Campaign Reposted

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I just uploaded a reissue of my USS Saratoga CV-3 campaign: This release contains fixes for the errors found in the first issue. For example, the A6M3 Zero was replaced with the A6M2 and A6M5 variants, the USS Massachusetts BB was replaced with the SHA_Indiana - USS South Dakota Class BB, Several omissions to the downloads list were added and several minor changes were made to some missions.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

SW

PS: Give Rami a few hours to get it in the library

[mariereid]

Nice going SW07! It's a pretty amazing piece of work. Once again, I am blown away by what a talented fella can do with the mission builder. :salute::ernae:

[Rami]

I took care of it and approved it, it's now in the download section.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Nice going SW07! It's a pretty amazing piece of work. Once again, I am blown away by what a talented fella can do with the mission builder. :salute::ernae:

Thanks for the compliment and the help in repairing this campaign! :ernae:

[Rami]

Shadow Wolf 07,

When I placed the new campaign in the library, I deleted the old one to avoid any confusion. Great work!

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Shadow Wolf 07,

When I placed the new campaign in the library, I deleted the old one to avoid any confusion. Great work!

Thank you Drew von Rami! :salute:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Being snowed in and bored I decided to film and upload a mission. I have my Saratoga campaign missions loaded in my Missions folder too, and I chose the "Guadalcanal CAP" mission. I used hard flight model and though FRAPS took from my framerates, it flew okay.

I used Windows Live Movie Maker (comes with Win7) for the first time and being used to the older Windows Movie Maker, had to lear another program. The original video was 21 minutes long and I had to edit it down to 10 inutes or less to upload to Photobucket. The finished copy is not too choppy, contains most of the main action and is saved at 640 X 480 resolution.

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=GuadalcanalCAP1.mp4

Enjoy! :salute:

SW 07

[mariereid]

I had awful luck on that mission. I somehow manage to wind up in the middle of those dang bombers and parts start flying off left and right! Survival rate: 50%, including being rescued! I haven't been fired yet!:salute::ernae:

I would send photos of all the destruction, but it's just too darned embarrassing!

[tony2]

I ended up the same. Pesky bombers...........

[Shadow Wolf 07]

What I did was try to attack from above or 4 or 8 o'clock position. end your wingmen after the individual (3) bomber formations and stay away from the fighters. The SG Bettys used are a bit tougher than the stock birds and take more battle damage.

Each of the 3 Japanese flights of 8 Bettys each will turn back when unit strength is less than or equals 75% and a flight of fighters turns back with 2 of them. These are the hidden goals that are revealed when they spawn. Split your wingmen like I said above to attack seperate formations and go for 2-3 kills in each of the 3 bomber formations. Don't try to get them all.

I did notice that after taking a lot of hits, the FDG_F4F-3 used did not show any holes after I landed.

[SgtT]

Nice video!

[Shadow Wolf 07]

... off the coast of Japan 1945:

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=JapanN-CAP.mp4

I misled my wingmen and one of the bombers got through and hit the Sara with a torpedo, but she kept on sailing... trailing oil.

[mariereid]

Very nice, bud! I have to get that oil slick. Could you tell me if I can install nibbio's oil slick on ANY ship? I can see how he does it on the stock ships.

Every time I see one of your movies, I gotta start flying your campaign again!:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Very nice, bud! I have to get that oil slick. Could you tell me if I can install nibbio's oil slick on ANY ship? I can see how he does it on the stock ships.

Every time I see one of your movies, I gotta start flying your campaign again!:salute::ernae:

Rick: I never did anything to other ships to get Nibbio's oil slick effect, but it shows! I guess the authors included it in the dps of their newer ships.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=SolomonsStrike3B.mp4

[mariereid]

Great! This was the first time I really enjoyed dive bombing in one of your campaigns. I guess I finally figured it out. I'll have to try it out in your other campaigns, again. I really used to hate wasting those bombs! Very entertaining movies, SW07!:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Great! This was the first time I really enjoyed dive bombing in one of your campaigns. I guess I finally figured it out. I'll have to try it out in your other campaigns, again. I really used to hate wasting those bombs! Very entertaining movies, SW07!:salute::ernae:

If you have CFO Weather you can use the "bomb trainer" under Cheats to sharpen your eye. If you need an explanation let me know.

I don't know why the LSO didn't show in that last video. Those night landings take a lot of concentration...

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I flew the Solomons Strike 4A mission with the SBD-3. It is an alternate, along with Solomons_CAP and Solomons_Strike-3B for campaign mission #6. The entire mission recorded on FRAPS at 25 minutes and I edited it down to just under 10. I and my wingmen scored hits with 1000 lb bombs and didn't even reduce the strength of Usio's JMK_Zuikaku to the mission goal of 60% or less! Damn that ship is tough. I filmed some views of my wingmen attacking...

