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Author Topic: Modding Tornado  (Read 227976 times)

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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #15 on: October 15, 2017, 02:30:54 AM »
Haha! Apparently in the default Tornado game, the Spectator View (F4) already has the pan left and pan right feature. So Hack #11 is a no-Hack. Guess I confused the Remote and Spectator views.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2017, 03:42:41 AM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #16 on: October 15, 2017, 06:46:21 PM »
For those with the original Digital Integration (or Spectrum Holobyte) Tornado combat/flight simulator installed on your computer, or if you fancy digging up that old CD-ROM (or diskettes!?) to install the simulator, I am making the latest multiple-views-modded FLIGHT.EXE available to you. Below is the link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n5appd9ysehp1d2/FLIGHT-at-end-of-Sunday-15th-October-2017.zip?dl=0

Instruction:
This will only work with the Non-Operation Desert Storm version of Tornado.
Simply make a backup of the original TORNADO\FLIGHT\FLIGHT.EXE and then extract the Zip file. Then copy my FLIGHT.EXE into TORNADO\FLIGHT subfolder.
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2017, 12:19:47 AM »
11. Checksix view

Mod: Fullscreen rear view with F2 (Modded Satellite View) - allows you to Checksix!
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:

I managed to mod the Satellite View inside VIEWS.ASM so that when you hit F2 you get a front-facing almost full-screen view, and if you hit F2 again, you get a full-screen BACK VIEW. Both views can be further adjusted by pressing and holding down < or Shift< or > or Shift>.


What I did was to change line 1542 from
mov    TMP_VIEW.VP_PITCH, ax
to
mov    TMP_VIEW.VP_PITCH, -45
-and-
I commented off line 1253 by adding a semicolon in front. Like so:
;mov    TMP_VIEW.VP_ROLL,0

This angle is new to Tornado. Here you can see the rest of the Squadron queued
up behind your Tornado. The white line is a runaway line marker.


Another unique angle. See those droplets falling down behind our Tornado?
They are from YOUR Tornado, not your Squadron mates'. You have overflown the runaway and
the bomblets are raining down BEHIND you.


Your JP-233 bombs are going off behind you. Seconds later, your own Squadron mates hit the other targets surrounding the runaway.

See those bigger flashes of orange and white at the bottom-right corner of the last screenshot image above? That would be drone Squadron flights doing what they've been programmed to do best - hit the target on time, every time. The angle is unique. The visual damage done to runaway thanks to the cumulative efforts of the Squadron is unique to Tornado. The story this image tells is powerful.

This proves that there is almost no limit to what the 24-year old assembly language source code can do . All it takes is TIME, TIME and creativity, curiosity and lots of luck.  Perhaps even Providence. I am sure that there are many other tricks the code can do if coaxed properly and patiently.



Watch the video below to see the new Satellite View (F2) in action.
 


Below is video showing more action using the modded Satellite View (F2). This time it's a 6-plane mission.11-IDS Airfield Dawn Attack. When the video is ready, check out the last 5 seconds of the video. Those seconds is what Tornado was/is all about. Start of the take-off has some green clipping on the runaway. Not sure what is causing that. Never mind. It's minor to me.

 

Cheers
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:22:36 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2017, 09:20:20 PM »
12. Use the Right or Left TV Tab Display to activate glorious night vision effect

Mod: An improved Night Vision Goggles view
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the TAB.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description: All you need to do is to comment off one line. ONE LINE. NVG has been done before. Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein of Germany wrote the original NVG mod back in 1996. That mod made the entire screen show up in night vision green. My hack allows just the windshield to be in night vision green. Plus, compared to Heinz's mod of 1996, my hack makes it extremely easy to implement and to activate/deactivate during the game.

A single semicolon (remark command) to rule them all!


Change the Right TV Tab Display to the TIALD view


Glorious green


To deactivate the NVG effect, simple select the FLIR view inside the pilot's central MFD. See above.


All external views will show in the NVG effect when activated.


Application of the mod? I think this version of NVG, compared to Heinz's brilliant NVG mod of yesteryear, is easier on the eyes. It is easy to implement the 'hack' of commenting that one line, and easy to activate and deactivate during the game. It will also allow you to better target ground targets in the darkest of nights. Mauser strafing and night shooting sprees in the making!

I have a feeling that Tornado 2 of 2018 is simply going to be the same 16-bit assembly language Tornado FLIGHT.EXE, albeit with at least 10 to 20 minor improvements. What matters in the end is the cumulative effect of the mods, no matter how small they may be, will enhance the overall gameplay of this classic flight simulator. We may not have the DESERT.EXE source code, nor the source code to Robin Heydon's brilliant Advanced Mission Planner (AMP.EXE), but what we have is a God-send. Kevin Bezant's full source code of the 3D simulation part of Tornado. FLIGHT.EXE is simply going to get better over time.

So here's to more mods over the next 6 months or so!
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:22:59 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #19 on: October 21, 2017, 10:19:22 AM »
13. Wump-Crump-Shake the Tornado

Mod: Shake Tornado at moment of ordinance target explosion even when Tornado is outside of weapon's damage hemisphere
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the WEAPONS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description: In the default game, all weapons have damage hemisphere values. For example from the second screenshot below, the 1,000lbs GPB will damage the Tornado if the Tornado is within 750 feet from the blast. So if the Tornado is, let's say, 1,000 feet away from the blast, then there is no visible tremor or shaking of either the pilot's or navigator's cockpits. That's why it pays to make a bomb run from a safe height.

How to blow yourself up with your own bombs - from the Tornado game manual

One of Tornado's notable strengths is also one of its greatest weaknesses. The simulation is accurate down to the plane physics, aerodynamics, ballistics and explosion data. However this results in a less fun experience. For example, imagine you as the gamer after having fought your way through AAA and SAM defenses, manage to bomb the target, only to be greeted by a less than impressive sound effect, and with no visible cue of the explosion. In the achievement of high fidelity physics data, the fun factor has been sacrificed in some parts of the simulation.

Existing code in WEAPONS.ASM

The purpose of this "Wump-Crump-Shake the Tornado" hack is to put the fun factor into the bombing experience by shaking the cockpit screens even if and when the Tornado is OUTSIDE of the damage hemispheres of any weapon. This is a tad unrealistic, as at certain heights and speeds the Tornado may well be unaffected by the shock waves of the blast behind and below it. However this hack ramps up the fun and immersion factor. It gives the gamer a visual cue as to the moment of impact by shaking the screen slightly. This visual cue, combined with the auditory feedback of the explosion sound is my way of enhancing the combat experience of this 24-year old flght simulator.

Here is the hack. Put the code SHAKE    SHAKE_BRAKE,HSHAKE_OFF,VSHAKE_LO,65535 right after the NextMobile: label. See image below.

This code gives the cockpit a brief, small but unmistakable shake/tremor/jolt

This code will cause a slight shake of the cockpits when a bomb detonates. If this is too small an effect for you to notice, then you can try replacing the code with SHAKE    SHAKE_COLLIDE,HSHAKE_HI,VSHAKE_HI,50 which is a much stronger shaking of the cockpit or tremor.

Here is a video showing the effect. You can see this effect at 00:23 and 01:13.

Don't blink at 00:23 and 01:13 or you will miss the effect!

So now with my hack, when the bomb hits home, there's gonna be a whole lotta shakin' goin' on! Inside or outside of the Damage Hemisphere.  This puts the F-U-N factor back where it belongs. Inside the simulator. Adjust and stir to taste.

« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:23:16 PM by Frankie »
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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #20 on: October 21, 2017, 07:24:57 PM »
14. Flyby view

Mod: After 24 years Tornado finally gets a true flyby view
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
        The magic value of -10 for ".VP_PITCH" seems to work wonders this time.
Description: The Remote View (F3) always showed a flyby view from directly behind the Tornado. This very simple hack will finally give your Tornado simulation the flyby view it always needed. Oh well, like they say, "better late (by 24 years) than never!".

