Attention, Skin-Makers!

[No.23_Triggers]

In the interest of standardising Flying Circus skins in order for easier download and in-game organisation I've come up with couple of ideas, and I'd love to hear the skin-maker's thoughts on them! I've attached a poll so I can gauge the response from the different artists (and other players!) and, of course, I'd love some suggestions as well, both from the skin-makers and the rest of the community. 

At the moment, there's no denying that the skins are a bit disorganised. GCF's skin bundle has helped out a lot in that regard, but we can't keep expecting him to consolidate every single skin into easily-downloadable bundles! Instead, I think it's time for a community standard to be agreed on! 

1) Naming of Skins

 

1a. Historical Skins 

 

For naming historical skins, I think a good standardised naming convention would be (Squadron Name), (Pilot Name). For example: Jasta 10, Ltn. Werner Voss

 

The reason I think this would be good is that by having the squadron name before the pilot name it will keep all the skins of the same historical squadrons together, as well as giving a little bit of a historical reference (for historically-named player squadrons, etc). This will also correctly order the squadron skins in numerical order (E.G, Jasta 1, Jasta 2, Jasta 3, etc etc). 

In order to keep it 'clean' across the board, I'd recommend the following standard names for the different nations: 

 Germany:

Jasta (number) ------ Example: Jasta 1. 

 

 British Empire:

No. (number) Sqn. (service) ------ Example: No. 56 Sqn. RFC  ---- or ------- No. 8 Sqn. RNAS

 

 France:

Esc. (number) ------ Example: Esc. 3

 

 

 America:

USAS (number) ------ Example: USAS 103

 

 

 

Italy and Belgium would be CAM Sq. (Number)  and BMA Esc. (Number).

 

 

1b. Fictional Skins

 

For fictional skins, I'd recommend the following: ZZZ_skin name. For example, I would put ZZZ_US103_Larner for my own fictional skins. This should keep them at the bottom of the list, below the historical skins, and means that pilots looking for a historical skin don't need to wade through the fictional ones. It's also what GCF has already been using for fictional skins in his bundles. 

 

Of course, skins that have already been released don't have to be renamed! 

 

2) A Main Thread 

 

It would be great to start a single thread in which all skins are posted. It won't fully fix the problem of having to sift through skins, but it'll at least fix the problem of pilots having to find everybody's individual skin threads. 

 

3) A Universal Storage

 

Of course, the best way to make skins easily accessible is to store them all in one place, where they can be downloaded individually or as a group! However, this is easier said than done. We could set up a Google Drive, but it would only hold a max of 15GB before it was at its limit. Of course, we could also set up multiple google drives and establish a 'skin pack' system, with 15GB worth of skins in each pack, but this is a bit messy. I think this could be figured out later on. 

 

It would also be a great help if we could get our own Skins sub-forum for Flying Circus - perhaps the forum admins can help us out there! I'll see if I can PM one of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by US103_Larner

[SeaW0lf]

Thanks for bringing this up. We need this. I just think that the ZZZ thing sounds a bit improvised. I see those ZZZ at the GCF bundle and I think they don't make justice to the skins (I see it as noise amongst the information). But I agree that the historic skins should come first and the fictional / personal ones at last (it would also make it harder for a newbie to pick a personal skin from somebody else). I also have a suggestion that the type of the plane should come first, like FD7, SCamel or something.

 

Is there any character that looks more like a military acronym to put the historical skins on top? Like the ones people use for squadrons (=)? If people could come up with something like SE5a=h=56SqnRFC? Make it as clean and military looking as possible. And H of historic comes first than P for personal. Just that F of fictional comes first than anything.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

4 hours ago, SeaW0lf said:

Thanks for bringing this up. We need this. I just think that the ZZZ thing sounds a bit improvised. I see those ZZZ at the GCF bundle and I think they don't make justice to the skins (I see it as noise amongst the information). But I agree that the historic skins should come first and the fictional / personal ones at last (it would also make it harder for a newbie to pick a personal skin from somebody else). I also have a suggestion that the type of the plane should come first, like FD7, SCamel or something.