For your divebombing, note how I reduced my throttle and engaged the dive brakes as I started my dive. Aim for the forward elevator and release at about 400-500 meters, pull out, raise dive flaps and go full throttle and get the devil out of there.

VIEW: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=SolomonsStrike4B.mp4

I flew this one this morning (first flight of the new year :) ). I flew it twice last night and even managed to shoot down a couple of Zekes that got too close but then US planes collided with me. :blind: This time no collisions and the Zeeros stayed away. ... I'm getting better with the night landings. :)

Happy New Year!

SW 07

[mariereid]

Thanks, man! I have somehow managed to figure out the dive bombing just the way you described it. I am almost always in 2D cockpit mode. I only go to the open cockpit to find a target I cannot see or to enjoy the show! :salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Thanks, man! I have somehow managed to figure out the dive bombing just the way you described it. I am almost always in 2D cockpit mode. I only go to the open cockpit to find a target I cannot see or to enjoy the show! :salute::ernae:

Good! Glad you did. :salute: I almost always fly in open view/HUD view because my eyes and reflexes need all the help they can get. If you want, I can fly and film the Solomons CAP mission... it should be an intense furball.

[mariereid]

The movies are great! That would be a good one.:ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

My gunnery kinda stinks, but we managed to stop all 3 attacking waves of bombers...

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3SolomonsCAP.mp4

I had to edit it down from a 27 minute flight to a video of less than 10 mins. :jump:

[mariereid]

How the heck did this slip by me! I will have a look, after l get a bite to eat.:salute::ernae:

[mariereid]

Nice job, SW! I noticed you had a few more movies there, I am gonna bookmark it and have a look at all of them.:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Nice job, SW! I noticed you had a few more movies there, I am gonna bookmark it and have a look at all of them.:salute::ernae:

Here's another one for you. I couldn't sleep, so I flew it last night...

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3SolomonsCAPB.mp4

[mariereid]

Yehaw, I will have a look at it later! Fiddling with monitors now.:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Rick: When you get that monitor situation sorted out here's 1 more:

Solomons Strile 2A is a mission with the player in a TBF-1 Avenger conducting a torpedo attack on a seaplane tender. I used Usio's Nisshin seaplane tender as the target. Everything worked fine. The supporting fighters made a strafing run on the ship just as I attacked and soaked off much of the FLAK. I came in at 120 ft, at 130 kts and released my torpedo at about 800 yds. Dang it! The torpedo ran under the ship anyway, but my wingmen got her. :applause:

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=PitchnRoll2.mp4

I had to do a lot of editing to get this one down under 10 minutes for Photobucket. Still you'll see my attack and miss, my wingmens' attack, a gun run on another freighter and a good landing.

Cheers:

SW 07

[mariereid]

That was quite a landing, in the first one! :salute:

Hey, I got the wrong movie for Solomons Strike 2A. I was watching hot shot showing off his take off and landing skills!

Man, you sure look like your dad! Salutes to the booth of ya!

[Shadow Wolf 07]

That was quite a landing, in the first one! :salute:

Hey, I got the wrong movie for Solomons Strike 2A. I was watching hot shot showing off his take off and landing skills!

Man, you sure look like your dad! Salutes to the booth of ya!

orry about that... Here's the right link

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3SolomonsStrike2A.mp4

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I filmed the same mission again, only this time I posted most of it as an almost entire video in 2 nine minute + parts.

After warping to waypoint 2, noticed that Tomcat-2 was in the place of my wingman, Tomcat-1 in the formation. TC-1 kept trying to move up and I was sure there was gonna be a collision, but no. Again, I was lucky that the Wildcats soaked off much of the FLAK whle I lined up to drop my fish, but I did take some hits. This time my torpedo did not run under the ship - I hit it. My flight came in and finished her off.

Two of my flight still had torpedoes, so I ordered everyone to attack the freighter nearby. No one followed my orders and having battle damaged I decided not to risk another pass and returned to the carrier. My approach and landing were okay, but my damaged starboard landing gear collapsed.

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=SolomonsStrike2APart1.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=SolomonsStrike2APart2.mp4

[mariereid]

Bravo, bravo! This was a great campaign for me to fly. You get a little bit of everything. You did a great job on it my friend!:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I flew another... The Rabaul Strike 1 - a fighter sweep - mission. I flew it this morning before I'd finished my first cup of coffee, so my gunnery stinks. :sleep:

This one also I saved in 2 parts.

