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Forums Lock On Lock On: Modern Air Combat General Discussion Summary- all tips & tweaks: FPS, flyables, graph, etc.|
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Summary- all tips & tweaks: FPS, flyables, graph, etc. Below is the introductory text to the first version of this sticky: quote: I've been away for some time again. Now I've returned and found some new tweaks while browsing these forums. As promised, I tried to gather all interesting data. What you will find right now below this text, is a compilation of the original tweak thread, my original tweak thread and some new stuff. My initial post was not meant as a sticky so it was a bit messy. I tried to clean it up by adding relevant links, listing authors and indicating (with cursive) stuff that I'm 100% sure is harming the 1.02 game, instead of helping it, or is in any other way debatable. I also cleared up the layout a bit, using some of the forum code functions. Hope you'll find it even more usefull. I see some promising tweaks and mods being developed. Besides that, there are heaps of very interesting stuff out there. Because of that, I'll try to extend the sticky from tweaks only to tweaks + some "must have mods" (links + a short description). Perhaps it will help some of you decide what is really worth while and what's not. There may still be some glitches in the text. All this data wasn't gathered with a sticky thread in mind. I did my best to clean it up, but I'm not perfect. Besides that, English is not my primary language, so expect some funny errors on my part.  I have two requests: 1. If you find any errors or bogus information in this post, PM me (especially sorry if credit for a given tweak goes to somebody else; I tried my best to find authors but since I searched only through this forum I may be just giving credit to someone who posted it here, not to the original author). 2. And what's far more important, PM me if you find some interesting tweak here, on these forums, or somewhere on the net. I'm not always here to read everything, RL obligations often force me to disappear for many days. Your messages pointing me towards interesting stuff would help a lot. I'd especially appreciate information about mods posted here on Ubi, but outside this forum or outside Ubi, since chances are close to non-existant that I'll spot something myself outside the general forum. Thank you, you have control.  EDIT 10th October 2004: This thing has grown so much, that even I find myself lost in all of this sometimes. I hope that there are no dead or duplicated links. If you find any glitches in this post, please report them to me. EDIT 11th October 2004: It seems that it's getting harder and harder to navigate through all this data, because of the amount of it that piled up during last couple of weeks. A quick recap of the things found in this thread: 1. Introduction. 2. LOMAN MINI FAQ. 3. LO-MAC MINI FAQ. 4. Sig FAQ. 5. List of interesting sites: - game, game settings, missions, MP, interesting places, - how to fight and fly&how to fly and fight, - terminology and stuff, - tutorials, how-to's, walkthroughs and other stuff, - something for you F/A-18 "Hornet" fanatics. 6. Mods: - executables, - FPS improvement mods, - immersion&graphics improvement mods, - "flyable" airplanes mods, - sound mods, - cockpit mods, - various terrain mods, - other textures and files. 7. Mitch Janssen's Corner. 8. Two seater planes mods. 9. List of tips&tweaks contained in this thread. 10. Tips&tweaks. ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN LOMAN MINI FAQ I'm adding this paragraph to emphasize something very, very important, because people, even after browsing through this thread, were missing it. To play LO-MAC and to use variety of mods developed for LO-MAC you need: 1. LO-MAC. :P 2. ... (blank space put in intentionally for obvious things, such as a working computer :P ). 3. A joystick (please, buy one!). 4. Latest patch (1.02 presently). 5. LOMAN. 6. LOMAN. 7. In case you've missed it: LOMAN. Actually, I've decided to write this paragraph mainly because of people asking questions about LOMAN. If you know what it is, browse down to the "EXECUTABLES" section and download LOMAN, if you are still wondering what it is, keep reading. LOMAN is and 2in1 add-on manager and LO-MAC configurator. That's probably the shortest way of putting it. If you're thinking "I don't want to waste my time with stupid 3d party programs." or something along the same lines, STOP. I also thought for some time, that I don't need LOMAN. And I also didn't want to be bothered with installing it and learning how to use it. This is from a person who has been there, tried not using LOMAN and finally got wise enough to start using it. Install LOMAN and you'll very quickly understand how important tool it is for LO-MAC. And how we all love its author, Skypat, for it. It makes installing and managing add-on's as easy as click-n-go. It also provides smooth configuration of LO-MAC and let's you save various profiles so that you may change quickly from "touristic setup" for sight-seeing flights, to "military-setup" for MP games. You really, really want LOMAN on your hard drive. LOMAN MINI FAQ: 1. What is LOMAN? 2. LOMAN is asking me about my LOMAC folder, what do I do? 3. Where do I put my zips with add-ons? 4. What's with downloading add-ons with LOMAN? 5. What's with all those colors in the add-on section? 6. What's with all those sliders in the configuration section? 1. What is LOMAN? See above the LOMAN mini-FAQ for an answer. 2. LOMAN is asking me about my LOMAC folder, what do I do? If LOMAN can't find your LO-MAC folder on its own, you'll be prompted to supply the access path to it. Just type in whole access path to the folder where LO-MAC's main exe is located (for example: C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\). 3. Where do I put my zips with add-ons? Go to the LOMAN folder (most probably: C:\Program Files\Loman) and an "addons" folder should be visible there. You should put all your LOMAN compatibile mods there. 4. What's with downloading add-ons with LOMAN? An option exists to download some of the most popular addons directly through LOMAN, from the CheckSix site. Not all mods are there, but it sure is a good thing to direct your first steps there. You may access this option on the main LOMAN screen (left panel in the middle). 5. What's with all those colors in the add-on section? Colors indicate the status of mods. Green is for installed, yellow for partially installed, red for not installed. When you install a mod, LOMAN will put all files where they're supposed to be located, it will also backup original files and then change the mod's status to green. There are three things you should be aware of. First, sometimes mods that are not installed appear as partially installed. This is due to the fact that some mods share the same files and sometimes LOMAN gets confused by this. Second, when installing new mods over older mods, always uninstall old mod first, then install new one. This helps to keep the backup of the originals in order. One last, very specific thing consideres the CDDS setting. For most mods you should have this setting enabled (ticked), but it should sometimes be disabled for various terrain mod installs. Always consult the readme's before installing terrain mods. Some should be installed with the CDDS option enabled, some not. 6. What's with all those sliders in the configuration section? These control various graphic settings within the game. Basically it's a replication of the control panel you have in the game, so you should have no problems navigating through most of the options. There are three things however, that should attract your attention. The ability to create profiles, the ability to put in higher pre-load settings then the in-game menu let's you specify and the "Enable advanced visibility setting editing". This last option let's you control clipping (range at which objects appear) and density of various objects in the game. I'm affraid that there's no tutorial on using those advanced functions. Further in this thread you may find some info about these, but it's actually up to your machine and your preference, how you wish to set these. Note, if your LOMAC runs fine, there's no need to touch those sliders! If you want some info about the game configuration, check your manual or this site . LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN LO-MAN ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* LO-MAC MINI FAQ: 1. Why another FAQ? 2. Is it worth the money? 3. Why is it so buggy? 4. Which is the current version of LO-MAC and will there be any further patches? 5. Real minimum system requirements. 6. Recomended system requirements. 7. Ideal system requirements. 8. No CD? 9. When does the LOCK-ON conflict take place? 10. Will we get F/A-18 add-on? 11. Will we get any other western plane add-on? 12. Will we get any other add-on? 13. AI upgrade? 14. Damage model upgrade? 15. Extra countries? 16. Extra maps? 17. Dynamic campaign? 18. New FM? 19. *NEW* Is the AI really that stupid? 20. *NEW* Are the training missions working with 1.02 patch? 