Modifications for Aces over Europe Fly AoE's Bombers by: Grant "Tagert" Senn AEBMR1.TXT Version 1.0 Date 1-25-1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 00: WHAT THESE MODIFICATIONS WILL DO FOR YOU Section 01: INSTALLATION Section 02: MODIFICATIONS COMPATIBILITY Section 03: WARNING Section 04: A BUG Section 05: OPTIONS THAT PROVIDE MORE AC IN YOUR FORMATIONS Section 06: HOW TO FLY THE AOE BOMBERS Section 07: PLAY BACK OF VCR TAPES Section 08: DISCLAIMER Section 09: EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS? Section 0a: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Section 0b: SPECIAL THANKS Section 0c: VERSION HISTORY Section 0d: LIST OF FILES Section 0e: POINT OF CONTACT Section 00: WHAT THESE MODIFICATIONS WILL DO FOR YOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These modified files will enable you to fly a single mission and or a campaign in a B-25D Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, Ju-88- C-6 and the Arado 234C. Note that the B-25D and the B-26 versions remain the same, the only difference is that now you can fly them. Also note that the Ju-88-C-6 and the Arado 234C are different versions. The original Aces over Europe came with the Ju-88-S and the Arado 234B but I converted them to the Ju-88-C-6 and Arado 234C versions respectively. Where the 234B was able to be flown in the original Aces over Europe, the Ju-88-S was not; but via these mods now both the Ju-88-C-6 and Arado 234C can be flown in both the fly a single mission or campaign play. The Arado 234C has a set of REAR firing 20mm Cannons, along with the C version's improved performance. Section 01: INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To install these modifications simple place all the files contained in the ZIP (Except for the ZIP files themselves) into the directory that contains the original Aces over Europe game files. The program will automatically use these modified files over the original files, and the nice thing is it does not change any of you original Aces over Europe files. So there is no real need to back up your files before installing these files. But as always there is always a possibility of unforeseen problems so it is always a good idea to backup your files before installing any patch files - especially ones that are not supported by Dynamix, which by the way these are not supported by Dynamix. And another nice thing about these modified files is if for some reason you don't like the changes they make to your original Aces over Europe game then simply delete all the files contained in this ZIP and you will be right back where you began. That is if you started off with no mods whatsoever If you were running some previous modified files that were overwritten by these modified files then you will have to reinstall that previous modification. Section 02: MODIFICATIONS COMPATIBILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This AEBMR*.ZIP modification has been tested and found to work with: AOE Version 1.0 Nicholas Bell and I have been working on many modifications for Aces over Europe. One of our projects was the modification called AOEREA.ZIP that can be found in FSFORUM's Historical section (Better know as AOEREAL). In this AEBMR*.ZIP there are two versions. The Standard Version, and the REAL Version. If you want to maintain all the changes that were made by AOEREA.ZIP then once you have unzipped AEBMR*.ZIP and placed it's files into your Aces over Europe directory, go back and unzip the file called REAL.ZIP that is contained in the AEBMR*.ZIP. The files contained in the REAL.ZIP will maintain the changes made by AOEREAL plus add any additional modifications needed for the AEBMR* modifications. These files will make the bombers conform to the REAL standards that Nick has laid down. Basically the bombers overall performance is limited to make them a little harder to fly. When I say overall performance I don't just mean the bombers speed and maneuverability, I'm also referring to the bombers ordnance and gun loads. The gunners for the bombers in REAL.ZIP are not as deadly as the one in the standard version, and the AC's speed, weight, momentum and maneuverability will have to be taken into consideration during maneuvers. That is the maneuvers that you can do in the Standard version might cause you to kiss the dirt in the REAL version. But if you want a REAL challenge than try the REAL.ZIP! And if you can complete a campaign with the REAL files, then I take may hat off to you! Section 03: WARNING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There have been quite a few modifications made for Aces over Europe, but not all are the same! And the way they interact is unpredictable. Nicholas Bell and I have worked together on all of our modifications and have supported each others work to insure that one modification would not udo another. But there are other people out there working on their own and independently. This is not a bad thing - just different. So I just want to point out that a modification made by someone other that Nicholas Bell will probably not work. Especially if that modification requires editing of the original (striped out) Dynamix data files. For instance just a few days after Aces over Europe was on the selves for sale old Jaybird had posted a number of gun load modification for AOE. It worked by running some BAT files to edited