I'll have to look into what is involved in making and adding fixes and new aircraft. I'm good at .xml's and modding .ac files for FlightGear, this IL2 realm seems a lot more complicated. Making flight models, does it involve hex editing and commandline stuff?
Hello Unca-Fester, the process for anyone trying to learn what is involved in making models for IL-2 is a long one if like me you had to start from scratch, my Lysander has been on the go for six years or so, admittedly other projects and breaks from the game elongated that time span.
You have the advantage of already being a 3d modeler, some here just add the aircraft but omit some of the other items such as the damage model that is needed to make their aircraft fully IL-2 authentic shall we say, the models for this game are far more complex than say FSX.
Where to start from your point of view?
Some start with conversions of existing aircraft, maybe change the java to add new weapons, add different surfaces to create a slightly different version of the plane, say new wing, tail etc. for earlier or later types and gain knowledge that way of the new challenge IL-2 gives.
As for FM, if you look at the release thread of the Rumpler you will find I include java classes and the parts for the FM.
So you could start say by adding your engine model to that, Engine1_D0 is the part, a straight swap once your 3d part complies.
Using the hier.him you could add further parts.
To change the aircraft type name you need to alter the java, Mike wrote a excellent tutorial here for eclipse:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/board,132.0.htmlThere are many others in that section.
For the FM to be altered you need NTRK wizard:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,42832.msg481509.html#msg481509You will need the fmd and emd files, one is for the aircraft and one for engine, combined they make the FM.
The plane class needs a new entry if you rename the FM so the game knows what to look for.
If you take a look in the download for the Rumpler and combine what I included with the tutorials you could re-engine and and re-name one of those models and give it a new FM as a first step into the game.
If you use that as a first step eventually you can go the whole way and add your own aircraft into the game.
Hope that helps.
Wishing you all the very best, Pete.