1. Why another FAQ? Based on what's going on in the General Forum it seems that the FAQ on the official site lacks a bit of info. This FAQ is not an attempt to replace the official FAQ. It's an attempt to cover its deficiencies. Please check the original FAQ here: http://www.lo-mac.com/faq.php . Also, read the manual. PLEASE. Bear in mind that English is not my primary language and that I'm just a gamer, not a representative of UbiSoft of ED. What I write here is based on what I've read in the forums. 2. Is it worth my money? Yes, it is. Although still buggy and lacking in several key aspects, LO-MAC is THE ultimate jet simulation presently available. It features less detailed avionics then Falcon 4.0 or FS2004, but its incredible graphics and amount of details are more then enough to satisfy anybody. Bear in mind that this is NOT an arcade game. LO-MAC features only several flyable planes, but they are equipped with quite diffrent systems and their flight models represent real flight models as close as possible. Learning curve for games such as LO-MAC is very hard, but it's very rewarding to master this game. If you liked Flanker, you should get LO-MAC. If you're into IL2 and decided that you want to fly a bit faster, you should get LO-MAC. If you're tired of mindless FPS games and want to try something challenging and new, you should get LO-MAC. But don't expect this to be easy. Bear in mind that LO-MAC is a very special kind of game and it requires a special approach. Among other things it needs a very powerfull computer and at least a joystick. 3. Why is it so buggy? ED wanted to make a perfect game. But this is real world and it takes a bit more then good wishes to achieve anything. Through a series of corporate buyouts "LO-MAC" project came under the unloving hand of UbiSoft. We have to give them credit that they did not cancel LO-MAC imediatelly after buying it. But nothing more. ED needed time to prepare more planes (and it takes a lot of time since these are realistic models, not arcade ones), dynamic campaign system, improved damage model, improved FM model and lot's of other stuff. Unfortunatelly UbiSoft regarded LO-MAC as a regular game, not a product awaited by a very special group of people. They rushed the release date and forced ED to release LO-MAC on Xmas (  ). Because of this lot's of things didn't make it to LO-MAC. We know almost for sure that the improved damage model, improved sound engine, another version of Su-25, Mig29K and F/A-18 were considered, but never got finished. The evidence is there in the game and we can only wish that UbiSoft were less ... (me thinks about putting this mildly) ... unpatient  with LO-MAC release. Does this make this game worse? Yes. Does this make this game not worthy of our attention? Definatelly not. Although the vision ED had was not realised in 100%, but it was a GREAT vision. What made it into the game still packs a hell of a punch and makes your heart go wild.4. Which is the current version of LO-MAC and will there be any further patches? Current version is 1.02. You can get latest patch here: http://www.lo-mac.com/updates.php . Although it doesn't add anything to the game (well, almost), this patch solves most problems that were the result of a rushed release. Please don't flame the forums about how bad the release version was. It was not our (readers) fault and AFAIK it wasn't ED's fault either. Direct your complaints to UbiSoft. Patch the game and it should run much better with the patch installed. There are still bugs present and sometimes the lack of the features that didn't make it is more then noticeable, but overall it's a great game. If you have a problem with LO-MAC you can't solve yourself, ask a constructive question. We'll help. Game runs fine for vast majority of the people gathered here. Sometimes it's just a question of finding the right drivers, to make it work for you too. As for any further patches with UbiSoft's support gone it may not happen, but ED are still thinking about a possible 1.03 patch. This would be final patch and its only purpose would be to fix bugs that were left after 1.02. No additional features are planned to come along with that patch. Please uninstall your game before patching, make a clean 1.00 install and then patch it directly with patch 1.00to1.02. It's the best way to avoid many problems with LO-MAC!! 5. Real minimum system requirements. What's there in the official FAQ are REALLY REALLY REALLY minimum system requirements. I've been playing LO-MAC for a long time and I've been reading these forums since its release. What you'll see here is based partially on my experience and partially on what I've read in the forums. You may run LO-MAC on a slower system. But you really don't want to. Anything less requires quite a lot of tweaking. With this you'll be able to run LO-MAC with medium settings. AMD 2500+ Barton or Intel Pentium IV 2,40GHZ up to date motherboard 512 MB of DDRAM nVidia GeForce 5700 or ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (with at least 128 MB RAM) 7200 RPM ATA 133 HDD up to date 8.1 DX compatibile sound card (separate, not built in!) joystick 6. Recomended system requirements. I have a system similar to what you see above so what you'll see here is based mostly on what I've read on the forums. With hardware recomended here you should be able to run LO-MAC with most settings maxed. AMD 3000+ Barton or Intel Pentium IV 3GHZ up to date motherboard 1024 MB of DDRAM nVidia GeForce 6800 or ATI Radeon 9800Pro (with at least 128 MB RAM) 7200 RPM SATA 150 HDD (prefferably 2 HDD's in RAID0 configuration) SB Audigy2 joystick (prefferably HOTAS like Saitek X-45) 7. Ideal system requirements. How should I know? Just don't start another thread about it!8. No CD? With the 1.02 patch you no longer have to keep the CD in the drive. 9. When does the LOCK-ON conflict take place? Official FAQ states that LOCK-ON timeframe is somewhere near mid 90'ties. This is not totally true. Actuall time frame (based on weapons, systems and planes) puts LO-MAC somewhere between 1960 and 1990, but only period of time when most modelled units were in use is somewhere near mid 80'ties. At the same time political timeframe seems to be past early 90'ties. With all that in mind please assume that LO-MAC's time frame is entirely fictional and don't ask why something is and why something isn't modelled. Some things were left out because of the rushed release, some things were left out for gameplay's sake, some things were left out for improved realism (like the R-27AE  ). With the platforms and weapons modelled we have a fair chance of simulating mid 80'ties conflict but most user-written scenarios are based in the near future (2005-2008) and feature some nice little fictional conflict.10. Will we get a F-15D or F-14 add-on? No. Nein. Nie. Niet. LO-MAC is as realistic as it can get. F-15D and F-14 are two seater planes which require second person to operate onboard weapon systems. LO-MAC only features UI for one person per airplane and this limits possible flyable airplane list to single seater's only. There's a limited possibility that such functionality will be included in future ED products and perhaps then such planes will be added. Right now the only way you may fly two seater's in LO-MAC is by model swapping and some file editing (Check below for a mod by britgliderpilot, featuring Su-30KM and F-15D. These however are not real, full fledged models.). 11. Will we get any other western plane add-on (like F/A-18)? No. Nein. Nie. Niet. UbiSoft refused to support LO-MAC and since UbiSoft holds the rights to the title (but not the game code, so we may expect future games from ED based on LO-MAC's code!) no other firm may support LO-MAC. LO-MAC's distribution was divided and two firms took care of the distribution. One was UbiSoft, responsible for the western release and another was 1C, responsible for eastern release. UbiSoft has no interest in LO-MAC so a west orientated add-on probably is not going to happen. 12. Will we get any other add-on? Previously mentioned eastern publisher of LO-MAC still supports it. This means that there'll be an add-on but since it's primarily marketed for Russia it'll feature only Russian airplanes. Recent news show that it'll probably be upgraded version of Su-25 and perhaps Ka-50 Hokum (Yes, a helicopter!). Besides those flyables, it's quite possible that the add-on will include some features that initially didn't make it to LO-MAC. Most probably this will mean improved avionics, improved flight model and improved damage model. UbiSoft will not be distributing this add-on in the West. However, all is not lost. Dev's from ED revealed that all their products are primarily written in English and that the add-on, even though aimed for Russian market, will be compatibile with western versions of the game. Furthermore, although there will be no normal shop distribution (because UbiSoft holds the rights to LO-MAC and 1C can't distribute add-on on UbiSoft's terrain), ED plans to open an on-line shop with a possibilty to order games by mail. This way UbiSoft rights won't be harmed and we'll still get our add-on anyway. 13. AI upgrade? Not likely. It's not going to happen with remotely possible 1.03 patch and probably won't happen with the add-on either. It is however possible that new AI routines will be added in the future ED product based on LO-MAC code. 14. Damage model upgrade? Not happening with remotely possible 1.03 patch. It's however quite possible that it will happen with the add-on (aswell as improved FM and avionics). 