Panther's Flying Circus Career Mode Project - WIP v.Beta-2 released

[TG-55Panthercules]

UPDATED 8/5/2023 - RELEASE OF BETA VERSION 2 (WIP)

 

I finally finished all the German flyable units and am making good progress on the German AI units, but there are a ton of those and I'll be traveling for a while and unable to make much more progress on this project for at least the next couple of weeks, so I thought I might as well go ahead and release a version 2 to incorporate all the changes since the previous release.

 

This WIP version, v.Beta-2, incorporates an additional 170 or so new time-appropriate squadron default skins - when combined with the Beta-1 version, the project includes approximately 350 new skins covering the following units:

 

France:  All units, flyable and AI

United States:  All units, flyable and AI (except 88th, 90th and 99th Aero Squadrons, which only flew aircraft not yet in the game) 

Great Britain: All units, flyable and AI (except a handful of seaplane and home defense units that appear to be left over from ROF Channel map career)

Germany: All flyable units, plus a smattering of AI units   (Many thanks to the_dudeWG and J5_HotWaffle for letting me use many of their fine skins for these German units - most of the German skins in this package were done by them)

 

The JSGME-ready package for the new Beta 2 version can be downloaded here (updated to fix 27squadrons.cfg file issue):

https://www.mediafire.com/file/01eg730m7ev3tfm/Panthers_FC_Career_Mode_Project_-_ver.beta-2_for_JSGME.zip/file

 

Just D/L it, and unzip it into your MODS folder, then activate it using JSGME (ignoring JSGME warning messages and letting it "overwrite" the Beta 1 version).  You should be sure to install/activate the previous Beta 1 version before installing/activating the new Beta 2 version.  In order to avoid unnecessary duplication and reduce the download size of the Beta 2 package, it only includes the new (or changed) skins that weren't already included in the Beta 1 version.  Be sure to run the game with "Mods on" ticked.

 

 

===========================================

Since the release of Career mode for Flying Circus earlier this month, I have been working on a project to incorporate more appropriately-marked squadron default skins into the FC Career mode.  Fortunately, the FC career mode config files are pretty similar to those in Rise of Flight, so much of this work has been very similar to the work I did years ago on a similar project for RoF.  Unfortunately, the addition of the tactical code/decal system, while adding some very cool functionality that wasn't present in RoF, also added some complexity which has taken me a bit of time to try to figure out and test.

 

However, the project has been progressing pretty well and a substantial portion has been completed and tested at this point.  Unfortunately, I'm going to be away from my FC PC for a couple of weeks, so I thought it might be a good idea to go ahead and release what I have completed so far as a WIP, beta version that folks can be playing with for the next couple of weeks while I'm gone.  For simplicity at this point, I've packaged this version into a single JSGME-ready mod package, which contains both the modified career config files and all of the new skins that are ready to be added to career mode as reflected in the modified config files.  Eventually, when the final version is ready I hope to be able to figure out a way to have all the new career skins hosted on the Haluter's Skin Download tool, if I can find a way to keep them all together and easy for people to know which ones they need rather than have them simply scattered out among all the different plane types.  But for now, this JSGME-ready mod pack seemed the easiest/best way to go.

 

This WIP version, v.Beta-1, incorporates about 195 new time-appropriate squadron default skins for the following units:

 

France:  All units, flyable and AI

United States:  All units, flyable and AI (except 88th, 90th and 99th Aero Squadrons, which only flew aircraft not yet in the game) 

Great Britain: RFC Squadron Nos. 1, 11, 18, 19, 20, 29, 55 and 56

Germany: Jastas 2, 4, 6, 7, and 37   (Many thanks to the_dudeWG for letting me use many of his fine skins for these German units)

 

The JSGME-ready package can be downloaded here:

  https://www.mediafire.com/file/0p6toew0ogztaun/Panther's+FC+Career+Mode+Project+-+v.beta-1+for+JSGME.zip/file

 

Just D/L it, and unzip it into your MODS folder, then activate it using JSGME.  Be sure to run the game with "Mods on" ticked.