 

Is there any character that looks more like a military acronym to put the historical skins on top? Like the ones people use for squadrons (=)? If people could come up with something like SE5a=h=56SqnRFC? Make it as clean and military looking as possible. And H of historic comes first than P for personal. Just that F of fictional comes first than anything.

 

I agree and would hate seeing ZZZ at the start of each skin. I would have suggested an * given that its unobtrusive and ought to place the skins together at the end/start. However file naming conventions mean that / \ : * ? " < > | cannot be used. Therefore I suggest ^ for the same reasons, relatively unobtrusive and ought to affect the skins ordering.

 

5 hours ago, US103_Larner said:

1) Naming of Skins

 

1a. Historical Skins 

 

For naming historical skins, I think a good standardised naming convention would be (Squadron Name), (Pilot Name). For example: Jasta 10, Ltn. Werner Voss

 

The reason I think this would be good is that by having the squadron name before the pilot name it will keep all the skins of the same historical squadrons together, as well as giving a little bit of a historical reference (for historically-named player squadrons, etc). This will also correctly order the squadron skins in numerical order (E.G, Jasta 1, Jasta 2, Jasta 3, etc etc). 

In order to keep it 'clean' across the board, I'd recommend the following standard names for the different nations: 

 Germany:

Jasta (number) ------ Example: Jasta 1. 

 

 British Empire:

No. (number) Sqn. (service) ------ Example: No. 56 Sqn. RFC  ---- or ------- No. 8 Sqn. RNAS

 

 France:

Esc. (number) ------ Example: Esc. 3

 

 America:

USAS (number) ------ Example: USAS 103

 

Italy and Belgium would be CAM Sq. (Number)  and BMA Esc. (Number).

 

Need more than just squadron/service (but agree that should be first) and pilot name. There would be many cases where your painting an aircraft that the pilots are not known. Thats going to mean multiple skins just named just no. 1 sqn. rnas for example. Or perhaps painting multiple aircraft that were used by the same pilot. Basically going to end up with duplication of names with just those tags. So I would include serial numbers as thats specific to a paticular plane, then you could follow that by an optional tag for pilot/battle/date (or other defining characteristic of the skin) for variations of schemes that aircraft has used during its service (or for when serial is not known).

 

How about service_tag squadron (serial) characteristic. Some example Camel and Spitfire (and Seafire) filenames;

 

rnas 3 (b6401) lloyd breadner

rnas 9 (n6616)

rnas 10 (b6299) norman mcgregor

 

faa 736 (pa103)

faa 761 (nx957)

faa 801 (mb358) peter hutton

faa 801 (mb366)

faa 801 (mb366) operation torch

faa 842 (pa102) bennet

raf 277 (bl591) air sea rescue

 

5 hours ago, US103_Larner said:

In the interest of standardising Flying Circus skins in order for easier download and in-game organisation I've come up with couple of ideas, and I'd love to hear the skin-maker's thoughts on them! I've attached a poll so I can gauge the response from the different artists (and other players!) and, of course, I'd love some suggestions as well, both from the skin-makers and the rest of the community. 

At the moment, there's no denying that the skins are a bit disorganised. GCF's skin bundle has helped out a lot in that regard, but we can't keep expecting him to consolidate every single skin into easily-downloadable bundles! Instead, I think it's time for a community standard to be agreed on! 

1) Naming of Skins

 

1a. Historical Skins 

 

For naming historical skins, I think a good standardised naming convention would be (Squadron Name), (Pilot Name). For example: Jasta 10, Ltn. Werner Voss

 

The reason I think this would be good is that by having the squadron name before the pilot name it will keep all the skins of the same historical squadrons together, as well as giving a little bit of a historical reference (for historically-named player squadrons, etc). This will also correctly order the squadron skins in numerical order (E.G, Jasta 1, Jasta 2, Jasta 3, etc etc). 

In order to keep it 'clean' across the board, I'd recommend the following standard names for the different nations: 

 Germany:

Jasta (number) ------ Example: Jasta 1. 

 

 British Empire:

No. (number) Sqn. (service) ------ Example: No. 56 Sqn. RFC  ---- or ------- No. 8 Sqn. RNAS

 

 France:

Esc. (number) ------ Example: Esc. 3

 

 America:

USAS (number) ------ Example: USAS 103

 

Italy and Belgium would be CAM Sq. (Number)  and BMA Esc. (Number).

