Forum > Tornado
Modding Tornado
Frankie:
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
Frankie:
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.
Frankie:
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.
Frankie:
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.
Frankie:
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.
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