The flyby view at last for Tornado.
This video contains scenes never before possible with Tornado. Until now.

Flyby view with F3 (hacked Remote View). After 24 years, Tornado finally gets a true flyby view!

I had been looking at the Remote View and was thinking how to hack the anchor location of the camera. The Remote View was always looking directly  at the rear of the plane as it flew away from the camera. The Remote View, though unique, was quite limited in its uses. Not eveyone will get exciting by seeing the Tornado disappear into a speck within 2 seconds.

What was needed was a true flyby view. You know, the type of view similar to Jane's F15. And other countless flight simulators since 1993. Like TFX, IL2, DCS and Falcon BMS. Somehow throughout all these years, Tornado fliers and gamers played the simulation without this standard flyby view - and were quite contented.

Until now.

By a stroke of luck and Providence, I managed to chance upon the right code to get a nice fly-by view. I also needed to edit the -35 values (or -45 values) of Hack #9. In Hack #9, I changed  ".VP_PITCH,0" to ".VP_PITCH,-35" (or ".VP_PITCH,-45" depending on your taste).

So here are the before and after modifications of VIEWS.ASM:

First change is to modify the anchor position. I changed M_VIEW to V_VIEW. Also, to make sure that the horizon does not reset to level, I comment it off.
Before:
After:

Second change is to modify the SetRemotePitch label. Specifically, I changed the "ax" register to -10.  In this way, REM_VIEW.VP_PITCH will store the value -10 instead of what was previously in "ax" register.
Before:
After:

Third change to the code. I edit the values of Hack#6 to -10. As mentioned above,  in Hack #9 ("9. Flip the flipping sky and let's give the ground more coverage"), I changed  ".VP_PITCH,0" to ".VP_PITCH,-35" (or ".VP_PITCH,-45" depending on your taste). So here I changed that -35 or -45 value into -10. What is the meaning of -10. Well a "VP_PITCH,0" dives the screen into two halves evenly between the sky and the earth. "VP_PITCH,-10"  will give make the bottom (earth) half of the screen slightlu taller than the top (sky) part of the screen. I found that the value -10 gives a nice balance between flybys that scream overhead in the sky and that dive down onto the earth.

One more video. I couldn't resist showing off my new Flyby View of my favorite DOS flight simulator. Whee!!!
The spectacular 1993 DOS flight simulator is NOW even MORE SPECTACULAR!

Cheers
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:23:36 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #21 on: October 26, 2017, 08:25:04 PM »
15. Functional Pause/Unpause key

Mod: A better Pause!
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the  \LIB8086\VGA_DRVR.ASM and the CONTROL.ASM files. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:The Pause key no now longer fades to black.  This allows you to pause the game at the right moment to take in the sights.

I managed to remove the "fade down to black" effect when the Pause (P) key is hit/pressed, and the "fade up from black" effect when the unPause (P again) key is hit. Previously when the user paused the screen, a darker palette was displayed. Now when you pause the screen or the action, the details shown are the original colours. Now you can see the detail put into the game by the Digital Integration development team.

Here are three screenshots that I was able to take by pausing the game at the critical moment. All screenshots were taken while in Weapons View (V key). The missile travels so fast that the final moments is all but a blur, and you have as good a chance of getting a good close-up view of the target, as spotting the elusive clouded leopard in the wild. The chance is practically nil. Unless you use a screen recording software and then later play back the footage frame-by-frame. And unless you use my hack with lots of luck getting the pause at just the right moment. Even with my pause hack, getting the scene paused at just the right moment was one heck, pun intended, of a job. I did over 20 takes before landing the right 5 screenshots. Well, now you know.

My ALARM missile is about to turn a Russian-made ZSU-23-4 Shilka into toast.
Have you ever seen a Shilka this up close in Tornado?
For early 1990s graphics, I'd say the devs got the 3D model done just right

What looks like a ZRK ROMB (SA-8) amphibious mobile SAM system to me, is a split second away from disaster.
Seeing one close enough to identify it, is a rare moment indeed in this game.