 

1b. Fictional Skins

 

For fictional skins, I'd recommend the following: ZZZ_skin name. For example, I would put ZZZ_US103_Larner for my own fictional skins. This should keep them at the bottom of the list, below the historical skins, and means that pilots looking for a historical skin don't need to wade through the fictional ones. It's also what GCF has already been using for fictional skins in his bundles. 

 

Of course, skins that have already been released don't have to be renamed! 

 

2) A Main Thread 

 

It would be great to start a single thread in which all skins are posted. It won't fully fix the problem of having to sift through skins, but it'll at least fix the problem of pilots having to find everybody's individual skin threads. 

 

3) A Universal Storage

 

Of course, the best way to make skins easily accessible is to store them all in one place, where they can be downloaded individually or as a group! However, this is easier said than done. We could set up a Google Drive, but it would only hold a max of 15GB before it was at its limit. Of course, we could also set up multiple google drives and establish a 'skin pack' system, with 15GB worth of skins in each pack, but this is a bit messy. I think this could be figured out later on. 

 

It would also be a great help if we could get our own Skins sub-forum for Flying Circus - perhaps the forum admins can help us out there! I'll see if I can PM one of them.

 

I just voted for the options about standard thread post. More important than the skin naming system would be that the manner of posting in the threads. Would imagine that standardising (format and naming conventions etc) the way someone posts them in there (and policed) would solve (to a degree) having to sift through for skins as the search function could then be used to find skins for what you want.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Oliver88

[1PL-Lucas-1Esk]

I'd use RoF system, which worked fine, I think

WW1

planename_unit_pilot.dds

post WW1, still historical
y_planename_unit_pilot.dds

non historical
z_planename_unit_pilot.dds

I'd keep the names as short as possible, so no "No. 8 RNAS sqn", but "RNAS8" instead

For the Flying Circus we can have the following abbreviations:

- FD7
- FD7F
- AD5a
- PD3a
- FDr1
- HCL2
- HCL2a
- S13
- SD
- SC
- SE5a
- F2BF2
- F2BF3

I'd also prefer a forum where the skins could be posted. One topic per one plane model. Also, it would be great to have some more official skins - mostly default squadron skins of the units which participated in the Kaiserschlacht and more. Maybe the Devs could include some of such schemes developed by the community artists?

[PatCartier]

21 hours ago, US103_Larner said:

 

It would also be a great help if we could get our own Skins sub-forum for Flying Circus - perhaps the forum admins can help us out there! I'll see if I can PM one of them.
 

I sent a pm to Jason some weeks ago about that and he answered it will be ok asap.

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

A skin file should be identifiable on its own therefore the aircraft type should be included in the name such as what 1PL-Lucas-1Esk suggests. 

 

I think that a forum for skins is OK but is however problematic.  A better solution would be a separate database that could be uploaded to by skinners.  There could be a link to the Skin DB off the forums.  Each skin would have all the identifications mentioned in above posts in separate fields including a thumbnail of the skin and date of upload.  This would allow filtering the skins by BOS/FC/TC, author, historic/non-historic, country, plane type (name used by the game folders), squad, pilot, 2K/4K, etc.  If you search the DB and ID a group of skins you want, you should be able to download all in a zipped file. I bet there is someone in the community that could design a simple DB for the devs. 

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by VBF-12_Stick-95

[Cynic_Al]

Skin enthusiasts certainly need a separate place to discuss skins, but not a sub-topic of General Discussion because whenever anyone were to post to it, the parent would show as updated.