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1CPt1.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1CPt2.mp4

[mariereid]

I will be giving this a 6 AM, whoops, a little later viewing. Server reboot, 6AM:salute::ernae:


Nearly broke my neck, watching those ones!

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I did another side of the Rabaul Strike mission - in an SBD-3. I got a hit on the target cruiser, my wingmen messed up and missed, I even shot down an enemy fighter. :wavey:

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1B.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1Bpt2.mp4

[mariereid]

I might just watch the movies instead of flying the campaign! Much easier!:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I did another side of the Rabaul Strike mission - in an SBD-3. I got a hit on the target cruiser, my wingmen messed up and missed, I even shot down an enemy fighter. :wavey:

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1B.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=USSSaratogaCV-3RabaulStrike1Bpt2.mp4

My mistake... after review of the film I determined that I missed!

Better to fly them yourself Rick! :salute: Do you have FRAPS?

[bearcat241]

Rabaul!!!...oh yeah...such a target-rich environment...always a fun place to workout :jump:

Shadow Wolf, thanks for the share. My 2 pence on Fraps: just a suggestion, but given that Fraps is such a resource hog, for these big missions with lots of aircraft and ships involved, you should try movie-making in CFS2 without the visual cues to get your frames up and add even more smoothness to the playback. The targeting cone and the aircraft and ship labels add visual clutter, put more load on your GPU and memory and decrease your optimal recording FPS.

If you practice only using the target radar to locate enemies and friendlies and the padlock key to lock targets instead of the cone and the labels, you can get by very well and keep the frames up. The only time i use the labels in combat is to locate wingmen or other friendlies by name in order to assist them in trouble and/or track their performance.

Just a thought...:salute:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Yes Bearcat, I agree, FRAPS is an FPS hog. I also agree that I could get by by turning off the target cone. The other bells and whistles help me identify a primary target to get my wingmen to hit it and it alone. Perhaps I could turn it and the visual cues off after I designate the target. I really like the labels... not so much for the ships, but to help me quicly descriminate between friend and foe when they are so tightly packed together.

I am "filming" these on my laptop, so I am fairly pleased with the performance. BC: Thank you for your comments. :salute:

On second thought; I can just set targeting to Ships and order Attack and wingmen will jump the ship designated in the mission file. (I'd have to find the right one myself though or follow them :) )

[Shadow Wolf 07]

An attack on a Japanese Airstrip a few miles SE of Tokyo, FEB 1945. I took bearcat's sugestion and turned everything off but radio chatter and radar (after all,,, we are flying radar equipped night fighters.) Oh.. and labels were used too. I'm going to turn them off when I land... makes it easier to see the ship.

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Japan-CapeNojiimaPt1.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Japan-CapeNojiimaPt2.mp4

Enjoy...

SW 07

[Shadow Wolf 07]

After flying either the Cape Nojiima Strike mission or the Yokosuka Strike for mission #14, the campaign takes you on to mission 15 - the Tateyama Strike. This is also a night mission and Tateyama is also a few miles southeast of Tokyo. The player flies a night fighter, armed with salvo rockets and there may spawn up to 2 enemy interceptor flights. I had fun flying this one :wiggle:


Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Japan-TateyamaStrikePt1.mp4

Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Japan-TateyamaStrikePt2.mp4

Cheers:

SW 07

[Shadow Wolf 07]

On April 19, 1944 a combined Allied task force with the Saratoga and Illustrious launched a successful daylight raid on Japanese facilities at Sabang, Sumatra. As the TF withdrew to the west, it came under attack by a small force of "Bettys." The F6F CAP interceped them.

Here, I tried to fly as much of the mission as possible in VC - something I've never done before. It was fun, but I've got to learn to use my hat switch more effectively and polish up my landing in that view. The only visual aid I used was the "radar" window.

I edited it down to one cut, less than 10 minutes for those lazy birds (like Talon(?))

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Saratoga-Sabang-CAP_VC.mp4

Enjoy! :ernae:

[mariereid]

I'm all caught up on the movies! I always use the 2D cockpit. I hate trying to "look around" in VC. And, any less than perfect landings I can blame on a poor view!:salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I'm all caught up on the movies! I always use the 2D cockpit. I hate trying to "look around" in VC. And, any less than perfect landings I can blame on a poor view!:salute::ernae:

Yup, it wasn't easy, especially without using the labels in combat - those little buggers are hard to see! In VC, I had an issue with keeping my speed up on approach (as seen in the video) which caused me to drift right on landing.

