[MOD]Mod career , random skins wingers by squadron is possible

[LukeFF]

51 minutes ago, CosmiC10R said:

Can someone tell me how to figure out my squadron number?

 

 

[squadron=103508]
    [period]
        period="1944.09.17","1945.04.01"
        [skin]

 

103 = USA

508 = 508th Fighter Squadron

[migmadmarine]

Finally gotten around to reading this thread, to make sure I'm understanding right, if I were to set a probrate of 50 for a skin, it would be essentially a coin flip if a skin appears in any given flight? But there is no way to tie a skin to a specific pilot, correct? 

 

Perhaps more of a question for @LukeFF, but I take it there isn't any way to tie the lettering decal color to a randomized skin applied in this way, right? So say I couldn't set a P-47 squadron to fly a mix of D22s in NMF and OD, with the black lettering vs white lettering tied to each, could I?

Edited November 29, 2022 by migmadmarine

[LukeFF]

55 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

Finally gotten around to reading this thread, to make sure I'm understanding right, if I were to set a probrate of 50 for a skin, it would be essentially a coin flip if a skin appears in any given flight? But there is no way to tie a skin to a specific pilot, correct? 

 

Yes, the probability rate only is taken into account if you have more than one skin assigned to a squadron at a given time. Because of that, unless I have more than one skin assigned to a unit, I leave this value set to 100, just for consistency's sake.

 

There is, no way to a assign a skin to a certain pilot, correct.

 

57 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

Perhaps more of a question for @LukeFF, but I take it there isn't any way to tie the lettering decal color to a randomized skin applied in this way, right? So say I couldn't set a P-47 squadron to fly a mix of D22s in NMF and OD, with the black lettering vs white lettering tied to each, could I?

 

No, unfortunately you can't do that. The squadron codes files are looking for one certain color pattern (so 000 or 111 for P-47s), and then it applies that color pattern to all planes in the squadron in the given time frame. As an example of that, I assigned either an olive drab or bare metal skin to each of the B-26 squadrons* and then assigned the proper tactical code in the config file. 

 

*In particular, how I did it was I assigned the OD skin to all squadrons of the first B-26 bombardment group, then the next one in the list received NMF, etc. So, that way there is an even number of B-26s showing up in either the OD or NMF skin.

[migmadmarine]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

No, unfortunately you can't do that. The squadron codes files are looking for one certain color pattern (so 000 or 111 for P-47s), and then it applies that color pattern to all planes in the squadron in the given time frame. As an example of that, I assigned either an olive drab or bare metal skin to each of the B-26 squadrons* and then assigned the proper tactical code in the config file. 

 

*In particular, how I did it was I assigned the OD skin to all squadrons of the first B-26 bombardment group, then the next one in the list received NMF, etc. So, that way there is an even number of B-26s showing up in either the OD or NMF skin.

Shame about the inability to tie letter color to a skin, wonder why the engineers couldn't have the game read a color pattern for letters from the skin assignment file. 

 

a couple follow up questions then, 

1. Do the probabilities effect non player flights? Say if in BOBP I assign the AI only 357FG to have a 50/50 in 45 to have a green tops with aluminum sides/underside or full NMF will the flights appear mixed or will they always have the same skin, similar to how AI flights can't have mixed aircraft? 

 

2.The 000 or 111 code for letter colors is  not a three digit number, but three numbers, each corresponding to a slot and color, right? So 010 would be like white/black/white? 

 

3. Does it mess things up if we were to change the range dates in the skins assignment file? Like, are these tied to new phases in the battle for a mechanical functionality reason, or would changing this date allow a skin to change part way through a phase?  

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, migmadmarine said:

1. Do the probabilities effect non player flights? Say if in BOBP I assign the AI only 357FG to have a 50/50 in 45 to have a green tops with aluminum sides/underside or full NMF will the flights appear mixed or will they always have the same skin, similar to how AI flights can't have mixed aircraft? 

 

Yes, it affects AI flights. Unfortunately, like with aircraft type, all skins in AI flights will be the same, regardless of how many skins are assigned to that unit. In other words, the probability just affects what skin will be chosen for the entire flight.

 

1 hour ago, migmadmarine said:

2.The 000 or 111 code for letter colors is  not a three digit number, but three numbers, each corresponding to a slot and color, right? So 010 would be like white/black/white? 

 

Yes, the color codes for all planes and vehicles are: 0 - black; 1 - white; 2 - red; 3 - blue; 4 - yellow; 5 - green; 6 - RAF Sky. Planes like the B-26 will have four slots.

 

1 hour ago, migmadmarine said:

3. Does it mess things up if we were to change the range dates in the skins assignment file? Like, are these tied to new phases in the battle for a mechanical functionality reason, or would changing this date allow a skin to change part way through a phase?  

 

No, you can have any range of dates that you want. Campaign phases have no effect on that. For instance, in Normandy and Rhineland, the dates for the change from one invasion stripe pattern to another have no bearing on when one phase ends and another begins.

[elite325th]

Could someone help? I have tried to get this to work to no avail with my Bodenplatte career. I want to have all my 352nd P-51D15's wear the blue-nosed paint. 

 

I'll break down each file and how I edited them as well as the file location I put them in. Anything marked in red is where I added my own files or edited those provided above. 

 

Filename: skins.cfg

Location: steam/steamapps/common/Il-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad/data/scg/18/skins.cfg

Text:

[squadron=103487]
    [period]
        period="1944.12.22","1945.04.01"
        [skin]
            plane="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Planes\P51D15.txt"
            skin="P51D15\487_FS_44.dds"
            name="487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd FG"
            type=0 //0 - common, 1 - ace
            probweight=100
        [end]      
    [end]
[end]

 

Filename: 18skins.cfg

Location: steam/steamapps/common/Il-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad/data/scg/Scripts/18skins.cfg

Text:
[squadron=103487]
    [period]
        period="1944.12.22","1945.04.01"
        [skin]
            plane="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Planes\P51D15.txt"
            skin="P51D15\487_FS_44.dds"
            name="487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd FG"
            type=0 //0 - common, 1 - ace
            probweight=100
        [end]      
    [end]
[end]
 

Filename: skins.tab.cfg

Location: steam/steamapps/common/Il-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad/data/graphics/skins/skins.tab.cfg

Text:

// P-51D15 skins
"graphics\Skins\P51D15\P51D15NA_skin_01.dds" "8914B19C" "1" "LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Planes\P51D15.txt" "Lollipoop II" "1Lt. Spurgeon N. Ellington, 100th FS, 332nd FG 'Tuskegee Airmen', Ramitelli, Italy, 1944." (Example of the first entry in the text string. My added text is below)
My Added Text:

"graphics\Skins\P51D15\487_FS_44.dds" "" "14" "LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Planes\P51D15.txt" "BlueNosed" "352nd Fighter Squadron"

 

Questions:

The original skin.tab file I converted into a .cfg file to add my text. Do I need to convert it back, or is it supposed to stay as a .cfg file type in that location?

 

My added skins don't display on my wingmen's aircraft. Clearly I'm doing something wrong but I can't figure it out. 

 

 

 

[Skycat1969]

For what you're attempting to do, you'd find it much easier to edit only the 18skins and the skins files for Bodenplatte (the two need to match; edit one of tbe skin files, select all text, and paste it into the other). See my Bodenplatte skins mod, or migmadmarine's Normandy skins mod, for reference.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2024 by Skycat1969