Dogs Of War Vu

Network of Friends => Tornado => Topic started by: Frankie on August 03, 2017, 03:30:17 AM

Title: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 03, 2017, 03:30:17 AM
208 mods as of 24 November 2023 (OMG!! Seven Years Of Modding Tornado!)

(http://frankiekam.com/tornado/gifs/cinematic.gif)
Mod#200 Cinematic view

(https://bit.ly/3gLPxWa)
Mod#193. Fly-by (F3) view

2023

#208.12/11/23208. Remembrance Day Special Mod Combo (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg50635.html#msg50635)

#207.13/8/23207. Change the Red/Green Panel Lighting within the NumLock Kneepad screen (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg50364.html#msg50364)

#206.9/8/23206. A new TIALD view with tilt and pan (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg50349.html#msg50349)

#205.9/7/23Backslash invokes ADI - 3 FLIGHT flavours (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg50302.html#msg50302)

#204.9/7/23Flyby view Air-Ground perspective toggle (https://bit.ly/3XKEzWe)


2022

#203.24/9/22Bugs squashed (https://bit.ly/torn203)

#202.18/9/22Unlimited Flares (https://bit.ly/torn202)

#201.5/8/22Version Credits (https://bit.ly/torn2001)

#200.16/7/22Better Euro Colors (http://bit.ly/torn200)
#199.15/7/22Winter Colors (http://bit.ly/tor199)
#198.14/7/22Desert Colors (http://bit.ly/tor198)

#197.17/1/22Fly-by view (http://bit.ly/tor197)

2021
#196.8/7/21Minimalist clock (https://bit.ly/2TK3Seu)

#194 & 195.20/6/21Auto Spectator & Cyclic Drone views (https://bit.ly/3gIf8Rc)
#193.18/6/21Automatic Fly-by (F3) view (https://bit.ly/3iPTCeJ)

#191-192.9/5/21Flyby & Weapons views (https://bit.ly/3usM8kS)

#190.29/4/21White ALARM (https://bit.ly/3xyTiWy)
#189.28/4/21Winter theme (https://bit.ly/2PqBKuE)
#188.27/4/21LGB1000 new colour (https://bit.ly/32O4nVK)
#187.14/4/21Desert Storm Theme (Pt. 2) (https://bit.ly/2QiGzX2)
#186.13/4/21Desert Storm Theme (https://bit.ly/32fZODb)
#184 & 185.11/4/21Two Post-Easter new stuff (http://bit.ly/2PLtxSc)
#183.5/4/21Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) (http://bit.ly/39E3hjm)
#182.4/4/21E-Scope window FLIR (http://bit.ly/3t0DsBm)

#181.27/3/21Satellite view - 2 modes (http://bit.ly/2NWR3KS)
#180.27/3/21E-Scope Toggle (http://bit.ly/2QIL3GJ)

2020
#179.4/8/20Late Master Arm Switch (http://bit.ly/31biPWs)
#178.3/8/20Better bomb blast effects (http://bit.ly/3i1hCYL)

#177.22/7/20A better grey German Tornado (http://bit.ly/2CBMa47)
#176.20/7/20Bundeswehr Luftwaffe grey livery (http://bit.ly/2XoeP40)
#175.12/7/20Tracking, Flyby & Destroyed views (http://bit.ly/3gxDdHW)

#174.28/6/20Auto pan Drone View (http://bit.ly/3dGsYin)
#173.26/6/20Auto pan Tracking View (http://bit.ly/30qYSvD)

#172.8/5/20Simple TIALD view full-screen toggle (3 key) (http://bit.ly/2PkhZkW)
#167-171.8/5/203 Full-screen modes, full-HUD stores (http://bit.ly/2WACYmD)

#166.28/4/20Missile close proximity warning (http://bit.ly/3bEmbW9)
#165.05/4/20ODS addon SoundBlaster (http://bit.ly/2JEBlyf)

#164.28/3/20Mesh-like Clouds (http://bit.ly/3aoRLqc)
#163.15/3/20Bullet-Time pause & pan (http://bit.ly/2QiepbT)

#162.15/2/20Tracking View Subviews (http://bit.ly/38RghyS)
#161.02/2/20Weapon View (http://bit.ly/33m8PdZ)

#159-160.28/1/20Chinese Lunar New Year (http://bit.ly/2vv1FHl)

2019
#158.16/11/19Death Palette (http://bit.ly/2NQPPOk)
#157.09/11/19Floating Route Display (http://bit.ly/2K3XNRQ)
#156.06/11/19SAM View SCR=04 (http://bit.ly/33mh3Sy)
#155.03/11/19Display overlays (http://bit.ly/2CjbjNz)

#154.31/10/19Waypoint/Target View Splitscreen SCR03 (http://bit.ly/34ui0bh)
#153.31/10/19CCIP Tracking View Splitscreen (http://bit.ly/326OlDL)
#152.30/10/19Weapons Tracking View Splitscreen (http://bit.ly/32clvSq)
#151.13/10/19Weapon Release split-screen (http://bit.ly/TornadoMod151b)

#150.02/09/19CWP modes (http://bit.ly/2zIWlyO)

#149.22/08/19Corrected NVG (http://bit.ly/2Hmqb0t)
#148.19/08/19Engine RPM and HCI Gauges (http://bit.ly/31NrZHC)
#147.16/08/19Blue-Grey Colour Scheme (http://bit.ly/2H8fIFS)
#146.05/08/19Clock for timing (http://bit.ly/2yElXws)

#145.30/07/19Bypass splash screens (http://bit.ly/2ynlBdo)
#144.30/07/19full-screen RWR display (http://bit.ly/2YDRFZr)
#143.21/07/19MFD-like and TV-Tab-like frames for gauges in full-screen FLIR and TIALD views (http://bit.ly/2xWK1Kn)
#142.07/07/19HSI in external views (http://bit.ly/2M1LN5d)
#141.07/07/19Stores Management Display for Pilot's (http://bit.ly/2Zw3fTu)
#139-140.04/07/193D floating gauges/displays (http://bit.ly/3156jWO)
#138.01/07/19On-Demand RWR (http://bit.ly/2Ka9cz0)

#137.30/06/19HOME key = Pilot station, front slash cycles Home views (http://bit.ly/2yk1o8e)
#136.29/06/19Central Warning Panel (CWP) (http://bit.ly/330NGp2)
#135.28/06/19Three new keys can now be used (http://bit.ly/2K3dyJa)
#134.25/06/19Auto-Thrust Reverser (THR) again (http://bit.ly/2Yzw1oM)
#133.24/06/19Realistic Auto-Thrust Reverser (THR) selector switch (http://bit.ly/2KgfLBu)
#132.23/06/19Auto-Thrustreverser (THR) selector switch (http://bit.ly/2T2TQAr)
#131.23/06/19Automatic Thrust Reversers (http://bit.ly/2Z9NP6a)
#130.16/06/19SPILS; missile bug fixed; less rumbling (http://bit.ly/2H98PnJ)
#129.16/06/19Restored LookUp View (Pilot's Cockpit) (http://bit.ly/2LOw6zc)
#128.14/06/19Fuel weight numeric in Pilot panel (http://bit.ly/2OpsPsd)
#127.08/06/19Muzzle Flash & AA (http://bit.ly/2TFFpm7)

#126.24/05/19New JP233 Explosion & Crater Effects (http://bit.ly/2Mt0fVd)
#125.12/05/19Early Warning Radar sub-status bar (http://bit.ly/359Beoc)
#122-124.11/05/19Three 'Useless' views (http://bit.ly/33QBJTh)

#114-121.24/04/19Easter SuperMod (http://bit.ly/33U66YM)

#113.04/02/19Multifunctional Power Status Bar (http://bit.ly/2ZwBXAk)
#112.03/02/19Enhanced status bar & Autopilot data (http://bit.ly/30RB0iO)
#111.01/02/19Improved status bar with autopilot code. (http://bit.ly/30PEjac)

#110.21/01/19Pryotechnics fire effects. (http://bit.ly/30QavKD)
#109.19/01/19Lower TFR Ride Heights. (http://bit.ly/2MOVaGG)
#108.07/01/19TAB Flight Plan Display (FPD) shows wingmen location. (http://bit.ly/TornadoMod151)
#107.01/01/19Tornado death improved#1. (http://bit.ly/TornadoMod107)

2018
#106.17/12/18No more "rotation of death" (http://bit.ly/TornadoMod106)

#105.26/11/18Tracer colour variety (http://bit.ly/2U2BrpL)
#104.17/11/18Swapping 3D models - fly the as the A10 (http://bit.ly/3aNjqSk)

#103.16/10/18Enhanced flyby (F3) (http://bit.ly/35maCAN)

#102.17/09/18Fancier flyby (F1 & F3) (http://bit.ly/2QPph1i)
#101.10/09/18Indirect ALARM plume when diving (http://bit.ly/2UGqZTO)
#100.09/09/18Solved bug of Waypoint Countdown (http://bit.ly/2Sg84Pf)
#99.02/09/18Restored Credits. (http://bit.ly/2W5fLsE)
#99.01/09/18Big Shadow (http://bit.ly/3aHEV5Y)

#98. 31/08/18Improved Big Map's Explore mode (http://bit.ly/2wXbyyb)
#97. 31/08/18Big Map has 3 roles - Big Map ('M' key), Split-Screen & Explore mode (http://bit.ly/3fApm2t)
#96.26/08/18Big Map now works in Split Screen as half a Big Map - use with TV-Tab and half-screen FLIR . (http://bit.ly/3ijjUTp)
#95.24/08/18Added ADV Tornado F3's HUD to split-screen view. (http://bit.ly/2Pn7NIl)
#94.23/08/18ADV Tornado F3's HUD now works in full-screen view. (http://bit.ly/30sHg2Q)
#93.18/08/18Increased initial zoom level of the Big Map, Moving Map and Reference Map to Level 2 Zoom. (http://bit.ly/33qZ7J2)
#92.18/08/18More realistic TV-Tabs and MFDs. (http://bit.ly/2EQ8fgh)
#91.19/08/18Trees are now shown in three colours, giving the landscape some visual diversity. (http://bit.ly/3fncj48)
#90.15/08/18Split-screen top-half-screen FLIR's HUD now has a superimposed RWR symbology. (https://bit.ly/3uMOmv7)
#89.11/08/18Zero-fuel immunity against Infra-red seeking SAMs. (http://bit.ly/2MED36v)
#88.05/08/18Split-screen FLIR display with overlaid TV-Tab display and MFD (assembly language multi-tasking). (https://bit.ly/3e1iyvM)
#87.05/08/18Weapon View ('v' key) horizon can be now be adjusted up or down. (https://bit.ly/3wLDVtA)
#86.04/08/18Split-screen FLIR display with working HUD in top-half of screen. (https://bit.ly/3saEwkZ)
#85.01/08/18Split-screen FLIR display. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31437.html#msg31437)

#84.30/07/18TV-Tab FLIR and TIALD views in External Views. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31408.html#msg31408)
#83.26/07/18When in an external view, mini-displays can be cycled through forwards and backwards with 3 and Shift+3. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31361.html#msg31361)
#82.24/07/18When in an external view, mini-displays can be toggled on/off in sequence by pressing the 3 key. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31318.html#msg31318)
#81.23/07/18When in an external view, the E-Scope Terrain-Following display can now be toggled on/off with the 3 key. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31294.html#msg31294)
#80.23/07/18Weapons view can be roll angled by hitting Alt+P. Makes for nice angles of ordnances falling. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31284.html#msg31284)
#79.22/07/18Horizon pitch can now be adjusted up or down in Spectator mode. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31268.html#msg31268)
#78.19/07/18Changed AAA sounds from Explosions2 to SoundCannon. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31196.html#msg31196)
#77.09/07/18Standard TIALD view in TV-Tab is more 3D-ish now. (http://bit.ly/3aCmPSM)
#76.08/07/18Shift+D in Navigator's Cockpit will activate the full-screen FLIR and TIALD. (http://bit.ly/2SeEzx3)

#75.28/06/18Functional Pause/Unpause key with a subtle hint of screen darkening. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30848.html#msg30848)
#74.25/06/18Enhanced Explore mode . (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30778.html#msg30778)
#73.22/06/18Improved stars and Tornado colors for Night Vision mode (more natural and better contrasting colors). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30726.html#msg30726)
#72.17/06/18Roll Indicator Value shows the value of between 000 to 511 in the External Panel's bottom status bar. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30640.html#msg30640)
#71.15/06/18Toggle shake effects, due to Tornado damaged components of the Tornado, on and off. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30588.html#msg30588)
#70.15/06/18Raising and lowering the horizon now also shifts the Tornado's vertical perspective (via the "1" and "0" keys). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30587.html#msg30587)
#69.15/06/18Proper Shake and sound effects of exploding ordnances for external views raises the realism and fun factor. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30586.html#msg30586)
#68.05/06/18The horizon in the F3 Flyby view and F2 Checksix! views can now be raised/lowered with the keys "1" and "0". (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30423.html#msg30423)

#67.29/05/18Smoke circles are now smaller and expire faster. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30275.html#msg30275)
#66.29/05/18Two new views: AAA (ZSU-23-4-Shilka2) and ZRK Romb (Gecko) external views. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30273.html#msg30273)
#65.28/05/18Added a AAA (ZSU-23-4-Shilka2) to Tornado view with the F12 key. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30226.html#msg30226)
#64.27/05/18Slewing left-right of Tornado and Drones with the "2" and "9" keys. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30203.html#msg30203)
#63.26/05/18F11 key activates SAM Launcher to Tornado viewpoint. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30201.html#msg30201)
#62.25/05/18Adjustable height of Drone views (F5/Shift+F5/Alt+F5). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30141.html#msg30141)
#61.21/05/183D perspective in TIALD views, bombs hit dead-on the lowered crosshairs. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30080.html#msg30080)
#60.18/05/18Colour-coded Waypoint countdown timer in external views. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30009.html#msg30009)
#59.18/05/18Analogue joystick mod (for Saitek and other HOTAS analgue joysticks!) by ataribaby. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29987.html#msg29987)
#58.17/05/18External views show the current waypoint letter on status bar. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29944.html#msg29944)
#57.15/05/18Game's theme music (Soundblaster) can be toggled on (F5) and off (F4) now. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29911.html#msg29911)
#56.05/05/18Enemy airfield lights are blacked-out during night, twilight and dawn. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29728.html#msg29728)
#55.04/05/18.User can pan the Checksix view horizontally with Z and X keys. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29706.html#msg29706)
#54.01/05/18Redesigned bomb impact view and more shudder in External views during explosions. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29630.html#msg29630)

#53.25/04/18Fluid horizon in Tracking View. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29529.html#msg29529)
#52.23/04/18Viewing height in the Tracking View can be adjusted. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29464.html#msg29464)
#51.22/04/18User can toggle the responsive horizon, in the Tracking View. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29454.html#msg29454)
#50.10/04/18Instant activation of Full-screen FLIR view. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29199.html#msg29199)
#49.09/04/18Full-screen FLIR view now allows HUD to be toggled on/off. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29190.html#msg29190)
#48.09/04/18No more tree cluster in Warzone2's Mission 3. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29189.html#msg29189)
#47.07/04/18More clouds for Tornado when run in GUI-based game. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29155.html#msg29155)
#46.01/04/18Cloud Mod (more clouds than the stock game). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29041.html#msg29041)

#45.31/03/18Stable Tree Mod (more trees than the stock game). (http://bit.ly/2xTCxvz)
#45.24/03/18Auto-generates 300% more trees on the landscape. (http://bit.ly/3aGgXHZ)
#44.21/03/185,000 more trees in the ground landscape. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg28805.html#msg28805)
#43.18/03/18Full FLIR/TIALD view to Navigator's Panel. (http://bit.ly/3bIXUOT)
#42.18/03/18Improved "Check-Six!" view (F2). (http://bit.ly/2VGtGpS)

#41.19/02/18Toggle NVG/normal night colours on-the-fly. (http://bit.ly/3aPdZBn)
#40.16/02/18Made SAM hits made more lethal. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg28234.html#msg28234)
#39.13/02/18Auto-adjusted sky-to-ground height ratio of IDS and F3 missions;. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg28233.html#msg28233)
#38.11/02/18Added flare and chaff counts in full-screen FLIR and TIALD modes. Added MFD in TV-Tab2 full-screen mode. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg28231.html#msg28231)
#37.04/02/18Secondary Control Surfaces Indicator (SCSI) needles added  to full-screen FLIR/TIALD. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27997.html#msg27997)

#36.25/01/18Added full set of command line parameters on demand. E.g., FIGHT /e1 /gr /to /tt /nm. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27996.html#msg27996)
#35.18/01/18/sh (shake effect) /fs (full screen FLIR & TIALD views). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27643.html#msg27643)
#34.17/01/18Red attention getters and CWP to full screen FLIR & TIALD views (TV-Tab1/left only). (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27642.html#msg27642)
#33.15/01/18F2 rear view is fixed - less confusing (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27641.html#msg27641)
#32.01/01/18Store Management Display text colours follow the current HUD color. (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27518.html#msg27518)
#31.07/01/18SMD in full-screen FLIR/TIALD mode (http://bit.ly/2xJqiRT)
#30.02/01/18Less shake effect. (http://bit.ly/38Svwrd)
#29.01/01/18Less lethal SAM hits. (http://bit.ly/2IM18nK)

2017
#28.30/12/17SAM proximity. (http://bit.ly/2QgAzLw)
#27.29/12/17Tornado cockpit shakes. (http://bit.ly/2INDRC3)
#26.26/12/17Community names. (http://bit.ly/3rNUe5p)
#25.23/12/17Credits screen. (http://bit.ly/3drILn0)
#24.20/12/17Original/full-screen FLIR/TIALD (http://bit.ly/31KiL0M)
#23.12/12/17NVG toggle. (http://bit.ly/3fDPv3L)
#22.11/12/17full screen HUD (http://bit.ly/2wYxkl8)
#21.05/12/17RWR (http://bit.ly/3cZGGh3)
#20.05/12/17Air Radar (http://bit.ly/38PeaeJ)

#19. FK30/11/17Full-screen FLIR view. (http://bit.ly/3sNWD1b)
#18.25/11/17Full-screen LGB view (http://bit.ly/2NwUEMP)
#17.13/11/17AAA burst time (http://bit.ly/2Ny5fqS)
#16.07/11/17Lookup view (http://bit.ly/2CumItG)

#15.26/10/17Pause/Unpause key (http://bit.ly/2p37n0j)
#14.22/10/17Flyby (http://bit.ly/2K4JPzv)
#13.21/10/17Shake the Tornado (http://bit.ly/34kqthg)
#12.19/10/17NVG (http://bit.ly/2r3P6Ap)
#11.17/10/17Checksix (http://bit.ly/2QjgrbC)
#11.14/10/17Rotate Spectator View  (http://bit.ly/33d8gSF)
#10.14/10/17Craters (http://bit.ly/2N85DvM)
#09.14/10/17Ground pitch (http://bit.ly/34lrK7G)
#08.13/10/17New TF heights (http://bit.ly/2NbXeaM)
#07.10/10/17Drones view (http://bit.ly/32cTcTE)
#06.10/10/17Responsive horizon (http://bit.ly/33c8Vnu)

#05.26/09/17Weapons View (http://bit.ly/2PFduTd)
#04.19/09/17Tracking view position (http://bit.ly/34uizSr)

#03.AH      14/08/17Shake effects (http://bit.ly/2JJHCt2)
#02.AH      03/08/17Gear shudder; rumble sound (http://bit.ly/36nz8S5)
#01.AH      03/08/17Hello World! (http://bit.ly/2r8jiuo)

To help with mods, goto Discord Server (https://discord.gg/3XdsY2y).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 03, 2017, 03:35:09 AM
1. Tornado Hello World!

Mod: Hello World
By AH
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbqp5g6hpvdy09x/FLIGHT.EXE?dl=0
Instructions: Make a backup of your tornado folder and then replace the original FLIGHT.exe in the /FLIGHT/ folder with the modded FLIGHT.exe. Then go to game, start a flight and press F2....and check if you see anything new... ;)
Screenshot:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tornado_mod1_aki.png)

Notes: See bottom-right corner of the screen. Now that's different!
          A very minor and trivial change to Tornado, but nevertheless, a very good start.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 03, 2017, 03:37:48 AM
2. Gear up with shudder; Good Landing tire/rumble sound on good landings

Mod: Hello World
By AH
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ox1yonguqzeaxbf/Flight_08_02_2017.zip?dl=0
Instructions: Make a backup of your tornado folder and then replace the original FLIGHT.exe in the /FLIGHT/ folder with the modded FLIGHT.exe.

Notes:
08.02.2017 Added a small cockpit shake when lowering or rising landing gear. A nice touch!
08.02.2017 Added tire touchdown/rumble sound (placeholder) when pilot makes a good landing.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 14, 2017, 09:39:02 AM
3. Whole lotta shakin' going on

Mod: Pilot and Navigator screens shake throughout flight
By AH
Link: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/345991172122083334/FLIGHT_12_08_2017.zip
Instructions: Make a backup of your tornado folder and then replace the original FLIGHT.exe in the /FLIGHT/ folder with the modded FLIGHT.exe.

Note: prolonged usage of mod will induce headaches and eye-fatigue. This is again proof-of-concept and exists as work in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJKbvkqQq4k

New features:
(model.asm)
08.02.2017 Added a small shake when lowering or rising landing gear
02.08.2017 Added tire touchdown sound when pilot makes a good landing
12.08.2017 Added cockpit shake effect for normal flight

Significance and future enhancements:
Shaking of the cockpit at the right time and circumstances will make the simulator more immersive and realistic.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on August 15, 2017, 05:13:47 AM
Hi Frankie,

In the right dose I think this effect would increase the realism, especially for missions flown when visibility is restricted such as night, fog and flying in clouds.  :thumbsup

And using a "horizontal shake" for turbulence helps differentiate the effect from the "vertical shake" DI used for airframe buffet.

Speedwagon

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 19, 2017, 01:04:41 AM
4. Changing the default Tracking mode initial position of the Tornado (i.e., camera view-point)

Mod: Camera shift for F1 Tracking mode
By Frankie
Link: coming soon
Instructions: Hit F1 and instead of the Tornado being dead-centre in the external view of the Tracking mode, it is slightly skewed to the right ... for IMHO, a slight more dramatic effect.
Screenshot:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/F1-tracking-mode.jpg)

VIEWS.ASM code to modify.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/361062132122648577/tracking-code-1.JPG)

Significance and future enhancements:
The above hack is simple and trivial. What is interesting is that it is possible to implement a cinematic view in Tornado. Similar to the various cinematic views found in Razorback's "Apache Vs Havoc" and "Comanche Vs Hokum". The effort to do this is not trivial, but this minor hack alludes to the real possibility of implementing such complex views in Tornado. Never mind the outdated 3D model graphics - if new and innovative views could be implemented in Tornado (using 16-bit assembly language, mind you!), that would take the Tornado experience to a whole new level.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 26, 2017, 05:26:08 AM
5. Weapons View is now sound-enabled

Mod: Enabled sound in Weapons View
By Frankie
Link: coming soon
Description:
I managed to enable the sounds in the Weapons View. So when the target hits home, you will NOW hear an explosion! This sound effect is missing in the default code because the moment of impact is considered to be out of earshot range of the Tornado that is traveling at, like what, 600knots, which is a pity really. Imagine working so hard to survive all the way to the target, actually hitting it, only to be greeted by complete .... silence. With my minor hack however, you will now be rewarded with a satisfying explosion sound effect. This will make your blood, tears and sweat all worth it. Here is the simple hack. Just change VIEW_WEAPON from 0 to 1 inside VIEW.ASM!

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/361932870496944129/boom.JPG)

The drawback of the hack is that you will also hear the Tornado's twin-engine sounds every time you toggle to the Weapons View. I am currently unable to turn off the engine sounds when in Weapons View mode. If I could do this, then the drawback would be eliminated.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/361933400182882315/ExplosionInWeaponViewStrikingTarget.JPG)


With the hack activated, an ALARM hitting a target (AAA) will result in a digitized bang. Something that the stock game would always show in silence.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/362280729662586884/alarm3.jpg)

End
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 10, 2017, 11:37:21 PM
6. Tracking View made more realistic and immersive with responsive horizon

Mod: Responsive horizon
By Frankie
Link: None. Just follow the code hack shown.
Description:
This hack will make the horizon responsive when you turn or bank the jet in F1 (tracking) or F5 (drone) views. Just comment off lines that contain the code "VP_ROLL,0".

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/366991181319503872/donotkeephorizonlevel.JPG)
Just comment these lines in assembly language with a semicolon ;

The simulation views will be more dramatic, especially when the jet turns left or right. You have to try this. It gives a cinematic feel to the external view when the plane turns to the next waypoints. You feel as though you are a wingman the the Tonka that is being tracked in the Tracking (external) view. You feel right there in the thick of the action.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/366996628374028289/tracking.JPG)
Here I am in F1 view mode. When I bank the plane, the horizon turns at an angle.
Works the same when in Drone mode (F5). Give it a try and see the dramatic difference.
Hack #6 gives the tracking and drone views  a 3D-effect make-over.


Remember the aerial scenes in Top Gun? Remember Flanker 1.0-1.5 external views where you had that beautiful angled view with the jet at the corner and the horizon tilts but the jet remains relatively still? Same effect here. If you hit Esc to cancel the autopilot, and then use the right or left arrow keys to turn the plane, PLUS the zoom/unzoom "<", "Shift+<", "Shift+>" and ">" keys. You will see a dramatic effect when in F1 or F5 view mode. Trust me on this!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 10, 2017, 11:46:35 PM
7. Changed the default initial viewing position of wingmen (drone) aircraft

Mod: Wingmen aircraft initial view improvement
By Frankie
Link: just follow the code
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/366997202012209152/Drn.png)
Change the angle values to 260. That's all!
Instructions: Open VIEWS.ASM and use the value 260 for DrnCamBrg and DrnCamBrgFine. This hack of changing the zero values to 260 will make all drone aircraft to face AWAY from you. In the default game, the drones always initially face towards you (boring!). Now they will initially be seen from the rear. when the F5 key is hit. During a multi-aircraft coordinated strike mission, it makes more sense to view the wingmen or drone aircraft seen from the back, flying towards the target. This way you don't have to reposition the view with the "z" (pan left) or "x" (pan right) keys. Get it?
Screenshot:
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/366998544697262091/drone-from-theback.JPG)
What's so special about this Gov? Well you're in F5 (Drone) view and the drone is in that initial position
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 13, 2017, 06:28:07 PM
8. Set your own terrain following heights

Mod: Terrain Following Altitudes
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the AVIONICS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description: With this hack, you can now change any or ALL of the seven default altititudes. It's very simple. Just change the default altitude vaules to anything you desire. Not necessarily in ascending order. For example, my set of altitudes are 100, 200, 300, 400, 550, 7000 and 1000!
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/368447931260469249/100-1.PNG)
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/368448171971444736/100-2.PNG)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 14, 2017, 04:32:26 AM
9. Flip the flipping sky and let's give the ground more coverage

Mod: More Ground Than Sky
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown. The magic value of -45 seems to work wonders.
Description: The views now show more of the ground than the sky. That's all it does. The results can be ... dramatic if you're into air-to-ground attacks and all that stuff. Like cratering a runaway and mowing down soft targets with your plane's Mauser cannon.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/368595204036362240/more-ground-view.PNG)
VIEWS.ASM code to modify


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368595690634346496/flight_019.png)
BEFORE the hack. The ratio of sky:ground height is 1:1. The default game's symmetrical proportion.
But this game's strength is on the ground pounding and mud-moving action, no?


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368596200989130753/flight_018.png)
AFTER the hack. See the difference now? The hack gives the view an asymmetrical treatment.
The ratio of sky:ground height is now a staggering 1:6! More interesting, perhaps Sparky? Or is it too much?


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368596394425974784/flight_026.png)
Now there is more ground view for your eye to absorb the details. What about SAMs?
Well in Tornado you will hear SAMs on your RWR more than see them, so less sky doesn't really matter.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368596527234416641/flight_024.png)
The (in)famous JP-233 run on a runaway. You get more stuff to look around as you whizz by.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368596788912979969/flight_021.png)
Hit F2 (Satellite View) and you get this interesting view as a side-effect of the hack.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/368597086457036801/flight_029.png)
Hack combines well with the Responsive Horizon Hack (i.e., hack #6) to
give an interesting new perspective when the airplane banks.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEhIGdseqqY
This video will give you an idea what is possible with the hacks.

Hopefully this hack will open up new possibilities and experiences when playing a ground strike mission. Cheers.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 14, 2017, 08:39:32 AM
10. Rotate the craters after hitting (or missing) the target - with a custom height

Mod: Rotate the craters and view them from a custom height
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:

I've managed to adjust the height of the weapon overhead view and to make the overhead view pan left and right. Which view you say? You know after your bomb hits the target, resulting in crater or a series of craters?  That View! Well, now you can pan left and right slowly or fast. Plus slight zoom-in and zoom-out.Now I share the secret of my latest Tornado hack. The Rotatable Overhead View. See the image below! In the standard Tornado game, once your bombs hit home, you were looking straight down at some craters. The view was static.

Now with my hack, I can swivel (rotate) left or right around the centre of smoking craters of what used to be the target. I can also zoom in and out but the zooming actions are very limited. I am also higher up compared to the standard game's Overhead View height, and I am looking not straight down at the craters, but rather at an angle.

It would be very useful to zoom out MORE so that I can see the rest of the enemy airfield, especially if the mission was a multi-plane coordinated attack and various targets were damaged or hit

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/365802303875317770/swivel.PNG)

The default Overhead View height was 500. I changed it to 600. No reason why you can't edit the value and make it 800! That would give you a better bird's eye view of how well the Squadron's strike of the airfield was.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/365803225821216778/swivel2.PNG?width=839&height=481)


In the screenshot below, I changed the VP_PITCH 384 value to -110. This accounts for the angled look down in my modified Overhead View. Makes this a bit more dramatic, eh Sparky?

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/365803295421497344/swivel3.PNG?width=623&height=481)

See line 2657's "call AdjustWpnTrack"? Ah, that my friend, is the key that allows me to rotate left or right once I am in Overhead View! This is a true Frankie Tornado innovation. So the view of what's left of my target is no longer static, I can rotate the view and enjoy the results of my handiwork.

Next, see that lie 2656 "call AdjustWpnZoom"? That's the zoom-in and zoom-out controlds. Or Shift-key and zoom-in and zoom-out faster. However the zooming is very limited - almost useless. I am trying to find a way to ZOOM OUT MORE! That would be more useful.(edited)

With my hacks so far, when you go to the Overhead Weapons View (key v), you will head the bomb explode as it strikes home. Then you can rotate around the craters and from a higher up height so that you can survey the damage done by your Squadron. Tally ho! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed discovering it.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on October 14, 2017, 05:27:03 PM
Great stuff Frankie. You are very passionate and committed. Your hard work and determination has started to give results like the above.  :sifone

Keep it up  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 14, 2017, 05:44:29 PM
Hi Asid

Many thanks for the encouragement. It wouldn't have been possible without your generous and selfless support, and the Dogs Of War Virtual Unit website and forums.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 14, 2017, 06:09:18 PM
11. Rotate the Spectator View to catch the action

Mod: Spectator View Rotate for cinematic effect
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the VIEWS.ASM file. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:

With this hack, the Spectator View comes to life. In the default game, when you hit the F4 key, all you have is a view of the rear of your Tornado, rapidly retreating away from you until it becomes an indistinguisable pixel. You can't do anything else. NOW HOWEVER, with this hack, after hitting the F4 key, you can rotate the view along the horizontal axis (using the z, x, Shift-z and Shift-x keys)!

How can this View become useful? Most probably in a multi-plane mission where after bombing a target, you can continue to view your wingman hitting their assigned targets over the same area. So for example,  hit the F4 key. As your jet flies out of view into infinity, you rotate the view left or right to catch the action of the wingmen bombing their targets. So this hack makes the Spectator View more useful.

How does it work? At around line 1716 of VIEWS.ASM, add "call AdjustTrack" at the end of the UpdateGameView procedure. Like so:

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/368797106380472331/SpectatorView_AdjustTrack.PNG)
Just add the line "call AdjustTrack" to the end of the UpdateGameView procedure


Here's the hack in action on Youtube for you to see the difference it now makes to the Tornado experience.

https://youtu.be/BLw82a1qozg
The last 20 seconds of this video show you how useful the hack is.

Here's my  take on this. Suppose a flight of six tornado, led, ahem, by me, were to strike a target with mine being the first to ingress. A few seconds later the others hit various installations of the vicinity. So after I pass over the target and release my ordinance, I hit the F4 key and then hold down Shift-z to rotate the camera counter-clockwise. The target ground area rotates into view, just in time to catch the rest of the squadron lay waste the target area.

Now can you imagine the cinematic possibilities?
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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>.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/369159668469071883/updateSatellite-2.PNG?width=623&height=481)

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

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/369164936863154177/flight_033.png)
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.


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/369166297319342080/yourown-jp233.PNG)
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.


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/369167277641302017/yourown-jp233-and-others.PNG)
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.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gWkpchYD-4


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.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm2AAOG5Wds

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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 (http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/tor/mods/tmf106.zip) 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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/370287138299707394/nvg-easy.PNG)
A single semicolon (remark command) to rule them all!


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/370291365491245067/NVG-4.PNG)
Change the Right TV Tab Display to the TIALD view


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/370292002824126465/NVG-5.PNG)
Glorious green


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/370292723183386626/NVG-6.PNG)
To deactivate the NVG effect, simple select the FLIR view inside the pilot's central MFD. See above.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/370295335853228032/NVG-11.PNG)
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!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371231379897319426/HowToBlowYourselfUp.PNG)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371183059393052693/weapons_damage_hemisphere.PNG)
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.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/371189441735294987/shakeNextMobile.PNG)
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.

https://youtu.be/7BC2kA6gGRA
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.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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!".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7z-VERR-Yc
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:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371346863065923584/flyby-before-1.PNG)
After:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371346917743001601/flyby-after-1.PNG)

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:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371347100769845248/flyby-before-2.PNG)
After:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371347153622138883/flyby-after-2.PNG)

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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/371348478963482624/flyby-after-3.PNG)

One more video. I couldn't resist showing off my new Flyby View of my favorite DOS flight simulator. Whee!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArXZ48658KI
The spectacular 1993 DOS flight simulator is NOW even MORE SPECTACULAR!

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373177770789961730/Chance_In_A_Million.PNG)
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

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373178083202564118/Chance_In_A_Million2.PNG)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373178255915745291/Chance_In_A_Million3.PNG)
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

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373179871976882177/FadeDown.PNG)
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

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373180605560651777/FadeUp.PNG)
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!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373185476594761738/An-LGB-Strike1.PNG)
Here's Laser-Guided-Bomb on its way towards the target.
Ever seen this up-close before? What? Still not close enough for you?


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/373185677749387264/An-LGB-Strike2.PNG)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/377443856352018433/Kaboomb.PNG)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/380404267867045898/rare-angle.PNG)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/StandardLookup.PNG)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/377155224315494401/lookup1.PNG)
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.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/377155525055479808/lookup2.PNG)
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?


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/377155659373740032/Code-Lookup-1.png)
[size=8]Here's how I did it. VIEWS.ASM file. See the yellow-shaded code.[/size]

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/342700290493120512/377155739686404097/Code-Lookup-2.png)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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".
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381865276284731402/aaa_burst_length.PNG)
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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381866227963920393/aaa_time2.PNG)

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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381867809959051275/aaa_time1-deadlier.PNG)

The result of this? Here comes the tracer. This time it's not always in predictable 2 second bursts!
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381870729890889749/tracer.PNG)

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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/381871029481373707/tracer2.PNG)

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


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385916356966481920/OriginalTIALDview.png)
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. 

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TIALD-zoom.PNG)
Zooming in from 30,000 feet in the air. Best experience on a large-screen monitor!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/383693089610399744/nvg-lgb1.PNG)
The infrared cuts through the clouds on cloudy days. Night becomes day, up close and personal.
Welcome to Tornado's new TIALD view!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/383694542874083331/RAF-TIALD-strike.PNG)
What the real thing looks like. RAF TIALD strike.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/383695549313974272/TL.PNG)
You can see the T and L letters to the left and right of the crosshairs.
Digital Integration modelled it correctly back in 1993!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385789615052685314/scud-hunting2.PNG)
Remember this SCUD hunting mission? The full-screen mod brings it to life!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385806670967734273/scud-hunting1.PNG)
Note the Note the autopilot's waypoint and ground radar TV-Tabs.
They come in handy when using LGBs to hunt SCUDs.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385807207968538624/Gotcha-SCUD.PNG)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LGB-on-the-way.PNG)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385670781390290944/normal_HUD.png)
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!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385671315782107136/newHUD-fullscreen1.png)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385674489259622400/abnormal-HUD.png)
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!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385672746262069249/newHUD-fullscreen2.png)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/FLIR-night-mission.PNG)
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!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/385682321426350080/New_fullscreen-FLIR-with-new-HUD-in-action.PNG)
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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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 ...
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387380535103586305/Blitter-NOTok.PNG)
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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387380914239569921/BlitterReposition.PNG)

Vola! Problem solved.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387381013812215808/Blitter-OK.PNG)
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!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/388477422984495105/RWR-Tornado.png)
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.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387461365717139456/AddedRWR_symbols.png)
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.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387462062277787649/UpdateRWR-code1.PNG)
-and-
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387462114576433153/UpdateRWR-code2.PNG)

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!
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/387463335332937729/AddedRWR_symbols-navig.png)

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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Zurger6 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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,2401.15.html). If you have time, you can read the stuff on the Tornado Discord server for updates.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 10, 2017, 10:16:13 PM
22. Working HUD in full-screen FLIR display view!

Mod: Working HUD with full-screen view of FLIR
By Frankie
Description: After two and a half-months I have achieved success at last! The HUD information is now accurately shown when in the full-screen FLIR view. The Mauser cannon and Countdown clock with Target of Opportunity Waypoint (T) is now working too. CCIP Bomb-lines in HUD are good. Loft bombing is ... magical. Here are the screenshots.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389540420318789652/Breakthrough-Tornado-fullscreen4.png)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389532386872000514/Breakthrough-Tornado-fullscreen3.png)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389531008346882068/Breakthrough-Tornado-fullscreen2.png)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389529160328019978/Breakthrough-Tornado-fullscreen1.png)

So what does this mean? Well, you can now hunt down those elusive SCUD launchers and that wily train in the Tornado missions. Shooting up soft targets, tanks and APCS with your Mauser cannons never felt so good. Better immersion, better gameplay. With the 20 cumulative enhancements and modifications, the original Tornado just got enhanced by a factor of 5x.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389727921335435284/ILS-Tornado.png)
Instrument Landing System (ILS) in action. The HUD information is perfect.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 11, 2017, 07:03:22 PM
23. NVG (Night Vision Goggles) toggle

Mod: View FLIR and TIALD in bright green colors (Night Vision)
By Frankie
Description: Pilot's MFD must first be accessed and the FLIR is turned on.  Then hit Shift+Tab to turn ON the NVG effect. Hit Shift+Ctrl to turn OFF the NVG effect.
Prior to this hack, when flying at night, all previous versions of FLIGHT.EXE automatically showed the FLIR and TIALD views in Night Vision Goggle (NVG) green phlorescent  colors. The user cannot turn off and on the NVG colors at will. It is out of his control.

Now however, by default, the full-screen FLIR and full-screen TIALD views are NOT in NVG colors. Instead, at night the user will initially see them as per the night level colour. This time the NVG colors are turned on MANUALLY by the user using these steps:
(1) User must be in Pilot View (Home key)
(2) User then hits the 'D' key 3x so that Pilot's MFD will cycle until it switches to the FLIR view ...
(3) ... which of course will open in full-screen mode. The user then hits Shift+Tab to turn ON the Night Vision color
(4) If the user hits the Home key, he will see that the outside of the cockpit is in NVG color. The user can imagine that the pilot is using a NVG gear on his pilot's helmet. The tracking (external view) will also be in green phlorescent colors!
(5) To turn OFF the NVG color, the user hits Shift+Ctrl. The colors will revert to the non-NVG colors.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389829347269148683/Landing_at_night_with_ILS_and_NVG.png)

There are several benefits of not defaulting to the NVG colors:
(a) The user can practice takeoffs and landings at night minus the aid  of the NVG technology;
(b) The user can appreciate the night hues an colours of the environment (e.g., runaway and towns)!
(c) The user now has a choice to toggle a TIALD or FLIR view between NVG and non-NVG colors
(d) The user can navigate by the lay of the landscape and by the stars!
(e) The TIALD and FLIR views are now not so boring - seeing the MFD and TV-Tab show green NVG colors in every mission gets a bit tiring

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389829388700745745/Landing_at_night_with_ILS_and_NVG2.png)


The choice of turning on and off the NVG colors leads to more variaty based on the use-case of the user. It extends the playability of Tornado. For example, the user may want to practice full-screen FLIR view and loft bombing in almost total darkness. Being able to toggle the NVG on and off affords the user with a choice to apply the NVG or non-NVG colors to his situation or taste. Artistically, you can watch a runaway or enemy station being hit by flashes of light and explosives at night. That is a sight to behold in Tornado.

Unfortunately, at the moment I am unable to switch off the NVG colors when I am in the TV-TAB TIALD or FLIR views. So if you are in the Navigator's panel and have switched to the full screen FLIR or TIALD with NVG colors, the only way to  turn off the green colors is to switch to the Pilot's Panel view and then hit D three times, followed by the awkwardly positioned Shift+Ctrl key combination.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/389829616162045954/TIALD_view_in_NVG_colors.png)

Above: a runaway in its full lighted glory, as seen through the TIALD view.  Someone forgot to do a blackout. Did they forget that there is a conflict?

The latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached. This executable comes with the manual NVG colors that the user is able to switch on/off.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 20, 2017, 03:12:15 PM
24. Mini-views of FLIR and TIALD displays are back in fashion!

Mod: Mini-views of FLIR and TIALD displays
By Frankie
Description: Gamer can now choose between the original FLIR/TIALD TV-Tab displays or the full-screen FLIR/TIALD displays. I felt that converting the FLIR and TIALD views into full-screen were great, but something was missing in the process. The MFD's FLIR mini-display and the TV-TAB's FLIR and TIALD mini-display are classic. They have their charm of their own.  So for the sake of the Tornado purists,  have I decided to put them back into the simulation. Now the gamer can select both mini-views and the full-screen views of FLIR and TIALD! This has never been done before!



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393043650289991680/n0.PNG)
I enabled the FLIR in the pilot's MFD.



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393043886899200000/n4.PNG)
The TIAD display in the TV-TAB and the FLIR view inside the MFD are back wth a vengence.
The graphics below are 25-27 years old, yet they still look good!



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393044127731810304/n2.PNG)
A novelty. The TIALD TV-Tab display superimposed over the full-screen TIALD view.
This has never been done before in Tornado.



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393044298486251521/n3.PNG)
This time the reverse. The FLIR TV-Tab view superimposed over the full-screen TIALD view.



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393044471828316161/n5.PNG)
Here's the night view. See the MFD in the centre? It's NVG is not yet activated!



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393044714120806400/n6.PNG)
All it takes is a Shift-Tab to activate the NVG. Not only is the MFD's FLIR view
in infra-red, the outside world is too!



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393052517912674316/n11.PNG)
The outside world in NVG!



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393045322651402250/n9.PNG)
Both the MFD's FLIR display and the right TV-Tab's TIALD views are in non-infra red.
You get to appreciate the night time colors. Isn't the enemy supposed to impose a total blackout
in a time of war?



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393045697533968385/n10.PNG)
The MFD and TV-Tabs in infra-red.  The ability to toggle on and off the
infra-red palette greatly extends the gameplay of the simulation.

That's it for the pre-Christmas release mod. If nothing else happens between now and Christmas Day, then this is the Christmas 2017 release of the modded Tornado! If you are a former Tornado-holic, I hope that you are enjoying this classic flight simulator more and more each day! If you are new to Tornado or never touched it all these years, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Well, the BEST DOS flight/combat simulator just got even better.

Regards
Frankie Kam

P.S. I am attaching the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy.

Update on 27/12/2017.
I had to remove the mini-MFD inside the Pilot Panel because it caused a side-effect where the target marker went missing. Imagine selecting the ALARM and seeing the weapon countdown clock appear BUT no target marker! So no more Pilot's mini-MFD. Instead of a mini-MFD, the FLIR MFD appears as full screen when the D key is hit. The Navigator's mini-MFD FLIR view works fine is unaffected.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 21, 2017, 04:30:54 PM
THANK YOU

Thank you Asid for our friendship since 2014, and for allowing me to host my Tornado news on the Dogs Of War Virtual Unit forums. You are the reason why the Tornado threads exist. You are a rock star!

Thank you DOWVU forum readers, for reading this and my many posts on Tornado on this wonderful website!

Thank you tertius_oculus, for making Twitch videos of Tornado, even in 2017.

Thank you AirFox, for creating a proof-of-concept GOG Tornado zip in 2017.

Thank you Tom N. for being the a supreme example of a Tornado maestro. And for showing me the finer points of flying Tornado with one engine and in extreme weather conditions. Tornado's hard-core flying was created for gamers like you.

Thank you Aki, for creating the Tornado Discord Server back in August 2017, and for compiling what is probably the first new FLIGHT.EXE in 20 years - you started the whole modding process for me in 2017!

Thank you Christopher R., for sharing with me love for Tornado, evident in your many boxed copies of Tornado, in its many variants.

Thank you tbest90662, Terry, for pioneering the quest for Tornado II back in 1998 through one of the earliest and most active forums on Tornado

Thank you to horsmaan, Simo, for a shout-out to my humble Tornado Tribute site on Home Of The Underdogs' Tornado page.

Thank you Jens S. for recommending the OpenGL graphics engine for a Tornado remake, and for offering your aviation expertise with the Tornado remake project.

Thank you Agathosdaimon for making me understand more about raising and lowering the Tornado under-carriage especially at high speed!

Thank you aturi83, Paul, for calling me a "steely eyed missile man".

Thank you ajalberd8, Andrew, for loving Tornado back in its day, and for your joystick questions.

Thank you Olof Pettersson for our wonderful and timeless Olof's Tornado site. It existed long before my Tribute site and there is no other website done in Tornado colors as yours.

Thank you Winged Hussar, Rob, for sharing your love for Tornado and for drones and UAVs.

Thank you foo squiggly, for calling my site cool and for showing me that there are people who will download and play Tornado in 2016.

Thank you Peter "MiGMan" Inglis for the one and only Migman's Musuem, the most comprehensive flight simulation website on earth and this side of the Universe, and for igniting my love for flight sims back in the 1990s.

Thank you Renders, M., for your friendship on Dogs Of War Virtual Unit, and for liking the concept of Tornado2.com.

Thank you Davide I., for expressing interest in flying for Germany, Saudi Arabia, UK and Italy in the remake of the game

Thank you, The Maverick, Joe, for your BBS flight sim files, and firing up Tornado in DosBox once every so often, as well as other classic DOS flight simulations like F15 Strike Eagle II.

Thank you Andrew R., for advising me to replace the old 16-bit assembler with something more up-to-date, like 32-bit or 64 bit or DirectX, Direct3D and OpenGL.

Thank you Speedwagon, for making this sim a part of your life since 1994, and for running it (still!) on both an IBM PS1 486DX 20MHz (your first PC) and an IBM Aptiva Pentium 166MHz. Indeed your enthusiasm in aviation and for the game propels me to greater heights. Your Debriefing tutorial on one of my Youtube videos will always be a classic to me!

Thank you Blackfire, B., for the chat we had on Google Hangouts, and for your professional programming skills which are a source of inspiration to me.

Thank you Gillespie P., for showing me that old timers and good DOS games, like Tornado, are never inseparable.

