posted 08-24- 04:44 PM               

Including the Mk I, Mk VI, Mk X and..... anticipating the release of the Aussie Nations... The Mk 21.

I haven't said anything up 'til now 'cause I didn't think they would ever get this far and there is nothing that anguishes me more than hearing about a cool plane that's being built and then finding out that it's been dropped for one reason or another.

These planes are about as close to finished as I can get them for now... only little glitches that don't affect much, but I figure I will hear about a ton more once people get to trying them out. Read the BeaufighterReadme.txt for known issues.

To give credit where credit is due:

The Original Visual Model was done by Whirlwind. (I forgot to ask for his permission before working on this.... please forgive me... I meant to .... really...)
The propellors were taken from the SBD dive bomber done by Jaguar, Jedi, Jeeves, Nat and Tailslide.
The damage model was esentially copied from the Pe-2 done by Laika801.
Incredible help was found in this forum. It seemed like anytime I had a question, somebody had already given the answer.

Oh crap, I forgot to include this in the list of known issues (add this to the list):

The landing gear doors don't close cleanly and need more work with the DOFs.

I'm about to be away from my computer for up to five months so if anybody wants to volunteer to continue these projects, let me know. I can supply max3.1 files for the visual model and photoshop files for the skins. I will do what I can until I actually move....but moving is very soon.

posted 08-24- 04:56 PM               

Brilliant , just d/ling now.

Stereo engine pack will be released for Beaufighter this weekend, been sitting on my HD waiting for this moment for 6 months.

posted 08-24- 05:39 PM               

Thanks heaps for this.....

About to download them now .....just one thought....Once Nations Australia is finished (real soon now) can we change the 'loadout.ppf' so the Mk21 appears in Australia ?

You just made my day

Cheers,

AGAS 5

posted 08-24- 05:41 PM               

Great job!
Constructive Critisism: The Beau X's left engine cowl, prop and gear want to drop off when entering a mission. All the FMs seem too manuvarable and "flowy". Some of the prop hubs dont seemed to be textured when not moving and the shadows are a little off.

Other than what you mentioned in the readme file, theres is really not that much left to do.

I'll be sure to get the torpedo!

posted 08-24- 10:00 PM               

Commando: I was hoping you would do something with the sounds. The sleeve-valve engines would sound really cool in real life. The sounds I got were from a CFS plane (ahem...ahem...I forgot to give credit for that)

AGAS-5: Of course you can change the loadout to Australia. I was hoping that the Beaufighter 21 would find a home there.

Argon V: I will check out your comments and hopefully post an update about the left side business tomorrow. Thanks a heap for finding the problem for me [signs of personal laziness showing through].

Thanks for your comments everybody. I'll keep checking in to see what work I've still got to do.

posted 08-24- 11:34 PM               

Also, a few modeling suggestions after looking at 3-ways of the Beau: The rear gunner "bubble" sticks out too far on the top and the nose should be more round and not as flat and slanted.

posted 08-25- 11:59 AM               

Open up the Beau21 in OPS, select the left engine and press the "edit properties as text" button. Select everything and copy it using ctrl+c. open up the beauX in OPS, select the left engine and press the "edit properties as text" button. Select everything and paste over it with the Beau21 info using ctrl+v. Double check to make sure the left engine Power and Weight match the right engine and you're golden. (The difference in engines between the 21 and X are altitude performance and modeled using a thinner prop chord on the X)

I must have made a typo when making some last minute changes to the DM. I don't know how that obKill got in there, I think it's supposed to be part of a function. (On the Pe-2 it's used to replace the engine with a damaged visual model, I didn't have time to make one but I left the obKill in the function so that the engine would "fall off" when heavily damaged.)

Anyways, after I made the change I went to post the updated version and found out that I have exceeded my alotted ISP hours for this month. (I'm making this post at work...shhhhh don't tell my boss) sooooooo....

ArgonV, all your changes sound great. If you want, go ahead and post your updated versions on simfiles for everyone to enjoy. Just make sure that the BeauX left engine damage model is OK (ie. matches the other Beaus). If it's too inconvenient, definitely send me the files and I'll post them when I can.

I'm moving this weekend and won't be able to get around to doing anything on these planes for awhile, I just want to make sure major issues (like engines falling off) are taken care of.

Making the gun rail as a gun object should work, that's a great idea! (I was trying to think of making the rail a child of a pylon, like the front turret on the lanc special, but that meant I would need to have some sort of ordinance loaded onto that pylon to make it work.) But.... would this work with the fuel tanks...ie would the obfuel properties work with the obgun property?

Thanks for the comments everybody. I'll keep checking in and see how things are going.

-Bishop

posted 08-25- 12:40 PM               

For the fuel tanks, make the object you want to have fuel with a breaking DOF with an airfoil that wont screw up the Beaus flight model. Then when you press a key that you asigned to it, the drop tanks will actually drop off and no more fuel from them! To see how this works, look at the P-47D canopy or the Ju-88 on my Mistel 1 and Mistel 3. If you have the fuel drop tanks ready to be added to the Beaus, please send them to me and I will add them and attempt to see if they work. I also need some pictures to see where they are added at.

posted 08-25- 01:43 PM               

Drop tanks LOOK cool, of course, but they're not really all that functional in a map as small as ours...

posted 08-25- 02:11 PM               

Just so you know, the extra tanks weren't drop tanks, they were internal tanks just like the main tanks. They were designed for the Beau VI to fit in the gun bays so that they could be swapped for the guns "in the field". For long range missions the guns could be taken out and the tanks put in. They would then work exactly like the main tanks. The Beau X actually came with the tanks as standard equipment. (But if you wanted a little more firepower you could still make the swap for guns).

The reason I didn't worry too much about adding them before I released the planes is the same reason Jedi mentioned, for the size of maps in SDOE, range doesn't play a big role (who really wants to fly straight and level at cruising speed for a coupla hours anyway??) The reason I do want to model them is that they would have changing weight over the course of a mission and make the FM a little more accurate.

For more information there is a site devoted to the beaufighter:
http://www.myring.demon.co.uk/beau/