Note: Just on a hunch I did a search of Warbird's Archive, What's new, CFS2 Campaigns and under my name and could not find the download. I'll ask Rami - the Library guru - when he gets back from celebrating the birth of his new daughter.

[bearcat241]

Nice... :applause:

Maybe its just me, but splashing tailgun-modified Betty's in CFS2 seems a lot like tipping cows. They never seem to present much of a challenge after you de-fang that rear gunner. I've seen occasions where i would personally take out an entire eight ship flight with hardly a scratch. No B-n-Z runs, just sat back there behind the flight and picked them off one by one. I had to go back to the default sharpshooting stingers to make it a fair fight. :icon_lol:

Interesting VC landing SW. If that carrier's superstructure had a proper damage box, well... :mixedsmi:. It reminds me of that old, much-viewed footage of the wounded Hellcat crashing into the carrier's aft 5 inch guns after missing the wire, losing the right wing, splitting in two with the front half tumbling forward and the pilot still alive but visibly shaken.

It looked like a pretty good short-turn-and-approach up until you overshot the carrier's wake and came up too low to correct the glide-slope. I use to have that problem a lot with the short turn approach. After reading up on how the Brits mastered trapping the Corsair with this tactic, i got much better with the short-turn. The key is to hold the turn between 30-45 degrees inside the wake just above stall speed and not level out until the last possible second just before crossing the ramp, then cut the throttle and plant hard. Just ignore the LSO...he's clueless about such things :icon_lol:

[mariereid]

well at least it's in the "new" add ons section, top of page 4.:salute:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I agree with you wholeheartedly Bearcat. I initially used the SG Betty in my campaign's Guadalcanal CAP mission. I went ahead and used it in most of the others except where the Betty was a parked target. Since that Guadalcanal CAP mission tested as being not wingman survivable with the SG Betty - the mission goals are to turn back 3 shotais of 6 bombers each (by reducing the strength of each to 50% or less). AI wingmen at any skill level are just not slick enough to come in low from an angle or high from the side. I decided to keep the SG Betty in all missions and reduce the effectiveness in my game by substituting the tamed down stock Betty dp from IDoA. Also the SG version seems to be much tougher than the stock counterpart, ergo takes much more battle damage/ammo to bring down. I wish there was a dp somewhere between the two. I can do a lot of stuff with the game but never got comfortable with modifying gun range, rate of fire and effectiveness.

True, my landing in this vid was very poor - I blame it on my 1st use of VC for landing. I too thought of that famous Hellcat scene. All addon carriers should have solid "islands". I have a mod for the stock Essex that has it but forget which D/L it is. Right, I try to do my landings on a short approach, turning from 500-1000M astern from the port side. Sometimes I nail it and sometimes... well...

Thanks for the feedback. Only you and Rick seem to give a hoot. :salute: :applause:

SW

PS: I'm loading another with the original SG dp and a better landing :)

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Here's a run done with the original SG Betty dp. True, I had to be more careful and sneaky. I was surprised at how well my wingmen did.

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Saratoga-Sabang-CAP_2M_VC.mp4

I added a music track...

[bearcat241]

Thanks for the feedback. Only you and Rick seem to give a hoot....PS: I'm loading another with the original SG dp and a better landing :)

Yeah, i can see the difference that the Bettys' guns makes -- you have to pick your spots more carefully. And the landing was better too, but because you like to start your approachs close to the carrier, you gotta make that final turn sooner and tighter and low, just like we see in the archived footage.

As for giving a hoot, all i can say is that after flying my combat sim missions, watching the replays of others is the next best thing. Gives me more perspective on my own game, like watching film in the football clubhouse...;)

[Captain Kurt]

Use this .dp and see if it is more realistic.

28989

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Use this .dp and see if it is more realistic.

28989

Thanks Captain, :salute:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

In support of the landings at Torokina, CV Saratoga and CVL Princeton launched an attack to suppress the Japanese base at Buka. It was Sara's first engagement using the F6F Hellcat.

Here my gunnery and rocketry sorta stink, but I got the job done and made a decent landing... for a change. :ernae:

Part 1: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Saratoga-Buka-Strike_Pt1.mp4


Part 2: http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Pechora07/?action=view&current=Saratoga-Buka-Strike_Pt2.mp4

[mariereid]

Very nice. Don't tell me you've fallen in love with the VC? Naw, that could never happen! :salute::ernae:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Very nice. Don't tell me you've fallen in love with the VC? Naw, that could never happen! :salute::ernae:

Not really, I just thought I'd give it a try for the CFS2 purists. :ernae: My pitiful eyes and reflexes need all the help they can get! :wiggle: