Thinking about a Community Patch

[kendo65]

Originally Posted by Feathered_IV

...

The interesting bit was when I considered that the files in front of me were for the latest version of the game. What If I rolled back the previous patch and made a dump of that version and compared the differences? What if I did the same for the ones before that, or the V1 Collectors Edition?

Maybe it would be possible to pull some of the best bits out of each version and make a sort of compilation mod. Get the decent looking Spit's weathering layer from the early build and use it instead of the messy current one for example. Extract the earlier landshading files and use them instead. Tweak the tree textures, fix the dust particles, revert to a Hurricane FM that will start up...

There are a lot of things we can do. The files are right there in the open once you extract them. Nothing much seems hashed or encrypted and just about everything can be opened in notepad. It would be baby steps at first, but those who were around during the early days of Il-2 modding at AAA would remember how things started out. It was an exciting time, exchanging ideas and techniques. Learning about the game and how it all worked.

Anyone with experience in modding work, I'd urge you to take a look inside Cliffs Of Dover. There is a lot to see. If anyone can recall elements of previous patches or versions that had things that were working nicely and are now busted... maybe speak up and link to the patch in question. Maybe we can fix things after all!

I'm really not sure that it would be as easy as a simple 'mix and match' strategy. There are likely to be dependencies between files of a particular version that will break the game if replaced by those from a different version.

It may be possible to do some simple things but it could turn into a Frankenstein's monster situation.

Also, as for il-2 mods, getting agreement from the community as a whole that a particular change is an improvement could be difficult.

Overall I'm not really in favour.

Luthier has said that the FMs will continue to be worked on until they're good enough, and when the map sdk is released then there should be big improvements made to the main map.

Originally Posted by SiThSpAwN

I didnt think that improvements from the sequel will be ported over to CLoD, least thats how I have been reading things... I could be wrong of course...

No, they will - things like weather, AI improvements, Comms, etc, etc.

[David198502]

where are the FM files, and how can one open them???
i dont want to change them, but only have a look and see if they can reveal some answers on questions Luthier and the team dont think its necessary to comment.

[Catseye]

Here we go again opening Pandora's Box!

[5./JG27.Farber]

Yup, games cracked. Let the modding madness begin...

[JG52Krupi]

Originally Posted by Catseye

Here we go again opening Pandora's Box!

Originally Posted by 5./JG27.Farber

Yup, games cracked. Let the modding madness begin...

Yeah, could not agree more.

Spits and 109s that fly like UFO's AWESOME, constant arguing about who has the realistic FM, four different "Ultimate" Mods yeah this is great news