Screenshots!

hey Foofighter,

are you able to make that 'dozer available as an upload? Or is it already around somewhere? IIRC I never got it to work in the Korean Theatre....
 
The bulldozer, building and control tower are all part of the same model (they are physically attached to each other). They cannot be separated without the GMAX source model.

It should be possible to make the building and tower invisible through an alpha texture or hacking the M3D. They would still be there next to the dozer interacting with the environment, just invisible.

There is an a_bulldozer in the vehicle folder, but I was never able to get that to work either.
 
Nearing the end of an overnight mission.

Tynu57o.jpg

ETO_B24J_OSS_44

Consolidated B24J
===================================
B-24J Black Zombie.
Serial Number 129602.
Based at Harrington, England 1944.
Part of the 406th Bomber Squadron, 8th USAAF,


Office of Strategic Services (OSS).


Aircraft and crews of 22 Squadron had been chosen to form a special unit to fly agents and supplies to Resistance groups in Occupied Europe. The project was to be known as Operation Carpetbagger and they would be working in close liaison with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) organisation which, up until then, had been solely responsible for such operations, The Combined Chiefs of Staff had decided that with the invasion of Europe getting closer, the range and frequency of covert supply sorties would have to be greatly increased. This was, in fact, not the only reason for the project, the American Military Intelligence Department, known as the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was keen to get involved in the European sector.


In November the 22nd and 4th Anti-Submarine Squadrons were deactivated and two new squadrons were formed. Col. Heflin assumed command of the 406th and Major Fish took over the 36th Squadron. These units were ordered to move to the then quite large and desolate airfield of Alconbury, quite close to Tempsford. The 482nd Bombardment (Pathfinder) Group were already in residence when the B-24s moved in. Heflin and Fish handed over control of the two squadrons on December 4th, when they were transferred to 482nd Headquarters to finalise plans for the Carpetbagger special project. Captains St Clair and Boone assumed command of the squadrons, and took charge of the working up of the air and ground echelons in preparation for the first supply missions.


Whilst the Americans were acquiring know-how from British airmen, RAF experts gave advice on the modifications necessary to the B-24 Liberators to be used. The B-24 was ideal for supply operations, the capacious fuselage and long range made it the envy of the RAF fliers. Nevertheless, many modifications were needed for its new task.
The ball turret was removed, and the resulting hole was lined with a smooth metal, providing the exit for agents and supplies not in containers. Plywood flooring was fitted, and a handrail fixed to the right side of the hole. The hole was 44 inches in diameter and was covered when not in use by a circular plywood door, divided and hinged in the middle. Two strong points for parachute static lines were fitted flush with the door aft of the hole, each could accommodate eight straps. In addition one static line fixing was fixed in the rear of each bomb bay. The bomb shackles were replaced by British pattern release units, this was necessary as the cylindrical parachute containers were designed for RAF type bomb shackles.
Exit of agents and supplies through the hole was controlled by the dispatcher - this crew member was usually an ex waist or ball gunner. He was provided with a moving roller clip for his safety belt, enabling him to move safely the full length of the fuselage without removing his belt.
 
Steve's update of the Josh Ziebarth Spitfire undergoing performance testing over St. Margaret's Bay.
m1CwrDn.jpg
 
No not yet Dan, I do want to do a bump for this, but keep putting it off, it will take some time to do. :biggrin-new:

It will get done though!:untroubled:
 
I've been tweaking some m3d files for better compatibility with AnKor's Shaders. Here's a before and after shot of the FFD P-51B.

A7aK4eQ.jpg
 
I'm setting the drawing type for both the surface textures and the glass to 00 00 FF 00.
The diffuse color for the glass is 99 99 99 12, surface textures are FF FF FF FF.
The glossiness is 00 00 80 42 for surface textures, and 00 00 7E 43 for the glass.
For the texture reference sequence I use the diffuse, and reflective but not the specular textures so typically 00 00 FF FF 01 00 or 00 00 FF FF 02 00 depending on how the m3d was created. If there were no specular or reflective files referenced in the m3d list then you need to create a +sr.dds to match up with the texture file and it would be 00 00 FF FF FF FF.

Using the 00 00 FF 00 drawing type on the main textures with just a reflective texture map provides a nice lively sheen on aircraft surfaces that provides a smooth 3D look.
As most of the _r.dds or _s.dds files provided are too bright for AnKor's algorithms the grey values for the reflective file you need generally have to be turned down to 4-6% brightness for painted surfaces, and 12-16% for bare metal. I either paint a new one from scratch by selecting different areas from the main texture file and filling with the appropriate dark grey, or use the Photoshop adjustment levels command to scale down the brightness of the original _r.dds or _s.dds files. Trimming the high value of the output level to 40 often does the trick.

All of this works best if the original artist did not try to artificially add top and curved surface shading effects to the main texture, as that interferes with the shader doing it properly in real time when the aircraft tilts and turns relative to the light source.
 
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