15. Extra countries? Rumors about India, Pakistan and several other countries but it seems that these are just rumors. 16. Extra maps? Not even rumors about that. Even if it happens it will most probably mean further upgrades to the existing Crimea map. 17. Dynamic campaign? Perhaps with the add-on, but for now it's only a rumor. There is however a dynamic campaign project on the way, started by a member of this gaming community. This project looks very promising and it may well turn out to be a very good campaign system. If it works well, perhaps it could be incorporated with the add-on but... that's just my wish for dynamic campaign in LO-MAC. 18. New FM? Same thing. Not going to happen with the 1.03 patch (if the 1.03 patch happens anyway). Perhaps new FM will be introduced with the Su-25&Ka-50 add-on. 19. *NEW* Is the AI really that stupid? Yes and no. There's no denying it. This is probably the biggest problem of this game. AI is not overly inteligent. Actually, it really has a tendency to act stupid. However, it's not absolutelly stupid. Those AI planes really put up a fight. Problem is, they not always do what's expected of them. Because of this, you have to learn AI limitations before using them extensively. Use the forum's search function to find out what you can and can't do with the AI. Diffrent set of rules applies for your wingmen, diffrent for other AI flights. We are not too happy about the AI, but it can be put to good use and with proper usage, you can build missions up to 4 h long, without the AI performing some totally stupid stunts. It really is possible. I built such a mission myself. 20. *NEW* Are the training missions working with 1.02 patch? Yes. There's even one additional mission not mentioned in the menu. Check below for info how to activate this mission. ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* Sig FAQ: 1. Why a sig FAQ? 2. Basics of forum's code (and why do you need it). 3. Sig and avatar specifications. 4. How to make a sig or an avatar? 5. Where can I set my sig and avatar? 6. How do I set my avatar? 7. How do I set my sig? 1. Why a sig FAQ? I've decided to add one, because people constantly ask questions about it on the forum. 2. Basics of forum's code (and why do you need it). What you see on the pages of this forum is plain, normal html. However, underneath, it is suplemented by some JAVA applets. Thanks to those applets we may communicate with this forum's sofware. We can not write those pages in html. Forum's software does, interpreting what's being written on the forum and transforming it into html. Although we can not use html tags, forum's sofware enables us to use diffrent tags that let us access functions similar to those which we might use if we could write our posts in html. Most basic tag's are as follows: - bold text: to achieve that you need to put letter "B" (without the "") between two brackets "[" and "]", write the text you want to bold and then input same "B" in brackets, but this time "B" has to be preceeded by an "/" sign. This gives you such effect: To be, or not to be... - cursive: it's the same as with bolding the text, you only have to replace "B" with an "I", the rest is exactly the same, - quoting: quoting lets you specify a part of text that will be moved a bit to the right and put between lines, to distinguish it from the rest of the text; again, you have to use brackets, but this time the word "QUOTE" has to be but between them, instead of "B" or "I", - making a list: making a list is a bit trickier, you start and end it same as the above, but using the word "LIST" between the brackets, however you must mark each item in the list with "*" put between brackets, - posting an e-mail: same as "B" or "I", put "EMAIL" in brackets, then write your e-mail repeat "EMAIL" in brackets but with the "/" sign in front of second "EMAIL" tag, - posting images: exactly the same as e-mail, but the code word is "IMG" and you have to supply a link to an image, instead of your e-mail, - posting links: you may post links directly, or you may post links and hide them under diffrent names; to do that, you have to put "URL=" between two brackets and type in the required adress after "=" mark, then you may write the name of the link after the right bracket and when you're done, close the tag with "/URL" between two brackets. You may combine diffrent tags to achieve various effects. To combine tags you always have to put all starting tags in front of the text and then all closing tags (those with "/") at the end of the text you desire to change. For example, an e-mail written in bold and cursive: johnsmith@server.org Here are the examples of things I've told you about, but with "()" instead of the "[" and "]". (B)I want this text to be bold.(/B) (URL=http://www.this.is.not.a.real.adress] Here is the title for this stupid link(/URL) (B)(I) Bold and cursive at the same time (/I) (/B) (QUOTE) I want to quote this text. It doesn't matter if the closing sign is in the same line. You may put it anywhere below and the forum's software will use it to close the quote. Same applies to other tags. (/QUOTE) (LIST) This is a list of items: (*) I'm an item. (/LIST) (EMAIL)johnsmith@server.org(/EMAIL) (IMG)http://republika.pl/escar/la.jpg(/IMG) Put in here with proper brackets, these give following effects: I want this text to be bold. Here is the title for this stupid link Bold and cursive at the same time quote:
johnsmith@server.org You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all that in a FAQ about sigs. First of all, you'll soon find out that using forum's code is a must. Second, you need it to create your own sig. 3. Sig and avatar specifications. There is a forum rule limiting the sizes of avatars (thos little pictures that people have on the left top side of their posts) and the sigs. There are two reasons for that. Each image adds to the amount of data you have to download to view a given page. Besides that, pictures may streatch the forum so much, that it becomes too hard to read it, because you have to scroll not only up and down, but also left and right. Avatar may have a maximum size of 64x64 pixels and a sig may have a maximum size of 400x150 pixels. One pixel is one dot on your screen. Each picture has a specified number of dots that make up such picture, the maximum amount of dots lined up vertically is the height of the picture, the maximum amount of dots lined up horizontally is the lenght of the picture. 64x64 pixels means that the maximum height and lenght of the avatar can not excede 64x64 dots. Same goes for the sig, but with sig the limits are 400 and 150 dots. You have to use your picture editing software to determine those values and resize your pictures accordingly. If you still don't understand what a pixel is or if you don't have any picture editing software, or you have, but you don't know how to use it, you may always ask people in the General Forum to make you a sig and an avatar. There are lots of people there willing to help you. 4. How to make a sig or an avatar? Use any picture editing sofware you like. Picture format maybe gif, jpg, bmp, etc. However bitmaps and animated gifs take a lot of time to load, so it would be very nice of you to just make regular jpg pictures and use them as your avatar and sig. If you don't know anything about picture editing or if you have no software to do it, you may always ask people in the General Forum to make you a sig and an avatar. There are lots of people there willing to help you. 5. Where can I set my sig and avatar? To set your sig and avatar you must log in and then scroll to the top of the page. From the list of menus you must choose "My Space" and then "Profile". This will take you to the page where you may set not only your avatar and sig, but also control various other options. 6. How do I set my avatar? There's a line of text there "Avatar / Picture URL: " with a field on the right. Paste the link to your avatar picture there. You must upload it somewhere on the web, so that it is available. There's no use specifiying a location on your hard drive. Other people will not be able to access it and they won't be able to see your avatar. Further more, when you upload the picture to some site on the web, make sure that this site allows outside connections. If it doesn't, the avatar will not appear. You may also name your avatar. To do that, you have to input the name in a field next to the line that states: "Avatar Name: ". 