[Zooropa_Fly]

I agree, too many skin postings.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

On 8/17/2019 at 11:46 PM, 1PL-Lucas-1Esk said:

I'd use RoF system, which worked fine, I think

WW1

planename_unit_pilot.dds

 

Was that the format? Any skins that I made in Rise of Flight were not put up for approval but just made for personal usage in PWCG. But judging from the skin packs that I downloaded (community historical and official) in the past many skins were not using that naming format. Just small sample of those that did not meet that format;

 

Spoiler

 

SC_RNAS10_B7910.dds
RNAS 10 W.G.R. Hinchliffe B7190

Sopwith Camel No. B7190, No. 10 Sqn RNAS C Flight, flown by Capt. W.G.R. Hinchliffe, March 1917

Skin author: Isaac Chavira

 

SC_RNAS10_F4017.dds

RNAS 10 Captain L. P. Coombes

Sopwith Camel F4017, RNAS 10, November 1918

Skin author: Legioneod

 

SS_9739.dds

RNAS No. 3 Wing – 9739

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter, Serial No. 9739, RNAS No. 3 Wing, October 1916

Skin author: No.42_YOKE

 

SC_RFC45_AUG17.dds

RFC 45 Standard, August 1917

Sopwith Camel, standard RFC 45 markings, August 1917

Skin author: PatAWilson

 

SP_RFC54_AUG17.dds

RFC 54 August 1917

Generic aircraft of RFC Squadron No. 54 in August 1917, with one white stripe on the fuselage

Skin author: Panthercules

 

F2BF3_B1134.dds

RFC 35 White 19, B-1134

Bristol F2B F.III, serial no. B-1134, RFC No. 35Sq., 1917, white '19' and horizontal bar on fuselage

Skin author: WWDubya

 

RE8_RFC4_default.dds

RFC 4 Standard

R.E. 8, standard RFC No. 4 markings

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_RFC60_Def-A.dds

RFC 60, A Flight

Nieuport 17, RFC No. 60, A Flight, with red cowling and red wheel covers and a black 'A' on the fuselage

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_RFC60_Def-B.dds

RFC 60, B Flight

Nieuport 17, RFC No. 60, B Flight, with yellow cowling and yellow wheel covers and a black 'B' on the fuselage

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_Bishop.dds

RFC 60 Billy Bishop, B1556

Nieuport 17, Serial No. B1552, Billy Bishop, with standard silver color overall

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

S13_ita_Generic1.dds
Squad. 91 Unknown Pilot
SPAD XIII, Squadriglia 91, June 1918, factory camouflage without marks on wings, the under wings colored in with the Italian tricolore"

Skin Author: 364sq_Roby

 

DH4_RNAS2_Z.dds
RNAS 2 Pearson / Darby, 'Z'
De Havilland D.H.4, No. A8025, Pearson / Darby, RNAS No. 2 Squadron, with red and white wheel covers and a white 'Z' on the nose"

Skin Author: Panthercules

 

N11_ deRose_Rabu.dds

Esc. N12 Tricornot de Rose, No. 556

Commandant Tricornot de Rose's aircraft, No. 556, with clear doped fabric overall and a red rose on the sides of the fuselage

Skin author: rabu

 

Note: Grabbed from the Historical All In One Readme as I no longer have Rise of Flight and the skins installed.

 

11

 

And cannot see that format mentioned in the stickies on the Rise of Flight forum either. Just the format <brief aircraft name>_<brief skin name>.dds being mentioned. But maybe am being pedantic.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Oliver88

[TG-55Panthercules]

11 hours ago, Oliver88 said:

 

Was that the format? Any skins that I made in Rise of Flight were not put up for approval but just made for personal usage in PWCG. But judging from the skin packs that I downloaded (community historical and official) in the past many skins were not using that naming format. Just small sample of those that did not meet that format;

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

SC_RNAS10_B7910.dds
RNAS 10 W.G.R. Hinchliffe B7190

Sopwith Camel No. B7190, No. 10 Sqn RNAS C Flight, flown by Capt. W.G.R. Hinchliffe, March 1917

Skin author: Isaac Chavira

 

SC_RNAS10_F4017.dds

RNAS 10 Captain L. P. Coombes

Sopwith Camel F4017, RNAS 10, November 1918

Skin author: Legioneod

 

SS_9739.dds

RNAS No. 3 Wing – 9739

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter, Serial No. 9739, RNAS No. 3 Wing, October 1916

Skin author: No.42_YOKE

 

SC_RFC45_AUG17.dds

RFC 45 Standard, August 1917

Sopwith Camel, standard RFC 45 markings, August 1917

Skin author: PatAWilson

 

SP_RFC54_AUG17.dds

RFC 54 August 1917

Generic aircraft of RFC Squadron No. 54 in August 1917, with one white stripe on the fuselage

