User Aircraft Skin

[flugkapitan]

Greetings!

 

I've been away from IL-2 Sturmovik and the wonderful PWGC for several years. I'm getting back into the swing of things, but have a question: How do I get my aircraft to show the skin of the squadron aircraft (I'm on the Moscow map in a Bf110, I.ZG76).?

 

I have checked the box "use squadron skins" but my 110 does not any aircraft codes on it - just the national markings.

 

Thanks,

Scott

[crigby46]

Now I'm not certain about how PWCG assigns skins at the coding level, but I can tell you a little about how it's implemented in BoX itself.

 

 Squadron and individual codes are part of the skin, and are not applied over the top of it like in 1946 or that other sim. Now that's out of the way, there are workarounds: 

1) You can have the squadron colours edited in photoshop with the codes for a squadron's worth of aircraft, and assign those skins individually to pilots in PWCG

2) In BoX itself, you can assign all those same skins to one squadron with equal weighting, and they'll be spread evenly. In this case, you have to omit your own skin or it'll end up on AI.

3) Accept a compromise - accurate squadron colours, crests, markings etc... but nothing individual. 

 

Getting a little more in depth, you could make a skin with appropriate markings for a particular squadron, green hearts on the nose for JG.54 for example, the national markings, the unit markings (which in RAF use would be the two-letter code, such as JG, LQ, MX and so forth). You could plug that into PWCG as a squadron skin for JG.54 and then all your JG.54 aircraft would fly with that same skin, but there's nowhere for the individual markings to come from. Since BoX doesn't apply markings over the top of existing skins, there's no way to add that randomisation with only a single skin to draw from.

 

 

For my own use I made 26 individual skins with the appropriate markings for a fictional RAF squadron, and just assigned aircraft to pilots within my squadron in PWCG, like so:

 

Spoiler

 

[flugkapitan]

Hi Crigby46,

 

Thank  you for the explanation!

 

Perhaps there's a little too much from the old days of the IL2 1946 still rolling around in my old noggin ?

 

Nevertheless, this is still a great sim made much better by Pat's PWCG.

 

I haven't used this sim since the early days when I pre-bought it, and it only had the Stalingrad map.

 

Cheers,

Scott

 

 

[crigby46]

Well if you can let me know what squadron skin it should be for your career, I'm sure I can make a few variations thereof for personal skins in PWCG.

 

 Also if you're just getting back into the swing of things then in single player I'd highly recommend a Spitfire Vb career on Kuban, or the excellent Night Fighters Over the Kuban scripted campaign for a real taste of just what this sim can provide. 

 

 That being said, my biggest recommendation would be for PWCG, and it seems you've already got that covered!

[flugkapitan]

Hi Cigby46,

 

Thanks for the offer. But I can get by with the skins that I've downloaded and those that come with PWCG.

 

Yes, I'm a single player kind of guy - always play the Luftwaffe side. I started a couple of careers in the default game a few weeks ago, and then 2 days ago installed PWGC. Used PWGC all the time back  in the "Rise Of Flight" days. Trying to get used to this latest version for IL-2 Sturmovik.

 

A bit of a learning curve is a good thing - helps keeps the old brain sharp ?

 

Regards,

Scott