 

Please post here with any questions, problems or observations you might have after playing around with this, so I can try to address them when I get back in a couple of weeks or so.

 

PS - based on my testing it probably isn't necessary for you to start over with any existing careers you may have underway - it may take a mission or two before the new changes start showing up in your existing careers, but otherwise I didn't notice any problems with existing careers.  OTOH, just to be safe you may want to just use this mod on new careers and not fly any existing careers while you have this active, especially if you have some really prized careers going that you don't want to risk getting messed up.

Edited August 6, 2023 by TG-55Panthercules

[Mulbin]

Any news on adding the remaining squadrons? I fly RFC spads mostly so my squadron is still on default textures! Really nice seeing the different Jastas though.

 

I hope you add aces next! Is there a way for ace kills to be tracked too in a mod?

[TG-55Panthercules]

I'm traveling again and away from my FC PC, so there won't be any progress on this project until I get back next week, but I expect to be able to focus on getting more of the British and German squadrons done pretty soon after I get back.  There are still a lot of each of those to do, so it may be a while before I can turn attention to trying to figure out if anything can be done about the aces.

[migmadmarine]

Poking around with the mod, looks lovely so far. Probably a bit late to change without it being a major pain, but I do wish you included the unit in the skin name. Flipping through the skins, I've been winding up with looking at one and thinking "oh that's cool" but having no idea what unit the livery belongs to without digging into the files. 

[TG-55Panthercules]

20 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

Poking around with the mod, looks lovely so far. Probably a bit late to change without it being a major pain, but I do wish you included the unit in the skin name. Flipping through the skins, I've been winding up with looking at one and thinking "oh that's cool" but having no idea what unit the livery belongs to without digging into the files. 

 

Unfortunately, based upon my initial testing the file names seem to have to follow a fairly rigid pattern in order for the game to recognize that they are intended to have the tactical codes applied, so I don't think it's possible to customize them with the unit designation.  But maybe I can try again with the next batch of changes and see if maybe I just misinterpreted the initial test results.

 

I am keeping a spreadsheet detailing which skin names are used for which units and time frames (just so I can tell what's been done and what hasn't yet) - once I wrap up the final version I can provide a link to that spreadsheet to make it easier to figure out what skins belong to what units.

Edited June 7, 2023 by TG-55Panthercules

[migmadmarine]

I don't think the naming has any requirements at all, unless you're implementing them differently somehow. With my career mode mod for Normandy my filenames follow a (rough) type-service-unit-era- format, ie: P-47D22 USAAF 53FS 36FG DD.dds. As long as I have the "skin" line in the career units assignment file read "p47d22/P-47D22 USAAF 53FS 36FG DD.dds" then that skin appears in career mode with the lettering applied as assigned in the squadrons-codes file. You may be right that the game will only auto-apply codes to skins with "Blank_##" format names in quick mission generator, but honestly keeping that feature doesn't seem that important, to my mind at least. 

[TG-55Panthercules]

5 hours ago, migmadmarine said:

I don't think the naming has any requirements at all, unless you're implementing them differently somehow. With my career mode mod for Normandy my filenames follow a (rough) type-service-unit-era- format, ie: P-47D22 USAAF 53FS 36FG DD.dds. As long as I have the "skin" line in the career units assignment file read "p47d22/P-47D22 USAAF 53FS 36FG DD.dds" then that skin appears in career mode with the lettering applied as assigned in the squadrons-codes file. You may be right that the game will only auto-apply codes to skins with "Blank_##" format names in quick mission generator, but honestly keeping that feature doesn't seem that important, to my mind at least. 

 

That's weird.  When I first started playing around with this I was using my standard unit-based naming conventions and no variation I tried would make the tactical codes appear.  When I found that they would show up if I retained the  "Blank_##" format, I just figured that must be a requirement and so I quit trying anything else.  I'll experiment some more with this next set of changes, as I would prefer for the skins to be able to have more easily recognizable names.

