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Author Topic: Modding Tornado  (Read 228452 times)

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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #195 on: December 16, 2018, 07:13:23 AM »
Hi Danjuro

Welcome to my world. Won't you come on in? Miracles, I guess. Still happen now and then.

For an overview of DI's Tornado, go here: http://www.tornado2.com.
For everything DI's Tornado, go to: http://www.moodurian.com/tornado.
For more in-depth Tornado, you are welcome to join the Tornado Discord server here: https://discord.gg/c7uCDBG
The Discord server also has a PDF version of the full 332-paged user manual.
Make yourself at home and I am happy to meet another Tornado retro-gamer.  ;)

Regards
Frankie Kam
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #196 on: December 17, 2018, 08:10:58 AM »
106.  No more "rotation of death" when player's Tornado is destroyed
Mod: Player can switch views even after player's Tornado is clobbered
By Frankie
Description: One of the worst things that can happen to you in Tornado is being shown the exit door when your Tornado is toast. Death and destruction come in many forms. For example, breaking up due to incorrect combination of wing-sweep and air speed, being caught in the blast hemisphere of a 1,00 pound General Purpose bomb at low level, collision with a friendly Tornado, struck by SAM, perforated by AAA, hit by enemy Air-To-Air missiles. The list is long, and they all have one thing in common. In each case, the "Rotating View of Death" kicks in like a huge BAMB!!! Seconds later, the player finds himself back at the menus. This after hours of hard work at the Mission Planner and blood, sweat and tears during a mission. What about the wingmen who were about to pound the enemy airfield moments before your Tornado went into its death throes? Do you get to see them unleash their ordnance? Nope. What about the target? Did the wingmen avenge your death by reducing the target to rubble? We will never know.

Until now.


Your Tornado may be out for the count, but the game still goes on!

What I have done in this mod is to modify the MODEL.ASM and VIEWS.ASM files so that even after your Tornado is out of commision, you can still hit the F5 (Drone) key to view your wingmen in action. The other view keys are also available. The only keys disabled are the engine, roll left, roll right, climb and dive keys. So your Tornado would be a control-less projectile emitting a trail of smoke and losing airspeed. Your Tornado would do a "Tom Hardy glides his stricken Spitfire down to the Dunkirk earth" thingy. I thought this would prolonging the game. You will be able to see your wingmen hitting their targets and observe the surrounding external objects long after you have come a cropper. To finally end a mission when you feel that you have had enough of the external visuals, hit Control+Q.

Let me know what you think.

Regards
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: December 18, 2018, 08:21:02 AM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #197 on: December 31, 2018, 07:17:41 PM »
107.  Tornado death improved#1
Mod: No more irritating sound when Tornado dies
By Frankie
Description: This mod is an improvement over Mod#106. Mod#106 unfortunately gives out an irritating (very high-pitched and at a fast rate) attention-getter sound at the moment of death. In Mod#106, the gamer can silence the noise by hitting the apostrophe which cancels out the attention-getter. However this extra key to hit is irritating.


I crashed in the middle of the runaway. The Tornado deccelerated until it reached zero knots. Then silence.

I managed to locate the source of the bug and now when the Tornado dies, silence ensues once the engines give out. The latest FLIGHT.EXE file is attached. As in Mod#106, you can switch to other views even after your Tornado is kaput.

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update: I RE-uploaded the FLIGHT.EXE on 1st Jan 2019, 10:30pm UTC+8 to get rid of the morsecode sound which the previous FLIGHT.EXE would emit about one minute after a Tornado crash. So this version of the FLIGHT.EXE file has one less sound bug to content with.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2019, 02:33:54 PM by Frankie »
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #198 on: January 06, 2019, 06:15:26 PM »
108.  Improved TAB Flight Plan Display (PLN) - shows AI plane location
Mod: TAB Flight Plan Display (PLN) now shows wingmen location with respect to waypoints
By Frankie


Description: Previously, the TAB PLN only shows the player's Tornado location with respect to the mission waypoints. You could toggle the Drone View (F5) to see a wingman, but you could never know exactly where his plane was in relation to the waypoint references of mission flight plan/path.

Until now, that is. It has taken 26 years for this improvement. The solution is strikingly and surprisingly simple, and I will reveal how I did it at the end of this post.

With my mod however, NOW when you toggle the external view to show a wingman, or an AI plane, the TAB PLN will show the exact location of the plane currently being viewed. This has a striking effect in that it makes a multi-plane mission even more engaging. This mod enhances the multi-plane mission aspect of Tornado in that you now have visual feedback as to the exact location of a plane, at any moment in time, during a mission.

