting back to the BMS F-22 which isn’t a bad a/c at all - but the new F-22 is pretty impressive and we remain optimistic that its issues will eventually be resolved.
I have contacted the F-22 builder to see if he can find a solution.
We also made a group decision to remove some previously added material, after thorough testing we decided we wanted to go in a different direction, opting for slightly lower detailed models, that were more functional and without issues. While it is a slight setback in terms of time, in the long run the models we are replacing will provide a very stable platform for us in the future and set a good milestone for continued development.
Lastly, we are going to be beefing up the Nordic Theater DB as a future platform for a few other European theaters, if those theater builders decide they wish to utilize the Nordic DB, they can, and it will include some new material that lends itself to Euro-centric theaters.
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F-22 is back in. Correspondence with the builder and I think we have a solution.
Hardpoints and loadout issues have now been resolved as well.
All the 3d cockpit models and 3d wings have been added and hopefully be linked up tonight. When DB2 has been uploaded for testing I will post up DB3 planning sheet.
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Great news this, Ranger… it’s just time to get back in the seat
With best regards,
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I am debating throwing the Manos Phantoms with DB2 or in DB3. One way or another they will be put in for testing and evaluation. I put in the Jan Has F-4D and was pleasantly surprised how good it was and how smooth it plays. Some of it may have to do with my new computer but if it runs fine and stable I don’t see any reason to exclude some of the finest material available. As it currently stands, the Phantom upgrades will include Thoarek FGR-2’s, Jan Has F-4D, Manos F-4E, F-4F, F-4G. As for the Navy and Recce Phantoms, I have a few Thoarek models in reserve that would require some minor fixes but otherwise we could have a full set of versions.
There are several upgrades of existing models planned as well as some new material in DB3 that is already ready - but I don’t want to hold up DB2 too much longer, when it is nearly ready for testing.
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Posted DB3 Plan at start of post along with current progress.
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Ranger,
thanks a lot for adding the AMI Tornados, BTW.
With best regards,
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Posted DB4 Plan, now that DB3 is nearly complete
Upgrades to Manos Phantoms is delayed and will bump to DB4.
Upgrades to TomCatz latest Su-27 family of a/c is also delayed and bumped to DB4
Upgrade to Hi-poly Gripen and Drakken are both delayed and bumped to DB4 or beyond
Addition of new Swedish ground vehicle models pending review of need to use them -
What about DB edit to have real USSR gound units and army defense?
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@ Molni,
Nordic is already a very heavily upgraded with nice Red side a/c. Not so much on the ground stuff so that is an area we could work on, for sure. To make it happen quickly, I need material to add; ie. models, skins, data. Else, count on it taking 2-3 weeks.
All - I just posted an update to the thread starter . . . DB3 is closing fast.
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i posted it allready in the phantom thread…. the -F is ready im making in game tests and tomorrow i will make the -G. -E its also ready (i will just delete from the the various AUP antennas)
EDIT : -G is ready also… took me about 2 hours and something but its ready Minore editing to skin etc and shes complete also
@Ranger : The -F i made it with 2 skin sets. I didnt make a different model but i believe u are the LE master for u its easy to make different model
i hope everybody will be satisfied -
And last but not least for the Nordic package HO scheme… And im think im done for this… As i said to my previous post Minor fixes in the skins and the packege will be delivered to Ranger to do as he please
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Totally awesome! Looking forward to putthing this stuff in DB4