ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE></TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=big5"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY text=#ffffff vLink=#c0c0c0 aLink=#c0ffc0 link=#ffff00 background="back_texture2.jpg"> <STYLE type=text/css> } BODY { SCROLLBAR-FACE-COLOR: #002c50; SCROLLBAR-HIGHLIGHT-COLOR: #5068c0; SCROLLBAR-SHADOW-COLOR: #2c3c8c; SCROLLBAR-3DLIGHT-COLOR: #1c3470; SCROLLBAR-ARROW-COLOR: #5068c0; SCROLLBAR-TRACK-COLOR: #30406c; SCROLLBAR-DARKSHADOW-COLOR: #2d2c4d } </STYLE> <CENTER><STRONG><FONT color=red size=5>ADVANCED FA EDITING TIPS/FAQ</FONT></STRONG></CENTER> <STRONG>CAMPAIGN TIPS</STRONG> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#camfiles">File 01: Editing .cam files with a hex editor</A> <BR> <STRONG>FAQ</STRONG> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#disappear">File 02: Disappearing Fuel Tanks/ECM pods</A> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#takeoff">File 04: AI Aircraft don't take off</A> <BR> <STRONG>MISSION TIPS</STRONG> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#overlay">File 05: Using the layer overlay</A> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#labels">File 06: Adding labels to objects</A> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#groundskimming">File 07: Groundskimming waypoints</A> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#objectlimit">File 08: Mission Object Limit</A> <BR> <STRONG>HOW TO MAKE MAPS</STRONG> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#trick">File 09: Map trick</A> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#placement">File 10: Terrain Tile placement</a> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#topography">File 11: Map Topography</a> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#textures">File 12: New map textures (1)<font color=yellow>RARE TIP!</font></a> <BR> <A href="evatips.htm#textures">File 13: New map textures (2)<font color=yellow>RARE TIP!</font></a> <A NAME="camfiles"></A> <P> <font size=2> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <FONT size=2> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 01: EDITING .CAM FILES WITH A HEX EDITOR</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> Campaign files are important stuff in making campaigns, they are the ones that coordinate and which missions the campaign is to play, the number and type of aircraft and weapons you get, the medals you can recieve, etc. Everything you need. Anyway, if you're looking for .cam files, I've got them at my downloads page. Now, you've got one, choose one to edit into your campaign. You by default have several choices. <P>UKR.CAM: Ukraine campaign, few aircraft and weapon choices, plus videos, which might screw up your storyline. 50 missions. <P>KURILE.CAM: Kurile Islands campaign, also very few aircraft and weapon choices. 35 missions. <P>VIETNAM.CAM: Vietnam campaign, has a few fighter and weapon choices, but no medals or promotion possible. 25 missions. <P>BALTIC.CAM: Baltics campaign, I suggest this one the most, mainly due to the largest variety of aircraft and weapon choices. 40 missions. <P>VLAD.CAM: Vladivostok campaign, I strongly suggest this one behind the Baltics, same reasons. 40 missions. <P>EGYPT.CAM: Egypt campaign, also a decent one to use, a decent variety of aircraft and weapons. 40 missions. </P> <BR>After you have chosen the .cam file that you want to edit, open it in a hex editor. (It is currently not available at the downloads page, but if requested to I'll try to get one posted.) <BR>Anyway, after you're inside the .cam file, scroll down until you see things like E2000.PT, GRIPEN.PT (I'm using Baltics as an example here). If you've screwed around with the Fighters Anthology Toolkit before, you'll recognize these as the internal name of the aircraft. Change these to the internal name of the aircraft you wish to replace the originals. In other words, you can replace F16.PT with F14.PT, but not F16.PT with RAFALE.PT. Feel free to change the aircraft choices, but note one very important thing. The new aircraft internal name must not be longer than the one you're replacing. This goes for weapons too, and is a headache for those of us who make campaigns that are supposed to give you weapons with long internal names. A simple example is this. Suppose you have a Israeli Python 4 missile with an internal name of PYTHON4.JT, and since it is longer than the regular AIM7.PT, AIM9.PT, AIM120.PT that you will find normally, you've got a big problem. The only objects that have a internal name as long as PYTHON4.JT are generally the unguided bombs, but you can't give the player 400 Python missiles, as the Python is too good for