Another Shilka on the receiving end of my ALARM missile. Remember this was 1990-1993 era graphics.

Again, these screenshot are something you probably have never seen before in all the years of playing Tornado. Made possible ... curtesy of this hack and Frankie Kam

Usually in the standard game, what you see is just a split-second glimpse of the target vehicle before it is reduced to a smoking earth-coloured crater. This is probably the first time you are looking at such screenshots of the game. The process of capturing the above three screenshots above was ONLY made possible by this hack.

The hack consists firstly of editing the FadeDown procedure of \LIB8086\ VGA_DRVR.ASM.  Just add a ret command to exit the procedure at around line 4085

Edit the FadeDown procedure of VGA_DRVR.ASM


Secondly, edit the FadeUp procedure of the CONTROL.ASM source file. Make the changes shown in yellow highlight below. Basically, I changed 3 values and commented off 4 lines of code. This took me hours to find and to test

Edit the FadeUp procedure of the CONTROL.ASM

So that's it for Hack #15. The Pause key in Tornado is now much more functional compared to the original. It won't hide your screen from the Boss when he or she walks into your cubicle, but then again, should you be playing Tornado at work in 2017? I think not. :sweat_smile:

Two more screenshots from the game. Pause is KING!

Here's Laser-Guided-Bomb on its way towards the target.
Ever seen this up-close before? What? Still not close enough for you?


Okay! How about this now? Close enough for you NOW? It sure is for me!
Made possible because of the Functional Pause hack. Enjoy!

In closing, this hack allows you to pause the game at critical moments. With a dose of luck and sheer timing of your keypresses to pause and/or unpause, you should be able to capture moments never before viewed in the history of Digital Integration's Tornado. Enjoy!

Retro-Man Frankie, out.

Kaboom at dawn! This is an extremely rare screenshot of an ALARM hitting a enemy vehicle.
I hit the P(ause) key at just the right millisecond.

Postscript.
I have tested this on my iDOS2 beta build running on my iPad Air. The pause button works perfectly because if I press and hold down the P key, the screen pauses. Unpausing on the iPad is a bit more tricky. A press and hold won't unpause the screen. I have to quick light tap the P key with my finger tip to get the unpause to work. Still work in progress to achieve the right tatactile feeling.

An indirect ALARM cuts off its parachute and bears
down almost vertically onto a helpless SA-8 Gecko

For future enhancement, it would be nice to be able to rotate, Matrix Keanu Reeves style, the Tornado while in pause mode.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:23:58 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #22 on: November 07, 2017, 01:23:40 PM »
16. A better Lookup view

Mod: Lookup view reinvented
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:I changed the angle of the default Lookup view. Previously, it would show a view of the sky 12 o'clock high from the pilot's seat. Like so.


Just blue sky. Getting a neck ache searching the sky in vain for bogies. Can I change this view? Why not?

I think only ADV pilots will benefit from the default view. As for me, I play the IDS version of Tornado 99.99% of the time. I thought "Wouldn't it be nice to show the ground detail instead of meaningless blue sky?". So here's my fresh take on the Lookup "Home" key.


The screenshot below is after hitting Home. The familiar ironworks/HUD brackets, but this time, minus the blue sky!
Instead you get a generous slice of the ground view.



The same view minus the Ironworks. Right after I hit the "6" key to make the partial cockpit disappear.
So this is my way of making the Lookup View more practical and useful. What do you think?



[size=8]Here's how I did it. VIEWS.ASM file. See the yellow-shaded code.[/size]


More code that I added. Shown in yellow-shaded code again.
Lines 1672 and 1673 enable the bottom-row info bar with useful text data against a black strip.


Backup of my VIEWS.ASM at this point of time. Includes this hack.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:24:22 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #23 on: November 30, 2017, 09:56:53 PM »
17. Shilka AAA burst time duration is now randomised to between 3 and 8 seconds

Mod: Random AAA burst duration
By Frankie
Description:By default, the AAA (e.g., Shilka) burst length is 2 seconds. We know this because of line  70 inside the AAA.ASM source file.
The code reads as "AAA_BURST_LEN   EQU 2*100".
That is a 2-seconds duration. Let's say we make the simulation a little bit edgier by introducing some variety, eh old chap? How does a random duration for each AAA burst of tracers sound to you?