7. How do I set my sig? On the bottom of the "Profile" page there's a line "Signature: " with a box next to it. Inside this box you may write your signature. If it's supposed to be text only, then all you have to do is to write what you desire. However most people not only like to write something there, but they also want to put in a sig picture and often a link to their home page or their system's specs. This is when forum's code kicks in. Using what you've learned above, you may customize your sig so that it fits your desires. What you'll put in there, it's up to your imagination. However, there's a limit on how many letters you may use, so your full CV will not fit. Here's how my sig looks like from the "inside" (I have to use "(" and ")" instead of "[" and "]", because otherwise forum's software would interpret the tags and you would just see my sig, the way it usually looks like): Without comments: Jan "Escar" Hytry Out from the shadows for a longer time.Smbd lend me some sun block. (img)http://republika.pl/escar/lf.jpg(/img) (URL=http://republika.pl/escar/lomac.htm)My missions(/URL) (URL=http://republika.pl/escar/specs.htm)System specs(/URL) With comments: Jan "Escar" Hytry <- just my name in plain text, no tags. Out from the shadows for a longer time.Smbd lend me some sun block. <- a sentence reffering to the fact that I refrained myself from writing anything here for a long time, again, no tags.(img)http://republika.pl/escar/lf.jpg(/img) <- this is a link to a picture of a Polish flag you see in my sig, without the tags you'd only see this link, with the tags you see a picture. (URL=http://republika.pl/escar/lomac.htm)My missions(/URL) <- this is a link to my LO-MAC's webpage, again, without the tags you'd only see this link, with the tags you see a title "My missions" which looks much better then a bare link. (URL=http://republika.pl/escar/specs.htm)System specs(/URL) <- same as above, but this time a link to my system's specs; it's good to put in an extra space after last character used in the sig, this helps alot when quoting somebody on the forums, because ... well, you'll see why. If you want to see how my sig looks like with tags working, scroll down to the end of this post. WHEN YOU FINISH SETTING UP EVERYTHING ON THE "PROFILE" PAGE BE SURE TO CLICK THE "SUBMIT" BUTTON, OTHERWISE ALL YOUR INPUTS WILL BE LOST! ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* A LIST OF USEFUL LINKS TO VARIOUS WEBSITES: ACM, TACTICS, MISSIONS, HOW-TO's, WALKTHROUGHS AND STUFF IN LOMAC (links gathered by Escar) ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* GAME, GAME SETTINGS, MISSIONS, MP, INTERESTING PLACES: LockOn's Graphic Settings - explanation of graphic settings in LOMAC by Chizh from ED, translated by EvilBivol-1. Lockon and firewalls - a LOCK-ON&FIREWALL tutorial by Susto with comments written by members of this forum. Kicking HyperLobby up a notch - Hyperlobby hosting "tutorial", written by members of this forum (content related). HyperLobby hosting - another HyperLobby hosting (and connecting) "tutorial", written by members of this forum (settings related). V1.02 Missions - MadDogMcQ's mission request thread; you need a mission, contact this guy. Lots of campaigns and missions - single player mission pack by finiteless. Campaigns to download - a thread containing some links to sites with campaigns. Places of interest - interesting places to visit and interesting places to bomb and where to find them on the LO-MAC's map. Where to find missions - more webpages full of missions. HOW TO FIGHT AND FLY&HOW TO FLY AND FIGHT: The Ironhand Site - Ladies and Gentelmen, I give you, the very BEST ever Flanker&LO-MAC tutorial site and the best tutorial-man! Thank you, you have control. (other important tutorials are mirrored here too!) Wags' BVR Survival Guide - imagine that, guide written by THE MAN himself. Combat Maneuvres - a set of couple of pages with good pictures showing basics of ACM. Air Combat - a site by Dan "Crash" Crenshaw, lessons on How to Live and Die in the Virtual Sky. Aircraft Maneuvers - seems the same as Combat Maneuvres website. Missing Missiles - By Ryan "Kosmo" Cowley The Moose Squadron Academy - yet another page about ACM and brevity codes. Training - another site with lot's of stuff about ACM, a much longer read then the "Combat Maneuvres" site. Beaming, missile evasion.head on engagements... - written by members of this forum. Su-33 F-pole tactics - written by members of this forum. Landing "tutorial" - written by members of this forum. ECM in Lock On Vs F4 - ECM "tutorial", written by members of this forum. How to use bomb CCIP on su33 and su33 payloads - a bombing "tutorial", written by members of this forum. A-10 A2G tactics and using your wingman - instructions how to fly the Hog and how to use your wingman in A2G missions, written by members of this forum. TERMINOLOGY AND STUFF: Phonetic Alphabets of the World - whiskey-hotel-alpha-tango tango-hotel-echo tango-india-tango-lima-echo sierra-alpha-yankee-sierra. Air Combat Corner Library from SimHQ: AirCombat Zone Military Slang AFRL Acronym Dictionary - pretty selfexplanatory title. :P TUTORIALS, HOW-TO's, WALKTHROUGHS AND OTHER STUFF: Mission Editor Tutorial - simple introduction with pictures. Mission Editor Tutorial: Seasons in LOMAC - simple explanation how to set time, day and season in LO-MAC, written by members of this forum. Mission Editor Tutorial: Mission Goals screen - overview of the Mission Goals screen in Mission Editor, written by members of this forum. TrackIR with LO-MAC after patch 1.02 - thread dealing with TrackIR problems that appeared after patch 1.02 was released. Questions and answers about flying in LOMAC- a bunch of N00b questions with answers, written by members of this forum. LOMAC's checklists and maps - a must have, really. And now something for you F/A-18 "Hornet" fanatics: Technetguru: F/A-18 "Hornet" Skybolter 3D ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* BEFORE YOU GO FURTHER DOWN, FIRST READ THE LIST OF FILES, PROGRAMS AND MODS IN THIS PARAGRAPH. SOME OF THE TWEAKS MENTIONED IN THIS THREAD CAN BE AUTOMATICALLY ACHIEVED BY INSTALLING WHAT YOU'LL FIND BELOW. SOME THINGS MAY BE ACHIEVED ONLY BY INSTALLING THESE FILES. THERE ARE ALSO SOME MODS MENTIONED HERE THAT WERE OK FOR 1.00 OR 1.01, BUT ARE ABSOLUTE NO-GO FOR 1.02. SO R-E-A-D THIS PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER. ALL FPS MODS LISTED ARE OK FOR SIMULTANEOUS USE UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE. BELOW THE MAIN PART YOU'LL FIND DETAILED LIST OF MOST POPULAR AND MOST INTERESTING ADD-ON'S AVAILABLE. READ IT. IT MAY SERVE AS A GOOD GUIDE THROUGH TONS OF STUFF YOU MAY CHOOSE FROM!: ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* MODS IN DEVELOPEMENT ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* PARTIALLY READY AND AVAILABLE: JLockOn by TheRealFlike - JAVA utility for viewing instruments on a second computer by TheRealFlike. Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. Crimea Frosty Winter by D-Scythe - great winter terrain mod, still in beta and under developement but already looking incredibly (beware, instalation procedure is a bit tricky!! check out the tips&tweaks section before attempting instalation!). Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. "SkyWars" Dynamic Campaign by SwingKid - a dynamic campagin engine in early developement, but already showing great promise; supposedly based on early Falcon 3.0 dynamic campaign. Check out this link and this thread for more information. NOT YET AVAILABLE: Pixelshaders in LO-MAC by OV-Fellblade - an attempt to rewrite pixelshaders in LO-MAC to make them less CPU&GPU demanding; if this attempt is succesful, it may very well replace many other FPS improvement tweaks and mods. Also check out this and this thread for more details. "JJ-Alpha's Mod" by... JJ-Alpha - a long awaited mod which will bring Mig29K and Su-25UTG (carrier capable, upgraded version of Su-25) to LO-MAC. Country, Weapon & Plane Mod by HungaroJET - another long awaited mod, this one is supposed to bring many new countries, weapon loadout configurations and new "flyable" airplanes to LO-MAC (Tornado IDS, F-4E, etc.). Su-25UB/Su-25UTG mod by britgliderpilot - another of BGP's airplane mods, looks veeery promising. F/A-18A VFA-204 River Rattler mod by Bananimal1 - another F/A-18A mod. ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* MODS ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* ************************************************************************************* EXECUTABLES: LOTU 2.0 by deBug67 - Utility to enable outside views in recorded tracks (and more). Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. LONG AWAITED 1.02 PATCH by ED - you need this to play on-line and to improve game stabilty. Click here for the thread about this file. LoMan 2.1 FINAL by SkyPat - A REAL MUST HAVE, if you don't like any add-on managers, think again, you have to download this program, it's the ultimate way to manage your LOCK-ON add-on's. Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. Lomcoopmisgen 1.10 by LomacFan - CO-OP mission generator for LO-MAC. Click here for the thread about this file. Lomisgen 1.11 by LomacFan - single player mission generator for LO-MAC. Click here for the thread about this file. LOBrief 1.1 by nicoleon - a utility for creating great flightplans, target descriptions and such. Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. LOPE 1.01 by Unknown - excelent pylon loadout editor, you can add extra weapons or edit current weapon loadouts. Click here for the thread about this file. LMR 1.0 beta 10 by TPN_Shadow - LockON 3rd Party Mission Randomizer. Click here for the thread about this file. LOMU 0.9b by Caretaker - LO-MAC mission utility, helps with many editor's deficiencies. Click here for the thread about this file. HyperLobby by Jiri Fojtasek - best program for MP games, it's easy, it's good, it's free and most LO-MAC people fly on Hyperlobby servers. Click here for the thread about this file. TeamSpeak by Dominating Bytes Design - ultimate communications utility, get a microphone for your PC and start taking part in "radio chatter". Click here for the thread about this file. FPS IMPROVEMENT MODS: No Scratches Canopy by Escar - this mod removes weird looking canopy scratches letting you use canopy lift-lines without such significant FPS drop. Click here for the thread about this file. Overcast Med-Res replacement graphics v.3 by Bobocop - great mod vastly improving FPS with overcast (Med-Res version). Click here for the thread about this file. Overcast Low-Res replacement graphics v.3 by Bobocop - great mod vastly improving FPS with overcast (Low-Res version). Click here for the thread about this file. Flare FPS improvement by Gryzor22x - great mod that fixes the slowdown caused by pixelshaders used for flare's effects. Unfortunatelly the efect don't look that well anymore. This mod basically removes Flare.psh, Flare.vsh, FlareTrail.psh and FlareTrail.vsh. Click here for the thread about this file. FFB DISABLE MOD - automatically disables FF which increases FPS. IMMERSION&GRAPHICS IMPROVEMENT MODS: Cloud MOD v1.0 by mitch_janssen - excelent mod for better looking, white, puffy clouds, no FPS hit. Click here for the thread about this file. Fast-overcast_v31-high_mod - addition to the Overcast low/med V3.1 by BoboCop; this puts the "fade to horizon" back in, costing a bit FPS but wastly improving eye-candy (WARNING, INSTALL AFTER "Overcast low or med V3.1 by BoboCop"!!!!). Click here for the thread about this file. Cloud Overcast MOD V.II by mitch_janssen - totally incredible mod replacing stock overcast textures with new ones that look absolutelly astonishing, it's not meant as an FPS improvement mod, so I'm not posting it in the "FPS" section, however it does influence FPS a little. WARNING: To my best knowledge this mod is not compatibile with Bobocop's Overcast Mods and should be installed separatelly. I may be wrong though, but it seems like it. Click here for the thread about this file. Sun&Ambient Light Color Adjustment by Oxyd - another not strictly FPS related mod, but nevertheless and incredible mod changing LO-MAC appearance completely by modifying temperature of colors used in the game; if you think that colors in LO-MAC are a bit off, try this mod. Click here for the tread about this file. Low Water Mod by memmco - one of many mods providing better looking textures for low level water setting, no FPS hit. (EDIT: Sometimes this texture doesn't install properly with LO-MAN. If the water turns black just install the file manually by placing unzipped bmp in the C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\TempTextures folder. ) Click here for the thread about this file. New Sea Texture Bitmap by memmco - another sea texture by memmco, this one without the nasty tile effect. Click here for the thread about this file. Several low-res water mods by mitch_janssen - water set to low looks ugly, but with those mods you can reduce ugliness to a bearable level. Click here for the thread about those files. This was the list of must-have executables, all must-have FPS related and FPS "more or less" related mods with some extra mods that correct general graphic's ugliness of the game. Following is the list of mods that used to be FPS improvement mods but with 1.02 patch are a NO GO: Explosion FPS improvement V1.0 by Hornet1a - slight improvement, with 8 cluster bombs dropped at once the diffrence was 9-2 FPS without this mod and 9-5 FPS with this mod, but the smoke looks really worse with this mod! This mod basically removes smokeparticle.vsh, Particle2Lights.vsh, ParticleNoLights.vsh, SmokeParticle.vsh. Greb's Explosion Pack V1.1 by Greb - MAJOR NO-GO, don't install: prior to install I had no stutter even with 8 clusters dropped (the FPS went down seconds later because of the smoke, but no stutter!), with this mod there was 1 FPS stutter for 1-2 seconds! DON'T INSTALL. Greb sound pack full option 1 FPS issue V2.0 by Greb - with 1.02 I have no stutters while strafing so I choose not to install this one. These were the FPS related mods and FPS mods related mods. But there are many more add-on's that are not FPS related yet improve the immersion greatly. I'm not going to go through them in so much detail as with the above mods (especially skins, these are everybody's personal preference and besides, there are so many of them, that it would take a couple of days to sort and rate them). Below is the list of files that seem to be most popular and which I too find most interesting. Hopefully this list will help you choose among tons of mods that fill LO-MAC related sites. NOTE: All of the above files may be installed simultaneously (exception: low and med overcast mod, only one may be installed) and all of the above files have no conflict with the files listed below. However, some files listed below may cause conflicts with other files listed below, for example especially sound mods, terrain mods and "flyable airplanes" mods! Most files (and much more) listed below or above are available on: Check-Six (Lock-On section, look for the link in the left menu) and BiohazCentral : "FLYABLE" AIRPLANES MODS: "Flyable" airplanes mods - a group of mods that swap skins and weapon loadouts of various planes enabling you to fly Su-39, F/A-18 Hornet, Su-30mkI. Flyable F-5 and Mirage V.1.5 - a heavily updated mod making F-5 and Mirage "flyable" with the use of Mig29's and Su27's FM's. Click here for the thread about this file. | Click here for the thread about this file. Flyable F-16 mod - an F-16 mod by US_Marine1, with Mig29 FM but all weapons included (AGM-88, AGM-45, CBU-97 mer* 2, Mk-82, Mk-83, Mk-84, Aim-120c, Aim-9) and operational on their proper pylons. Click here for the thread about this file. Flyable F-16 mod V.2 - upgrade of the same thing. Click here for the tread about this file. Flyable Su-30 mod - an Su-30 mod by US_Marine1, replacing the Su-27 in the game and bringing you one of the best Su-30 mods, with all proper weapons on their proper pylons. Click here and here for threads related to this mod. F/A-18C, F-16C, Su-30 multi pack - a multipack by US_Marine1, containing all previous aircrafts he did with F/A-18C Hornet as an extra, install this and you'll get all things included in previous mods and more. Click here and here for threads related to this mod. SOUND MODS: ZZZspace's Soundpack ver 6.1 - ZZZspace's Soundpack which replaces default LO-MAC sounds with a new, great sounds collection, improving the immersion greatly (best ever, a must have!!!). Click here for the thread about this file. Archers complete soundpack - another popular soundpack, I myself prefer ZZZspace's soundpack. COCKPIT MODS: LOMAC Snap-views config - config that changes default snapviews settings to more user-friendly ones. Posts: 621 | Registered: Sun May 09 2004 | |
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SECOND POST CONTAINS: ROTATING CAMERA TWEAK BY KATO_217 CATALYST & NVIDIA'S DIGITAL VIBRANCE BY RON533 MOUSE COCKPIT VIEW ENABLE TWEAK BY RANGERKARL CHECK-SIX VIEW TWEAK BY TEKATEKA JITTERY CAMERA MOVEMENT OFF BY DEFAULT AGAIN TWEAK BY MAPMAKERDES MP SAM&AA FRIENDLYFIRE WORKAROUND BY CALI_169TH TRANSPARENT PLANE'S TEXTURES FIX BY HOOKER_ECV56 (with comments from other people) CONNECTION SPEEDS FOR 1.02 BY JOKER ACL (with comments from other people) VOICES RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH TWEAK BY JASON_PETERS (with comments from other people) MULTIPLAYER ETIQUETTE BY TIMBO-JONES (with comments from other people) HELO'S ON NEUSTRASHMY & CH-53, AH-1 ON CVN-70 FIX BY BRIT_RADAR_DUDE (with comments from other people) SECOND HELO'S ON NEUSTRASHMY & CH-53, AH-1 ON CVN-70 FIX THREAD BY BRIT_RADAR_DUDE (with comments from other people) MISSILE LABES ONLY TWEAK BY DIGITOXIN (with comments from other people) RANDOMIZING GROUND UNITS POSITION "TWEAK" BY IRONHAND (with comments from other people) COCKPIT CD-PLAYER TWEAK BY TGRAND (with comments from other people) ENABLING SNAP VIEWS BY HABU_69 POSSIBLE FREEZE FIX THROUGH HARDWARE ACCELERATION REDUCTION BY CALI_169TH (with comments from other people) LABELS DISTANCE TWEAK BY MEMCCO "FIX" FOR PADLOCK NOT WORKING BY PRAVDA101 MULTIPLAYER SERVER SETTINGS BY SLAMMIN_ (with comments from other people) LMA (6) "SELFDEFENCE MODE" TWEAK BY ESCAR ACCIDENTAL SMOKE TRIGGERING FIX BY ESCAR NIGHT VISION "TWEAK" THROUGH DRIVER SETTING BY HAWG11 NIGHT VISION "TWEAK" BY ESCAR HOW TO INSTALL TERRAIN TEXTURES BY D-SCYTHE (based on the install of his Crimea Frosty Winter Textures Mod) CRACKLING SOUND FIX BY SEAFURY1 FIX FOR PILOTS SEATING TOO LOW BY FINITELESS (with comments from other people) TDC SPEED TWEAK BY DIRK98 (with comments from other people) SB-LIVE USERS WITH TS ISSUE WORKAROUND BY 169TH_MOOSE (with comments from other people) BIG FPS IMPROVEMENT (MEMORY RELATED) BY JEFX (with comments from other people) CLOUD DISAPPEARING IN 1.02 FIX BY FINITELESS FOV/ZOOM LOCKING IN 1.02 BY CHRISWARREN (with comments from other people) FIX FOR POP-UP IN FOG BY JASON_PETERS WATER EXPLOSION FPS FIX BY JARHEAD_VMFA (with comments from other people) PASSWORD FOR DECLASSIFYING STOCK CAMPAIGNS IN LOCK-ON SUPPLIED BY DROPZONE3K FIX FOR A-10 BLACK (NOT WORKING) TVM SCREEN BY BIGGESTPIG TWO VERSIONS OF LO-MAC ON ONE DISC BY IRONHAND HOW TO MAKE F-111 FLYABLE TWEAK BY DJH001 (with comments from other people) TIPS & TRICKS THREAD BY Razor_87FIS (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* ROTATING CAMERA TWEAK BY KATO_217 ************************************************************************************* Karo_217 wrote: Yep - see below: http://blueangels.behindschedule.com/ScreenShot_175b.jpg You need to do two things: 1) Use the F2 view, then use "Shift-Esc" to rotate the camera about the camera axis rather than the default view center. 