that. (But then that's just a taste problem. If you do not have a problem with that, fine.) <BR>Anyway, hopefully you've understood how to change the allowed aircraft and weapons. After you're done there, continue scrolling down and you'll see things like ~B01.M... ~B02.M... These are the names of the missions that the cam file is told to load when you access the campaign. Replace the ~B01.M with the name of your mission. This means that the name of the mission you want to use to replace ~B01 must be saved as a file 4 characters long. <BR>If this isn't clear enough, feel free to ask at the message board, someone can probably make it clearer. Note, if you're not familiar with hex editing, don't try this until you have some more knowledge. Also, don't try adding missions, it sure doesn't work. <P> <A NAME="disappear"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 02: DISAPPEARING FUEL TANKS/ECM PODS</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><O>FA limits the number of edited and/or add-on weapons that you can add before ECM pods and fuel tanks disappear from the Load Ordnance screen. If you've added a lot of weapons to FA using a LIB, then the only way to get fuel tanks and ECM pods to return is to remove weapons from your library until they come back. Here's a good way to maximize the number of custom weapons you can add in your LIB, and that is by covering over all of the default FA weapons that you think you can live without, such as the AEMP-1EM for instance. After you've used those up, then start adding weapons with new .JT names. That way you may not have to add as many weapon files with new filenames. <P> <A NAME="takeoff"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 04: AI AIRCRAFT DON'T TAKE OFF</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P>This problem is caused by the nationality alignment assignment of the runway and can affect AI flights and your wingmen. Each FA map has default friendly and enemy national assignments. The problem is caused by changing these assignments. If one changes the friendly/enemy status of a runway that by default was enemy, and then place on that runway aircraft of a nationality that was by default friendly, the aircraft will not take off. <P>This also works in reverse. For example, on the Baltics map, Estonia is by default friendly (blue). If Estonia is changed to enemy, then Russian (default enemy, and still enemy in this scenario) aircraft are placed on the runway, they will not take off. Estonian aircraft (now enemy) may take off (I'm not sure), so that could be a potential work-around.</P> <P> <A NAME="overlay"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 05: USING THE LAYER OVERLAY</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P>An excellent feature that is seldom used in missions is the fact that one can change the basic color given to any map. In the beginning of the .M file is this: <P>textFormat<BR>brief<BR>briefmap<BR>armplane<BR>map fra.T2<BR>layer cloud1f.LAY 1 <P>Line 6 has the overlayer given to the map by the mission. That small "f" after "cloud1" signifies the French map texture is applied to the French map. ("map fra.T2). Replacing the "f" with another letter would apply a different layer. "e" corresponds with Egypt (desert), "v" with Vladivostok (blueish), "t" with Vietnam, and"b" with The Baltics. A great feature not often used in missions is the fact that one can change the texture given to any map. In the beginning of the .M file is this:</P> <P>textFormat<BR>brief<BR>briefmap<BR>armplane<BR>map fra.T2<BR>layer cloud1f.LAY 1</P> <P>Line 6 has the overlayer given to the map by the mission. That little "f" after "cloud1" signifies the French map texture is applied to the French map ("map fra.T2). Replacing that "f" with another letter would apply a different layer. "e" corresponds with Egypt (desert), "v" with Vladivostok (blueish), "t" with Vietnam, and "b" with The Baltics.</P> <P>Vietnam texture overlays on other maps look especially nice, they give a good jungle appearance. Any overlay given to the Vietnam map also creates an interesting effect.</P> <P> <A NAME="labels"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 06: ADDING LABELS TO OBJECTS</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P>Lots of us, when making missions, use the given maps to represent other geographical areas, such as the Persian Gulf or the Falklands. Unfortunately, even though the land may look similar, the illusion is not always complete. Wouldn't it be great if you could put a label next to that city saying "Baghdad" or "Grozny"? Well, there is an undocumented way of adding labels to the briefing maps in NATO (probably works in ATF and USNF too - try it and see). The labels I'm talking about are of the type that say "Russia" or "Korea" on the maps (unfortunately, these don't show up on the in-flight map in NATO). Adding one of these labels requires a little tinkering with a text editor on your .m file. This is the way a normal object looks in a .m file: </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>obj<BR><BR>type FUEL.OT<BR>pos 876170 0 907241<BR>angle 0 0 0<BR>nationality2 142<BR>flags $11<BR>speed 0<BR>alias -3<BR>name Texaco Reserve<BR>.