the original (stripped-out) ORDANCE0.DAT file via some Debug commands. But those BAT files will NOT work on the ORDANCE0.DAT file contained in this AEBMR*.ZIP! Because to make this, and other modifications, I had to completely rewrite the ORDANCE0.DAT file. Section 04: A BUG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the development of the Ju-88-C-6 I came across a bug in my modifications that I could not fix. You may or may not notice it, but it is there. The bug occurs on any AC with computer controlled gunners. The bug is, when you start to line up a shot on an AC with your Gun Sight the player controlled guns (None of which exist on the B-25D), will sometimes fire on their own! Somehow the AI is allowing the computer controlled gunners to fire the player controlled forward firing guns. I have also noticed that the NPC's while flying the Ar-234-C-3 do not seem to use their new found guns? But the user has no problem using them, that is no problem except for sighting out the rear. For that I suggest that you use external views! If I find a way to fix these bugs, I will upload a patch and or a new version of this modification. This auto fire bug is not consistent in that it does not happen every single time. Overall I think the benefits of these modifications outweighs this small inconveniences. But the final judgment is up to you. If you can live with it, fine if not simply delete the file that came with this modification. Section 05: OPTIONS THAT PROVIDE MORE AC IN YOUR FORMATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the development of the modification I found, or should I say Nick and Jaybird found the data that controls the number of AC that are in your formations during campaign play. So as a test I increased the number of AC from the standard max of four to six to see what effect it has on the game. Well as expected the number of AC was increased to six, but with one small drawback. The preflight menu display of the formation configuration gets distorted! That is the display of the wingmen and their corresponding numbers is no longer able to be read clearly. They also found the data that controls the type of formation that the AC can fly during campaign play. The standard types of formations are fighter and fighter bomber types of formations for both the German and Allied sides. The game also provides data for Medium and Heavy Bomber types of formations, but since these AC were not intended for use by the player (that is they were originally Non Fly-able AC), the game does not provide selection between Medium and Heavy Bomber formations types and Fighter and Fighter Bomber formations types. That is if you try to select a different type of formation the program will crash to DOS. So you may be thinking "so what", just tell me how to increase the number of AC in my Bomber formations. Before I tell you how to do this note that the standard version of this modification comes with a modified file called SQUAD0.DAT that has a maximum of four AC per bomber flight during campaign play and has the fighter type formations to select form. With no distortion and or limitation to formation type selection of the preflight menu. But if you want a maximum of six AC in your formations during campaign play and are willing to put-up with a distorted preflight menu, and willing to not be able to select different types of formations during campaign play then I have the file for you! Included with this AEBMR*.ZIP is a file called SQUAD0.486. It will provide for all the Bomber types of AC a maximum of six bombers in your campaign play formations, and the medium bomber type of formations. To implement these options simply rename the file called SQUAD0.486 to SQUAD0.DAT, this will overwrite the standard version SQUAD0.DAT and provide you with the options mentioned above. Now note that more AC in any AOE flight usually means a lower frame rate, but since you are not going to be doing a whole lot of loops or split S's in a bomber than the frame rate should not be affected too much. Now I have not tried this on every type of machine out there, but I would think you would need at least a machine running at 33M Hz at least. I have a 386 40M Hz with eight megs of ram, and Nick has a 486 66M Hz (Lucky Dog) and neither of us have noticed any real problems running the SQUAD0.486 modification. So as always the final decision is up to you. Try it and see if ya like it Because I got to tell ya, there is nothing like flying fourth position in a diamond box bomber formation in a B-26! Section 06: HOW TO FLY THE AOE BOMBERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The best way I have come up with to fly the bombers in AOE is to set up a few external views via the save view option keys along with the zoom in and out keys "[" & "]". Once you save a view like this it can be recalled by pressing the key. Your needs may vary but I have found it necessary to set up a few as follows: 1) An external zoomed out view from directly above the formation that encompasses all the AC in my formation. This is useful while flying in formation, from this view you can determine how much right or left rudder is needed to bring you back on line with the formation. 