Here are some advanced notes on each of the Patches and how they work. These
notes are correct to the best of my knowledge, but I warn you, I have had no
formal training regarding computer programming and this information has
been learnt from simply testing and mucking around by me !!
THE INVISIBLE COCKPIT & IMPERIAL GAUGE PATCH'S
This patch was created by extracting the BMP graphic files from the game which
are used to generate the cockpit you see when flying (How these files are extracted
I do not know, its something I wish to learn soon though).
These BMP files are then modified using a graphic's editing program,
(eg Paint Shop Pro). To make the cockpit 'invisible', each BMP is totally, or partly
colored with a transparent color. In most case's it is a 'black' color with no RGB
(red, green & blue) values. When this color is used during the game, it comes out
as invisible (totally see-through).
In the case of the 3D Glide Invisible Cockpit Patch, all the BMP files that are used
are made fully transparent. This can be done because the gauges that are shown
in the cockpit are generated separately from the cockpit graphics when using
glide, and therefore will still show up in game.
In the case of the NO 3D Glide Invisible Cockpit, the BMP file that is used for the
area where the gauges are displayed, must have the areas where the gauges go left
colored with a 'true' or positive RGB value color (in this case a grey color). If this
is not done, the gauges will not show up in the game. This is why non 3D glide
users need to have the NO 3D Glide Invisible Cockpit Patch Add-On. This Add-On
contains the 3 BMP files which are used in the area of the gauges, 1 for each of the
3 different type of gauge layouts used.
These files are named add.bmp, fdd.bmp & gdd.bmp
( I assume add = allied, fdd = french & gdd = german ? )
THE NO GLIDE INVISIBLE COCKPIT GAUGE BMP FILES
add.bmp fdd.bmp gdd.bmp
Normally there would be no black color in these files, they would have the
graphics you see for the cockpit instrument panel on them.
I do not know why the fdd.bmp has the actual gauge graphics on it and the other
two do not, I have yet to test the fdd one with just grey areas.
The Glide BMP files are totally black (invisible).
Now, when we come to the Imperial Gauge patch, a .dat file is used to tell the PC
what type of gauges to display on each type of aircraft. This file is 'cockpit.dat'
The file is modified to tell the PC to use the Sopwith Camels gauges on all planes.
The problem here is, that when using the NO 3D Glide Invisible Cockpit Patch,
the Camels Gauges use the add.bmp layout, which has the gauges in different
positions than those used in the planes with metric gauges, so the fdd.bmp &
gdd.bmp files need to be changed to look the same as the add.bmp file. That was
simply done by copying and re-naming the add file fdd & gdd. This is why non glide
users that have the Invisible Cockpit & the Imperial Gauge patch, need to have
the NO 3D Glide Imperial Gauge Add-On aswell. If they didn't, they wouldn't see or
only partly see the imperial gauges when flying the aircraft with metric gauges.
THE NO GLIDE INVISIBLE COCKPIT IMPERIAL GAUGE BMP FILES
add.bmp fdd.bmp gdd.bmp
As you can see, the fdd & gdd.bmp's have been changed to the add.bmp. If this was
not done and you use both the Invisible Cockpit and Imperial Gauge patches
without a 3D Glide video card, when flying planes that use the fdd & gdd files, the
gauges would not display properly or not at all.
THE GUNSIGHT PATCH
The gunsights were actually built into the game by the designers. There is a text
file called 'RB2sight' located in your Sierra/RedBaron folder. It will tell you how
to create a gunsite for the game. I was thinking of copying the text and displaying
it here, but I don't know if that would breach any copyright laws, so I didn't.
What I can tell you though, is that there is a gunsight editor available to use, it
can be found at......
SKEETERS NITELITES PATCH
This Patch was created by the talented RAC_Skeeter and was sourced from his
'Hunters of the Sky' website, well worth a look !
This patch was also created by extracting the BMP graphic files from the game
which are used to generate the buildings and structures you see when playing the
game. These BMP files are then modified using a graphic's editing program
(eg Paint Shop Pro), to add 'lights' and different textures to them. It was done using
a PC with a 3D Glide video card, if you don't have one, they will not work properly.
This is because the colors used will show up differently on PC's without Glide.
EXAMPLES OF THE BMPS USED ( Contained in the Skeeters Nitelites Patch)