[migmadmarine]

Huh, that is very strange. Only tweaking the skins.cfg file? Or were you messing with other files at the same time? Only editing the skins file should have no effect on the codes application, provided the FC career handles things the same as the BON/BOBP careers. When I've had invalid file names entered in (say, having a typo or forgetting the p-47d22/ before the filename) just results in the flight spawning wearing the default skin and whatever their squadron letters are. @Skycat1969 any insight? 

[TG-55Panthercules]

12 hours ago, migmadmarine said:

Huh, that is very strange. Only tweaking the skins.cfg file? Or were you messing with other files at the same time? Only editing the skins file should have no effect on the codes application, provided the FC career handles things the same as the BON/BOBP careers. When I've had invalid file names entered in (say, having a typo or forgetting the p-47d22/ before the filename) just results in the flight spawning wearing the default skin and whatever their squadron letters are. @Skycat1969 any insight? 

 

Well, it's been a while since those initial experiments, so I don't remember for sure if it was just that the tactical codes weren't showing up or that the new squadron default skins weren't being used, but in any event the net result was that I wasn't getting the desired results unless I used the "Blank_##" format.  I also discovered in those early tests that only 2-digit numbers worked (e.g., "Blank_99" worked but "Blank_100" didn't work), so it looks like we'll be somewhat limited in the number of skins we can insert through this methodology.  This wasn't a problem with respect to the French or American units that I have completed, and hopefully won't become one for the German units, but we'll see.

[migmadmarine]

Very few German units used sequential numbers on their aircraft, right? So even if for some reason the FC career mode does require using Blank_## file names for the lettering to work, not having the numbering work on units that didn't use them anyway is no real loss, right?

[LukeFF]

5 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

Very few German units used sequential numbers on their aircraft, right? So even if for some reason the FC career mode does require using Blank_## file names for the lettering to work, not having the numbering work on units that didn't use them anyway is no real loss, right?

 

Most likely, but I've never tested this. The best way to find out is to enter "%20%20%20" for every line.

 

Otherwise, yes, when it comes to the jagdstaffeln, almost all of them used their own unique markings that were in no way associated with sequential numbers. Only in the recon, attack, and escort units do you consistently see sequential numbers.

[TG-55Panthercules]

Yeah - I've been struggling with this concept as it relates to the German units.  On the one hand, using numbers for the Jastas generally doesn't feel quite right and isn't historical as such, but on the other hand not using the tactical codes at all makes the German units look pretty dull in action.  My current inclination is to go ahead and use the codes on all the German units for the main version I am working on, but I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up also creating an alternate version that doesn't use the codes on the Jastas but at least has the correct unit markings for the Jastas. (It will be a pretty simple matter of just substituting a single file that has the codes blanked out for the fighter units).

[migmadmarine]

Yea, speaking for myself I'd lean toward the latter even if it does mean more uniform appearance for German units. So I'll wind up either tweaking your mod for my own install or using the alternate version if you release it. 

 

[Barkhorn1x]

On 6/8/2023 at 11:50 AM, LukeFF said:

 

Most likely, but I've never tested this. The best way to find out is to enter "%20%20%20" for every line.

 

Otherwise, yes, when it comes to the jagdstaffeln, almost all of them used their own unique markings that were in no way associated with sequential numbers. Only in the recon, attack, and escort units do you consistently see sequential numbers.

FYI, Jasta 37 used sequential numbers AND unique markings on their DVa's.

[TG-55Panthercules]

Just a status update in case folks were wondering.  I've finished all of the British flyable squadrons and about half of the British AI units, but have had to take a break for the last week or so (suffered a fall last weekend that fortunately didn't break anything but has left me unable to walk or get to my IL-2/FC PC since then).  Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it and wrap up the rest of the British AI units within the next week or two - then, on to the German units!

[WitchyWoman]

20 minutes ago, TG-55Panthercules said:

Just a status update in case folks were wondering.  I've finished all of the British flyable squadrons and about half of the British AI units, but have had to take a break for the last week or so (suffered a fall last weekend that fortunately didn't break anything but has left me unable to walk or get to my IL-2/FC PC since then).  Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it and wrap up the rest of the British AI units within the next week or two - then, on to the German units!

