Test Pack available!

The test pack for the recce mod is from now on to D/L at www.combatace.com !!
Get it, test it, and give some suggestions!

Welcome!

Hello all!

Here's a blog to present the recce mod I'm working on for Strike Fighter: Project 1.
You'll find in it:
- The way it all works, with the explanations about the needed .ini modifications
- Some screenshots made with this mod
- Remaining issues
- How to contact me

Screenshots

Here are a few examples of what can be done with the recce mod.
Pix made from a U-2A (by Pasko and Column5) above the Deuces and Bunyap's bomb range at ~60 000 feet (5° angle).

JGunCam free-ware for more realistic pictures

If the original SF snapshotter is not realistic enough for Viet-Nam era recce pix, 331KillerBee (who I'd like to thank once again!) has given me a link to JGunCam.

http://www.errthum.com/troy/warbirds/guncam/index.html

Developped for WarbirdsIII, this free-ware creates some blur-, aging or B&W effects, and gives you the mean to get your nice snaps directly in JPEG format.














SO, here you find some kholkoze and Free World threatening SCUD with both B&W and blur effects.

Technical features

Well, the recce mod relies mainly on the screenshot taking ability of the game. So the point has been to bring the player to have a predefined point of view and then to trigger the screenshot in itself.

• Defining the views:

This has been achieved through some .ini modding in the viewlist.ini file. This file is inside the FlightData.dat, and must be extrated with the SFP1E Extract Utility (available on combatace.com).
A new CameraView ViewClass (see below an extract from the modded viewlist.ini) has been added, roughly a CockpitViewClass from outside the plane (so that no cockpit frame is to be seen) with improved limit angles downward. The zoom limits have been set to 1° to 120° sight angles. The screenshots taken with more than 120° of visual angle are IMHO totally distorded and quite unpleasant to analyse too, but of course it's possible to change those values according to your preferences.

[ViewClass014]
ViewClassName=CameraViewClass
ViewType=FIXED_VIEW
ViewGroupID=1
DefaultView=CameraDown
AllowFromDiffGroup=FALSE
SnapView=FALSE
InsideView=FALSE
FocusObjectOnly=TRUE
FOV=60.0
PitchControl=
YawControl=
RollControl=
ZoomControl=CAMERA_ZOOM_CONTROL
JumpToViewSameGroup=FALSE
JumpToViewDiffGroup=TRUE
SmoothAngleTransition=FALSE
SmoothPositionTransition=FALSE
SmoothFOVTransition=TRUE
RememberAngle=FALSE
RememberFOV=TRUE
LimitPitch=FALSE
LimitYaw=FALSE
LimitRoll=FALSE
ZoomFOV=TRUE
ZoomScale=0.01
PanScale=0.00160
MinSpeed=100.0
MaxSpeed=10000.0
Acceleration=2000.0
AngleRates=480.0,360.0,360.0
FOVRate=60.0
MinAngles=-135.0,-90.0,0.0
MaxAngles=135.0,110.0,0.0
MinFOV=1.0
MaxFOV=120.0
OffsetDistance=0.06
TrackIRUseAbsolutePos=TRUE

In order to enable both high- and low altitude recce, 4 camera directions are defined as CameraViewClass views: vertical downward, forward + 30° downward, 90° left+ 30° downward, and finally 90° right + 30° downward.
The first one is obviously the main one, but to "treat" highly defended objectives on a low altitude flight profile, oblical cameras are recommanded. No need anymore to fly directly over the objective, pictures can be taken from a little bit less dangerous distance. When the SR-71 is out, it will be possible to emulate its fly-along-the border-but-look-inside mission scheme.

[View029]
ViewName=CameraLeft
ViewClassName=CameraViewClass
UpdateAlways=FALSE
ViewGotoControl=GOTO_CAMERA_LEFT_VIEW
CycleNextControl=
CyclePrevControl=
ObjectFrom=SearchAircraft
AngleOffsets=-90.0,-40.0,0.0

[View030]
ViewName=CameraRight
ViewClassName=CameraViewClass
UpdateAlways=FALSE
ViewGotoControl=GOTO_CAMERA_RIGHT_VIEW
CycleNextControl=
CyclePrevControl=
ObjectFrom=SearchAircraft
AngleOffsets=90.0,-40.0,0.0

[View031]
ViewName=CameraDown
ViewClassName=CameraViewClass
UpdateAlways=FALSE
ViewGotoControl=GOTO_CAMERA_DOWN_VIEW
CycleNextControl=
CyclePrevControl=
ObjectFrom=SearchAircraft
AngleOffsets=0.0,-90.0,0.0

[View032]
ViewName=CameraFront
ViewClassName=CameraViewClass
UpdateAlways=FALSE
ViewGotoControl=GOTO_CAMERA_FRONT_VIEW
CycleNextControl=
CyclePrevControl=
ObjectFrom=SearchAircraft
AngleOffsets=0.0,-30.0,0.0

• Selecting the views

New keys have to be linked to each of the new views in order to make them selectable. This can be achieved through Controls/default.ini tweaking.
As you can see above, each view has a corresponding control (GOTO_...). So the only thing to do is to add them at the end of the key command list.


...
GOTO_CAMERA_LEFT_VIEW=NUMPAD1
GOTO_CAMERA_RIGHT_VIEW=NUMPAD3
GOTO_CAMERA_DOWN_VIEW=NUMPAD2
GOTO_CAMERA_FRONT_VIEW=NUMPAD8
...


Nothing more needed!

• While flying

As you fly over the target, just hit the numpad2 key (if you have kept my settings) to see what's under you, and hit "screenshot" as soon as something interesting is spotted! Get back to the cockpit view with the F1 key. If you survive, go and check your nice pix in the /screenshots/ folder.

Bonuses

If you have a programable joystick, you can create a macro in order to trigger the view toggling and the screenshot by a single button. Thanks to Streakeagle by the way for the hint!
I have tried with my Saitek Cyborg evo, and the results are quite satisfying. Just think about letting enough time between the view toggle and the screenshot in order to let the game make the change. 1 sec is enough.
With the "advanced commands", it's even possible to change the view when you push the trigger, take screenshots as long as you keep the button pushed, and go back to the cockpit view when you release the trigger! Thanks Saitek!

Known Still To Fix...

- A fueltank in the center pylon may be in the field of view of the camera and thus may appear on the screenshot. So jettison the fueltanks just before reaching the target...

- Depending on the plane, some parts may show up too. I found no way to fix it so far...

- There's no camera sight. The solution used for Dfang's bombsights can not be employed, since he changed the HUD_sight settings, which can only appear on a plane parallel to the pilot's chest.

Contact

If you feel like improving the mod, please do! I can be reached by e-mail at huoneestani@hotmail.com

Relax, sit back and enjoy!