9th Fighter Squadron released!

[Captain Kurt]

The 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group in WWII


It's almost finished, I just have the read me file and all the credits left to write. While I get that little chore done, I'll post a few pictures over the next few days to see if it works up some interest.

The following is what I have written for the read me file so far:

"This work has been well over a year in the making. I had two objectives in mind for the development.

The first was to recreate this unit’s war time experience both visually and as close to the historical record as possible. Most of the missions are recreations – as close as possible – of the actual missions the 9th Fighter Squadron flew, while a few represent what were common experiences. I used the unit’s official war diary for my reference from 1943 to 1945. Prior to this the unit did not keep an official record, but fortunately there are a lot of other records, and writings by individuals who were in the 9th FS during this period, so that I could put together a pretty accurate account to work from.

The second objective was to keep it as simple as possible. In other words, to make a self contained campaign that did not require the player to spend hours and hours finding and installing add-on aircraft, sceneries and effects. I decided on this approach because so many campaigns quickly become unusable as CFS2 website after website disappears, taking the required add on downloads with them. The Sim-Outhouse had just been hacked when I started this project, and at the time it looked like much of the files there would be lost as well. I wanted to provide a single source campaign. If you were able to download the campaign package, you would be able to just load it and fly.

That does not mean there isn’t a lot to this campaign. The package includes:
Complete new UIRES screen set for the 9th FS
32 individual airbases – many are new, and available only with this campaign.
4 MaskRider air base scenery sets – with his kind permission
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Dutch East Indies
Philippines No. 1
29 US and Japanese aircraft with historical repaints plus many, many modified flight and weapons files to achieve historically accurate performance. Please see the credits for the kudos to the modelers who created these planes.
Added radio chatter to increase immersion
Stock ship dp mods to get them to move in convoys
Optional higher difficulty campaign
Napalm bomb effects

Why the 9th Fighter Squadron

The 9th Fighter Squadron was in action from 18 March, 1942 until 21 August, 1945, the final day of WWII in the Pacific. During this time the 9th FS recorded 258 aerial victories, and produce 20 aces, including Dick Bong, the USA’s ace of aces (40), Gerald Johnson (22), James “Duckbutt” Watkins (12), Andy Reynolds (10) George Fanning (9) and John “Jump” O’Neill (8). It was the highest scoring USAAF squadron in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

They flew from front line bases beginning in Australia, moving to and through New Guinea, to Biak, to the Philippines and finally reached Okinawa.

Melbourne, Australia (Feb '42)
Bankstown, Australia (Feb '42 - March '42)
Darwin, Australia (March '42 - Oct '42)
Port Moresby, New Guinea (Oct '42 - March '43)
Dobodura, New Guinea (March '43 - Nov '43)
Gusap, New Guinea (Dec '43 - April '44)
Finchhafen, New Guinea (April '44 - May '44)
Hollandia, New Guinea (May '44 - June '44)
Biak (June '44 - Oct '44)
Tacloban, Leyte (Oct '44 - Dec '44)
San Jose, Mindoro (Dec '44 - Feb '45)
Lingayen, Luzon (Feb '45 - Aug '45)
Okinawa (Aug '45 - end WWII)


They flew P-40s to start, transitioned into early P-38s, then moved to P-47’s when the supply of P-38s faltered, and finally back on to the late model P-38s.

You, the CFS2 pilot, will get to be part of the unit as it moves from base to base and you will fly the P-40E, P-40K, P-38F, P-38H, P-47D razorback, P-38J and P-38L.

There are 4 tours of duty to fly. I tried to make it a continuous campaign, but CFS2 will not allow that to happen. Either you would have been kicked off for excessive losses (after all it is over 100 missions total), and/or the game seems to lock up around 85 missions and I could not find a way around either of these shortcomings. Tours of duty seemed a logical way to handle it as the real pilots rotated out, and occasionally, back in for additional tours with the Squadron.

Still, if anyone would like to try the campaign from the first mission to the last mission, I have included a campaign .cmg file with all 106 missions. Maybe your CFS2 installation will let you go beyond the 85 missions I could achieve before it froze on me.

INSTALLATION

To install, begin with a fresh install of CFS2.

Self installing campaigns can cause too many problems with existing CFS2 installatios which have been modified with scenery meshes, add-on air bases, etc. After you have installed this campaign, you can add whatever additional eye candy you like. If an add-on causes a problem then, it will be easier to identify and fix or remove.

Click the installer program file and select the CFS2 folder you wish to install into. The default is set to C:\\Program Files\Microsoft Games\CFS2. The installer will place all of the files into the correct folders and you can then fire up the game and go fly the campaign.

Note that you will need to click on the “Settings” button, then click the “Scenery Library” button, and move the “Scenery object density” slider to Dense or Very Dense in order for a number of the airfield sceneries to show up in the game.

Also in the “Settings” page, make sure the “enable auto-mixture” selection box is unchecked. You will need to use your drop tanks and manage your fuel in the long range missions.

If you want to fly the optional higher difficulty campaign, you will find the zipped file in the CFS2 folder. Simply unzip and place all the files into the Campaigns folder. The original installation campaign files will be overwritten, so you might want to move the original campaign docs to a backup folder."

[Pips]

Sounds a brilliant campaign. Will have to read "Protect and Avenge - The 49th FG in WWII" agin to refresh my memory! :)

Can't wait. :wiggle:

[Captain Kurt]

A sample:


176411764317642

[Captain Kurt]

1765117650
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/misc/pencil.png

[Talon]

I'm really looking forward to it Capt Kurt. As a matter of fact I said there so much more that could be done in the NG area the other day.


Talon

[alpha_1]

Man these look nice! Just the thing for your new campaign. Good work.....and thank you for your hard work.

I'll definitely be looking for your new campaign.

Cheers!:salute:

[Shessi]

Very nice CK!

Impending action photos always look good......

Cheers

Shessi

[Rami]

Captain Kurt,

This is outstanding! I'll sticky this thread, do some consolidation, and whatever I can to help. :salute:

[UncleTgt]

Wow!

Much kudos for even attempting such a hugely complicated project!:salute:

Been dipping in & out of "Attack & Conquer" - 8th Fighter Group, & "Vampire Squadron" -44th Fighter Squadron recently, & thought it would be a rich ground for developing my limited mission builder skills ... this add on seems it will cover much of the same territory.

Looking forward to it!

:ernae::applause::medals:

[erufle]

I LOVE IT! So many brilliant mission makers and so little time. I'll be flying CFS2 for another decade just to get everything in once!

[Ghostrider]

That looks super-cool, CK! Looking forward to flying it! Thanks for what was surely a tremendous amount of work!

[Devildog73]

So do I need to finish my Bong-McGuire missions or move on to the USMC missions I have always wanted to do in the PTO?

[alpha_1]

Jeeeezuz Murphy, DD! yer a funny man!....:monkies:

[Captain Kurt]

Thanks all. Watch for a few more teasers tonight.

[Captain Kurt]

177301772917728

New Airfields:

Ie Shima
Mobutu Field Okinawa
Mokmer, Borokoe Biak

[Captain Kurt]

177361773517734

Hollandia scrapyard
Kiriwina
Owi Island
Hollandia Drome

[Captain Kurt]

177401773917738

Japanese fields
Kamiri
Kornasoren
Babo

[Captain Kurt]

DD

Go ahead and finish the Bong missions up if you will. While each mission is recreated as closely as I could to the one that was flown, none of them is flown as a specific pilot. There should not be any serious duplication.

[Pips]

You spoil us Captn. :)

[misson]

:salute::salute::salute::salute::wiggle:

The 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group in WWII


It's almost finished, I just have the read me file and all the credits left to write. While I get that little chore done, I'll post a few pictures over the next few days to see if it works up some interest.

The following is what I have written for the read me file so far:

"This work has been well over a year in the making. I had two objectives in mind for the development.

The first was to recreate this unit’s war time experience both visually and as close to the historical record as possible. Most of the missions are recreations – as close as possible – of the actual missions the 9th Fighter Squadron flew, while a few represent what were common experiences. I used the unit’s official war diary for my reference from 1943 to 1945. Prior to this the unit did not keep an official record, but fortunately there are a lot of other records, and writings by individuals who were in the 9th FS during this period, so that I could put together a pretty accurate account to work from.

The second objective was to keep it as simple as possible. In other words, to make a self contained campaign that did not require the player to spend hours and hours finding and installing add-on aircraft, sceneries and effects. I decided on this approach because so many campaigns quickly become unusable as CFS2 website after website disappears, taking the required add on downloads with them. The Sim-Outhouse had just been hacked when I started this project, and at the time it looked like much of the files there would be lost as well. I wanted to provide a single source campaign. If you were able to download the campaign package, you would be able to just load it and fly.

That does not mean there isn’t a lot to this campaign. The package includes:
Complete new UIRES screen set for the 9th FS
32 individual airbases – many are new, and available only with this campaign.
4 MaskRider air base scenery sets – with his kind permission
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Dutch East Indies
Philippines No. 1
29 US and Japanese aircraft with historical repaints plus many, many modified flight and weapons files to achieve historically accurate performance. Please see the credits for the kudos to the modelers who created these planes.
Added radio chatter to increase immersion
Stock ship dp mods to get them to move in convoys
Optional higher difficulty campaign
Napalm bomb effects

Why the 9th Fighter Squadron

The 9th Fighter Squadron was in action from 18 March, 1942 until 21 August, 1945, the final day of WWII in the Pacific. During this time the 9th FS recorded 258 aerial victories, and produce 20 aces, including Dick Bong, the USA’s ace of aces (40), Gerald Johnson (22), James “Duckbutt” Watkins (12), Andy Reynolds (10) George Fanning (9) and John “Jump” O’Neill (8). It was the highest scoring USAAF squadron in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

They flew from front line bases beginning in Australia, moving to and through New Guinea, to Biak, to the Philippines and finally reached Okinawa.

Melbourne, Australia (Feb '42)
Bankstown, Australia (Feb '42 - March '42)
Darwin, Australia (March '42 - Oct '42)
Port Moresby, New Guinea (Oct '42 - March '43)
Dobodura, New Guinea (March '43 - Nov '43)
Gusap, New Guinea (Dec '43 - April '44)
Finchhafen, New Guinea (April '44 - May '44)
Hollandia, New Guinea (May '44 - June '44)
Biak (June '44 - Oct '44)
Tacloban, Leyte (Oct '44 - Dec '44)
San Jose, Mindoro (Dec '44 - Feb '45)
Lingayen, Luzon (Feb '45 - Aug '45)
Okinawa (Aug '45 - end WWII)


They flew P-40s to start, transitioned into early P-38s, then moved to P-47’s when the supply of P-38s faltered, and finally back on to the late model P-38s.

You, the CFS2 pilot, will get to be part of the unit as it moves from base to base and you will fly the P-40E, P-40K, P-38F, P-38H, P-47D razorback, P-38J and P-38L.

There are 4 tours of duty to fly. I tried to make it a continuous campaign, but CFS2 will not allow that to happen. Either you would have been kicked off for excessive losses (after all it is over 100 missions total), and/or the game seems to lock up around 85 missions and I could not find a way around either of these shortcomings. Tours of duty seemed a logical way to handle it as the real pilots rotated out, and occasionally, back in for additional tours with the Squadron.

Still, if anyone would like to try the campaign from the first mission to the last mission, I have included a campaign .cmg file with all 106 missions. Maybe your CFS2 installation will let you go beyond the 85 missions I could achieve before it froze on me.

INSTALLATION

To install, begin with a fresh install of CFS2.

Self installing campaigns can cause too many problems with existing CFS2 installatios which have been modified with scenery meshes, add-on air bases, etc. After you have installed this campaign, you can add whatever additional eye candy you like. If an add-on causes a problem then, it will be easier to identify and fix or remove.

Click the installer program file and select the CFS2 folder you wish to install into. The default is set to C:\\Program Files\Microsoft Games\CFS2. The installer will place all of the files into the correct folders and you can then fire up the game and go fly the campaign.

Note that you will need to click on the “Settings” button, then click the “Scenery Library” button, and move the “Scenery object density” slider to Dense or Very Dense in order for a number of the airfield sceneries to show up in the game.

Also in the “Settings” page, make sure the “enable auto-mixture” selection box is unchecked. You will need to use your drop tanks and manage your fuel in the long range missions.

If you want to fly the optional higher difficulty campaign, you will find the zipped file in the CFS2 folder. Simply unzip and place all the files into the Campaigns folder. The original installation campaign files will be overwritten, so you might want to move the original campaign docs to a backup folder."

[Devildog73]

DD

Go ahead and finish the Bong missions up if you will. While each mission is recreated as closely as I could to the one that was flown, none of them is flown as a specific pilot. There should not be any serious duplication.

Will do! I was half pulling your leg anyway! At the juncture I am at with Bong and McGuire, they were pretty much flying as mavericks, not assigned to any specific Squadron or Group. They flew as free agents and attached themselves to any missions they thought would give them good hunting.

I do have some missions in P-47s with Neel Kirby's bunch as a tribute to CaptMercy's uncle in the 475th. While all part of General Kenney's 5th Air Force, those missions should not touch on yours at all.

[Fighterpilot]

I'm getting an Error Loading model VN_YORKTOWN when loading a mission it is included in, it is definitely there so i don't know what the problem could be.

Fighterpilot

[tobob]

Try deleting the *.cdp file and reloading.

[Fighterpilot]

Unfortunately that hasn't worked, also getting the error message cant find the model VN_YORKTOWN in the library. I have checked the VN_YORKTOWN folder and it looks as everything is present and correct.

Fighterpilot

[bearcat241]

Add VN_YORKTOWN to both your mdlnames.txt (in the main sim folder) and your descript.dat file (in your INFO folder). When making the additions, follow the same format used with other carrier ship names in these two files. They both have different listing formats so pay close attention to the fine details.

[Fighterpilot]

Still not working i'm afraid. I've tried adding it into a mission with mission builder and get unable to find model errors.

[mariereid]

just had the same kind of problem with "sha_essex_cv92". It was"SHA_ESSEX_CV92" It's been awhile since I had to install it, I forgot about having to change it.

[bearcat241]

Fighterpilot, what's the exact name of the ship's folder? And the exact title at the top of its ship.cfg?

[Talon]

Does it have-Panel,Model,Sound and Texture folders?It needs all 4.


Talon

[Captain Kurt]

17951179501794917948

[Captain Kurt]

17959179581795717956

[Captain Kurt]

17963179621796117960
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/misc/pencil.png

[Captain Kurt]

17967179661796517964

[Captain Kurt]

17971179701796917968

[Captain Kurt]

17976179751797417973

[Fighterpilot]

Thanks Talon, thats what sorted it, there were no panel or sound folders.

Fighterpilot

[Rami]

Captain Kurt,

That's a wonderful display! Thanks for posting! :ernae:

[mariereid]

Man, that is two life times worth of work for me, if I knew what I was doing! Thank you for all the hours of work you did on this. I better get my rear in gear, and finish getting my PTO installs up to snuff. Thanks, again.:salute::salute::salute::ernae:

[Pips]

I'm drooling with anticipation. :)

[Captain Kurt]

Hope you all enjoy it :salute:

[Rami]

Captain Kurt,

Outstanding work! I'm on it right now...

[Captain Kurt]

Thanks Rami !

[mariereid]

I am downloading it right now! I just looked at your stuff in the library, seems that you have quite a few skills! Thank you, sir, now I gotta have a look at this magnificent monster! :salute::ernae:

[mariereid]

Well, I expected to do days of hunting down hard to find items. This thing installed itself faster than the time it took to download it. I took you advice and made a new install and all went smoothly. If I was you, I would feel like I just won the academy award for best overall production! I just flew the first couple of missions. After cleaning myself up after trying to get that bird into the air things went well. You did real good, Captain! :salute::salute::salute::ernae:

[Pips]

Downloading now, and with the weekend just a day away I'm gonna have a ball! Thanks Capt.K!! :)

[SPman]

This looks like a monster of a campaign! Thanks muchly good sir.
Now....to get new computer and install about 20 setups of CFS2........then find time to actually play the damned game!!