The critical code are lines 311 ...
[img ]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381866135605346314/aaa_time1.PNG[/img]
...and lines 465.

My hack adds a random value, between 1 to 6 seconds, to the AAA_BURST_LEN initial value of 2 seconds. This gives a burst length of between (2+1) and (2+6) = between 3 and 8 seconds. So the shortest burst of a Shilka AAA is now 2 seconds. And the longest gun burst is now 8 seconds. This makes the Shilka AAA in Tornado unpredictably more deadly than ever.(edited)
Here is the mod code. The remarks make the code self-explanatory.


The result of this? Here comes the tracer. This time it's not always in predictable 2 second bursts!

Tracer again. This time to harrass my JP-233 run. It didn't get more unnerving than this during Operation Desert Storm, a.k.a. Operation Granby.

So in summary, AAA bursts of random duration between 2 to 8 seconds will now make the enemy guns less predictable and more deadly.


« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:24:53 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #24 on: November 30, 2017, 10:36:30 PM »
18. Laser Guided Bomb view is now in full-screen

Mod: Fullscreen TIALD view
By Frankie
Description:  TIALD is a second-generation laser designator pod, which initially entered service in the 1991 Gulf War when it was used as a laser designator for the bombs carried by Tornado GR1s. TIALD stands for Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator targeting pod.

Tornado once had the best modelling of TIALD of any flight simulator in the 1990s to early 2000s. No other flight sim did LGB bombing better than Tornado. Here is the original size of Tornado's TV-Tab showing the TIALD view in the Navigator's station.

This was easily back then, one of Tornado's best features. The TIALD display was just that little rectangle.
But boy, did it pack a punch!

For the first time ever in Tornado, laser-guided bombing in full-screen mode! My hack gives you the the Navigator's panel with a full-screen view. The view is tiltable (pitches) and will break with a big "X" on the TV-tab if your plane is angled too much. Zoom into the target and hear the targets explode and reduce to craters. 


Zooming in from 30,000 feet in the air. Best experience on a large-screen monitor!


The infrared cuts through the clouds on cloudy days. Night becomes day, up close and personal.
Welcome to Tornado's new TIALD view!


What the real thing looks like. RAF TIALD strike.


You can see the T and L letters to the left and right of the crosshairs.
Digital Integration modelled it correctly back in 1993!


Remember this SCUD hunting mission? The full-screen mod brings it to life!


Note the Note the autopilot's waypoint and ground radar TV-Tabs.
They come in handy when using LGBs to hunt SCUDs.


And here's one right now. From way up in the sky, all I see is a white speck.
Zooming up close, I can see the SCUD's red nose, brighter than Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer.


One Paveway II LGBs from a Tornado GR1 on its way.


This ramps up the immersion factor. Best played with a large screen monitor and your mouse. I believe it makes a big difference to the gameplay.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2017, 01:10:47 AM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #25 on: November 30, 2017, 11:01:42 PM »
19. FLIR view is ALSO now in full-screen

Mod: Fullscreen FLIR view
By Frankie
Description: FLIR stands for Forward Looking InfraRed. Tornado now has Dual HUDs. The first HUD is the normal/standard in-game HUD as seen from the Pilot's Cockpit view (Home key). See below.


This is the normal HUD. Note that the outside world fits inside a mere 96 pixels of height.

I have now added a second (new) full-screen HUD that is working 80%. This new HUD is full-screen and it is activated by hitting the "D" key, in the Pilot Cockpit's view, until the MFD switches to the FLIR Forward-Looking Infra Red view. This view has been set to full-screen with a new HUD that updates its data in real-time!


This is the full-screen HUD. The outside world now fits inside a window with a height of 192 pixels.