This new feature compliments the hard work spent at the Advanced Mission Planner, Tornado's greatest feature, in that you get the satisfaction of seeing the AI wingmen approach the targets exactly as planned. Below are some screenshots that give you a feel for the power of this mod. Best experienced by yourself by downloading the attached FLIGHT.EXE.


My Tornado's stuck on the tarmac (Waypoint 'A') due to engine malfunction. What a disappointment!
Nevertheless, we can see the progress of the mission in the next few screens!

HOW TO. To get the TAB PLN is show up on screen as shown in the first screenshot above, hit the F1 key to go to Tracking View. Then hit the "[" key once for the TAB PLN to show up on the top-right of the screen. You can also hit the "]" key to toggle the displays until the TAB PLN shows up.

The next step is where the fun begins. Hit F5 and toggle among F5, Shift+F5 and F1. The exact location of the plane currently being viewed is represented by the small luminous circle that shows up on the TAB PLN display. You will see the location circle of each plane jump from location to location as you view your Tornado with F1 (Tracking view) and your wingmen with F5 (Drone views).

This mod will show you clearly the multidirectional approach of Tornados as they ingress the target. The best mission planning is where multiple Tornado enter the target area from different directions to confuse the enemy AAA. This mod shows the visual effect of this strategy in real time! My text description of this post does not do this effect justice. Best experienced by firing up Tornado using the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE file below.


Wingman 1 is approaching the target (ingress).
He is ingressing from the north-west.


Wingman 2 is closing in for the kill...
...he is ingressing from the south.


Wingman 3 has just hit a target on the runaway with 1,000lb retarded bombs!


Wingman 4 has exited the target area and is making for base with all engines firing.


AI Plane (Tornado F3, ADV) is firing some Air-To-Air missles as it provides fighter cover for the mission.
The Tornado F3 is located near Waypoint J!

In each of the screenshots above, the location of the viewed plane is shown on the TAB PLN, with respect to the various waypoints. However, all waypoint paths,nodes and numeric data shown on the TAB PLN belong to the player's Tornado. Ideally, hitting F5 should shown each wingman's mission path - room for improvement!

Hope you find this feature useful. A DI Tornado first.

Cheers and best regards
Frankie Kam

P.S., this mod was surprisingly easy to do. All I did was to edit the file TAB.ASM. I replaced the code "M_VIEW" with "TMP_VIEW" in the procedure "RoutePlanDisp". It took me a long time to find this. Very satisfying to do this.

Update: I re-uploaded the FLIGHT.EXE file because the earlier uploaded file had a bug in that the range waypoint data (bottom-left of the PLN) was wrongly positioned. This has now been corrected.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2019, 10:00:33 AM by Frankie »
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Online Asid

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #199 on: January 06, 2019, 06:53:48 PM »
 :thumbsup
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #200 on: January 19, 2019, 11:02:34 AM »
109.  Lower Terrain Following Radar Ride Heights
Mod: Making the Tornado hug the terrain at lower heights.
By Frankie

Description: This mod allows you to fly at lower heights than 200 feet above ground level (AGL). Terrain-following radar (TFR) is an aerospace technology that allows a very-low-flying aircraft to automatically maintain a relatively constant altitude above ground level. It is sometimes referred-to as ground hugging or terrain hugging flight.


Bwlch middle shelf. Image by tobyjm, Nov 23rd 2010.
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tobyjm/5209639354/

In DI's TORNADO simulation, you can select seven altitudes for terrain following mode: 200, 300, 400, 500, 750, 1000 and 1500 feet AGL. This is ACCURATE. Back in 1991, it was not possible for the Tornado to fly nap-of-the-earth below 200 feet AGL. During the First Gulf War in 1991, IDS Tornado pilots flew missions at altitudes as low as 100 ft AGL manually! According to the Operation Chastise entry in Wikipedia, the RAF Lancasters of Squadron 617 "flew low, at about 100 ft (30 m) altitude, to avoid radar detection", with "bombing from an altitude of 60 feet (18 meters)". So flying TFR-aided at levels below 100 feet is not uncommon. In 1995, Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein, Basil Copeland and Eric Joiner of TCSC Associates released a Tornado Terrain Following Realism Patch. The patch swapped the TFR's 1500 feet above ground level (AGL) setting for 100 feet.

In this mod, I modified the yellow-highlighted code of AVIONICS.ASM to use the 11(!) TFR heights of 35, 50, 90, 100, 120, 150, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 feet AGL. To choose a TFR level, hit F9 (to activate the TFR), followed by the Up or Down Arrow key.


The modified AVIONICS.ASM file.


The modified AIRCRAFT.ASM file.

