Livery selection as part of the refuel/rearm window

[Wyatt109]

Hopefully simple to do, and it would work wonders for free-flight servers with friends.

 

"On/Off" switch could be implemented like most other multiplayer options - right in the mission editor where all the other map, label, and unlimited ammo options are set.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Wyatt109
words

[CHSubZero]

+10

 

I always liked this feature in IL-2 :D

[Buzzles]

Yes, but only with an on/off switch as part of the mission settings

[uboats]

yes, it's a must-have feature

[Winston 60]

+1

Yes, skin selection need to be more flexible like this.

[Wyatt109]

Yes, but only with an on/off switch as part of the mission settings

 

That's exactly what I said in my post :lol:

[NeilWillis]

A drive through paint shop maybe?

 

It is a strange request, because usually, the aircraft isn't usually repainted as part of the refuelling and rearming procedure.

[ApoNOOB]

This is probably not so easy from the technical side of things, but if at all possible I would love this feature. Generally mission editors slack on the liverys, and honestly, who can blame them? Via the mission editor for a lot of different units, it's not that simple, but having people on a freeflight server do this themselfs would be great. But this must be able to be enforced by ME!

[Wyatt109]

A drive through paint shop maybe?

 

It is a strange request, because usually, the aircraft isn't usually repainted as part of the refuelling and rearming procedure.

Obviously it wouldn't be painted at the same time as being rearmed and refuled in real life, but in DCS, livery setup is a pain in the mission editor, especially if your group has gone through the trouble of making pilot-specific skins. It would be so easy to just change that on the same screen, even if it isn't 100% "immersive". And if that's not an option you want included in your missions, then you could just set it that way in the mission difficulty options like any other mission.

[NeilWillis]

That would work.

[SkateZilla]

Doubt you'd see this, since it would require re-loading.

[Rabb]

Well, that would be a nice feature. I also like that in Il-2.

 

It is true in real life that doesn't happen, but neither repair is done in 180 seconds nor rearmament in less than 60 seconds. ;)

 

User skin download would be a big trouble for servers considering size of textures.

 

So, how can it be implemented?

 

Variant 1 - user-selected skin is seen only by player, but not by other players (if skin download option is not selected - this is how it works in Il-2 1946; if skin download option is selected then both the pilot and airplane skin were downloaded the moment the player spawns - even with 1 MB textures - this induced lag).

Variant 2 - all players have same sets of skins - game calls them out and they are visible to all. Player's aircraft with a customized skin, out of skin set is shown as painted in mission maker's choice or default paintscheme (I believe this is how it works in Rise of Flight - skin packs are prepared and published by game developer; the other variant from a different game is having hard-coded skins, so everybody can see them).

Variant 3 - Modification of the previous method, if possible - query for filenames of user selected textures - if other players don't have them, they don't see them. Data transfer would be small.

 

Hope I didn't get too creative. :)

[uboats]

I think this should be added to MP choice of role window not rearm/refuel window

[SkateZilla]

Well, that would be a nice feature. I also like that in Il-2.

 

It is true in real life that doesn't happen, but neither repair is done in 180 seconds nor rearmament in less than 60 seconds. ;)

 

User skin download would be a big trouble for servers considering size of textures.

 

So, how can it be implemented?

 

Variant 1 - user-selected skin is seen only by player, but not by other players (if skin download option is not selected - this is how it works in Il-2 1946; if skin download option is selected then both the pilot and airplane skin were downloaded the moment the player spawns - even with 1 MB textures - this induced lag).

Variant 2 - all players have same sets of skins - game calls them out and they are visible to all. Player's aircraft with a customized skin, out of skin set is shown as painted in mission maker's choice or default paintscheme (I believe this is how it works in Rise of Flight - skin packs are prepared and published by game developer; the other variant from a different game is having hard-coded skins, so everybody can see them).

Variant 3 - Modification of the previous method, if possible - query for filenames of user selected textures - if other players don't have them, they don't see them. Data transfer would be small.

 

Hope I didn't get too creative. :)

 

 

Ima have to re-test this, but.. I'm sure its:

 

if server has custom livery set for planes, and clients dont have it, it will use the default texture for the aircraft.

[Vitormouraa]

Ima have to re-test this, but.. I'm sure its:

 

if server has custom livery set for planes, and clients dont have it, it will use the default texture for the aircraft.

 

It's correct.

[DD_Fenrir]

Ever since games started to use Alpha channels for texture mapping we have had to face the inevitable issue that some charming individuals out there would create a transparent custom skin and then proceed to cause havoc flying around in an invisible aircraft on multiplayer servers.

 

To prevent this kind of cheating is the reason that skin selection in this game and some other flight sims (WW1 sim...) is restricted to pre-set by the mission editor.