I have also re-adjusted the positioning of the TV-TABs and MFD so that it is more intuitive and easier to setup the specific arrngements. For example, TIALD view as the full-screen, left TV-TAB as the waypoints display and the right TV-TAB as the ground radar.

The new HUD in full-screen mode has yet to be fully-tested against all weapon delivery modes. What I do know is that the target marker of a Target-Opportunity waypoint (T) is too high up from where it should be. For example in the screenshot below, the target marker (circled in bright green) should be very near to the centre of the HUD.


The new full-screen HUD isn't perfect yet! No countdown clock and the targeting marker is in the wrong position.

The problem with the target marker is that it did not shift down 48 pixels south. The rest of the HUD already shifted down 48 pixels as compared to the normal Pilot Cockpit's HUD. The target marker however, still clings on to its old position as if the oldside world were still at the old 96-pixel depth. So by right, the target marker in the full-screen mode should be 48 pixels lower. That would solve everything!


The full-screen HUD also comes with overlays to aid locating and destroying targets.
Think strafing runs.

Over this weekend, I hope to solve the missing countdown clock bug in the new FLIGHT.EXE. In the meantime, enjoy the remainder screenshots of this post. One a night-time mission and the other of me buzzing the airfield with my CCIP bomb line marker primed and ready for release.


A night time mission comes alive when the FLIR turns on its the infrared night vision.
Note the eScope display at the bottom left-corner. It comes in handy when hugging the terrain!


A Tornado bombing run in all its full-screen glory.

This version of the FLIGHT.EXE is a major breakthrough. After so many months and years, I finally have what I always wanted - two real-time HUDs in two different views. The Pilot Cockpit view has the normal HUD, and the full-screen TV-TAb or full-screen MFD shows the FLIR in full-screen WITH a 90% working HUD. 

Cheers and enjoy the FLIGHT.EXE modded so thus far.
FRANKIE KAM
For more information on Tornado, go to
http://www.tornado2.com
and http://www.tornado2.com/tornado
« Last Edit: November 30, 2017, 11:46:57 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #26 on: December 07, 2017, 11:32:24 PM »
20. Minor Hack - Repositioning of Air Radar

Mod: Air Radar display in the full-screen FLIR and TIALD modes.
By Frankie
Description: Tornado is not only about mud-moving. The gamer has to also deal with air-to-air threats like Migs. I was testing the Air Radar (Alt-R key) and discovered that it needed tweaking. So now FLIGHT.EXE gets better. Previously when in full-screen mode and if I hit Alt-R to activate the Air Radar, this is what I got ...

The blitter thingy is still stuck in the centre - using the original coordinates as per the navigator's panel

..the blitter (whatever that green alien-head shaped thing is called) is still stuck to the centre as though I were still in the Navigator's Cockpit panel. Here's the code to solve the problem in VGAPANEL.ASM.


Vola! Problem solved.

The Air-To-Air Radar is now properly positioned when in full-screen FLIR or TIALD mode.
Enjoy racking up those kills with your Skyflash!
« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 11:54:19 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #27 on: December 07, 2017, 11:41:25 PM »
21. Radar-Warning-Receiver added to fullscreen views

Mod: Radar-Warning-Receiver in Fullscreen FLIR and TIALD views
By Frankie
Description: The pilot's cockpit has the RWR display to alert him to threats and type of threats. See image below.

RWR in action. Note the AAA tracer arching up from the left towards the aircraft
and the corresponding symbols on the RWR display (highlighted in yellow).

I added the RWR symbols to the full-screen FLIR views - minus 360 degree dial lines. This gives the player more situational awareness of the AAA and SAMM threats around him. The RWR symbols are located to the right of the screen and are updated in real-time.


Notice the RWR symbols? You can't see the clock directional dials, but at least the symbols are there.

Here's the code that does this.
-and-

Here are the RWR symbols in the combo view set of the Navigator's TV-Tab displays (top-right corner and full-screen) and the MFD (top-left corner). The Tornado is being fired upon by AAA. Note also the Picture-Inside-A-Picture of the top-left TV-Tab which is also a FLIR mini-view!