There are a few things to be careful of:
  • 50 feet keeps you safe only from the shorter trees.
  • 90 feet keeps you safe from the taller fir-like trees.
  • 150 feet keeps you safe from the dreaded power-lines. No, you can't fly under them!

I have tested flying nap-of-the-earth with 90 and 100 feet AGL and above at a speed of 600 knots. The result is the Tornado faithfully hugs the ground. Choosing TFR heights of 35 or 50 feet AGL is more problematic as at certain points of the journey, depending on the steepness of the terrain, the Tornado's B-Risk indicator can light up and the Tonka will initiate an emergency pullup. Flying on relatively level ground at 35 or 50 feet AGL poses no problems for the Tornado's TFR.

I also modified EXTRNPAN to display the value of the TFRideAlt (TFR Ride Altitude) variable on the bottom status bar of an external view. This because once the gamer selects a TFR height, it times a few moments before the Tornado's actual altitude adjusts to match the ride height. The TFRideAlt value also serves as a visual feedback to the gamer as to which ride value he has selected.


Note the currently selected Ride Height (35Ft AGL) is shown on the status bar.
The current altitude of 306 feet is yet to match the selected TFR height of 35 feet AGL.


The actual altitude now matches the selected TFR height. Both show 35 feet AGL.
An extremely dangerous height to hug the terrain!

The gamer may choose to fly nap-of-the-earth at these two lowest levels, with afterburners fired up, in order to avoid SAM and enemy jet fighters. However one has to be extremely alert to avoid collisions or emergency pullups. Flying at 120 or 150 feet AGL is relatively safe, except for the taller office buildings. Safest is 200 feet AGL which Tornado-out-of-the-box's standard height.


The TFR mod is action, showing the TFR ride height of 90 feet AGL being used most of the time.
Note: I used Kenneth "ICEMAN" Larsen's Tornado Time Compression TSR to speed up the real-time action. It can be found here.

Digital Integration's Tornado is the only DOS combat flight simulator, that I know of, that simulates Terrain-Following-Radar with various modes of autopilot. This attention to avionics authenticity sets it apart from all other DOS combat flight simulator. I hope this mod of mine will help to extend interest and enjoyment of playing this "Blast from the Past" simulation.

Regards
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: April 12, 2021, 08:58:07 AM by Frankie »
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Online Asid

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #201 on: January 19, 2019, 11:17:46 PM »
108.  Lower Terrain Following Radar Ride Heights
Mod: Making the Tornado hug the terrain at lower heights.
By Frankie

Some payware planes in flightsim struggle or fail with with the Terrain Follow Radar.


Nice work Frankie  :thumbsup
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #202 on: January 20, 2019, 11:04:40 AM »
Thanks for the encouragement Asid!
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #203 on: January 21, 2019, 09:41:32 AM »
110.  Pryotechnics
Mod: Adding fire effects
By Frankie


Tornado Down illustration from Reader's Digest Magazine: September, 1993 Vol. 143, No. 857.
The fate of Tornado GR1, ZD791/BG, of No.15 Squadron on 17th January 1991 over Iragi airspace.

Description: Tornado out-of-the-box is lacking in the special effects department. For example, when a SAM explodes in mid-air, all you see is a puff of gray pixels (smoke effects). Likewise when a SAM ends up slamming into the ground, you will see a puff of smoke and a crater. What I have done is to add a fire effect to some of the game's visuals.


A SAM explodes behind the Tornado. Notice the yellow pixels surrounded by the gray pixels to the right of the image?



Tornado is a trail of flames. Not as dramatic as the firestorm that John Peters' and John Nichol's
Tornado was engulfed in as a result of being hit by a hand-held Iraqi Surface-To-Air Missile in 1991.



The Tornado is dead. Hurtles to the ground, moments from impact. A dramatic scene.



Tornado burns in flames and smoke. All that is missing here is the fire crackling sound effects.


In addition, whenever the Tornado gets hit by AAA or SAM, some red flames are emitted. Here's how I did it.


I created a variant of RND_SMOKE_COL macro, named RND_SMOKE_FIRE_COL. The variant has the red colour constant.



In the InitGnd1 procedure, if the Tornado is destroyed and smoke is generated on the ground, make the initial smoke red.



In the InitAir procedure, make the initial smoke shape red.

Tornado is still getting better, visually. As always, I attach the latest FLIGHT.EXE file for your test flying.

Cheers and regards
Frankie Kam

Update: 21/1/2019
I decided to allow the initial ground smoke to be shown in either yellow or red - regardless of whether the Tornado is destroyed or not. I commented off my custome lines 253 to 257 of SMOKE.ASM. This makes for some interesting visuals. For example, the initial smoke generated from the following will now sport either yellow or red smoke, surrounded by the usual black smoke:
(1) Mauser cannon shells striking the ground
(2) craters smouldering
(3) ZSU-23-4 Shilka firing into the sky
(4) ROMB SA-8 firing into the sky
See the collage below.


Collage. Amazing what a dash of red and yellow colour will do for the visuals.

The result of this update is FLIGHT2.ZIP which contains FLIGHT2.EXE. You may use this executable - just download, unzip the Zip file's content and rename FLIGHT2.EXE as FLIGHT.EXE. Simple.

Update on 30/1/2019
I have also included a version of FLIGHT.EXE that incorporates the mods up to Mod#110 (this post) PLUS the increased number of trees mod. This version I have uploaded as FLIGHTT.EXE in this post. See the uploaded files section below. You will now see 3 executable files! The PLUS of FLIGHTT.EXE is that you will see more trees. The MINUS is I had to remove the almost all of the credits text (when you hit the "\" key) in order to free up more space that the additional trees demanded. To use FLIGHTT.EXE, just download it and rename to FLIGHT.EXE as usual.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2019, 06:39:43 PM by Frankie »
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Online Asid

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #204 on: January 21, 2019, 02:05:17 PM »
The visual flames adds a lot to the immersion  :fire

Nice  :thumbsup
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #205 on: January 29, 2019, 06:46:21 PM »
Update on 30/1/2019

I have also included a version of FLIGHT.EXE that incorporates the mods up to Mod#110 (my previous post on 21st Jan 2019) PLUS the increased number of trees mod. This hybrid version of Mod#110, I have uploaded as FLIGHTT.EXE. See the attached file named FLIGHTT.EXE below.


Run from DOSBox prompt as: C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\FLIGHT\flight /a /av500 /az90 /sb
(start in flight, speed is 500knots, fly at 90 feet above ground level and put on SoundBlaster!

The advantange of FLIGHTT.EXE is that you will see more trees than the stock Tornado! The disadvantages are some trees on roads(!) and I had to remove the almost all of the credits text (when you hit the "\" key) in order to free up more space that the additional trees demanded.

To use FLIGHTT.EXE, just download it and rename to FLIGHT.EXE as usual.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: January 29, 2019, 07:07:27 PM by Frankie »
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Online Asid

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #206 on: January 29, 2019, 08:01:00 PM »
Nice one Frankie  :thumbsup


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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #207 on: January 30, 2019, 11:47:24 PM »
Hi.


Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham conducting a low-level training sortie. Credit: Defence Images
Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/defenceimages/27226982378


My post on 30/1/2019 with the tree-mod embedded code, has a problem in that in Map 1, Mission 5 "IDS: Supply Choke Points", there is a cluster of trees smack on the runway!

So to correct this, I have combined the tree mods of ...
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31719.html#msg31719
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29189.html#msg29189
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29012.html#msg29012

..plus all the latest changes as of 30/1/2019, resulting in a MOST STABLE TREE MOD MASHUP I can come up with. This time, the runways are clear of trees. You will still encounter some trees on the roads. So unless you like to land your Tornado on a road, you should have no problem using this stable tree mashup mod.


Tree Mod Mashup in action. Low level action is best seen with 3000 DOSBox cycles. Don't we just love 1990 graphics?

I now give you TWO variants of the latest FLIGHT.EXE:
(1) FLIGHT.EXE  - latest executable minus stable tree mods
(2) FLIGHTT.EXE - latest executable WITH stable tree mods
To use FLIGHTT.EXE, download it and rename it to FLIGHT.EXE and then store it inside Tornado installation sub-folder of "C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\FLIGHT" on your hard drive.

I also attach the modified binary map file that solves the "tree cluster in Warzone2's Mission 3"problem. Download and copy the file "TREE3.BIN" inside your Tornado installation sub-folder of "C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3" on your hard drive.


TIALD view at 30,000 feet shows more trees (compared to vanilla Tornado) than you can shake a stick at.

ALL THREE FILES are stored inside the attached ZIP file named FLIGHT.ZIP.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the latest mods and the trees rush feeling!

Regards
Frankie Kam
« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 11:32:26 AM by Frankie »
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Offline Speedwagon

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #208 on: January 31, 2019, 12:08:29 AM »
Nice work, Frankie. Thanks for providing us with both options. To me, the more trees the better! Especially since you added the additional colors to them.

As for trees on the roads I just consider that the same as vehicles, bomb craters, etc. that would make landing a challenge.

Cheers, mate!
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Offline Frankie

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Re: Modding Tornado
« Reply #209 on: January 31, 2019, 02:04:35 AM »
You are most welcome. Having trees on the runway, however, wouldn't go down well with the Ministry of Defense! :-)
« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 11:10:05 AM by Frankie »
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