CARRIERS--Working

[Wudpecker]

This should be of general interest.

You have to live in Timbuktu or just flew in from the South Pole not to know that VonBeerhofen's carrier mod is working and about to be released in a week or so.



(I don't think Moggy will scream about a screenshot from another forum)

VonB said this little Holy Grail works much like the real thing: water splashes, miss the deck and go into the drink, and so on.

He and Pobs are going to coordinate Pobs' new carrier design, so I've heard. This one is a bit crude, obviously, but it works.

[Shreck]

Yes indeed Sir Wudpecker In fact,this particular mod,is the number one reason to restart the KAW mod,and was the only reason that a VAW mod could exist.......I assume,this very thing this "Holy Grail",might have some effect on the Midway upgrade and a few other campaigns as well.I for one,am totally excited about this release!
Shreck

[Pobs]

OK, well we have Pactide III now and can look at this approach to carriers... it seems to work quite well, but there are a few problems to be ironed out..

1. The carrier is far too big compared to the planes....

2. When I look around at the rest of my squadron, the deck disappears and we are sitting in the sea..... this is because we are 'in' the carrier model I presume.... we would need to look into that one...

3. There may still be problems with our carriers using this technique which VB has avoided by having a 70's 'cross deck' carrier model in the slot. The problems we had with AI refusing to take off relate to the position if the carrier hit bubble relative to the 'runway'... if it is perceived to overlap the runway the ai dont seem to want to take off... this may still be a problem with standard wwII carriers using vb's technique...


still, it is good that this one proves the 'carrier Island on a tile' system works to give us water around the carrier, and I think that the 'wake on the tile' is a brilliant effect given the 'smoothing algorythm' applied to the tiles.... much nicer than the wakes we have so far had attached to the models themselves...


cheers,



Pobs

[Wudpecker]

Congratulations to you, Pobs, if you've had much to do with this.

Your explanation as to "why" the canted carrier deck is used is a good one. I wondered. The hit bubble cannot go to one side of the deck, it seems.

Obviously, the usual solutions have been tried--making the deck longer (and a smaller carrier), making the landing area fully "painted" and not water-colored, and so on. So I will forbear any suggestions. The wonder is that it works at all.

[Pobs]

Wuddie,

I don't want to steal any of VB's thunder here, so let me quickly say that Anthony and I were working on a raised deck approach to the carriers with the planes modified to take off from it whilst the flat deck approach is purely Von's idea. We have had the raised deck carrier 'working' for player take offs for over a year now but we haven't really worked out how to get the AI to join us in the air except by using the Alt N option at which point they all appear with us over the target ... here is the 'other approach to carriers in action in the Med ]














cheers,



Pobs

[Moggy]

I had this AI problem once in other circumstances.

Wracking my brain to remember what it was and how I dealt with it.

White out here by the way

[Wudpecker]

...and a superior-looking carrier it is.

You and I discussed this months ago. The 50-foot landing gear hardly shows Now, let's see---if you just put that hit bubble in the conning tower....

Seriously, have you tried Von B's "negative" approach for your design? Or it one of those difficult 3DZ things?

I have been trying to modify VB's wave design for my own use and if I didn't have lucid senior moments of stupidity I would go raving mad. But it "looks" like it breaks, anyway, though a bit squarish. Might do.

I may as well come clean: I want to attach it to the bottom of the PBY for a takeoff splash. It would go nicely as a carrier wake, too, along the bow and sides of the ship. The trick is to combine it with a drawn-on wake on the PCX which looks pretty damn good, as you said ( I like to think I gave the idea to VB, but that's ego).

But the process truly daunts me. My subconscious still shakes at the memory of trying to deal with the Rendering Sequence last year, and comes up with every excuse not to go through that again.

[Wudpecker]

Ah, just saw Moggy's post.

Wasn't there a problem with "reluctant" bombers taking off in Midway? They would just sit there as you flew away, until you ALT-N. Very similar.

Have no idea how you and the colonel solved it, though, except I'm pretty sure you modified the FM (and got all four engines running).