Yes, the Tornado project is progressing along fine. The hacks/mods 1 to 21 are not a graphics upgrade of this venerable flight simulator. However these mods are proof that given creativity, passion and time (lots of it!), the original game can still be improved to a point where one can say, "anything is possible with the source code"! My goal for the number of hacks to write was 20, in time for the new year. I have now surpassed that goal for 2017. My new goal is to now ensure that the HUD avionics and symbols in the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views are made to show for all ordinances. For example, this weekend I am going to try to get the full-screen FLIR view's countdown clock to work properly. At the moment ony the Cannon is working fine. The other weapons' HUD  graphics is not working right (e.g., loft bombing HUD symbols,  etc.).

It would be great if others could join in the coding work, but it takes time and I guess that I'm the only gamer crazy enough to dedicate time and effort to this project. Anyone up to the challenge? Just give me a buzz and I will share with you the resources and tools that I used to make twenty-one hacks in four months. In closing, I leave you with my latest FLIGHT.EXE file. See attached file. Enjoy.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2017, 12:05:14 AM by Frankie »
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Offline Zurger6

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2017, 12:09:42 AM »
Hey Frankie!

Wow, you're still at it! Marvellous! Hope you are okay and sorry I've replied on the wrong forum. You've learned so much since the early days, I can see. Is that your coding? And you've got mods you're proud of, man that's great.

Is there a page where I can go to download updates? I'm in a university program now so not much hope of consistent active participation, but I am between semesters now so maybe I can catch up a little? I have to restart school in early January so this will be a fly-by but maybe I can help with something over the next month.

Best wishes Frankie, as always.

Phil aka Zurger6
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2017, 03:13:42 AM »
Hi Phil aka Zurger6

Nice to hear from you again, Phil! Yes, I'm still chewing on the Tornado bone. Ever since August 2017, when I compiled my first FLIGHT.EXE, I've managed to switch gears and I got a slew of code hacks done in time for 2018. But really, the term "mod" is highly over-rated. Some of my "mods" are nothing more than a value changed from 1 to 0, or a few lines of code inserted here and there. Granted, the most complex "mod" was the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views which took months of "going down the wrong rabbit hole" to do. Still, every modification was done because the ex-DI programmer, Kevin J Bezant did a great job documenting the Tornado 3D engine code. In some places he had written macros which I could use. Even the full-screen view which needed specific aspect-ratio calculations and values was written by him. I just stumbled upon his code and tweaked them here and there. The two most useful tools I use are Notepad++ (text editor for coding) and Agent Ransack (file searcher to search for text inside multiple files). Using logic, sleuthing and my own programming experience (I have minimal assembly language knowledge, mind you), and lotsa time staring at code, I managed to cobble something, that hopefully others can enjoy. I am trying my best to produce a more 'perfect and complete' modded version of Tornado in time for its 25th Anniversary in 2018.

Lou Gehrig once said "Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth." Well I consider myself the 'luckiest' flight simmer on the face of this earth because I get to make immediate changes to the source code of my favorite flight simulation. Then I get to enjoy the fruits of my labour by taking Tornado for a spin with DosBox. The feeling I got when seeing the flyby view in Tornado, even though it lasts a few seconds, is like awesome, man. And that first time when I saw the TIALD view working in full-screen, it was like "far out man!". My evolution of my Tornado experience went from being a gamer in 2002 to a Tornado tribute website designer 2004-2016 (on and off), to a Tornado coder in 2017. It's been quite a journey so far.

If you want to follow the Tornado project in more detail, I have sent you a PM with an invite link to the Tornado Discord server. I'm the main mad scientist there and it would be nice if more ex-Tornado gamers like you could join. Nice to hear that you've gone back to school and you are now on break. If I were to go back to college or Uni, I would want to study assembly language programming and to do a final project on Tornado. Maybe you can take a look at what's been done so far and give some suggestions or add to the Tornado wishlist here. If you have time, you can read the stuff on the Tornado Discord server for updates.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: December 09, 2017, 05:07:04 AM by Frankie »
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