[mariereid]

Hey Kurt, I have seen these gray patches in a couple of areas. Any ideas? I am still fiddling with my fps after udating my card, every now and then I drop below 20, I think that's on my end. :salute:










PS I'ts really great!

[Worthless]

I've never tried one of these (campaign downloads) before, so I'm not sure what is assumed and what isn't. I hit a little bump when trying to install via the self installer. I... did finally figure it out, so I guess it can't be that big of a deal, but "Win 7" puts CFS2 into a different default directory then "Win XP". At least it did on my machine. Using WIN 7, CFS2 loads into "Program Files (x86)".
Just thought you might want to know what a novice encountered.

That done, it's a blast. I'm now having a great time. Many thanks for all that went into 9th FS.

[mariereid]

Yeah, that is where Vista puts it. I had already changed the name of my new install to "9th_Fighter". I just told the self installer to send it there, and lickitysplit, it was done! Just like magic, your ready to go!:salute::ernae:

[Captain Kurt]

Hey Kurt, I have seen these gray patches in a couple of areas. Any ideas? I am still fiddling with my fps after udating my card, every now and then I drop below 20, I think that's on my end. :salute:

PS I'ts really great!

Hi,

Thanks.

Yes I have seen something like this before when two add-on airfields are occupying the same location.

Do you have the RAAF Expansion airfield package loaded? It looks like you have the bgl from that loaded, because the Dobodura fields have the same coordinates AND the gray area to the right is the location that the RAAF expansion places a lake.

[mariereid]

Thanks, it's a new install. I tried to "borrow" something out of DOA a few months back, and had a devil of a time trying to unistall it. Maybe some of it is still kicking around somewhere.

This is really well done. I am trying to get my other pc working, when I am reduced to swearing at it, I just hop on my "good" pc and fly a couple of your missions. Seems to help. Thanks.:salute::ernae:

[kdriver]

Thankyou Captain Kurt,

What a monumental effort!

I've installed it the hard way - manually - as I wanted your new scenery on my Pacific install. Quite a bit of fiddling, but all is well.

Your depiction of Daly Waters is absolutely spot on - even the pub is there!

I'll be flying the missions shortly.

Cheers,

Kevin :ernae:

[langereis]

Hi Captain Kurt,

I have the same gray patches as shown in the screenshot provided by Mariereid.
What do you mean with the " RAAF Expansion airfield"?
Where to find? Should I unstall this scenery to avoid the gray patches?

By the way your campaign with also the new uires, radio shatter and so on is impressive!!!.

Kind regards

[Captain Kurt]

OK Flyers,

The gray patches are my fault. There are 2 bgl files in the Addon folder that are not supposed to be there. I am reassembling the self installer and sending it in for posting which will fix this oversight.

In the meantime for those who have already installed, the fix is easy. Go to the "Addons" folder, then the "9th FS Fields" folder, and then to the sub-folder "Scenery". Open it and find these 2 bgl files:

New_Guinea_3.bgl
New_Guinea_3m.bgl

Remove these 2 files and the grey areas will be gone.

[Talon]

Captain Kurt,

Very nicely done. I've flown a few missions and I'm really enjoying them. I know you put alot of work into this campaign and appreciate it.

I :salute: you for a job well done.


Talon

[Rami]

Captain Kurt,

So as not to take up additional room in the warbirds library, I simply replaced the original download.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=44&linkid=2561

Thanks,

[Captain Kurt]

Captain Kurt,

So as not to take up additional room in the warbirds library, I simply replaced the original download.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=44&linkid=2561

Thanks,

Amazing efficiency Rami. THANKS

[skylane]

I can only begin to imagine the amount of work ans effort you put into this campaign!
Thank you very much, Captain!!:applause::applause::applause:

[mariereid]

When you think about it, for us mortals, mission building SHOULD be one of the easier things to grasp in cfs2. I am fumbling around with a few non historical missions, and hopefully learning something. Even what must be one of the first steps (research), can take forever. I guess ya learn a lot of short cuts over the years. Boy, this really is a great project. Thanks, again. :salute:

[Captain Kurt]

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. I'm glad the campaign is being enjoyed.

[Blue Devil]

Clearing hard-drive space now...

...must... have... more... space...

Thanks, Cap.