[joey45]

If it was like back in Lock On days then yes.

[SkateZilla]

Ever since games started to use Alpha channels for texture mapping we have had to face the inevitable issue that some charming individuals out there would create a transparent custom skin and then proceed to cause havoc flying around in an invisible aircraft on multiplayer servers.

 

To prevent this kind of cheating is the reason that skin selection in this game and some other flight sims (WW1 sim...) is restricted to pre-set by the mission editor.

 

if the Materials Opacity was set to 100/Default Material then even a blank alpha channel texture the model would still show.

[piXel496]

I doubt this functionality happens in any form. One skin in .zip is easy 15mb for DCS. I fly multiplayer with prefered custom paint themes and just overwrite the files of a default existing skin or i use the "mklink windows command" to redirect to my prefered skin. (This works local, not as you suggested)

 

I would be happy if "$WRITE_DIR" in autoexec.cfg would work for custom skins as it does with custom sounds. And maybe it is possible but then only c0ff knows. (I still have to ask...)

 

But I like your idea and enjoyed MP freeflight skin show-offs in IL2.

 

 

 

:)

[Home Fries]

Ever since games started to use Alpha channels for texture mapping we have had to face the inevitable issue that some charming individuals out there would create a transparent custom skin and then proceed to cause havoc flying around in an invisible aircraft on multiplayer servers.

 

To prevent this kind of cheating is the reason that skin selection in this game and some other flight sims (WW1 sim...) is restricted to pre-set by the mission editor.

 

This is only effective if everybody else on the MP server has the same skin loaded. Otherwise, we would all see the default skin.

 

I think the selection menu is a great idea. With skins as huge as they are, DCS shouldn't push user skins to other clients (like Il-2), but if everybody already has the skins (e.g. virtual squadrons or large multi-squadron events where this can be coordinated), this allows flexibility without putting undue work on the mission builder.

 

EDIT: Along with this feature, one thing I would love to see is an optional entry in the description.lua that points to an existing skin if the other clients don't have the custom skin. For example, if someone copied the F-15 splinter pattern and added their name to the canopy, then they could point to the original F-15 splinter skin as an alias if other clients don't have his personal skin.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Home Fries

[Rabb]

Ever since games started to use Alpha channels for texture mapping we have had to face the inevitable issue that some charming individuals out there would create a transparent custom skin and then proceed to cause havoc flying around in an invisible aircraft on multiplayer servers.

 

To prevent this kind of cheating is the reason that skin selection in this game and some other flight sims (WW1 sim...) is restricted to pre-set by the mission editor.

 

Well, chaeaters there are and always will be... It's the players' and server admin's task to identify them and ban them.

 

Actually, my proposal is quite different - there is no skin download. Imagine everybody's game downloading some 5 to 40 MB textures (F-15C, for example) from a player who respawned... It's not gonna work.

 

My proposal is different. ;)

 

Of course, even now, there is a possibility of misuse of current textures by dishonest "players".

[Buzzles]

Doubt you'd see this, since it would require re-loading.

 

What happens when a plane is spawned in game? :)

[Winston 60]

I think this should be added to MP choice of role window not rearm/refuel window

even better!

[CHSubZero]

What happens if a plane is re-spawned? -> load default skin assigned by mission creator

 

Cheaters / transparent skin handling -> mission creator disables option to change skin in this mission ( could be the default state of the checkbox)

 

Which skins are selectable? -> like it was in IL-2 1946: only the skins of your locall installation are selectable. No skin download.

 

Wht will see a player that don't own this skin? -> the plane completely in black

Edited January 20, 2017 by CHSubZero

[zaelu]

I think this should be added to MP choice of role window not rearm/refuel window

 

:thumbup: Best solution. Just respawn the plane with the new skin if you like. Instant "reload".

 

As for the problems... all can be solved no "blocking solution" is good enough. The default skins can be changed without triggering Integrity Check so "forcing default" to avoid cheaters with "transparent plane" is useless.

 

Also it has to be noted that the current system in DCS is more of a design choice took 15 years ago after LOMAC than some clever anticheat eons resisting strategy.

 

I wish ED would do monthly contests o skins building and best of them to be included in a special downloadable pack that would extend the skins pool and increase community involvement into the sim. I wouldn't mind a secondary pack with squadron skins if they pass a quality check standard and are chosen by ED (even in a 100% discretionary way).

 

 

As for the actual menu. I wish the user could if mission designer allows choose not only a skin from the pool but also the numbers. Most of the times we fly with same number all over because it is a pain to assign individual one to each plane.

 

Wht will see a player that don't own this skin? -> the plane completely in black

 

I think default one works OK. Black could bring visibility issues in to discussion.