2) An external zoomed out view from slightly back and above. This is good for lining up the target just prior to jumping back inside to the internal view down (F6) view. 3) An external slightly zoomed out view slightly below and in-front of your AC. This is good for when you have a bogie on your hi six, sense this view is all but impossible to get from the internal views I consider this one a must and not really cheating. As for bombing, well there is no bomb sight but just after a few missions I have gotten pretty good at using the above views to hit my target. I usually end up in the internal Down (F6) view just before release of my bombs. It takes some getting use to, what with different altitudes and such but you will get the hang of it. When starting out watch for your wingmen's bombs sailing by; when you see them, that is a good indicator that you should release yours. If you are lined up you will usually hit the target about 60% of the time via that method. The wingmen seem to be good at release time, but not good at lining up the target, so just make sure you're lined up and release when they do and you should be OK. As for fending of enemy fighters, well that is another story, you don't want to get out of formation because the concentrated fire power of the formation is what will save your A__. Just like it was in W.W.II, but slight movement left and right can throw off the attacking fighters to where you don't get to badly chewed up. In the standard version I made the bomber gunners very deadly by actually giving them more guns per position. I did this to try and offset the unrealistic unescorted missions that you may be assigned. True this will give you an unrealistic advantage when you have escorts, but it will kind of equal things out when you don't have escorts. The gunners are good but not so good that you don't have to try so I think it will be a good combination. And if you want a real challenge unzip the REAL.ZIP, in it the gunners have exactly the number of guns that they were suppose to have, but if you are using the SQUAD0.486 file than the extra AC in your formations should offset this and give you a more realistic run. But if you are not using the SQUAD0.486 file but are using the REAL.ZIP modifications you may want to use the standard *.GL files, because when you only have a max of four AC in your bomber formation the concentrated fire power is not very much! As for flak, well when you're not the flight leader, you don't have much of a choice and the game does cause the bomber to fly much lower than they would probably actually have flown. But when you are in charge I highly recommend you take the time to get up to 20k ft or so, then set a way point near the target you are to attack. And then fly it in real time to the target! Don't hit the auto pilot (A) key after climbing to 20k ft unless you set a way-point near the target, because the program will drop you back down to somewhere under 10k ft. This method is a bit of a catch 22 though, even though the flak won't tear you up so bad up there at higher altitudes it will make the bombing harder because the view is not as good, but the higher you are the more room you have to dive away from the enemy AC. The AI of the bombers has been switched (Except for the B-25 that has now player guns!) so that the bombers will strafe what ever is left after the bombing run, so watch for your formation to dive after the release of the bombs. Section 07: PLAY BACK OF VCR TAPES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is one side effect to using modified data files that "change the performance" of the aircraft in this game. When I say "change the performance" I'm not just referring to the aircraft speed and agility (*.FMD's). Performance also includes such things as the weapons and ammo count (*.GL's). And such things as the aircraft damage ratings (*.DMG & *.BXL's). The reason there is a problem is due to the way the VCR tapes works. Prior to playback the VCR tapes scans the tape and loads all the pertinent data (*.FMD, *.GL, *.DMG & BXL's etc.) for each aircraft that is in the VCR. If this data is different then the data that was used during the original recording of the VCR then you will get a different play back of the VCR. An example of this would be after you added the modified files you noticed that your aircraft appears to shoot at a target that's not there. So, if you or anyone else wishes to view your VCR as it was originally recorded, then you must insure that the same modified data files which were present during the recording of the VCR are also present during the replay. NOTE: Due to this it will be very easy to tell if anyone is cheating during a FSFORUM tournament! So if you were thinking of giving yourself an edge during the next tournament then just forget it because all tournaments are flow with the original "performance" data files! There is no problem in playing back a VCR using modified data files that change an aircraft "appearance" or "ordnance load". If you change an aircraft appearance via a modified *.TBL file and then record a VCR tape with that modified data file present, and then later remove or change that data file, there will be no problem during playback except for the fact that the plane's appearance will change. If you change an aircraft ordnance load via a modified ORDNCE0.DAT file, then record a VCR tape with that modified data file present, and then later remove or change that data file, there will be no problems during the playback. Section 08: DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note that the utilization of these files and information is at your own risk! I assume no responsibility for any damage that may occur to your program or hardware due to the modifications you may make to these or any of the original program data. Section 09: EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are experiencing any type of problems contact me and I will try and help you. But before you contact Dynamix with your problem I urge you to do one thing before you do so. First remove all the modified data files! Now if you are still experiencing the same problem, then when you contact Dynamix to report your problem you can rest assured that the problem is with the program itself and not due to a modified data file. This will save you and Dynamix allot of time. Section 0a: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is a listing of all the people who have, in one way or another, contributed to the hex editing ability of AOE. I WANT TO THANK.... 1) Damon Slye: for his dedication to turning out the most realistic dog fighting sims on the market. And for his savvy decision not to encrypt the Dynamix code, which enables guys like us to tweak the game to our liking. 2) James "Jaybird" Johnson: for his inspirational and pioneering work on Dynamix Flight Sims. I especially want to thank Jaybird for all the informative DOC's that he has either posted or personally sent me. His detective work and understanding of Dynamix Code is top notch! 3) Tim Kilgore: for his wonderful Dynamix editing & utility programs! 4) Nicholas Bell: for his personal help and insight, and to his dedication to furthering the knowledge of the Dynamix data types. His overall knowledge of all the data types is unsurpassed. Nicks dedication to accuracy and realism is also top notch. Leave it to an ADA guy to know his AC! Go Army! 5) Uwe Serf: for his work on the TBL data files. Due to his efforts we can color the planes to just about any color we desire. 6) Larry Grill: for his extensive work on the FMD & PLT files! His contributions are many but his initial break down of the PLT files is phenomenal. 7) Brian "ID" Sanford: for his extensive and endless work on the FMD data, no single person has worked harder on the FMD's. Thanks to Brian we can make the AC do just about anything we want at any altitude! Section 0b: SPECIAL THANKS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is a listing of all the people who have directly contributed to the development of the modification. I WANT TO THANK.... Nicholas Bell: for his extensive doc on the SQUAD0.DAT file. Had it not been for his work in this area I would still be working on this damn thing. And for his information contributions to the actual Ju-88-C-6 version specs. I also want to thank Nick for putting together the REAL FMD & DMG file for all the new AC which makes em conform to his specs for AOEREAL. And especially for Nick info on the CMP0.DAT file. Boy had it not been for that bit of info none of this would have been possible. James "Jaybird" Johnson: also for his extensive doc on the SQUAD0.DAT file. Had it not been for his work in this area I would still be working on this damn thing. And for his information contributions to the actual Ju-88-C-6 version specs. And I want to thank Jaybird for beta testing these mods, and for finding the SQUAD0.DAT bugs! Anthony C. Federici: for his idea to make the Ar-234-C-3, and for all his information that he provided on the 234-C-3. The Arado is now one deadly AC. General: and to all those folks that provided info on the Ju-88-C-6's Bomb load. I went back and changed the ordnance load to a max of 2k kg's for short range in the standard version. Not too sure if it's real or not but there were so many requests that I figured what the hell! Section 0c: VERSION HISTORY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AEBMR1.ZIP Version 1.0 Finished 1-24-94 Section 0d: LIST OF FILES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is a list of all the files contained in AEBMR*.ZIP and REAL.ZIP (All except for the one you are reading) Files included in the AEBMR*.ZIP (Standard Version) Name Size Name Size ========= ===== ========== ===== air0.dat 848 fb26.edg 1130 arado.dat 152 fju_88.edg 1130 arado.fmd 223 ju_88.dat 152 arado.gau 536 ju_88.dmg 34 arado.gl 46 ju_88.fmd 222 arado.glt 106 ju_88.gau 536 b25_d.dat 152 ju_88.gl 66 b25_d.fmd 222 ju_88.glt 99 b25_d.gau 480 ju_88.pal 809 b25_d.gl 146 ju_88.tbl 17192 b25_d.glt 81 ju_88.ttm 1658 b25_d.pal 784 lb25_d.edg 926 b25_d.ttm 1965 lb26.edg 926 b26.dat 152 lju_88.edg 926 b26.fmd 222 misc.dat 621 b26.gau 536 ordnce0.dat 4462 b26.gl 146 pltext0.dat 10406 b26.glt 81 rb25_d.edg 926 b26.pal 784 rb26.edg 926 b26.ttm 1965 REAL.ZIP 6335 bb25_d.edg 1266 rju_88.edg 926 bb26.edg 1266 sd_f.ttm 2808 bju_88.edg 838 squad0.486 9761 cmp0.dat 907 squad0.dat 9761 fb25_d.edg 1130 Files included in the REAL.ZIP (Real Version) Name Size ========= ===== arado.gl 46 b25_d.fmd 222 b25_d.gl 146 b26.fmd 222 b26.gl 146 ju_88.fmd 222 ju_88.gl 66 ordnce0.dat 4462 pltext0.dat 10406 Section 0e: POINT OF CONTACT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact me if you have any new information or corrections to this doc and I will incorporate or correct the next version. The best way for us to figure all this data is to share all our information. GRANT C. SENN aka TAGERT CID [70713,136]