Blessings, get better soon.

Edited July 9, 2023 by WitchyWoman

[Rudini]

It works. Thank you, panthercules?

[Zooropa_Fly]

Hope you're feeling better soon Panther. 

[Barkhorn1x]

Feel better Panther!!

[Rudini]

Hi @TG-55Panthercules

 

Is there a way to make my own Default skins for jasta 15 aircraft?

 

Can i change some texture path to jasta 15 aircraft in a specific file?

 

Thanks

[TG-55Panthercules]

22 hours ago, Rudini said:

Hi @TG-55Panthercules

 

Is there a way to make my own Default skins for jasta 15 aircraft?

 

Can i change some texture path to jasta 15 aircraft in a specific file?

 

Thanks

 

Yes, that is possible, and it's a fairly simple tweak to a couple of text files.  If you can bear with me a bit until I can get back to my main PC I can give you the instructions on how to do that.

[TG-55Panthercules]

@Rudini

 

I was able to get to my main PC for a few minutes today, and it turned out it was simpler to just do it than try to explain it - so here are the tweaked files you need to add to be able to use your own custom Jasta 15 skins in Career Mode:

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/wgavd17a6lc5x6i/Rudini's+J15+skins+in+Career+Mode+for+JSGME.zip/file

 

Just unzip that into your MODS folder and use JSGME to activate it.

 

In order to make it work properly, you'll need to name your Jasta 15 skins as follows and install them into the appropriate skins folders in the game (and of course, you'll need to have "mods on" ticked in your settings):

 

Your Jasta 15 skins prior to March 18, 1918 should be named as follows:

albatrosd5_blank_98.dds

pfalzd3a_blank_98.dds

fokkerdr1_blank_98.dds

 

Your Jasta 15 skins after March 18, 1918 should be named as follows:

albatrosd5_blank_99.dds

pfalzd3a_blank_99.dds

fokkerdr1_blank_99.dds

fokkerd7_blank_99.dds

fokkerd7f_blank_99.dds

 

 

I only included the cfg files (and not all the skins), which are modified versions of these files contained in my beta-1 WIP package available in the first post above, so if you've already installed that mod package you can safely ignore the warning that JSGME will give you and let these new versions over-write the ones in that mod package, and you won't lose any of the benefits of that beta-1 version.

 

BTW - if you want to understand how this works, you can simply open up the 27skins.cfg and 27squadrons-codes.cfg files in your mod package in Notepad or any text editor, search for "401015" and poke around.  (You can ignore the 27squadrons.cfg file for now - it's just a test/placeholder for possible later use).

 

[EDIT] Note - I've disabled the letters/numbers (tactical codes) for Jasta 15 in this package since I'm not sure if you want them and I don't know how they might work (or not work) with the particular custom skins you plan to use.  If you decide you want to try using the tactical codes with your custom Jasta 15 skins, let me know and I'll walk you through how to tweak the 27squadrons-codes.cfg to turn them on.

Edited July 21, 2023 by TG-55Panthercules

[Rudini]

Wow, @TG-55Panthercules

 

thanks a lot!

 

Disabling tactical numbers is what i needet next, thx.

 

Hope you will be fine with your health soon.

 

If it works good, then i will try to do some (a lot) normandy/Bodenplatte skins, too, since they were much more colorful.

 

 

Best regards, Rudi

 

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Bug Allert!! Hi @TG-55Panthercules. It seems your MOD causes a problem. When I have activated your MOD (both you offer here) I cant join any squad that is equipped with the Siemens Schuckert Plane. If I try to join a SSW squad the game not allow me to join because the squad will retreat from frontline (In fact it dosen't) I tested it, this problem is only there with your MOD activated. If you try to figure it out yourself Join that FA squad in Stenay 1724 in the 1918 timeframe because it let you jump to September 1918. Than try to join a Jasta owns SSW, for example Jasta 14, the message will explane that you finish your career with that step.

Thanks for attention ?