Skin author: Panthercules

 

F2BF3_B1134.dds

RFC 35 White 19, B-1134

Bristol F2B F.III, serial no. B-1134, RFC No. 35Sq., 1917, white '19' and horizontal bar on fuselage

Skin author: WWDubya

 

RE8_RFC4_default.dds

RFC 4 Standard

R.E. 8, standard RFC No. 4 markings

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_RFC60_Def-A.dds

RFC 60, A Flight

Nieuport 17, RFC No. 60, A Flight, with red cowling and red wheel covers and a black 'A' on the fuselage

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_RFC60_Def-B.dds

RFC 60, B Flight

Nieuport 17, RFC No. 60, B Flight, with yellow cowling and yellow wheel covers and a black 'B' on the fuselage

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

N17B_Bishop.dds

RFC 60 Billy Bishop, B1556

Nieuport 17, Serial No. B1552, Billy Bishop, with standard silver color overall

Skin author: Dieter von Pantherdorf

 

S13_ita_Generic1.dds
Squad. 91 Unknown Pilot
SPAD XIII, Squadriglia 91, June 1918, factory camouflage without marks on wings, the under wings colored in with the Italian tricolore"

Skin Author: 364sq_Roby

 

DH4_RNAS2_Z.dds
RNAS 2 Pearson / Darby, 'Z'
De Havilland D.H.4, No. A8025, Pearson / Darby, RNAS No. 2 Squadron, with red and white wheel covers and a white 'Z' on the nose"

Skin Author: Panthercules

 

N11_ deRose_Rabu.dds

Esc. N12 Tricornot de Rose, No. 556

Commandant Tricornot de Rose's aircraft, No. 556, with clear doped fabric overall and a red rose on the sides of the fuselage

Skin author: rabu

 

Note: Grabbed from the Historical All In One Readme as I no longer have Rise of Flight and the skins installed.

 

11

 

And cannot see that format mentioned in the stickies on the Rise of Flight forum either. Just the format <brief aircraft name>_<brief skin name>.dds being mentioned. But maybe am being pedantic.

 

After a brief period at the beginning, we eventually settled on a standardized way of referring to skins inside the relevant text files that game used - you can read about the details in these threads:

 

Historical:  https://riseofflight.com/forum/topic/8451-clarified-naming-guidelines-historical-skins-updated/?hl=%2Bclarified#entry554310

 

Fictional:  https://riseofflight.com/forum/topic/8450-clarified-naming-guidelines-fun-skins-updated/?hl=%2Bclarified#entry228943

 

However, as noted in those threads these standardized constructs only applied to the text strings inside the .txt files that had to be submitted as part of the approval process for RoF skins - they did not really create a standardized way of naming the actual skin files themselves.  There were a few specific requirements for RoF skin file names (e.g., they had to start with the proper plane type abbreviation, could only include certain special characters, were supposed to be only 17 characters long plus the .dds extention, and had to be unique - no two skins could have the same file name), but there was no actual requirement to follow a specific format for naming the skins.  We did try to adopt a pretty specific format for all the special skins we created specifically for PWCG to help people identify them for what they were, but those were not submitted for approval for use in mods off mode in the game (and there were only 3 or 4 of us creating those PWCG skins, for the most part, so it was easier to coordinate the efforts).

 

There are probably some useful nuggets in those naming convention threads (and/or the PWCG naming conventions we used) that might be adapted for use with FC skins, but it will be up to the community to settle on something useful that skin makers could adopt to try to bring some order to the chaos.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

Yep saw that thread also when searching through.

[No.23_Triggers]

Cheers for the responses, guys. 

Looking at the responses and the poll results, it seems that the 'big' thing to push for would be a skins thread. Ideally, we would have a standardised 'download list' or some kind of skins hub, but for the time being a separate thread / subforum should do the trick. 

As for the standardised naming convention, I agree with the idea of including the aircraft type. Perhaps a formula along these liens would be good: 
 

(Aircraft Name) (Squadron) (Serial (If Known)) (Pilot (If Known)) 

For unknown Serials, that could be left blank, and for unknown pilots you could just put "Unknown" or "Unknown Pilot".