Thank you for Herve Caen of Interplay, for offering me an opportunity to form a team of developers in order to revive the game.

Thank you Richard P. for the many magazine scans of Tornado reviews of the 1990s. Yoou brought back many memories of the 1990s.

Thank you Graeme Mason, for writing on Digital Integration (DI) and for bringing the world of DI to our world with the many fascinating photographs and historical DI artifacts. You are the King of Retro Gaming reporting.

Thank you Carl Hamlin for being an assembly language guru and for being my inspiration in low-level programming.

Thank you Zurger6, Phil, for sharing so many things in common with me - Malaysia, durian, Petaling Jaya, aviation and of course, Tornado.

Thank you Bruce M., for volunteering to play test the Tornado remake.

Thank you Andrew MacP., for your enthusiam of Tornado back in the 1990s right through to the early 2000s. Your Google Group posts on Tornado are a joy to read. My favourite is your 2003 post entitled "And then one day you find, Ten years have got behind you...".

Thank you David Punshon, for putting a soundtrack on Tornado and for your music skills and talent. Your music maketh the game.

Thank you Simone Serponi for writing an Italian post on Tornado back in 2016. It was full of nostalgia.

Thank you gpoppitz, Gotz, for sharing with me the challenges of WZ1, Mission 9 "EWR Dawn Attack" and WZ2, Mission 3 "Early warning radar blackout".

Thank you Squakenet for your Youtube videos on Tornado.

Thank you Kenneth Larsen for your ingenious Tornado Time Compression mod.

Thank you Eric Joiner, Basil Copeland and Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein for forming the TCSC Associates group and for creating the BEST Tornado tactics and strategy tutorial of all time, the Tornado Command and Staff College Tutorial.

Thank you Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein for the many, many original ingenious Tornado mods of yesteryear. Yours were the ORIGINAL Tornado mods.

Thank you Mike of Leavenworth KS, for contacting me on eBay in 2002 and for sending me the boxed set of Spectrum Holobyte's Tornado, for free! You started it all for me.

Thank you to the entire ex-Digital Integration development team (http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/tor/credits.html) for creating a classic!

Thank you Matt Smith for designing the colour palletes used in Tornado. The colours of the simulation make it stand the test of time and are a monument to your amazing skill.

Thank you Kevin Bezant for being MORE than a consultant on the Tornado source code. You practically and single-handedly wrote the bulk of the Tornado 3D simulation engine. Tornado is you, and you are Tornado. You are, and always will be in my book, the greatest assembly language developer who ever lived. Whenever I look at the 16-bit ASM code that you wrote 25 years ago, it never fails to amaze me.

Thank you David Keith Marshall, for Tornado. You were the reason for its birth and production. You will be missed.

Thank you to my wife, J.L., and my girls, Leanne and Laura for living with a gamer/flight simmer dad.

Thank you to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Happy Birthday to You!) for salvation by grace, not by works. And for the creative skills you have blessed me with to create the Tornado Tribute site and the many assembly language hacks and mods of the Tornado source code. HALLELUJAH!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 22, 2017, 06:44:48 PM
25. Added a Credits screen - The Christmas 2017 Version of Tornado.

Mod: Credits screen
By Frankie
Description: The Digital Integration development team were a modest bunch. For the amount and quality of work that they put into the simulation, there was never a credits screen inside the game. In the paper manual, yes. Game, no. Until now that is. For the first time in 25 years, a credits page appears when you hit the F11 key.



(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393831106136244236/Credits1.png)
Hitting F11 at the Pilot Panel screen

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393831327973244928/Credits2.png)
The text is easily read in a night mission.
I resisted the urge to add my name to the list.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393831489080655892/Credits3.png)
Hitting F11 in the Drone view

Sorry if the red color that I used is garish, but it does provide sufficient contrast to be read. I chose to use only UPPERCASE letters because they can be read clearer compared to a mix of upper and lowercase letters. How did I do this? Firstly, I had to modify the CONTROL.INC file. Just a tiny tweak. I changed the OPT_DEBUG constant from 0 to 1.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393832816745381888/debug_set_on.PNG)
This small change makes a world of difference

I also had to modify the \VISUAL\VISDEBUG.ASM file.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393833548379062303/VISDEBUG.PNG)
Modifying the text and making sure that the text is properly centred

So after 25 years, the development team finally gets its own credits page with the F11 key! Better late than never. Giving credit where credit is due. With this 25th mod of the series, I can now say that this is the CHRISTMAS 2017 VERSION OF TORNADO.

Happy Holidays and a very merry and
blessed Christmas to all

***Update***
I have improved the color of the names.  This time, the color of the names are the same as the current HUD color level. So while in the Home mode (Pilot Panel) or in the full-screen FLIR mode, hit the "H" key to cycle the HUD colour.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393955020724371458/hudnames1.png)
I can see clearly now the rain is gone

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/393955128694276106/hudnames2.png)
I can see all obstacles in my way

Then when you are at any of the external views (F1, F2 forward view, F2 reverse view, F3, F4 or F5), hit the F11 key for a surprise. The latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached below. The original garish-red version is also attached below. Season and use to taste. Cheers!

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Update: 29th May 2018
Due to the memory limitations of Tornado, I am unable to add a full credits page. Instead this is what I have designed for the Credits Page. It contains only the names of the Development Team.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/DI_Night_Credits.png)
New Credits Page
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 23, 2017, 04:30:48 PM
After much trial and error, I've decided on this design for the Credits screen of Tornado. Here are the improvements over the previous post's design:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/394162012508389397/credits-new1.png)

(1) The title is short and straight to the point;
(2) I used a mixture of UPPERCASE for the names and lowercase for the responsibility for better readability;
(3) I raised the text so that the title does not get cut off in the F2 (Satellite) View;
(4) I added a fitting tribute to DKM in the footer;
(5) I feel that this version is more aesthetic compared to the earlier prototype Credit screens.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/394162352519643153/credits-new2.png)

Happy Christmas Eve, 2017
Frankie Kam
Malaysia
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 26, 2017, 10:30:33 AM
26. Boxing Day Community Names screen with the F12 key

Mod: Boxing Day Community Names mod
By Frankie
Description: I added a Community Names screen to thank all the gamers who contributed in one way, big or small, or another to the development of these Tornado mods that you now see. This was no easy task as I had to manually remove the legacy video modes code from /LIB8086/COM_DRVR.ASM. I mean the Hercules, CGA, EGA and V16 colour modes. Does anyone still play Tornado in or CGA or in EGA? I think not. So I succeeded in freeing up more variable space and this allowed me to mod the  /VISUAL/VISDEBUG.ASM file so that I can add a procedure that, when called by the F12 function key, displays the names of the Tornado Community. The amount of memory used to get this is dangerously close to exceeding the 48Kb limit of the data segment.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395156490509615104/thecommunity.png)
Names of the faithful few still waiting for Tornado2. Or not. See a familiar name or two?

Many thanks to the Tornado Community who contributed in any and many ways. To get this screen, first hit H key in Pilot Panel view (Home) to get the HUD colour that you want. Then hit F2 key to go to Satellite view - or any external view like F3, F4 or F5. Then hit the F12 key to bring up the names. If you name is not here, and you feel that I have left you out by mistake, chances are I have left you out and I apologise in advance for the ommission. Email me and I will see if I can fit your name in here! It will be an extermely tight fit as conventional memory for the data segment is limited!(edited)

The F11 key still brings out the Development Team's names and credits. This screen's contents are pretty much the same as the Christmas 2017 version.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395157296017178626/theteam.png)
The Digital Integration Team that created a classic in flight simulation

I am attaching the latest FLIGHT.EXE with the Community names (F12 key) with this post. This executable has been tested in the DI Tornado simulation and it works. Just make sure you rename your original Europe FLIGHT.EXE file before copying this file inside the /TORNADO/FLIGHT folder.

As the year draws to a close, I would like to say that by adding this mod, I have almost reached the limit of variables space afforded to me by the 16-bit ASM and conventional memory programming. This may jeopardise any future enhancements to the game where the enhancement requires new variables to be declared. Unless of course I poke around and find more ways of freeing up obsolete variables. Thank God for the Hercules, CGA, EGA and VGA16 code. Without them I would not be able to free up memory as other code would be core code.

Anyway, I am pleased with the modding efforts from August 2017 to December 2017. In total 26 mods, in varying degrees of difficulty and usefulness, have been done. This is quite an achievement if I must say so myself as I only compiled my first assembly language code, to create a modded FLIGHT.EXE file, in August 2017.

Many thanks once again to Asid and the DOWVU community. Many of whom no doubt had a peek at my posts and probably wondered "what is all the fuss about this old graphics flight simulator?". I owe an arm and a leg to Kevin Bezant, the programmer who wrote 99% of the FLIGHT.EXE code back in the 1990s at Digital Integration. In spite of his busy schedule and real-life, he gave me many pointers about the source code. His code spoke to me through the many well-written and descriptive codibg comments. His macros and procedures were written for future extensability and I am thankful for that. I am happy to bounce ideas off him and it has been a rewarding 5 months of modding Tornado.

With regards to the 25th Anniversary of Tornado in 2018, Tornado has indeed come to life ahead of schedule! It is not quite the Tornado2 that I had dreamed off, but still I was quite surprised by the number of improvements that the old code was capable of. If anyone is disappointed that Tornado2 with DirectX or graphical enhancements is not here, well all I have to say is, "Suck it up soldier!". Tornado2 is still a distant dream. Maybe DCS can fulfill that dream. In the meantime, I found plenty to modify and enhance in the original Tornado source code.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395167817961570326/CaptureMenu.PNG)
Tornado - a classic by any standard.

I enjoyed every moment modding this venerable game, and I hope that if you used to play Tornado in a time long forgotten, perhaps my mods would have motivated you to get into the saddle once again and to fire up the game. In the process I have learnt the value of perseverance and patience in poking through the 25 year old 16-bit assembly language code.

It has been quite a journey and I am eternally grateful to the friends I have made and for the God that gives me purpose and joy through his saving grace and love. And to my family for accepting that Daddy is on the keyboard trying to 'save the (Tornado) world' once again. When I do lay down my keyboard to pursue other pursuits and life's challenges, I hope that some young computer scientist or flight simulation geek will pick up the mantle and carry on with the modding journey.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Boxing Day, 26th December 2017

Update on 27/12/2017. I removed the previous FLIGHT.EXE attachment. The previous executable had a serious bug in which the weapon's target marker went missing (became invisible). In its place is the latest FLIGHT.EXE (see below) as of 27/12/2017 morning. I have tested it and so far seems to work fine.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 27, 2017, 08:31:35 AM
NOSTALGIA ALERT! Do not read this post any further if extreme nostalgia causes these symptoms in you:
1. fits
2. sighing
3. tears running down your cheek
4. heartache caused by longing for the good ole' days when life was simpler and a lot more slower


THAT'S IT, MISTER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

About two weeks ago I had asked Speedwagon if he could test out the latest FLIGHT.EXE on his old PC. I was curious to know if the new modded FLIGHT.EXE would run on a 1990s computer hardware. Turns out that Speedwagon has an old IBM PS/1 computer that he stil uses now and then to fire up Tornado. This is very rare. Just in case anyone doesn't know what a PS/1 is, here's what it looks like.

(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bttYIH1SdmY/hqdefault.jpg)
The PS/1 "is a brand for a line of personal computers that marked IBM's return to the home market in 1990,
five years after the IBM PCjr. It was replaced by the IBM Aptiva in September 1994". Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bttYIH1SdmY/hqdefault.jpg

Speedwagon replaced the FLIGHT.EXE on his PS/1's Tornado installation folder with the Boxing Day 2017 version of FLIGHT.EXE. He fired up Tornado and the result is nothing short of amazing.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395390215897874442/image.jpg)
The new Credits screen in Tornado. Why are the colors on an original IBM PS/1 (see that logo?)
monitor so vibrant, crisp and clear?

Firstly Tornado didn't crash the PS/1's memory. Secondly. the latest-modded FLIGHT.EXE runs smoothly on a 1990 PC without any notiacable lag or stutter. If there is any reduced frame-rate, it is not felt or noticed. I was also concerned that the full-screen FLIR view, which is the second HUD object created, would impact an older computer's performance. But no. The 24+ year old PS/1 ran the modded Tornado as easily as the out-of-the-box Tornado.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395390379995824138/image.jpg)
The PS/1 breezed through the full-screen FLIR display with secondary displays/TV-Tabs/MFD in place.
Tornado's assembly language code is running so fast that it appears to be multitasking. Astounding!

A second HUD object means that additional conventional memory is being used to model the full-screen FLIR with working HUD. In fact, two HUDs are loaded and running simultaneously in the computer's memory. The Pilot's default HUD which occupies 320x160 pixels and the full-screen HUD which occupies 320x192 pixels.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395390535852097547/image.jpg)
The Night Vision Infrared (phlorescent green!?) full-screen FLIR view running on the PS/1. A machine as old as Tornado itself!

Speedwagon also discovered that I had actually created a Tornado Easter Egg.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395398673271357442/image.jpg)
Switching to the Navigator's side view after hitting the F11 key. The tribute line appears alone.

"Wow...while watching an airport pass by using the "Glance Right" cockpit view I pressed F11 to view the team credits.
When I let go of the key all the names disappeared except for...[David Keith Marshall]" (Speedwagon). It seems that I had created a "very fortuitous Tornado easter-egg. The DKM tribute only seems to happen in the cockpit side views." (Speedwagon).

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395400185343246346/image.jpg)
How Tornado was started up on Speedwagon's old PS/1 - using a good old fashioned 1.44Mb boot diskette! Remember these?

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/395406453470658560/image.jpg)
There was a time when 640Kb of RAM was a lot of memory. Where have those days gone?

The smooth running of the modded Tornado is testament to its well-written, and tightly compiled and linked 16-bit real mode assembly language. Not only did Digital Integration manage to cram so much gameplay and functionality into 640Kb of RAM, the code also accommodated the latest mod changes of 2017. Tornado ran these mods and additional functionality without crashing and without any noticiable performance degradation. Kudos and credit to  Kevin J. Bezant, the orginal programmer of Tornado's 3D engine, and to the Tornado development team of 1993.

In conclusion, the test-drive of the modded Tornado, on a machine as old as Tornado, was a resounding success! Many thanks to Speedwagon for taking the time and effort to test drive the Boxing Day 2017 version of Tornado. Perhaps what is even more amazing is that his PS/1 is still cranking out those machine cycles, and its monitor is as brilliant as the day Speedwagon bought it, which was in 1994.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Photograph credits: all images were taken by Speedwagon except for the first image.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 28, 2017, 07:48:40 PM
27. Tornado cockpit shakes when the plane is damaged or in distress

Mod: Cockpit shakes as per damage inflicted on the Tornado
By Frankie
Description: COCKPIT SHAKING OF TORNADO PROPORTIONATE TO DEGREE OF DAMAGE TO THE TORNADO!
I thought that it was odd that in Tornado, you could have the plane avionics shot up and the only indications of the damage was the Central Warning Panel (CWP) lighting up like a christmas tree with red and orange flashing lights. What about the plane itself? Could the simulation not simulate a plane in distress with a shaky cockpit environment? What about if one engine were damaged and the Tornado were flying on only one engine? Would it be possible for the Pilot and WSO cockpit in Tornado to be depicted with some degree of jerkiness or shuddering or shakiness? Not to much as that would induce headaches and frustration to the gamer. Perhaps more than a subtle degree of jerkiness or shaking if, let's say, the flaps, sweep or gear were to be damaged.

Well, I have done it! Using an algorithm (see below) which is just my guess of correlating the damage to the Tornado to the resulting horizontal and vertical jerkiness of the cockpits:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396020645718261760/QuickStart-IDS-Hard.png)
In the screenshot above, I am playing the "QuickStart - IDS Hard" quickstart game.
And I am getting shot to pieces.

Thanks to the algorithm below, my Tornado is vibrating - as it rightly should (I think) since the AAA is making mincemeat out me. Tracer rounds are flying towards my Tonka and I am getting shot up petty bad.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396021793414053898/algo-shake1.PNG)
Don't cha just love assembly language. It is a thing of frustration and beauty both at once.

Above and below is the logic algorithm to determine how shaky my Tornado' Pilot and Navigator cockpits will be if and when a component is damaged/shot. Just my guestimate how high or low the jerkiness will be.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396022417501454336/algo-shake2.PNG)
More assembly language rules on degree of horizontal and vertical shakiness when a component is damaged

A little heads up on the code.  SHAKE SHAKE_NOSE_DOWN,HSHAKE_OFF,VSHAKE_LO,65535 is a macro named SHAKE that receives 4 parameters. Without being too technical, this specific code means induce no horizontal shaking (OFF) and light vertical shaking of the cockpit. The value 65535 is supposed to be some time value but I am unsure what it does.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396201235532742656/shake-tor.gif)
Animated GIF shows you the vibration effect.
Aw rats! My flaps configuration are beyond the maximum allowable speed.

I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE file in this post. Download and rename to FLIGHT.EXE. Give it a try. You can start by flying the simulator mission where one of your engines has been damaged. Are your flaps damaged? Swing wing stuck? MFD and TV-Tabs shot out? Your Tornado will respond accordingly! You will see the difference immediately.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396028177354326017/Single-Engine.PNG)
Give this simulated situation in Tornado a try. You will feel the difference at once!

I hope this version of Tornado will enhance your Tornado experience by making the game more 'realistic' in terms of physics modelling. In this case the physics is related to the damage of the plane and how I think the plane will handle in such cases.

Enjoy!
Frankie Kam
Malaysia
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 30, 2017, 01:15:05 PM
28. SAM proximity warning

Mod: SAM proximity warning goes off when a SAM is locked onto your Tornado and is seconds away from turning your jet into a burning heap of scrap metal.
By Frankie
Description: I have figured out the exact position to add in the SAM proximity warning sound alert/alarm! I have tested it and I am 100% sure it works. This warning sound effect activates when an enemy missile is locked onto your Tornado and is closing in. This hack is NOW ready. BOY, is it a much-needed hack for the Tornado source code! For some unknown reason, the original source code is missing the SAM proximity warning alert sound". That sound effect that was present in Digital Integration's Tornado since Version 1.0b.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396628559499624449/SAM-proximity-sound-warning-location-in-code.PNG)
The procedure MorseDashSound is called at the right place in WEAPONS.ASM.
I declared the procedure with the code "EXTRN MorseDashSound:FAR" inside this ASM file.

I just need to get the Morse Dash sound effect to replicate as close as possible to the original proximity sound effect. Not easy to do since the SAM proximity alarm code is specific to Tornado version 1.0b. So here's the summary:
(1) I have the exact spot where the code to sound the alert should be placed in - yea!!!
(2) Me using the Morse Dash sound effect is a poor, but for now the one and only substitute for the Tornado 1.0b SAM proximity alert sound effect - boo!!

But I am not complaining as having this SAM alert sound, is a hundred times better than having NO alert sound at all. It gives the gamer a fighting chance to avoid being hit by the SAM by punching flares or chaff at the right time.

Here's what my substitute SAM proximity warning sounds like:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ek9jAJl6yY
My "poor cousin of the SAM proximity warning sound effect" can be heard.
See the 20-21, 31-32 48-53 and the 55-58 second mark.

In contrast, BELOW is the "real deal" SAM proximity warning sound effect from the original Tornado 1.0e.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuGv6ADMcgU
The ORIGINAL SAM proximity warning sound effect.
See the 15, 25-29, 50-54 and the 57-61 second mark.

The original warning sound is richer, deeper and has a more sense of urgency and impending doom, as compared the Morse Dot Code sound effect that I used as a substitute in the Tornado source code. Still, beggars can't be choosers. So until and unless I find the actual code that replicates the exact same sound effect of the SAM  proximity warning sound effect, this is the best I can do.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/396657831153106945/SAM-rising.gif)
Above: An every virtual pilot's nightmare. A SAM is launched. That's the gray speck rising up in the sky - against your Tornado.
Too bad Tornado doesn't model the SAM's smoke trail as in Domark's SVGA Harrier. Limited memory resources.

Attached to this post is the FLIGHT.EXE with my substitute SAM proximity sound effect. Lines 83 and 4729 of WEAPONS.ASM contain the code that the uses the "MorseDashSound" procedure. The main thing is ... this mod WORKS and GIVES you a FIGHTING CHANCE to avoid becoming SAM-fodder. For the geek flight simmers, I also attach the WEAPONS.ASM source code file.

Enjoy and survive your next Tornado mission.

Regards
Frankie Kam, 30th December 2017.
2017 is about to become toast.
For more information on Tornado, see http://www.tornado2.com and http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/home.html


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 01, 2018, 09:55:49 AM
29. A SAM hit against the player's Tornado no longer results in instant death

Mod: SAMs are less lethal now
By Frankie
Description: When Tornado 1.0a was first released in 1993, players complained that SAMs were too deadly. A single hit resulted in death. Game over. So Digital Integration modified the SAMs so that in version 1.0b onwards, a hit from a SAM only resulted in cumulative damage to the player's Tornado. The Tornado source code unfortunately has lost this feature.

The GOOD NEWS is that I have today, on the first day of 2018, managed to simulate FLIGHT.EXE Tornado1.0B to Tornado1.0E, where a single hit from a SAM on the player's Tornado, will not be instant death. Instead, the damage will be shown immediately as a set of avionic systems failing simultaneously. Case in point. The image below shows the damage cause by a single SAM hit against my Tornado. Subsequent hits will only cause more extensive systems damage.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/397325638039765002/gradual-damage.png)
One hit from a SAM results in this damage. No longer, the unforgiving of mistakes, instant death.

The trick I used is to modify the ContPlayerKill label of the WpnKillDrone procedure inside the DRONELIB.ASM file.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/397325777944838154/gradual-damage-code.png)
There is method to my madness. The code that restores the non-lethalness of SAMs in the modded Tornado.
This is how SAMs behaved in Tornado versions 1.0b through to 1.0e.

Explanation: I have to remark (comment) off the lines 413-415 because if I don't the Tornado will go into the instant death mode.
Then immediately after that. I need to call the MaxDamage procedure at least once. But once is not enough because after being hit by a SAM, it may only show
minimal damage (e.g., Oxygen damage alone). So what I did was to execute "call MaxDamage" 7 times(!) as shown in my code above. Each time the MaxDamage
procedure is called, it will in turn call the RandomDamage procedure of DAMAGE.ASM.

The RandomDamage procedure of DAMAGE.ASM generates a random number between 0 to 18 to simulate any one of the 19 different systems failing.

So if I want the SAM damage to be more severe, I can increase the "call MaxDamage" lines to more than 7 lines. For your reference, I am attaching these two files for you.
(1) FLIGHT.EX_
(2) DRONELIB.ASM

Proof of concept Youtube video that showcases this mod in action.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wvwrBlxZSI

The bottom-line is this: the modded Tornado is now even better. SAMs are still deadly but are more forgiving. Gameplay has been restored. The game is still enjoyable and challenging, as a SAM hit on your Tornado allows you to continue the game. The year 2018 is the 25th anniversary of Tornado. What a great way to start the year with this mod feature! CHEERS, ENJOY THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR 2018, get grogged at the pub/home/home-bar but don't get too groggy!

Regards
Frankie "TornadoMan" Kam


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 01, 2018, 05:15:30 PM
30. Pilot's and Navigator's cockpit panels shake effect (once in a while)

Mod: Subtle random shake effect to Pilot's and Navigator's cockpit panels
By Frankie
Description: Tornado-out-of-the-box flies too smoothly, as though skating a friction-free surface or ice. No airplane I know flies without some rise or fall along the vertical axis. If you watch the videos of Tornados flying over the Iraqi desert, the plane bops up and down above the terrain. So what I did here was to add a very rare and subtle shake effect to the Pilot's and Navigator's panels. This is useful to break the monotony of fixed and static panels, especially for missions which last more than 15 minutes from Waypoint A to final waypoint (landing on an airfield). Hopefully as the effect has a 2% chance of occurring, it will not be irritating to the player. Hopefully the effect will make the simulation more visceral and realistic.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/397434970332987392/pilotpan_random_shake.PNG)
Here is the code in PILOTPAN.ASM.

Pseudocode
Generate a random number
The shake effect has a 2% chance of happening
Excecute a random shake effect (there are 4 choices):
   1. No shake for either horizontal or vertical axises of the screen (i.e., do nothing)
   2. Low shake for BOTH horizontal and vertical axises of the screen
   3. Low shake for just the vertical axis of the screen
   4. Low shake for just the horizontal axis of the screen

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/397436877004603393/navigpan_random_shake.PNG)
Here is the code in NAVIGPAN.ASM

 https://youtu.be/cKLPKLIgWg0

The shake effect is very rare. In this game session, it occurs only at the 7-seconds and the 36-seconds mark of the video. It is also quite subtle. Blink and you might miss it! It is quite hard to strike a balance between realism and irritation. Too frequent an effect and the result is annoying to the player. As a rule of thumb, it is better for this shake effect to be occurring less than more often.

The Pilot and Navigators panels are actually in 2D, but the pixels are cleverly shaded to gives an impression of 3D. This rare and subtle shaking of both panels at random moments further helps to deceive the eye and the mind of the gamer, presenting a sense of realism and 3D movement of both cockpits. Well, at least that's what I think. You might beg to differ.

So to conclude, what's the deal with this mod? I think it adds a small but significant, subtle and realistic touch to the simulation. Hope you like it. ;-)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 06, 2018, 07:27:58 PM
31. Store Management Display mod

Mod: Store Management Display on full-screen FLIR/TIALD display
By Frankie
Description: IT IS DONE!  I added the Store Management Display at the upper-left corner of the screen in full-screen FLIR/TIALD mode! This allows the virtual Tornado pilot to select and manage his ordnance store without having to exit the full-screen FLIR or TIALD TV-Tab displays.

Below is the improved Stores Management Display (SMD). See the ALARM, LGB1000 and the JP-233 information on the left of the screen? That's the SMD! Now the HUD is less obstructed as the SMD is at the upper left section of the screen. Just below the navigator's MFD. This may not be the visually-best location for the SMD text, but I think it will do for now.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/399271935407685633/improved-smd-01.PNG)
I just hit the Left TV-Tab ("[" key) immediately after entering the Navigator's Panel with the PgUp key

The advantage of keeping the SMD text on the upper-half of the screen is to keep the area below the HUD as clear and as clean as possible. As the majority of Tornado's missions are IDS-based, it makes sense to position the "helper" instruments/tools away from the HUD so that there are less distracting to the virtual Tornado pilot.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/399272729158615061/improved-smd-02.PNG)
I then cycle to the next display on the full-screen Left TV-Tab by hitting the "[" key again.
The full-screen Left TV-Tab now shows the TIALD  view.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/399273501942480897/improved-smd-04.PNG)
This is the first full-screen TIALD view of the Right TV-Tab. It reached this view by going first to the Navigator's Panel
and hitting the "]" key. Note that I programmed the SMD text to be at the top-left hand corner. Nice!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/399273914448216066/improved-smd-05.PNG)
Then I hit the Right TV-Tab key again ("]"). Now the TIALD full-screen view fills the Right TV-Tab.
Note that the text is once again is nicely tucked away at the top-left corner of the screen.

A little caveat. The SMD text colors are not very distinctive during a day mission. especially the selected (highlighted) ordnance. In this example, the words "ALARMx4   DIR" and "CANNONx180" are extremely difficult to read against a bright light blue sky. Poor contrasting colours! Again this can be improved with time, and is not a deal-breaker.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/399278631467089920/improved-smd-06.PNG)
Daytime mission. The FLIR full-screen view fills the Left TV-Tab.
Note the selected ordnance is difficult to read due to poor contrasting colours. Room for improvement for another day.

So just when you thought that Tornado couldn't get any better, it has now! This has been my MOD of the week. It is very satisfying to accomplish this. Assembly language is no barrier! Many thanks to Speedwagon for requesting this feature. It is now a reality. Happy hunting.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 11, 2018, 02:15:25 PM
32. Store Management Display text colours follow the current HUD color - dynamic now

Mod: Dynamic text colors of the Store Management Display on full-screen FLIR/TIALD display -
By Frankie
Description: In Mod #31, the text colours of the SMD were static, giving rise to poor and low contrasting colours, depending on the time of the mission. In this Mod #32, the colors are dynamic. Able to change with the color of the HUD which happens when the user hits the "H key" in Pilot Panel or when the FLIR display is shown in the Pilot-MFD! So now the currently highlighted ordnance shows up as the same colour as the current HUD color. Better visual, better gameplay. Mod#31 now has a MORE POLISHED look and feel to it.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/401010315715936256/goodkitty1.JPG)
BOTH the currently selected Air-To-Ground and Air-To-Air store
management text are following the current HUD colour - in this case BLACK!


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/401010459852931072/goodkitty2.JPG)
This time a night view. In the example below, the current HUD color has been cycled to the brightest hue.
Both "LGB1000x1  LGB" and "AIM9Lx2" are the currently highlighted weapons - BRIGHT GREEN.


(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/401012087628759041/goodkitty3.JPG)
This time, it is the right TV-Tab in TIALD full-screen mode. As you can see, "ALARMx4  DIR" and "CANNONx180"
are the current highlighted weapons. They are both the same colour as the cuurent HUD color which happens
to be cycled (with the "H" key) to the brightest cue possible.


Pressing Enter or Alt+Enter will arm the respective weapons. At last, the Stores Management Display is working PERFECTLY in full-screen mode. The effect is a more consistent and more organised look to the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views of TV-Tab1 and TV-Tab2!

Regards
Frankie Kam
For more on Tornado, head over to http://www.tornado2.com and http://www.moodurian.com/tornado
P.S., the latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached at the end of this post. Enjoy!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 17, 2018, 05:59:57 PM
33. F2 rear view is fixed - easier on the brain and eyes

Mod: Fixed F2 rear view
By Frankie
Description: no more confusing rolling horizon when banking the plane. Previously rear view would bank in the wrong direction resulting in disorientation. Hence the decision to fix the rear view!
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/403246699625316353/rearfixed.JPG)The rear view is handy when watching how your bombs hit home
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 17, 2018, 06:04:25 PM
34. Attention getters and warning lights in full-screen views (TV-Tab1 - left TV-Tab only)

Mod: Improved full-screen views - warning panel lights come on
By Frankie
Description: Added red attention getters and warning light board to full-screen FLIR & TIALD views. Now the gamer no longer needs switch to the Pilot's panel in order to know what the cause of the attention getter sound is. All the warning information that he needs is found on the right of the full-screen view, as shown in the screenshot below.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/342700290493120512/403248038891487242/lights.JPG)
Those aren't Christmas lights!


Room for improvement: for now, the some of the warning lights, when lighted, will overlap with the eScope (lower-right corner of the screen) and the bottom information bar. It is possible to raise the warning lights higher, but only the colored rectangles can be raised further up north, not the warning capsule labels (e.g., FLPS, UC, etc.) as those labels are part of the Navigator's panel graphic file (NAVIGPAN.PT2).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 17, 2018, 06:10:25 PM
35. Screen shake and full-screen command line parameters

Mod: /sh and /fs parameters added
By Frankie
Description: Added two command line parameters /sh and /fs parameter/

/sh enables shakes due to damage and random cockipit shakes.
For example, C:\>TORNADO /sh will enable the extra shake effects.

/fs enables the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views when in the Navigator's cockpit.
For example, C:\>TORNADO /fs will full screen FLIR and TIALD views whilst in the Navigator's cockpit, as well as the Pilot's full-screen FLIR MFD view.

Adding command line parameters greatly enhances the features of Tornado. Thesec customised parameters are a good alternative to the scarce keyboard commands (practically the entire keyboard is already in use by Tornado's extensive key commands). This is a significant mod because now gamers have a CHOICE how they want Tornado to behave.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 05, 2018, 12:40:35 PM
36. Added full set of command line parameters on demand.  E.g., in DOSBox, C:\>FIGHT /e1 /gr /to /tt /nm

Mod: More command line paramaters to facilitate quick starts and testing of scenarios
By Frankie

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/405878333167894529/unknown.png)
Full list of command line parameters

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/405882471473741824/unknown.png)
The result of C:>FLIGHT /e1 /e2 /gr /fl /ecm /hd /tt

The significance of this is now you can start a what-if-scenario like starting airborne with the gear and HUD damaged.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 05, 2018, 12:49:20 PM
37. Secondary Control Surfaces Indicator (SCSI) functioning needles added  to  full-screen FLIR and TIALD.

Mod: Flat and slats needles added to the full-screen FLIR and TIALD to improve situational awareness without having to pop back into the Pilot's cockpit. By Frankie

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/409414280853717013/FlapsAndSlats_InFullScreen.JPG)
The needles are shown at the lower-left corner of the screen, just above the Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI).

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/409414812469166090/FlapsAndSlats_InFullScreen2.JPG)
The flaps and slats needles are highly visible at night

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 17, 2018, 09:55:42 AM
38. MFD, Flare and Chaff counts in full-screen views AND added Warning Panel lights to TV-Tab2 (right TV-Tab)

Mod:  Added flare and chaff counts in full-screen TV-Tab1 (left) FLIR and TIALD modes.
By Frankie
Description: For better situational awareness. Having the flare and chaff counts show on screen helps when te SAM-evading action is thick and fast. I also added the Warning Panel feedback in TV-Tab2 full-screen (i.e., in right TV-Tab FIR and TIALD full-screens)
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/412146481898979328/unknown.png)

Flare and chaff counts are below the Cannon rounds count. See Centre left of the screen.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 17, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
39. Auto-adjusts sky-to-earth ratio according to Tornado type (IDs, ECR or ADV)

Mod:  Shows more or less sky based on Tornado type
By Frankie
Description: The simulation now detects if your Tornado is an ID or an ADV Tornado-type and automatically allocates more ground view or more sky view in the tracking (F1) view, depending on your Tornado type. For IDS missions, hitting F1 will reveal more ground vertical space on the screen as opposed to the sky. After all, almost all IDS missions are about mud-moving. And if you are in an ADV mission, you will see more sky than ground when you hit F1. Hope you like this one extra mini-nugget.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/412764623750823936/unknown.png)
IDS in action. Deserves more ground screen real-estate, no? So the ratio of sky to earth here is around 56:44

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/412766441939402753/unknown.png)
ECS variant. More ground view for photo reconnaisance activity. Activate via C:>TORNADO /VE

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/412765604253007892/unknown.png)
ADV mission. Bue skies and the coast is clear. Tornado F3.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/412766731065622540/unknown.png)
The code that does this selective shifting of the sky:earth ratio in the Tracking View (F1).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 17, 2018, 10:14:58 AM
40. More lethal SAMs

Mod:  Still not as bad as "one-hit kills your Tornado" but adjusted to damage more instruments with each strike
By Frankie
Description: Made the SAM doubly lethal, but still not "just-one-hit-from-a-SAM-means-killed". With previous versions, it would take about 8 to 10 hits from a SAM before you Tornado went down. It was like that so that I could thoroughly test the TV-Tabs. Now that the TV-Tabs are quite stable, a single hit from a SAM can do some major damage. Two to three more strikes from a SAM and almost all your avionics will be shot out, with the warning panel lighted up like a Christmas tree

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/413767107294265344/unknown.png)
After a single strike from a SAM....

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/413767381853274113/unknown.png)
...then another hit from a SAM give this....

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/413767638699868165/unknown.png)
...followed by a third. You plane is a smoking wreck by now.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/413767959975165953/unknown.png)
True enough. Three to Five strikes and you're out!


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 19, 2018, 03:13:51 PM
41. Adjusting HUD colour intensity and NVG colours on-the-fly

Mod:  Change HUD color and toggle between Infra-Red (NVG) and normal view anytime!
By Frankie
Details: Now you can change the HUD color when in full-screen  FLIR and TIALD views by pressing the H key. Previously this was only allowed when in Pilot cockpit or Pilot MFD mode. In version 31, you can change the HUD color directly in full-screen FLIR and TIALD modes - whether in the Pilot's cockpit or the Navigator's cockpit. You can now also toggle between Infra-Red night vision and normal night colors by pressing Shift+Tab in cockpit or in any external view! For example, go to Tracking view with F1. Then press Shift+Tab to turn on the florescent green. Release both keys. Then hit Shift+Tab to restore the non-Infra-Red normal night colors. With these two features, the interface is now MUCH MORE user-friendly, flexible and intuitive. Gamepley has been enhanced.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415157041124999185/non-nvg.JPG)
Before. Night mission. Both TV-Tabs are normal night colors.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415157209228378112/both-nvg.JPG)
After. The key combo Shift+Tab is hit. Both TV-Tabs show up in NVG colours.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415157425491017738/non-nvg2.JPG)
Before. Large-screen TV-Tab1 with normal-sized TV-Tab2. Both in normal on-NVG night colours.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415157680391585792/both-nvg2.JPG)
After. I hit Shift+Tab. Both full-screen TV-Tabs are now in NVG colours.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415157851091107841/both-nvg3.JPG)
To change the HUD colour intensity, I hit the H key to cycle through the 6 different HUD colours.
Both the left and right TV-Tabs' HUD colours change at once.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415158590828052481/F1_NVG.JPG)
The NVG/normal night colours toggle applies also to external views. Here is the F1 tracking view in NVG...

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/415158737356062730/F1_normal_night.JPG)
...rendered in normal night colours with the Shift+Tab key combo.

Conclusion: with this twin features of on-the-fly HUD colour intensity changes (H key) and the NVG/normal night non-NVG colours toggle (Shift+Tab key combo), the gameplay of Tornado has once again been enhanced. Bon appetite!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on February 19, 2018, 11:27:15 PM
Great stuff Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 20, 2018, 07:38:13 AM
Thanks for the encouragement, Asid. My time-machine's still stuck at 1993. Time to reprogram the TARDIS for 2018. Alas, no source code for SteelBeasts. Haha.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 17, 2018, 04:50:42 PM
42. Improved instant medium/low-height rear view with F2. Rear view horizon pitches when the Tornado banks.

Mod: Improved rear view (F2). Also known as the "Check-Six!" view.
By Frankie
Description: Now when you hit F2, the view with instantly switch to the rear view. This hack is an improvement over hacks #11 and #33. This is a very convenient way for the flight simmer (Tornadoholic) to get instant feedback as to the effectiveness of his fallen bombs. Something that was never possible in the original simulation. The rear view's horizon and external environment will also tilt according to how your Tornado banks to the left or to the right. F2 toggles between a medium-height rear view and a lower-height rear view. Both heights are slightly adjustable with the "<" (unzoom) and ">" (zoom) keys. All these tweaks, IMHO, make for a more engaging and visceral rear view. I have also modified the bottom status bar to show the view as "REAR".

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rearview.jpg)
F2 instantly shows an enemy runaway getting the spectacular but controversial JP-233 treatment!

Coding work

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod42-1.jpg)
This one-line modification makes it easy for me to implement this mod.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod42-2.jpg)
The meat of the code to display the check-six! view. Shows the various tweaked values to raise the ground vertical view.

Update Tuesday 20/3/2018.
I've decided to add the tail-part of the Tornado in the F2 view. This gives the view a better perspective. Put your Tornado in autopilot and when the Tornado banks at an angle, the tail-part will show up more dramatically against the check-six view! For example:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rear_view1.JPG)
Check Six! view. Directly behing the Big Fin's tailfin!
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rear_view2.JPG)
Is this cinematic and more dramatic than just the rear view? I think so!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rear_view0.JPG)
The code that makes this possible

To activate the rear Tail Fin in the Check Six view, press Control+F2. F2 will toggle the Tail Fin off.

Note: I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE in this post.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on March 17, 2018, 06:56:00 PM
42. Improved instant medium/low-height rear view with F2. Rear view horizon pitches when the Tornado banks.


Nice. This will add to the fun and immersion  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 18, 2018, 08:41:51 AM
43. Instant switch from full-screen FLIR/TIALD view to Navigator's Panel with normal-sized FLIR/TIALD on

Mod: Improved usability of the full-screen FLIR and full-screen TIALD views
By Frankie
Description: These two earlier mods #18 Full-Screen FLIR and #19 Full-Screen TIALD are two of the best Tornado mods that I have invested my time in. However, there was a usability problem both mods #18 and #19. The gamer was forced to hit the "[" or "]" keys in order to cycle through the views before finally arriving at the Navigator's panel view. This meant that there was no way for the gamer to get instant and immediate visual feedback of the Navigator's instrument panel. This Mod #43 solves this problem! With this Mod #43, I have added code that will allow the user to hit the PgUp key to revert to the Navigator's Panel with the FLIR or TIALD showing in the normal sized TAB displays.

The cycle of displays that show in the left TV-TAB and the right TV-TAB, when hitting the "[" or "]" keys, are now more logical. The displays now follow this cycle:
1. Navigation Waypoints Display ;TAB_PLN
2. Map Display                     ;TAB_MAP
3. Reference Display             ;TAB_REF
4. FLIR Display (original size)     ;TAB_FLIR (original)
5. FLIR Display (full-screen)       ;TAB_FLIR (full-screen)         
6. TIALD Display (original size)   ;TAB_TIALD (original)
7. TIALD Display (full-screen)     ;TAB_TIALD (full-screen)         
8. Cycle back to 1.


TWO USE-CASES. NOTE: TV-TAB1 IS THE LEFT TV-TAB. TV-TAB2 IS THE RIGHT TV-TAB.


Use-Case A - To full-screen FLIR and back to Navigator's Panel

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flirTabPgUp-1.jpg)
TV-TAB1 shows the normal FLIR view. TV-TAB2 shows the normal TIALD view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flirTabPgUp-2.jpg)
User has just hit the "[" key. TV-TAB1 now shows the full-screen FLIR view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flirTabPgUp-3.jpg)
User has just hit "PgUp" and returns to the Navigator's Panel. The FLIR view shows in the normal-sized TV-TAB1.
If the user wants to go to the full-screen FLIR in TV-TAB1, he can hit the "[" key next.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use-Case B - To full-screen FLIR and back to Navigator's Panel

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flirTabPgUp-1.jpg)
TV-TAB2 shows the normal TIALD view. TV-TAB1 shows the normal FLIR view.
Note: even if both TV-TABs contents were interchanged, the below use-cases will still work.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tialdTabPgUp-1.jpg)
User has just hit "]" key. TV-TAB2 now shows the full-screen TIALD view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tialdTabPgUp-2.jpg)
User has just hit "PgUp" and returns to the Navigator's Panel. The TIALD view shows in the normal-sized TV-TAB2.
If the user wants to go to the full-screen TIALD in TV-TAB2, he can hit the "]" key next.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source code modifications

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod43-1.jpg)
Array elements have been rearranged to follow the sequence of TAB display cycle.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod43-2.jpg)
Code allows the gamer, whilst in full-screen FLIR mode,
to instantly jump back to the Navigator's Panel with TV-TAB showing normal-sized FLIR.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod43-3.jpg)
Code allows the gamer, whilst in full-screen TIALD mode,
to instantly jump back to the Navigator's Panel with TV-TAB showing normal-sized TIALD.



Conclusion
This mod makes Tornado more fluid and logical. Accessing the Navigator's Panel from both TV-TABs has been GREATLY improved. Now, when the gamer is in full-screen FLIR or TIALD view, he can return instantly to the Navigator's Panel by hitting the PgUp key.

Well, this weekend I've managed to polish up Tornado with two mods. Not bad. The last version of Tornado was Tornado 1.0E in 1994. Perhaps in March 2018 we can now, with Kevin Bezant's and Digital Integration's permission, update Tornado to Tornado Version 1.0F, with "F' standing for "Frankie". Haha.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Malaysia

P.S., latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 21, 2018, 09:53:25 AM
44. Added 5,000 more trees to the Tornado ground landscape

Mod: Increased the number of landscape trees
By Frankie
Description: ADDING MORE TREES to the default Tornado landscape is something I wanted to do in Tornado for years! (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,2401.msg9530.html#msg9530) The desire to see more trees whiz by me at low-level is what started off on the quest to modify the Tornado source code. It had always been my dream to add forests to the game. Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that, TODAY,  I finally figured out how to do this in Tornado, and I can add in any ground object anywhere on the landscape. The bad news is that I have at my disposal only 16,200 bytes with which to add my objects in Tornado. The number of trees is not limited by the computer's speed - it is limited by the 640Kb Conventional Memory cap of the 1993 x86 ASM programming language. Did Bill Gates really once say ""640K ought to be enough for anybody"? Doesn't work for someone trying to extend the game in 2018! Haha. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and excitement editing these 2 files in order to add more trees to Tornado: \visual\SECDATA1.ASM and \visual\map\sectors\OBSECDEF.INC.
Tornado uses 256 sectors in its default landscape. Each sector is divided into a grid of 64x64 tiles. The default game has 10,000 objects (trees, buildings, pipelines, bunkers, airfields etc.) defined.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado.JPG)
More trees than you can shake a stick at in the 1993 DOS game Tornado!
This is not a mockup. Rather it is the result of adding more Tree objects inside
the \visual\map\sectors\OBSECDEF.INC file.



I discovered that the 1993 x86 ASM code supports up to a maximum of only 15,000 3D ground and sky-layered. So I added another 5,000 tree objects divided among 203 out of the 256 sectors. This gives an average of 25 additional trees per sector. I could have chosen to add a few hundred trees to selected sectors, but instead chose to even out the spread for uniformity sake. Below is one Sector that has more than a hundred tree copses (a copse is a few trees huddled/bundled together).

To be brutally honest, 15,000 ground objects is nothing at all by modern standards. Most modern flight simulations have millions of objects rendered. However back in 1993/1994, Tornado had the most dense landscape of all flight sims. Being able to add 5,000 more trees is a big deal for me as it proves that the game, sorry I mean simulator, can be still be extended,albeit to a limit.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado6.JPG)
Tornado is a mud-moving DOS flight simulator. IMHO, the more ground objects
whizzing by me at high speed, the better the experience.



In the process of adding more greenery to the landscape, I modified the Moving Map display (see the screenshots below) so that the trees show up as a dot in the color of COL_HUD. This adds additional load cycles on the CPU (running under DosBox) but so far I haven't encountered any game breaking problems with the additional pixels.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado2.JPG)
See those florescent green dots? Them there dots are trees!
You can see the forest for the trees in the large Moving Map (M key)


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado3.JPG)
Trees show up as green pixels inside both TV-Tabs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado4.JPG)
There's a dense forest of trees west of my Tornado.

Note: the TV-Tab Moving Map display screenshots above show a very green landscape devoid of clutter because I commented off the display of the othe map objects (mountains, etc.) so that I could clearly see the tree pixels. I later added back all the map display elements so that the Moving Map shows everything up like this:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado5.JPG)
Tornado surrounded by lotsa hills and trees. Woodman, spare that tree!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado-Code1.JPG)
This line from \VISUAL\SECDATA1.ASM is crucial!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShowTreesAsGreenInTornado-Code2.JPG)
Sample code from the file \VISUAL\MAP\SECTOR\OBSECDEF.INC. It shows that:
The Sector 11, 1 contains FOUR tree copses.


The LATEST FLIGHT.EXE incorporating 15,000 landscape objects is attached. 607Kb.

Watch this space.