[TG-55Panthercules]

8 hours ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

Bug Allert!! Hi @TG-55Panthercules. It seems your MOD causes a problem. When I have activated your MOD (both you offer here) I cant join any squad that is equipped with the Siemens Schuckert Plane. If I try to join a SSW squad the game not allow me to join because the squad will retreat from frontline (In fact it dosen't) I tested it, this problem is only there with your MOD activated. If you try to figure it out yourself Join that FA squad in Stenay 1724 in the 1918 timeframe because it let you jump to September 1918. Than try to join a Jasta owns SSW, for example Jasta 14, the message will explane that you finish your career with that step.

Thanks for attention ?

 

That's weird, as I haven't really messed much with the German portion of the career, and I haven't done anything WRT the SSW as far as I can recall.  I'll check it out this weekend and see if I can figure out what's going on.  Thanks for pointing this out.

[TG-55Panthercules]

22 hours ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

Bug Allert!! Hi @TG-55Panthercules. It seems your MOD causes a problem. When I have activated your MOD (both you offer here) I cant join any squad that is equipped with the Siemens Schuckert Plane. If I try to join a SSW squad the game not allow me to join because the squad will retreat from frontline (In fact it dosen't) I tested it, this problem is only there with your MOD activated. If you try to figure it out yourself Join that FA squad in Stenay 1724 in the 1918 timeframe because it let you jump to September 1918. Than try to join a Jasta owns SSW, for example Jasta 14, the message will explane that you finish your career with that step.

Thanks for attention ?

 

It looks like the problem is related to the "27squadrons.cfg" file contained in my WIP mod version.  That's only there as a placeholder for future possible changes, and it looks like some change in that file since my WIP release is causing the problem you're experiencing.  I haven't really started messing with that file yet anyway, so the best thing to do is simply delete that file from my mod package for right now (deactivate it first using JSGME, then explore to it and simply delete that specific file).  I won't be including that file in the next release of my mod package, so the problem shouldn't recur.

[TG-55Panthercules]

Small status update - I have now completed work on all the British units (flyable and AI - except for a few stray AI home defense and seaplane units apparently left in the files as holdovers from the RoF Channel map career mode).

 

So, all that's left are the crap-ton of German units, and the few Belgian ones.

[TVadney]

Thank you for your continuing work and dedication to this project. 
 

From one that flies in one of those “crap-ton” of German units (Jasta 24).

 

Tom

[Mtnbiker1998]

Looking forward to seeing this completed! Really adds a ton to the experience 

[TG-55Panthercules]

First post above updated to reflect the release of a new WIP version - Beta 2.  Link and instructions about installation are included in the first post above.

 

If anybody notes any problems or issues, please post here or PM me and I'll deal with them when I return from my upcoming travels.

 

Enjoy!

Edited August 6, 2023 by TG-55Panthercules

[JG4_Moltke1871]

I have a question about how the mod works: If I fly for a squadron covered by the mod, should the skin be assigned automatically? Until now, I always had to manually assign the appropriate skins to my own squad

[TG-55Panthercules]

2 hours ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

I have a question about how the mod works: If I fly for a squadron covered by the mod, should the skin be assigned automatically? Until now, I always had to manually assign the appropriate skins to my own squad

 

Yes, if you fly for a squadron covered by the mod the appropriate skin for the relevant time period will be applied to your unit (player and AI planes) automatically.  You do not need to manually assign anything.

 

Of course, some units may not have used any squadron-specific markings during particular times during the career mode phases, so if you happen to be flying with one of those units you should just be seeing the unmarked default skins on those planes during those times (you should still be seeing tactical codes even on those planes).  And of course this only relates to the game's career mode, and not to PWCG, which is entirely different as to how it handles skin assignments.

[JG4_Moltke1871]

24 minutes ago, TG-55Panthercules said:

 

Yes, if you fly for a squadron covered by the mod the appropriate skin for the relevant time period will be applied to your unit (player and AI planes) automatically.  You do not need to manually assign anything.

 

Of course, some units may not have used any squadron-specific markings during particular times during the career mode phases, so if you happen to be flying with one of those units you should just be seeing the unmarked default skins on those planes during those times (you should still be seeing tactical codes even on those planes).  And of course this only relates to the game's career mode, and not to PWCG, which is entirely different as to how it handles skin assignments.