</FONT> </P> <P>Important things to note here are "<FONT color=#ff0000>obj</FONT>" at the beginning and the full stop (period to you yanks) at the bottom. This block defines the object - almost all thing in the .m file are objects. The point of the exercise here is to insert a new type of primitive called a "<FONT color=#ff0000>special</FONT>", which looks like this: </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>special<BR>pos 1347582 0 315393<BR>name King Khalid Military Base<BR>color 48<BR>icon -1<BR>flags $0<BR>.</FONT> </P> <P><I>(The special seems to be only for labels)</I> </P> <P>Essentially, all you need to do is find the right position for the special (described in the "<FONT color=#ff0000>pos</FONT>" line), give it the appropriate text (in the "<FONT color=#ff0000>name</FONT>" line), and off you go. Here's how to do it: (below is also the example NAME tag. NOTE: THIS ALSO CHANGES THE NAME IN THE GAME.) </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>name your title goes in here</FONT> </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>1. To find the appropriate pos for the special, place a dummy object in the Pro Mission Creator which will be easy to identify later (I use a "Downed Pilot"). Save the file and exit NATO.</FONT> </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>2. Load up the .m file into edit, notepad or your favorite text editor, and look for your dummy object (the "Downed Pilot" is called EJECT.NT). Copy or Cut its pos line to the clipboard.</FONT> </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>3. After all the obj definitions, but before the waypoints, insert a special definition (copy from the one above, if necessary). Then, replace its pos line with the line of your dummy object. Fill in the right name. Note that the ^A's mean "control-A". In edit they look like little smiley faces - my policy is to cut the name line from elsewhere in the .m file (look for the line "name _Player_" which is always there unless you changed it). Once you have set this, you can also play with the other variables in the definition. "col" sets the color - 48 is the yellow that is usually seen.  10 give white letters with a black border. Play with the numbers and see which work best. Icon takes a number which is -1 or higher. -1 means no icon. 0-7 gives a series of cryptic looking icons, and higher numbers give more or less garbage. Experiment to see if there's one you like. Flags has, as far as I know, no effect.</FONT> </P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>4. Load up the file and check everything is OK. Be careful not to save the file in NATO, because if you do, you nuke what you did.  When your mission appears in the briefing map, all the appropriate place names will appear, and the rest of us will believe we're in Lebanon, when in fact it's still the Baltic's. Adding a couple of these to your mission can really help set the tone and immerse the players nicely.</FONT> </P> <P>Cheers, and good USNF'ing <BR>Dave "Sick Puppy" Nunez</P> <P> <A NAME="labels"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 07: GROUNDSKIMMING WAYPOINTS</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> by Fabio Henrique C. Capeleiro <P>"I discovered a way to do the planes get under the 1000 ft limit. To do this you must edit the .m files.  Here's a example: Find the waypoint you wish to edit (to indentify the waypoint more easily, name it) [Altitudes are indicated by the BOLD text]</P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>waypoint2 6<BR>w_index 0<BR>w_flags $1<BR>w_goal 0<BR>w_next 0<BR>w_pos2 0 0 611242 <B>10000</B> 746057<BR>w_speed 0<BR>w_wng 0 0 0 0<BR>w_react $0 $0 $0<BR>w_searchDist 0<BR>w_preferredTargetId2 $0<BR>w_name _Attack SAM_</FONT></P> <P>Then you change this: [yellow highlighted red text</P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>waypoint2 6<BR>w_index 0<BR>w_flags $1<BR>w_goal 0<BR>w_next 0<BR>w_pos2 0 0 611242 <B><SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">10000</SPAN></B> 746057<BR>w_speed 0<BR>w_wng 0 0 0 0<BR>w_react $0 $0 $0<BR>w_searchDist 0<BR>w_preferredTargetId2 $0<BR>w_name __</FONT></P> <P>to 200 or anything else under 1000:</P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>waypoint2 6<BR>w_index 0<BR>w_flags $1<BR>w_goal 0<BR>w_next 0<BR>w_pos2 0 0 611242 <B>200</B> 746057<BR>w_speed 0<BR>w_wng 0 0 0 0<BR>w_react $0 $0 $0<BR>w_searchDist 0<BR>w_preferredTargetId2 $0<BR>w_name __</FONT></P> <P>And then the autopilot will hold the altitude to even 1ft! The only problem is: your wingman can't get so low."