1918 AIR WAR v_1 By downloading this patch you agree not to distribute or modify for public use any part of this patch without consent from the author. __________________________________ INTRODUCTION Welcome to the patch! The patch consists of the following 2 patch folders only: 1918,and 1918Date. These folders are to be placed in the Campaign Manager to be loaded into sim. PRIOR TO LOADING MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO ADD ONS ADDED INTO YOUR RB 3dPAtch FOLDER AS 1918 HAS Terrain and other graphics loaded into that folder. The Date based folder is important as it will give you many changes in paints and one model in the course of play. SETTINGS: Advanced flight only. This uses FMparam3 and Acspec3 dat only. Difficulty level should be set around 110%. I spent over 2 years developing the models, paints, FM and AI for this patch. Of course, I have a real life and do not do this sort of stuff ALL the time. As much time went into research of planes, units, pilots, markings, etc., as did the work itself. ___________________________________ ISSUES KNOWN A number of ACE pilot kill histories have not been corrected to meet the new aircraft listings. I just don't have the time to do all of them. Anyone want to change the kill history to reflect proper aircraft feel free to go at it. Any plane type that is not included can simply be replaced with generic "enemy bomber" or "fighter" in the record if you want to get into it. Some graphics may still need a little work. Terrain graphics need some minor work. If you do not wish to use the terrain provided just delete the contents of the 3dpatch folder. However, if you are intent on flying in March of 1918 just remember that the ground was NOT covered with snow just prior to the Spring offensive. My terrain has winter set to get you through March with no snow. The patch has been tested. My thanks to those beta testers. No bugs have been found. __________________________________ FRAME RATES You should get decent frames with this patch. I have no desire to draw out every wire, make 3d weels, wings, detail model bmps for any of the 3d models as they suck frame rates. Most players have older PC's with their GLide cards and that is what this was built around. It is important because you can end up with some very LARGE air battles just as in 1918 itself. This patch was developed to run fine on a 400mghz PC with Glide card and to get good frame rates. ____________________________________ THE TOTAL PATCH CONCEPT AND WARNING This is intended to be a "complete patch" which means no need for other add ons. Although I recommend extended flame/fire graphics and AA burst graphics to add in as they will not conflict. The 1918 patch includes it's own necessary FM/DM/AI, 3d models, all BMPS, Terrain graphics, cloud graphics, sky color. Taking out or replacing one file will probably cause a DTD. Add ons. Currently PL smoke/fire patch is compatable. You may want to add sound files. If you do, locate the file names of early and late model engines (you can do this by looking at the campaign manager screen for sound). Make copy of late model engine files and rename them to replace early model sounds. That is all you need to do to get sound files configured properly. ____________________________________ WHAT YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW The patch is based upon the History of the German Spring Offensive of 1918 till the end of the war. I spent at least as much time researching paints, squadron histories, and the war itself for this patch. The patch intends to mirror the activity of 1918. You will see units move around the front as they did. You will see forces build up and also withdraw. Therefore if you wish to be a part of the St Mihiel offensive just pick a unit that ended up their and you will be fine. YOU CANNOT START PLAY PRIOR TO MARCH 1, 1918. THe patch only allows play from that date till end of war. I known the Germans did not change their cross until the offensive in Spring and afterward but I really intend folks to play the patch from April 1, 1918 at the earliest. YOu can back up the date to the end of March to play right from the beginning of the offensive. If you know the history of 1918 and some of the units you will know what to expect. And NO you won't Fokker EV posted to a dozen squadrons. REPORT ANY ISSUES / FEEDBACK TO THE FORUM: http://forums.delphiforums.com/1918/start/ Have fun! WINGSTRUT.COM January 27, 2002