 

 

[PatCartier]

I don't think the serial is useless to choose a skin. Tactical code is better IMO.

[JG1_Butzzell]

S! All

 

 

AndyBandy Black AlbD5

AndyBandyRed AlbD5

DandyDan AlbD5

H_AlbD5_Baumer

H_AlbD5_LotharvonRichtoffen

H_AlbD5_Rheinhart

F_AlbD5_JimmyHolmes

GeorgeG AlbD5

J2_A_AlbD5

J2_B_AlbD5

JG1 A AlbD5

JG1B AlbD5

WW 1 AlbD5

WW 2 AlbD5

 

H for historical, F for fictional.     

 

The above list is NOT done as a suggestion for a naming convention. It is done to show you a list. The question is "Which one do you want to fly today?"

 

My point is that there is no thumbnail of the plane. It is just a list. You have to know what the skin looks like. A  naming convention is irrelevant.  People with personal skins will look for theirs no matter what the naming convention is. They will quickly learn where their skin is in the list. People without a personal skin will be going through a lot of trail and error finding skins they like.

 

What is needed is a specific sub forum. A skin forum with individual plane threads. Here people can post skins so that folks can see how the skin looks and download what they like.

 

While people may have not liked the RoF system, it actually worked rather well while it was supported.

.

[TG-55Panthercules]

5 hours ago, JG1_Butzzell said:

My point is that there is no thumbnail of the plane. It is just a list. You have to know what the skin looks like. A  naming convention is irrelevant.  People with personal skins will look for theirs no matter what the naming convention is. They will quickly learn where their skin is in the list. People without a personal skin will be going through a lot of trail and error finding skins they like..

 

Why isn't there a thumbnail?  When I did my mod for the "historically correct" German planes they included thumbnails and showed up on the list in the game, IIRC.  Does that not work with custom skins generally?  I didn't bother to do thumbnails for my personal skins "mod" packages, but I did those before doing the historical markings one and probably didn't realize at the time that there could be thumbnails - now I'll have to go back and see if I can update my personal skin mods with thumbnails.

 

This has started me wondering whether anybody might be able to adapt Laser's very cool RoF Skin Manager tool into something that would work for IL-2 GB.  That would certainly help make it easy to sort through all the custom skins and create packages of the ones you like to use.

[JG1_Butzzell]

6 hours ago, TG-55Panthercules said:

 

Why isn't there a thumbnail?  When I did my mod for the "historically correct" German planes they included thumbnails and showed up on the list in the game, IIRC.  Does that not work with custom skins generally?  I didn't bother to do thumbnails for my personal skins "mod" packages, but I did those before doing the historical markings one and probably didn't realize at the time that there could be thumbnails - now I'll have to go back and see if I can update my personal skin mods with thumbnails.

 

This has started me wondering whether anybody might be able to adapt Laser's very cool RoF Skin Manager tool into something that would work for IL-2 GB.  That would certainly help make it easy to sort through all the custom skins and create packages of the ones you like to use.

S!

 

Hold your horses here. I think somebody let the cat out of the bag.  There are thumbnails for the "Official" skins. I see none for the "Custom" skins. Are you saying there is a way or folder where we can put thumbnails and they will be connected to the correct plane?  Yes? Yes?

[J2_Jakob]

Guys, does anyone of you use GIT? Maybe it could be quite comfortable way of distributing skins and keeping everything under control with relative ease. Maybe the Pro version would be needed to really work though...

 

Just tried to create a free account for testing and it works with .dds files. I imagine the "master" branch could be administered by a few chosen ones (keeping structure appropriate for a copy&paste into game's skins folder, thus easily downloadable and applicable), while broader audience could upload their creations into some different branch/dir..

 

Thoughts?

[TG-55Panthercules]

11 hours ago, JG1_Butzzell said:

S!

 

Hold your horses here. I think somebody let the cat out of the bag.  There are thumbnails for the "Official" skins. I see none for the "Custom" skins. Are you saying there is a way or folder where we can put thumbnails and they will be connected to the correct plane?  Yes? Yes?

