British Pacific Fleet Crew

[Devildog73]

Hey guys,

I am now up and running on a gaming laptop in between our formal living room and dining room on a small table.

(For those who are unaware, my 2nd daughter and her family are living with us for a few months after my son-in-law retired from the military while looking for a house to rent or buy).

Their eldest son has been using my office as his bedroom and it has my big PC in there.

I have gone in while he was away from the house and put my Meridian and Iceberg loads on DVDs and transferred them to 2 fresh installs of CFS2 on the gaming laptop.

I just need to be caught up on scenery work the guys have done while I was occupied and unable to access my PC.

I am running an Intel i7 CPU, 1TB 7200RPM HD, 8GB RAM, 4GB Vid card under Windows 10.

Should handle CFS2 maxed out on all sliders, though FS2004 has been running out of memory lately. Did a anti-virus scan, Malwarebytes scan, shut down everything I could running in the background.

So guys, catch me up on what you all have done in my absence, please.

Lee

[Rami]

Lee,

I have all of your files backed up; they've been frozen in carbonite since the last time you worked on it, because most of us boarded a sloop for Cherbourg and began working on the Battle of France. But we're just a freighter ride and an email away.

[kdriver]

Welcome back Lee,

As Andrew says, everything is as you left it. I held off uploading Onno's and our Sumatra scenery in case further additions may be required.

Andrew, John and Ian have been beavering away with the Battle of France missions, aircraft, scenery and research.

Operation Meridian certainly hasn't been forgotten.

Kevin

[Devildog73]

Lee,

I have all of your files backed up; they've been frozen in carbonite since the last time you worked on it, because most of us boarded a sloop for Cherbourg and began working on the Battle of France. But we're just a freighter ride and an email away.

Welcome back Lee,

As Andrew says, everything is as you left it. I held off uploading Onno's and our Sumatra scenery in case further additions may be required.

Andrew, John and Ian have been beavering away with the Battle of France missions, aircraft, scenery and research.

Operation Meridian certainly hasn't been forgotten.

Kevin

Thanks guys.

I will be ready as soon as I get the little buggers worked out of the sim. Having a cockpit issue: See below photos. For whatever reason the dashboard background is not showing in 2D straight on. If I look left or right in 2D the sides are fine, just missing the forward background. Not a big issue as it gives me better view of my prey when hunting, but a bit disconcerting since I am a bit of a purist. 3D view is fine as well.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Welcome back DD! I just released a USS Essex CV-9, 50 mission PTO campaign. I have a similar problem with the 2-D panel in my Wolfi avenger - the gauges don't show. I've tried several solution options but no joy yet.

[Captain Kurt]

Hi Shadow Wolf

This type of panel (DD's is probably the same) is set up to cover the ugly stock instrument bezels so it is more realistic. I explained how the Avenger panel was set up to work previously. Did you follow the instructions and it didn't work?

Regarding the Avenger panel gauges - you probably have your panel display settings set up differently than the stock CFS2. The panel bmp is over laid on top of the gauges. F3 should cycle 2D panel view, F4 cycle through the VC, F5 display/hide engine controls, F6 bomb view, F7 display/hide panel window 1, and F9 display/hide panel window 3.

In this panel F3 displays the 2D panel, F5 displays/hides the panel bmp overlaid on the gauges and all you see are the gauges, F7 displays/hides the gauges and F9 displays the engine controls.

If you press F7 the gauges disappear like in your picture. Do you have F3 assigned to the display/hide panel window 1 function?

In settings, assign your views to these F keys.

The other possibility is that you don't have the gauges in your CFS2/GAUGES folder. That is unlikely as they are the stock CFS2 gauges. So unless you removed them, they should be there.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Hi Shadow Wolf

This type of panel (DD's is probably the same) is set up to cover the ugly stock instrument bezels so it is more realistic. I explained how the Avenger panel was set up to work previously. Did you follow the instructions and it didn't work?

Regarding the Avenger panel gauges - you probably have your panel display settings set up differently than the stock CFS2. The panel bmp is over laid on top of the gauges. F3 should cycle 2D panel view, F4 cycle through the VC, F5 display/hide engine controls, F6 bomb view, F7 display/hide panel window 1, and F9 display/hide panel window 3.

In this panel F3 displays the 2D panel, F5 displays/hides the panel bmp overlaid on the gauges and all you see are the gauges, F7 displays/hides the gauges and F9 displays the engine controls.

If you press F7 the gauges disappear like in your picture. Do you have F3 assigned to the display/hide panel window 1 function?

In settings, assign your views to these F keys.

The other possibility is that you don't have the gauges in your CFS2/GAUGES folder. That is unlikely as they are the stock CFS2 gauges. So unless you removed them, they should be there.

I don't want to steal the thread... I will play with the F7 key and see what happens and post the results in the Essex thread. My F3 key works as you stated.

[Devildog73]

Readjusted my video adapter and played in windowed mode and the panel is now looking like it should.
The only SNAFU now is that I cannot back away from the close in view of the panel When I try it backs away from the scenery but not the panel.

All of my F keys are working properly. (Got blue-tooth keyboard and mouse).

WOW!
After not flying combat missions for a while it took me a bit to get into the fight.
I flew the first Meridian Corsair II escort mission.
I kept stalling in turns as I chased the Zekes for a firing solution.
Fortunately I had enough altitude to recover from the death spirals.

Got three of the buggers and landed a little long on HMS Illustrious' deck: had to X out of the mission to keep from getting wet.
I think in real life I would have caught the last wire..........

[Devildog73]

OOPS!

A little early with my last post.

MB is not recognizing any of my VN carriers. I cannot open any of my missions in MB.
Always wanting to replace my ships with the first on the list..........

I may have to await purchase of a new power supply for my old PC with XP/Win7 to finish MB for Meridian and Iceberg if I cannot get them working in Win 10.

[UncleTgt]

Welcome back Lee, even if it's with a bit of a stumble ...

The Zoom In/ Out issue - make sure you're in VC view, not 2D panel view. I find Blue Devil's old view mods help here.

VN Carriers not showing - might be you have the "old" dp files installed. Rami found an error with my reworked dp - this was corrected in the currently available upload.

"Turning with Zeke's" - not Sumatra in JAN'45. Just Army birds left - Oscars, Tojos & a few Nicks... Mind you. you'll still stall out trying to stay with an Oscar in a turning fight ... boom & zoom 'em instead

[Devildog73]

Welcome back Lee, even if it's with a bit of a stumble ...

The Zoom In/ Out issue - make sure you're in VC view, not 2D panel view. I find Blue Devil's old view mods help here.

VN Carriers not showing - might be you have the "old" dp files installed. Rami found an error with my reworked dp - this was corrected in the currently available upload.

"Turning with Zeke's" - not Sumatra in JAN'45. Just Army birds left - Oscars, Tojos & a few Nicks... Mind you. you'll still stall out trying to stay with an Oscar in a turning fight ... boom & zoom 'em instead

Yeah, my mistake, they were Oscars and other IJAAF aircraft. I am not able to get into MB to change anything so it is the last Meridian set of missions we already had built before I went on "sabbatical". In any case, UncleT, boom and zoom is a bit above my rust level right now. I dove into the fray and got my first from above with a short burst ahead of him which he flew into. The 2nd and 3rd downings were sneak ups from their 6 below them as they were setting up for one of my wingmen. I was full throttle with WEP to close quickly as I climbed.

[Devildog73]

Downloaded and deleted old VN carriers

Is it just the carriers or do the Battleships need replacing also?

Nevermind that question.....I just hit MB and none of the older VN ships are showing.

Back to the library!

BTW, I am able to open MB and build fresh.

I will delete old VNs and load the new and see if I can also modify already existing Meridian & Iceberg missions.

[Devildog73]

Okay,

I deleted all of my VN carriers and installed your most recent mods.
They still do not show in MB.

Neither of my VN_battleships show up.

Help

[Devildog73]

Any ideas on why these do not show up, even with UncleTgt's update?

[Rami]

Devildog,

Did you check and make sure you have at least a "dummy.txt" file inside of the panel and sound folders for all of these ships?

[Devildog73]

Devildog,

Did you check and make sure you have at least a "dummy.txt" file inside of the panel and sound folders for all of these ships?

Yeppers....That is the first thing I did after changing them out.


I just installed Dick's fix for the help menu for MB in newer versions of WIN, found on Chris' thread here.


I'll see if MAYBE that helps me as well on this problem.

[Dirtman]

Okay,

I deleted all of my VN carriers and installed your most recent mods.
They still do not show in MB.

Neither of my VN_battleships show up.

Help

Yo Lee;
Welcome back Brother ... good to see you here again ... been quite a while eh?

Look; I don't use Win10, never have & never will ... but after reading about your troubles I had a few of thoughts (can you smell the wood burning?) that might be helpful.Every time a new Win o/s is released there are always problems with CFS2 & it seems and each time, we all seem to forget the basics when troubleshooting the problems.

So is it the Carriers/BB's or the o/s causing your issues?

Maybe try these ideas:

1) Delete the ".CDP" files from the non-loading ships - if you have not does so already


2) Have the ships been added to the "mdlnames.txt" ?


3) Make a copy of the stock CFS2 carrier LANDING mission (carrier_landing.mis)
- rename it: VN_carrier_landing.mis or something like that
- hand-edit your VN carrier into it, replacing "sha_essex_cv9" & SAVE
Copy it back into CFS2 & run it - does the carrier show up?

Being that this is an "air-start" mission with no scenery except water & escort ships it should load easily & quickly.
- a "no-show" or "fail to initialize" might indicate a problem with the carrier files ... because it sure as hell isn't the scenery!

If the mission loads and the carrier shows ... it should show in MB too.

Next; replace the "sha_indianapolis" with a VN BB & repeat.



4) Open Morton's Utility (mk_cfs2_util.exe)
Select "Campaigns & Missions"
Select the "Ships tab"; do the carriers & VN BB's show as available for substitution in missions?
- a no-show means the ship files are the root of the problem.


5) Delete the 6 "INDEX" files located in the main CFS2 folder
AIRWAY_INDEX
ICAO_INDEX
INDEX_FILE
LAT_INDEX
STR_INDEX
WAYPOINT_INDEX

They will all rebuild the next time you open CFS2


6) More of a question than an answer:
Does CFS2 run properly in Win10 natively or should you set CFS2 to run in compatibility mode for Win7 or Win8 ?


I hope this may be of some help to you & others with similar problems.

[Devildog73]

Yo Lee;
Welcome back Brother ... good to see you here again ... been quite a while eh?

Look; I don't use Win10, never have & never will ... but after reading about your troubles I had a few of thoughts (can you smell the wood burning?) that might be helpful.Every time a new Win o/s is released there are always problems with CFS2 & it seems and each time, we all seem to forget the basics when troubleshooting the problems.

So is it the Carriers/BB's or the o/s causing your issues?

Maybe try these ideas:

1) Delete the ".CDP" files from the non-loading ships - if you have not does so already


2) Have the ships been added to the "mdlnames.txt" ?


3) Make a copy of the stock CFS2 carrier LANDING mission (carrier_landing.mis)
- rename it: VN_carrier_landing.mis or something like that
- hand-edit your VN carrier into it, replacing "sha_essex_cv9" & SAVE
Copy it back into CFS2 & run it - does the carrier show up?

Being that this is an "air-start" mission with no scenery except water & escort ships it should load easily & quickly.
- a "no-show" or "fail to initialize" might indicate a problem with the carrier files ... because it sure as hell isn't the scenery!

If the mission loads and the carrier shows ... it should show in MB too.

Next; replace the "sha_indianapolis" with a VN BB & repeat.



4) Open Morton's Utility (mk_cfs2_util.exe)
Select "Campaigns & Missions"
Select the "Ships tab"; do the carriers & VN BB's show as available for substitution in missions?
- a no-show means the ship files are the root of the problem.


5) Delete the 6 "INDEX" files located in the main CFS2 folder
AIRWAY_INDEX
ICAO_INDEX
INDEX_FILE
LAT_INDEX
STR_INDEX
WAYPOINT_INDEX

They will all rebuild the next time you open CFS2


6) More of a question than an answer:
Does CFS2 run properly in Win10 natively or should you set CFS2 to run in compatibility mode for Win7 or Win8 ?


I hope this may be of some help to you & others with similar problems.

Hi Dirtman,
Yes to all of the above.
I deleted the CDP files, Index files, and filelist.dat, always.

I use Morton's utility always.
I load CFS2 in C: root, not default settings.
I run it in compatibility mode for XP SP2.
All are in mdlnames.txt

I take off and land fine in the missions, just can't see them in MB. Can't use them in MB as not listed there.
When I load MB it asks to replace them with first aircraft in my install.

Lee

[Dirtman]

Yo Lee;

How about installing a fresh copy of CFS2 (from the disks) to the default location in the Program Files x86 folder just for fun?
See if MB works properly.

Conversely: maybe copy your existing CFS2 install to a thumb-drive and try running it on another PC? (from the stick)
- this should determine if Win10 or the new install is the problem.



