Add photo to ME

I do not know if this has been mentioned here before but,

You can add any photo you like to the ME arming screen!

Important! Back up files!!!!!

You need to open the aircraft lua you want to change with notepad++

Scroll to the line that says,

Picture = "aircraft.png"

Change to,

Picture = (current_mod_path.."/Textures/youraircraft.png"),

(youraircraft should be the file name)

Edit your selected picture. (I use paint.net which is free)

Resize (I used 988 X 600 for the screen shot below)

Save as youraircraft.png and place in the texture folder of "youraircraft"

If there is a zip file in the texture folder add to it as well.

If the image does not look correct, resize or try another.

Please note, I have only done this on mods so far...........:)

I have updated these mods,

Markindel's P38D improved,

F117-Su-27,

Markindel and Stonehouse's He-111

More to come.....

Have fun!

Of course it is changeable, but it's nice to see numbers and pylons with blueprint-ish image.

shouldn't a B-17 only have a single weapon "station" with a rack to hold 8 bombs?

Create a /ImagesGUI/ Folder in the Main Folder of your Mod

Place PNG in that Folder,

Call PNG in the Picture= "IMAGE.PNG" Line of your Modules Declare File.

Same Folder is used for Custom Stores Icons Etc Etc.

Create a /ImagesGUI/ Folder in the Main Folder of our Mod

 

Place PNG in that Folder,

 

Call PNG in the Picture= Line of your Modules Declare File.

 

Same Folder is used for Custom Stores Icons Etc Etc.

A much more elegant solution and multi purpose.

shouldn't a B-17 only have a single weapon "station" with a rack to hold 8 bombs?

The P38D.lua in the "improved" version only shows 8 pylons.

Anyone know what is correct?

A B-17 is not a P-38

B-17 has a Single Hardpoint with a Rack to hold Multiple of a the same bomb.

P-38 has Hardpoints on the wings etc.

The way we actually released the B17 mod was to have two internal "racks" each carrying half the bombload. This translated to two internal side by side mounts in DCS terms. This appeared to best match cutaway diagrams and pics of how the bombs were loaded into a B17. For the Betty you'll see the bombs are loaded in line astern - as Bettys also could carry a torpedo internally in the bomb bay meaning a long narrow bay the bombs were held differently. Couldn't do the He111 correctly as the current DCS pylon setup (as far as I know) won't support holding the bombs vertically only horizontally.

The P38D was actually a pretty early model and was pulled from service fairly quickly and classed as unsuitable for combat and according to the research info I found didn't have any hard points at all. However Markindel had already included them in the model. So the P38D mod is really a fictional hybrid between a P38D and probably an L model (in terms of loadout not shape).

I actually do most of the research and lua set up for these aircraft mods and endeavour to make them as accurate (P38D excluded) as I can as far as the defined speeds heights and loadouts etc they are released with. The other limiting factor is my level of knowledge of getting the lua side correct. That said I have no problem with people pointing me towards better data and making corrections and freely acknowledge that all of them are not correct so far in the SFM config - most of the aircraft B17, PBY, DC3 etc climb much too well for instance in Markindel's "official" releases. This is due to lack of knowledge of how to do the SFM setup and information to get it correct at this time. Also the amount of ammo for the turret guns - the AI is set to spray and pray and to have realistic ammo loads would mean the bomber would defenceless in under a min. So I felt forced to increase the amount of ammo to allow for "realistic" gameplay even though it bugged me to do so.

Personally I don't like the idea of changing the ammo explosive power and fictional loadouts and unrealistic "improved" performance changes but have no objections to other people having fun with it. They are all Markindel's mods in any case so it's his call and he'd say something if it bothered him.

Create the Rack in 3d Studio, Export the EDM as a RackName.

Create a Loadout Declare

Set Rack as adapter and then additional elements.

A B-17 is not a P-38

Personally I don't like the idea of changing the ammo explosive power and fictional loadouts and unrealistic "improved" performance changes but have no objections to other people having fun with it.

My original intent was to make these mods from Markindel using the original lua's provided. I do like realistic aircraft. (I own all the aircraft and have pre bought the P40 and today the Spitfire!)

I found that the aircraft would not fly. Although the controls worked, the aircraft acted like it had no FM. You could have a effect with the controls but the response did not make sense.

This issue also exists with the PBY5 Catalina and the G4M.

I have not tried the HE 111 with the original lua yet.

Using the P38D lua and flight model would make the B17 and He 111 flyable.

I did try to change the guns and pylons to the originals but it always caused problems. The bomb weight would overload the air frame using either lua. Sometimes the flight model would be affected.

I know what i am doing is "cheating" with these mods, but to have them to fly is fun while waiting for the real thing and Normandy.:)

So it was a disappointment and a compromise.

If anyone would like to look at the mods in the original state, I can set up a link.

They show as flyable and you can enter the cockpit. In most cases the weapons work. But........

I would love to get the PBY working correctly. A very cool plane.

I hope this all made sense.

per what skatezilla said, you can orient bombs however you choose. nothing wrong with vertical

Ok I did say "as far as I know" and I've never pretended to be an SME on either creating mods or lua coding. I don't do the EDM side of things so it sounds like Markindel would have to build something as well as the lau.

Skatezilla's comment is very high level from my point of view and doesn't give any detail about how to actually achieve the end result. Are there particular parameters to set on the declare loadout or pylon definition to rotate the bombs to vertical? If the bombs are internal does it still require the rack object to be built? Any examples of similar things I can look at to try to figure it out? I am not aware of any aircraft in DCS that hold their stores vertically, is there one?

Obviously from both of your comments the matter is something that is easy to resolve if you know how but if you don't know how then it isn't so easy :music_whistling:

Sometimes even knowing the right question to ask or even that something is theoretically possible is half the issue.

It would be really useful for the community if this sort of knowledge was held in a wiki or some sort of document - I know the A-4 team has considered posting something like this when they have time and I hope that comes about. It really would help people who are trying to build user content for DCS