 

Can't say for sure, but it doesn't seem so.  Out of curiosity, I tried replicating for my personal skins what I had done for the official skin replacements, but it had no effect.  Not sure why they wouldn't have used the same preview picture capability for custom skins that they did for the official ones, but if they did I haven't figured out how to trigger it.

[J37_Daedallus]

S! TG-55Panthercules

 

Big admirer of your skins and mods in RoF, this might seem like a daft question, but have you asked the developers how it's done? I know they are busy with the next patch, but you might get a "no it can't be done" or "yes wait until after the next patch and ask". I have no experience in this area so sorry if it's a naive question.

 

cheers

[US213_Talbot]

Maybe it's a bug they have yet to find out about?

[No.23_Triggers]

Acting based on the poll results, and if we are in agreement here, I'll go ahead and start a thread entitled FC Community Skins List (Unofficial), in which skin-makers can start posting their creations, should they want to. I'll do my best to keep the thread up-to-date with a centralised list in the original post. 

Note: This will be a temporary solution while we await a subforum to be set up! 

To keep it neat and tidy, I'll format it as such. The skins themselves will live in the spoilers. Open them up and have a look. I'll also work on the format a little to make it a bit easier to navigate.  

Historical Skins: 

Spoiler

 

Albatros D.Va: 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Bristol F.2B (F.II):

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Bristol F.2B (F.III):
 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Fokker Dr.I:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

Fokker D.VII:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Fokker D.VII F:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Halberstadt CL.II:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Halberstadt CL.II (200HP):

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Sopwith Camel:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Sopwith Dolphin: 
 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

SPAD XIII: 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

 

 

 

Fictional Skins: 

 

Spoiler

 

Albatros D.Va: 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Bristol F.2B (F.II):

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Bristol F.2B (F.III):
 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Fokker Dr.I:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

Fokker D.VII:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Fokker D.VII F:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Halberstadt CL.II:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Halberstadt CL.II (200HP):

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Sopwith Camel:

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

Sopwith Dolphin: 
 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

SPAD XIII: 

Spoiler

(Skins go here)

 

 

 

It's not the most elegant solution, but it should work okay for the time being. 

Thoughts? 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by US103_Larner

[the_dudeWG]

On 8/17/2019 at 6:46 PM, 1PL-Lucas-1Esk said:

I'd use RoF system, which worked fine, I think

WW1

planename_unit_pilot.dds

post WW1, still historical
y_planename_unit_pilot.dds

non historical
z_planename_unit_pilot.dds

I'd keep the names as short as possible, so no "No. 8 RNAS sqn", but "RNAS8" instead

For the Flying Circus we can have the following abbreviations:

- FD7
- FD7F
- AD5a
- PD3a
- FDr1
- HCL2
- HCL2a
- S13
- SD
- SC
- SE5a
- F2BF2
- F2BF3

I'd also prefer a forum where the skins could be posted. One topic per one plane model. Also, it would be great to have some more official skins - mostly default squadron skins of the units which participated in the Kaiserschlacht and more. Maybe the Devs could include some of such schemes developed by the community artists?

 

I'm with Lucas. I know people don't want to see ZZZ in front of fictional skins, but we had a Z prefix in RoF and it seemed to work fine (if I remember correctly ... I deleted all RoF fictional skins years ago.)

 

Also, the general RoF naming format was simple and kept everything well organized and easy to find. If we aren't restricted to 17 characters like we were back then, I would think there wouldn't be any confusion over what a skin is based on its name:

 

planename (abrv.)_unit_pilot_period (when needed - E for early, L for late, etc.)

 

For the record, I would love to see a way to get the skin preview images incorporated for FC like we had in RoF as well!

 

S!

 

On 8/17/2019 at 8:46 AM, US103_Larner said:

For naming historical skins, I think a good standardised naming convention would be (Squadron Name), (Pilot Name). For example: Jasta 10, Ltn. Werner Voss

 

I don't think including the pilot's rank in the skin name would be helpful ... (cue the Big Lebowski "opinion" clip) ?

 

Cheers!

[No.23_Triggers]

9 hours ago, the_dudeWG said:

For the record, I would love to see a way to get the skin preview images incorporated for FC like we had in RoF as well!

 

I've been trying to emulate that a little in the 'unofficial' list: