Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tomoose]

The Carrier Crew Mod has an LSO waving his arms but it is purely eye-candy.  I think having a "reactive" LSO figure is a bridge too far but enabling a camera view at that location would seem to be more achievable.  Relying on an AI that tells you it's "bailing out" or "I'm going down" after they have already crashed would be a challenge in an AI LSO.

If an LSO cam-view is impossible perhaps some sort of 3D objects on the carriers in the vicinity of the LSO position which, if lined up properly on approach, indicate you are on the proper glide slope.  This could be "upgraded" to lights for post-WWII carriers?!?

I would still prefer an LSO 'cam' so that humans could assume LSO control.

[PlaneEater]

I don't think it'd actually need "AI" as such... couldn't the code from the tail warning radar on the P-38 and P-47N be repurposed to detect aircraft within certain zones off the fantail, and then simply swap models based on which zone they were in?  Besides that, all you'd need to do is read the data on the plane itself about bank angle, and potentially gear / hook.  Here are the signals from Wikipedia:

[HundertzehnGustav]

That would be damn cool.
How do i see the guy though...
would need an auto popoup window...
tab, 8, 4 (req landing) to open said window when within 5 miles of a carrier.
wingfold to close
or if bolter, raise hook to close. (else window stays open with waveoff signal loop)
tab , 8, 4 to reopen.

[PlaneEater]

You can see the LSO platform pretty well if you're on the proper glide slope with the canopy open and the seat raised.  Visibility for the paddles can be handled by making the paddles LOD very large (so they're always at least 2-4 pixels in size even at long distances and nice, high-contrast signal red).  That combined with the visual acuity you get from the paddle movement, plus radio calls, should work fantastic.

[Pursuivant]

Microsoft CFS2 had a static LSO figure which appeared in a pop-up window. That might be the most viable option since both IL2 and CFS2 are about the same age. That might be simplest, since you don't actually need an animated figure on the flight deck. Instead, you just have a simple "radar" type function with 14 different static figures.

Ideally, you'd also need to update ground control AI and voice-pack to include additional landing commands like "lower your landing gear", "lower your tailhook",  "too high", "too low", etc.

As tomoose said, though, lag time could make this mod useless. It's no good if the LSO mod only updates key signals like "wave off" after you've already cut power and are over the deck.

[scrapple]

Air Group 51 has posted a few of their mods in their public forums. One of those is an LSO Cam.

http://airgroup51.net/forum/index.php?board=14.0

[FIGHTS ON]

"You can fly a curved approach"  post #1 (stratodog) - Brits did this (& USN?) to keep deck in sight when recovering Corsair etc. Would it be possible to have an object (friendly) on deck that would allow "padlock view" thus allowing a smoother 'curved approach' (Does static a/c on deck provide this?)

Post #12 (Tomoose)  - agree some form of landing lights (doesn't have to be complicated mirror-landing-sight) but perhaps 3 lights set in a vertical line, with each "shielded". So that if below 3 degree glide path only bottom light (red?) would be visible, 3-4 degrees, the middle (green?) light and above 4 degrees the top (white?) light. If not a 'physical shield' (like horses blinkers?) then perhaps some coding that continually calculates your a/c distance from end of runway (or deck) versus height - then calculates some simple trig and shows the correct colour light for High, low or on glide path. Land based military airfields use a series of lights set in 3 parallel rows, perpendicular to runway. Again physically shielded so as to show combinations of red and/or white depending on your glide path angle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_approach_path_indicator

[352nd_Hoss]

Version 2.2 is out, there was a little bug in FMB when placing stationary ships, you can get it here....

http://airgroup51.net/forum/index.php?board=14.0