2) Edit View.lua (found in your Lock on/Config/View folder) to say "CameraTerrainRestriction = false" The camera view tilts by default as a result of the view angle. (Look at the "level" of the concrete in the screenshot above). Dynamo01 said... "That reminds me guys, can you make a camera angle like at the bottom of the nose looking back towards the landing gear to watch the gear retract..." Absolutely - You can put the F4 camera wherever you want to get shots like these: http://blueangels.behindschedule.com/ScreenShot_142b.jpg or http://blueangels.behindschedule.com/ScreenShot_134b.jpg Later ************************************************************************************* CATALYST & NVIDIA'S DIGITAL VIBRANCE BY RON533 ************************************************************************************* Ron533 wrote: A bit off topic, but it affects both gaming and work with your pc. for a long time now Nvidia has a built in feature in their driver called "Digital Vibrance" or "Color correction" (originaly external driver tweak called "Nvmax")which in a short slider move enriches your screen colors beyond belief. it affects both desktop applications (e.g. pictures, regular folders etc') and games making them look way more vivid with deeper colors. since I'm a new owner of a Radeon graphic card after a long time with Nvidia, my sim's run faster now but looks DULL!!! and I can't get use to it - this feature is really missed once you've seen it and got use to it. no tweaking with gamma/colors or whatever got me a result even near the outcome of that amazing driver feature. (Nvidia owners - try it on and off and tell me if that's true or what... )first,if anyone knows about a Radeon tweak that can deliver - let us know... if anyone knows how to build/program one-the better! I hope someone at ATI will put it in their next driver release. (I understand they know about the demand for something similar in their driver but still no results). if you have other ideas - you're wellcome (If you've reached here - thanks for reading) ************************************************************************************* MOUSE COCKPIT VIEW ENABLE TWEAK BY RANGERKARL ************************************************************************************* RangerKarl wrote: Go to ***\Lock On\Config\View and look for cockpit.lua. Open it up with Notepad and edit CockpitMouse = false to CockpitMouse = true . ************************************************************************************* CHECK-SIX VIEW TWEAK BY TEKATEKA ************************************************************************************* TekaTeka wrote: Another LUA tweak is here.  You can change the check-six view (F4) camera position. First, you edit Config\View\view.lua to remove the restriction so that the camera can go low when you are on the ground. Edit the line CameraTerrainRestriction = true to CameraTerrainRestriction = false Next, you edit Config\View\chase.lua. Original settings are r[1] = p[1] - 3.7 r[2] = p[2] + 2.4 r[3] = 0.0 When you want to undo the tweak, return to these values. These numbers are the dimensions from the pilot's head to the camera in meters. r[1] = p[1] + #.# : Positive=Forward, Negative=Backward r[2] = p[2] + #.# : Positive=Upward, Negative=Downward r[3] = #.# : Positive=Left, Negative=Right Ok, there are 3 examples I made. TYPE 1: REALISTIC http://img2.exs.cx/img2/4695/CheckSixType1.jpg r[1] = p[1] - 0.5 r[2] = p[2] + 0.6 r[3] = 0.0 This is the nearest to the pilot's head position. TYPE 2: NOSE MOUNTED http://img2.exs.cx/img2/2511/CheckSixType2.jpg r[1] = p[1] + 12.0 r[2] = p[2] + 2.0 r[3] = 0.0 This is the opposite of the chase view (Ctrl-F4). You see the entire aircraft from before backward. It will look good in combination with the camera jiggle (Shift-J). TYPE 3:"TOP GUN" STYLE http://img2.exs.cx/img2/4876/CheckSixType3.jpg LEFT SIDE r[1] = p[1] + 1.0 r[2] = p[2] - 1.5 r[3] = 3.0 RIGHT SIDE r[1] = p[1] + 1.0 r[2] = p[2] - 1.5 r[3] = - 3.0 No need to explain.  Very cool!I hope you like the tweak. TekaTeka from Japan ************************************************************************************* JITTERY CAMERA MOVEMENT OFF BY DEFAULT AGAIN TWEAK BY MAPMAKERDES ************************************************************************************* mapmakerdes wrote: i found it, its under the config\view directory in a file called chase.lua .. change the true to false.. Iam completely happy again ************************************************************************************* MP SAM&AA FRIENDLYFIRE WORKAROUND BY CALI_169TH ************************************************************************************* Cali_169th wrote: We had this problem in the 169th server as well. We found out the cause, it happened when you switched sides without exiting the whole game. Try to exit the game back to hyper lobby and then rejoin on the other side. That fixed it for us hope it helps you guys. ************************************************************************************* TRANSPARENT PLANE'S TEXTURES FIX BY HOOKER_ECV56 (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* hOOker_ECV56 wrote: Maj_Burner: Try this, it works for me!!!! You´ll need CDDSBrowser and a photoeditor. Just extract the textures of the F-18 with the CDDSBrowser, open it with Photoshop or any other photoeditor and save it in the same format. Insert the saved textures with the CDDSBrowser and that´s it.... i know it look odd... but works perfect for me. You can download CDDSBrowse from CheckSix. Rds awtkast wrote: Here is my post from the http://www.simhq.com Lock On forums: Can anyone tell me why this happens and what the remedy for it is? I was able to find mention of it on the forum using the search, but no apparent explanation (except a guess that it might be caused by z-buffering) and no clear "what to do about it". Thanks. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/awtkast01/LOMAC/LOMACScreenShot_001.jpg http://mywebpages.comcast.net/awtkast01/LOMAC/LOMACScreenShot_000.jpg http://mywebpages.comcast.net/awtkast01/LOMAC/LOMACScreenShot_002.jpg The consensus seems to be that it is due to the video card. I will let you know when I get a new video card if that resolved it. @ hOOker_ECV56: All you did was open the files in Photoshop and save them and then put them back? This solved the problem for you? I would like to try that. Where are the skins located? I have LOMAN v2. It has a CDDS browser, but where do I get the skins from? Could you give us a file path please? Thank you.[/ hOOker_ECV56 wrote: OK, sorry for the short answer before.... i´ll try to explain it better this time. Fisrt you´ll need the CDDSBrowser. If you have LOMAN, you already have it. If you don´t, download from http://www.checksix-fr.com/ (The site is in french... i don´t know squad about french, but i found it... just look in the Top 10 Downloads). Install the program and run it. You have to configure 2 lines: CDDS File Patth: G:\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\World\WorldTexturesTGA.cdds or wherever you install lomac. Export/Import Patch: Select where you want to save the exported/imported file. The key here is to open the file WorldTexturesTGA.cdds with the CDDSBrowser. Inside the WorldTexturesTGA.cdds just look for all the F/A 18 textures. They start with F-18A-*******.TGA. You have to extract one by one. Just select the texture from the list, and hit EXTRACT. Change the output format to TGA and then hit EXTRACT. Now you have a TGA file in the folder that you configure in the Export/Import Path. Open this TGA file with any photoeditor (i use Photoshop) and save it, without modifing anything!!!! Just open it, and then save it in the same location and with the exact same name!!!!!! Now back to the CDDS Browser... after you save the TGA file, select the same texture from the list and hit INSERT. Remember to change the format to TGA in the next screen and after this INSTER again. That´s it.... works like a champ for me... i know it´s a lot of work, but the F-18 worth it!!!! Hope it works for you guys!!!! Rds Major_Burner wrote: Ok..hOOker_ECV56 Im doing this procedure. Im up to de part where you rewrite your *.TGA files using Photoshop to the same name. but when saving it asks me. 16 bits/pixel 24 bits/pixel 32 bits/pixel im guessing its 32...right...and without activating the Compress (RLE) feature, with I dont know what its for.??? Any thoughts??? Thanks Guys.. Major_Burner wrote: I forgot.. Also, I extracted everithing that started with F-18.. (Wich is F-18blablabla, F-18A-Blablabla, and F-18C-Blablabla) this is because in your post you stated that process all F-18A-blablabla files...and I found..for F18, F18A and F-18C files.. Am I ok... Thanks Again...  