A touch of the Skuas

[arfyhun]

Greetings Gents, may I ask your assistance please. My problems concern a trio of Blackburn Skuas.

Problem 1:  The first Skua, (zip:

[Hagar]

Hi Graham. A link to the exact page these aircraft are posted on would be a great help & save a lot of time. It's not worth taking wild guesses without checking them out myself.

A few comments. From your sample CFG entries this looks like an FS2002 or later FS model. The ui_xxxxxx entries are not used in CFS2.

I see no benefit in using the "2 in 1" multiple texture setup. In my experience with both CFS1 & CFS2 it's much better to install each variation in its own folder as a separate aircraft.  It's quite possible that the Skua uses at least one different MDL file which might explain your problems.

I don't know where the CFS2_common folder that you're aliasing to is located on your PC but that sound= entry looks a tad complicated to me. I find it helps to keep everything as simple as possible.

[arfyhun]

Hello Hagar, many thanks for your speedy reply. The L2882 mdl file is different from that of L3011. L2908 is just a texture D/L to replace the L3011 texture for a different serialed A/C. The blurb that came with them did state they were modded for CFS2. I multi-airfiled Akemi's Vals to save multiple folders filling up the "maximum A/C total" that CFS2 can manage. Also, before, when I have put the same A/C with multiple textures as seperate A/C folders only the first one seems to show up in the Freeflight listing. I am not on my PC presently but will look up the site from where I D/L the two planes and gather all the info for which you have asked.
Will reply soonest Hagar. Regards. Graham.  

[Hagar]

[quote]Hello Hagar, many thanks for your speedy reply. The L2882 mdl file is different from that of L3011. L2908 is just a texture D/L to replace the L3011 texture for a different serialed A/C. The blurb that came with them did state they were modded for CFS2. I multi-airfiled Akemi's Vals to save multiple folders filling up the "maximum A/C total" that CFS2 can manage.

[arfyhun]

Greets Hagar,  Forgot to add this bit. The "sound" line came with the D/L and it caught me out. I got rid of it as it stopped the picture loading. It's in my original post. Thanks also for letting me know about "ui" not being for CFS2. I only have CFS1 & 2. I saw it in the file but never read it! A big difference that!
The "Blackburn_Skua, according to the notes, is a FS9 conversion to CFS2 by Jeff Marsh, notes written by Buddha13. All the Skuas have been D/Ld from Combatfs. I've just looked on their site and can only find "Skua MkII L3011" by JD Tinballs. but it also says it's a FS2004 A/C by Jeff Marsh modded for CFS2. I D/Lded them yonks ago so maybe the other two have been removed.
Regards. Graham.

       

[Hagar]

[quote]Greets Hagar,

[arfyhun]

Thanks Hagar. I will unzip the Skuas again and pay a bit more attention to the notes. I have CFS1 & 2 split into different theatres. That is why I seem to be in the pickle I am now. Have a million odd things happening and I am only now finding time to work through them. Appreciate your help very much mate. Regards. Graham.  

[arfyhun]

Greetings Hagar, could I throw up a couple of points on this discussion? Is there a need to do anything other than a straight D/L of these A/Cs straight out of the box, so to speak? (2882 seperate, L3011 seperate, L2908 keeping it's different bits and copying L3011's folders except texture). You mention in your previous note to load them that way first, I have and L2882 still doesn't show in the Freeflight menu, L2908 & L3011 do show but still lock up the PC as before. Also something I've just noticed in your last letter too, you have loaded L 2987, the original Texture D/L is named L2908, which is what I've been numbering it, not that the flight number matters regarding the install. It explains why I was confused in seeing L2987 bmp in an A/C which led me to believe was L2908.
Another anomaly is L2882 shows up when I use JSQED. That sees it but Freeflight doesn't. Any clues on that one?
I feel my CFS2 Europe must be corrupt is some way. I have D/Ld these exactly as I have done a number of times, which concurs with the way you have done but I get problems. As I get other odd messages from CFS2 I think a new install might be the answer. First though, I will need a larger hard drive.
Regards, Graham.  

