since i saw that at least someone else noticed this problem, i tried to investigate further.
i took the EnterpriseCV6_42 and made a mission where it gets attacked by several bombers. as soon as it gets heavily damaged, the error starts appearing, not once, but on an endless loop, thus slowing down the whole game (you won't notice this until you either use time compression or you have a mission with more than 4-5 ships in it).
INTERNAL ERROR: Can't open file '3do/Ships/USSEnterpriseCV6_42/Sailor1o_dis.mat'
WARNING: object '3do/Ships/USSEnterpriseCV6_42/Sailor1o_dis.mat' of class 'TMaterial' not loaded
INTERNAL ERROR: Material: Can't load 'Sailor1o_dis.mat'
java.lang.RuntimeException: INTERNAL ERROR: Material: Can't load 'Sailor1o_dis.mat'
now i made a temporary mod folder, took a copy of the file "Sailor1o.mat", renamed it to "Sailor1o_dis.mat" and created the proper directory structure:
G:\IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 Modact 5.3\#WAW\mysteryshipfile\3do\Ships\USSEnterpriseCV6_42
long story short: there was a second error now appearing, trying to find a file called "Sailor2p_dis.mat". same procedure, took a copy of the EXISTING file "Sailor2p.mat" renamed to "Sailor2p_dis.mat", put it in my test folder.
played the mission, no more file errors, until the ship sank, which will now result in the following error:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.maddox.il2.objects.ships.BigshipGeneric.Die(BigshipGeneric.java:2364)
at com.maddox.il2.objects.ships.BigshipGeneric.InjurePart(BigshipGeneric.java:2250)
at com.maddox.il2.objects.ships.BigshipGeneric.msgExplosion(BigshipGeneric.java:1867)
at com.maddox.il2.ai.MsgExplosion.invokeListener(MsgExplosion.java:77)
at com.maddox.rts.Message._send(Message.java:1217)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendToObject(Message.java:1158)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendTo(Message.java:1134)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.trySend(Message.java:1115)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.send(Message.java:1091)
at com.maddox.il2.ai.MsgExplosion.send(MsgExplosion.java:45)
at com.maddox.il2.objects.weapons.Bomb.doExplosion(Bomb.java:399)
at com.maddox.il2.objects.weapons.Bomb.doExplosion(Bomb.java:345)
at com.maddox.il2.objects.weapons.Bomb.msgCollision(Bomb.java:221)
at com.maddox.il2.engine.MsgCollision.invokeListener(MsgCollision.java:72)
at com.maddox.rts.Message._send(Message.java:1217)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendToObject(Message.java:1158)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendTo(Message.java:1134)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.trySend(Message.java:1115)
at com.maddox.rts.Time.loopMessages(Time.java:252)
at com.maddox.rts.RTSConf.loopMsgs(RTSConf.java:101)
at com.maddox.il2.game.MainWin3D.loopApp(MainWin3D.java:131)
at com.maddox.il2.game.Main.exec(Main.java:449)
at com.maddox.il2.game.GameWin3D.main(GameWin3D.java:235)
also worth noticing, when the ship is sinking, the AA guns on the ship keep on firing on endless loop, even when it goes underwater.
also this seems to happen to many (if not all) ships, which all want those "Sailor1o_dis.mat" + "Sailor2p_dis.mat" files in their respective folders.
while this won't crash the game, it definetely slows down the simulator and is a problem.
i have no idea if this is a result from a combination of mods within CUP, or if Monty missed a file, or an entry in one of the ini files, or if this is a general problem with ships in il-2 1946 or maybe from an effects mod... i tried to google for this problem, but can't find anything relevant.