I've been away from the sim since 2010 when I still had WinXP.
Recently came back for No Dice's "The Vietnam Air War Project" (last Feb.)
I'm amazed at how well CFS2 runs in Win7 on my new PC. The sim boots in 10 seconds flat with zero problems & runs like a clock.
AMD FX-8370 8 core @ 4GHz - Wraith Cooler
16 GB RAM
GTX750 Ti - 2GB GDDR5 VRAM

[Devildog73]

Yo Lee;

How about installing a fresh copy of CFS2 (from the disks) to the default location in the Program Files x86 folder just for fun?
See if MB works properly.

Conversely: maybe copy your existing CFS2 install to a thumb-drive and try running it on another PC? (from the stick)
- this should determine if Win10 or the new install is the problem.



I've been away from the sim since 2010 when I still had WinXP.
Recently came back for No Dice's "The Vietnam Air War Project" (last Feb.)
I'm amazed at how well CFS2 runs in Win7 on my new PC. The sim boots in 10 seconds flat with zero problems & runs like a clock.
AMD FX-8370 8 core @ 4GHz - Wraith Cooler
16 GB RAM
GTX750 Ti - 2GB GDDR5 VRAM

Yeah, WIN 7 works fine with some minor modifications for CFS2.

WIN 10, not so much. The main program works fine with some tweaks, but Mission Builder is where WIN 10 runs into problems.

I have to buy a new power supply for my old PC and get it up and running again. It is a dual boot with XP and WIN 7 hard drives....

It's just irritating because without MB none of us can keep the sim running as M$ keeps changing the OS.
I just tried to open my Iceberg install and fly. The aircraft start on an invisible carrier and drop into the water and crash on initiating the missions.
I went to MB and got all sorts of errors and then CTD.

In my Meridian install I can fly the missions, but MB does not see any of my VN ships. I may have to see if Stuart can build us some British aircraft carriers and battleships or I am dead in the water.

Lee

[UncleTgt]

Lee,

Not sure new ship models will change anything. Baldy revamped the VN Illustrious (thank you Bruce) for me so I could have a go at painting camo on her, so it's a fairly "new" model (FSDS2).

It's got to be some quirk with the set-up. You don't mention where you installed the base CFS 2 (so you can copy & paste for multiple installs). On WIN 7 I ended up using a separate FLTSIMS folder, just to be sure I was beyond the reach of the overly-nervous O/S & it's desire to stop the user changing anything...

I also made sure I ran as Administrator, & used compatibility to XP SP#. To make sure, I looked at the folder permissions too, & checked each copy install.

I applied the 4Gb patch on the exe, it helps with stability, & graphics loading/processing during complex missions. Some of what you describe with Iceberg missions sounds like the PC isn't finishing loading the carrier model in time...?

For each install I set up a desktop shortcut - again I right click & check compatibility & permissions.

I copy the shortcut, & edit the target to launch the Mission-Builder. Again I check OS compatibility & permissions.

Hope this helps.

[Devildog73]

Lee,

Not sure new ship models will change anything. Baldy revamped the VN Illustrious (thank you Bruce) for me so I could have a go at painting camo on her, so it's a fairly "new" model (FSDS2).

It's got to be some quirk with the set-up. You don't mention where you installed the base CFS 2 (so you can copy & paste for multiple installs). On WIN 7 I ended up using a separate FLTSIMS folder, just to be sure I was beyond the reach of the overly-nervous O/S & it's desire to stop the user changing anything...

I also made sure I ran as Administrator, & used compatibility to XP SP#. To make sure, I looked at the folder permissions too, & checked each copy install.

I applied the 4Gb patch on the exe, it helps with stability, & graphics loading/processing during complex missions. Some of what you describe with Iceberg missions sounds like the PC isn't finishing loading the carrier model in time...?

For each install I set up a desktop shortcut - again I right click & check compatibility & permissions.

I copy the shortcut, & edit the target to launch the Mission-Builder. Again I check OS compatibility & permissions.

Hope this helps.

Hi John,
I have them all installed C:root. None of my flight sims are loaded default.
All are running in XP compatibility mode as administrator.
I have full control over all folders, subfolders, and files in all CFS2 installs.

The VNs are the ONLY ships not loading, and not one will load. I have tried every combination I can think of.
All of my other ships show up in both the sim and MB just fine.
It has to be a quirk in the VN ships somewhere.

I HATE WIN10. MS did us NO favors with its coding.
Pretty soon CFS2 and FS9 are not going to work at all.
That will be okay I guess if they get Prepar3d up and running as a Combat Flight Simulator. It is basically an FSX platform on steroids with lots of government funding through Lockheed Martin and MS as a joint venture.

Lee