[Hagar]

Greetings Hagar, could I throw up a couple of points on this discussion? Is there a need to do anything other than a straight D/L of these A/Cs straight out of the box, so to speak? (2882 seperate, L3011 seperate, L2908 keeping it's different bits and copying L3011's folders except texture). You mention in your previous note to load them that way first, I have and L2882 still doesn't show in the Freeflight menu, L2908 & L3011 do show but still lock up the PC as before.

Hi Graham. I had to go back & refresh my memory. I suggest you remove all versions of the Skua from your CFS2 & start again.
You should have 3 zipfiles named Blackburn_Skua.zip, Skua_mk2_l3011.zip & Skua_mk2_l2987.zip.

Blackburn_Skua.zip is the original CFS2 conversion by Buddha13. You can install this 'straight out of the box'. (Note that you also need to install the weapons for Stuart Greens Swordfish from the link in the Readme.) It will be listed on the CFS2 selection menu as Skua Mk2 800 Sqd 1938

Skua_mk2_l3011.zip is basically a repaint of the above by Jamie Tindall (JDTinballs). It's configured as a complete separate aircraft & can be installed straight out the box. The folder name is Blackburn_Skua_L3011. This one will be listed on the menu as Blackburn Skua MkII 806Sqd L3011

Skua_mk2_l2987.zip is another JDTinballs repaint but this one contains just the textures & a replacement AIR file & aircraft.cfg. To install this I suggest making a copy of the Blackburn_Skua_L3011 folder & renaming it Blackburn_Skua_L2987. Then paste in the texture folder, AIR file & Aircraft.cfg from Skua_mk2_l2987.zip overwriting files/folders when prompted. This one will be listed on the menu as Blackburn Skua MkII 806Sqd L2987.

Note: After checking them out in CFS2 it would be a good idea to edit the title= names in Aircraft.cfg so they're listed next to each other on the selection menu. See my previous shot.

Also something I've just noticed in your last letter too, you have loaded L 2987, the original Texture D/L is named L2908, which is what I've been numbering it, not that the flight number matters regarding the install. It explains why I was confused in seeing L2987 bmp in an A/C which led me to believe was L2908.

I haven't seen a BMP with that name although Skua_mk2_l2987.zip does contain a folder named Blackburn_Skua_L2908 for some unknown reason. This contains a single file, the Aircraft.cfg for L2908 which is not required for this repaint. It's possible that I have slightly different versions of these aircraft from you as I downloaded them from more than one website.

Another anomaly is L2882 shows up when I use JSQED. That sees it but Freeflight doesn't. Any clues on that one?

The only explanation for this I can think of is that the AIR file has been modified to make it an unflyable AI Only drone.

I feel my CFS2 Europe must be corrupt is some way. I have D/Ld these exactly as I have done a number of times, which concurs with the way you have done but I get problems. As I get other odd messages from CFS2 I think a new install might be the answer. First though, I will need a larger hard drive.

I suspect you might be over or approaching the CFS2 aircraft limit. It might be time for a sort out of your aircraft or a duplicate install of CFS2. Check out my CFS2 FAQ page. http://www.simviation.com/lair/cfs2faq.htm

[arfyhun]

Hello Hagar. Have been thinking. The three zip D/Ls I have are:

"Blackburn_Skua"- (I2882, Complete A/C),
"Skua_mk2_L3011"- (I3011,Complete A/C) and
"Skua_mk2_I2908" (skua.bmp, skua1.bmp, skuaA.bmp, skuaB.bmp,skuaE.bmp,  Skua Mk2.air,      Aircraft.cfg and SkuaII L2908.doc). The contents of I2908 are dated between 7th. June and 25th. August 2006. The .doc  has the header inside:
 
                   Jeff Marsh

[Hagar]

[quote]Hello Hagar. Have been thinking. The three zip D/Ls I have are:

"Blackburn_Skua"- (I2882, Complete A/C),
"Skua_mk2_L3011"- (I3011,Complete A/C) and
"Skua_mk2_I2908" (skua.bmp, skua1.bmp, skuaA.bmp, skuaB.bmp,skuaE.bmp,

[arfyhun]

Sorted Hagar, nice one mate. Re D/Ld the A/Cs, they were different to my old ones. All in ticketty-boo.
Many thanks for your help in bailing me out. Much appreciated. Over and out. Graham.