Major_Burner wrote: If im not wrong there should be 55 F-18 files.. Dammmn....Its already friday... The week just flew by... Ok...gotta get ready for tonight.. Have a nice weekend.. AHHHH....Dont drink to much guys, and if you do?? Well......invite me!!! Mike_69th wrote: Sorry for the late answer, but that might help people that still need help with this issue. I had the transparent hornet too, plus some spots on the sidewinders, full sparrow and mavericks. The problem is the Alpha channel on the skin, I got no idea why they put one there, i see no use in this. So all you need to do is delete the alpha channel. I've made a small pack for the transparent weapons (LOMAN compatible) , Still no hornet, lotta files to edit. If you want, i'll upload it somewhere for ya. TAG! YOUR'E IT! awtkast wrote: This fix did work for me too. Yes, it is some kind of Alpha Channel that is messing it up. I opened and saved them, but my textures got sort of mis-matched and it didn't look entirely correct. Didn't matter much as they were now visible at least. I didn't mess with the missles. I never see them up close as they usually either fly past so fast there is no chance to get a good look or it ends up exploding. I'm a first-person perspective kind of player. It was hard to see the trasnparent F-18s from inside the cocpit, but the missle .......well.....not a concern. Hopefully I'll be upgrading my video card either this weekend or in a couple more weeks. I'm thinking of a GeForce FX5700 or FX5900...whichever I can get for about $150USD or less. I read the FX5200 are no good. Any confirmation on this? Thanks. ************************************************************************************* CONNECTION SPEEDS FOR 1.02 BY JOKER ACL (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* JOKER ACL wrote: Hey guys, it seems there is a lot opf confusion out there as to what speed to connect to... i have a 4 mb down and an 800kb up connection..i was told to connect at the 256/128 speed but I suffer from serious lag in some rooms.. Is there an optimal setting for most players joining a room?..like before, or is this new version based on your connection? if so, what is the best connection speeds for typical connections, and if someone comes in with the wrong speed does the whole room suffer with lag? JOKER_ACL Snacky1 wrote: Joker, the warping you see is probably not because of your connection but because some other client has the wrong setting on thier end. You might even want to try 1024/128 and see how that works, but I use 256/128 myself and it seems to work fine. The problem is when folks who have a cable or DSL connection like yours try to use a setting which is too low (33.6 or 56k) or a setting too high (10mbit). If you are on cable or DSL then stick with the DSL settings. If you are on a phone line then use the modem settings. if you have a really good upload speed say above 1000mbs then try the 10mbit setting, but I only advise the 1024/128 setting. Also make sure you are not running any firewalls, virus scans, MP3 downloads, Bit Torrents, FTP transfers,etc in the background. Yes I have seen people with FTP transfers in the background trying to play online and they had no clue that it would make them lag.LOL Overstear wrote: A couple of pilots in our Fighterwing have found out the same problem with the settings and they have had the best results while setting the connection speed to the actual speeds they are hooked up with. So lock-On might just be trying to get the best out of it for everyone and then it might be logical to 'tell' it what connection you're using. Hope this helpes you guys in any way. Greetz, Jaras wrote: You can edit config.lua file in 'network' folder to add additional network settings. F.e. my cable is 512down, 96up so I've added under configlist= ["Cable 512/96 Kbit/s"] = { downstream = 64000; upstream = 12000; }; Because 512/8 = 64000 and 96/8 = 12000 save the changed file then choose/connect with this new connection setting in both server and client settings, and done hope that helps **** In case of Joker: ["Cable 4096/768 Kbit/s"] = { downstream = 512000; upstream = 96000; }; ThrOtt wrote: Why do people tell others to turn their firewall off ? No offense but thats not the brightest suggestion ever - Virus realtime protection maybe but if you are on DSL or higher and turn off your firewall then you make yourself a nice target. Lag spikes after removing your firewall could be a port scan / someone trying to get on to your pc which is not that hard to do. Jex_TG wrote: And further to thrott's comment I always use Zone Alarm as my firewall. One day I was having trouble getting a game running online so I disabled zone alarm to see if that was causing the problem. 5 minutes later norton stops a trojan coming in through my now, unprotected ports. Don't expose yourself. ************************************************************************************* VOICES RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH TWEAK BY JASON_PETERS (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* jason_peters wrote: Go to the sounds dir Copy the USA equivalent sounds into the russian dir's (except for the computer) There u have it - now turn the sub-titles off IronLegionnaire wrote: Could you use the sound files from the demo? I remember the tower giving me flightpath cues in English, even though I was flying a Russian aircraft. Edit: Well, I DL'd the demo, and the approach & tower voices are both in English, and they aren't the same voices as the USA. Might be your ticket. The files are all encoded in .ogg format, though, so I dunno if you have to change them to .wav format or not. Edit2: Oh yeah, should mention as well. The demo only has the betty, tower, and approach voices (betty is the same in both demo and full version), so you're out of luck for awacs, tanker, and wingmen :-\ ************************************************************************************* MULTIPLAYER ETIQUETTE BY TIMBO-JONES (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* Comment from Escar: Check out the whole thread. It's 5 pages long with a bit of bashing here and there, but couple of posts make it worth it, especially if you don't want to get bashed while MP. ************************************************************************************* HELO'S ON NEUSTRASHMY & CH-53, AH-1 ON CVN-70 FIX BY BRIT_RADAR_DUDE (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* Brit_Radar_Dude wrote: posted Sat July 17 2004 07:26 AM Even though it has a helo deck, for some reason you cannot operate Helo's off the Neustrashimy in Lockon. You can fix this by editing ...\Lockon\ME\MEInit.xml:- 1) Make a Backup copy of your MEInit.xml 2) Open it up in an editor of your choice. 3) Search for Neustrashimy 4) Move up about 20 lines until you see the stuff for Ticonderoga. 5) COPY the whole line that ends with HelicopterCarrier</Category> 6) Back down again and paste it after the "armed ship" line Should now look like this........ <Ship Name="Neustrashimy" WorldID="28" CLSIDetc. etc <Category CLSID="{etc. etc}">Armed Ship</Category> <Category CLSID="{etc. etc}">HelicopterCarrier</Category> </Ship> Hey presto, you can now fly the Ka-27 from the Neustrashimy. It isn't perfect as the Helo takes off and lands slightly too low and too far aft. Its wheels dissapear into the deck and its tail cuts into the housing above the Mare Tail VDS (variable depth sonar), but better than nothing. Sierra Hotel wrote: They should let you fly SH-60's off of ticos and perry's as well. Kilsek wrote: Hey all. It does,***QUOTE From Brit_Radar_Dude*** anywhere you put these 8 lines: <LandRWCategories> <Category CLSID="{05708AED-329E-41c3-9C51-9CCE4AA09380}">Carrier</Category> <Category CLSID="{62BA70C0-33E4-4cdb-89D8-9AB1D30ABF5D}">HelicopterCarrier</Category> </LandRWCategories> <TakeOffRWCategories> <Category CLSID="{05708AED-329E-41c3-9C51-9CCE4AA09380}">Carrier</Category> <Category CLSID="{62BA70C0-33E4-4cdb-89D8-9AB1D30ABF5D}">HelicopterCarrier</Category> </TakeOffRWCategories> Now move down a few lines till you can see the entry for CH-53E. Insert the stuff we copied in between the <Pylons/> and <ColorSchemes> Look for the helos I.D., then type those lines in. LOL, crystal clear...  Thanks again. -KILSEKComment by Escar: More required info in the subsequent paragraph and thread. ************************************************************************************* SECOND HELO'S ON NEUSTRASHMY & CH-53, AH-1 ON CVN-70 FIX THREAD BY BRIT_RADAR_DUDE (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* Brit_Radar_Dude wrote: Yep, I spent some time figuring out what that mod (I assume by someone on CheckSix-fr) was about and managed to make it work. Launched two flights of CH-53's off the CVN-70 carrier, had 'em circle a couple of times close by, then wizz off to hit the beach. Looked nice. Each entry for a helo in MEInit.xml has a number of sections. They describe weapon payloads it can carry, tasks the helo can do, pylons for weapons, special places it can land/takeoff (this is the part we are interested in!!!), colour schemes (skins). Some are only a few lines long, eg UH-60A. It has no weapons, no special naval characteristics. Others are many lines long, eg Ka-52. It has many payload options for each task and many pylon/weapon combinations. Each entry starts with <Helicopter Name = _etc._ - name,shape,weight, etc. and ends with </Helicopter> Inside this entry are sections for each Helo characteristic (indented so you can see the start and end of each one),for example <Tasks> <Task Name = "Observation" _etc._ </Tasks> Some sections will be empty and completely missing, some may have a place marker to show this eg. <Pylons/> So lets go edit ...