Glider Flight Mission II

[Wudpecker]

MORE PICS---Response from our Historians:


Compare this with Shreck's paratroops drop--Not bad!



Inside the WACO


No--It has NOT crashed. Unloading a jeep.


Operation Neptune at Normandy, the first action of the Invasion. Gliders down in bocage country.



"The Snatch"-- Recovering gliders in clandestine operations.

[Col. Gibbon]

Having my hands in splints is a real bugger, so progress is slow, but tonight I've manged to fix the RS problems with the model. The props no longer show through the plane looking from the side and front quarters. I'm now rebuilding the engines and wings, which although will not contain many elements, should look fine once skinned by our masters.

[Wudpecker]

Coming along nicely, John.

[Col. Gibbon]

Todays update on the glider tug. I've nearly got all the RS problems cracked on the left side of the model, and a really nice round engine too.

[Shreck]

really amazing work Col.
Shreck

[Wudpecker]

She's turning into a real beauty, Colonel John.

I look forward to seeing the 3dz when you are done. Will lengthen that tow cable when we have a chance.

[Wudpecker]

QUESTIONS ON GAME SOUNDS

1) What determines the engine sound? Location of engine, props, or 3dz model?

Trying to rid the gliders of sounding like bombers. It helps to cut the volume. That doesn't work well in the air if you are looking around with F-9


2) Glider operations with English ground controllers on American flights. Was this accurate? I believe it was. The game thinks so, too, for 1944-45. In my version, at least.


BTW, crew. What a job. There are NO words for "glider", "paratrooper", "tow cable", in the sound files. My voice is definitely NOT youthful nor a near match to record them. I tried.
So I have had to create the words out of single syllables. Agggh!

[Knegel]

Hi Wudy,

iam not sure what you mean regarding the engine sound, but you can choose between radial, piston, jet and rocket in the planes.dat.

Afaik "Rocket" dont work for flyable planes, but if the used planeset dont include jet´s, the Jet sound would be available for customized usage.

Afaik we can make a plane to a "Jet" and keep the propeller plane like behaviour.

But iam not sure if the propellers still work.

Greetings,

[Wudpecker]

SOUND ISSUES

Hi, Knegel. Thanks for taking a moment. But, no, my question had to do with what generates engine sounds.
To make glider flight more realistic, we don't want them sounding like bombers. We want the engine sounds to come from the "drop tank" C-47 or whatever aircraft is used as the tow plane way ahead of the glider.

So...the question is what determines the LOCATION of an engine sound?
My guess is engines. But it could be propellers. The EAW.exe "knows" where to put the sound.
I caught a glimpse of this when the sound seemed to come from the tow plane when the props were on.



IN ANY CASE, TWO NEW SOUND FILES
are up at my www.gmail.com site (Wudpecker sign-in and password).

One was especially made to deal with the glider sound issue.
Lots of fun noise at startup engines on the take-off runway.
The Wright Cyclone engines and props of the C-47 have a distinctive "buzz" when they wind up for the trip down the runway.

Once in the air, SND35 takes over. I cut sound to a minimum "buzz" for the C-47 props to seem to come from far ahead. The sound of air swooshing over the glider was magnified. A little reverb went in as though the sound was bouncing off the thin, hollow walls.
EAW handles this brilliantly with just two sound files for the radial engine type (and two for inline engines). On its own, it increases or decreases engine speed and sound varies.

Thanks to your FM, Knegel, we can get a nice sound fade as the C-47 goes on its way. It works best by tying the "drop tow rope" and the "engine cut" key strokes together in EAW.ini.
When ALT-N to target, the C-47 engines suddenly quit on their own most times. And most of the glider flight is on their own, wind whistling past.

Your aircraft then is "sorta" lost, and you are scrambling trying to keep up with the rest of the gliders which dropped tow cable, even if you are squdron leader. They don't care. They are headed to the target landing point.
You have a problem. Follow the main group of gliders? Set your own course for the gliders following you?
Yet some gliders don't drop tow cables automatically. You have to order them to cut cables. And cut your own, of course. This doesn't always work exactly in the same way, so you never know.

So...it appears the Glider Mod is more of a challenge to fly than we think.
EAW mysteries.

[Wudpecker]

SOUND AND MESSAGE UPDATE

---Two new C-47/Glider take-off and in-flight sounds done.
---In-game Message Screens almost done. Ready for testing.
---Radio Voices almost done. Ready for testing.

On the radio voices, new words were built: "glider", "tow cable," "paratroops", etc.
These replace "Drop Tanks" with "Drop Tow Cable" or "Release Paratroops Now" and such.
Some new voice recordings made, but I consider my voice not the best.

An entirely new CDF file was built for the combo British controllers/American pilots peculiar to these operations.
For ease of adding new voice commands, they are currently dropped into the game's EAW main directory.
But there could be a complete new CDF when everyone is satisfied with the way they work.

[Wudpecker]

GLIDER MOD UPDATE

Ready to Go........

-------Knegel's Glider FM
-------Ray "Rotten's" Loadouts
-------Flyable C-47 with paratroops (cockpit needs help) Edited: see next post.
-------Flyable WACO Glider (some R/S issues; no cockpit)
-------Historical backgrounds on major glider/paratroop operations.

In the Works------

----Col. Gibbon's revised "M" model C-47 (Almost Done)
----Shreck's new WACO Glider cockpit with help by Crashin' Jack.
----Wudpecker's sound mods. (Almost Done)
----WACO glider 3dz rendering sequence issues by Col. Gibbon?

Still to Come.......

==Destinations. Normandy is assumed. Perhaps "Market Garden"? Others? Comments?
==Aircraft lists needed for creating new FM/loadout combos.
The standard EAW aircraft can be used for the 1944-45 period.
But some hi-res skins might be nice. Suggestions?
==New aircraft? Possible add of Reconnaissance P-38 "invisible" paint skin. May require new FM for high-alitude flight.
==Use of Pob's new "Reconn Mod" for taking pictures to use as targets?
(If he will let us, and if it's ready)
==Horsa glider? No 3dz. No skin.
==Exact targets and times for parachute and glider drops.
==Enemy AA and other ground objects at and around target areas.
==Mission screens, hanger screen, etc.
==Briefing screen.
==Debrief screen adjustment for glider and parachute points?
==Movies? Other new ideas?

[Shreck]

Flyable C-47 with paratroops (cockpit needs help)

Woody,this should be in "in the works" as well,and,for the record,I am still awaiting word from CJ on why portions of the WACOs cockpit dissapear
Shreck

[Wudpecker]

You are one busy fella, Erik. Know how it is to wait on someone else.

Any comments on The List?

[Wudpecker]

CALLING KNEGEL --or Anyone who knows:

Testing the new glider mod, some bad things happen:

1) I choose P-51b on mission screen, with "WACO" gliders as secondary aircraft. Escort flight.
2) Take-off is good (check out new sounds. Small download of SND0034 and 35) It looks like C-47 is really another aircraft as glider rises first!
3) ALT-N to next checkpoint to join up with main glider flight.

Glider flight is small, even though I choose "large" for secondary aircraft.
Secondary glider flight drops tanks and starts landing run!
Immediate recall by ground controller.

Any idea why?

[Wudpecker]

Cancel the last post.
As the fishermen say, they do it just for the halibut:



I forgot to put Rotten's loadout and weapons.dat files into the game while testing.
Still get a RTB if the flight is over 4 aircraft on take-off. A common problem.
But I was able to "join" my fellow gliders on the mission, catch them and fly along happily together.