Article Type: Feature
Article Date: June 18, 2001
Completing The Triad
In the second of my original "Unsung Heroes" series here at COMBATSIM.COM, I focused on two WWII prop simulations; namely, Microprose's European Air War (EAW) and ActiVision's Fighter Squadron: Screamin' Demons Over Europe (FS:SDOE). This installment will be a look at the third WWII prop sim, released at about the same time as the other two, that completes the triad: Jane's WWII Fighters.
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| Jewelcase cover art |
Only recently have I became familiar with this sim. While shopping with my wife, I wandered off (as I often do) and found myself in the software section of the store. The Jane's WWII Fighters title with a "CD-ROM Classics" bar across the bottom caught my eye and was available for a tenner. I found out later that it was ranked COMBATSIM.COM's Best of Show for E3 1998.
Upon getting it home and installed, all I can say is that I wish I had picked it up sooner! It is drop-dead gorgeous! The ambient light effects are second to none for a sim released when this was back in 1998—when a bomb goes off a flash lights up the entire area and reflects off all the objects.
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| Roiling flames light the area. |
The user interface is designed to look like a classic warbirds museum. As with all titles in the Jane's series, there is copious collateral info on the planes and the era that alone are well worth the price of the CD. In the hangar section of the interface, detailed, 3D pannable views of each aircraft are available as are detailed specs, facts, and interviews with a click of the mouse.
The stock aircraft look super in flight and the feel of the flight models is very good. I still like FS:SDOE a bit more for the feeling of flight, but it is so close it just boils down to my personal preference. In dogfights, the enemy AI is definitely a challenge. With enough experience, you can begin to tell the experience level (from rookie to ace) each computer-controlled pilot who tries to shoot you down has.
No Pilot Personas
The one thing missing from this sim is the ability to create a pilot persona so that you can track your progress through the semi-dynamic (branching) campaign. But it comes with a full-blown mission editor and some neat tricks that'll allow you to fine-tune the missions. More on this in a bit. There is an explanation on how to create campaigns in the last 1.08f patch from Electronic Arts.
There are, however, the third-party add-on by Game Tools Technologies (GTT) and Jean-Marc "Swiper" Graumann's Pilot Manager utility that allow you to create your own pilot personas and will tote up and track your kills. Unfortunately, the file that these programs used was eliminated with the patch updates from 1.05 onward (The results.txt would show erroneous data, mostly relating to no kills by "player"). So it is a trade-off, do you want the neat additions that the patches add, or a trackable persona? It's your choice.
GTT's pilot persona utility is only one portion of a larger application which they call the Dynamic Mission Designer. This is basically a standalone version of the game's own quick mission creator but it has a few more parameters available than the in-game quick editor. In defense of the game's mission editor, it has a very good fine-tuning utility that is accessible while in flight.
Tips and Tricks
If you pause the sim, then press CTRL ALT Y, your aircraft will be displayed with a blue sphere around it. If you then hit the N key, you can hop to any aircraft in the scenerio—even if distance is over the usual drop off of 10 miles. A PDF manual which list all the known key combos can be found at WWII Fighters Online, the premeier site for this sim.
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Inside the DME  |
Luckily, the key to creating add-ons and all things graphical was supplied by Steven "Judge" Dickson who discovered the format for the .sqs file which is like a big indexed zip file. All of the skins and terrain textures are compiled in here. Even the flight models information can be tweaked via this utility. For an in-depth article on flight model modification, check here.
Skins
Most skins come with a DOS-based program and a batch file that'll plug in the skins. There are differences between the way textures are rendered for the old Glide API's 256 pixels and D3D's 512 pixels, however. Newer skins are rendered in the latter while older artistic endeavors are in the former style. Some folks go the extra mile and have separate installs for both styles.
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| NE-Pats 256 pixel P-51 |
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| Homemade 512 pixel P-38 |
It is important that the 512 pixel skins NOT be installed into the .sqs if a Voodoo-based video card is used as a CTD (crash to desktop) will result. Most of the readme.txt's mention this also.
Terrains
There have been a few total reworks of the terrain textures that also utilize SQZip to install them. Here are a few shots from the ones I really liked.
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| Desert Terrain |
If you are still upset that Dynamix's Desert Fighters got killed two weeks from completion back in September of 99, this ought to be a suitable, and probably much better looking, substitution.
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| Mediterranean Terrain |
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| Springtime Terrain |
A Word To The Wise
Now, if you are just getting into this super sim, or would like to rediscover it and these great additions, you can save yourself a lot of headaches with the Unofficial Add-on CD utility by "Swiper" from Bremen Germany.
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| Add-on Compilation CD! |
He has gone to the trouble of making a nice, user-friendly front-end utility where all the above mentioned freeware items can be added to your installation of WWII Fighters. I requested a version from the US "distributor" the other day. A $2 fee is requested to cover the cost of the CD and postage. I sent a fiver to help with the time taken. If you want one and you are in the US, email [email protected], or in Europe [email protected]. Details on the contents can be found here.
I just got my copy of the CD in the mail and I am impressed with the professional layout. There are oodles of skins with thumbnail previews, 450 missions, terrains, campaigns and more. All of which are installable from the front-end. Very nice.