\Lockon\ME\MEInit.xml:- 1) Make a Backup copy of your MEInit.xml 2) Open it up in an editor of your choice. 3) Search for "Ka-27" (without the quotes )This is a good example entry for a Helo that can use a Naval platform - both large (Carrier) and small (HelicopterCarrier). [HelicopterCarrier is the term the programmers used for Helo capable destroyer/frigate]. We can copy stuff from here and paste it into the other Helo's we want to mod. Look carefully at the way it is laid out, specifically the 8 lines below <Pylons/> and above <ColorSchemes>. Select and copy these 8 lines... _ <LandRWCategories> <Category CLSID="{05708AED-329E-41c3-9C51-9CCE4AA09380}">Carrier</Category> <Category CLSID="{62BA70C0-33E4-4cdb-89D8-9AB1D30ABF5D}">HelicopterCarrier</Category> </LandRWCategories> <TakeOffRWCategories> <Category CLSID="{05708AED-329E-41c3-9C51-9CCE4AA09380}">Carrier</Category> <Category CLSID="{62BA70C0-33E4-4cdb-89D8-9AB1D30ABF5D}">HelicopterCarrier</Category> </TakeOffRWCategories> _ Now move down a few lines till you can see the entry for CH-53E. Insert the stuff we copied in between the <Pylons/> and <ColorSchemes> Now check that it looks similar to the Ka-27 entry. Save the file, run Lockon and check that the CH-53E can now use the CVN-70 (Carrier) and Ticonderoga and Perry (HelicopterCarrier) to both takeoff and land. If you put Russia and the USA in the same coalition then of course the CH-53E will be capable of operating from the Admiral K, and the Moscow. You may not want the CH-53E to be able to use small platforms. In that case you should delete the lines that end in _ HelicopterCarrier</Category>_ in both the <LandRWCategories> and <TakeOffRWCategories>. you can now go back into the MEInit.xml file and do more editing for the other US Marine helo, the AH-1. Or for any of the other helo's you want.... Hope this is clear enough....... Kilsek wrote: Hey all. Here is a shot of your work. Thanks. http://img7.imagetown.net/7702588.jpg It did not this long to make the adjustment to get that to work, but I was trying to get those exterior pylons to work on the b-52h. Once I started looking at that file, things got interesting. Thanks again, -KILSEK Kilsek wrote: And another. http://img7.imagetown.net/80107792.jpg Thanks for sharing that Miss-Kitten. I like it. Lots of 1024x768 pics. ************************************************************************************* MISSILE LABES ONLY TWEAK BY DIGITOXIN (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* Novacngood wrote: Hi, Ive been trying to dissable aircraft & ground labels whilst leaving on missile labels. I edited the view.config file putting a zero next to air & ground in the labels section, leaving a 1 next to missiles. Saved the file, then started lockon and all of the labels are still visible. Am I missing something? Thanks Novac Digitoxin wrote: Change it in LABELS file and ( "View" file, with a capital V.) That should work. If not, use Shift,F2 in the game to turn off airplane labels and Shift,F10 for ground objects.... NOTE: I highly recommend backing up the files first before changing anything! Novacngood wrote: Hi digitoxin, Thanks for the F2 & F10 tips, they are better than editing the config files as I can switch labels on/off in game. Novac ************************************************************************************* RANDOMIZING GROUND UNITS POSITION "TWEAK" BY IRONHAND (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* IRONHAND wrote: No you can't but you can do the next best thing. Go into map options and turn off roads, towns, rivers, etc. Place your units on the map and have them travel cross country in a pattern or direction of your choice at max speed for a designated amount of time and, then, stop. Set up your flight so that you'll arrive in the general area after that amount of time. Make sure no WPs are anywhere near the units in question. I guarantee finding them will be very difficult unless you're paying attention to your RWR (TWD) and spot them shooting at you. If that's still too easy, make 5 copies with variations on the theme, same general area. Set them aside for a week and come back to them. Now you're cookin'. Rich Merudo wrote: hey now that's a good idea. can pretty much guarantee ya aint gonna remember after a week with five variants... Chonmage wrote: Use LOMU. Put down 20 individual units and you wont know which one of them will be in the scenario. Brit_Radar_Dude wrote: Thats a pretty damn clever idea from Ironhand. Ya might want to remember that vehicles wont cross water so pick a dry part of the map or you will find them stopped by rivers. Not too rough terrain either, as vehicles won't climb steep slopes...... olaleier wrote: LOMU is the best call.  Another simple thing is just placing the unit with the map zoomed way out. SabreE-- wrote: it may sound funny, but thats what i do - zoom in the map a bit, so that the "zone" where i want to put the stuff is about the size of the screen (so that i cant put it wrong). then... close my eyes, move the mouse randomly and put it somewhere. hit ctrl-h for "hide" and now i can open the eyes and adjust properties for this unit  . combine that with ironhand's road thing and i bet u'll have no idea where it is .************************************************************************************* COCKPIT CD-PLAYER TWEAK BY TGRAND (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* tgrand wrote: Winamp uses ridiculously little CPU and coexists well with all games, provided your sound card drivers don't suck. I recommend using the DirectSound output plugin rather than the default wave out, so you can have independent volume control for the music. For hotkeys, I like the gen_hotkeys.dll plugin. I have keyboard hotkeys assigned to all the Winamp functions I care about and they always work inside games... MadDogMcQ wrote: To be honest, I often use Widows Media Player and although I expected problems when I first tried it, I learned that it didn't cause a single problem. I can even skip tracks with my extended keyboard buttons. Mind you, I don;t play a CD as such - I start a playlist of MP3's from a separate HD. Brun36 wrote: Surely a live stream of a Ukrainian radio station would be more authentic? ************************************************************************************* ENABLING SNAP VIEWS BY HABU_69 ************************************************************************************* HABU_69 wrote: Main problem is normally due to an error in the docs. Set in config\view\cockpit.lua disablesnapviewssaving = false usedefaultsnapviews = false Now in the sim: 1. Activate desired snapview, i.e. KP0+KP7 2. Set desired new camera position 3. Activate ALT+KP0 to save new camera position for KP0+KP7 4. Go fly ************************************************************************************* POSSIBLE FREEZE FIX THROUGH HARDWARE ACCELERATION REDUCTION BY CALI_169TH (with comments from other people) ************************************************************************************* Cali_169th wrote: No more freezes!!! I turned down hardware acc and I played tonite for over 5 hours with no freezes. jim-_-jim wrote: Nice. Is that on your soundcard you mean, or gfx card? Thanks! 169th_Jaws wrote: No, we got Cali to turn down his hardware acceleration for his video card. Most people only have to turn it down one notch to stop freezes, he had to turn it down two notches. Cali_169th wrote: jim-_-jim click on your desktop go to properties, then settings. Click on advance find the performance tab and there you go Hardware acceleration. I moved it down 1 and played for a while then it froze on my so I moved it down 1 more and played for over 5 hours and no freeze up. The only thing I noticed was your mouse pointer flickers, but that is only when you are in the menu or loadout screens. And I didn't notice any performance loss when I did this. Good luck! VF-2_John_Banks wrote: So you didn't lower the acceleration of your soundcard, but the hardware acceleration for the graphic in WIndows? Didn't that lower your performance in Lock-On? Cali_169th wrote: Nope didnt change anything except it doesn't freeze up anymore (so far at least). The other night I played for over 5 hours with no problems. Look at my sig for my system specs. AMD Athlon 64-bit 3200+ 1600mhz HyperTransport Tech 1 Gig DDR 3200 | ATI 9600Pro AIW Omega 4.7 X45 | DX9.0b | 22 inch dell Trinitron monitor TrackIR2 | Logitech Z-640 5.1 speakers jim-_-jim wrote: Yup, have to agree, it's worked for me so far. Nice one! At last it doesn't freeze randomly!  And performance, well I'm still geting around constant 30fps (med/high spec @ 1280x1024) in game. System spec. ------------- XP2500 - M @ 2.5Ghz 1Gb PC3200LL FX5950U 256Mb @ 570/970Mhz So still good performance! BoostPsi wrote: When I first read this thread I had a similar opinion to warningtone, its just plain stupid to disable hardware acceleration |