</P> <P>Wrench Note: I've been experimenting with this and discovered a few things. The autopilot WILL hold the altitude, but the cockpit voice will say 'descend to angles 0'. And if you set another waypoint, say from 200 to 500 feet, it will say 'climb to angles 0'. Which would be ok, flying over the Dead Sea or Death Valley! Just don't let it throw you; my opinion is that the games AI can't 'see' any altitudes between 1000 feet and ground level.</P> <P> <A NAME="labels"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 08: MISSION OBJECT LIMIT</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> You've all probably gotten annoyed by the FA Pro Mission Creator when it goes: Can't add object, cause of some stupid object limit, or something of that sort. Allright, when this happens, do a few things first... <BR> 1. Save your mission, and restart it. <BR> 2. Reload the mission you were working on, add more objects until you're happy, or until it gives you another buffer. <BR> 3. Generally the first bugger if because you have too many aircraft, reaching the ultimate TOO MANY OBJECTS IN MISSION limit is pretty tough. <P> <a name="trick"></a> <A NAME="overlay"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 09: MAP TRICK</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> Courtesy of FabioCape and P. Mok <P> 1) Build mission normally; adding the items YOU want (airfields, city blocks, etc). Save and exit. <P> 2) Open the M file in your favorite text editor. <P> 3) Look for the map T2 identity line (see below) <P><FONT color=#ff0000>textFormat<BR>brief<BR>briefmap<BR>armplane<BR>map egy.T2 &lt;---This line!<BR>layer cloud1.LAY 1<BR>wind 65 7<BR>view 1211 1424353 956806<BR>sides3</FONT> <FONT size=2> <P> <BR>4) Add the letter "v" after the map name: <P> map egyv.T2 &lt;--It should now look like this <P> 5) Save the M file. Go back into the game, and ALL the usual, permanent objects will be gone!. Note: in testing this, I also noticed that several 'ground textures' were missing as well--like rivers, some mountains and other textures.! But it DOES work! So you can clean out all the unecessary items, and have a clean map to do with as you see fit: call it Maryland, or Norway or whatever you want! "If you name it, people WILL believe..." <P> Also, be advised that it does NOT work in the Vietnam map in FA...if you try it, you will get a "fatal error" and crash out. I'm still testing the other maps as of 9/1...more to come! <P> <a name="placement"></a> <P> <A NAME="overlay"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 10: TERRAIN TILE PLACEMENT</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> Tip by <a href="mailto:vnfawing@yahoo.com">CAG Hotshot</a> <P> <FONT face="Times New Roman">The files specified and used in the map are listed at the bottom of the MM file. They are listed in rows from 0 to 256(in increments of 4) then each is listed in its exact position number and then its orientation<BR><BR>Like this(this is strictly from memory so I might leave something out.....)<BR><BR>4 60 32 2<BR><BR>This means....<BR><BR>row 4(second row from the bottom of the map)<BR>spot 60(again I believe in increments of 4)<BR>tile 32 (like NSK32 for the Korean Map)<BR>orientation 2(0 to 3 where position 0 is the tile position of how the tile looks in toolkit when you add it and each number after that is a 90 degree turn clockwise... so 2 means it is exactly 180 degrees from how it looks in the toolkit)<BR><BR>Alos alot of the tiles listed in the toolkit(Like NSK7 or NSK8 are not used in the Korean Map but listed in the toolkit) are not used in the map... you will see this when you edit the MM file.<BR><BR>I hope this helped... Believe me editing maps and tiles isnt fun.. its slow tedious work, especially where the terrain changes like on coastlines and mountians....<BR> <P> <A NAME="overlay"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 11: MAP TOPOGRAPHY</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P> Changing the ups and downs of a map is really easy... well, you actually can't change the downs, but then this isn't a sub sim anyway. <BR> Open your FATK, and go to the toolkit/terrain map area, and select the map you wish to edit. Take North/South Korea for this instance, okay? You can view the map objects, but you can't change them from here. There's this thing on the far right named Edit Terrain. That's what you are looking for,so open it up. You'll see a small map of North/South Korea, you can click on any section and this elevation changer will pop up. Simply change those to the elevationyou want, and you're fine. Note that you cannot go any higher than 255. You can also change the land type if you want, but texturing is done using the other art .PIC files.  <P> <A NAME="textures"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 12: New map textures (1)</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> Basically, the easiest way to make better looking amp textures is to use a template, by which I mean other sims which actually have detailed land terrain. If you have to, ask the company of the game if you can use them. I personally suggest using Falcon 4.0, Flanker 2.0, and European Air War. <BR> Let's say you have already gotten those new terrain tiles. How do you get them into your FA toolkit so you can build a new library, and edit how the terrain looks in FA? <P> First off, choose the map yo wish to edit. Let's take the France Map for example. Open your toolkit, go to Graphics/Other Art, and search for .pic files starting with FRA. (All the terrain tiles follow this rule) And go ahead and open one up. Suppose you open up the one named FRA1.PIC and you'll see a blob of pink. That's okay, the pink stands for default textures, in other words the stuff you see in FA. In order to see what the tile actually looks like, go to <font color=yellow>change pallet</font>. Select Icon. <BR> You'll see it resembles a city, only in very strange colors. You canot directly edit the tile from here, the colors will only be screwed when you fly it in FA. You have to return the pallet back to default, and then open it up in your favorite paint program. I suggest Adobe Photoshop, but that's only because it's what I use. As far as I know, Paint Shop Pro will also work fine. <P> After you've opened it up, then open you start to cut and paste. Open up the tile you've gotten from another sim, or whatever you want to use to replace the default Fighters Anthology tile. Now, since we've opened up FRA1.PIC, which happens to be a city tile, be sure to replace it with a city tile. <BR> After your cut and paste work is complete, then click on save, then return to the toolkit. Click on refresh in the edit graphic window that you opened up FRA1.pic in earlier, then click on save. Build the library, and fly over France. When you fly over any part of the map that used FRA1.pic, you should fine that is will look like your new terrain tile. Continue editing other tiles in the same fashion until you're satisfied. <P> <A NAME="textures"></A> <TABLE width=450> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=w02.jpg> <P><STRONG>FILE 13: New map textures (2)</STRONG></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <BR> From Global Tribunal website <BR> I can't figure out what this means, and how to do it, but maybe you can. <P> <font size=3><B>Scenery Limitations</B></font> <BR> A limited number of palette positions are available for use. These colors are indexed from say position 92-97. Colors in this range are the base colors for France, Vlad, Egypt etc.. overlays for the ground [if you have changed .M overlay variables .. what the sim does is change and shift palettes green-tan-darkgreen for each map] <P> Tip: To place amber night lights [streetlights] use palette index 254. Use replace or paint <P><I><FONT size=+1><B>Special palette to use to edit overlays.</B></FONT></I></P> <UL> <LI><FONT size=+0><A href="download/fatk-vlad-forcehi.PAL">ULEAD graphics palette</A></FONT> </LI></UL> <P>How to use: </P> <OL> <LI>open overlay image in FA toolkit <LI>open image via external editor <LI>load custom palette [all hidden textures should now show instead of pink, now you can paste in [force colors into the high palette positions automatically!] <LI>edit image etc.. <LI>refresh toolkit object [visual palette will only remain during this edit] <LI>save object [next time you open image it will visualy show the default pink palette so dont freak, it is still ok] </LI></OL> <P>Mistakes / traps : you can change the palette to make the overlay to look proper BUT this is only TEMPORARY. You MUST use a smart eraser [replace one palette color with another] in order to change colors !</P> <BR> <img src="http://flightsimhq.org/globaltribunal/captures/vlad-dawn0.png"></img> <BR> <img src="http://flightsimhq.org/globaltribunal/captures/su39-vlad-dawn.png"></img> <BR> <img src="http://flightsimhq.org/globaltribunal/captures/vlad-11.png"></img> </BODY> </HTML> D
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