Thanks and btw very nice skins and some very unique like the Halberstadt skins ?

 

PS: No problem anymore with SSW squads after delete the "27squadrons.cfg" file

Edited August 6, 2023 by JG4_Moltke1871

[TG-55Panthercules]

1 hour ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

PS: No problem anymore with SSW squads after delete the "27squadrons.cfg" file

 

Thanks for reminding me about that little problem.  I'd originally planned to make this Beta 2 version an all-inclusive package that would replace the Beta 1 version entirely, and was planning to solve this problem by just deleting the "27squadrons.cfg" file from the Beta 2 package.  However, when I realized that the all-inclusive Beta 2 package would be a whopping 6 GB to download, I decided to reduce its size by half by making it an incremental update.  However, I forgot that I would have to include an updated version of the "27squadrons.cfg" file in the new Beta 2 package or else it would still leave people with the outdated copy of that file from the original Beta 1 version.

 

I've fixed that now - the first post has an updated link that will take you to the revised Beta 2 version that includes the up-to-date version of the "27squadrons.cfg" file.  If you downloaded the Beta 2 version before I posted this and revised the link above, you don't need to re-download anything, but you probably should deactivate both mods with JSGME, manually delete the "27squadrons.cfg" file (in the data\scg\scripts folder) from the Beta 1 version, and then re-activate both mods in order (beta 1, then beta 2).

 

If you downloaded the Beta 2 version after I posted this and revised the link above, you don't need to do anything about this issue.

[Blitzen]

Looking forward to giving this a try!

[Blitzen]

I'd like to try this mod but am currently having some effects issues in FC while using JSGME & MODS in game .Is it possible just to extract contents dierectly into the main game folder, by passing JSGME, for a permanent install, in your opinion??

[TG-55Panthercules]

1 hour ago, Blitzen said:

I'd like to try this mod but am currently having some effects issues in FC while using JSGME & MODS in game .Is it possible just to extract contents dierectly into the main game folder, by passing JSGME, for a permanent install, in your opinion??

 

Certainly it is possible - not recommended, but possible.

 

It seems unlikely that JSGME itself is really the source of whatever effects problems you are having - more likely, the problem(s) are traceable to some specific mod that you happen to be activating with JSGME.  When you use JSGME to deactivate all your mods, do you still have these problems?  If so, when you turn the game's mods on setting to off, do you still have these problems?  

 

If you install this (or any other mod) manually, without using JSGME, you'll need to be careful to manually keep track of which mods you have installed as removing them manually can be a PITA.  But it is possible - JSGME isn't really doing anything magical when it activates mods - it's just copying the files into the proper locations like you would be doing manually - it's just doing it elegantly and keeping track of what it's done so it can easily back them out when you want it to.

[Blitzen]

No ,the excessive exhaust smoke in the WW1 birds happens with "Mods on" i game settings, but no mods from JSGME installed...No idea why.

[TG-55Panthercules]

On 8/22/2023 at 1:03 PM, Blitzen said:

No ,the excessive exhaust smoke in the WW1 birds happens with "Mods on" i game settings, but no mods from JSGME installed...No idea why.

 

So, when you untick the ""mods on" setting in the game does the smoke problem you're seeing go away?  If so, it sounds like you may have manually installed some sort of smoke-affecting mod sometime in the past and forgotten about it (or failed to manually remove all of its files).    Somebody (Ankor?) once made a nifty little tool for RoF that searched for and identified stray/orphaned mod files, but I don't remember seeing anything like that for FC.  Worst case, you might have to do a completely new install for IL-2 GB/FC to get back to a purely stock copy (if you installed it through Steam they may have some sort of file verification process, but I've never used Steam for IL-2 GB/FC so I'm not sure about that).

 

In any event, it doesn't sound like JSGME is likely to be the cause of the problem.

Edited August 24, 2023 by TG-55Panthercules

[Blitzen]

Yes- like I figured.?