Update, Thursday 22 Mar 2018
I had to reduce the number of landscape objects from 16,200 to 15,000. The FLIGHT.EXE with 16,200 landscape objects weighs in at 612Kb and it only runs fine under the DOSBox command prompt. E.g., C:\>FLIGHT /a
If I run FLIGHT.EXE under the normal GUI menu system, it fails to load my SoundBlaster driver. Not enough memory to load the driver. If I switch the soundcard from SoundBlaster to Adlib, it works. I love Tornado's SoundBlaster sounds and effects, so I had to do something! I reduced the number of landscape objects to 15,000. After compiling and linking, the resultant FLIGHT.EXE now weighs in at 607Kb. I have tested this reduced FLIGHT.EXE and I can confirm that it works when played from the GUI menu. As a result of this, I have renamed the subject of this post from "Added 6,200 more trees to the Tornado ground landscape" to "Added 5,000 more trees to the Tornado ground landscape".
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Rinix on March 21, 2018, 02:24:08 PM
Did Bill Gates really once say ""640K ought to be enough for anybody"?
No, but he did say that he thought 640K would be enough for 10 years: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/09/08/640k-enough/
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on March 21, 2018, 03:12:53 PM
I used to have a ZX Spectrum 48K

Amongst the best gaming memories I have  :oldman rocks
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 23, 2018, 07:53:23 PM
45. Auto-generates 300% more random trees on the Tornado landscape as compared to the original game

Mod: More randomly-generated trees dot the landscape.
By Frankie
Description: I figured out how to randomly generate 3 times more trees in the landscape than the default stock Tornado. However this version does not have the credits names F11 and F12. Not enough memory to accommodate the names! So more trees generated at the expense of the original Tornado developers' names and Tornado Community names

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/426826022630195201/Proof_More_Trees_Than_Stock_Tornado.PNG)1993 FLIGHT.EXE = 20+ trees           2018 FLIGHT.EXE = 60+ trees

In the composite image above, we have on the left the stock 1993 FLIGHT.EXE, and on the right, the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE. The modded FLIGHT.EXE has two things in it:
(1) At least 300% more randomly generated trees in the Tornado landscape than the stock Tornado game;
(2) 2,000 more tree objects purposely placed manually via the \VISUAL\MAP\SECTORS\OBSECDEF.INC file, bringing the total number of manually placed objects (trees, buildingsm runaway,  and others) to 12,000. Stock game has approxiately 10,000 objects in the landscape.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/426834034631507969/Proof_More_Trees_Than_Stock_Tornado2.PNG)
Flying low-level. The modded FLIGHT.EXE is on the right.
Again, more trees are randomly generated in the right window.

The trees are poorly contrasted against the green day-time landscape, but trust me, the randomly generated trees are there! You can pick them out with the naked eye. Lack of memory resources prevent me saturating the landscape with more trees.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 28, 2018, 01:20:26 AM
Demo of Tree mod work done so far
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzCb6EPwl1o&feature=youtu.be

Definitely more trees generated on the landscape than the stock game. SoundBlaster driver loaded. No memory problems. BTW, If you take your Tornado high up, let's say up to Angels 20 (20,000 feet), and switch to TIALD view, you will see the entire landscape dotted with tree clusters (copses). See below.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/428347184635707402/awesome-trees-seen-from-high.PNG)

My Tornado is shown mostly in F1 Tracking view. In the last few minutes, I accelerate with the Tornado Time Compression mod to speed things up real crazy. Note some graphics clipping appearing with the Tornado flickering on and off at times. Can't seem to solve that yet. Sigh. When that happens, hit the F1 or F2 key and your Tornado should flick back on. FLIGHT.EXE is attached. Have fun.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 31, 2018, 02:50:46 PM
Mod #45 re-visited!
This mod auto-generates 300% more random trees on the Tornado landscape as compared to the original game
Mod: More randomly-generated trees dot the landscape.
By Frankie

Tornado modded to add more tree copses (clusters) to the green European landscape. The mod adds about 300% more trees.

Tornado's 3D engine, FLIGHT.EXE, was written in 16 bit assembly language and runs within the 640Kb conventional memory. This places severe limitations on adding more trees. For example, it is impossible to add even more trees, in the hope of saturating the landscape with dense carpet of trees. In the process, you will find that the linking process of FLIGHT.EXE will fail due to insufficient data segment space, trees will be found on airfields, and in the Tracking View (F1 key), the Tornado tends to flicker on and off, thus ruining the gameplay of this classic flight simulator.

Therefore this video represents the most I can do to add more trees to the fleeting landscape. It is my hope that someday someone else more clever than I will find a way to add even more trees on the landscape. Until that wonderous and amazing day, enjoy my mod!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3S6mdUFvm4
Visibly more trees now pepper the rushing landscape. See lower half of the video.
More than the original but less than what I hoped the 3D engine could be reprogrammed to do!
The is only so much the 25-year old source code can be made to jump though hoops. 

Regards
Frankie Kam
Easter Weekend
31 March 2018, Malaysia

P.S., technical stuff. Software I used were DOSBox, ffmpeg and OBS.
References:
Recording DOS gameplay footage with DOSBox and FFmpeg
http://ingomar.wesp.name/2011/04/dosbox-gameplay-video-capture.html
FFmpeg Video Sharpening
https://cloudacm.com/?p=2885
Change the Default OBS File Format from FLV to MP4
http://visihow.com/Change_the_Default_OBS_File_Format_from_FLV_to_MP4

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 01, 2018, 07:25:28 PM
46. More clouds

Mod: More clouds in the sky.
By Frankie
Description: Enjoy yet another Easter weekend Tornado mod! I noticed that the stock Tornado was lacking quite a lot in the cloud department. So I decided to do something about it. Below are the before and after images.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/stock-clouds.PNG)
Before...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/more-clouds-now.PNG)
...and after Cloud mod. More clouds than you can shake a stick at now.

Why have more clouds? Why not, since computers of 2018 running DosBox can handle more polygons compared to the 1993 ancestor PCs? So here it is! Digital Integration's Tornado with tons more clouds - in two layers. As voluminous as the 1993 source code could make it out to be .... or not. Still, the original 1993 Tornado only offered a smattering of clouds here and there to keep the frame rates of the day acceptable on 386 and 486 PCs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU-32lcXd7o
More clouds than the original. Something mesmerizing just watching the clouds drift by.

In this mod, I have given the lower layer (light gray clouds), a 30% chance of forming clouds. The upper layer (white clouds) have a 50% chance of forming clouds.

This cloud mod compliments the trees mod. So in the video above, the Tornado is sandwiched between rushing trees below and drifting cloud layers above. 1993 flat-shaded polygon graphics at its best enjoyed with additional tree and cloud polygons on your 2018 computer. Enjoy! BTW, to see the difference this cloud mod makes, compare with my other video recording below, that shows a lack of cloud formations in the stock Tornado.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r-COr1k1I0
Stock Tornado - the lack of clouds makes for very clear skies most of the time

Anyway, do enjoy the scenery and nature of the Cloud Mod on your modern computer of 2018.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX - Some technical notes
Basically I edited and modified both these files:
1. D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\CLOUD1.INC
2. D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\CLOUD2.INC
I used a custom-made Excel file to randomly generate the hex values that populate both files. Hint: 000h means all bits are zeros, so no chance of a cloud occuring in that sector. The more 000h values the emptier the sky is. My spreadsheet generated values from 000h to 01Ch (i.e., decimal 0 to decimal 28).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 07, 2018, 04:04:13 PM
47. More clouds for Tornado when run via GUI-based game

Mod: Cloud binary mod. More clouds in the sky is incorporated into the full GUI-based game.
By Frankie
Description: Mods #44 & #45 only work if you run TORNADO.EXE from the command line I.e., C:\>TORNADO /A. What about if you want more clouds in the missions that are run off the GUI menus? No problem! I found out that the cloud data files (CLOUD1.BIN and CLOUD2.BIN) in Tornado are located inside these folders:
\TORNADO\AMP\MAP1
\TORNADO\AMP\MAP2
\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3
\TORNADO\AMP\MAP4

The CLOUD1.BIN and CLOUD2.BIN contents will override whatever values are inside
\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\CLOUD1.INC
\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\CLOUD2.INC
making the cloud mods of hacks #46 and #45 useless when playing Tornado from the menus.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/missionsmap2.PNG)
The missions of Map2 (Europe).

By modifying the contents of CLOUD1.BIN and CLOUD2.BIN, we can increase the volume and number of clouds shown for each map.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Cloud1binBefore.PNG)
The contents of CLOUD1.BIN before modifying - 00s represent no clouds (binary zero).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Cloud1binAfter.PNG)
The contents of CLOUD1.BIN after modifying - less 00s this time, so more clouds are being represented.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Clouds_less_stock.PNG)
The sky before the binary mod.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Clouds.PNG)
The sky after the binary mod - the sky is more crowded with clouds.

Cloud binary files are attached below.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on April 07, 2018, 11:27:08 PM
Awesome stuff Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 09, 2018, 12:46:19 AM
48. No more tree cluster in Warzone2's Mission 3

Mod: Clear nasty Tree cluster (copse) binary mod.
By Frankie
Description: All FLIGHT.EXEs of previous tree mods had a major flow. If you chose Mission 3 "IDS - Early Warning Radar Blackout" of Warzone 2, you would find a copse of trees lies smack in the middle of the Airfield2. You could fly past the tree cluster without any ill-effects, but visually this is disturbing and needs to be removed to preserve the integrity of the game's visuals.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Yikes0.PNG)
The problematic mission.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Yikes1.PNG)
What are those trees doing in the middle of on the airfield?

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Yikes2.PNG)
What happened to the airfield's maintenance?

This is a no-no. This mod which is essentially a modified version of C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3\TREE3.BIN removes that offending tree cluster.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Yikes3.PNG)
I am Hexcited to be able to pinpoint the exact byte responsible for this mess!
Specifically, MAP3-TREE3-BIN-LINE310-COL0a. See the yellow highlighted hex values? That's it.

So after changing the hex value of "MAP3's TREE3.BIN file at Line 31a, column 0a" to 00h, this is what we get:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Yikes4.PNG)
All clear for takeoff. Roger that.

Attached are the following files that you can download and plonk inside your Tornado installation folders:
(1) C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3\TREE3.BIN --> the modded binary file that removes the offending tree cluster from Airfield2
(2) C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\FLIGHT\FLIGHT.EXE --> the latest cumulatively modded FLIGHT.EXE as of 9th April 2018
Note: I have tested this FLIGHT.EXE with all Warzone's (WZ1, WZ2 and WZ3) Airfields #1 through to #4. All 12 airfields are clear of trees (on the runaway, that is) and are good to go.

Conclusion: with this TREE3.BIN mod combined with the latest FLIGHT.EXE 3D engine, the game's airfields maintain their visual integrity, and the simulator's visuals have been enhanced. About 200% More trees rendered on the fly. No known glitches caused by more trees. More clouds. If you notice any anomaly, please let me know about it/them. Cheers.

And Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 09, 2018, 05:57:23 AM
49. Full-screen FLIR view now allows HUD to be toggled on/off.

Mod: Full-screen FLIR's HUD gets toggled on/off by hitting Control+H
By Frankie
Description: The full-screen FLIR view was implemented in Hack #19 and Hack #43. However the user was unable to toggle off the HUD screen. Why would we want to do that? For two reasons. One, the normal Pilot's Panel view (via the PgUp key) allows the user to turn off the HUD screen. Two, there never has been a full-screen forward looking view with minimal (in this case, zero) HUD information. Until now. I figured out the code that will do the job. Here it is:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ControlHAtLast.PNG)
Sprinkle a bit of code in the right places...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ControlHAtLast2.PNG)
...(NOW YOU SEE IT) and hit Control+H...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ControlHAtLast3.PNG)
...(NOW YOU DON'T!!). This results in a clear forward-looking full screen.
The first time in its 25-year history that this is available in Tornado!

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file, dated 9th April 2018, 1:00pm.

BTW, his Thursday 12th April 2018, I hit the BIG Hawaii 5-0. Half century geezer. Semicentennial. Quinquagenary.  Fifty years old. My avatar profile pic was taken in 2008. There I said it. So anyway, I am hoping to make it 50 Tornado mods in time for 12/4/2018. I wonder what else I can modify in the simulator.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 09, 2018, 06:48:52 PM
50. Instant activation of Full-screen FLIR view

Mod: Shift+d activates the full-screen FLIR view
By Frankie
Description: Previously the user had to be in the Pilot's Panel view, and hit the "D" key three times to go to full-screen FLIR view. This hack is a shortcut that allows you to, from the Pilot's Panel view, go direct to the full-screen FLIR view by hitting Shift+d key combo. So no more hitting the d key multiple times to toggle the full-screen FLIR view. One key combo does it.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Shift_D_Full_MFD_FLIR_view2.PNG)
The code that makes it work.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Shift_D_Full_MFD_FLIR_view3.PNG)
One moment you're in the Pilot's cockpit (Home key)....

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Shift_D_Full_MFD_FLIR_view4.PNG)
The next (after hitting Shift+d, you're in the full-screen FLIR view!

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 21, 2018, 11:16:43 PM
51. User can toggle the responsive horizon, in the Tracking View. on and off

Mod: On-demand responsive horizon
By Frankie
Description:  This is an improvement over Mod#6 "10th Oct 2017 - Tracking View made more realistic and immersive with responsive horizon". Alt+p ('P' for 'P'itch) toggles the responsive horizon on and off while in Tracking view or Check Six view. So now the gamer has a choice between the responsive horizon which pitches with respect to the plane's change in banking angle, and the horizon in the original stock FLIGHT.EXE which remains horizontal while the plane banks left or right. The reason for this mod is that there are many screenshots of Tornado in action which look better with a stable, horizontal horizon. Also, now, the user is the initiator of the responsive horizon - it's all about giving the user more choice.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Unresponsive1.png)
Example 1, before the gamer hits Alt-p...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Responsive1.png)
...and after hitting Alt-p

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Unresponsive2.png)
Example 2, before the gamer hits Alt-p...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Responsive2.png)
...and after hitting Alt-p

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ResponsiveHorizonToggleCode1.PNG)
The code responsible for the toggle while in Tracking View (F1).


Youtube Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FihmL99UDqQ
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about a video illustrating this toggle choice effect?


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ResponsiveHorizonToggleCode2.PNG)
The code responsible for the toggle while in Check Six View (F2).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Unresponsive3.png)
Example 3, before the gamer hits Alt-p...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Responsive3.png)
...and after hitting Alt-p

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Unresponsive4.png)
Example 4, before the gamer hits Alt-p...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Responsive4.png)
...and after hitting Alt-p

The toggle also takes effect in the Check Six view (F2 key)! My conclusion of the matter is that BOTH types of horizons have their place and BOTH look great. The latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached to this post. Note: I have also improved the "P"(ause) key. This time the P key is less 'bouncy' and more 'sticky'.

Hope this helps. ;-)
Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 22, 2018, 07:07:07 PM
52. Adjustable viewing height of the Tornado in the Tracking View

Mod: Tracking View gradual adjustment of the Tornado viewpoint height
By Frankie
Description: In the default Tornado simulator, pressing F1 would toggle the Tornado between two different heights. So the Tornado would disappear  for a fraction of a section, and magically reappear almost immediately higher, by about N feet. This N feet was fixed and the user could not do anything about it. Until now! This mod is an innovation that allows the user to lower or raise Tornado in the Tracking view, by pressing and holding down the F1 key or the F12 key. See the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozxv36fxONI
Raise and lower the Tornado viewpoint by pressing and holding down F1 or F12 at different moments of the simulation

Quite a number of interesting view effects are now possible for the Tracking View (F1). For example, hit F1. Then hold down both F1 and Z key (rotate left) simultaneously. Or hold down both F1 and X key (rotate right) simultaneously. Get the idea?

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 25, 2018, 05:00:51 PM
53. Fluid horizon in Tracking View

Mod: horizon adjustable viewpoint height in the Tracking View
By Frankie
Description: In the stock Tornado by Digital Integration, the horizon was static. You could not shift it up or down. Until NOW - you can press and hold the "1" and "0" keys to move the horizon up and down in the Tracking View. One of the best elements of Tornado is the simulation of the Terrain Following Radar and terrain hugging flight. A Tornado skimming the earth with trees whizzing by and clouds slowly billowing past in the distance is a joy to watch. This mod ups the ante by allowing you to raise or lower the horizon, and it displays everything else in perspective to the changed horizon. Now, in 2018, you have the the opportunity to create some stunning Tornado vistas and screenshots, not possible with the stock game of 1993/1994!

Press "1" and hold to lower the horizon and to see more of the sky...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizondown1.png)
More sky, less earth effects and example#1.
This is useful for ADV missions where most of the action takes place in the sky.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizondown2.png)
More sky, less earth effects and example#2

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizondown3.png)
More sky, less earth effects and example#3

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizondown4.png)
More sky, less earth effects and example#4

...and press "0" and hold to raise the horizon and to see more of the earth!
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizonup1.png)
Press and hold "0" to shift the horizon down.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizonup2.png)
More ground action is shown in this example.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizonup3.png)
More ground action again! This time combining "0" (raise horizon to show more earth)
with Alt+p (pitching of horizon)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/horizonup4.png)
Nice iron bridge.

A word of warning. If you are using DOSBox, pressing F12 of this mod will produce a slight jarring noise. This is because, by default, DOSBox's Speedlock is F12 too! The solution to this is, while in DOSBox, to hit Control+F1 and then delete the default keybinding of F12, and then the re-add F12 key, and this time, click the Mod3 button. As shown in the screenshot below:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Speedlock_DOSBOX.PNG)
Screen shows DOSBox's Speedlock default key being re-assigned to F12 with mod3 activated.
This will put a stop to the jarring noise heard when F12 is pressed during the game!


Here's a video I made that shows you this effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MZCc3c0BJE
These are the visual effects now possible. Combine "1", "0" of this mod, with F1 and F12 from mod #52 and see what you get!

You can even combine Combine the keys of "1", "0" of this mod, with F1 and F12, AND with "Z" and "X" for some creative panning. Have fun and be creative when trying this one out!

Cheers
Frankie Kam
P.S., see the latest FLIGHT.EXE attached.
Title: Impact point new perspective and responsive (shake) views
Post by: Frankie on May 01, 2018, 03:56:52 PM
54. Redesigned bomb impact view and now more External views vibrate/shudder when ordnance explode

Mod: New Impact Point-of-view and responsive views (shaking)
By Frankie
Description: I always thought that in Tornado, the explosions of ordnance could be improved. For one, during the impact of a bomb, the view would switch from Weapons View to Overhead View, with a visual of an explosion and crater. These visuals would be accompanied by zero vibrations and zero shuddering - stock Tornado does not model shaking of the screen for external views. In stock Tornado, only the Pilot Panel and Navigator Panel views will shake or shudder due to explosions.

Today, after much tinkering and experimentation, I have figured out the code that allows external views to shudder and shake during an explosion. In this mod I have succeeded in the following:
(1) added shaking of the screen when an ordnance explodes in these views:
(2) redesigned the Weapons View (V key)

These two categories of changes, IMHO, enhance and enrich the Tornado experience. Here's an example of "Impact point new perspective and responsive (shake) views" in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Ztbl8aMR8
Stick around till the end of the video and you will be rewarded with
an innovative view of the pre and post explosions of an ordnance.
(1) The screen shakes on impact; (2) view can be panned left or right with the standard Z and X keys.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq8A5aImI2w
Shake, Rattle and Roll with the JP233 ordnance and the flyby view!
Made possible only in 2018.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LuCd6vuI8g
The crowd-favourite - a Laser-Guided bomb homing in onto its target.

Hope you like these additions to the redesigning of the Tornado experience. ;-)

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Impact point new perspective and responsive (shake) views
Post by: Asid on May 01, 2018, 05:24:24 PM
53. Redesigned bomb impact view and now more External views vibrate/shudder when ordnance explode


Awesome Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 04, 2018, 12:01:10 AM
55. User can pan the Check Six view on the horizontal axis with Z and X keys

Mod: Check Six view with horizontal lookaround
By Frankie
Description: Previously the Check Six view (with the F2 key) was fixed in space. You couldn't pan left or right. Now with this mod, you can pan around to enjoy the scenery.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/normal-front.png)

Maverick: Requesting permission for flyby.
Air Boss Geoffrey: That's a negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full.
Gooser: No. No, Mav, this is not a good idea.
Maverick: Sorry Goose, but it's time to buzz the tower.... Tally Ho!!!


Okay, let's switch to the reverse view in one fell swoop...hit the F2 key!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/normal-checksix-view.png)
The normal Check Six view. The runaway is retreating into the background.
Ah nice! But what if I want to look around to the left or to the right?


I have now added the ability to pan left (wth Z key) and right (with X key). This gives better situational awareness if one uses the Check Six view a lot. It also allows the user to have a nicer 'look see' to survey the reverse view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/checksix-view-after-z-key.png)
User has just held down the 'z' key. View slews to the left.
Plane is still flying on course.


This comes in handy when on autopilot (obviously), the user wants to quickly check out the landscape or the sky left and right of the reverse view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/checksix-view-after-x-key.png)
User has just held down the 'x' key. View slews to the right.
Plane is still flying on course.


If after panning left and right to enjoy the scenery, the user can hit Control+F2 to reset the Check Six view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CheckSixView-after-hitting-Control-F2-and-F2-again.png)
User has just hit the F2 key. View returns to the Check Six view.


Sometimes, it is easy to get disorientated with a full view with no reference. So I have added the Tornado itself as a reference to the view, If the user hits F2 again, the tail part of the Tornado is visible. User now has a slightly better orientation.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CheckSixView-after-hitting-Control-F2.png)
User has just hit the F2 key AGAIN. Check Six view remains,
but now you can see part of the Tornado (Tail area).

You can now slew, on the horizontal axis, a full 360 degrees. This is what the user sees if he slews all the way to the front view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CheckSixView-fully-slewed-to-the-front.png)
User has held down the 'x' key. View slews all the way to the front.
User is now looking forward towards 12 O'clock.

Here's a short video that illustrates this mod. The Tornado is thundering at 650 knots at 200 feet above ground. I feel the need, the need for speed. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCbAJDEGfrQ
Let's Rock 'n Roll!


Well this mod brings us to the sixth (6!) page of the "Modding Tornado forum thread. It's been quite a journey so far. As usual, I attach the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Hope this incremental improvement adds to your Tornado experience.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 04, 2018, 04:59:42 AM
Haha thanks Asid. Yes, some days I do wish I had drafted myself or volunteered as a tester, back in 1993 when I was in Hull U.K. However, if I were part of the dev team back then in 1993  then I wouldn't have been able to finish my graduate studies. LOL.

What I need is a time machine to go back in time and say, "Hi Kevin, you're not going to believe me, but I'm from the future, and this is what your flight simulator looks like now - core components are mostly the same, but with additional features". If Digital Integration had the luxury of time, then they would have been able to create Tornado2 back in 1995/1996. However they had staff to pay and so a slew of simulations followed suit as should be the case for any company to stay alive. They moved on to other products. The Tornado that they created will always be a classic because of the Advanced Mission Planner and the awesome paper manual. Me? I'm just a gamer dad looking at the existing code and time to time I ask myself, "Whay can't this be added in?". And then I try. Most times I fail, but occassionally the tweaks I try out work. And that is the really fun part. Seeing an idea come to life, and then actually playing the simulation with the additional features.

The main programmer of the 3D simulation engine, a.k.a., FLIGHT.EXE, was Kevin J Bezant. The genius and hard assembly work was done by him. He wrote 99.9% of the 3D engine source code. I am merely adding and tweaking assembly language code that already exists. Code which I never could have created myself.

One of the amazing things about the 16 bit assembly language used is that even after adding the additional features, there is no serious deal-breaking slowdown of the simulation in terms of frames per second.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 04, 2018, 08:17:22 PM
56. Enemy-held airfields (runways) are now blacked out

Mod: Enemy airfields are no longer lit like a Christmas tree during the night or twilight/dawn.
By Frankie
Description: In default Tornado, the enemy runway at night is lighted up with a combination of white, red and blue colors. The roads surrounding the runway are also lighted up. IMHO, it is more realistic if the entire runway and airfield had its lights dimmed or blacked out during a conflict. This mod simulates the blackout of an enemy airfield. This mod also makes it much harder to find the enemy airfield, apart from the information given by the autopilot mode and Waypoint/Navigation TV-Tab mini-screen. You now will have to manually switch on the Night-Vision view with Shift+Tab in order to visually locate an enemy runway at night. Here are my screenshots that show this mod in action.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-night1.png)
We're right on top of the Enemy airfield. Where is it?


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-night2.png)
The user has just hit Shift+Tab. Ah there it is! As clear as day.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-night3.png)
Again, it's pitch black out there. The enemy has intentionally turned off and dimmed the lights.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-night4.png)
With the NVG (Night Vision Goggles) mode, the enemy can't hide.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod56Code.jpg)
Part of the code responsible for this injection of 'realism'


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/fa-night1.png)
Here is a friendly-held runway. See the runway lights?


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/fa-night3.png)
Another view of a friendly-held runway. Lighted up like Christmas tree.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-dawn1.png)
An enemy runway at dawn. Again no lights are on - a blackout even at dawn.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ea-dawn2.png)
Another dawn view of a busy enemy runway. This mod douses the lights.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/fa-dawn2.png)
In contrast, here is an Allied-held runway. The runway lights are on.

Video demonstrating this mod in action
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaK8ei5bSVU
Fast and furious.

This mod makes the night airfield strike missions more realistic and challenging. This is where the Night-Vision mod comes into its own. Enjoy!



Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 15, 2018, 12:07:28 AM
57. You can toggle the game's theme music (Soundblaster) on (F5) and off (F4) now

Mod: Same effect as C:\TORNADO>TORNADO /SB /MB
By Frankie
Description:
/SB flag means load Soundblaster driver;
/MB flag means play the Soundblaster version of the Tornado Theme music

Normally, using the /MB flag is the only way to run Tornado and have the theme music play in-game. Unfortunately, once it plays, you cannot turn it off unless you end the game with Ctrl+Q!

This modded version of Tornado allows you turn the theme music on and off at will. At the moment I can think of no other key combination for the toggle, so I have chosen F5 (turn on music) and F4 (turn off music). When you hit F5, you will immediately switch to the drone view, and the music will start. Hit F4, and you will see the spectator view, and the music will cut off.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TheRedBridge.png)
Just another day buzzing the countryside in Tornado.
This time flying past a red bridge.


In hindsight, I could use the keys 9 and Shift+9 for this instead of F5 and F4. So this mod version is more exploratory than anything. Caveat: the music is shorter that the music of the Advanced Mission Planner (AMP). So be warned. The music loops quite soon and it may be irritating to some gamers. At least now we can turn it off with F4, so it's not so bad.

Any feature that enhances or adds to the stock game's functionality, qualifies it as a mod, no matter how irritating over time it may be. So this "turn the music on/off at will" feature, merits being Mod#56. I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.

Update: 16th May 2018
I've changed the keys to Key 9. Pressing 9 now toggles the theme music on and off. This leaves F4 and F5 to their standard functions which are Spectator and Drone views repectively. I have uploaded FLIGHT.EX2 which is the latest amendment to Mod#56. Simple download FLIGHT.EX2 and rename to FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 16, 2018, 09:16:05 PM
58. External views now show the current waypoint letter on the bottom status bar

Mod: Waypoint Letter shown in external views
By Frankie
Description: The Tracking, Spectator, Remote and Overhead external views add to the immersion of the game. Unfortunately, in stock Tornado, these views do not show the current waypoint. It is very easy for the gamer to be carried away by the external views, and not realise that the target (waypoint nodes X, Y or Z) is coming right up. Therefore, this mod displays the current waypoint (B, C, D, ... X, Y, Z, etc.) to the bottom status bar, thus providing better situational awareness to the user.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/waypoint_status_bar.png)
Tracking view (F1). The Tornado is about to hit Target waypoint Y
Notice the waypoint shown at the bottom left of the screen in orange alert color?
That waypoint letter makes a BIG difference to the external view!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVRsQSq1k6o
Keep an eye out for the WAYP=X information at the bottom left of the screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/waypoint_code_mod57.JPG)
This code, in the ASM file named EXTRNPAN.ASM, does the trick.


The waypoint letter shown at the left corner on the screen (e.g., WAYP=Y) is dynamic and will update itself in real-time. Hope this mod adds to the immersion of the game for you.

As usual, the latest FLIGHT.EXE file is attached in this post.


Update on 18/5/2018

I have upped the ante by adding "seconds to reach waypoint" information next too the Waypoint letter. Now you not only see the current waypoint, but you also see the number of seconds remaining to the current waypoint. For example, the screenshot below shows you that the current waypoint is B, and you have 053 seconds to reach Waypoint B.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flight_074.png)
53 seconds to reach Waypoint B, Skipper!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/extrnpan2.PNG)
This code does the magic that information on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYWQzAeAoLk
WAYP=X and seconds countdown to reach waypoint information at status bar. Nice!

Conclusion: now the status bar gives you more immersive information to time your bomb runs, and you can still enjoy your external views to your heart's content.

I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE with the "seconds to reach waypoint" information as FLIGHT.EX2 below. Download FLIGHT.EX2 and rename it to FLIGHT.EXE.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on May 16, 2018, 09:53:57 PM
Agreed. The waypoint mod does make a big difference  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 17, 2018, 09:29:10 PM
Mod#58 (above) has been enhanced to now show the time remaining in seconds to reach the current waypoint letter. The external views are now more useful than ever. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 18, 2018, 03:01:24 AM
59. 2nd analog joystick throttle mod for Tornado

Mod: Waypoint Letter shown in external views
By ataribaby

Reworked 2nd analog joystick throttle to work like real one. Engine throttle follows absolute throttle analogue axis with little gap at top for afterburner.  Note: Before starting Tornado or entering 3D set your analogue throttle approximately to half (center) or game will fail to detect it or it will doesn't work as intended.

Gamer ataribaby's DOSBOX settings for Saitek X52.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Saitek-X52-Flight-Control-System-01.jpg)
Saitek X52

Just set your analog axles in dosbox (CTRL + F1 when you are in text mode), and for most HOTAS, it will work out of box. You can even use X360 joypad.

joysticktype=4axis
timed=false
autofire=false
swap34=true
buttonwrap=false

It works with ANY analog axis you will map in dosbox as the second joystick. By default, DOSBox maps most HOTAS sticks like the joystick section from  ataribaby's DOSBox config settings above. It is not specific to Saitek. Should work with other analogue joystick models.

Note on the attachments
1. FLIGHT.EXE = ataribaby's analogue joystick throttle code incorporated into latest FLIGHT.EXE with Frankie's cumulative mods
2. ataribaby_tornado_analogue_throttle.zip = ataribaby's work based on the original FLIGHT.EXE (un-modded) but with his analogue joystick throttle code incorporated.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on May 18, 2018, 01:25:12 PM
Awesome Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 18, 2018, 07:29:41 PM
60. Waypoint countdown timer in external views are now colour-coded

Mod: Waypoint countdown time in seconds is shown in colours of ever-increasing urgency
By Frankie

Tminus more than10 seconds: cyan
Tminus10 seconds: yellow
Tminus5 seconds: light red
Tminus0 seconds: red

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/time1.png)
If waypoint is MORE than 10 seconds away, time remaining is shown in cyan color

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/time2.png)
When the waypoint is 10 seconds away, time remaining is shown in yellow color

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/time3.png)
When the waypoint is 5 seconds away, time remaining is shown in light red color

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/time4.png)
When the waypoint is reached (0 seconds away), time 000 is shown in red color


Here's my Youtube video of this color-coding in action during external views:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68T5OpJdmpc

Conclusion: IMHO, the external views now show useful Waypoint information. So you can now enjoy the sights of the external views whilst keeping an eye on the current waypoint's countdown clock. The different colours of the urgency spectrum (cyan-yellow-lightred-red) act as a visual reminder to select, arm and release your weapons in time for the intended target.

Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on May 19, 2018, 09:39:32 PM
Awesome!!! The currently selected waypoint indicator in different viewmodes and that countdown timer next to it are VERY useful! And that enemy airfield lights out realism is great, too. And also those joystick setups will be useful for those being equipped with that flying gear (I'm still recording only with keyboard setup, sadly, luckily). Actually, why won't real pilots fly with a keyboard? They could change back and forth between Twitter and Flight Controls!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on May 19, 2018, 10:00:11 PM
Actually, why won't real pilots fly with a keyboard? They could change back and forth between Twitter and Flight Controls!

 :lol
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 21, 2018, 06:10:03 PM
61. TIALD view of Laser-Guided-Bomb is more 3-Dimensional

Mod: 3D TIALD view
By Frankie

EVOLUTION OF THE TIALD (Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator) view
One of the standout features of Tornado in 1993 was the then unique TIALD modelling of laser-guided bombs. Here's what it looks like in the stock simulator. There was an amazing amount of movement and detail inside that small TV-TAB window, located at the top-right corner of the screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Evolution-TIALD-1.png)
The famous TIALD view in the Navigator's cockpit. A 1993 sensation

In Mod#18 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg26558.html#msg26558) (25 November 2017), the TIALD view evolved into a groundbreaking full-screen view. For the first time in 25 years, you could now pan the crosshairs around in full screen. However the view was still "from-top-looking-vertically-down" as the original smaller TIALD view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Evolution-TIALD-2.png)
The TIALD view in full-screen. A 2017 innovation.


Furthermore, I wanted to more accurately simulate the look and feel of an actual Tornado TIALD attack. As in this Youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zRjrMqym0
Actual combat TIALD views start at 1:07 in this video.


Back in late 2017, I discovered that by setting a larger TIALD_VIEW.VP_PITCH value, the TIALD view could be angled so that the view becomes be more 3D. I did this modifying the code on line 2893 of TAB.ASM. Specifically changing the value of 384 to a larger value like 400.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TIALDcode1.JPG)
Changing 384 (looking straight down) to 400 (looking at an angle) gives a certain perspective
to the look and feel of the TIALD view.

Unfortunately there was a problem which I couldn't solve. The problem was that whenever I zoomed in with Control+HoldMouseLeftbutton, the zoom point was always lower than the crosshairs merge point. Which also meant that the LGBs would always hit the area before the actual target. Today, I decided to revisit this old problem. It took quite a while of poking through the code before it struck me that I didn't need to bother with recoding any of the mathematical and trigonometry logic. All I needed to do was to display the entire crosshair complex lower down the screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TIALDcode2.JPG)
This code allows the entire TIALD crosshairs and its four right-angled corners to be displayed 25 pixels lower down the screen.

I tested this and it worked just fine. You can detect a difference in the perspective of the view - it has a more 3D feel to it, thanks the change in PITCH value. Try panning the mouse left, right, up and down. The landscape and environment feels more 3D-ish, and more exciting compared to the its top-down forerunner.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Evolution-TIALD-3.png)
The crosshairs are now lowered so that it occupies more of the bottom half of the screen.
Panning around now has a nice 3D perspective to it.

The best thing about this mod is that, from my testing done so far, the laser guided bombs hit spot on at the new location of the lowered crosshairs! Thus the TIALD view has now evolved into a more 3D experience for the Tornado gamer.

Here are two Youtube videos showing this mod in action. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H24BlvOzDU
-and-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZqF0qYDs
-and-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ZZXW4oGKU

Cheers and regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 24, 2018, 07:53:25 PM
62. Vertical height of Drone views (F5/Shift+F5/Alt+F5) can now be adjusted with the 1 and 0 keys

Mod: More exciting Drone Views
By Frankie
Description: Previously Drone view heights could not be adjusted. Below are some standard drone views (F5/Shift+F5/Alt+F5). In the three screenshots below, the views can be slewed right and left with the Z and X keys, and pitched with the drone banked left or right. However in each of the three views below, the vertical perspective could not be raised or lowered.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_boring1.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_boring2.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_boring3.png)


Now with this mod, you can adjust the Drone Views by pressing and holding the "1" and "0" keys. Below are a sample of views and perspectives now possible!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice1.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice2.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice3.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice4.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice5.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/drone_nice6.png)


I have also added in the Alt+P key which shows a pitched view of the aircraft. For example, see the two screenshots below:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/banking_no_pitch.png)
Plane is banking...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/banking_with_pitch.png)
...this is what I see when I hit Alt+P.


Here's a video showing the latest changes to the Drone view. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/notDIVY6RbQ

I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE executable file in this post. Go ahead, give it a try. You'll never look at the Drone View in Tornado the same again.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on May 24, 2018, 09:19:59 PM
Great stuff Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 26, 2018, 08:46:30 PM
63. SAM Launcher-to-Tornado View activates with F11

Mod: SAM Launcher-to-Tornado View
By Frankie
Description: In the stock Tornado, you almost never see the ZRK "ROMB" SA-8 SAM launcher. With this mod, you can now get up close and personal with this Soviet amphibious vehicle. In the heat of battle, when you are getting locked on and suddenly find SAMs being shot at you, hit the F11 key and you will see a SAM launcher in the vicinity. And the best part is that it is facing you and shooting up Gopher missiles at you! Here's are some actual screenshots:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrkr-romb.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrkr-romb2.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrkr-romb3.png)

This view will have a viewpoint slightly away from the ZRK "ROMB" SA-8 that is firing at you. The view will track your Tornado, but the SAM launcher will not always be in view. This is a Frankie Kam innovation but it is still experimental. As such, you may have some weird results.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrkr-romb4.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrkr-romb5.png)

Nevertheless, this is the first time that a reversed view (i.e., Enemy to Tornado view) has been implemented. So enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 26, 2018, 09:04:06 PM
64. You can slew the viewpoint left-to-right in Tracking View (F1) - applies also to Drone in Drone View (F5).

Mod: Slew the viewpoint left of or right of the Tornado on the horizontal axis
By Frankie
Description: Enabled slewing left-right of Tornado and Drones with the "2" and "9" keys. Now you can move the perspective/viewpoint of the Tornado along 3 axis'. This is different from the "Z" and "X" keys which rotate left or right by pivoting on the Tornado. This mod allows you to adjust or shift the viewpoint to the left or right of the Tornado. The video below will make it clearer what this mod does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xHdKxusDpQ
No sound.

The main use of this mod is to enhance the Tracking (F1) and Drone (F5) views. The keys "2" and "9" used with the other external view adjustor keys "1","0","F1","F12", now afford you with an almost infinite number of  combinations of angles to display the Tornado and drones for artistic and for aesthetic purposes.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle1.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle2.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle3.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle4.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle5.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/niceangle6.png)



You can enjoy both views more and gives more opportunity for nice screenshots. The Drone view used to be mundane after a while. No longer. This is new to the simulation. Another innovation.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 27, 2018, 07:25:27 PM
65. AAA-(Shilka)-to-Tornado View activates with F12

Mod: AAA-to-Tornado View
By Frankie
Description: In the stock Tornado, you also almost never see the ZSU-23-4 Shilka AAA vehicle. With this mod, you can now see this famous AAA weapon in action. In the heat of battle, when you are getting locked on and suddenly find high-velocity tracer being shot at you, hit the F12 key and you will see a ZSU-23-4 in the vicinity. Most probably launching radar-guided cannon shells at your Tornado. Specifically, this mod gives you a view unlike any other in stock Tornado - a tracking view from a spot near the Shilka, to your Tornado.

Here's are some actual screenshots:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/shilka1.png)
-AND-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/shilka2.png)

A bit of dilemma with the distance of the viewer from the Shilka. Too near and you never see the vehicle in its full glory. Too far and the Shilka looks too small. I am still tweaking the distance values, so I have yet to hit the sweet spot.

Here are ALSO two Youtube videos showing the action. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/mkCiwc5g1mA
-AND-
https://youtu.be/kcRPjS8Ba0s
-AND-
 https://youtu.be/nKGfee2PpqM

This is 1993 graphics. So expect some anomalies. For example, in the videos above, the Shilka's turret does not rotate. Instead the entire Shilka itself will in seconds magically re-position to face the Tornado. Su-27 Flanker 1.5 by Flying Legends (published by SSI), did the animation very nicely with rotating turrets and highly detailed Soviet armored vehicles. But that was in 1995 and a whole different simulation. Digital Integration's Tornado graphics were designed in 1991 and by the time the game was released, the graphics engine was two years out-of-date!

As usual, I am attaching the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Press F11 to see the ZRK-ROMB (SAM launcher) in action. Press F12 to see the Shilka AAA in action. This is still pretty much proof of concept. So you will hear lots of cannon fire and SAM launch sounds - even when in the cockpit. No time to tidy it all up. Main thing is, this is making DI Tornado simulation history with never before seen views. It is exciting to be able to create a view never implemented before in Tornado. Welcome to 2018!

Regards
Frankie Kam

Note: In order to make F12 the "Shilka-To-Tornado" view, I had to reassign the "raise the Tornado viewpoint (in the F1 Tracking view) " from F12 (See Mod#64) to Alt+F1.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on May 28, 2018, 06:41:37 AM
Hi Frankie,

tried it excitedly, video is added below (sound deactivated, 20fps, logarithmic downscale value "30"), just some issues:
in the front seat the fuel indicator got a permanent black-out (in f1-view it is still shown, so not much of a loss),
in the back seat when i want to toggle the plane position on the MFD-map display with key "o", it doesn't work (no "o" issue in the front seat MFD, though).
Pressing "p" for pausing no more darkens the screen, as i was used to, that's not bad, though not knowing "p" for pause, if some guy accidentally hit "p" (s)he
might assume a game crash (just my imagination).

This one is a VERY useful addition (mostly for fun and watching the progress of "delivering a package" ^^ ).

Question: Could you insert a small HUD-Display-view in the "far away external views" (I mean other vehicle-views, so to see roll and yaw status)?
If not, just inserting roll status at the bottom would help greatly enough (the VSI there already helps with yaw status)

Kind regards and thanks for the fun,
Tom N

UPDATE by Frankie on 28/6/2018
I have improved the modded Pause feature. This time, pressing P results in a subtle and brief darkening of the screen. Enough to send a cue to the gamer that the game did not hang, rather it has paused. Tested and works in both day and night missions. Hope this helps. Frankie Kam.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 28, 2018, 08:52:04 AM
Hi Tom N

To solve the "fuel indicator got a permanent black-out" problem, download and replace your existing \TORNADO\FLIGHT\PILOTPAN.BT2 file with the attached PILOTPAN.BT2 file below. Make sure to backup your original PILOTPAN.BT2 file first! This problem is caused because Tornado 1.0 used an analgue display for the fuel gauge, whereas later patches used a digital readout. Your PILOTPAN.BT2 is the digital readout type.

You are right that the Navigator cockpit, the MFD-map display key "o" doesn't work. The original 1994 FLIGHT.EXE has no issue. I will check the source code of MFD.ASM to troubleshoot the problem. Right now I don't know what is causing the "o" key to not work since I didn't mod anything that is related to the "o" key. So a mystery for now.

Pressing "p" for pausing no more darkens the screen, which was a mod designed to allow the user (me, mostly LOL!) to capture the screen with PrintScreen or with DOSBox's Ctrl+F5. If the screen were darkened, there would be nothing to capture! You're right that the user has no clue or cue as to the pause. I can add a cue text "Paused" somewhere on the screen. May a red "P" at the bottom corner so that at the very least the user knows that the game didn't hang. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't think it is easy to add small HUD-Display-views or other mini windows in the "far away external views". I've tried it before but failed. I'm not sure what you mean by "roll and yaw status" - is it a graphic like the bottom-left corner of the screen graphic when you go to full-screen HUD view? I can insert the roll status at the bottom information bar, but may I know what does the roll and yaw status information look like? A numeric value for roll and a numeric value for yaw? I have the freedom to also add a second bottom information bar, so that you can see more information when in the external views. But I will need to know what information you will want to have displayed on the bars.

> Kind regards and thanks for the fun,
>

I assume you mean the Shilka-to-Tornado and ZRK-Romb-to-Tornado views. If so, then I am glad you are having fun and that you are excited to try out the new views. I also have some good news for you! I just discovered how to modify the F1 Tracking View so that instead of showing your Tornado, it can show:
(a) The SAM Launcher that is engaging you;
(b) The AAA (Shilka) vechicles that are engaging you.
and all the while the view of the SAM and Shilka can be panned, zoomed, tilted, horizon tilted in either direction. So in other words, everything you can do to manipulate the view of your Tornado in the F1 Tracking View, you can do the same to the SAM Launcher (ZRK-Romb) and AAA (ZSU-23-4 Shilka) vehicle. That's my next mod either later today or tomorrow. The new view I am talking about do not track (follow) the Tornado like Mod#65 and Mod#63, but it is still very fun to use and will be a very nice addition to the existing (i..e, the stock and to-date modded) views of Tornado.

Stay tuned.
Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on May 28, 2018, 07:53:00 PM
Hi Frankie,

I checked it again, there are now 2 back seat key settings (i think) from simulator "free flight" you still can switch through various displays in the rear center MFD and still this CRPMD -combined radar+ projected map display shows there the map as in the original flight.exe, though the green lamp in the left lower corner is on showing that mouse control can be activated for the map display which originally could not), in the "quickstart flight" from main screen you have reduced available display options in the center MFD/ CRPMD yet plenty of view options via left and right TAB keys and the map display on right TAB works fine with "o" position marker switching alright.

To my former suggestion of including a "roll indicator" actually i meant the "turn indicator", I'd suggest to do it as a number being normally aligned with the horizon in neutral position i would say 0° L/R would be good; then when rolling to the left should say "1° L" to "179°L then 180°L/R for being fully inverted (=upside down) then "1° R" to "179° R" for all the states being rolled to the right side of roll axis.

Having 2 lines of flight information to show on the bottom is a great opportunity, let's don't rush this, this IS VEEERYYY USEFUL !!! It's still limited space, so we should think about the possibilities carefully!

I noticed new sounds as well, i got confused by the shooting missiles sounds from enemy SAM only, could it be supplemented by the old "landing wheels touching ground sound" as the new touchdown sound is way cooler for landing.

Enemy AAA is spatting now with a good voice ^^.

The new view keys i checked for now were "f1", "f2", the free front sights/views from rear cockpit TABs' keys' cycling through and the altered weapon view.

Leave all these views this way as I really love them ...
except one thing in weapon view only (i couldn't zoom in and out there, but rotation is good enough)
The new overview by all these keys is OMNIPOTENT!

And finally the blacked out/ erased digital fuel indicator, but above that there is the analog indicator active regardless of Tornado sim version (i think).

So yeah, quite some text, might have forgotten to put everything of concern here for now.
Though it is much to talk about, you did a great job of a HUGE ENHANCEMENT!

Thank you very much!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 29, 2018, 04:46:46 AM
Hi Frankie,

I checked it again, there are now 2 back seat key settings (i think) from simulator "free flight" you still can switch through various displays in the rear center MFD and still this CRPMD -combined radar+ projected map display shows there the map as in the original flight.exe, though the green lamp in the left lower corner is on showing that mouse control can be activated for the map display which originally could not), in the "quickstart flight" from main screen you have reduced available display options in the center MFD/ CRPMD yet plenty of view options via left and right TAB keys and the map display on right TAB works fine with "o" position marker switching alright.
I take it then that the modded displays are sufficient(?) for your needs. No deal-breaking bugs in the back seat settings right?

Quote

To my former suggestion of including a "roll indicator" actually i meant the "turn indicator", I'd suggest to do it as a number being normally aligned with the horizon in neutral position i would say 0° L/R would be good; then when rolling to the left should say "1° L" to "179°L then 180°L/R for being fully inverted (=upside down) then "1° R" to "179° R" for all the states being rolled to the right side of roll axis.
Will the roll angle and roll rate do? The Tornado code has these two main variables:
PUBLIC   AHRollRate
PUBLIC   AHRollVal
I will add them in and you can then see if they are useful. This is an idea for yet another mod.

Quote

Having 2 lines of flight information to show on the bottom is a great opportunity, let's don't rush this, this IS VEEERYYY USEFUL !!! It's still limited space, so we should think about the possibilities carefully!
This will need some planning. We will have to identify the real world avionics information needed, and I will have to track down the variables in the source code. Like the AHRollRate and AHRollVal variables.

Quote

I noticed new sounds as well, i got confused by the shooting missiles sounds from enemy SAM only, could it be supplemented by the old "landing wheels touching ground sound" as the new touchdown sound is way cooler for landing.
The Tornado source code is version 1.0 which lacks the SAM Close Proximity warning code and sound. This feature is found  inside a later patch of Tornado. I think it was Tornado 1.0c. Anyway, I wrote my own close proximity code and I had to improvise by using the Morse Code sound. It is not as rich-sounding as the Close Proximity sound, but the morse-code audio serves the purpose. In future if I can find a better audio, then I will use it.

Quote

Enemy AAA is spatting now with a good voice ^^.
Ah. The Internet tells me the Shilka fires at a rate of 3,400 rounds per minute. I viewed several video of the Shilka firing away on the Internet, just to get a feel for the sound. I had three choices of firing sounds, so I chose the one which had a good balance of volume + rate of fire. The sound is far from reality, but it resembles the real sound in some way.

Quote

The new view keys i checked for now were "f1", "f2", the free front sights/views from rear cockpit TABs' keys' cycling through and the altered weapon view.
Thanks for checking them out. I need people like you who are passionate about this old Tonka simulator to help me make it better. Your time is much appreciated.

Quote

Leave all these views this way as I really love them ...
except one thing in weapon view only (i couldn't zoom in and out there, but rotation is good enough)
The new overview by all these keys is OMNIPOTENT!
I am not sure why I can't zoom in the weapon view. I will check it out. By "new overview", I assume you mean the full-screen HUD with the overlayed TV-Tabs, MFD and other floating information in the 3 corners of the screen. Thank you. Those were nearly 3 months hard work and testing.

Quote

And finally the blacked out/ erased digital fuel indicator, but above that there is the analog indicator active regardless of Tornado sim version (i think).
Personally I prefer the analogue display. Then again, the digital display was coded by DI in a later Tornado version. I do not have that code. But like you said, the fuel information is found inside the bottom status bar.

Quote

So yeah, quite some text, might have forgotten to put everything of concern here for now.
Though it is much to talk about, you did a great job of a HUGE ENHANCEMENT!
Thank you very much!
You are most welcome. And it is STILL getting better. Please do check out my latest mod below - a tribute to two famous russion weapons. The ZSU-23-4 Shilka 23 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the ZRK-Romb SA-8 SAM launcher.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 29, 2018, 04:53:56 AM
66. New ZSU-23-4 (Shilka) -and- ZRK Romb (Gecko) views

Mod: Shilka and Gecko View
By Frankie
Description: The 1993 Tornado simulator was always about the Panavia Tornado. Now in 2018, with this mod, you will come face-to-face with two dreaded anti-aircraft Soviet weapons. This mod adds the ground anti-aircraft element to the game, bringing Digital Integration's Tornado into a new Quantum of gameplay.

If you have ever played Tornado, you will know that the AAA and SAM launchers are always a speck on the ground. Even if you did see one up close, it was only for a micro-second using the Weapons (ALARM) view where the enemy appears for a brief split-second before being reduced to toast. Well with my new mod, it is time that we give these two dread and highly respected weapons their due.

You can now see them up close in real-time. Watch them fire cannon shells and SA-8 missiles at your Tornado as you make your bomb run. You can even, if you are lucky, see your missile strike home and reduce them to a crater. These views are what Tornado badly needs. An ode and a shout-out to the ground enemy vehicles which were always there in the simulator, but you could barely see them or touch them. Now you can see them up close in action firing away at your Tornado, from any angle or elevation with this mod.

The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a 23mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.
(http://www.military-today.com/artillery/zsu_23_4_shilka_l4.jpg)

The 9K33 Osa (English: wasp) is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system designed in the Soviet Union. "9K33" is its GRAU designation. Its NATO reporting name is SA-8 Gecko. Its export version name is Romb.
(http://armoredgun.org/brm009/9k33_osa.jpg)

Here they are with their own new views. Activate by pressing
Shift+Ctrl, followed by Alt+Shift
-OR-
Ctrl+Alt, followed by Alt+Shift

If after you press Shift+Ctrl or Ctrl+Alt and you do not see any SAM launcher of AAA vehicle, wait until the enemy has you in its radar and you start seeing tracer fill the sky or you start hearing SAM launch sounds. Then hit the Alt+Shift key for a surprise!

View control keys coded specially for this mod:
1. Press and hold Shift+Ctrl see the vehicle from a higher angle (e.g. imagine being higher than the vehicle, looking downwards);
2. Press and hold Shift+Alt see the vehicle from a lower angle (e.g. imagine lying on the grass and you are looking up towards);
3. Key "1" to shift the horizon down so that more sky is seen;
4. Key "0" to shift the horizon up so that more ground is seen;
5. Key "2" to shift the view point right-wards, perspective of vehicle shifts leftwards
6. Key "9" to shift the view point right-wards, perspective of vehicle shifts leftwards
Caveat: if you zoom in or zoom out and if you use the Z and X keys to rotate the vehicle, your Tornado in the F1 Tracking View will also zoomed and rotated accordingly. I haven't figured out how to decouple F1 view from these two new views when it comes to the zooming and rotating actions.

Some screenshots below. In 1991-1994, this was 'cutting edge'. Seeing them so up close, at last, is amazing, for me at least.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/shilka_view1.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrk_view1.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/shilka_view2.png)
-and-
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrk_view2.png)

These two new views are similar to F11 (Hack#63) and F12 (Hack#65), yet so different. The F11 and F12 screens are tracking screens, meaning that they will follow the Tornado from the ZSU or ZRK's point of view, but those screens cannot be rotated, height-adjusted or changed. Hack#66 is all about showing off the ZSU or ZRK in al their glory, with pannable and height-adjustable viewings.

Here is a Youtube video showing you what these two new views are all about.
https://youtu.be/9brXrTjOoIw

In the video, my Tornado is that black speck in the sky letting off flares. The SAM launcher and AAA are taking pot shots at me. The views you see in the video were not possible for 25 years. Now it is possible, thanks to the wonderful, extensible code of the 3D engine written by Kevin J. Bezant. There are many other modding possibilities, limited only by the imagination. As usual, I attach the latest mod-cumulative FLIGHT.EXE below. Enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 29, 2018, 07:19:08 AM
67. Smaller smoke graphics

Mod: Smoke graphics and animation are now smaller in radius and shorter in lifetime duration.
By Frankie
Description: Tornado simulates smoke by drawing black circles. The circles last N seconds in duration and are modeled to me N feet in radius. In Mod#65 and Mod#63, I discovered that the ZRK-Zomb and ZSU-23-4 Shilka were always shrouded in enormous clouds of black smoke when either firing 23mm cannon shells or launching SA-8 missiles. The smoke circles were insanely large, and immensely disproportionate to the Soviet antiaircraft vehicle.What I did then was to find out how to make the smoke circles smaller. A quick check on Youtube showed me that as a ZSU-23-4 fires into the air, it does make puffs of gray smoke in front of the cannon muzzles, but definitely not large, billowing plumes of black smoke.

So this mod is all about making the smoke circles smaller and more realistic dimensions.

Mod#67 basically has already been done as it is part of Mod#66. Nevertheless, I want to share with you what I did to make the smoke graphics in Mod#66 smaller and more realistic. This link https://www.diffchecker.com/gGw5txZ1 is the diffchecker link to a comparison between my modded \VISUAL\SMOKE.ASM and the stock original \VISUAL\SMOKE.ASM file. Below are the salient points of the mod.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SMOKE_ASM.PNG)


ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE 101

Basically, I reduced the smoke expiry time from the value 128 to 8 (see line 756). This means that the smoke circles for not linger for long.

I also reduced the radius of the smoke circles by increasing the divisor in the formula "radius = (expand time - time) / 4". I did this by changing

REPT   2       
  shr   dx,1   
ENDM         

;The operation shr means "Shift Right". This shifts each bit of register dx, one place to the right.
;So shr dx, 1 means divide the value inside dx by 2. If we REPT (repeat) this 2 times, the original code
;is basically dividing the value of dx by 4.

to

REPT   3           ;So by changing the repeat value from 2 to 3, I am actually shifting the bits of the register
  shr   dx,1       ;three places to the right. In effect I am now dividing the contents of dx by 8!
ENDM             ;So since the divisor is now larger (8) compared to previously (4), the smoke radius will be smaller.

I.e., "radius = (expand time - time) / 8" is smaller than "radius = (expand time - time) / 4".

So I do this for various parts of the code inside \VISUAL\SMOKE.ASM. See the attached file if you are up to peeking at the assembly language code.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 02, 2018, 03:00:44 PM
Hi Tom N
>in the back seat when i want to toggle the plane position on the MFD-map display with key "o", it doesn't work
>

Good news. I had a relook at the NAVIGPAN.ASM source code and I think I have solved the problem with the "o" key. Now it works in both the Pilot's Panel view and the Navigator's Panel view. Not only that, the MFD now cycles properly through the 4 MFD modes (mini-map, AFDS, ILS landing and mini-FLIR) when the 'd' key is hit. You can download the attached latest FLIGHT.EXE and see if it works for you.
Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 02, 2018, 06:15:19 PM
Seems to work fine now (pushing o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o), but my recorded video is way too crappy to upload (do NOT use the m4v format and I got shot down, by the 2nd of 4 enemy CAP, shame on me)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 02, 2018, 07:27:17 PM
https://youtu.be/9fi2OO7imu4

Recorded with Microsoft's Game DVR for Windows, slimsized with HandBrake, merged briefing (amp.exe), flight(flight.exe) and debriefing(amp.exe) with mergevideo.online/de.
Microsoft's Game DVR recognises different programs running so when DI's Tornado switches between different exes it stops the recording.

EDIT: sound issues added thanks to Game DVR
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 02, 2018, 08:34:14 PM
Oh and Frankie, rewatching my post in the landing approach area there is too much rumbling going on caused by stuff miles and miles away, can it be fixed? I mean just the cockpit shaking, the sounds from far away (sounding as well as very close) are okay.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 02, 2018, 11:33:13 PM
i think tbe rumblings you mean are the explosions and SAM launches which no matter how far away they are from the Tornado, will still sound. Can you let me know which part of your video, e.g., MM:SS, the sounds appear? So I can be sure I know what you mean and take action to reduce or to stop the rumblings.

i think I know a possible cause and solution. I enabled the AAA and SAM launch sounds which now play in both the external and cockpit views. I will disable the AAA and SAM launch sounds if the user is in either the Pilot or Navigator cockpit panel view. Your video has quite a lot of noise interference. Is that caused by your various conversion software?

Nice video. By the way, I can suggest an alternative way of recording and producing the video so that it is less jerky. I simply use DOSBox's Carl+Alt+F5. followed by a batch file which runs ffmpeg to resize the 300x200 pixel AVI video into 1024x768 pixels MP4 video. That is the way that I record and upload the video. I do zero sound editing as the sound ends up fine. Also I think your DOSBox aspect ratio parameter needs to be set as the video is a bit too wide. I have to go off an administer an exam now, I will be back later and will upload  a tutorial video in order to be more helpful to you.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 03, 2018, 08:42:38 AM
"PATCHED" version of Mod#67.
I have corrected two main bugs that were present in recent previous versions.
(a) Navigator's Panel MFD does not cycle through the maps, AFDS, landing and FLIR modes when the "d" key is pressed;
(b) When you are in the Pilot's cockpit or Navigator cockpit, you will hear SAM launch *puff* sounds and the AAA *bom-bom* sounds. These sounds are meant for the external views like F1, F2, F3 and F4.

Both bugs have been corrected. So now it is easier for you to cycle through the MFD modes when in the Navigator's cockpit. it is now much quieter for you when in the Tornado front or back seats. You may download the lates FLIGHT.EXE file below.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 03, 2018, 10:31:50 AM
Hi Frankie,

until I figured out who causes the shakes and rumbles (when something hits the ground), I'll stick to your "old" flight.exe from yesterday. I have an unconfirmed suspicion regarding those 221knot flyers around the allied airfield who might cause this.

EDIT: Shuddering cockpit at 14 minutes and 8 seconds, as well as at 14mins 45 secs. So it should be very close to the allied airfield.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 03, 2018, 04:58:36 PM
I suspect that because of Mod#13 http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg25337.html#msg25337 where even if the Tornado is outside of a blast hemisphere, it will shake when a bomb detonates. So I think even if a bomb blast is hundreds of miles away, the Tornado will shake due to this code. If I am correct that it is indeed Mod#13 is responsible for this, then I add a code that check if the bomb blast is N (perhaps 3 miles is a good value to start with) miles or less away, the shake effect is still visible. However, any bomb blast that is MORE than N miles away, no shake is visible.

Update. Here is the code that I think will solve the problem. The latest FLIGHT.EXE file is attached.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Recitfy.PNG)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 03, 2018, 09:17:08 PM
Thank you for this backward-improvement, though 5000 or up to 6000 ft (around 1 mile) should really be way enough and more realistic. Just my personal taste.

Thanks for car(etak)ing, Frankie!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 04, 2018, 12:17:46 AM
Hi Tom

Based on your feedback, I have refined the code. Here you go.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/FeelDaBlast.PNG)

Now the logic is
if Tornado is less than a quarter mile from the blast/denotation then
   Feel a major shake
else
   if Tornado is less than a half mile from the blast/denotation then
      Feel a medium shake
   else
      If Tornado is less than a one mile from the blast/denotation then
         Feel a low shake
      endif
   endif
endif

Here's hoping that this will reduce the 'jumpiness' and yet still give you the immersive feeling of experiencing bomb/SAM blasts which are in near proximity to your Tornado. Do let me know if this works (or doesn't work!) for you.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 04, 2018, 05:11:28 AM
Hey Frankie,

I'll gladly test this!

EDIT: Testing done within 5 minutes with simulator mode, "IDS free flight", infinite fuel, infinite weapons, crash configuration (instead of "bounce"), i did not test for retarded bombs although i had them on board as well (forgot it)

Okay 2 things so far, the shakings are good for the GPB, shakings got stronger the closer i got to the ground from those 5000ft, then below 2500ft, no damage done to plane until going below 800ft, so this is quite right as the original damage parameter was (so all is good with the shakings and the damaging effects now)

HOWEVER ^^
the heading indicator seems to go haywire in external view F1", it works fine in the cockpit but outside it jumps to 360° when turning right from 179° to 180° to 355° ... to 4xx ° then beyond 5xx° back to normal, there is something awkward.
(doublechecked this now, since it has been in the video below, too), external view heading "hdg" works alright from 0° to 179°, so far.

kind regards, and good shakings now.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 04, 2018, 07:01:54 AM
Hi TomN

I am happy to hear that the shudderings and shaking with the damage effects is better and more normalised.

As for the heading indicator, ah,  there was some additional code which overwrote the value of the DispHdg variable. Remnants of my earlier failed attempt to calculate the roll angle. Careless of me. I have commented out the offending code now. As you can see below, all the commented out code is shown in green font colour.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/commentedoutheading.PNG)

Please try the below FLIGHT.EXE program. The Display Heading indicator should now work as normal.

Cheers
Frankie Kam.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 05, 2018, 12:35:17 AM
68. Adjustable horizon in Check Six! (F2) and Flyby (F3) views

Mod: Horizon adjustments in F2 and F3 views
By Frankie
Description: The horizon in the F3 Flyby view and F2 Checksix! views can now be raised/lowered. Previously the horizons in both views were fixed. Now you can press the keys "1" and "0 and the horizon will change its level. This is useful for creating variety in these two very useful external views. So now the F2 view is adjustable on both the horizontal and vertical axes. The F3 view however, is only adjustable on the vertical axis. Hope you find these modifications useful for producing interesting screenshots with DOSBox's Ctrl+F5 keypress.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/loweredhorizonF2.png)
Just hit F2 and then pressed and held down the "0" key in real-time to lower the horizon so that
more ground can be seen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pseudoflyby.png)
Just hit F3 and then pressed and held down the "1" key in real-time to raise the horizon so that
more sky can be seen.



See attached FLIGHT.EXE.

Click here for the full Mods Index (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg23261.html#msg23261).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 15, 2018, 09:43:18 AM
69. More realism with proper shake and sound effects of exploding ordnances in external views

Mod: Proper shake and sound effects in external views
By Frankie
Description: The external views of Tracking (F1), Reverse Check Six (F2), Flyby (F3), Spectator (F4), Drone (F5) views now feature proper shake and sound effects when the drone Tornado bombs hit the ground targets. The gamer's Tornado, if left on the runaway tarmac, will no longer hear the explosions or feel the shaking of the drone's attacks of miles away. This anomaly has been corrected in this version of the FLIGHT.EXE. In addition, if the gamer's Tornado sustains damage, the gamer will experience shaking and shuddering of his Tornado, but the F5 Done views are shudder-free. Which is the way it should be. Finally, the Drone views (F5 and Shift+F5) will experience shuddering and noises from ordnance explosions. Therefore the overall experience will be more visceral, realistic and enhanced.

As Mod#69, Mod#70 and Mod#71 were all done on the same day, I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE in Mod#71's post.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 15, 2018, 09:45:21 AM
70. More interesting viewing perspectives of the gamer's Tornado in the Tracking View (F1)

Mod: Improved raising and lowering of horizon in Tracking View (F1 and "1" and "0" keys)
By Frankie
Description: Raising and lowering the horizon now also shifts the Tornado's vertical perspective (via the "1" and "0" keys)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nice_angles1.png)
Sample angle achieved with the "1","0" used with
the "F1","Alt+F1", "2", "9", "z" and "x" keys.


As Mod#69, Mod#70 and Mod#71 were all done on the same day, I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE in Mod#71's post.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 15, 2018, 09:55:17 AM
71. Shake effects, caused by damaged Tornado components, are now enabled by default and can be turned on and off at will by pressing the "5" key.

Mod: Damage shake effects can now be turned on and off at will
By Frankie
Description: The shake effect when the Tornado experiences damage (AAA, SAM, landing gear not raised in time, bomb blasts within the hemisphere of damage, etc.) is a double-edged word. Some love it. Some hate it. Now with this mod, you can now turn the effect on or off depending on taste. By default the shake effect has been turned off. Hit the "5" key and your Tornado will shake and vibrate, depending on the degree of damage inflicted by the game's elements (e.g., enemy fire, exploding ordnance, or gear, slats and flaps sloppy and careless treatment).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod71-turn-shake-on-and-off-code.png)
This simple hack of LOOKDOWN.ASM achieves a lot. It assumes that
you will never ever want to turn off the horizon's gradiented look.


Previously the "5" key was reserved for turning off and on the gradiented horizon. This is so 1993. PCs are no longer slow. So I hijacked the "5" key and used it to toggle the shake effects on and off. No apologies. After all, free key assignments are very hard to find in Tornado. This one was available so I grabbed the chance to use it.

Below is the latest FLIGHT.EXE which includes Mod#69, Mod#70 and M0d#71.

UPDATE AS OF 17/6/2018
================
Corrected the code and RE-uploaded FLIGHT.EXE. Solved some bugs - especially the one where the Indirect ALARM would soar vertically and as its paracute deployed, would pitch and roll the horizon wildly. This time the horizon and sky remain constant as they should.

To use, simply rename FLIGHT-reuploaded.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 17, 2018, 04:38:36 PM
72. Roll Indicator Value in External panel's bottom status bar
Mod:  Roll Indicator Value
By Frankie
Description: When you bank the Tornado to the right, the Roll indicator value will cycle from 000 to 511. When you bank the Tornado to the left, the Roll indicator value will cycle from 511 to 000.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/roll.png)
I have just rolled the Tornado to the right. "ROL" value reads "034".

This is useful in external views if you want to bank your Tornado left or right with micro-adjustments, but the rendered pixel-image of the Tornado is too small. In such a case, the visual numeric reading on the bottom status bar will be useful.

UPDATE - 18th June 2018, 10:17PM Malaysia Time
================================
I discovered that about 10 versions back, the TAB.ASM has a flaw in that I had changed line 1960 of TAB.ASM from: "mov bp,18" to "mov bp,36". The result of this was that the Scrollable Map inside the TV-Tabs did not scroll when the mouse was moved!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ScrollableMapTV-Tab.PNG)

I have since restored the code back to "mov bp,18" and NOW the Scrollable map is working as it should. I have re-uploaded the latest corrected FLIGHT.EXE in this post. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 21, 2018, 02:33:54 PM
Roll indicator looks fine enough!

Though meanwhile on the ground trees grow EVERYWHERE, even on roads, on which i want to land!!

And moving around on the backseat TAB-map is impossible, sadly, so putting the optional target marker "T" is no option any longer. That's BAD! Forgive me with picture 3 and "NormallY".

EDIT: I literally ran into the trees while attempting a night+thick fog+25kts crosswind landing on a road, knowing that buildings and bridges were far away so landing should be safe and easy - doing the winddrift technique with road and nose bearing the same way using only the pitch to firmly go down to the spot.
Then when the aircraft collided with "something" interstingly and luckily the debriefing window explained "collision with ground structure". Digital Integration did some very fine thing granting us the debrief window! I urgently miss it in "Extreme Landings" made by Rortos.
It should even be modified to show the time, when (a) failure(s) occured.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 21, 2018, 03:07:09 PM
Hi Tom

Thanks for testing the FLIGHT.EXE. I tested the back seat map view using the FLIGHT.EXE of 17th June 2018, and it works. This FLIGHT.EXE was corrected so that the map view is scrollable and the 'T' waypoint works. For your convenience I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE file with this post in the form of FLIGHTMT.EXE  (MT stands for Modded Trees). Rename FLIGHTMT.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE and Bob's your Uncle.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/T_Not_Screwed.png)
Moving with my mouse on the Map View and clicking it to create a "T" waypoint.
Make sure you use the 17th June 2018 version of FLIGHT.EXE which corrects a bug from earlier versions.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TWaypoint.PNG)
"T" waypoint with the 17th June 2018 version of FLIGHT.EXE.

Perhaps you downloaded and tested the FLIGHT.EXE from before 17th June 2018?

As for the trees on roads, ah, I didn't test for that. I didn't expect anyone to improvise by using a road as a runaway! I only tested thoroughly that the trees did not grow in the middle of any of the runaways. Let me see what I can do...okay, I have compiled a new FLIGHT.EXE which uses the original, unmodded files of:
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\TREES.ASM
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAPDATA1.ASM
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\TREE1.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\TREE2.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\TREE3.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\LAYERS\TREE4.INC

These files are responsible for the placement of the trees on the maps. So after compiling all the other mods together with the original Tree code, I have attached the resultant FLIGHT.EXE to this post as FLIGHTNT.EXE (NT stands for No Trees!). Just download it and rename FLIGHTNT.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE. You shouldn't see any trees where they shouldn't be (like on roads).

Summary of attachments in this post:-

FLIGHTNT.EXE  (NT stands for No Trees!)
is FLIGHT.EXE without the tree mod. Original tree patterns and tree density of the stock game. No trees on roads.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/notreesonroads.PNG)
FLIGHTNT.EXE. You are cleared for landing on any road because the roads are 100% free of trees!


FLIGHTMT.EXE  (MT stands for Modded Trees)
is FLIGHT.EXE that has the Tree mod plus all other mods. So this file has more trees that the original game, BUT side-effect is some trees grow on some of the roads.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/sometreesonroads.PNG)
FLIGHTMT.EXE. Land on roads at your own risk! Beware of trees in the middle of roads.

For now I am not able to make the code avoid planting trees in the middle of roads. What I need to do is something like this:

   Get a Tree XY Coordinate
   If Tree Coordinate is NOT a Road Coordinate THEN
       Register Tree at XY Coordinate (collision detect set to on)
   Else
      If Tree Coordinate is a Road Coordinate THEN
         Register XY Coordinate as empty Road space (collision-free)
      Endif
   Endif

Maybe one day I will solve this.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on June 21, 2018, 04:18:51 PM
Nice work Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 21, 2018, 05:09:09 PM
Uh oh, Frankie, I think we get some strange artefacts on ground:

(I used the no trees flight.exe --> flightnt.exe)
Should i try to land on that?

EDIT: better 2nd picture, airplane nose to the south, airplane located east from the starting airfield of simulator "IDS free flight" mission.

Debriefing shows:
"ground speed too high
Heavy Landing
injured"

so that's not paved!
It even was one of my slowest approaches: 130 kts speed, 7 fps vs

And yes the backseat TAB-map "T" waypoint function works again ^^
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 21, 2018, 05:30:42 PM
Hi Tom

Looks like an unfinished runaway! LOL.

Please check if your file C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3\TREE3.BIN is the original TREE3.BIN, or if it is the modded TREE3.BIN from the http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29189.html#msg29189 post.

If your TREE3.BIN is from that post, then see if you can remove it by overwriting it with the original C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AMP\MAP3\TREE3.BIN.

I am trying to see if this is the cause of the strange artifact or it is caused by something else.

Oh yes, I just realised that this file was also modified (as part of the tree mod):
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\SECTORS\OBSECDEF.INC

That OBSECDEF.INC file is itself used by C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\SECDATA1.ASM.
So what I have just done is to restore the original 1993 C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MAP\SECTORS\OBSECDEF.INC and I have recompiled C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\SECDATA1.OBJ and relinked the entire FLIGHT.EXE.


UPDATE - 22 June 2018, 12:50am Kuala Lumpur time

And there's more! These 4 files were also modified as part of the tree mod!
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEA.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEB.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEC.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSED.INC

A 'copse' is a cluster of trees. So these four files have something to do with the tree patterns and density.

All four INC files above are used by C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\GRNDOBJ1.ASM.
So I have just restored the original COPSEA.INC, COPSEB.INC, COPSEC.INC and COPSED.INC files, recompiled C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\GRNDOBJ1.OBJ and RE-linked the excutable FLIGHT.EXE.

Try RE-downloading the attached latest FLIGHT.EXE (that doesn't have the tree mod) and see if that offending and deceptive artifact is still there.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 21, 2018, 05:46:36 PM
I'll check the original, maybe it's not "our" problem at all ;-)
I already checked for 1.0e (3 green maps) and 1.0f (+desert storm map) modded flight versions.

All-clear!

It's there at least since 1994!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 21, 2018, 05:59:59 PM
> It's there at least since 1994!
>

What a relief! I thought I messed up the Tornado's perfect countryside.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on June 21, 2018, 06:03:24 PM
I'm sorry for having startled you/ the community :-/
I should have known it's there since Big Bang.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 21, 2018, 09:33:56 PM
73. Improved stars and Tornado colors for Night Vision Goggles (NVG) mode

Mod: Better environment colours for the NVG mode
By Frankie
Description: Night Vision effect was first tackled on this forum here (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg25278.html#msg25278).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/beforenvg.png)
Without Night Vision. When playing night mission, unless you have a high-quality monitor
(e.g., a IBM/lenovo monitor), the Night Vision (Shift+Tab) is a MUST.

However there were two deficiencies which spoiled the effect. Firstly, when the IR Night Vision was turned on, you would see black (dark) stars.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/afternvgcockpit.png)
Black stars in the sky and FLIR display? Spoils the NVG effect.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/afternvg.png)
Black stars? 'Invisible' panels make the Tornado difficult to see, spoiling the game.

Secondly, parts of the Tornado became invisible because of poor contrast between the components (fuselage, wing, etc,) and the surrounding environment (ground and sky).

I have now discovered how to improve the Night Vision colors of the stars and the Tornado. The trick is to modify the
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\PALETTES.ASM

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CodeColourNVGbetter2.PNG)
Ground Zero of the code to adjust the colors which by default turn out badly in Night Vision colours

Below is the result.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/improvedNVG.png)
Stars show up as bright dots; Tornado is better contrasted against its surroundings.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/improvedNVG-2.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/improvedNVG-3.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/improvedNVG-4.png)

Related files:
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\STARS.ASM
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\STARDATA.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\PALETTES.INC
C:\TORNADO\VISUAL\TORNADO1.INC

Attached is the FLIGHT.EXE.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/lookdownvg.png)
Better NVG visuals now

Note: I have removed the trees mod from this FLIGHT.EXE as the trees were out of control, sprouting in the middle of roads. Perhaps it is for the best and I expect to see some better frame rates with less objects to render.

Update on 22/6/2018. Adjusted the LGB1000 color when in Infra-Red (NVG) mode. Previously the LGB1000 was invisible when switching to V view in NVG mode. Code snippet in PALETTES.ASM now looks like this:

      ;Adjust LGB1000 colours when in NVG (IR) colours
      mov VGA_INFRA_RED[COL_GREY4-IR_COL_START],COL_CRT5

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/lgb1000nvg.png)
LGB100 is now visible when in NVG mode!

Cheers.

One more update.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/runwayNVG.png)
Tornado is highly visible when on the tarmac. I had to darken the tarmac otherwise the Tornado would disappear into it!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg_modded_code.PNG)
Modded code after all the colour adjustments.

Enjoy!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 24, 2018, 07:00:11 PM
74. Enhanced Explore feature

Mod: Improved usability of Explore
By Frankie
Description: Modded version of Explore feature in Digital Integration's Explore feature.
Here's what's new:
1. Pitch ground down (key 1) and up (key 0)
2. Swivel left (key z) and right (key x)
3. Now default mode is keyboard control
4. Default starting view height is 1000ft for a more panaromic view
5. Improved bottom status bar with help keys
6. Reversed the actions of UpArrow and DwnArrow keys so that, NOW, UpArrow raises elevation and DwnArrow lowers elevation.

Summary: better pre-mission planning and target ID/visualisation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaVuNVHHc2A

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

Update: 25/6/2018, 8:47PM Malaysian Time.

Since Tornado has many night missions, I thought that it would be useful to see the external view in green infra red colours. Hit Shift+Tab to toggle between daytime and green infra red colours.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/exploreNVG.png)

I have reuploaded the FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 28, 2018, 03:15:31 PM
75. Functional Pause/Unpause key with a subtle hint of screen darkening

Mod: A better Pause (Key P) with slight darkening!
By Frankie
Description:This is an improvement over "Mod#15. Functional Pause/Unpause key".  Previously. hitting the P key would cause the game to pause totally. The problem with this is that it was immediately unclear if the game hung or it was a legitimate pause. This is due to the total lack of visual feedback. The original game had the screen fade to a shade of black.

This mod is a balance between Mod#15 and the original game's pause. For this mod, if you press the "P" key, there will just be a hint of screen darkening - enough to give the visual cue that the game has paused, but not so dark that you cannot take screen captures.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pause_trick_a.PNG)
What I did was to reduce the count of frames from 96 to 12.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pause_trick_b.PNG)
Again the same 'trick' - reduce the count of frames from 96 to 12.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pause_trick_c.PNG)
Before pressing P

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pause_trick_d.PNG)
After pressing P - screen is slightly darker. Just.


I have tested it the "arrested blackening" effect in the Pilot and Navigator cockpit screens during night missions. Again that slight subtle hint of darkening is visible. The human eye is able to catch the effect. So now I believe I have reached a balance between a functional pause and the ability to still take screenshots where the colours are not degraded, but rather for the most part, are intact.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 30, 2018, 10:17:40 PM
1/7/2018 (1st July 2018)
Two important bug fixes
By Frankie
Description:  I fixed two irritating bugs.

(Bug #1) When the LGB1000 explodes on the ground within half a mile (2,640 feet), there is no shudder or shaking of the screen on impact. I had expected a jarring of sorts, but nothing!

Solution: I amended line 9,048 (shown on the right in green) of WEAPONS.ASM to three new lines (shown on the left in red).

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/462724584018411552/unknown.png?width=1025&height=392)
The solution was to divide by half the hemisphere damage value first, and then compare that value with register ax.

(Bug #2) When the plane is on the tarmac and the user hits "V" (Weapon View), there is some graphic disturbance and shift in height on screen. Like so:

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/462725661019209748/unknown.png)

Solution:  I amended line 1644 of VIEWS.ASM source file. The variable CockpitViews should store 0, not 1. This was the only change needed. Simply but effective!

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/462725975134961684/unknown.png)

Now when the Tornado is on the tarmac / runway, pressing "V" (Weapons view) has no visible side-effects. It's a nice feeling when bugs like these a squashed. Tornado ... keeps getting better.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 08, 2018, 08:56:26 PM
76. Shift+D in Navigator's Cockpit will activate the full-screen FLIR and TIALD

Mod: An immediate way of going full-screen FLIR/TIALD when in Navigator's Cockpit
By Frankie
Description: Shift+D now activates the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views when in the Navigator cockpit view (PgUp).

Three months ago, I wrote Mod#50 (10th Apr 2018), which allowed the gamer to instantly access the Full-screen FLIR view when in the Pilot's Cockpit view (Home). Yesterday I was thinking that it should be possible to code NAVIGPAN.ASM so that the same can be done by the gamer when in the Navigator's view. It was harder than I thought, but in the end I managed to 'tame' the code. I also needed to handle the case where either TV-Tab was damaged. That upon exiting the full-screen FLIR/TIALD, I needed to restore the TV-Tab view properly. I decided to exit the view and just show the standard TV_Tab sized TIALD display. I also needed to restore the previous MFD view (it could be any of the following MFD modes: MFD_MAP, MFD_RADAR, MFD_AUTO_PILOT, MFD_ILS, MFD_FLIR_ORI and MFD_FLIR).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod76.png)

Use case flow:
1. Gamer hits PgUp to go to the Navigator's Cockpit
2. Gamer hits Shift+D, the full-screen FLIR view appears
3. Gamer hits Shift+D again, the full-screen TIALD view appears
4. Gamer hits Shift+D again, the Navigator's Cockpit comes into view again. The MFD display in the centre retains its last cycled view (Key D), whilst the left TV-Tab will show the TIALD view, albeit in the standard TV-Tab sized view.

Previously one had to cycle through the "[" or "]" keys to do this. Now you can bypass these steps with the Shift+D shortcut. A second Shift+D will bring the gamer back to the Navigator's Cockpit with the left TV-Tab showing the standard small-screen TV_Tab-sized TIALD view. The code is clever enough to handle the case where if either left or right TV-Tab is damaged, the full-screen FLIR/TIALD will appear on the remaining TV-Tab.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 08, 2018, 09:47:41 PM
77. Standard TIALD view in TV-Tab is more 3D-ish now

Mod: Standard TIALD view pitched at 400 units for a more 3D effect
By Frankie
Description: 'Nicer' looking and more dramatic effect as TIALD view is now no longer view directly from above. Instead, the view is pitched at 400 units to give a more 3D perspective when panning left-to-right and vice-versa. To compensate for changed perspective, the crosshairs have been shifted down by 8 units down the TV-Tab view. Change was made to TAB.ASM:

;TIALD Original - offset compensation
OFFSETTIALD EQU 8

XC      EQU   TAB_WIDTH/2   ;centre x
YC      EQU   (TAB_DEPTH/2-1)+OFFSETTIALD   ;centre y

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tialdnicerview.PNG)
TIALD view with a new 3D perspective makeover

Attached is latest FLIGHT.EXE.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 09, 2018, 12:15:51 AM
Great stuff Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 18, 2018, 07:05:52 PM
78.  Changed AAA sounds from Explosions2 to SoundCannon

Mod: AAA-to-Tornado sound improvement
By Frankie
Description: This mod is actually an improvement over Mod#6 AAA-(Shilka)-to-Tornado View activates with F12 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30226.html#msg30226). Previously I had used the ExploSound2 procedure to produce AAA  firing sounds. The AAA will fire away with a rat-tat-tat and would always end with an explosion. Even when nothing was exploding. The fact that you could hear these noises when in the cockpit as either Pilot or Navigator makes it worse. So what I did was to instead call the CannonSound procedure. This is the same sound effect was when firing the Tornado's Mauser cannon.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/469179978366582786/unknown.png?width=310&height=411)
Lines 643 to 647 ensure that when the gamer is in Pilot or Navigator cockpits,
the AAA firing sound is never heard.

Unfortunately the Tornado source code (https://github.com/tornadorebooted/tornado-dos-flightsim) does not have a "high rate of fire" firing sound which would be more realistic, seeing that the AAA ZSU-23-4 fires at a cyclic rate of 850–1,000 rounds per minute for a combined rate of fire of 3,400–4,000 rounds per minute.  Another thing I did in this mod was to NOT play the cannon sound when the gamer is inside the cockpit - either as Pilot (Home key) or as Navigator (PgUp key).

The real ZSU-23-4 sounds like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cKTwQ8TddA&t=0m28s

The latest sound for AAA in this version of Tornado,
(1) is heard only when in external views (e.g., NOT Home and NOT PgUp keys);
(2) is the same sound used for the Tornado's Mauser cannon, and it sounds like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYnQNL7xMYA

The Tornado modded sound (SoundCannon procedure) is in my humble opinion, slightly resembles the actual ZSU-23-4 rounds being fired. I think. I have no choice since I cannot find a better procedure call to produce a ZSU-23-4 like sound. By the way, the whiplash sound in the video is a SA-8 Gecko Surface to Air Missile system being fired at me by a ZRK-Romb vehicle.

Note: In the video the Attention Seeking alarm is quite irritating. At the moment I am unable to turn off the irritating Attention Seeking siren when in external view. After all, it is an attention seeker. And this is the default behaviour in the stock DESERT.EXE or FLIGHT.EXE.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 22, 2018, 01:59:02 AM
79.  Spectator View (F4) can now be pitched up and down

Mod: Pitch-variable Spectator View
By Frankie
Description: The Spectator View has always been pannable left-to-right via the Z and X keys. Now I have added a "press 1 pitch up and 0 to pitch down" feature. Therefore immediately after pressing F4 to go into the Spectator View, you can adjust the horizon vertically (newly added) and swivel horizontally (exists in stock Tornado).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SpectatorPitch.png)
Tornado is  retreating into the distance after F4 is pressed.
Horizon can be raised (Key 1) and lowered (Key 0)

This is a trivial feature which allows for more screenshot (Ctrl+F5) artistic angles. One more to hit 80 hacks/mods.
Attached the FLIGHT.EXE as usual.

UPDATE ON SUNDAY 22/7/2018
Yesterday I uploaded the wrong FLIGHT.EXE. It gave a problem when F5 (Drone View) is hit. I have re-uploaded the correct FLIGHT.EXE which gives the correct view when F5 is hit.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 22, 2018, 12:53:35 PM
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 23, 2018, 11:18:52 AM
80.  Weapons View (V) roll can now be angled

Mod: Weapons View with roll angle
By Frankie
Description: If you bank your plane and let loose an ordnance, the ordnance (LGB1000, RET1000, etc.) will be displayed at a tilt of the curent roll angle of your Tornado. Hit Alt+P to toggle the tilt on and off. Makes for interesting screenshots of the ordnance against a tilted background.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tilted_weapons_view_0.png)
Laser Guided Bomb on its way down. Nice view. Never before seen angle.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tilted_weapons_view_1.png)
retarded bombs on their way down. Never before seen angle.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tilted_weapons_view_2.png)
Another view of the same retarded bombs on their way down.  Nice view.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tilted_weapons_view_3.png)
Why is this crater angled? Just hit Alt+P if you want to display the background level.


This is the 80th mod/hack/post of Tornado. What's next? Hopefully another 20 mods so that I can make it 100 Tornado mods/hacks/posts before I retire this old bird of a combat flight simulator. In this day and age of Fortnite being played by millions of gamers around the world, why do I do what I do? I do it because IT'S THERE.

Attached is the FLIGHT.EXE for your delectation and delight.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 23, 2018, 12:11:11 PM

This is the 80th mod/hack/post of Tornado. What's next? Hopefully another 20 mods so that I can make it 100 Tornado mods/hacks/posts before I retire this old bird of a combat flight simulator.

 :worship
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 23, 2018, 02:57:05 PM
81.  When in an external view, the E-Scope display can be toggled on/off by pressing the 3 key

Mod: Weapons View with roll angle
By Frankie
Description: The E-Scope display (http://rochesteravionicarchives.co.uk/collection/head-down-display-hdd/tornado-e-scope-head-down-display) is a pretty nifty tool when flying nap of the earth. One of the hallmarks of this classic flight simulator is its range of autopilot modes. Depending upon the mode selected, the autopilot will take control of your altitude (ALT), your heading (HDG) and your Indicated Air Speed (IAS). In Tornado, five(!) autopilot modes are available:

The E-Scope is modeled in Digital Integration's Tornado in the Pilot's cockpit as well as the modded full-screen HUD of Mod#38 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg28231.html#msg28231).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/escopes.png)
Two examples of E-Scopes already in the simulation. Left is stock Tornado. Right is modded Tornado.

When you are in an external view, IF you are brave enough to hit the Escape button to cancel an autopilot mode, it would be very helpful indeed if you could see how far above the ground your Tornado is. With this mod, whenever you are in any of these views - Tracking View (F1), Reverse View (F2), Flyby View (F3), Spectator View (F4), Drone View (F5) - you can press the 3 key to toggle the E-Scope display on and off. The E-Scope appears at the bottom right corner of the screen. Like so:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/escope-00.png)
Buzzing the runway. You can see the E-Scope display at the bottom-right of the screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/escope-01.png)
Climbing up a slope.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/eScope-code.png)
This is the code that allow you to toggle the E-Scope on and off when in an external view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/escope-02.png)
Levelling off at the peak.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/escope-03.png)
Zooming down the mountain!

I think that the E-Scope is unobtrusive where it is, tucked away in corner. If you find it distracting, just hit the 3 key and it disappears. If you enjoy flying in Tracking View (F1) to enjoy or explore the Tornado scenery, you might want to enable the E-Scope just to keep tabs on the ground. After all, you wouldn't want to crash a 22-million Pound Sterling aircraft into the ground.

In my humble opinion, this mod HISTORIC because it is the FIRST TIME that an external view in Tornado has an overlay display, and a very useful one at that. It would be very interesting to consider and explore the possibility of overlaying, on demand, other displays. For example, one could consider the Moving Map display or the Waypoint Reference Map display as examples.

Note: as the 3 key is used for the E-Scope, you might realise that the Hill Textures on/off toggle (3 key) is no longer active with this mod. The turn off Hill Textures thingy is a throwback to the early 1990s. Back then PCs were slow. Every bit of extra texture hidden or turned off contributed to a faster framerate. Since we are now in 2018, I don't think we need the Hill Textures on/off toggle feature. It has been sacrificed for the greater good.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 24, 2018, 04:33:03 PM
82.  When in an external view, multiple mini-displays can be toggled on/off in sequence by pressing the 3 key

Mod: Multi-mini displays with external views
By Frankie
Description: This mod is an extension of Mod#81. This time, repeatedly pressing the 3 key, when in any external view, will cycle through the following mini-windows:
Each mini-window is accompanied by the E-Scope display which is located at the lower-right corner of the screen. See screenshots below.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-01.png)
The Map display. You can compare the 2D terrain with the 3D models represented by the external view.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-02.png)
The Route Waypoints display. Complimented by the waypoint countdown located at the bottom-left of the screen.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-03.png)
The Moving Map display. You can created 'T' waypoints (Targets of Opportunity) and see how the Tornado responds in 3D.
This display is mouse-enabled.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-05.png)
The Ground Radar display. Useful for night missions and for creating 'T' waypoints (Targets of Opportunity).
This display is mouse-enabled.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-06.png)
The Autopilots mode display. Useful to see this data panel when you are lazily enjoying the scenery.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pressKey3-07.png)
The ILS display. Now you can see how your Tornado lands with respect to the moving bands of the ILS.

I hope that you find this mod useful. For whatever circumstance of the game. Perhaps you can now enjoy the external visuals whilst keeping an eye on the waypoints or auto-pilot speeds. The Tornado purist will undoubtedly play Tornado without any of these visual 'aids'. Whatever the case, I hope you have fun with the mod version. Combining an external view with Tornado visual panel instrumentation and avionics visuals has never been done since Tornado was released in 1993 for the PC.

All mini-windows are accompanied by the E-Scope display (bottom-right corner).
Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 26, 2018, 03:32:46 PM
83.  When in an external view, multiple mini-displays can be cycled through forwards and backwards with 3 and Shift+3

Mod: Multi-mini displays in external views - can be cycled through back and forth
By Frankie
Description: This mod is an extension of Mod#82. This time, repeatedly pressing the Shift+3 key, when in any external view, will reverse cycle through the mini-windows. This is a usability improvement. Note: this feature only works with the IDS Tornado, not the ADV Tornado.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/joy_radar_sync_3D_outside_world.png)
There is much satisfaction in seeing how Digital Integration, in 1993, managed to model the ground Radar which synced,
down to the split-second, with the outside 3D world and its objects (lake, road, bridge, military objects, armoured carriers, etc.)

The advantage of this additional code is that now the user need not cycle through a long series of displays in a one-way direction. Instead, the ease of cycling one way, and in the reverse way, makes for a convenient and easy to use interface for displaying the TV-TAB or MFD of the gamer's choice.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cycle1.png)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cycle2.png)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cycle3.png)

Above is the code that does the cycling forwards (key 3) and backwards (Shift+3)

https://youtu.be/Nx66d0JKY1s
My cycling back and forth is a wee bit too fast - but you will get the idea.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 29, 2018, 08:59:53 PM
84.  More cinematic possibilities with TV-Tab FLIR and TIALD views in External Views

Mod: TV-Tab FLIR and TIALD views in External Views
By Frankie
Description: I managed to add the TV-Tab FLIR and TIALD views to the external views! Download the below FLIGHT.71 and rename to FLIGHT.EXE. Then copy it to your installed TORNADO's folder. Once inside, hit any of the external views (F1, F2, F3, F4 or F5) and then hit 3 or Shift+3 repeatedly for a BIG, NICE SURPRISE.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473213926629179413/unknown.png?width=692&height=431)


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473214266481311745/unknown.png?width=684&height=431)


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473214422500769802/unknown.png?width=685&height=431)


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473215553977450497/unknown.png?width=692&height=431)


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473215744759300097/unknown.png?width=691&height=430)


(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/473219013359435778/unknown.png?width=685&height=430)


Perhaps a Youtube video would persuade you that this is possibly the best thing that has ever happened to this 25-year old flight simulator. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/IJBc2Pou0GQ

Attached is the FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 01, 2018, 10:34:01 AM
85.  Split-screen FLIR display

Mod: Split-screen FLIR display
By Frankie
Description: This mod is an extension of Mod#84. When you hit the 3 key, an additional three objects will cycle sequentially:
1. TV-Tab sized FLIR display (top left of screen)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SplitScreenFLIR-1.png)
A FLIR picture inside a Tracking View picture. Try hitting F3, F4 or F5 for a surprise.


2. Half-screen sized set to a FLIR display (top half) and external view (bottom half) which you can change to F1, F2 F3 or F4 views.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/474020450754625537/flight_000.png)
Half-screen FLIR in action. Bottom half of screen is an interchangable external view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SplitScreenFLIR-3.png)
More split-screen stuff. Now I can see both directions at once from my Tornado!
Looking forwards and looking backwards at the same time.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SplitScreenFLIR-2.png)
Bottom half of the screen is the Drone view. What this means is that you can now watch an ingress to the
target area from both your Tornado's and your wingmen's perspective. Endless possiblities.


3. Full-screen FLIR display which is steerable but without a HUD
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/full-screenFLIR.png)
Full screen FLIR view.

The whole idea of split screen was serendipity. Initially I wanted to have the map view overlapping the tracking view just to enjoy the Tornado 3D scenery and landscapes. So one thing lead to another and I discovered that Kevin already had the half screen display coded in the simulation. For example,  when you are in the Pilot's cockpit view (Home), the top half of the screen is half-screen height. So I just created an illusion of split-screen by overlapping a half-screen display on top of a full-screen display. So far the assembly language code is holding up. Occasionally I do see some horizontal black bar lines at the top left of the screen which is visually irritating, but does not impair the rest of the gameplay

So now the full complement of mini-windows initiated by hitting F1 key followed by 3 or Shift+3 is:
1.   Map display
2.   Waypoint flight path display
3.   Moving Map Reference display
4.   TV-Tab sized FLIR display (top left of screen)
5.   Half-screen sized set to a FLIR display (top half) and external view (bottom half) which you can change to F1, F2 F3 or F4 views.
6.   Full-screen FLIR display which is steerable but without a HUD

7.   Radar display - Ground Radar
8.   Autopilot modes display
9.   Instruments Landing System (ILS) display
10. Blank (no mini-windows)

https://youtu.be/fGDrTGL1hko
I think it is fantastic that 25 years later, the Tornado assembly language code is able to "multitask" and produce
stunning visuals as these. Only possible with low-level programming and x86 ASM.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.

So in summary, with this split-screen feature, Tornado now joins the ranks of console games like Super Mario Kart and Goldeneye 007. Just kidding. Until my next mod, have fun.

UPDATE 2ND AUGUST 2018
I decided that the only way I could make the split-screen FLIR view useful was if I added an iron gunsight to the view. I find this preferable to a blank centre (see below) - which is rather hard to steer due to the lack of a visual reference point. The only time a visual cue is available is when I bank the Tornado hard left or right.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/splitscreen-hardtosteer.png)
The only visual cue moments are when the Tornado is banking to the side. Other times, it's just a centre devoid of any cues.

The iron gunsight is also better than this ... an alien-like strange blob of green in the centre (see below) - which is the Tornado's cockpit viewed from slightly above.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/full-screenFLIR-blob-of-green.png)
One way of giving a visual reference for steering - show the top of the cockpit.

IMHO, the gunsight gives the gamer a visual reference point and it is practical if one decides to go on a strafing run. Even though the gunsight appears, you have to explictly hit the Alt+Enter key to arm the Mauser cannon.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/full-screenFLIRstrafing1.png)
Gunsight in the split-screen comes in handy when shooting soft targets.

Here's what the split-screen looks like now. See the Youtube video below.

https://youtu.be/ZLdb0J_Hrdc
Getting hammered by AAA and SAMs. The action is fast and furious. It would help if I could change the colour of the
AAA tracer. As it is now, the Mauser shells and the AAA (ZSU-23-4) shells show up in yellow colour.

I have updated the FLIGHT.EXE file.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 02, 2018, 08:13:36 PM
86.  Split-screen FLIR display with working HUD in top-half of screen

Mod: Split-screen FLIR display with working HUD
By Frankie
Description: Teaser. I managed to add the HUD into the top-half of the split-screen (activated with the 3 key, hit multiple times).
Work in progress. FLIGHT.EXE attached for you to try out. Slight bugs: cannon shells firing slightly below the ironworks gunsight; minor graphics glitch (not a deal-breaker) when running FLIGHT.EXE with the production Tornado installed with the CD-ROM or installation diskettes;

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SplitScreenHUD.png)
Bottom-half of screen shows the ZSU-23-4 to Tornado view

Video demo of work in progress. Hope to iron out the bugs by the weekend.

https://youtu.be/vUfFYkokUWg
Lotsa action in this one. Wonders of assembly language - I am flying around in top-half of the screen,
and panning and changing the pitch of the horizon in the bottom half of the screen.

Attached is the working (WIP) FLIGHT.EXE. Cheers.

Update 4th Aug 2018
Previous FLIGHT.EXE had a bug with the V key (Weapons key) causing some graphic glitches in the Pilot Panel view and the F1 Tracking view where the Tornado disappears. Solve with this version of FLIGHT.EXE.


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 04, 2018, 06:01:00 PM
87.  Weapon View ('v' key) horizon can be adjusted up or down - works great with the Split-screen feature
Mod: Weapon View ('v' key) horizon is now adjustable
By Frankie
Description: Previously the Weapon View's pitch was static - i.e., non adjustable. I couldn't figure out where or how to adjust the pitch so that I could see more of the sky and less of the ground. In other words I couldn't shift the horizon. This became a problem because when I was in the split-screen view (F1 followed by key 3 - see Mod#86), the view of the ALARM missile (i.e., the Weapon) was partially hidden. See below:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SplitScreenHiddenALARMmissle.png)
I have fired off an ALARM missle in Direct mode. And I hit the Weapons key (V). Where is the missile?
It's mostly hidden because it's at the fault-line between the two horizontal halves of the screen!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ALARMhalfplume.PNG)
You can see about 1/3 of the missile. It's plume of orange is clear to see. So I knew I had to solve the problem of the
Weapons View static horizon.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/VIEWSbefore.PNG)
Here is the stock code of the UpdateWeapons label section.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/VIEWSafter.PNG)
Here's the code I used to solve the problem. The critical code are lines 2959 and 2960.
The code from lines 2945 to 2957 allow me to adjust the horizon up and down.

So the last thing to do is to test the modified Weapons View. Here's what the split-screen looks like now. The Weapons View is below.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SuccessALARMsplitscreen1.png)
Raining down death from above.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SuccessALARMsplitscreen2.png)
ALARM missile homing in onto its target and slicing through the air.

Success!

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.

Note: to go to the split-screen, I have now made it easier. Hit F1 (Tracking View) followed by either ']' (right square bracket) or '[' (left square bracket) keys to cycle through the modified views which originated from Mod#83. To directly go back to the Tracking View WITHOUT any TV-Tab or overlaid MFD mini-windows, hit the "3" key. This should make your life easier. ENJOY!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 04, 2018, 06:49:50 PM
88.  Split-screen FLIR display with overlaid TV-Tab display and MFD (assembly language multi-tasking)
Mod: Split-screen FLIR, TV-Tab and MFD Combo in top-half of the screen
By Frankie
Description: Assembly language multitasking. Did you ever think that the Tornado code could show so many things on the screen at the same time? Now the permutations of cinematic screenshots and learning tools has been ramped up.

Here are some examples:

1. If landing the Tornado is your thing, you can enable this screen where you have the ILS system on the MFD whilst watching your Tornado glide towards the runway.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/multitasking1.png)
Landing never was my strongest skill in Tornado. Now I get to learn better and faster with the multi-tasking split screen.


2. Using the mouse-activated Reference Map.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/multitasking2.png)
Nice.


3. Laser Guided bombs with all the full details with adjustable angles
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/multitasking3.png)
There's something very satisfying about seeing your LGB1000 hit the target from at least two simultaneous views.


4. Observe your wingmen or allies do their thing as you fly in mission
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/multitasking4.png)
Lots of activity over the combat air zone.

Note: to go to the split-screen, I have now made it easier.

1. Hit F1 (Tracking View) ...
2. ...followed by either ']' (right square bracket to cycle forwards) or
3. ... '[' (right square bracket to cycle backwards) - which seems more user-friendly and logical since '[' comes before ']',
to step through the modified views.

To directly go back to the Tracking View WITHOUT any TV-Tab or overlaid MFD mini-windows, hit the "3" key.

The Tornado code is a workhorse. So many possibilities.

https://youtu.be/XMU2vht0eJc
What this mod does.

I have RE-attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE as of 5th Aug 2018, 9:07am Kuala Lumpur time.
I have thoroughly tested this version.
No graphics issues.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 09, 2018, 02:41:19 PM
Just a lazy flight across the rolling European landscape. Flying mainly via auto-pilot across the plains and hills. If you like to multi-task, and have twenty minutes to spare, this video I uploaded to Youtube is for you. The two split-screen views plus the top-left TV TAB/MFD views give a challenge to the eye and brain as there is so much detail flashing every split-second.

https://youtu.be/KRLgnQxb5ko

Perhaps one day we can do the same for the desert dunes of Operation Desert Storm.

Video created from the modded FLIGHT.EXE with added 'split-screen' view. Truth be told, I just overlapped a 96-pixel height view on top of a 198-pixel height view to give an illusion of a split-screen. Actually it was not so simple. I had to angle the Tornado in the lower-half of the screen so that it would be fully visible.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/477371140382392323/fav.PNG?width=400&height=301)

Easily my favourite moment of the video. Flying over an expanse of water. Map, forward looking view and the external views are perfectly synchronised. 2D and 3D in perfect harmony. No visible lag in frame rates. Kudos to the original 16-bit assembly language source code, written by the then Lead Programmer Kevin J. Bezant!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 11, 2018, 08:05:23 AM
89.  Zero-fuel immunity against Infra-red seeking SAMs.
Mod:
By Frankie
Description: In the stock game, a Tornado in a zero-fuel situation would still be targetted by enemy Infra-Red seeking SAM sites. If you were gliding towards earth, your Tornado would be a sitting duck for enemy SAMs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/NoLockIfOutOfFuel2.png)
Just two lines of code is enough.

In this mod, I simply detect for zero kg of fuel, whereby the "no lock detection by IR missiles" setting would be set to on. So in a zero-fuel situation, your Tornado is no longer targeted by SAMs. Your Tornado is now free to glide and land on any runway or road unmolested by SAMs.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 11, 2018, 02:12:52 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyDkvsLWsi0

SAM-testing already was done, now the new code had to be tested for AAA (not interfering) and for enemy fighters still firing radar guided missiles and cannon bullets, which they still do (off screen in other test flights).

This landing attempt was sabotaged by an air-to-air missile hitting the runway in front. Couldn't do anything about it so close to stalling, so i  collided with the crater.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 11, 2018, 03:52:57 PM
Apparently the modded code is not very kind to the ADV F3 Tornado in the simulation. See 2:31 and 4:16.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ouch.PNG)

I notice the two vertical black lines on the left of the screen. Sigh.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 11, 2018, 07:45:52 PM
I found something regarding our no-fuel-still-IR-trackable question. Apparently it was part in the A-Team movie, which i did not watch yet.

https://www.quora.com/Can-a-fighter-jet-evade-a-heat-seeking-missile-simply-by-turning-off-the-engines-and-coasting-along-until-the-missile-goes-astray

So apparently using afterburner will make this mod useless, but still cool you  -Mod-Master Frankie!!- could do it.
I wasn't sure about the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong heat dissipating time in midair.
In the link above is LOTS information about modern heat seeking missile dodging techniques, too.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 15, 2018, 01:52:19 AM
90.  Split-screen top-half-screen FLIR's HUD now has a superimposed RWR symbology

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/awesome90.png)

Mod: Functional RWR for split-screen FLIR HUD
By Frankie
Description: I felt that the split-screen FLIR could do with the RWR symbols showing it is HUD. After some sleuthing, I managed to nail down the code that is responsible for displaying this RWR display:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rwr.png)

Source file PILOTPAN.ASM's UpdateRWR procedure is responsible for displaying the RWR on the cockpit. The constant, RWR_CIRCLE_Y, positions the centre of the RWR display at pixel-row 121.  So what I did was to create another constant, RWR_CIRCLE_Y2, which positions the centre of the RWR display, 41 pixels further up the screen, at row 80.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rwr-code1.png)

In addition, I copied the entire procedure named UpdateRWR and created a new procedure named UpdateRWR2 which accessed the contant RWR_CIRCLE_Y2. I had to be careful to make sure that the copied labels and jump to names were renamed so that there would be no duplicate jump names between the UpdateRWR  and UpdateRWR2 procedures.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rwr-code2.png)

Here is the result.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rwr_splitscreen2b.png)

You can hit the '6' key to remove the ironworks. The RWR display will still be there, performing as expected. So that's the 90th post/mod of this Modding Tornado thread. Hope you enjoy it.

As always, I attach the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 15, 2018, 02:19:02 AM
Now that Mod#90 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31661.html#msg31661) has been done, my goal is to hit 100 mods/posts for Modding Tornado. If you have any ideas/requests for modding or enhancing Tornado, I have only one question for you:

What would you like to see added to Tornado as part of the final 10 mods?

I look forward to hearing from you.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 18, 2018, 06:39:50 PM
91.  Colour diversity of tree ground object
Mod: Trees are now shown in three colours, giving the landscape some visual diversity.
By Frankie
Description:
My latest mod. Mixed-color trees. The current stock game paints all trees the same colour. So when tree structures overlap with one another (e.g., one tree partially behind the other), some of the detail gets lost.

Some interesting effects as a result of the tree colour mod

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TreesDiverseColours.png)


Below is a sample of what I did to get different coloured trees.

I modified these 4 files:
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEA.INC
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEB.INC
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSEC.INC
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\GROUND\COPSED.INC

I then recompiled the file D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\GRNDOBJ1.ASM.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/copsea_code_tree_colour.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TreesDiverseColours2.png)

FLIGHT.EXE will be uploaded with Mod#92.

All 91 mods are listed here (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg23261.html#msg23261).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 18, 2018, 06:55:06 PM
92.  Split-screen TV-Tabs and MFDs susceptible to damage
Mod: Will show static if damaged.
By Frankie
Description:
Split-screen TV-Tabs and MFDs will be damaged if the Pilot's and Navigator's TV-Tabs and MFDs fail. This happens when a SAM hits home on your Tornado. Or from AAA inflicted wounds. More realistic.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/splitscreenTVTabDamaged.png)
TV-Tabs are damaged. So split-screen's TV-Tab display shows only static. Good luck, Mate!

Files modified:
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\EXTRNPAN.ASM
D:\TORNADO\TAB.ASM

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/splitscreenMFDDamaged.png)
Pilot's and Navigator's MFDs are damaged. So split-screen's MFD shows only static. Tornado down (soon)!

File uploaded as usual. Covers both Mod#91 (see tree recolouring post) and Mod#92 (this post).

The Split-Screen TV-Tab and MFD positioning have also been overhauled. Previously they would jump around. This time, the mini-displays are flush against the upper-left of the screen. They are now consistently placed.

All 92 mods are listed here (http://All 91 mods are listed [url=http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg23261.html#msg23261).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 19, 2018, 01:08:23 AM
93.  Increased initial zoom level of the Big Map, Moving Map and Reference Map to Level 2 Zoom.
Mod: Level 2 Initial Zoom for Maps
By Frankie
Description: This mod is for gamers who run Tornado's FLIGHT.EXE on retro PCs or on authentic 1990s hardware like the 486SX/DX. Or even less. One of the biggest framerate hits is caused by the 'M' Big Map display, Moving Map display or the Reference Map. This is mentioned in the Tornado manual. This is because each of the three map displays always start at the initial zoom level of 1. This is the maximum zoomed-out map with the highest level of detail.

When accessing the Map windows, here is the spectrum of polygon counts from highest count (slowest gameplay) to lowest count (fastest gameplay).

MAP_ZOOM1 = polygon count from 6,000 to 1,000++.
MAP_ZOOM2 =polygon count from 2,000 to 600
MAP_ZOOM3 = polygon count < 1.000

I have found that my choosing the next zoom-in level, which is Level 2 Zoom, the number of polygons generated drops by a couple of thousand. And the framerate picks up. At level 2, a sector is represented by 16 pixels width. It represents a zoom level of 512 feet above ground. So the FLIGHT.EXE above is where I have set the initial map detail level to 2.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/479852268879872029/unknown.png)

Zooming in with "<" or Ctrl+RightMouseClick further reduces the polygon count, but makes it harder for the virtual pilot gamer to "see the forest for the trees". So I have settled on the Golden Initial Zoom level, Level 2, as being the best balance between faster play and sufficient overall detail for the gamer.

BEFORE (Initial zoom of Big Map of Level1) - 5,482 polygons
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ZoomLevel1.png)

AFTER (Initial zoom of Big Map set to Level2) - 1,478 polygons
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ZoomLevel2.png)

That's a big jump in reduced polygons = increased speed of gameplay.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/479852394671505409/flight_019.png)

Previously this setup of split-screen with the Big Map ('M' key) and TV-Tab with moving map would be a major slideshow speed causer of the game. No more. Polygons are now around 500+ instead of the thousands.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/479852403609567249/flight_017.png)

Here's the code to achieve all this.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code1zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code2zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code3zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code4zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code5zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code6zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code7zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code8zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code9zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code10zoom.PNG)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/code11zoom.PNG)


The code above achieves the Map Zoom Level2 for all Map displays:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AfterSettingZoomLevel2-1.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AfterSettingZoomLevel2-2.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AfterSettingZoomLevel2-3.png)


File attached is FLIGHT.EXE. This FLIGHT.EXE is essentially the same as Mod#92, except that Mod#92's initial map zoom levels are all set to the default MAP_ZOOM1 - the highest zoomed-out level. Whereas Mod#93's initial map zoom levels are all set to MAP_ZOOM2 for faster game speed. So if you are playing Tornado using DOSBox on...
...(1) a fast modern PC, use the FLIGHT.EXE of Mod#92
...(2) a retro or 1990s PC, use the FLIGHT.EXE of Mod#93 (this post)

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 19, 2018, 11:26:36 AM
I'll gladly try the tree-three-colour-mod, but I get mixed feelings about the zoomed in map, because the map should give a good overview, it should be zoomed out as default to find the next airfield as fast as possible, when all other means (TABs + MFDs) already failed.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 19, 2018, 11:40:09 AM
Hi Tom. Yes you are right in that a zoomed-out map gives a better overview.

I created the "by-default zoom in by one level" map because one gamer experienced slideshow speeds on his 486 (retro PC - the real DOS deal, not like what I am using which is a modern laptop with DOSBox) when going to split-screen with the Moving Map in the TV-Tab display. I created FLIGHT.EXE of Mod#93 for gamers with old, retro PCs where speed may be an issue. For the rest of us who experience no speed slowdown issues, Mod#92 will suffice.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 23, 2018, 07:33:27 PM
94.  ADV Tornado F3's HUD now works in full-screen view
Mod: Working ADV HUD in full-screen
By Frankie
Description: I have good news. Yesterday I managed to get the ADV Tornado (F3) Air-to-air gunnery and missile HUD symbology to work in full-screen mode.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/481986877927325696/flight_088.png)
Tornado F3 cockpit. From this ...

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/481987015714275331/flight_089.png)
...to this with all the avionics and HUD symbols faithfully
reproduced in full-screen mode.

The HUD symbology is very complex and realistic for a 1993 DOS flight simulator. It comes with a small moving cross "+" which is the intersection point between cannon shells and the moving target.  That moving cross - is smaller than the stationary central HUD cross . In the screenshot below, the Tornado F3's Skyflash A2A missile is armed and a target has been locked on. The moving cross is seen as the small yellow cross on the HUD slightly to the right of the centre section of the countdown circle. The intersection or impact point is based on the trajectory, airspeed and angle of the target relative to the Tornado F3. There is some serious physics and mathematics calculations involved here, courtesy of the brilliant  programming by Kevin J. Bezant. The aeronautics and Tornado flight data was fed to him by David Marshall. the Project Manager.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/350893592082120705/482004840344715274/unknown.png?width=400&height=236)
A larger, clearer view (edited screenshot)

Getting the ADV Tornado full screen is a big deal to me because the original simulation had terrible situational awareness. No padlock view, limited half-screen height for pilot's front view. So now the full-screen with working HUD will go some way to overcome the usability issues of the original game where flying the  the ADV Tornado. DI's Tornado is mainly about the IDS Tornado. The ADV Tornado is IMHO, kinda neglected. I guess if gamers wanted to do air dogfighting, they would have played Falcon 3.0 instead.

FLIGHT.EXE will be attached in the next post.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 23, 2018, 07:43:12 PM
95. Added ADV Tornado F3's HUD to split-screen view, aided by visible Air-To-Air Radar display.
Mod: Working ADV HUD in split-screen
By Frankie
Description: Now it gets more useful and interesting. Previously only the IDS Tornado GR1 could enjoy the split screen. Now the Tornado F3 interceptor too. With an Air-To-Air RADAR to boot!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/482258074233733131/flight_102.png)\
F3 action.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/482259905470791684/flight_092.png)
Plenty Air-To-Air action on the HUD to keep the keenest pilot busy!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/482260243611385857/flight_091.png)
Same HUD information presented on the full-screen (From Pilot's cockpit, hit Shift+D.
Or at Navigator's cockpit. cycle the left and right TV-Tabs with the '[' key or ']' key.

This, IMHO, is a long-overdue mod. In December 2017, I managed to get the IDS Tornado's HUD to be fully-functioning in full-screen. Now it is the ADV Tornado's turn. Enjoy, and please help to catch any programming bugs that may have been overlooked.

For the first time ever, the Air Radar appears together with the ADV Tornado's full-screen. ENJOY THIS MOD!

Attached is the FLIGHT.EXE
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 23, 2018, 10:11:03 PM
Yes, kudos to Kevin J. Bezant and David Marshall and all the helpers for this amazing computing and displaying stuff to be seen in the HUD alone, but not only there!

And yes, the Tornado isn't that powerful in dogfights, the MiG-31 and the Su-27 seem to be quite playful when accompanying the Tornado as enemy. The Tornado isn't agile enough in close quarters, but faaaast just above ground with afterburners on and fastest in the greatest heights, given that the packages are no longer at the pylons but have found their targets.

So it's only important to get into the hot zone and "lose some weight" there.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 24, 2018, 02:48:28 AM
> So it's only important to get into the hot zone and "lose some weight" there.
>
After jettisoning ordnance and fuel, if all else fails, hit Ctrl+E and eject the pilot. How's that for weight loss?
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 24, 2018, 04:09:36 AM
I asked google about some "tornado ejections":

some are really bad and tragic
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322184/Tornado-navigator-fell-450mph-plane-died-fliers-unaware-safety-checks.html

and here is the VERY detailed data making me reverently running dry:
http://www.tornado-data.com/Production/RAF%20Crash%20Data.pdf

EDIT:
And that's not even including the german, italian and arabic Tornado staff.
Too many issues for my taste!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 25, 2018, 03:28:19 PM
Adding a new feature to the split-screen: Big Map display at the bottom half of the screen!

Work in progress. I managed to get the Big Map to reduce in height by 100 pixels, plus I can bring the halved Big Map down to the bottom half of the screen. I can also get the full-screen FLIR in the upper half of the screen. And there is the Moving Map display at the top-left hand corner.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/wip_maps.png)

This is work in progress. Getting the rest of the program/code to accomodate this new feature is not so easy. Below is a video that shows you the 2 maps in action. Multitasking 16 bit x86 assembly language at work here.

https://youtu.be/LUm4XNuqjkQ
Sorry, no audio. I forgot to run FLIGHT.EXE with the sound flag/parameter.

Let's see what comes out of this.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on August 25, 2018, 05:28:31 PM
Hmmmmm,
could you split the screen vertically?
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 25, 2018, 10:03:27 PM
An interesting question! Never before attempted. Not that I know of.  I tried it and ... FAILED. Looks like halving the screen vertically is impossible.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 26, 2018, 06:14:31 PM
96. Big Map now works in Split Screen as half a Big Map - use with TV-Tab and half-screen FLIR
Mod: Split-Screen Big Map (works)
By Frankie
Description:  IMHO, one of the most neglected features of Tornado is the Big Full-Screen Map.

THE PROBLEM

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483298965832335361/unknown.png)

The ORIGINAL BIG MAP does give a wealth of information to the gamer,  BUT!
(1) the gamer has to keep the Tornado on autopilot;
(2) the gamer cannot see anything else as the map covers the entire screen;
(3) continuous prolong use of the big map may result in the gamer neglecting the safety of his plane as he does not have the pilot's front view; (4) constantly switching between Big Map view ('M' key) and the Pilot Panel ('Home' key) is not very practical. 
So in summary, the big map, in my view, has limited use.

As of Mod#95, when you are in split-screen view (F1, followed by ']' and/or '['), hitting 'M' will give you the Big Map (halved) with the Aircraft symbol smack right in the centre:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483303130390331402/unknown.png)

Major PROBLEM! The fact that you cannot see even one pixel ahead of the aircraft, renders this Map view utterly useless.

My PRIMARY problem was how to bring the centre point (the top pointed tip) of the Aircraft 'cross' symbol, down to the middle of the lower half of the screen. My SECONDARY problem was to integrate the modified Big Map into the rest of the Tornado program so that it would be seamless. My TERTIARY problem was to make this mod BUG-FREE. Not an easy thing to do.


THE SOLUTION

After much work and testing, I believe I have solved it. My solution was to resurrect the Big Map by halving its height. I then added it below the full-screen HUD. A split-screen view where the top half of the screen gives the Pilot's view and the bottom half consisting of the Big Map. So to make the Big Map useful, I have had to compromise. The loss is the shorter vertical height of the map (100 pixels versus 200 pixels of the original big map). The gain is increased gameplay made possible by the synergy of the split-screen components of the full-screen (albeit half height) FLIR , various TV-Tab and MFD (top-left of the screen) AND the Big Map (albeit half height). So I am counting on the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.


SCREENSHOTS

This is what I have done:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483304200399355906/unknown.png)
The white specks are structures (buildings) on the ground.

As you can see, NOW the centre of the Aircraft 'cross' is at the exact centre of the lower half of the screen. The position of the Aircraft 'cross' of the (halved) Big Map, the Aircraft cross of the TV-Tab Moving Map (top left of the screen) and the view looking out of the Pilot Panel 50% full-screen FLIR (top half of the screen), are perfectly synchronised.

Another screenshot. All three elements of the screen are working in unison and are in sync.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483305363890765842/unknown.png)
Multitasking assembly language. Digital Integration's Kevin Bezant and company
did a great job synchronising the 3D simulation world with the 2D map!

Another scenario. This time I am flying at night. Without the Night Vision

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483305847951458335/unknown.png)
Flying at night without the Night Vision.


MINI-TUTORIAL

Here's the sequence of keypresses to get the 2 Maps in split-screen:

(1) Hit F1 (Tracking View)
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483307780183162880/unknown.png)

(2) Hit the ']' key to go to the Split-Screen view.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483308074308993034/unknown.png)

(3) Cycle through the top-left TV-Tab display with the ']' key or '[' key until you come to the Moving Map;
(4) Hit the "M" key to activate the Big Map. It will appear at the bottom of the screen:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483308689168793601/unknown.png)

4.1 Use the "<" and ">" keys to zoom/unzoom the Big Map;
4.2 Use the Ctrl+LeftMouseClick and Ctrl+RightMouseClick to zoom/unzoom the Moving Map at the top left of the screen;
4.3 Use Alt+RightMouseClick to bring the Moving Map's Aircraft symbol to the centre of the screen.
4.4 Click anywhere on the Moving Map to create a Target "T" Waypoint;
4.5 Hit F7 to actiavate the AFDS Autopilot;
4.6 Press "T" key to fly the plane autopilot towards the "T" Waypoint.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483309689564561432/unknown.png)
In the screenshot below, the 'T' Waypoint is the crosshairs at the top-left of the screen that is touching the brown line.

Important Note:
with the Big Map visible, if you try to cycle the TV-Tab display past the 10th screen, the game will prevent you by giving a Morse-Dash sound. You won't be able to get past the 10th screen. Likewise, if you try to cycle past the first split-screen screen, you won't be able to as well. You will hear a morse-dash sound. So in other words, with the Big Map visible, I have locked the gamer into a set of 10 split-screen screens.

To unlock this mode, the gamer needs to just hit F1 (or actually any of these keys: F3, F4, F5, Weapon View 'V', and any other external view, e.g., F11 or F12)...
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483311617031798794/unknown.png)

Finally, the gamer hits the "3" key to break out of the split-screen. In the below example, the gamer when from Split-Screen with Big Map, to Split-Screen with F1 Tracking view, to full-screen Tracking View. So this is how to get into the Split-Screen with Big Map and then out of it.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483312176291905537/unknown.png)

Below is a montage that shows the various TV-Tab and MFD displays at the top left of the screen. You can mix-and match any of them with the half-screen FLIR and the half-Big Map.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/483313750007480331/unknown.png)

So this is synergy I was referring to earlier. Hope you enjoy trying this one out. I spent hours on the coding and testing. If there are any bugs, please do let me know.

Note: you cannot activate the Big Map (with the 'M' key) when in a normal full-screen like the Pilot Panel or Navigator Panel. I had to lock this down because whenever the half-screen Big Map appears on top of a full-screen (e.g., Pilot Panel), the screen layer behind it would freeze.


YOUTUBE VIDEO

Here is the Youtube video showing this mod in action.
https://youtu.be/ytXI5Lm_j44

Below is the FLIGHT.E79 executable as well as the full source code. I will be updating the code to the new Tornado Github repository at https://github.com/TornadoGame/Tornado

As always, I am attaching the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy!

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update on 28/8/2018:
Now the Moving Map, Reference Map and Big Map will all sport green flourescent colours when the game is in Night Vision mode (Shift+Tab).
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350893592082120705/483623022566178816/flight_145.png)

Update: this mod breaks the code that handles the full screen Big Map ('M' key). See Mod#97 for the solution to this dilemma.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on August 26, 2018, 06:32:29 PM
Nice work Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 26, 2018, 06:34:24 PM
Gee, thanks!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 31, 2018, 02:35:53 PM
97. Big Map now works in 3 roles - as the original Big Map ('M' key), Split-Screen half-screen and in Explore mode
Mod: Big Map restored
By Frankie
Description:  Mod#96 resulted in the Big Map being displayed in half-height. The problem with that mod was that it broke the full-sized Big Map when the user hit the 'M' key. It also broke the VERY USEFUL EXPLORE mode which is commonly used in the briefings to scout the target area and to familiarise the armchair bomber with the shape and size of the target.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/explore1.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/explore2.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/explore3.png)

The good news is that I have solved the bugs and now when you play Tornado using this modded version of FLIGHT.EXE, you can
(1) hit the "M" key when in almost all views to view the full-screen Big Map;
(2) hit the F1 key followed by "]" for a different split-screen, up to the next nine times, and each time when you hit the "M" key, you will see the half-screen Map appear at the bottom half of the screen;
(3) at the main menu, click the Sub-Menu item "Explore" and you will be able to see a full-screen Big Map where after pressing Enter, it will bring you to the Explore 3D world where you can pan forwards, backwards, speed up, slow down, pitch up or down - using keyboard or mouse;
(4) at any Advanced Mission Planner screen, click the Sub-Menu item "Explore" and you will be able pan around the 3D world of the current mission.

So in effect, I managed to modify the source code MAPVIEW.ASM and MOVEMAP.ASM so that all 4 use-cases are bug-free, and you get the maximum gaming experience when using the Big Map or Half-Screen Map in Tornado.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.

I will be adding some screenshots in this post later today.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 31, 2018, 05:07:13 PM
98. Explore mode improved
Mod: More goodies when using Explore mode
By Frankie
Description:  One of the key ingredients of Tornado is the excellent Advanced Mission Planner (AMP). Connected with the AMP is the Explore view. Tornado gamers would be wise to use the Explore View to scout out the target area and to make observations of its surroundings.

I have done these improvements to the Explore View.

(1) Hit Enter to get an instant directly-looking down view of the spot indicated by the crosshairs a screen ago.

(2) Initial view of the target area is now 1,000 feet directly above the cross-haired spot

(3) No more irritating flickering right after the Enter key is hit in (1)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MOD9_1.png)
Immediately after hitting Enter, in the stock game you had to pitch your view downloads to bear on the target.
In this mod, you are start by immediately looking directly down at the target.

(4) Up (dive) and Down (climb) arrow keys are now more intuitive

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MOD9_4.png)
You can dive down to 16 feet with the Up ArrowKey. Conversely, climb with the Down Arrow key.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MOD9_3.png)
Scanning the target area, memorising placements and detail.

(5) You can change the pitch - via the '1' and '0' keys - only within certain limits. If the pitch of the screen reaches a certain positive or negative limit, you will not be able to change the pitch

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MOD9_2.png)
View has been tilted up, but you won't be able to fill the screen with the sky!
Pitch is variable, but not a full 360%. Within limits. Use the '1' and/or '0' keys.

(6) To view the Explore Mode world in Night Vision green, hit the Shift+Tab key combination. This helps to better prepare you to visually identify the target when the mission is a night mission.


Attached is the FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 01, 2018, 08:13:16 AM
99. Shadow below the Tornado
Mod: Added shadow below the Tornado.
By Frankie
Description:  See that shadow below the Tornado in the screenshot below? It really brings out the 3D in the environment doesn't it? It gives the view an extra dimension of depth! Especially the ground. But Digital Integration's Tornado has never had a shadow. And never will unless someone modifies the code to add a variable-angled and variable-sized shadow below the Tornado. Until and unless that happens, this Mod#99 is but a mere dream. So this Mod exists only in an alternate universe. It isn't real. It's just a mock up, but it gives you an idea of WHAT COULD BE!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShadowAtLast.png)
Cruising at 200 feet above ground.
The shadow makes a BIG difference, doesn't it?

But hey, after one year and a minimum of 98 modifications to the code, I can dream can't I?

FLIGHT.EXE not attached because there is none.

I don't think I will be completing Mod#99 anytime soon. It will be  a mini-project worthy of my humble programming skills. I will, however, require all the help I can get. If you have any knowledge how to do this, please do let me know. As for Mod#100, it remains to be seen.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 02, 2018, 10:56:53 AM
99. Restored Credits screen with Polygon count meter
Mod: Credits/Polygon screen
By Frankie
Description:  Giving credit where credit is due. With a polygon count to gauge the load on the PC's CPU in case of any slowdown when running FLIGHT.EXE on a retro 286/386/486 PC. Hit "\" and hold down, brings up the credits (centre screen) and polygon count (top left screen).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod100_1.png)

Note: if you are running the modded Tornado on an old PC (286/386/486 Intel machine), you can reduce more polygons by hitting these keys:
(1) '4' key - removes the clouds;
(2) '5' key - removes the horizon's gradient;
(3) If the Moving Map is active, Ctrl+LeftClick to zoom in;
(4) If the Half-screen Map is active, hit "<" to zoom in.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod100_2.png)

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.

And that's a wrap from me. It has been a great run! This is the 100th Mod and may Digital Integration's Tornado never be the same again. In fact I think it was already awesome before August 2018, but it is truly fantabulous this September 2018. One year has gone by and many a night was spent cracking my head to crack the assembly code's secrets. All this would not have been possible without the help from many people in the community. Among whom, Kevin J Bezant's advice and tips were invaluable. Credit to TailFinn for starting this journey's first steps on 3rd August 2018 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg23262.html#msg23262)! You showed me that it was possible to compile, link and to create a brand new FLIGHT.EXE. That inspired me to try my hand at modifying the existing cryptic 16-bit assembly language code. What a journey it has been for me!  Thank you to Speedwagon for your kind words, inspiring thoughts and real-life pilot input into this project. Thank you to TomN for test piloting the modded FLIGHT.EXE and for getting me to remove trees from roads so that you can land your Tornado when no friendly runway presents itself. Thank you to ataribaby for showing interest in this project, enough to craft a mod for the Seitek analogue joystick. Thank you to mupf for getting the modded code on Github and for teaching me Githubese - how to clone, add, push and commit. May the code one day be ported to C. Thank you to everyone who joined the Tornado Discord Server (https://discord.gg/3XdsY2y), and to all who contacted me via my email and via http://www.tornado2.com (aka http://www.moodurian.com) and http://www.moodurian.com/tornado. Also to Graeme Mason for his July 2018 writeup on Tornado in Games TM Magazine. If I have left out anyone, it is because there are too many to thank.

A very special shoutout to Asid of Dogs Of War Virtual Unit for allowing me to host this Tornado modding journey and quest on the Dogs of War Virtual Unit forums (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php). Cheers Mate. You rock. Braw, Bro.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on September 02, 2018, 08:48:33 PM
100. Restored Credits screen with Polygon count meter


 :notworthy
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 09, 2018, 03:23:48 PM
100. Next Waypoint Counter with ETA solves longstanding bug
Mod: Next Waypoint ETA counter
By Frankie
Description: Mod#58 is given a MAKEOVER. More importantly, with this mod, I have finally SOLVED a LONG-STANDING and PREVIOUSLY UNSOLVED problem of the dreaded "Airfield Strike" Training Mission. The solution involves placing the ETA (Estimated Time Of Arrival) to the Next Waypoint in the format of "MM:SS Waypoint Letter" at the bottom left corner of the screen's status bar.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/488344840954707981/ETA_Waypoint.PNG)

The problem that remains unsolved since 18th May 2018 was this:  it would rear its ugly head whenever the gamer played the Training Mission "Airfield Atttack". Just as the Next Waypoint changes from "B" to "C", black vertical streaks will appear, spoiling the game! This was during the first incarnation of the visible waypoint mod. See here (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg29944.html#msg29944).

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/488346185132802048/problem_black_streaks.png)

At first I thought that this was due to too many variables being used, and too little memory left for the simulation to use. However, this was not the root cause of the black streaks. The cause of the problem was the WayPoint Letter itself! This was a very difficult problem to solve because it only appeared in that one training mission. Furthermore, using various ohers means of code modifications resulted in the Waypoint Letter getting either corrupted or appearing in the wrong colour.

Code soution shown below. This took me more than a week to solve.
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488348590025211905/CodeSolutionToNextWaypointLetterShowing2.png)

Now the black streaks no longer appear during the waypoint changeover. The screenshot below shows that the next Waypoint is C. This means that the changeover from Next Waypoint B to Next Waypoint C is, at last, glitch-free.

(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401516875571265536/488348847337111553/solution_to_black_streaks.png)

Now this latest FLIGHT.EXE makes the modded Tornado even more perfect and (hopefully) bug-free!

Note: The "Tornado Shadow" pseudo-mod doesn't quite qualify as a mod. Thus I am making the Credits mod as Mod#99 and this mod as 100th mod.

For the full list of mods, see: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.0.html
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on September 09, 2018, 04:18:57 PM
Still at it  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 10, 2018, 09:41:43 AM
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Squash bugs.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 10, 2018, 09:47:59 AM
101.    Indirect ALARM plume when diving, is recreated in Tornado1.0a source code!
Mod: Indirect ALARM fiery plume is back
By Frankie
Description: I managed to restore the flame plume of the Indirect ALARM missile. When Tornado was first released in 1993, it was the combat flight simulator with a dizzy array of weapons management and modelling features. One of the best features of Tornado's weapons modelling was the Indirect mode ALARM. However, Tornado 1.0a had a bug in that the ALARM missile, in INDIRECT mode, did not animate its flame nozzle plume when diving towards the target. Tornado 1.0e's FLIGHT.EXE had this fixed - the plume of flame was present in the ALARM's dive. I always thought this  feature was sorely missed in the modded Tornado. After all, the source code is Tornado 1.0a, the very first incarnation of Tornado.

It's a pity that the source code for the patches Tornado 1.0b through to Tornado 1.0e are not available. If they were available, then the SAM proximity sound could have been restored to the correct sound file and code. To download the patches and their readme text files, go here: http://www.gamers.org/pub/archives/cactus/hitech-sim/patches/

Coming back to solving the lack of plume bug, the solution was very simple. I simply added the code mov WPN_Mobile.MOB_ANIM, FLAME in the "ALARM dive" section. Like so:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ALARM_dive_with_plume_flame.png)
It's easy when you have the source code

Now the flame plume is restored. As seen in this sequence of ALARM indirect mode screens!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488621711424749568/ALARM_sequence_0.png)
After not detecting any radar signals from a target, an ALARM climbs and gets ready to deploy its parachute.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488622100454703104/ALARM_sequence_1.png)
Its parachute opens (deploys)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488622345511108618/ALARM_sequence_2.png)
ALARM and its parachute begins their decent to earth. All the time scanning the ground for
any faint RADAR signals from enemy AAA or SAM emplacements.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488622620984606740/ALARM_sequence_3.png)
RADAR detected! Parachute is discarded (this part is not animated).
Then the ALARM's engine reignites and a long, bright and glorious flame plume is seen this time!

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/401516875571265536/488622863230697472/ALARM_sequence_4.png)
Target microseconds from total destruction.
Death from above from Indirect mode ALARM.

It's nice to know that one of Digital Integraton's nicest features of Tornado - the Indirect mode ALARM - has been restored to its former glory in the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE file.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE for your delectation and delight.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on September 10, 2018, 12:19:44 PM
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Squash bugs.

(https://i.imgur.com/j3PYHuY.gif)   :Hammer
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on September 11, 2018, 07:36:42 PM
Interesting, you are really following the developers' footsteps!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 17, 2018, 11:07:02 AM
102. Fancier flyby for tornado with F1 and F3
Mod: Modified flyby
By Frankie
Description: The flyby view now looks nicer. Granted, you have to first hit F1, then followup with F3. Nothing spectacular when you do this ... until you hit F1 again, followed by F3. The first time you hit F1, your Tornado is shown as the normal Tracking View. The second time you hit F1, your Tornado is 800 feet away. So when you hit the F3 key the second time, you will see a nice flyby effect. And the camera angle of the flyby view is randomised for variety!

https://youtu.be/mFwNNWAMLGY

To get the effect again, hit the "F1 followed by F3" sequence as many times as you wish. If you wish to revert to the standard Tracking View where you can rotate around your Tornado, hit Ctrl+F1 instead of F1.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE executable file. Enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on September 17, 2018, 12:29:14 PM
That's a great addition Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Wexodius on September 18, 2018, 05:42:25 PM
Thanks for this mod Frankie. Appreciate the hard work done.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 18, 2018, 07:19:29 PM
Hi Wexodius. You are most welcome.
Title: Some loose ends
Post by: Frankie on September 30, 2018, 02:15:50 AM
I've had a whale of a time modifying the Tornado source code for the past one year. Unless I get a sudden rush and burst of inspiration, or an upgraded new brain cortex, I will be closing this eventful and memorable (at least for me!) chapter of my flight sim life. It's 2018 now and it's time for me to put my 1993 hat off and to look for another hat to put on. Modding Steel Beasts 1.0 looks good, but first I'll have to get the source code. Good luck with that! Alternatively, if you happen to own the source code of a DOS-based flight sim of the 1990s, and you are willing to share it with me, please do contact me.

In the meantime, I leave you, the viewer, with FOUR mini-projects to advance the Tornado project.

1. Add Shadow for Tornado plane
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ShadowAtLast.png)
See: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg31950.html#msg31950
For better depth cuing - Date of delivery unknown.

2. Modifying Tornado to run on multiple monitors
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/multiplemonitors.png)
See: http://www.tinmith.net/wayne/blog/2017/06/immersive-flight-sim-4.htm
For a more immersive experience - Date of delivery unknown.

3. Smoke trails for SAMs
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/zrk_view2.png)
So we can see the SAMs better - date of delivery unknown.

4. Multicrew Navigator+Pilot multiplayer Tornado
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/instr/PilotCockpit2crush.png)
The ultimate mod - date of delivery unknown.


These are all projects that I no longer have time to plough through. If anyone would like to try their hand at modding the source code, you are most welcome to try!

So THANK YOU, Asid and the DOWVU community, for all the support and encouragement given to me as I sought to make one of the best DOS flight simulators the best. It's been a real blast. Lastly, thank you to Kevin J. Bezant for writing the awesome 16-bit Tornado 3D engine code. His well-written and well-documented x86 ASM source code made it easy for me in many instances. He's the real genius behind Tornado. Cheers mate! I raise my pint of lager to you!


Frankie out.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/sunset.jpg)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on September 30, 2018, 02:34:33 AM
It has been an awesome trip Frankie. Your passion for this project has been obvious throughout.

I look forward to your next project and will support you as much as I can  :cheers
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 15, 2018, 07:11:33 PM
103. Enhanced flyby for tornado with just F3
Mod: Flyby re-engineered with F3 key
By Frankie
Description:  Modded Flyby view (F3 key). Previous mod required you to hit F1 before hitting F3 for a nice flyby view. Now you just need to hit F3 without F1 to get a nice(r) flyby view. When you hit F3, if the flyby is activated (in some cases it won't especially when nearing Target X or Target Y), the view will swivel so that the Tornado is oncoming. Then the view follows the Tornado as it leaves your field of vision.

https://youtu.be/6-XqhBdoAiE
Some scenes are F1 followed by F3. Most visuals, however, were the result of
just hitting F3 by itself. A Tornado-flyby innovation.

The F3 key works most of the time except for parts of a mission where it becomes a fixed view from some viewpoint way out. I haven't figured out why this is so. Still, there are enough moments in any mission where hitting F3 gives you a nice panaromic view of your Tornado sweeping by.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on October 16, 2018, 02:00:44 AM
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 26, 2018, 12:16:36 AM
Bug Fix. There was a lingering bug since Mod#97 that went unnoticed until now. If you hit the "M" (Map) key, followed by either PgDn or End, you would end up a screen crash.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/flight_224.png)

This has now been fixed. Perfecto.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 17, 2018, 09:29:32 AM
104.  A10 Wannabe
Mod: Trading plane models - Swapping the Tornado 3D model for the A-10 3D model (all other aspects unchanged)
By Frankie
Description: I thought this one out of the blue. What if it were to possible to fly the A-10 in external views instead of the usual Tornado IDS? In otherwords, fly the Tornado as usual, except that the Tornado would assume the 3D model and shape of the A10. And like-wise - to make the A10 assume the 3D model and shape of the IDS Tornado. So I decided to try it out for a lark (just for fun). Guess what? It works. Haha. See image below.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/a10pretend.PNG)
See the bottom status bar "VIEW="? It shows "TRK" which means tracking view.
So this isn't your usual DRONE view, mate!

What I did was simple. I merely swapped the IDS Tornado and A10 3D object model code. Here's what I did exactly which is (Fair)child's play.

Step 1. Open the file \TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\TORNADO1.INC using a text editor like Notepad++
Step 2. Edit the first word of the first line by changing the word Tornado1 into A10
Step 3. Open the file \TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\A10.INC
Step 4. Edit the first word of the first line by changing the word A10 into Tornado1
Step 5. Compile the ASM source file \TORNADO\VISUAL\MOBOBJ1.ASM
Step 6. Link all OBJ files by executing the command "link @main.lnk" (without apostrophes) - usually put inside a batch file like L.BAT (on my system)
Step 7. Execute FLIGHT.EXE and vola!

So what does this mean (other than having some mindless fun flying an A-10 which for all practical intents and purposes is still an IDS Tornado)? This means that which some creativity and time on one's hands (not mine!), one can redesign the simulation to be an A10 flight simulator. For that to happen (which won't, but it is still interesting to consider the possibilities), the cockpits have to be redesigned, not to mention the avionics, and everything else. But the development guys over at Falcon BMS 4.XX have already done this kinda thing, so this thought will just remain ... a thought.

Still nothing beats moving mud as a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/a10pretend2.PNG)
Letting loose a 1,000 pounder at 200 feet is not my idea of fun!


Checking on the A10 drones with F5 (Drone View) and I can see that where it usually shows an A-10 flying lazily slow at low level, I now see an IDS Tornado. So I rest my case.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/IDSpretendA10_.PNG)
Split personality planes to confuse the situation. But it's all for science, so it's okay I guess.

Haha.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on November 17, 2018, 11:35:21 AM
Thats awesome Frankie

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on November 17, 2018, 01:56:15 PM
Overwhelming! I'd wish for the Chinook "skin" :-D
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 20, 2018, 04:07:45 AM
Hi All

My long term goal is to mod the actual 3D model files in Tornado. For example, it would be nice to add more 3D points, vertices and surfaces to the Tornado 3D model which at the moment looks like this (see below).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/3dtornadoshape.png)

The 3D model is very 1993-ish. For an era when most people were running Intel 286 and 386 PCs!

The purpose of this post is to request for help with GeoGebra. If you know how to use GeoGebra, I appreciate it if you could reply to this post. I am trying to visualise the 3D Model of objects in Tornado. If I can crack the code of the 3D model files, then I stand a better chance of modding the 3D objects themselves in Tornado.

The object data files are found in inside D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS. For the time being, I trying to understand the code inside the file D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\LGB.INC. I am using a 3D Plotter software named GeoGebra. With GeoGebra, I can translate the lines 004-0031 of the code below (they refer to 28 (x,y,z) points) into plot data. This is the easy part.

;--- Start of D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\LGB.INC code

Line 001: COL_DK_GREY   EQU   8
Line 002:
Line 003: lgb      OBJECTHEADER <OBJ_SCALE16,1024,-1,1,COL_GREY4,3,5,3>
Line 004:       DB   064,072,064   ;   0
Line 005:       DB   062,070,064   ;   1
Line 006:       DB   066,070,064   ;   2
Line 007:       DB   064,074,064   ;   3
Line 008:       DB   062,066,064   ;   4
Line 009:       DB   066,066,064   ;   5
Line 010:       DB   066,056,064   ;   6
Line 011:       DB   062,056,064   ;   7
Line 012:       DB   070,060,064   ;   8
Line 013:       DB   058,060,064   ;   9
Line 014:       DB   064,070,066   ;  10
Line 015:       DB   064,070,062   ;  11
Line 016:       DB   064,066,062   ;  12
Line 017:       DB   064,066,066   ;  13
Line 018:       DB   064,056,066   ;  14
Line 019:       DB   064,056,062   ;  15
Line 020:       DB   064,060,058   ;  16
Line 021:       DB   064,060,070   ;  17
Line 022:       DB   064,058,064   ;  18
Line 023:       DB   066,060,064   ;  19
Line 024:       DB   064,060,066   ;  20
Line 025:       DB   062,060,064   ;  21
Line 026:       DB   064,060,062   ;  22
Line 027:       DB   064,062,066   ;  23
Line 028:       DB   066,062,064   ;  24
Line 029:       DB   064,062,062   ;  25
Line 030:       DB   062,062,064   ;  26
Line 031:       DB   064,056,064   ;  27   
Line 032:       DB   -1
Line 033:
Line 034:       DW   OFFSET   lgb_1
Line 035:
Line 036:       EVEN
Line 037:
Line 038: lgb_1      DW   74
Line 039:
Line 040:       
Line 040: LGB_0      LABEL   BYTE
Line 041:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,00,04,02,-1   ; face 1
Line 042:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,20,00,22,-1   ; face 8
Line 043:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,26,08,24,10,-1   ; face 14
Line 044:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,36,34,32,-1   ; face 11
Line 045:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,36,18,16,-1   ; face 11
Line 046:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,28,40,44,30,-1   ; face 8
Line 047:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,50,54,46,26,06,24,-1   ; face 8
Line 048:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,48,54,52,08,06,10,-1   ; face 8
Line 049:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,14,42,38,12,-1   ; face 9
Line 050:       DB   -1
Line 051:
Line 052:       EVEN

;--- End of D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\LGB.INC code

Here's what the LBG1000 looks like in the game:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/lgb1000.png)

https://youtu.be/KuBDAWWCXno
As you can see, after plotting the 3D points in GeoGebra, the object clearly resembles the LGB1000 laser guided bomb.
In this video, I also MANUALLY create some polygon surfaces.

It is the section of lines 041-049 of the LGB.INC code above, referring to faces (polygons?), that I do not know how to convert the code into GeoGebra code. Reproduced below again:


Line 040: LGB_0      LABEL   BYTE
Line 041:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,00,04,02,-1   ; face 1
Line 042:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,20,00,22,-1   ; face 8
Line 043:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,26,08,24,10,-1   ; face 14
Line 044:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,36,34,32,-1   ; face 11
Line 045:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,36,18,16,-1   ; face 11
Line 046:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,28,40,44,30,-1   ; face 8
Line 047:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,50,54,46,26,06,24,-1   ; face 8
Line 048:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,48,54,52,08,06,10,-1   ; face 8
Line 049:       DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,14,42,38,12,-1   ; face 9
Line 050:       DB   -1
Line 051:
Line 052:       EVEN


If you can shed any light on how to translate lines 41 to 49 of LGB.INC into GeoGebra code, I would be most grateful. I am also attaching the Geogebra export file used in the Youtube video, as well as the original LGB.INC file from Tornado 1.0. I am not sure where this road will lead to, but it's worth a shot.

Cheers and regards
Frankie Kam

UPDATE 4th December 2018
I've got it now. Here's how it works.
DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,00,04,02,-1   ; face 1
means Face1 is made up of these three Vertices: Vertice0, Vertice2 and Vertice1. Notice that the values between the COL_GREY4 and -1 are made up of even values. Those even values are always the VerticeNum multiplied by 2. So the "00,04,02,-1   ; face 1[/size][/font] refers to Vertice2.

      DB   064,072,064   ;   Vertice0
      DB   062,070,064   ;   Vertice1
      DB   066,070,064   ;   Vertice2


and DB   00Ch,COL_GREY4,COL_GREY4,14,42,38,12,-1   ; face 9
means that Face9 is made up of Vertice7, Vertice21, Vertice19 and Vertice6. The values are the vertex number * 2. Effectively the index value for the look-up table. Saves doing the * 2 in code.

The polygons are always clockwise in their vertex order. If you were looking straight-on at a polygon, the vertices would be clockwise.
Many thanks to Kevin J Bezant for this information. Now this makes sense to me.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 25, 2018, 05:38:23 PM
105.  Tracer Colour
Mod: Tracer colour variety to distinguish Tornado Mauser cannon rounds from enemy AAA rounds
By Frankie
Description: By default, the game's Mauser cannon shots and enemy AAA are the same colour - yellow. This is especially confusing when performing a head-on cannon attack against enemy AAA. Every cannon shot fired from the Tornado or from the enemy AAA is yellow. So when the action gets furious, all rounds are a yellow mass of pixels.

So this time I decided to mix up the colours for variety and gameplay sake. I edited the source code D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\TRACER.INC.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TracerColour.png)
Enemy AAA is at my One O'Clock, firing at my aircraft. I have just fired my Tornado's Mauser cannons.
Hence for the criss-cross of light blue (cyan) streak of tracer rounds against the yellow-red AAA rounds whizzing in front of me.

Now the rounds fired from the Tornado are a mixture of white and cyan. The rounds fired off by enemy AAA is a mixture of yellow and red. Both to simulate tracer rounds. This effect is a matter of taste. You may perhaps wish for a more realistic colour mix, but now, visually, I can more easily distinguish between friendly and enemy tracer rounds. These colours work well for dusk and night missions. Less so for daytime missions.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 04, 2018, 03:08:40 AM
Update on my modelling Tornado sub-project. 4th December 2018.

I downloaded and installed a trial version of Matlab software. I also downloaded this exercise: https://www.engr.mun.ca/~oscar/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1A_Matlab-Introductory-Exercise.pdf

Using the attached MATLAB file script, I managed to auto-generate a wire-frame and 3D shaded model of a cube.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/matlab1.png)

All I need to do now is to modify the script to input and generate the wire-frame and 3D shaded models of Tornado's INC files. E.g., LGB1000, TornadoIDS INC files. The next step after that is to add more vertices and faces to the models.

The world's my oyster. Stay tuned.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Danjuro on December 16, 2018, 01:04:09 AM
Greetings,

I am new to Tornado. I wasn't blessed with a PC back in those days and I am busy catching up all the wonderful flight sims of yore. Your site made Tornado one of the three I have been dedicating my energy too and led me here. I have yet to learn a lot of the ropes (identifying targets properly is so hard!), but I am astounded by all the work you put in this modification project.

Cheers and best wishes!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on December 16, 2018, 01:20:43 AM
 :Welcome to the forum Danjuro

Frankie has done an incredible amount of work with Tornado. He is very passionate about it  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Stricken.png)
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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/death01.png)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LargePLN.png)

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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-01.png)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-02.png)
Wingman 1 is approaching the target (ingress).
He is ingressing from the north-west.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-03.png)
Wingman 2 is closing in for the kill...
...he is ingressing from the south.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-04.png)
Wingman 3 has just hit a target on the runaway with 1,000lb retarded bombs!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-05.png)
Wingman 4 has exited the target area and is making for base with all engines firing.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RefMapWaypoint-06.png)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on January 06, 2019, 06:53:48 PM
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tornado_low_level_5209639354_182af0a5b9_z.jpg)
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! (https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/25/world/war-in-the-gulf-raf-british-pilots-risky-mission-low-level-raids-on-airfields.html) 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 (http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/tor/mods/t_ride_p.zip). 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Ride01b.png)
The modified AVIONICS.ASM file.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Ride01c.png)
The modified AIRCRAFT.ASM file.

There are a few things to be careful of:

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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Ride02.png)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Ride03.png)
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.

https://youtu.be/Ya9eNCbdcp4
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 (http://www.gamers.org/pub/archives/cactus/hitech-sim/programs/tornado/ttc10.zip).

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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid 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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 20, 2019, 11:04:40 AM
Thanks for the encouragement Asid!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 21, 2019, 09:41:32 AM
110.  Pryotechnics
Mod: Adding fire effects
By Frankie

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/PICTURE_readers_digest_header.jpg)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Burning0.PNG)
A SAM explodes behind the Tornado. Notice the yellow pixels surrounded by the gray pixels to the right of the image?


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Burning1.PNG)
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.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Burning2b.PNG)
The Tornado is dead. Hurtles to the ground, moments from impact. A dramatic scene.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Burning3.PNG)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/BurningCode1.PNG)
I created a variant of RND_SMOKE_COL macro, named RND_SMOKE_FIRE_COL. The variant has the red colour constant.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/BurningCode2.PNG)
In the InitGnd1 procedure, if the Tornado is destroyed and smoke is generated on the ground, make the initial smoke red.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/BurningCode3.PNG)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/various_fires.png)
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.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on January 21, 2019, 02:05:17 PM
The visual flames adds a lot to the immersion  :fire

Nice  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rushoftrees.png)
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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on January 29, 2019, 08:01:00 PM
Nice one Frankie  :thumbsup


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/21/45/9f21451e862aae5a72bb18a0518750f8.jpg)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 30, 2019, 11:47:24 PM
Hi.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TornadoLowLevelMachLoop.jpg)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/TornadoLowLevelTreeModMashup.png)
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.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MoreTreesWow.png)
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
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon 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!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie 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! :-)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 01, 2019, 03:03:53 AM
Just clear a path with the Mauser on short final for landing.   :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on February 01, 2019, 08:29:28 AM
So far great mods!

However, the IR-Missile-threat-deactivated-when-no-fuel-left - cheat still is active ;-)

Frankie, I've got a task for you to modify something shown in the HUD.
It's only visible while in air-radar-mode when you lock onto an enemy CAP-fighter (which is above 10000 feet). It may be confsing for fresh gamers and is still irritating for other sim-players like me.

Some pictures and speed examples:
when you lock onto the Mi-24 "Hind" it shows a speed of 160 (kn IAS = indicated air speed)
when you lock onto those 2 planes around allied airfield "A" in free flight mode of the Simulator Missions,
 it shows a speed of 221 (knots IAS)
when you lock onto the enemy AWACS at around 36000 feet it shows a speed of 240 knots IAS

NOW: when you get that "AC" alarm on your radar warning receiver (RWR) on the right side above of your engine readings and you lock onto that CAP-fighter changing course and increasing speed
your heart might drop, because the speed shown is above 400 (?) and steady-blitz-like increases to MORE THAN 900 (?).

The "?" must be the mach numbers of true air speed, because that enemy fighter otherwise would lick the Tornado nose in about a second you locked onto that one.
So all CAPable air-to-air-fighters (3 types) are speed indicator faulty, somehow.

So the holy quest would be: Can you modify that one?
It's so out of order, but still works oddly ;-)


The autopilot height modification is a huge feat, really!!!
You did one of the best mods there!

(Notice that your e-scope alert lamp at the bottom left corner of the terrain following radar screen permanently flashes at the two lowest height settings now at level flight alone; that alert lamp shows autopilot selfshuttingdown sequence about to initiate, because of overwhelming flight conditions, the autopilot then would be pull up the Tornado's nose in a last effort before selfcancelling, you get that situation when flying fast and low above really rocky terrain)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 01, 2019, 02:42:56 PM
111.  Improved status bar with informative autopilot code.
Mod: I reformatted the bottom status bar and made it more informative, especially when the gamer is in the external views.
By Frankie

Description: The bottom status bar now sports a redesigned text look. It also has autopilot mode information built in. The main reason I created this mod is because when I am in an external view (Tracking View, Reverse View, Fly-By View, Spectator View), I usually forget which Autopilot mode has been enabled. So rather than having to hit the Home or PgUp keys to see which Autopilot mode I am currently engaged, now when I am in an external mode, a letter code gives me the information I need.

Here is my take on the new status bar:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ImprovedStatusBar.png)

When the True Radar Altitude (TRA, see appendix) value dips below 5,000 feet, the color changes from cyan to red. This is already in vanilla Tornado. What is different in this mod is I have appended an Autopilot Mode letter code to the TRA.

The altitude value is preceded by a single letter code. The letter represents the Autopilot mode.
LetterAutopilot mode
MAutopilot off (manual)
ASpeed/height Acquired mode
TTrack mode
RTerrain Following Radar (ride) mode

I have also respaced and reworded most of the text along the status bar. I have uploaded two versions of the FLIGHT.EXE. One with the tree mod built-in (FLIGHTT.EXE) and another without the extra trees frills (FLIGHT.EXE). Both files are inside the attached FLIGHT.ZIP file.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX
the True Radar Altitude can be measured using a radar altimeter (or "absolute altimeter"). Also referred to as "radar height" or feet/metres above ground level (AGL). True altitude is the actual elevation above mean sea level. It is indicated altitude corrected for non-standard temperature and pressure. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 01, 2019, 11:41:33 PM
Frankie, nice ideas for improving the status bar. You’re really on to something good here. Just took it for a test flight.

Observations:

1. There is major "gotcha" that needs attention (see suggestions below). To see it, set up the autopilot to track (F7) to any waypoint and terrain follow (F9) at any ride height. The first "Free Flight (Airborne)" simulator mission is perfect for this. Hit F1 for Track view and note the ALT and TFR readouts. Now press F9 again, simulating this happens by accident in the heat of battle. This will change the altitude hold to ACQR (acquired). However in Track view nothing changes in the status bar to indicate that terrain following is no longer active. We’re in for a nasty surprise when we get to the next hill.

2. The term “True Radar Altitude” in your graphic is a bit confusing since the ALT readout serves two purposes. The readout is barometric altitude while we are flying 5000 feet or more above sea level. Below that altitude the readout switches to radar altitude above the ground.

3. It’s also important to distinguish that ALT is an actual readout of altitude (barometric or radar) whereas TFR is only a display of selected Ride Height and not an actual readout of radar altitude.

Suggestions:

1. To emphasize #3 above, change TFR= to RIDE=. And the RIDE readout should be active only when the autopilot is terrain following. Otherwise the readout should say OFF to highlight that TF is not engaged. (If OFF is not possible then perhaps 0000 or ----.)

2. To emphasize the autopilot mode remove it from the ALT readout and create a dedicated readout for it: AP=. I’d suggest putting it between the ALT and RIDE readouts so it’s front and center on the status bar. The options could closely match those shown on the MFD and also color coded:

TRK - autopilot is tracking to waypoint
A/H - autopilot is holding altitude and heading (altitude can be barometric or radar)
OFF - pilot is manually flying

Note that I’ve left out terrain following as a mode for two reasons. First, it’s status would be more properly displayed by the RIDE readout. Second, terrain following is somewhat of a submode since it can be active in both TRK and A/H modes of the autopilot.

3. To free up characters for these changes I’d suggest:

   a. Eliminate ^ symbol for ALT and TFR
   b. Eliminate ^/M symbol for VSI
   c. Shorten the SPD unit to KT
   d. Shorten the FL unit to LB
   e. Shorten the VSI readout to five digits

4. Since I can visually see the roll angle several ways in Track view I don’t see the value of the RL readout. I’ll put in a vote to restore this to a heading readout instead.

More feedback if I think of anything else.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 02, 2019, 01:40:05 AM
Working on it. Tinkering away....Tinker. Tailor. Soldier. Spy.

WIP1.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/WIP-01b.png)
VSI readout reduced to 5 digits (check!), KT (check!), LB (check!) and RIDE label used (check!)

More soon.

SPECIFICATIONS CHECKLIST (Green means done!)

1. Terrain Following status to be displayed by the RIDE readout.
   1.1. Change TFR= to RIDE=
   1.2. RIDE readout should be active only when the autopilot is terrain following
   1.3. RIDE readout should say OFF (or 0000) if TF is not engaged
   1.4. When Terrain Following is active in either TRK and A/H modes, colour code the readout

2. Autopilot Mode
   2.1. Remove Autopilot Mode code  from the ALT readout
   2.2. Create a dedicated Autopilot Mode readout AP= positioned between the ALT and RIDE readouts
   2.3. AP= values:
          2.3.1 TRK - autopilot is tracking to waypoint
          2.3.2 A/H - autopilot is holding altitude and heading (altitude can be barometric or radar)
          2.3.3 OFF - pilot is manually flying
          2.3.4 AP = values to be colour coded

3. To free up characters for the status bar,
   3.1. Eliminate ^ symbol for ALT and TFR
   3.2. Eliminate ^/M symbol for VSI
   3.3. Shorten the SPD unit to KT
   3.4. Shorten the FL unit to LB
   3.5. Shorten the VSI readout to five digits
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 02, 2019, 05:16:24 AM
Tinkering away...nice one!

Looking good mate. Geez you work fast.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 02, 2019, 08:48:52 AM
Hi Speedwagon

Prototype. Still a bit buggy. But the idea is there. I couldn't do the "show RIDE value only when TFR is enabled" thingy as it was quite complicated, but this FLIGHT.EXE will act as a good discussion and testing point. See attached FLIGHT.EXE. I am also attaching the EXTRNPAN.ASM source file as a record. It is the main file that controls the way the status bar looks and works.

Update (5 hours after my post above)
More progress. The hardest part is dealing with the F9 key which, when the Tornado is already in Track Acquire mode (F7), toggle between ALT_ACQUIRE and ALT_TF! This is the submode which you mentioned. Tinkering away.....

Update again (20 minutes after my previous update)
I managed to solve the submodes toggle between ALT_ACQUIRE and ALT_TF when F9 key is pressed, whilst in Track Acquire mode (F7)! I am attaching the latest EXTRNPAN.ASM source file for the record.

The latest FLIGHT.EXE is also attached as always. Please see the attached file FLIGHT.ZIP which contains:
1. Latest FLIGHTT.EXE with trees mod - caveat: the tree mod causes your Tornado to flicker at times.
2. Latest FLIGHT.EXE with vanilla (standard) trees - i.e., without the tree mod, and with NO any flicker problems

Prepare to be have your socks knocked off.

Yet another update (an hour after my last update)!
I managed to solve the colour coding of the various Autopilot Modes.

I am uploading the latest FLIGHT.EXE and FLIGHTT.EXE files. Please see the attached zip file named FLIGHT_AP_COLOR_CODED2.zip. I hope you have coloured socks in your wardrobe because I guarantee you that YOUR SOCKS WILL BE KNOCKED OFF!

Regards
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX
How to test this Status Bar mod:
1. Once you are in the Pilot cockpit, hit F1 to go to external Tracking View.
2. Hit the "[" key twice - you should see the "AFDS THROT" MFD at the top left of your screen.
3. Play around the Esc, F6, F7, F8 and F9 keys. Observe the "AFDS THROT" MFD and your bottun status bar. They should synchronise!
4. Hit F7, F8, F9 and then reverse the order with F8, F7.
5. Play around with Track submodes by first hitting F7, followed by F9 repeatedly - you should toggle between "A&H" and "TFR".
6. Try the Approach autopilot! When you are approaching the landing beam of a runway, hit the F6 key.

Have fun!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 02, 2019, 04:20:28 PM
Hi Frankie,

Yup, the socks are off…wow. First thing I notice is how clean the status bar looks. Very easy to read.

I really like the “toggle” you’ve created between RIDE= and ACQR= depending upon the autopilot mode! Makes this readout even more valuable since it now shows the desired altitude for both conditions. And it removes the need to color code RED when terrain following is OFF (unless you think we could/should). An elegant design solution for a complicated coding challenge. Well done!

I realize this is still in prototype so I’m just noting here that:

* The SPD readout appears to be inoperable
* When the autopilot is in TRACK mode the AP readout doesn’t show TRK

Discovered something interesting about the F9 key. When the autopilot is in TRACK mode you can switch terrain following ON and OFF with F9. However in ALT/HDG mode you can only use F9 to switch terrain following ON. If you want to switch back to ACQR you have to use F8. A safety lockout of sorts I guess. This appears to be an original design feature of the game that I never knew before.

Thanks for all your time doing this, Frankie. You do an amazing job of not only incorporating these kinds of ideas but finding ways to make them even better. Your improvements to the status bar are increasing the power of all the external views. Bravo!

Aloha,
SW
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 02, 2019, 04:37:45 PM
Just read your last update...thanks for the PM. The Techs are loading the new s/w now and we should be in the air shortly...
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 02, 2019, 04:44:19 PM
Hi SpeedWagon

Thanks for taking the time to test this! ;-)

>* The SPD readout appears to be inoperable
>* When the autopilot is in TRACK mode the AP readout doesn’t show TRK
>

The SPD readout now works. Previously I used it to show the AUTO_MODE values. So when you hit the F7, F8 and F9 keys, the SPD readout would show 2, 4, 8 (something like that) which are the indices of the three autopilot modes. Yes, right after I uploaded the first prototype, I realised that the TRK wasn't displaying. Now solved. The executable you were testing was most probably the first FLIGHT.EXE that I uploaded. It has been replaced about 4 to 5 times since then. The current (latest) FLIGHT.EXE and FLIGHTT.EXE files that reside inside the uploaded FLIGHT_AP_COLOR_CODED2.zip now work fine.

I never understood about the submodes thingy until I tested the FLIGHT.EXE. Lo and behold, when in Track Autpiot, hittin F9 toggles between the Acquired Autopilot and the Terrain Following Radar Autopilot! I never knew that, and now I see it visually.

As for the ROL (roll) readout, it was a feature requested by TomN who specialises in landing the Tornado on roads, zero fuel as in a glider would land and in extreme crosswinds. He needed the roll degree readout so that (I think), he could make fine banking adjustments even if the Tornado was zoomed way far out from his view. So for now, I think the ROL readout is functional and can remain.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 02, 2019, 05:20:27 PM
112.  Enhanced status bar with Autopilot data for external views
Mod: The status bar is now embedded with autopilot state/status feedback
By Frankie

Description: This improves status bar gives the gamer visual feedback of FIVE autopilot modes whilst in external view.
AUTO_OFF-Off (Manual)
AUTO_APPROACH-Approach (Auto-Land)
AUTO_TRACK-Track Acquire (fly to next waypoint)
AUTO_HOLD-altitude and heading hold
AUTO_TF-Terrain Follow

So now you can enjoy the external views more and need not switch to the cockpit view so often. Here's what the mod has given to the Tornado simulation.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap00.png)
Autopilot is off. On manual flying. Not for the faint of heart!


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap01.png)
Track Autopilot with altitude and heading acquired submode.
AP=TRK and ACQR=1000 means the Tonka will fly automatically at fixed altitude as it tracks the flight path.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap02.png)
Track Autopilot with Terrain Following Radar (Ride) submode.
AP=TRK means the Tonka will twist and turn its way as it follows its flight path automatically.
RIDE=200 means the Tonka is skimming the earth at a height of 200 feet above ground.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap03.png)
Track Autopilot with Terrain Following Radar (Ride) submode.
AP=TFR and RIDE=200 means the Tonka is at a constant heading, and riding the earth at 200 feet above ground.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap04.png)
Acquired Altitude and Heading autopilot.
AP=A/H and ACQR=3000 means the Tonka is flying in a constant heading, and at height of 300 feet above ground.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ap05.png)
AP=APR and ALT=AUTO means the Tonka is on landing Approach Autopilot mode.
Its angle of descent follows the glideslope provided the glidescope crosshairs are properly aligned.


Enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 03, 2019, 02:52:25 AM
The info you've added to these exterior views is just amazing. One of your best mods yet. Opens up a whole new way to play Tornado. Well done.

The ALT readout is perfect -- all digits in blue 5000 ft and above sea level, below that switching to amber with prefix R for radar altitude above ground. I sent you an email with some additional ideas to tweak display of autopilot as well as autothrottle status. Adding AP=APR and ALT=AUTO for landing is excellent. I did find one bug in this mode -- details also in the email.

No worries on the RL readout. Just putting in my two cents. I need to try some of TomN's landings so I can put it to good use!

And you were about ready to head off into the sunset...LOL

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on February 03, 2019, 05:34:13 PM
Okay, here some numbers about the speeds, testing it in the ADV-Tornado CAP-fighter, but first for the enemy:

In a video flying a 12minute campaign struggling with 3 enemy CAP interceptors, there is this situation at 6:08 --> an enemy fighter accelerates from 510 kts (that's already mach 1.0 !!! ) to 650 kts at an average height of 15000ft in just 10 seconds

(615kts is the brim for reaching 1.3 mach; 675kts is the threshold to 1.4 mach in that height, roundabout --  that aforementioned leaping from a cozy speed of 500 kts to over 800 kts might be displayed in lower heights for IAS "behavior" is that way, higher numbers (just IAS, not mach or true airspeed) to reach nearer to the ground)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fi2OO7imu4&t=1s

The Tornado ADV (10 missiles, 11000 lbs of fuel) under same circumstances starting with mach 1.0 / 510 kts at 15000ft speeding up for 10 seconds ends at barely 560 kts.

Same condition (510 kts, 15000ft height, 10 seconds aceleration) but jettisoned everything except 1000 lbs of fuel gets the Tornado to a speed of 570 kts with roughly 250 lbs fuel left ;-) .

Are the engines of the Tornado really that weak compared to MiG-31s, Su-27s?

Data:
Su-27 thrust power 2x 122.5 kN, at average weight of ca. 25000 kg
MiG-31 thrust power 2x 152 kN at average weight of maybe 30000kg

-- Tornado ADV thrust power 2x 73kN at an average weight of maybe 20000kg --

So, oh, uhm, might be all right, I'm a bit baffled there about the acceleration weakness of the Tornado then.
Those awe-inspiring feats of the sowjet interceptors might be very true, now having collected all that data. I'm sorry for the bothering,
but it seemed always so out of fairness, facing enemy interceptors that can get aggressive and ready to just leap in your face in an instant.

Quest cancelled :-(,
or maybe you modify speed indications to be more precise (mach numbers with more digits in HUD, toggle speed display there with "alt"+"H")
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 03, 2019, 06:07:23 PM
Hi TomN

Specifications (Su-27SK) Maximum speed: At altitude: Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h, 1,550 mph) At sea level: Mach 1.13 (1,400 km/h, 870 mph). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-27

The MiG-25's speed was limited to Mach 2.83, but it could reach a maximum speed of Mach 3.2 or more with the risk of engine damage. ... The MiG-31 airframe comprises 49% arc-welded nickel steel, 33% light metal alloy, 16% titanium and 2% composites.[30] Its D30-F6 jet engines, each rated at 152 kN thrust, allow a maximum speed of Mach 1.23 at low altitude. High-altitude speed is temperature-redlined to Mach 2.83 – the thrust-to-drag ratio is sufficient for speeds in excess of Mach 3, but such speeds pose unacceptable hazards to engine and airframe life in routine use. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-31

Hope this helps. The Tornado IDS is the meat of DI's simulation. The Tornado ADV missions are also fun and a welcome change from the mud-moving ones, but the Tornado ADV manuevers like a pig when it comes to Air To Air combat.

Frankie
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on February 03, 2019, 06:26:46 PM
So that's it then,

either flying low in the mud through all the AAAs and SAMs (in the books there were loads of more AAA sites and tanks and Iraqi airfields, the amounts of SAMs and AAAs need to be doubled at least in this game! (next mod quest ^^) )

or flying high to grab a companion/ witness (enemy CAP fighter).

Dive bombing is REALLY accurate, while LOFT bombing certainly is not at all,
I'm not aware of how close together those aircraft shelters for the 8 would-be-scattering general purpose bombs were.

It's also a "wow" about those Su and MiG speeds, they really CAN outwit a missile by flying high speed turns to make missiles' steering crazy.

There never was a warning label on the CD about superior enemy aircrafts, incoming within half a minute.
Just:
"Fly with your Navigator at day and at night several missions. Drop laserguided bombs, which grant high accuracy. Try staying on top against all enemies. Though caution: enemy interceptor at 12 o'clock."
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 04, 2019, 03:59:00 AM
Hi Tom,

I watched your video and see what you mean about the acceleration rates shown by the RASH readouts on the HUD. You're asking some very interesting performance questions. Since DI has always done a sterling job with flight modelling I'm really curious about the accuracy of those used for enemy aircraft in Tornado.

Obviously many factors influence acceleration rates but a good place to start is a comparison of thrust-to-weight ratios (that is, engine thrust / aircraft weight). Here are some references I've been exploring:

Short primer from NASA: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/fwrat.html

List of thrust-to-weight ratios: https://world-defense.com/threads/thrust-to-weight-ratios-of-all-fighter-planes.1316/

Higher thrust-to-weight ratios equal higher acceleration and climb rates. Ratios greater than 1.0 allow vertical climbs. Here is a comparison of fighter/interceptors modeled in the game (number in parentheses is percentage above F3 ADV value):

Mig-31M    1.30    (+56%)
Su-27S      1.26    (+52%)
Mig-29M    1.19    (+43%)
F3 ADV      0.83

Clearly the F3 is at a serious disadvantage right out of the gate. This has always been acknowledged by the designers and overcome by aircrews using good tactics with multiple aircraft. Unfortunately in the game we are always fighting solo in the ADV so our tactics are somewhat limited.

In addition to this ratio the aerodynamic design of each aircraft is a major factor as to how quickly it can be maneuvered to an advantage. Maximum speeds, G-loads, rate-of-climb, turn rates, and service ceiling are just some of the items to consider. Some good info here (use Search button for aircraft thumbnails):

Aircraft info: https://www.fighter-planes.com/

I realize this doesn't directly answer your questions, such as "can any of these aircraft accelerate in straight-and-level flight from 510 KIAS to 650 KIAS in 10 seconds at 15,000 feet"? We'll most likely need some math for that. I'm going to see what I can find along those lines next.

Cheers,
SW

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 04, 2019, 06:32:28 AM
Hi Tom,

OK, here's my attempt at a rudimentary start with help from Sir Newton: https://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Acceleration

1. First we'll calculate average acceleration of the aircraft you had locked up on the radar:

∆v / ∆t = a

(650 kts - 510 kts) / 10 sec = (334 m/s - 262 m/s) / 10 sec = (72 m/s) / 10 sec = 7.2 m/s/s

2. Next we'll calculate the acceleration capability of each aircraft using the data you provided in your post:

F / m = a

             Thrust       Weight
Su-27    245 kN  /  25000 kg =   9.8 m/s/s

Mig-31   304 kN  /  30000 kg = 10.1 m/s/s

F3 ADV  146 kN  /  20000 kg =   7.3 m/s/s

3. By these figures it appears that even the F3 can pull off that kind of acceleration. However, that's not what you saw in the game:

∆v / ∆t = a

(560 kts - 510 kts) / 10 sec = (288 m/s - 262 m/s) / 10 sec = (26 m/s) / 10 sec = 2.6 m/s/s

4. Seems that calculating acceleration over time is not that simple, due to factors like excess thrust, fuel burn and increased drag, as detailed here: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/exthrst.html

"If the excess thrust and the mass remain constant, the basic equation of motion can be easily solved for the velocity and displacement as a function of time. This equation can be used only if the force (and the acceleration) are constant. Unfortunately for aircraft, drag is a function of the square of the velocity. So we can assume a constant force for only a very small amount of time. To solve the actual equations of motion for an aircraft, we must use calculus and integrate the equations of motion, either analytically or numerically."

Without getting into equations with calculus, do our simple calculations in step 2 hint at enough "excess thrust" for the Su-27 and Mig-31 to accelerate as you saw in the game? We still don't have direct answers but perhaps we're a step closer?

Regards,
SW
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 04, 2019, 06:56:03 AM
113.  Power Status Bar
Mod: The status bar is now multifunctional, gives better avionics awareness in external views, and is suited for both day and night missions. Formatting has been improved and the text displayed is consistent with the in-game's AFDS MFD data terminology.
By Frankie

Here is the Chinese New Year 2019 Tornado mod! It's the eve of the Lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year), which means a family reunion in a couple of hours! I am releasing this ENHANCEMENT to all Tornado aficionados for testing purposes. This mod will give you more avionics data at your fingertips, especially when you spend lots of time in the external modes. Either enjoying the scenery, hunting down enemy vehicles, or evading SAM and AAA.

Here are some screenshots to whet your appetite.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cny01.png)
Informative Power Status Bar with data at the Tornado gamer's disposal.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cny02.png)
Night time? The colours change from day colours to night colours to accomodate easy reading.

This mod has the following enhancements (too many to list down, but SpeedWagon knows what it is all about):

1. Enhanced status bar, christened the Power Status Bar, that shows the statuses and visual feedback of
    a. Autopilot modes (F6, F7, F8, F9)
    b. Autothrottle modes (F10)
2. Power Status Bar is colour-enabled for Day and Night for easy viewing of data
3. Power Status Bar appears in ALL external views for additional information awareness of avionics

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cny03.png)
NVG screen with the Power Status Bar.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/cny04.png)
Power Status Bar is available in ALL full-screen modes of Tornado (TIALD full-screen view is shown).

I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE - 593 KB (607,488 bytes).

Test and enjoy!
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 04, 2019, 07:27:35 PM
This is an improvement of Mod#113. This version's code is MUCH smaller and its EXTRNPAN.ASM code is more elegant and optimised.

IMPROVEMENT OF MOD#113 SCREENSHOTS
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/optimised1.png)
Day screenshot.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/optimised2.png)
Night screenshot.

The Power Status Bar is best experienced by playing the Tornado simulation with a 19' or 21' or more sized monitor.

This improvement over Mod113 uses a built in palette convertor to change some of the bar's colours from day time to night time colors. However most of the colours from Mod#113 are brought over to the improvement code. The main difference is the code of the improvement is vastly smaller and easier to maintain over time. The FLIGHT.EXE and EXTRNPAN.ASM files are in the attachment section of this post.

Compare the 2 sets of screenshots with Mod#13 below.

MOD#113 SCREENSHOTS
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/manualCodeLessElegant1BlueBar.png)
Day screenshot from Mod113

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/manualCodeLessElegant1BlueBar2.png)
Night screenshot from Mod113.

Mod113 sports a nice RAF-type blue status bar. Unfortunately I am not able to make the auto-conversion of Day time colours into night time colours to replicate the color scheme of Mod113's status bar.

The source code of Mod113 is very convoluted and complicated, making it very difficult to make changes in future. I created data structures just to handle the night colour scheme of its status bar, only to realise later that Matt Smith and Kevin Bezant had an elegant solution to changing the day colors into night automatically. So the EXTRNPAN.ASM file of Mod113 is bloated and, in my opinion, poorly coded. The FLIGHT.EXE and EXTRNPAN.ASM files of Mod#113 are in the attachment section of my previous post.

Have a great day.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Tom N on February 04, 2019, 08:55:50 PM
Thank you very much, Speedwagon!
You provided the basic formulas, very well, very good!

But for v/t we need SI-units
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units
4th EDIT --> sorry, I realized too late, that you already did the right thing about using m/s values, just used IAS instead of TAS.

factor for mach 1 = 1235km/h = 343m/s (I used the google search line for those calculations)
and i used (just now EDIT 3rd and last ^^) a true airspeed calculator
( http://www.csgnetwork.com/tasinfocalc.html )
to calculate 650 kts IAS into 845 kts TAS and 510 kts IAS into 663 kts TAS
so it is not 650 knots - 510 knots, rather (1565km/h[435m/s] - 1228km/h[341m/s])  / 10s
= 94/10 (m/(s*s)) = ~ 9,4 m/(s^2) [2nd EDIT: that's nearly the value of earth's gravitational acceleration, holy s#&§ !]

and 304'000N for the Mig-31 with 30000kg ==> 304000 kg*m(/s^2) / 30000kg (result is correct)

I suggest we move this to a special thread (called "technical data and numbers" or similar) to keep this thread clear to Frankie's update announcements.

The data (already) collected might be useful for finding (editing) these lines in the code again
[EDIT 1st: IF necessary at all]

this includes the early posts by me:
- times to use up fuel from 10720 lbs to 0 lbs for 100% engine use + afterburners, then for 100% engine
thrust only , then for 63% idle thrust
- time intervals the SAM launches missiles at you while using ECM and without ECM
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Speedwagon on February 04, 2019, 11:54:43 PM
Hello gents!

Frankie: Before I forget to say it -- Happy Chinese New Year! I hope you have (or had if I'm too late) a great celebration with your family. Can't wait to fire up the improved Mod #113. You can be really proud of this one. One of your best yet.

Tom: Good points in your post and the new thread is a great idea, thanks for starting it. I'll drop in shortly to help continue the research!

Aloha,
Mike

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 06, 2019, 04:05:01 AM
Hi Speedwagon

Many thanks for the CNY greeting.

regard
Frankie
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 23, 2019, 06:25:42 PM
114-121.  Tornado Easter SuperMod
Mod: This is a compilation of various mods created over a period of three months (February to April 2019). The external views' Status Bar has been greatly enhanced to improve gamer risk assessment. Drone readout data is also shown. Plus a nice Credits Window is now shown.
By Frankie and Speedwagon

I thought I'd share the mods work that I have done over the past three months(!).  Many thanks to Speedwagon for much valuable input for many of these enhancements, especially the Status Bar readouts look and feel.

1. Brought Back Graphics Configuration Controls
Added Keys 2 (Ground texture on/off), 3 (Hill texture on/off), 4 (Clouds on/off), 5 (Graduated horizon on/off) and 6 (Ironwork on/off) to the Pilot View (Home key).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good01.png)
You can now toggle off standard graphics to cater for (really) slower retro PCs


2. Redesigned Kneeboard View (Numlock)
Added Keys 3 (Knots/Mach toggle), 4 (Heading/Roll toggle), 5 (Fuel balance/VAPP toggle), 6 (Drone type/side 4-way toggle), 7 (Horizon level/tilt toggle), 8 (Sound 3-way toggle and 9 (Main/Auxillary status bar toggle) options. These keys change the data displayed on the bottom status bar of the external views. Also added static information on the wingsweep speed limits.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good02.png)
Use this Kneeboard view as a help to the status bar information toggle keys,
and to remind yourself of wingsweep speed limits


3. Drone View Status Bar
Activate by hitting F5 (Drone view) followed by the 9 key. The Drone View status bar will come into view. You will see the following data: Count of Drone Tornado aircraft (maximum 8, i.e., 'B' to 'I'), Current Aircraft letter ('A' to 'I'), Aircraft status based on colour (Blue=airborne, Green=landed/taxing, Red=destroyed), Indicated Air Speed (IAS), Heading (HDG), Altitude (ALT), Range (RNG) from the player's own Tornado, and Aircraft make (e.g., F3, GR4, etc.). Use the bar in tandem with the Flight Waypoint window to enhance gameplay.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good03_.png)
The new Drone Status Bar adds valuable information about a drone. In the example above, the player's Tornado is down (Letter A and KIA text in red). Drones B and C are on the ground (green colour), and Drones D to I are airborne. Current drone shown is Aircraft H (brighter cyan colour).


4. Enemy Drone View Status Bar
Activate by hitting F5 (Drone view) followed by the 6 (Aircraft side toggle) key and 9 key. The enemy status bar readout colours are shown in grey. As are the enemy aircraft themselves. I re-coloured the Mig27s (Flogger), SU-25s (Frogfoot), MI-24s (Hind) and MI-26s (Halo) in greyish hues to make the enemy drones more distiguishable from the allied aircraft.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good4.png)
Frogfoot sporting a grey livery. The new Drone Status Bar readouts are colour coded in grey for enemy drones.


5. Status Bar Readouts are Colour Coded to Risk Assessment Scale
The Status Bar readouts in the external views are current color coded as per a risk assessment scale of Green (Normal), Amber (Caution), Red (Danger!/Attention!). The "dark cockpit" concept has been in use for many years in cockpit design to address human factor issues. The basic idea is that system indicators remain "dark" or use a neutral color while things are normal and safe. How does this tie in with the status bar? Many of the readouts on the Status Bar show us the status of the automation. Is it ON or OFF? If it's ON what mode is engaged? This is extremely important in any aircraft but especially so in a Tornado at high speed close to the ground.

For our purposes in the game we can define the "normal" and safest situation as when the autopilot is tracking to a waypoint and terrain following above the ground. In this case the readouts should be green to indicate low risk. By green we mean the same color used for the other readouts, TTG, SPD, ROL, etc. In other situations the autopilot is doing one of these but not the other. We have to monitor the autopilot more to ensure a safe operation. In these cases the readouts should be a combination of GREEN and AMBER to indicate medium risk. If the autopilot or the autothrottle is disengaged, we must then devote our full attention to manually flying the airplane. In this case the readouts should be RED to indicate high risk.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good05b.png)
The status bar readouts provide textual, numeric and colour information to the gamer.

With the above color coding, the gamer's risk assessment is made easier and faster. Notice that in the first two scenarios shown above, flying an approach and tracking with TF engaged, almost every readout will be in the same green color. This quickly tells us we are in a "normal" state and the risk factor is low. In the next three scenarios one or more readouts are orange. We quickly know we need to pay more attention to controlling the flight path as the risk has increased. In the last two scenarios the red readouts leave no question that the risk is high.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good07.png)
Colour-coded risk assessment aid in action: Autothrottle is engaged (IAS is green),
but Autopilot is disengaged (THROT is red).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good05c.png)
Speed readout in either green or amber depending on Autothrottle status.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good05d.png)
Autothrottle is dis-engaged with F10. IAS is shown in amber.


6. VAPP Readout On Status Bar
Activate with the 5 key. VAPP refers to the approach speed for landing. The game manual provides two tables (pages 188 and 296) for calculating the proper speed based on aircraft weight, flap setting and wing sweep:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good08b.png)
Digital Integration's Tornado manual is acclaimed for its aviation accuracy.

"However, this results in a lot of mental math in the cockpit. We know the autothrottle handles this calculation during an ILS approach, automatically adjusting speed based on weight, flap and wing sweep settings. Try changing the flaps and wing sweep along with jettisoning fuel and you'll see the speed adjust accordingly. So if we can find the approach speed value in the code perhaps we can display it on the status bar anytime we need it using a Kneeboard shortcut Key. And this would be VERY handy during an emergency such as damaged flaps or wing sweep, inoperative autothrottle, landing on a road without the ILS, etc....like many features in the game, one may not appreciate it until you need it -- but once you see the benefit you won't want to be without it." (Speedwagon)

I have now added a VAPP (approach speed) readout to the status bar that automatically adjusts in real-time for changes in weight, flap and wing sweep.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good08.png)
VAPP readout is shown on the status bar (right side)

"V stands for velocity (speed). "V-speeds" are used extensively in flying. As you can see, this partial list of V-speeds is quite long: https://aviationglossary.com/v-speeds/
For landing, two speeds are typically used: (1) VAPP - desired airspeed during the approach; (2) VREF - desired airspeed over the runway threshold.

VAPP is usually based on VREF plus "factors" for things like flap configuration, crosswinds, etc. The "factors" add safety margins during the approach. Once we get close to the runway thrust is reduced, allowing the airspeed to slow to VREF as we cross the end of the runway." (Speedwagon)


7. Simplified Status Bar For Explore Mode
The Explore window's status bar readout and text have now been simplified.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good09.png)
Less is more.


8. New Credits Window
Activate by hitting \ key. Credits window now allows the text to be easily read, no matter the time of day and or weather condition.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/good05.png)
Giving credit where credit is due.

The above work was only made possible by extensive re-coding of HUD2.ASM which allowed me to free up more space for data memory. Many thanks to Speedwagon for many email trails which resulted in the above seven mods. With this, I present the Tornado Easter Supermod. Latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached.

Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 11, 2019, 06:44:43 PM
122-124.  Three 'useless' views enhanced
Mod: These views have been revamped - Lookup, Look Left Pilot/Navigator and Look Right Pilot/Navigator views.

Lookup View - Before
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/lookupview.png)
The Lookup View just gave the gamer a static lookup view of the sky. With the canopy frame shown.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/lookupview2.png)
With the canopy frame hidden with key '6'. Since the view was static, its usefulness was limited.

Lookup View - AFTER
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LookupEnhanced.png)
Now you can raise/lower the view with the '1' and '0' keys. You may also pan from left to right with the 'z' and 'x' keys.

Look Left/Right View (Pilot) - Before
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LookLeftPilot.png)
The original Pilot's Lookup Left view gave the gamer a fixed view out of the window. Not too useful or interesting.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LookRightPilot.png)
The original Pilot's Lookup Right view was just as sterile. Looking straight out of the window.
But what if you wanted to tilt your head up, down, left and right, looking for boogies?

Look Left/Right View (Pilot) - AFTER
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/EnhancedLookRight.png)
Now you can raise/lower the view with the '1' and '0' keys. You may also pan from left to right with the 'z' and 'x' keys.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/EnhancedLookLeft.png)
Now you can raise/lower the view with the '1' and '0' keys. You may also pan from left to right with the 'z' and 'x' keys.

The end result is this: these much ignored views are now made more useful as they can be adjusted as per taste and desired functionality.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 12, 2019, 05:31:44 PM
125.  Early Warning Radar sub-status bar
Mod: Sub-status bar to show whether the player's Tornado is flying above or below the enemy's Early Radar Warning floor. The sub-status bar is displayed when you hit the '9' key when in any of the external views. "RDF" is the Radar Floor height in feet.

EWR sub-status bar - displays whether current aircraft altitude is above or below floor of enemy early warning radar
EWR=ABV    current altitude is above floor of EWR
EWR=BLO    current altitude is below floor of EWR
EWR=CLR    aircraft is clear of EWR coverage

"The EWR was not showing up on the RWR display and the EWR readout was BLO. I turned on the aircraft ground radar and -- bingo -- the enemy picks that up, turns on the EWR, and the EWR readout immediately changes to ABV.

The more I think about this, the more it seems to me that your readouts are just fine. We are simply learning more about how the simulator works. The Profile window in the mission planner does indeed show the EWR floor for the flight-planned route. But I suspect that obviously assumes the EWR has been switched on. During the mission if the enemy is keeping electronically quiet so we can't fire an ALARM at the radar site then it's logical that the EWR floor would be some higher value (perhaps based on other active sites in the area). Once they do turn on that EWR the floor will instantly drop to a lower value.

So...you're work on the readouts might be complete and we just have to figure out the best way to use them. At first pass I'm thinking we should keep both the EWR and RDF readouts. Here's the logic:"
(SpeedWagon)

If EWR=CLR we are not in horizontal range of any radar sites (whether they are on or off).
If EWR=BLO and RDF is a relatively high value, we are in range of a least one radar site but it is most likely staying quiet (i.e., turned off).
If EWR=BLO and RDF is a relatively low value, we are in range of at least one radar site and it is actively looking for us (i.e., turned on).
If EWR=ABV ... well, this one is self-explanatory. :)



Using the Simulator mission "IDS - Free Fire" the screenshot below is a flight where
the plan is to overfly an EWR site (waypoint G) from east to west (waypoints D to J)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr0.png)

Use the Point Data window to show the EWR Floor (e.g., 1,523 feet).
Use the Profile Window to show the EWR coverage from waypoint to waypoint

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr0b.png)

Illustrated Examples of Four Scenarios

Scenario #1: If EWR=CLR we are not in horizontal range of any radar sites (whether they are on or off)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr1.png)

Scenario #2: f EWR=BLO and RDF is a relatively high value,
we are in range of a least one radar site but it is most likely staying quiet (i.e., turned off)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr2.png)

Scenario #3: If EWR=BLO and RDF is a relatively low value, we are in range of at least one radar site and it is actively looking for us (i.e., turned on)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr3.png)

Scenario #4: If EWR=ABV ... well, this one is self-explanatory. :)
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ewr4.png)

Hope your find the EWR sub-status bar useful.
Cheers.
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on May 12, 2019, 10:22:35 PM
Awesome Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 24, 2019, 05:34:58 PM
126.  New JP233 Explosion and Crater Effects
Mod: Reworked splash effects used for JP233 explosions and craters.

Digital Integration's Tornado models the JP-233 weapon. The JP233 is (was!) a British submunition delivery system consisting of large dispenser pods carrying several hundred submunitions designed to attack runways. The weapon consists of two main sections: the rear section with 30 SG-357 runway cratering submunitions, while the front section carried 215 HB-876 anti-personnel mines. Both types of submunitions were retarded by small parachutes.

(https://militarymachine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/gr1jp233-2.jpg)
In the image above, you can clearly see both the anti-personnel mines (smaller cascading dots at the front) and the
submunitions (larger bomb-like projectiles with parachutes) being dispensed from the JP-233 pod.


One of the weak points of the simulation are the bomb explosion effects. Ideally, an explosion should be a finitely-expanding sphere of a fireball, ending in a crater. DI's designers got the crater part right, but the fireballs were always, IMHO, rather disappointing in that the fireball was too short in height.

What the JP-233 explosions look like in the game.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/JP233-01-before.png)
Flashes of bright colours...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/JP233-02-before.png)
...followed by cracks and fissures (craters) on the surface


Strangely enough, I find the splash effect (which simulates a bomb hitting a waterway/river/lake) more 'spectacular'. The splash animation features a classic polygon explosion - the splash animation graphics is higher than it is wide. So what I did was I...
1. ...made a copy of the file D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\SPLASH.INC by saving it as a file named KABOOM.INC
2. ...recolored most of the white-shaded polygons. into red, yellow and amber hues.
3. ...edited the file D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MOBOBJ1.ASM as such (see the green highlighted code):

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/new_jp233_effects_00.png)
The code heave (line 69) is responsible for the default JP-233 effects. So I renamed it to kaboom.
I also had to include in line 102, the code of KABOOM.INC inside MOBOBJ1.ASM.
I also modified line 63 to show a BL755 cluster bomb's explosion as the modified splash effect.



(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/new_jp233_effects_02.png)
JP-233 runaway strike in progress with the modded JP-233 explosion and crater effects.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/new_jp233_effects_04.png)
Explosions of the JP233 contents (i.e., SG-357 runway cratering submunitions) are now more 'impressive'.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/new_jp233_effects_01.png)
Crater trail in the day

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/new_jp233_effects_03.png)
What the craters look like at night

Attached is the lastest FLIGHT.EXE.

Cheers.
Frankie Kam

Update: 11th June 2019
WARNING! This FLIGHT.EXE will HANG your system when an ALARM missile hits an enemy Shilka. The 'solution' is found in Mod#127b.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 08, 2019, 07:14:33 PM
127.  Muzzle Flash and Firing Effects Of Soviet Anti-Aircraft Weapons
Mod: Added firing effects for ZSU-23-4 and ZRK ZOMB (SA-8)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/shilka_firing.png)
Shilka ZSU-23-4 firing in the night. Note the muzzle flash.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/gecko_firing.png)
ZRK ZOMB's SA-8 missile firing into the sky

In Tornado, the visual firing effects of the ZSU-23-4 (Shilka) Anti-aircraft guns and the SA-8 missile launches are quite sterile. For example, the Shilka would be firing a stream of hot lead into the sky, but there was no muzzle flash to light up the barrel and surroundings. In vanilla-out-of-the-box Tornado, you almost never got to see the Shilka or ZOMB ZRK vehicles up close, so perhaps DI's design team decided not to spend too much time and effort to touch up the 3D models.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/defaulttornadoshilkanomuzzle.jpg)
The default in-game Shilka animations omitted the muzzle flash.
All you see is are a string of yellow beads streaming upwards to wards the air target.

Compare that to Microprose's ancient but classic M1 Tank Platoon for DOS.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/m1tankplatoonmuzzle.jpg)
The outdated graphics of M1 Tank Platoon featured generous sized muzzle flashes

I thought I'd change that. Below is the result. You will also hear the "guns going off" sound when the Shilka is firing.

https://youtu.be/G2eJseOToOY
New firing effects of the ZSU-23-4 in Tornado.
To see the new firing effects of the SA-8, go to 00:45 and 1:46 of the video. I think it's cool.

To achieve this, I modified the AIRBURST.INC, AAA.ASM, SAM.ASM and WEAPONS.ASM assembly source codes. I also created a new file named MUZZLEFL.INC. Attached is the latest linked FLIGHT.EXE file.

Keys used: When your Tornado is being fired upon, hit the Ctrl+Alt keys. Then toggle between a firing Shilka and ZRK ZOMB by hitting the Shift+Alt keys.

regards
Frankie Kam

Update: 11th June 2019
WARNING! This FLIGHT.EXE will HANG your system when an ALARM missile hits an enemy Shilka. The 'solution' is found in Mod#127b.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 09, 2019, 04:04:12 PM
Attaching the file D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\MUZZLEFL.INC and D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\MOBOBJ1.ASM which are the other two files in the list to be modified.

The other files (attached in the last post) being:
D:\TORNADO\TORNADO\AAA.ASM
D:\TORNADO\TORNADO\SAM.ASM
D:\TORNADO\TORNADO\WEAPONS.ASM
D:\TORNADO\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\AIRBURST.INC

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 10, 2019, 04:02:13 PM
Apparantly, the last two mods, i.e., Mod#127 and Mod#126 will HANG your DosBox system. This always happens just before an ALARM hits a target. Especially when the target is a Shilka firing lead away moments from its doom. A pity since the FLIGHT.EXE of Mod#127 has some pretty nice (I think) pyrotechnic and sound effects.
 :(
I roughly know what is causing the problem and am trying to rectify the problem.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 10, 2019, 05:22:14 PM
127b.  Muzzle Flash and Firing Effects Of Soviet Anti-Aircraft Weapons - Part 2
Mod: Added firing effects for ZSU-23-4 and ZRK ZOMB (SA-8) - Solved the 'DosBox hang' bug of Mod#126 and Mod#127.

I managed to solve the bug which hung your DOSBox if you ran the FLIGHT.EXEs of Mod#126 and Mod#127. The corrected FLIGHT.EXE retains the "Reworked splash effects used for JP233 explosions and craters." found in Mod#126.

This latest FLIGHT.EXE also re-centres the ALARM countdown clock in the full-screen FLIR mode (Shift+D) (a coordinate bug which went unnoticed, until today that is!).

Most importantly, the game now NO longer hangs during your ALARM runs against enemy Shilkas. See attached the remedy FLIGHT.EXE.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 14, 2019, 02:07:59 PM
128.  Restored the Fuel Indicator Counter to the Pilot Panel (Cockpit)
Mod: Fuel Weight Counter ala Tornado 1.0E

In Tornado 1.0a, the fuel gauge looked like this:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/FuelGaugeOff.png)

Technically and design-wise, Digital Integration was spot on with the gauge. The real one looks like this (http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/seats/pilot.html):
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/fuelquantityindicator.png)

The analog fuel gauge that Digital Integration modeled did not tell you the exact amount (actually the weight) of fuel left. You needed to hit an external view key (F1, F2, F3, F4 or F5) to see the fuel counter at the status bar. So perhaps for this reason, Tornado 1.0e modified the look of the Fuel Gauge to display the Fuel Indicator digits. Since the Tornado source code is Tornado 1.0a, the Pilot Panel (cockpit) sadly lacks the numeric fuel weight counter that made its debut in Tornado 1.0e. Too bad that one would need the services and expertise of Dr Indiana Jones to track down the source code of Tornado 1.0e! The good news is that with very little work and effort, you can have that counter back where it rightly belongs! Just follow these three steps.

Step#1. Get the right PILOTPAN.BT2 file

Re-compile PILOTPAN.ASM, and link a new FLIGHT.EXE executable. Your Pilot Panel will look like this:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/FuelGaugeOnWithoutNumbers.png)

Where are the digits of the Fuel Weight Digital counter? All I can see is a black rectangular void. Almost there! On to Step#2.


Step#2. Modify the PILOTPAN.ASM source file
Open the source file D:\TORNADO\TORNADO\PILOTPAN.ASM and go to modify the rpm$ definition from this....
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rmpBefore.png)

...to this:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/rmpAfter.png)

Now after you have saved and compiled PILOTPAN.ASM, and linked a new FLIGHT.EXE executable, your pilot panel will now sport the much missed Fuel Weight Digital Counter.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/FuelGaugeOnWithNumbers.png)
At last, the fuel weight digital counter is restored.


You may download the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Now the modded Tornado is even more complete! Many thanks to Mandjare for requesting this mod.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 15, 2019, 07:06:02 PM
129.  Restored the LookUp View (Pilot's Cockpit) with improvements
Mod: Improved LookUp View and some other bug fixes

In Tornado, hitting the Home key twice yields the Lookup view. Here is the default Lookup view of out-of-the-box Tornado.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/StandardLookup.PNG)
In Mod#124 I removed this default Lookup view! I thought it was 'useless' since it seemed to me
more suited for Tornado ADV missions, what with its total emphasis on the sky.

Recently, I have been informed by Mandjare78 that "this function was very useful for a real Tornado pilot in low flying, as to predict the next turn between hills and mountains." I never knew that! I always thought the second Home key was for air-to-air (Tornado ADV) combat, which was pretty useless to for me, since 90% of the time I am flying the Tornado IDS! 

So now that I've been informed how important the view is, I've restored the original "sightpoint above the canopy rail" feature. With FIVE improvements.

(1) I raised the horizon a bit so that now you will see majority of sky with some earth. This should help orientate the gamer.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/YetImprovedLookUpView.png)
You can see an unobstructed view of the horizon, with a status bar to boot!

(2) The Lookup view now comes with a status bar. More information to the gamer. I had to modify the LoadFramePan procedure of the  FRAMEPAN.ASM file so that the status bar is flicker-free.

(3) I have made the free-style external view (see the third screenshot of my previous post here (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg36406.html#msg36406)) as the third Home key press.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/LookupEnhanced.png)
Hitting the Home key a THIRD time gives you this nice external view of Mod 122-124 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg36406.html#msg36406).
You can pan this view left (z key) and right (x key), and pitch up (0 key) and down (1 key)

(4) A fourth Home key press will cycle the gamer back to the PilotPanel view. A slight inconvenience of having to toggle/cycle through three Home key screens, but balanced by the increased functionality and gameplay made available.

(5) Fixed a graphics bug where hitting Control+F5 (Change Drone Type) will cause a screen anomaly in many views (Pilot View, Lookup View, etc.). I modified the MODEL.ASM and VIEWS.ASM files for this.

Summary
Hit Home once  - Pilot Panel (cockpit) view
Hit Home again - Modified Lookup view with status bar
Hit Home a third time - the freestyle external view which is fully adjustable
Hi Contrl+Home anytime to return to the Pilot Panel (cockpit) view

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MfJhn7nZTP.png)
Six seconds away from the target. Trees are whizzing by at 420 knots, 150 feet above ground.
The Lookup view in gorgeous green Night Vision colours

See the latest attached FLIGHT.EXE.

Cheers and Happy Father's Day
Frankie Kam

Update on 16th June 2019 (Father's Day in Malaysia) - Control+Home key added (shortcut to Pilot Panel view)
A problem feature with this mod is that it takes 3 hits of the Home key to return to the Pilot Panel view. This can be tedious if, let's say, from the Pilot Panel view, the gamer jumps into the Navigator Panel view with the PgUp key, and then decides to revert to the Pilot Panel view. Not possible! Hitting the Home key at this point will show the Lookup view. Another hit on the Home key will bring up the Freestyle External view. So the gamer has to hit the Home key THREE times to get the Pilot Panel view! A usability problem indeed.

So solve this frustrating problem, I added the Control+Home key combination to shortcut back to the Pilot Panel view.  This key immediately brings the gamer back to the Pilot Panel view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/PilotFrontPanel.png)
The Control+Home key will shortcut to Pilot Panel view

No matter which view is currently active, Control+Home will show up the Pilot Panel view immediately! So there is no need for the user to hit Home three times to return to the Pilot Panel view. In my humble opinion, this is a 'finesse' move, to borrow a chess term.

I've removed the previous FLIGHT.EXE upload. In its place, I have UPLOADED the latest 'finesse' FLIGHT.EXE. I have re-uploaded the latest modified VIEWS.ASM and MODEL.ASM source code. The latter two files are uploaded just in case I may need to refer to them in future.

ENJOY!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 20, 2019, 02:40:43 PM
130.  SPILS manually turned off with cell cue; missile bug fixed; less irritating rumbling
Mod: Added SPILS on/off light cue on Navigator's Damage Panel and other bug squashes/improvements:

1. SPILS MANUAL TURN ON/OFF INDICATOR
SPILS stands for "Spin Recovery and Incidence Limiting System". In Digital Integration's Tornado simulation, the Navigator's Central Warning Panel "off light" for the SPILS is only active if the SPILS is damaged, for example by a SAM or AAA hit. In the game, you can hit Control+I to toggle the SPILS on and off. However, as stated in the Tornado game manual on page 202, "be careful when you do this: just hit the key once, because the control toggles SPILS on/off and there's no indicator apart from the one on the warning panel in the back (Navigator's position), which only illuminates when the system fails due to damage, and NOT when you switch it off deliberately."

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SPILS_illus.png)
The actual SPILS hardware

In reality, there is a SPILS light that turns on when the Tornado pilot deactivates the SPILS by hand (in the sim with the keys "Control + i). Unfortunately this light is positioned on inside-right side panel of the pilot cockpit. DI's Tornado does not model the Pilot's right and left panels.  The Pilot's side panel contains a two-way switch to activate and deactivate the SPILS system. It also contains a push button to self-test and/or reset the SPILS system. When SPILS is manually deactivated with the 2-way switch, the pushbutton will light up.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SPILSDeactivated.png)
Simplifying the whole process. Hit Control+I to toggle the SPILS cell indicator on and off.
If the SPILS is damaged by enemy fire, the cell stays lighted in red.

The actual SPILS system is be modeled in this game. In 1993, DI's Tornado was complicated enough! Besides, there was no memory left to fit in all the data and graphics of a comprehensively-modeled Tornado cockpit. We're talking about 620Kilobytes of conventional memory here! However, with this mod I have abstracted the actual two-way switch and the self-test/reset push button. When you hit Control+I to deactivate SPILS, the SPILS cell on the Navigator's Central Warning Panel, lights up in red. See the screenshot above. Hit Control+I once more (to reactivate SPILS), and the SPILS cell light turns off. Finally! After 26 years, there  is a visual cue to indicate that the SPILS has been turned off manually.

2. PSEUDO-"SAM CLOSE PROXIMITY" BUG SOLVED
Previously there was a persistent bug where when allied missiles were close to the target, the morse dot sound would play. This was very puzzling to me. I mistakenly thought that only enemy SAMs would trigger pseudo SAM close-proximity alarm sound. With this mod, this bug has finally been squashed and removed. The morse dot warning will NOW sound (play) ONLY when enemy SAMs are in close proximity to the gamer's Tornado.

3. REDUCED UNNECESSARY RUMBLING (SHAKING)
Over the past one year, I've had at least three Tornado enthusiasts point out to me that there were too many random rumblings (in-game shakings). Manjare78 told me "is there a way to deactivate the 'rumble effect' (shaking) when one's own missiles or other own weapons hit something? I ask because its a bit annoying if a rumble starts even when a LGB hits a target 20000 feet below me or an Air to Air missile hits a IL76. In my opinion Digital Integration did already a very good solution to give a rumble feedback only when hit by own weapons fragments ... for example, when flying to low when doing bomb runs. Otherwise every time in such a situation Tornado pilots could think they are hit by something and check in the navigator cockpit for damage."

In view of this, I had a re-look at my modded WEAPONS.ASM and realised that I had added too many SHAKE code to it. This cause too many rumblings (shaking) in the gameplay. So I tailored the WEAPONS.ASM  more closely to the original 1993 WEAPONS.ASM source code. The result is gameplay more true to the 1993 original which results in MUCH LESS irritating rumbling. If you play Tornado from the DOSBox command line with C:\TORNADO>FLIGHT /sh then you will see some shake effects. Otherwise, playing Tornado from the menu-driven Tornado 1.0E will result in a better shake-free gameplay.

See attached FLIGHT.EXE with the latest improvements.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 22, 2019, 08:24:18 PM
131.  Auto-Thrustreverser (THR)
Mod: Thrust Reversers automatically kick in upon landing

In Tornado-out-of-the-box, you can only activate the Thrust Reversers (THR) manually, They can be turned on and off by holding down and releasing the Backspace key. In reality however, for all Tornados, the THR system can be pre-selected when preparing for landing. Both left and  right Thurst Reverser buckets will apply automatically when the front/back wheels sense a certain force upon hitting the runway.

https://youtu.be/3kjD5bL3UGE
The Thrust Reverser buckets in action, up close and personal

In this mod, I have integrated this automatic function with the manual THR system. I have modified the MODEL.ASM so that the THR will engage upon touchdown. I have also implemented a safety feature in this 'automatic mode' - the THR will automatically disengage when the Tornado's speed, after landing on the runaway, reaches 25 knots. This is to prevent your Tornado's engines from "re-ingesting their own exhaust, which will do them no good at all" (Digital Integration's Tornado Manual, page 145). After the THR has automatically disengaged at 25 knots, you may re-engage the THR manually by hitting the Backspace key.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/THR.png)
The left and right Thrust Reversers indicators are shown on the left of the Pilot Panel.
Both are engaged as shown by their orange lights

In fact when the THR engages automatically upon touching down on the runaway, you may hit the Backspace key to cancel (disengage) the THR. You can then control the THR manually by pressing and holding and releasing the Backspace key. Just careful not to press the Backspace key once your speed on the runaway decelerates below 25 knots! This is still work in progress as I have not fully tested the automatic THR in all simulation use-cases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEd1KjnPp30
Skip to the 3:10 mark to see the Thrust Reverser buckets in action.
They make a nice whirring 'Transformers'-like sound when activated.

See attached latest FLIGHT.EXE with this automatic Thrust Reverser.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 23, 2019, 01:34:07 PM
132.  Added a Auto-Thrustreverser (THR) selector
Mod: Control+Backspace toggles the automatic Thrust Reversers on and off. Light indicator for the auto-THR as well.

Now you can choose to land your Tornado with the THR system automatically kicking in upon landing, OR you can decide to control the THRs yourself with the Backspace key. To select the auto-kick in THR system hit the Control+Backspace key. I've taken the liberty to add my own indicator light as a reminder to the virtual Tornado pilot that the THR is in automatic mode. Too bad 640Kb wasn't enough for Digital Integration to add the Pilot's side panels with all their instrumentation, gauges, lights and switches.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Auto-THR-Light-indicator.png)
When Control+Backspace is hit to select the auto-THR mode, this light indicator turns on.

If you ask me, DI did a bloody good job simulating the many aspects of the Tornado in their amazing simulation. So in the absence of the actual model of Pilot's right and left panels, I've added the THR auto-mode light indicator just next to the THR indicators on the left of the Pilot's cockpit. incidentally, this is very close to where the actual indicator is located! At any time you can deselect this automatic THR mode by hitting Control+Backspace again. If you do manage the THR yourself, do be mindful NOT to keep pressing Backspace once your Tornado hits below 25 knots on the runaway!

Latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached below.

Finally, a shoutout to DOWVU user Mandjare78 (Andre "Dede") for suggesting the features that make up Mods#128 to #132. And also for his technical input into these June 2019 mods. Cheers, Mate!

regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on June 23, 2019, 03:06:51 PM

Finally, a shoutout to DOWVU user Mandjare78 (Andre "Dede") for suggesting the features that make up Mods#128 to #132. And also for his technical input into these June 2019 mods. Cheers, Mate!

regards
Frankie Kam

 :cheers
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 23, 2019, 08:31:54 PM
133.  Added a Auto-Thrust Reverser (THR) more 'accurate and realistic' selector
Mod: this improvement on Mod 133 introduces a better selector, visually and behaviour-wise

Hi All

After 26 years, Tornado finally has a REAL THRUST REVERSER system and a REAL reverser Indicator switch.

I've attached the correct FLIGHT.EXE to test the THR automatic and manual engagements.

1. It's an accurate (as per real life) THR selectable manual/automatic switch indicator; See the "before hitting Control+Backspace" and "after hitting Control+Backspace" screenshots below.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/autothr_is_off.png)
THR selectable manual/automatic switch indicator is turned off (position is down).
This means that upon landing the thrust reversers have to be engaged manually with the Backspace key

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/autothr_is_on.png)
THR selectable manual/automatic switch indicator is turned on (position is up) with Control+Backspace.
This means that upon landing the thrust reversers will engage AUTOMATICALLY!

2. The THR selectable manual/automatic switch indicator turns on (Control+Backspace) with a subtle, yet noticeable movement of the switch 'moving' its position;

3. Now the THR selectable switch indicator stays in place unless Control+Backspace is hit again; If auto-THR mode is on, hitting Backspace (to enable THR) has no effect - hope this is correct;

4. I've tested it on auto-THR mode when landing - the THR system is turned on when the Tornado hits the runaway (not tested thoroughly). Both engines go into reverse thrust mode.

5. I've tested it on auto-THR mode when landing - when speed on runaway is less than 25 knots, the switch indicator turns down (off) automatically and THR system will stop;

Hope this version is closer to how the THR in manual or/and auto mode should behave.

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update: 24th June 2019. If you find that you cannot switch between Cannons and Sidewinder with the semicolon key (;), please re-download the attached FLIGHT.EXE. I solved this bug and re-uploaded the correct FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy!  :P
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Reds on June 24, 2019, 12:54:01 AM
I really love your dedication to modding this sim it must be alot of work , I always enjoy reading your latest mods . Keep up the good work Frankie .

Reds
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 24, 2019, 01:10:41 AM
Many thanks for your kind and encouraging words, Red.
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 25, 2019, 06:01:13 PM
134.  Auto-Thrust Reverser (THR) revisited.
Mod: Mod 133 gets more realistic.

CORRECTION.

Actually there is NO automatic disengage mode for the Thrust Reverser when in pre-armed mode and when the Thrust Reverser is successfully deployed. In view of this I have removed the automatic disengage function when reaching 25 kts speed. Instead, I have replaced it with a manual disengage via the backspace key.

I've modified the code to reflect (I hope) what is mentioned above.

Try this FLIGHT.EXE: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKcRxAFhBPP9Nyen5FQAq-tLlrq5pbqf (same as the attached FLIGHT.EXE)
This FLIGHT.EXE will meet these basic requirements of:

1. Auto THR mode, upon landing, can be deactivated by hitting Backspace key

2. Auto THR mode, when active, will NOT automatically cut off the THR system once landing speed is < 25knots,

3. Manual THR mode, with Backspace held down, may damage the engines when ground speed is < 60 kts and engine status is NOT IDLE, possible danger through reingestion. Usage of the THR system below 60 knots is possible when engines in IDLE position. Also the 60 knots speed starts the audio alarm.



USE-CASE SCENARIO
==============

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 29, 2019, 06:10:51 AM
135.  Added Scroll Lock key to the Control Summary (Keyboard commands)
Mod: One new keyboard key added to the list

One of the hardest things to do when modding Tornado, is to assign a key to a new commands or mod feature. This is because almost every part of the keyboard has already been mapped to a specific function. For example, I created the key-stroke combination of Control+Backspace to enable the "Auto Thrust Reverser (THR) Selector Indicator" switch. Finding available single keys to use in Tornado is very hard.

In fact there are only THREE keys on my keyboard that are unassigned (not utilised) by Tornado:
(1) The Grave Accent (`) key
(2) The Scroll Lock key
(3) The Front Slash (/) key

Today's post is significant because I have finally found out how to make use of these three hitherto unassigned keys in Tornado. A new mod or feature that doesn't have a key assigned to it is like having a Ferarri but without the ignition key. So now if I have three new mods that require a single press key to activate, I can easily assign the above three keys to them.

List of Scan codes
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA003720/lpproj/others/kbdjpn.htm

From the URL above, the hex scan code of Scrolllock is 46 hex. Hexadecimal 46 (base 16) is equal to decimal 70 (base 10). I.e., 70. So if you look at the list below, you will see that I added this line: K_SCROLLLOCK EQU 70
That's how I got the Tornado simulation to recognise my keyboard's scroll lock which has never been used in Tornado, until today.


;---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;* scan code equates from C:\TORNADOS\LIB8086\KEYS.INC file in Tornado source code
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K_ESC        EQU   1
K_SPACE    EQU   57
K_DEL1      EQU   14
K_DEL2      EQU   83
K_DEL3      EQU   75
K_SYSREQ       EQU   84
K_NUMLOCK   EQU   69
K_CAPSLOCK   EQU   58
K_CTRL      EQU   29
K_SHIFT       EQU   42
K_SHIFT1       EQU   42      ;mapped to K_SHIFT2
K_SHIFT2       EQU   54      ;mapped to K_SHIFT1
K_ENTER      EQU   28
K_BACKSPACE   EQU   14
K_ALT      EQU   56
K_TAB      EQU   15
K_PLUS      EQU   13      ;mapped to K_PAD_PLUS
K_MINUS      EQU   12      ;mapped to K_PAD_MINUS
K_LESSTHAN   EQU   51
K_GRTRTHAN   EQU   52
K_HASH      EQU   43
K_OPN_SQ_BRKT   EQU   26
K_CLS_SQ_BRKT   EQU   27
K_APOSTROPHE   EQU   40
K_SEMICOLON   EQU   39
K_BACKSLASH   EQU   86

K_PAD_INS   EQU   82
K_PAD_DEL   EQU   83
K_PAD_PLUS   EQU   78      ;mapped to K_PLUS
K_PAD_MINUS   EQU   74      ;mapped to K_MINUS
K_PAD_STAR   EQU   55

K_SCROLLLOCK EQU 70
; ? 41 = Grave Accent = `
; ? 53 = Front Slash = \
K_HOME      EQU   71
K_END      EQU   79
K_PGUP      EQU   73
K_PGDN      EQU   81

K_CRSRLF       EQU   75
K_CRSRRT       EQU   77
K_CRSRUP       EQU   72
K_CRSRDN       EQU   80

K_CENTRE   EQU   76

K_MOUSELF   EQU   71
K_MOUSERT   EQU   73

K_AMS_JOYLF   EQU   122
K_AMS_JOYRT   EQU   121
K_AMS_JOYUP   EQU   124
K_AMS_JOYDN   EQU   123
K_AMS_JOYF1   EQU   120
K_AMS_JOYF2   EQU   119

K_AMS_MOUSELF   EQU   126
K_AMS_MOUSERT   EQU   125

K_1      EQU   2
K_2      EQU   3
K_3      EQU   4
K_4      EQU   5
K_5      EQU   6
K_6      EQU   7
K_7      EQU   8
K_8      EQU   9
K_9      EQU   10
K_0      EQU   11

K_F1     EQU   59
K_F2     EQU   60
K_F3     EQU   61
K_F4     EQU   62
K_F5     EQU   63
K_F6     EQU   64
K_F7     EQU   65
K_F8     EQU   66
K_F9     EQU   67
K_F10    EQU   68
K_F11    EQU   87
K_F12    EQU   88

K_A      EQU   30
K_B      EQU   48
K_C      EQU   46
K_D      EQU   32
K_E      EQU   18
K_F      EQU   33
K_G      EQU   34
K_H      EQU   35
K_I      EQU   23
K_J      EQU   36
K_K      EQU   37
K_L      EQU   38
K_M      EQU   50
K_N      EQU   49
K_O      EQU   24
K_P      EQU   25
K_Q      EQU   16
K_R      EQU   19
K_S      EQU   31
K_T      EQU   20
K_U      EQU   22
K_V      EQU   47
K_W      EQU   17
K_X      EQU   45
K_Y      EQU   21
K_Z      EQU   44


Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 29, 2019, 04:29:40 PM
136.  Modelled Central Warning Panel (CWP) in the Pilot's front station (cockpit)
Mod: Pilot's Central Warning Panel

After 26 years, DI's Tornado finally has a more complete Pilot's cockpit like its real-life counterpart Tornado GR4 - a working Central Warning Panel (CWP) inside the front station!

If you surf to https://www.panavia.de/multimedia/360-cockpit you will see a magnificent 3D rendering of a Tornado's Pilot cockpit. At the right side of the image, you will see the Pilot's CWP.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pano_cwp01.png)
A pannable and zoomable cockpit.

The pilot's CWP which mirrors the exact same red and amber warning cell lights as the Navigator's CWP. Zooming in, we can see the CWP more clearly....

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pano_cwp02.png)
Zoomed in closer.

...and this is what the actual component looks like:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pano_cwp03.png)
Image is from http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/seats/navigator.html

Due to memory and space limitations, DI's Tornado modelled an incomplete Pilot's cockpit. One that is missing the Pilot's lower left and right panels. The Pilot's CWP, which is located in the Pilot's right panel, is not modelled in out-of-the-box Tornado. On 27th June 2019, Mandjare78 requested if I could add the Pilot's CWP in the front cockpit of DI's Tornado simulation. He asked if it were possible to create the Pilot's CWP as a window overlay - one that could be toggled on and off with the push of a button. Ideally a single key press instead of a Control+keypress or (God forbid!) a Control+Shift+keypress.

After much hard work and sleuthing around, plus a great deal of serendipity and luck with the code, I managed to do this:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pano_cwp04.png)
Pilot's CWP - A DI Tornado first!

I managed to figure out how to toggle on and off the 'floating' Central Warning Panel (CWP). I used the Scroll Lock key to toggle on and off the CWP. The CWP stays put until I toggle it off. My mind is lazy and doesn't want to recall what the CWP looks like if it appears and vanishes. So by staying put, it allows me time to look at the warning cells and to process the information. Less hurried, LOL, never mind that the plane is being shot to pieces, I like to take my time to look at a static window with flashing red and amber cells, LOL again.

The CWP is triggered by Scroll Lock and it is PERSISTENT. Meaning it will show on top of ALL and ANY view (even the Splitscreen and Map views!), until and unless you hit Scroll Lock again to toggle it off. The only view it doesn't show up is when you are in the Navigator's cockpit (after you have hit PgUp key) because the Navigator can already see the CWP at the lower-right corner of the screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/pano_cwp05.png)
Pilot's CWP in split-screen action

The BIG picture is that now that I know how to copy a certain section of a cockpit with the gauge readings that accompany that section of the cockpit, it is VERY POSSIBLE to reproduce any section of the cockpit anywhere in the game. The only limitation would be the code stack memory (memory space allocated to keep the compiled source code) when the source code grows bigger given each additional new feature like this toggled on/off CWP.

What's the effect of the CWP overlaid window? As in the real Tornado pilot (these days in Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia), with this extra information at hand, it provides a BIG PLUS to the tactical awareness of the virtual DI Tornado pilot. If you were to do a ground strike mission, one where there is heavy AAA and SAM-inflicted damage on your Tornado,  it will be great to have all that damage information directly displayed in the front station. So this is an example of a mod born out of 'necessity' which greatly enhances the situational awareness of a flight sim, leading to enhanced gameplay.

Here is the latest FLIGHT.EXE, together with the key source code assembly language files that I modified.

Many thanks to Mandjare78 for his idea of the Pilot's CWP. From his idea we now have this mod which makes DI's Tornado even more realistic, fun and immersive.

Cheers to all DI Tonka fans!
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 29, 2019, 08:30:12 PM
137.  Reinstated HOME key as immediate Pilot Panel View, Forward slash key (/) to cycle among Home views
Mod: Switching between Pilot and Navigator stations is now more intuitive and FASTER

Previously in Mod#129, I used the key combination of Control+Home to bring the user back to the Pilot's station. The main reason for this 2-key combo was because I could not find any available single keystroke. However, now that the front slash (/) key is available, it is high time to utilise it! Using the Home key is so much easier, intuitive and faster, compared to a two-finger operation like Control+Home .

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/PilotFrontPanel.png)
HOME is where the heart is. Wherever I lay my hat, that's my HOME.

Therefore, I have now modified the code so that it now behaves as such:
1. Hit the Home key to IMMEDIATELY go to the Pilot's station, no matter what screen you are at!
2. Hit the Frontslash key (/) to cycle among the 3 Home views (Pilot's station, Lookup view and Freestyle view) whenever the need arises. Control+Home in no longer in use, but can still be used in future as and when the need arises.

The latest FLIGHT.EXE file is attached. You should NOW experience an immediate ease-of-use compared to all versions of FLIGHT.EXE since Mod#129!

regards
Frankie Kam

I believe that this will simplify the gameplay because you can intuitively switch between the Pilot's and Navigator's stations by hitting Home and PgUp keys. The frequency of accessing the Pilot's station outstrips the number of times one accesses the Lookup and Freestyle views.

Update, Sunday 30th June 2019, 8:00am GMT8:
Actually the key combination of Control+Home for immediate switch to Pilot front station and the Home key to cycle through the three Home views may actually be the preferred choice of keys. Especially during the hectic and frantic last few seconds of a bomb-run or some other stressful situation. In view of this, I am making available two FLIGHT.EXEs just in this post - both are inside the attached FLIGHT_two_exes.ZIP file:
#1. FLIGHT_HOME_CTRL_HOME.EXE (uses Home and Control+Home)
#2. FLIGHT_HOME_SLASH.EXE  (uses Home and Front Slash)

For future mods, I will be sticking to #1 choice of keys. I.e., Home and Control+Home
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 01, 2019, 08:01:52 PM
138.  On-Demand Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
Mod: Added the RWR to all screens except the in-cockpit Pilot and Navigator stations

Hit the Grave Accent (`) key on your keyboard to toggle the RWR on and off.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/tilde.png)

Location of RWR is fixed to the right edge of the screen, centred vertically. I thought the RWR would come in useful in the external views, especially the split-screen with HUD view. Like the one below when the action gets fast and furious.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AddedRWR.png)
A little help from the RWR goes a long way to knowing where the threats are.
As you can see, all the threats are at six to twelve o'clock of the HUD.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AddedRWR2.png)
A moment later and my Tornado is in BIG trouble.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/AddedRWR3.png)
Running the gauntlet of AAA fire coming from my three o'clock.


Finding the location to place the RWR was tricky. I chose a location that was unobtrusive and which I think is suitable for split-screen action. The centre of the right edge of the screen. If you don't like the position, you can always toggle off the RWR with the Grave Accent key on your keyboard. If your keyboard doesn't have the Grave Accent, then let me know and maybe I can think of a solution. The problem is that this Grave Accent key is the last unused single-press key on the keyboard! Tornado as a simulation has been brutal on the keys usage of the standard keyboard. All single-press keys have now been used up. The final three that I added to Tornado were the Scroll Lock, the Front Slash (/) and the Grave Accent (`) keys. Possible other keys exist, but they'll have to be the dual key presses like Control+key, Alt+key or Shift+key variety. Not ideal, but still useful.

Most Tornado gamers fly from the Pilot and Navigator stations, not the external views. That being said, IMHO, the RWR adds a situational awareness factor to the simulation. It may not be entirely realistic for all scenarios, but I hope you enjoy the addition of the RWR as you find creative ways to utilise it in the missions and campaigns.

Attached is the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
P.S., the FLIGHT.EXE of this mod works for IDS and ADV Tornados. Tested and working.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 03, 2019, 07:16:02 PM
139-140.  3D & Border eye-candy for floating gauges and displays in external views
Mod: Added a 'realistic' 3D-like border to the TV-TABS, MFD and RWR

This is a visual improvement over Mod#82(!). I have given the floating gauges and displays a 3D makeover. The graphics are taken from the standard 'DI Tornado' Pilot and Navigator panels.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders1.png)
The default F1 view gives you this now.
TV-TABs in the external views now have border. Cycle with '[' or ']'

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders2.png)
MFDs in the external views now have border. Cycle with '[' or ']'

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders3.png)
Hit the Grave Accent key (`) and the RWR in the external views now has a border.

Unfortunately this mod came with a cost - a 'casualty' was the external view's Attitude Direction indicator (ADI) which, since Mod#85, has always been located at the bottom-left corner of the external views.  In order not to exceed the code segment memory space, I had no choice but to remove the ADI from the external views. I hope the ADI won't be sorely missed.

To turn off the floating gauges, hit Ctrl+Tab. You may also toggle on/off the RWR and CWP with the Grave Accent (`) and ScrollLock keys. Overall, I hope you like the new 3D visual effects and results.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

Enjoy.
Frankie Kam

P.S., Unfortunately this mod also causes the split-screen to not work!

Update: 5th July 2019
Solved the bug. Now the split-screen functionality has been restored.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders4.png)
Various 'floating' components shown.

There are now, in all, SIX 'floating' components, five of which have a 3D visual make-over:
1. TV-Tabs          2. MFDs
3. CWP               4. RWR
5. eScope           6. Attitude Indicator (non-3D)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders5.png)
Bonus feature (Mod#140): Secondary Control Surfaces position indicator with ILS MFD!
This is very useful when making a landing or when taking off.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders6.png)
Added the Stores Management Display to the first F1 screen.

This is the best version yet! I'm loving the eye-candy which IMHO improves the immersion.

Enjoy,
Frankie Kam
P.S., the FLIGHT.EXE of this mod is experimental - it works ONLY for IDS Tornados. There are placement and graphics issues if flying an ADV Tornado.


Update: 7th July 2019
Finally, mostly bug-free with better toggle-on-off components.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/atlast.jpg)
IDS with floating components

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/atlast2.jpg)
ADV with floating components

This FLIGHT.EXE has been tested and so far no anomalies have been detected. Working fine. How to activate:
Hit grave accent key (`) for the RWR
Hit front slash key (/) for the Store Management Display
Hit Scroll Lock for the Central Warning Panel

The Moving Surfaces gauge occurs on several screens (cycle through with '[' and ']').

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 07, 2019, 07:27:13 AM
141.  View the Stores Management Display from the Pilot's cockpit
Mod: Switch it on by hitting the front slash (/) key.

For the first time in twenty six years, the Tornado vitual Pilot can view the weapons package delivery settings right on the Pilot's cockpit panel. All this while in Tornado, as the Pilot, you had to hit PgUp to switch to the Navigator's station to view the Stores Management Display (SMD). This made for intense moments where the gamer had to seemingly juggle two stations at the same time. This happened usually in the heat of battle, with the target mere seconds away from weapon release.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders7.png)
The front slash (/) key makes it more convenient for the virtual Pilot to view this important data.

This mod seeks to free the virtual Pilot from switching back and forth two stations. The front slash key overlays the SMD on the Pilot's cockpit panel. If you find this a tad unrealistic, then perhaps you could consider that window as information from the Navigator.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders8.png)
Another view of the SMD - this time with the full-sized Pilot view (Shift+D).

Enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 07, 2019, 03:51:35 PM
142.  View the Horizontal Situation Indicator in external views
Mod: HSI gauge

In external views, you now have the HSI gauge to complement the ILS display when doing runway landings.

CLICK ON THE SCREENSHOT BELOW!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/navigator_instruments.png) (http://www.frankiekam.com/tornado/seats/navigator.html)
In 1993/1994, Tornado was famous and unique in its attention to detail and realism.
In this image you can see the real HSI gauge and its simulation counterpart.

From the Tornado simulation manual:

"Horizontal situation indicator (HSI)
This instrument has two functions:
Firstly,  it  indicates  your  aircraft's  heading  by  means  of  a "bug" travelling around the circumference of the compass rose.

Examples:
bug at 12 o`clock = heading due North
bug at 3 o`clock   = heading due East
bug at 6 o`clock   = heading due South
bug at 9 o`clock   = heading due West

Secondly,  it  is part of the Instrument Landing System and shows localiser and  glideslope  deviation  during  an  approach  to  an  allied  airfield. However, it is strongly recommended that you use the ILS mode of the HUD or the  ILS  mode  of  the  MFD  in preference to this instrument under normal circumstances.   The limitations  in  resolution  on  the  HSI  make  it a difficult  instrument  to  use but in the event of simultaneous HUD and MFD failure it is a useful "last resort".

The  vertical  needle is linked to the runway localiser and shows deviation from  the  runway centreline.  If the needle is to the left of centre, this indicates  that  the  runway centre line is to the left of your aircraft and that  you should adjust your heading by turning left a few degrees.  As the needle returns to centre, adjust your heading by turning right until you are aligned  with the runway. Likewise, turn right if the needle is displaced to the  right...

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders9.png)
The HSI - middle gauge at the bottom - comes in handy for landings.
If your ILS display is knocked out, you will depend on the HSI for a safe landing.

...A  small  vertical  scale  can  be  seen  on  the left of the instrument and this may be used to follow the correct glideslope down to the  runway  threshold.  If the marker is above centre this means that you are  below the correct glideslope and that you need to reduce your rate of descent normally achieved by opening the throttle slightly. If the marker is below centre, this means that you are above the correct glideslope and that you  need  to  increase your rate of descent - normally achieved by closing the throttle slightly."

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders10.png)
The HSI comes in handy for landings.
The full array of 'floating' (overlaid) gauges in modded Tornado.

The HSI appears in only two external views - whenever the ILS display is shown. To see the above views, hit the F1 (Tracking View) and then cycle through the views with '[' or ']'.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/borders11.png)
The same full array of 'floating' (overlaid) gauges in Night colours.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Login to download.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 20, 2019, 11:44:35 PM
143.  MFD-like and TV-Tab-like frames for gauges in full-screen FLIR and TIALD views
Mod: Completes Mod#43 and Compliments Mods#138-#142

In modded Tornado, you can activate the full-screen FLIR and TIALD views with PgUp, followed by '[' or ']'.

Previously:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Before_MultipleGauges.PNG)
I always thought somethings was kinda missing....

Now:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MultipleGauges.PNG)
...Borders! 3D-like all the way courtesy of the bordersof MFD and TV-Tab

Tested with the following scenarios:
- damage to MFDs and TV-Tabs
- TIALD view and turn Tornado beyond the angle limits of the TIALD
- intentionally turning on and off the MFD (Control+D) and TV-Tabs (Control+[ and Control+])

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/MultipleGauges_NVG.PNG)
What the screen looks like in NVG (Shift+Tab) mode

If you find any bugs, do let me know. ;-)
Update: 21/7/2019.
I solved a long-standing bug! Previously when you hit F11 or F12, followed by F1, the screen will SHAKE uncontrollably. This is NOW solved. I also corrected a line of code that emitted an irritating morse code sound when you went into the Navigator's Station with PgUp. Plus a few code optimisations so that I don't run out of source code space when doing the linking process to create the FLIGHT.EXE. So yeah, the latest FLIGHT.EXE attached to this post is the real deal.

Regards
Frankie Kam

on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frankiekam/status/1152716231406788608
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 29, 2019, 08:13:09 PM
144.  Added the RWR display to the Navigator full-screen TV-Tab displays
Mod: For the control-freak

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RWRadded.png)
More situational awareness of threats

This Mod#144 also solves the bug where if the player selects to fly an ADV mission, the air-to-air ordinances are misaligned. This has now been solved.

Hint
to get this view, hit PgUp for the Navigator's Cockpit, then hit Shift+D to see all the gauges in full-screen FLIR-view. Alternate between different nuances of this multi-component arrangement by hitting '[' and/or ']'.

regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 29, 2019, 09:04:42 PM
145.  Modified INTRO.EXE by-passes the splash screens
Mod: A time-saver

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/thejump2.png)
The modified INTRO.EXE cuts to the chase and saves you 14 seconds of time
by by-passing the ever familiar splash screens!

See attached INTRO.ZIP file that contains:
Intructions:

Done!

regards
Frankie Kam

Update: 1 Aug 2019. Optimised FLIGHT.EXE uploaded. Slightly smaller in size compared to Mod#145 FLIGHT.EXE. I managed to free up more space by removing redundant code related to CGA, EGA and Hercules graphic drivers. I also trimmed off redundant two-player code which results in a FLIGHT.EXE that is 606.3Kb compared to Mod#145's FLIGHT.EXE that was 609.5Kb in size. The amount shaved off seems negligible to the gamer, but to the modder (like me), it affords more modded code without hitting the limit of the code stack.

Update: 2 Aug 2019. Optimised FLIGHT.EXE via removing of Roland yucky sound effects. The excellent Roland music which can be played in-game are intact so you can enjoy the short soundtrack of the Roland theme. I have reuploaded the latest optimised FLIGHT.EXE which is now at 606.4Kb.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 04, 2019, 07:30:10 PM
146.  Clock for timing purposes
Mod: Clock

In this mod, I took the clock that appears on the Navigator's panel, and made it available in all the external views. A visible clock adds the time dimension to the game.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ClockUpperRightCorner0.png)
The most underrated gauge on the Navigator's panel

You could play a mission and when you reached Target X, take note of the time. If you then re-play the mission, you can compares the time taken to reach Target X, as an indicator how accurate your timing was.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ClockUpperRightCorner3.png)
What the real Tornado clock looks like - what a beauty

Note: This clock can't be toggled off because I cannot find an available key. Also pressing Scroll Lock will activate the Damage Warning Panel which will obscure the clock. It's okay, to reveal the clock, pressing Scroll Lock again to toggle off the warning panel.

To get to the screens shown below, hit F1 (Tracking View) followed by the '[' and ']' keys.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ClockUpperRightCorner.png)
The clock at the top-right corner of the external views

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/ClockUpperRightCorner2.png)
The timepiece is nicely designed

This version of FLIGHT.EXE is also the smallest ever in kilobytes. Compared to previous version which were in excess of 606Kb to 609Kb in size, this baby weighs in at only 587 KB (601,488 bytes). The thousands of odd bytes saved by refactoring the code (i.e., removing inefficient and redundant assembly language code) will come in useful when adding future code. This version of FLIGHT.EXE has also had a couple coding bugs ironed out.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Bug-fix Update - Sunday 11th August 2019
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/bugfix.jpg)
I fixed a bug that caused the ILS and Autopilot MFD data to be displayed at the centre of the screen right after switching from the Navigator's Panel (PgUp key) or Pilot's Panel (Home key), to the Tracking view (F1 key) when the MFD is being shown at the top-left corner of the screen with the '[' and/or ']' keys. I have uploaded the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 16, 2019, 05:22:55 PM
147.  Grey Colour Scheme for the Tornado
Mod: Hacking the include file TORNADO1.INC to give a grey Tornado

The default colour of the Tornado 3D models is olive-green. More accurately, mostly in shades of olive-green.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Tornado-OliveGreen.jpg)
Stock colour of all IDS Tornados in DI's simulator

To be perfectly honest, I feel that there is nothing wrong with the stock olive-green skin. It complements the green Tornado landscape. In fact, as far as green hues are concerned, I can't better the default color scheme designed by Matthew Smith. Furthermore, the stock IDS skin is an abstraction of the green-gray camo colour schemes used by RAF Tornados in the 1980s. For example:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/GreenBlueCamo_Tornado.jpg)
Credit: JPO SHAPE Chičvres; Taken: Taken on June 25, 1989; Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffweb/4278537623/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffweb/4278537623/)


However, as DI's Tornado is now 26 years old, and given that more recent Tornados in Europe were and are blueish-gray, I decided to give the IDS Tornados a colour scheme makeover.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/RAF_Grey_Tornado.jpg)
"File:Panavia Tornado GR.4 5D4 0660 (41982658170).jpg" (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72225684) by Tm (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tm) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=rich)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/bundeswehr-pixabay.jpg)
Bundeswehr Panavia Tornado, curtesy of Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/photos/bundeswehr-fighter-jet-panavia-4295765/)

I set out to re-colour the stock IDS Tornado skin, and this is what I have as a first attempt.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Bundeswehr01.png)
The entire flight of IDS Tornados in the blue-gray colour scheme

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Bundeswehr02.png)
Another view of the player's now blue-gray Tornado

Too bad that DI's Tornado simulation does not allow for texture mapping. If it's texture mapping you want, then perhaps Origin's Strike Commander is the retro-flight simulator for you:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/StrikeCommanderTornado.png)
Remember this?

The major difference between the two games was that to comfortably run Strike Commander in 1993/1994, you needed a a 486 with at least 4MB of RAM, something of a luxury back then. Tornado on the other had had no such restrictions and could run with acceptable frame rates on lesser machine specifications.

Just for the record, the files added and/or modified were:
1. D:\TORNADOS\VISUAL\MOBOBJ1.ASM
2. D:\TORNADOS\VISUAL\MAP\SECTORS\MSECDEF.INC
3. D:\TORNADOS\VISUAL\MOBLIST.INC
4. D:\TORNADOS\VISUAL\OBJECTS\MOBILE\TORNADO2.INC (new file)
5. D:\TORNADOS\TORNADO\MAINDATA.ASM
6. D:\TORNADOS\TORNADO\INITGAME.ASM
 
Attached is the modded FLIGHT.EXE.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Update
There was a bug in the last FLIGHT.EXE which assigned the wrong 3d model to the ordnance (GPB1000, LGB1000, BL755, etc.). This has now been rectified. I have re-uploaded the correct FLIGHT.EXE in this post.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 18, 2019, 06:10:54 PM
148.  Engine RPM and HCI Gauges
Mod: Added left and right engine RPM gauge to external views, HSI gauge is now shown in full

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/EngineRPM_HSI.png)
Left and right engine RPM gauges to compliment the AutoThrottle MFD,
better-looking HSI gauge in the bottom left corner

To get to this screen, at the PilotPanel view, hit F1 and you will see the above screengrab. Cycle through the various sets of gauges with the "[" and the "]" keys. Previously the HSI (bottom-left corner) was a boring and incomplete set of two rectangles which tilted.

Before:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/incomplete-hci.png)

Now the HCI is shown in full-skin with a 'bug' (the red dot) that travels around the circumference of the instrument.

After:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/full-bodied-hci.png)

The default set of gauges shown the moment you hit F1 are chosen to help the player to get his Tornado off the ground.

The left and right engine RPM gauges are meant to compliment the AuoThrottle MFD. When either engine reaches more than 100% RPM, the reheat (afterburners) will engage.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. See FLIGHT.ZIP.

In spirit with Mod#147 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg37950.html#msg37950) where I introduced the grey skinned Tornado, I have also uploaded FLIGHT_GREY.EXE which gives you this:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mod148-gray-colour-scheme.png)
Now you have a choice of colours.

To use the grey Tornado, you may download FLIGHT.ZIP. Then extract and rename FLIGHT_GREY.EXE  to FLIGHT.EXE.

regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on August 18, 2019, 08:18:40 PM
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 19, 2019, 02:25:07 AM
Hiya Asid

Thanks for the encouragement. After the 150th mod, I might want to hang up my modding gloves and turn my attention to modding Steel Beasts Pro PE. Wait, hold on a second....no source code for that one.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 22, 2019, 03:12:24 PM
149.  Corrected Behaviour of NVG and various bug fixes
Mod: NVG done properly

In prior versions of modded FLIGHT.EXE,...

These anomalies have been solved in this mod. Now it is possible to have a MFD's or TV-Tab's FLIR/TIALD display to show in NVG while the external view be shown in non-NVG. The external view's NVG mode can of course be toggled on and off by hitting Shift+Tab.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg01.png)
Back to auto-NVG in the MFD FLIR, except now you have more detail compared to the original.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg02.png)
If you have a good monitor (IBM-Lenovo?), switch off the lights and play Tornado!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg_03.png)
After pressing Shift+Tab

In short, this version of FLIGHT.EXE gives you the option of simulating the actual 1991 situation where night-vision googles were absent, forcing you to focus on the mini-displays (as opposed to seeing outside the Tornado in night vision green) as you flew at high speed at insane low levels. Or you could just cop-out and hit Shift+Tab to cheat and enjoy the external view in night vision green colours.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg_04.png)
Full-screen TIALD in natural night colours

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/nvg_05.png)
Full-screen TIALD in NVG colours

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Mid-Tone.png)
For the first time in Tornado - two halves in different colours!

Also, in Mod#149, since the Tornados are in blue-gray colour schemes, I have reverted the Soviet aircraft to their original olive green schemes. I've corrected the placement of the Control Surfaces gauge in the Navigator's Panel full-screen TV-Tabs. So yeah, Tornado looks prettier now.

https://youtu.be/HrBzGEnUitE
What's It Like to Fly with NIGHT VISION GOGGLES (NVGs) in a Fighter Jet?

regards
Frankie Kam

Update 25th August 2019 - Various Bug Fixes
I fixed the following bugs:
1. When night level is 1, going to split-screen FLIR shows an ungradiented horizon. Fixed.
2. The External Surfaces gauge in external views had some formatting inconsistencies. Fixed.
3. The Weapons Management Display in external views had some formatting omissions. Fixed.
4. The Weapons view was confusing. The weapon just released was not immediately in view when the 'V' key was pressed. Fixed.
5. There was an overlap of the Weapons Management Display and the External Surfaces gauge in external views. Fixed.

Latest FLIGHT.EXE is uploaded as usual.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 01, 2019, 05:37:18 PM
150.  Central Warning Panel (CWP) self-appear / manual-appear modes
Mod: Central Warning Panel now can appear automatically whenever the front cockpit attention getters are flashing

In earlier versions of FLIGHT.EXE, whenever I am in the Pilot's cockpit, I have to manually hit ScrollLock to view the CWP. I thought it would be nice to have the CWP automatically appear whenever some damage is inflicted on the Tornado. Also better would be an option for me to have the CWP appear by itself or manually by hitting ScrollLock. Therefore in Mod#150, I've modded the CWP to appear whenever the attention getters are flashing and blaring away which indicate damage or danger situations.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CWP_modes.png)

In the screenshot above, having earlier gone to Lookdown View with NumLock, I have toggled the self-appear (automatic appear) mode of the CWP to ON by htiting the 0 key. Then I returned to Tracking View with F1 and let the gear down. The CWP appears in a split-second as expected.

The user has an option to toggle the self-appearing CWP on or off. Here's what the new Lookdown View looks like:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/CWP_new_Mode_In_Lookdown_View.png)
When in the Lookdown View (NumLock), hit 0 to toggle between CWP self-appear and manual-appear modes.
The text formatting is also now more tidy and consistent

Note key zero (0) to toggle the Central Warning Panel between auto-appear and manually-appear modes.

Additional bug fix:
Right Yaw view is corrected by replacing Ctrl+2 with Shift+2 to yaw the aircraft view right in Tracking View. Earlier versions of FLIGHT.EXE would result in a conflict between Kenneth Larsen's Tornado Time Compression (TTC) TSR  and the Ctrl+2 key combination. Whenever TTC was active, the external view of the Tornado refused to yaw to the right! I have solved this now by using Shift+2, instead of Ctrl+2, to yaw the view of the Tornado to the right.

Additional feature
I added an additional view in the external multi-screen feature. To get there hit F1 for followed by "[" two times. The top-half of the screen shows your Tornado. This leaves you free to switch the bottom-half of the screen from the Tracking View to any other view (F3 Fly-by, V-key Weapon view, F2 Six-O'clock view, F4 Spectator view, Ctrl+Alt and Alt+Shift [AAA and SAM vehicle view], F5 Drone view, etc.).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/DOSBox_cl8GNdYKf7.png)
Triple faceted multi-screen: (1) small FLIR (top-left); (2) Fixed axis half-screen FLIR (top-half) and
(3) adjustable horizon and rotatable half-screen external view (bottom-half)

The beauty of this additional view is for once in Tornado, you can simultaneously view both 3D models of your Tornado and that of your wingman's (F5 view) or enemy plane (Key-6 toggles between allied and enemy planes/ground forces).

Download link to fully modded Tornado up to Mod#150, including the Tornado full game is here: http://bit.ly/32hfggz
Latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached to this post.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/hangupboots.png)
It's been a good run. That's all folks. Hanging up my modding shoes.

Real Life's demands on my time require that I shift focus to family matters and to putting my kids through college. I didn't quite get around to putting a shadow under DI's Tornado, but in life you can't have everything. Perhaps someday this will be possible, through the talent, energy and creativity of you, random Internet user. Assembly Language is tough, but NOT too tough that one can't make a difference in the flight sim world. Not bad for someone who flunked his Assembly Language 101 in college. Looking back, I have thoroughly enjoyed modding Tornado these past two years. Having said the above, in the event that the FULL original source code of Tornado, its Operation Desert Storm (ODS) addon 1994 source code, or the original Amiga object and map designer tools of Digital Integration's Tornado are discovered or unearthed, I will be back for more stuff.

Until that happens, it's adieu from me.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/goodbye.png)
TornadoMan, bugging out.


THANK YOU to all who helped me out in this coding adventure...

DB "KEVIN BEZANT, MATTHEW SMITH, NICK MASCALL, ET. AL. (DI'S DEVELOPMENT TEAM)"
DB "TOMN, ASID, DOWVU FORUM USERS, SPEEDWAGON, ANDRE 'DEDE'"
DB "TAILFIN ATARIBABY MUPF"
DB "ANDREWM, ERICEJ, KENNETHC, BASILC, HEINZ-BERNDE, GILLESPIE P, RICHARD P,"
DB "GRAEMEM, CARL H, ZURGER6, BRUCEM, SIMO, JENSS, AJALBERD8, WINGEDH, FOOS,"
DB "PETERMIGMAN, ANDREWR, ATURI83, BLUEY, BREWC, DENIS, MIRANDO, NORTHFOX,"
DB "ANDREWR, ATURI83, BLUEY, BREWC, DENIS, MIRANDO, NORTHFOX, AIRFOX, "
DB "RICHTHO, RICKB, SENA, ZURGER, CHRISR"      

...and many others.

regards
Frankie Kam
http://www.moodurian.com/tornado
http://www.moodurian.com
2th September 2019
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 13, 2019, 01:20:11 PM
151. Weapon Release automatic split-screen action
Mod: Screens 01-03 shows action at point of weapons release

The reports of my retirement from Tornado mods are greatly exaggerated.

In default out-of-the-box Tornado, most of the action that the player experiences is with his own Tornado. Actually, there are many third-person (i.e., wingmen and enemy pilots/ground SAM) actions that happen during the critical moments of mission. It is very hard to appreciate the amount of third-party action and activity the gamer is busy switching between the Pilot and Navigator stations.

In this mod, you can better experience the weapons action during a melee of a multi-plane mission in Tornado. Now when any of the ordinances below are released...


...the F1 tracking view will automatically show two-half screen views. The upper view will show the ordnance action. The lower half can be F1, F3, F4, F5 views or even the Weapon (V) views, for your viewing pleasure.

Like so:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod-151-4.png)
Drone (Wingman) view with F5. Note the bombs exploding on the enemy runaway at the top-half of the split-screen.
...and...
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod-151-1.png)
Two views of the DI Tornado gamer's plane. General Purpose 1,000 pounders being released.


CALL TO ACTION STEPS

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod-151-2.png)


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/mod-151-3.png)
To get to this screen, hit F1 followed by 9. The square brackets will cycle forward or backwards among all 20 Tracking Views.


The view becomes pretty dramatic, IMHO, during the couple of seconds when the multi-plane strike Tornados ingress the target area with ALARMs launched and bombs dropping all over the place. Yeah and with explosions going off on the ground. When you have the time, give do this version of FLIGHT.EXE a try and let me know what you think.

regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on October 14, 2019, 05:01:17 PM

The reports of my retirement from Tornado mods are greatly exaggerated.


Great use of the M.Twain quote  :winner

I knew you would not retire  :oldman

Keep up the good work my friend  :thumbsup

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on October 15, 2019, 03:08:06 PM
Hello,

Been lurking around here for a while and having tried out most of the mods. They are really great, thanks for the hard work put in into one of the best flight sims!

I have some reflections / suggestions on some of the mods (I'm not expecting any changes, just giving some feedback):

122-124.  Three 'useless' views enhanced
Not sure if it is only for me, but the Lookup view originally is quite good as it gives a better view when turning. But after the mod it doesn't move with the aircraft really so you can't use it when turning. Not sure if this is intentional?
Same with the left/right view. They work initially, but when having turned the aircraft around they become switched (left becomes right and vice versa). And the view doesn't move with the aircraft. Even if the original views wasn't that useful at least they show what was expected.

129.  Restored the LookUp View (Pilot's Cockpit) with improvements
137.  Reinstated HOME key as immediate Pilot Panel View
Little bit connected with the above; but having to use Control-Home to return to Pilot Cockpit view is quite annoying when flying. Originally Home key switched between Pilot and Lookup, but always started with Pilot view so you never needed to toggle between views to get back.
I know you did two EXEs based on the preferred option, but then you lose all the great mods coming after this one :)

Thanks again for all the work put into this excellent sim!

/Clark



Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 15, 2019, 04:53:41 PM
Hi Clarke

> Thanks again for all the work put into this excellent sim!
>

Thank you for your kind words. You are MOST welcome!

And thank you also for spending time to comment on mods 122-124, 129 and 137! Actually you could hit the '7' key to toggle the roll on and off. In later mods, I I think did take care of the Lookup view so that the horizon will roll without having to hit that key 7 which toggles the horizon roll on and off. Although I could question my own reason for changing the default roll behaviour when banking. Upon checking the banking maneuver and the effect upon the End and PgDn keys, I have discovered that the modded behaviour, even until Mod#151, is broken! Somewhere along the way, I got carried away with creating custom views, that I lost the plot with regards to the left and right navigator's views.

Yes I do now stand corrected of hastily labeling those three views as 'useless'. My bad.

You are correct that hitting Control+Home is poor design. After all Tornado out-of-the-box already did a good job of toggling immediately from the Navigator's view, to the Pilot view every time. I think it was because I failed to re-introduce this default behaviour of Home (after adding a third Home view), that I invented a poor-man's toggle to get back into the Pilot View, when the previous view was the Navigator's view. Again lazy programming led to a poor choice of Control+Home key combo. The solution is to follow the 'if it ain't broke, then don't fix it' principle. I spend about twenty minutes to rectify the Navigator view immediately to Pilot view with the Home key, but failed again. Will give this one another look at a later time.

Once again thanks for your comments and astute observations. Everyone has a blind spot or two and I am no exception. It's nice and satisfying that at least one Tornado lurker has taken the time to lurk and to share his useful observations on this forum. Keep up the good work, Sire!

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on October 15, 2019, 07:05:54 PM
Hi Frankie!

Thank you for answering! I completely understand, I used to be a software tester so can't help it but notice things and try stuff out :). Will gladly try out any mods or fixes that you do to help out!

Tornado was one of those sims that I actually never played when it came out for some reason and haven't actually gone into it in detail until now. I've flown most other 90's sims and the other DI sims, so i'm trying out all these new mods while learning the sim! Lot's of fun!

Thanks again!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 16, 2019, 01:46:40 AM
Hi Clark78

FYI. The granddaddy creator of all Tornado mods is Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein and here are (mostly) his creations. All done back in 1995/1996. Quite a feat considering that he didn't have access to source code of any kind. http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/tor/mods.html

Another amazing mod is the Tornado Compression mod (http://www.gamers.org/pub/archives/cactus/hitech-sim/programs/tornado/ttc10.zip) by  Kenneth "ICEMAN" Larsen.

I would say that 70% of the mods done by me were via tinkering around with the source code. Simply serendipitously stumbling upon code cause and effects. All credit to the original developers of DI's Tornado. Chiefly Kevin Bezant who wrote 99% of the 3D simulation brilliant code, which is FLIGHT.EXE. And a honorable mention of Robin Heydon, who wrote Tornado's amazing-more-advanced-than-what-RAF-had-in-1993, Advanced Mission Planner (source code for the AMP.EXE is not available, lost in the ether).

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on October 16, 2019, 04:19:14 PM
Hello,

Interesting, I've read a bit about those early mods but are not sure how they collaborate with the things you have done to Flight.exe? Will happily try these as well.

Yes, the flight sim as it is originally is already very good. Many other later 90s sims where always in need of mods as they never felt finished when released. Of course, small tweaks are always fun to try out, especially when you are used to more modern sims.

Thanks,
Clark
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 16, 2019, 07:38:16 PM
Hi Clark78

Here is the latest FLIGHT.EXE with the following changes:

>Not sure if it is only for me, but the Lookup view originally is quite good as it gives a better view when turning....
>...Same with the left/right view. They work initially, but when having turned the aircraft around they become switched (left becomes right and vice versa).
>And the view doesn't move with the aircraft. Even if the original views wasn't that useful at least they show what was expected.
>
>...but having to use Control-Home (from the Navigator's station) to return to Pilot Cockpit view is quite annoying when flying. Originally Home key switched between Pilot and Lookup,
>but always started with Pilot view so you never needed to toggle between views to get back.


In response to your reflections, observations and feedback, I've decided that some parts of classic Tornado are best left the way they were/are. So, I've restored the below functionality to the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

Original Views Restored
1. Original Tornado Lookup view (Home key) is now restored;
2. Original Tornado Navigator's Right glance view (PgDn key) is now restored;
3. Original Tornado Navigator's Left glance view (End key) is now restored;
4. Original Tornado Pilot's Right glance view (PgDn key) is now restored;
5. Original Tornado Pilot's Left glance view (End key) is now restored;
6. Pilot's left and right graphic panels restored;
7. Navigator's left and right graphic panels restored;
8. Home key switches between Pilot View and Lookup View, but always starts with Pilot view if switching from the Navigator's Station (as per original Tornado).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/SAM_launch.png)
Now SAM launches and inbound SAMs get more airtime in the Action View split-screen.

Plus, I've thrown in two new stuff.

Two enhancements to Mod#151
1. Now Skyflash launches will trigger the Action Split-screen when at SCR=1, SCR=2 and SCR=3 (press F1 key, followed by the 9 key to see the SCR values)
2. Now AAA tracer and Tornado Mauser cannon shells do not hog the Action Split-screen when at SCR=1, SCR=2 and SCR=3. This gives more air (view) time to SAM launches and inbound missiles.

Hope this helps.
Frankie Kam

P.S.,
Captain's Log, Stardate 17th October 2019, 9:30pm.
I realised that the Lookup View wasn't exactly restored to the original. The custom code line "mov TMP_VIEW.VP_PITCH,-20", which raises the horizon up, was still in VIEWS.ASM. Now that I have removed the line of code, the horizon level in the Lookup View is the same as stock Tornado.  I have updated FLIGHT.EXE once again.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on October 17, 2019, 12:42:12 PM
Thank you Frankie!

Just tried it out briefly yesterday and the only thing I found is that the Lookup view is still a bit wonky and doesn't really follow when you turn or maneuver. But great on reverting the keys as it is a lot easier going from and too different views.

Thanks for the tip on the compression mod by the way, excellent feature which works perfectly!

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 17, 2019, 02:39:22 PM
Hi Clark79.

Thanks for testing.

See my P.S. in my previous post. Please give these two EXEs a try. Two EXE files inside the uploaded FLIGHT.ZIP file. The LOOKUP Views of BOTH should now follow when you turn or maneuver. The difference is:

(1) FLIGHT1.EXE = has the exact same code as original Tornado. Which is:

;---------------------------
UpdateLookUp   LABEL   NEAR
;---------------------------

      mov   ax,ZFT_COCKPIT
      add   WORD PTR TMP_VIEW.VP_ZFT_LO,ax
      adc   WORD PTR TMP_VIEW.VP_ZFT_HI,0

      mov   ViewPtr,OFFSET TMP_VIEW

      jmp   UpdateViewExit




(2) FLIGHT2.EXE = has the same code as original Tornado with some extra stuff above and below the stock code.

;---------------------------
UpdateLookUp   LABEL   NEAR
;---------------------------

      cmp   NVG_set,1
      jne EscapeEject
      ;----------------------------
      ;* store visual configuration
      ;----------------------------

      ;* if night or foggy use IR visual colours

      cmp   Night,1      ;Dusk (still light enough to see)?
      je   EscapeEject   ;yes ->

      cmp   Night,0      ;night?
      jne   @F      ;yes ->

      cmp   Fog,0      ;foggy?
      je   EscapeEject   ;no ->

@@:      call   SetIRPalette
EscapeEject:

;      cmp HomeValue,2  ;Modded free roaming full-screen?;
;      je ModdedRoamableFullScreen        ;Yes!

      KTEST KF_Clouds
      _JZ CloudsOnn2
      xor   CloudsEnabled,1
      jmp OutOfDetails2   
CloudsOnn2:
      KTEST   KF_Horizon
      _JZ HorizonOnn2
      xor   GradEnabled,1
      jmp OutOfDetails2
HorizonOnn2:      
      KTEST   KF_GndText
      _JZ GndTextOnn2
      xor   GndTextEnabled,1
      xor   TreesEnabled,1
      jmp OutOfDetails2
GndTextOnn2:
      KTEST   KF_HillText ;K_3
      _JZ OutOfDetails2
      xor   HillTextEnabled,1   
OutOfDetails2:         
      
      mov   ax,ZFT_COCKPIT
      add   WORD PTR TMP_VIEW.VP_ZFT_LO,ax
      adc   WORD PTR TMP_VIEW.VP_ZFT_HI,0

      ;mov TMP_VIEW.VP_PITCH,-20
      mov   ViewPtr,OFFSET TMP_VIEW
      call LoadExtrnPan
      call UpdateExtrn

      cmp   NVG_set,0
      jne EscapeEject2   
      
      cmp NVG_set,1
      jne @F
      call FixIRPalette
@@:      
EscapeEject2:

      jmp   UpdateViewExit


To test, download and then rename FLIGHT1.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE. Do likewise to FLIGHT2.EXE. In the game, hit Home twice to get the LOOKUP View. Both EXEs should exhibit the same "follow when you turn or maneuver" without any wonkiness. I think.

****************************************************
<<<<<<<<<<< Update: 18TH OCTOBER 2019>>>>>>>>>>>
****************************************************
I reuploaded the FLIGHT.EXE. Corrected a bug where the Tornado became invisible after hitting F1, F3 and then F1 again. Bug squashed. Tornado visible in Tracking view again.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on October 17, 2019, 04:30:31 PM
Thanks Frankie,

I tried Flight2.exe an it works perfectly as far as I can see.

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 17, 2019, 04:50:55 PM
 :thumbsup Awesome!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Agathosdaimon on October 18, 2019, 04:14:09 AM
hi! sorry to chime in here but can i just ask - do i just put the flight.exe file in the flight folder and thats all i need to do to then play the modded version? - is there a list i can get of all the new key commands - there is alot spread out through this thread and alot of technical stuff i sadly dont understand, would like it just to all be in one place if possible thankyou!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 18, 2019, 04:25:46 AM
Hi Agathosdaimon

> do i just put the flight.exe file in the flight folder and thats all i need to do to then play the modded version?
>

Yes. That's all you need to do. What ever changes I do to the source code wil eventually be compiled and linked into an executable file named FLIGHT.EXE. So just replace the FLIGHT.EXE inside your Tornado's installation FLIGHT subfolder with the latest (or any) modded FLIGHT.EXE.

Just make sure you save your original FLIGHT.EXE as FLIGHT.ORI or something like that in case you want to revert the original FLIGHT.EXE file.

>  is there a list i can get of all the new key commands
>

Click here (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,6640.0.html) for the Summary of Keyboard Commands (Modded FLIGHT.EXE).

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Agathosdaimon on October 18, 2019, 04:36:15 AM
thanks for your prompt reply Frankie!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 30, 2019, 11:31:05 PM
152.  Weapons Tracking View Splitscreen SCR01 (Rotatable)
Mod: Tracking or follow a weapon on its release (by either friend or foe) in a split-screen

This is a series of latest mods culminating in Mod#154. FLIGHT.EXE is attached to Mod#154 entry of this forum thread.

The other day I was exploring the various modes in Tornado's external views. Kevin Bezant created a full 3D environment in the original source code with tons of new possibilities. I decided to take advantage of the existing code's ability to manipulate the 3D environment. This mod, and the next two mods that follow, are the result of Kevin's brilliant coding foresight.

SCR01 allows you to track any and all weapons as they are released by friend or foe. The action will show up in the upper split-screen. The view in the upper split-screen is completely adjustable, making the view fully 3D and rotatable to any angle by the user. This IMHO increases the gameplay and enjoyment of the Tracking view. For example you could see a SAM being released and heading your way. So you hit the F key to release a flare. The view will track the flare and you should see the SAM fly in between your Tornado and the flare, ending up in an impact against a surrounding hill slope. This is not possible in the Tornado-out-of-the-box.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/01.png)
The standard Tracking View (F1)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/02.png)
Hit ] to go to Weapons tracking splitscreen - or hit Shift+Alt+1

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/03.png)
Screen after user has hit Enter to select a weapons, and Space to release weapon. Ordnance tracked.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/04.png)
Hit 9 and the screen shows the tracking screen number (SCR01-SCR20) at the bottom right. Here it is SCR=01

The upper split screen's view is not fixed. It is dynamic. You can adjust the viewing angle parameters on the fly by hitting these keys:

F1 = Show the initial Tracking View (SCR=01). Cycle through to SCR=02, etc. with the ] key. Reverse direction cycle with the [ key.
Key 9 = Show the Tracking screen number (i.e., SCR=01 to SCR=20)
Key 7 = Make the upper split-screen a FULL screen

Shift+1 = Pitch Down
Shift+0 = Pitch Up

Alt+X = Pan View Right
Alt+Z = Pan View Left

Ctrl+X = Zoom In
Ctrl+Z = Zoom Out

Alt+ScrollLock = Raise
Ctrl+ScrollLock = Lower

Ctrl+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally left
 Alt+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally right

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/05.png)
Hit 7 and the upper screen goes into full-screen mode

I am attaching the latest Mod#152-Mod#154 FLIGHT.EXE. You can explore the other views. I.e., SCR=02, SCR=03 and SCR=04. Will be blogging them soon.

Hope this opens up new visual possibilities in the external views of Tornado. Try flying a mission where all kinds of weapons are let loose. Let me know what you think by replying to this post.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 31, 2019, 01:53:02 PM
153.  CCIP Tracking View Splitscreen SCR02
Mod: A three-way split-screen that shows the impact point of the target after selecting a bomb weapon

A Constantly Computed Impact Point (CCIP) ... is a calculation provided by a weapon's sighting system. It is a predicted point of impact found from the launch platform's movement, the target's movement, gravity, projectile launch velocity, projectile drag, and other factors that can be entered. It is usually displayed on the Heads Up Display (HUD). Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantly_computed_impact_point).

In stock Tornado, the gamer rarely has more than a second or two to glance at the state of the target area (e.g., Target X, Y or Z) after the impact of a general purpose or retarded bomb. How can one when one is kept busy shuffling between the pilot and navigator stations? This mod is in a way historic because for the first time in Tornado, you have a three-way splitscreen. See the image below.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/10.png)
A three-part harmony of views. So you can observe the damage done to a target, long after egress.

(1) The CCIP segment view - shows the exact spot where a bomb will land based on the CCIP crosshairs of a HUD. Hit the 7 key to shrink this segment
(2) The Weapons Tracking segment view of Mod#152. Hit the 7 key to expand this segment to full screen
(3) The Tracking segment view shown as half-screen

What this mod you can view the target X on egress at your leisure. Or at the very least, before you arm the next weapon with Enter. So here's an example of how it works.

Select a weapon and when in the Pilot's view, hit the Enter key to arm the weapon.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/06.png)
CCIP shown on HUD

Next hit the Space key to release your weapon. Now quickly hit F1 and cycle to Tracking view where SCR=02 (hit the 9 key to show the auxiliary status bar and look at the bottom right corner for the SCR value). You should see this tri-part split-screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/07.png)
Screen shows the action in three concurrent segments.

Upon impact, the tri-splitscreen becomes two. The weapons tracking view (top right segment) disappears leaving just the CCIP segment view and the main Tracking view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/08.png)
From three segments to two.

Since the CCIP view segment occupies almost 25% of the screen, you can 'shrink' it by hitting the 7 key. Like so.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/09.png)
Getting the CCIP view segment out of the way.

You can see the bombs hit the target at the CCIP point (top left window) for as long as you want to. Thus you can verify the success or failure of your ground strike. Once you press Enter to arm another CCIP-enabled weapon (e.g., RET1000 or GPB1000), you will lose the impact point view of Target X as the CCIP is re-calculated.

Hope you find this 3-part split-screen interesting.

Regards
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX - ADDITIONAL KEYS

The upper-right view segment is rotatable/pannable/zoomable with these keys. Same as Mod#152.

Key 7 = Make the upper right segment split-screen a FULL screen
Shift+1 = Pitch Down
Shift+0 = Pitch Up
Alt+X = Pan View Right
Alt+Z = Pan View Left
Ctrl+X = Zoom In
Ctrl+Z = Zoom Out
Alt+ScrollLock = Raise
Ctrl+ScrollLock = Lower
Ctrl+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally left
 Alt+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally right

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 31, 2019, 04:33:55 PM
154.  Waypoint/Target View Splitscreen SCR03
Mod: View any waypoint or target area on a flight path - with selected ordnance

Note: This Mod#153 feature is already built into Mods#152 and #151.

In stock Tornado, the only time you get to see a coordinated multi-Tornado attack converge on a target is when you are actually in the area and you hit the F1 (External Tracking View) key and then pan around. During a live mission, both Pilot and Navigator cockpits are a hive of activity. Hence usually no one can spend more than a few seconds to view the waypoint or target area as it is being attacked by ingressing Tornados.

With this mod, if you go to Tracking View SCR=03, you can see the view over any selected waypoint or target in the upper segment view of the split-screen. And you need not be directly over the target area to do this. In fact, you could be grounded on the runaway (perhaps due to engine failure - as sometimes occurs in real life) and yet still view the mission waypoint or target areas. This is another Tornado first because for once, you the gamer can see the exact moment when your wingmen overfly (ingress) a target area and light up the mission objectives with bomb impacts and craters.

Here's how to see this "Waypoint/Target View".

Step 1. Go to the Weapons Management window. If in Pilot's station, hit the / key (only available in a modded FLIGHT.EXE). Otherwise go to the Navigator's station with PgUp;

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/11.png)
Select an ordnance. Cycle through the orndances with K key.
Cycle through the orndances modes with the L key.

Step 2. Select an air-to-ground ordnance by cycling through the various ordnance with the K key;

Step 3. Choose an ordnance where its mode is either LAY (laydown) or LFT (loft bombing). Use the l (for London) key to change mode.
            IMPORTANT! Make sure its mode of delivery is NOT DIR of the following: (direct), LGB (laser-guided) or MAN (Manual).
            The Waypoint View will NOT work if your ordnance is in DIR, LGB or MAN mode. I don't know why. A bug is causing this;

Summary Table - when the Wapoint/Target View works and what it doesn't
WeaponModeWorks (Yes/No)
JP233-Yes
LGB1000LAYYes
LGB1000LGBNo
LGB1000MANNo
GPB1000LAYYes
GPB1000LFTYes
GPB1000MANYes
RET1000LAYYes
RET1000LFTYes
RET1000MANYes

Step 4. Hit the F1 key to go to the Tracking View;

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/01.png)
Normal Tracking View with F1. This is SCR=00 (hit the 9 key to see the SCR=?? value).

Step 5. Hit the ] key three (3x) times to go to the Tracking View's SCR=03 screen (hit 9 to key to confirm you are at the right view);
           Note: Shortcut is to hit F1 followed by Shift+Alt+3.

You should now see the current waypoint's view in the upper split-screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/12.png)
Waypoint view. Target X (enemy airfield) is the current waypoint.

Step 6. Cycle through the waypoint views by hitting the N key or the Shift+N key. The upper split-screen will also show you the view of the exact same waypoint/target. If you don't want to change the course of your Tornado, hit the ESC key first. Then only Cycle through the waypoint views.

Step 7. To get a better 'grandstand' angle of the current selected Waypoint View, hit the 7 key to switch to full screen. Then use any of the keys listed in the "Appendix - Additional Keys" section below to pan around.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/13.png)
Waypoint view, full-screen. Target X (enemy airfield) has just been bombed by 3 other IDS Tornados flying at low level.

Regards
Frankie Kam



APPENDIX - ADDITIONAL KEYS

The upper view segment is rotatable/pannable/zoomable with these keys. Same as Mod#152.

Key 7 = Make the upper (Waypoint view) segment split-screen a FULL screen
Shift+1 = Pitch Down
Shift+0 = Pitch Up
Alt+X = Pan View Right
Alt+Z = Pan View Left
Ctrl+X = Zoom In
Ctrl+Z = Zoom Out
Alt+ScrollLock = Raise
Ctrl+ScrollLock = Lower
Ctrl+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally left
 Alt+GraveAccent (~) = Step horizontally right
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 03, 2019, 01:06:51 AM
155.  Waypoint/Target View SCR=03 with Route Plan Display overlay
Mod: View any waypoint or target area on a flight path with overlaid Route Plan Display for easy reference and viewing of waypoints.

Note: This Mod#155 feature is as extension of Mod#154.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/DOSBox_Ti8ger2vjn.png)
Overlay is located on the right side of the bottom split-screen.
To get here, hit F1. Then hit the ] key three times.

Upper split-screen waypoint view will automatically switch if the user has selected an ordnance which has a mode NOT set to MAN or LGB. You can hit N or Shift+N to activate different waypoints and their respective views.

The waypoint view is completely rotatable and pannable. See the previous post for the key commands. If your Tornado is flying in F7/autopilot mode, as long as you have selected a non-MAN and a non-LGB weapon, the upper split-screen waypoint view will change AUTOMATICALLY when the Tornado is starting the next waypoint.

In this SCR=03 screen, after you have bombed a target, the target waypoint view will remain in the upper split-screen as long as you want it to. You can take advantage of this Mod#155 to take your time to survey the damage done. If your wingmen follow suit in a few seconds later, you will be treated to a nice spectacle of seeing the target waypoint being reduced to craters. This long after your Tornado has overflown the said target. This privilege of this view is only possible with the mod. In the stock game, you only had a fleeting glance of the target being blown to smithereens. How things have changed!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/155nice.png)
This mod brings target visuals to the fore.

To avoid affecting your Tornado's current waypoint direction, hit Esc before N or Shift+N. This will allow your Tornado to fly level while you switch the upper split screen's view from one waypoint view to another. After viewing, hit N or shift+N to the next waypoint so that your Tornado can resume its autopilot route.

This Route Plan Display overlay is very versatile. It even works when drones are viewed with the repeated hit of the F5 key. The current location of each drone, in succession, will be shown on the Route Plan Display overlay! What this means is that, knowing how far or near a Drone wingman is from the target, you can easily follow the Drone right until it releases its bombs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DroneSCR03.png)
The Route Plan Display also tracks drones.

You can even use the SCR=03 screen to test the outcome of your custom multiplane coordinated strike. Just leave your Tornado on the runway tarmac. Then in Pilot View mode (Home key), hit the Enter key to select an orndance. Then hit F1 followed by the ] key three times. If you have the Tornado Compression TSR running, hit Alt+8 to speed things up. Hit the N key to move the current waypoint to the target waypoint. For example Target X. Adjust the upper screen's viewing angles to taste. Then observe the upper split-screen for a front-seat view of the carnage before, during and after coordinated strike's bombs hit the target. You may even hit the 7 key to change the half-screen Wayppint View to full screen mode. Have fun.

Enjoy
Frankie Kam

P.S., the SCR=03 view has one more surprise. If you have not activated any weapon AND a SAM is locked onto you, you will see the upper half screen dynamically shift to the point in space where the SAM and your Tornado will intersect! Almost as if by magic. Give it a try.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 05, 2019, 03:12:47 PM
156.  SAM View SCR=04
Mod: Action packed split screen view of SAM launch and switch to full-screen view of Tornado when in close proximity.

In stock Tornado, you will know a SAM's deadly presence when your Tornado's close proximity alarm goes off. This almost always results in the gamer punching flares. The SAM symbol also appears on the RWR display in the pilot's cockpit. You might be lucky to very briefly see an exploding SAM on either the left or right of your Tornado. Other than that, external visuals of a SAM hurtling towards your Tornado are virtually non-existant. You never really see a close up of the SAM. It's either an inconspicuous white or grey dot in the sky. So in Tornado, you 'hear' SAMs rather than see them. The purpose of this mod is to make you both SEE and HEAR the SAM. With the emphasis being on the seeing part. In this mod, I have made the SAM launch and flight intercept path a major part of the view. It's a "SAM in your face and what are you going to do about it" view.

A good mission to try is the Simulator > SITUATION > 9:IDS - TWCU - JP233, Set Enemy to Active and hit the Commit button. See below.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/scr04-01.png)
The Simulator's JP233 mission is a good mission to see lots of SAM launches. Make sure you set the Enemies to Active.

This Simulator mission starts you airborne and a hornet's nest of SAMs await you. When a SAM is launched you will be able to see it travel upwards and towards its target.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/scr04-02.png)
To see this view, hit F1 (Tracking view), followed by the ] key four times.

Adjust the position of the SAM with these keys: Shift+1, Shift+0, Alt+X, Alt+Z, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+ScrollLock and Alt+ScrollLock. Adjust the position of the Tornado in the lower split-screen by using these keys: 1, 0, F1 and Alt+F1.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/scr04-03.png)
The SAM is seconds away from impact, hit those flares!

When the SAM is in close proximity (closing in at Mach 3.0 and within 4 seconds from impact), the close proximity alarm will sound. Immediately the dual split-screen view will change to a full-screen, centred on your Tornado. You will have the opportunity to punch flares (with the F key) to divert the SAM from its original computed intercept point of impact. You can adjust the position of the Tornado with these keys: Shift+1, Shift+0, Alt+X, Alt+Z, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+ScrollLock and Alt+ScrollLock.

This view is quite action-packed when multiple SAMs are launched against your Tornado. I hope you enjoy the visuals.

Cheers
Frankie Kam





Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 09, 2019, 06:27:19 AM
157.  Floating Route (Way) Plan Display
Mod: Minimalistic Route (Way)Plan Display

One outstanding features of stock Tornado is the Autopilot and waypoint route management. I have decided to re-use the Route Plan Display first introduced in Mod#155. In this mod, I have added the display to the Tracking (F1) view. Makes a big difference, IMHO.  I simplified it by removing the route legs, leaving just the waypoint letters. Minimalistic yet informative. Hit N key to go to the next waypoint; Shift+N to go to the previous waypoint. Hit [ key to show a Tracking View minus the overlay. Hit ] to cycle ahead to SCR=1, etc.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/FloatingRoutePlanDisplay.png)
The floating Route Plan Display makes a big difference to the Tracking (F1) external view.

This is okay because I have now overlaid the simplified Route Plan Display onto the F1 Tracking View display.  The net effect is that now the Tracking View is more informative. Of course, you can still hit the PgUp key to invoke the Navigator's Panel where you can see the original Route Plan Display in one of the TV-Tabs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/FloatingRoutePlanDisplay2.png)
The floating Route Plan Display works with Drone planes as well.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.

regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 16, 2019, 01:41:39 PM
158.  Killed In Action (KIA) Death Color Palette
Mod: When the Tornado gamer is dead (KIA), the color palette immediately changes to the red-and-dark-centric color palette.

In Mod#106, I removed the rotation of death and fade to black effect. As a result, you can still switch to other views even though your Tornado is out of action. When switched to such views, the only reminder of the gamer's 'death' is the word 'KIA' at the bottom-right of the screen. I thought I'd make the 'gamer is dead' effect more dramatic by introducing a death palette. Here's what 'Game Over' looks like.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/death_palette_01.png)
Pilot's View...dead.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/death_palette_02.png)
External (Tracking) View...as.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/death_palette_03.png)
WSO's View...a.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/death_palette_04.png)
Drone View...Dodo.

When you come to cropper, the change in colour palettes from green to red/dark is, IMHO, quite dramatic. Yes, the colors are garish, but that's the whole point. The gamer knows that he is 'dead' and should probably be hitting the Control+Q button to Quit and to return to the menus. See attached FLIGHT.EXE which is the latest as of 16th November 2019.

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update: Sunday 17th Nov 2019, 11:55pm.
Squashed the Lookup View bug which shows a mishmash of lower half of the screen. Now solved. Reuploaded FLIGHT.EXE!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 20, 2019, 02:28:19 PM
Apparently, Mod#158 causes the Hill Textures to be set to OFF. Even at the start of a new mission. This anomaly is caused by TWO things.

Reason #1. The Killed-In-Action garish screen colours set the hill textures OFF. I set the hill textures off on purpose so that the sky wouldn't have horrible colored horizontal streaks. Unfortunately, when the gamer starts a new mission, the hill textures remain OFF. This forces the gamer to go the Settings screen to toggle the hill textures on at the start of EVERY new mission. Not cool. Very irritating.

Reason #2. When in Night-Vision-Mode (Shift+Tab key combo), I preferred to have the Hill Textures set to OFF. Unfortunately this has the same effect as Reason #1. The Hill Textures stay OFF at the start of every new mission.

I have solved this anomaly. So now even after the death colors are activated at the virtual Tornado pilot's demise (at GAME OVER), the Hill Textures are re-activated when the game is restarted with a new mission. Also now when you hit Shift+Tab to activate the NVG colors, the hills remain textured when in NVG-mode.

In the end, the Hill Textures are re-activated whenever a new mission is started.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE that solves the "forever having to re-set Hill Textures" bug. Hope this helps.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 21, 2019, 04:56:13 PM
Many thanks to Clark78 for highlighting three issues (bugs).
Bug #1: The Ground Textures toggle value kept resetting to no ground textures after each mission;
Bug #2: Whenever the joystick's coolie hat was switched to on, the Pilot Cockpit view would sprout wings on the left and right of the cockpit.
Bug #3: In the Navigator's TV-TAB, the mouse-controlled Movable Map's designator (crosshairs) was always off-centre. It was slightly lower than the aircraft symbol.

All three bugs have been solved.  Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE incorporating these three bug fixes.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on November 21, 2019, 08:15:46 PM
Hello,

Tried it out now, and my findings:

#1: Works perfectly!
#2: No difference actually, but it's no big deal so don't dwell on it.
#3: Works perfectly!

Thanks!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 22, 2019, 06:56:28 PM
Solved two bugs and added MORE improvements:

Bug 1 SOLVED. Full-screen FLIR (Home key for Pilot's Cockpit, followed by Shift+D) had some waypoint statistics text littered on screen - removed the litter text;

Bug 2 SOLVED. It was possible to have an empty TV-Tab frame on the upper-left of the screen when in full-screen FLIR. Now that empty frame is removed;

Improvement. The FLIR full-screen with Shift+D now allows you to toggle the RWR display on and off with the tilde ` key . This allows for a clean-uncluttered full-screen FLIR view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/RWRfullscreenFLIR.png)
Now in full-screen FLIR (Home and followed by Shift+D key), you can toggle the RWR on and off with the tilde key (`)


Improvement. The FLIR full-screen with Shift+D now allows you to toggle the ADI display on and off with the Shift+7. This allows for a clean-uncluttered full-screen FLIR view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ToggleAHIonAndOff.png)
Now in full-screen FLIR (Home and followed by Shift+D key), you can toggle the ADI on and off with the Shift+7 key


Improvement. The FLIR full-screen (with Shift+D) and most of the External Tracking screens now allows you to toggle the EScope Look Ahead Radar display on and off with the Shift+8. This allows for a clean-uncluttered full-screen FLIR view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/EScopeCorner.png)
Now in full-screen FLIR (Home and followed by Shift+D key), and MOST Tracking views, you can toggle the EScope on and off with the Shift+8 key


Improvement. You can now toggle the Route Plan Display ON and OFF with Shift+9 in SCR=01, 02 and 03 (F1 followed by the ']' key 3 times to cycle though the first three external views).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/nowyouseeit.png)
Now you see it .... then hit Shift+9 ....

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/nowyoudont.png)
...now you dont! Works only on three screens which are SCR=01, 02 and 03
(hit F1 and 9 key to see the SCR value on the bottom status bar)


Note: I had to use Shift+7, Shift+8 and Shift+9 because Alt+7, Alt+8, Alt+9, Ctrl+7, Ctrl+8 and Ctrl+9 are used by the Kenneth Larsen's Time Compression Utility (http://www.gamers.org/pub/archives/cactus/hitech-sim/programs/tornado/ttc10.zip).

Improvement. Previously when in the External Tracking view (F1 key), you had to hit the 9 key to know which SCR=99 external view you were at. No more. Now once you are in the Tracking view, the screen number is shown at the bottom-right of the screen. So there is no need to toggle the 9 key on and off to identify which tracking the screen you are at.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/cornerinfo.png)
Now you can keep track of which tracking screen you are at


Improvement. You can now toggle the Artificial Horizon Indicator ON and OFF with Shift+7 in almost all Tracking View screens (F1 followed by the ']' key to cycle).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ADIcorner.png)
Now you can toggle the AHI on and off with Shift+7

Attached FLIGHT.EXE is the same as in this post (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,7848.msg39471.html#msg39471).

Cheers
Frankie Kam

P.S., Bug 3 still unsolved. Joystick Coolie Hat up and down code - some changes made but still shows ghost wings. Leaving it.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 26, 2019, 12:29:04 AM
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/EMhvR-2XYAAnRBT.jpg)

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings

Digital Integration's Tornado 3D model of 1993 looks nothing like the Tornado in Jorgen Nillson's dramatic shot above. Still, after 26 years, the campaign gameplay makes me feel like I am flying one of these. Sortie after sortie. Still waiting for DCS Tornado.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on December 26, 2019, 11:26:46 PM

Digital Integration's Tornado 3D model of 1993 looks nothing like the Tornado in Jorgen Nillson's dramatic shot above. Still, after 26 years, the campaign gameplay makes me feel like I am flying one of these. Sortie after sortie. Still waiting for DCS Tornado.

That is all that matters  :thumbsup

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 31, 2019, 02:25:55 AM
31st December 2019 End of year Bug Fixes

159.  Christmas End Of Year Bug Fixes
Mod: Various fixes at end of the Yuletide season

(https://combataircraft.keypublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/01/4036931-1024x682.jpg)
Photo source: https://combataircraft.keypublishing.com/2018/01/25/last-year-of-the-tornado-gr4/
Credit: USAF TSgt Gregory Brook


The best DOS flight simulator now becomes more perfect.

1. HUD contrast, HUD switch and HUD option keys NOW function perfectly in BOTH normal HUD and full-screen HUD views
    - Key H   = change contrast
    - Alt+H    = Toggle Mach/Knots value
    - Ctrl+H   = Toggle HUD on/off
    - Shift+H = no visible effect on HUD
    These keys work fine now. No more irritating and unwanted 'repeating' effects of the H keys.

2. Solved a nastly bug where Shift+9 (to toggle on/off the Route Display in Tracking View) would also turn off the Navigator's left TV-TAB's Router Display
    - Bug squashed.

3. Added back the Rotation Of Death view when gamer's Tornado buys the farm
    - Now the gamer's  death in Tornado is more obvious with the original rotating view of death restored

4. Credits Screen is now sticky toggled On/Off with the "\" key
    - Previously you had to hold down the "\" key to see the Credits screen. How you just hit "\" and it stays on or off.

5. Easier toggling of left and right TV-TAB
    - Hitting "[" and "]" now cycles through the original TV-TAB views without activating the full-screen TIALD and FLIR displays - as long as neither TV-TAB is already showing a FLIR or TIALD view.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/bundeswehr-4295786_1280.jpg)
Happy New Year's Eve!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 24, 2020, 04:04:48 AM
2020 Lunar New Year Tornado mod goodies. Watch this space. Within 48 hours.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 28, 2020, 02:57:49 PM
Chinese Lunar New Year 2020 Mod Goodies - a major update

160.  Lunar New Year updates
Mod: New features to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2020

I've added some modifications. Just a tad.

1. I enabled the Indirect Mode ALARM to dive with its secondary motor firing away and accelerating earth-bound. Basically, I managed to implement this Tornado 1.0E feature by modding the Tornado 1.0A version of the source code.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/28jan2020-01.png)
From loiter to dive. The Shilka is seconds away from doom


2. I changed the inner-colour of the ALARM Indirect Mode parachute to from white to gray. Looks more 'realistic' now.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/28jan2020-02.png)
Darker shade of colour for inner parachute section. More 3D-ish.


3. I restored the 4 key to clear (disable) the clouds and stars. It's nice to once again just clear the skies of clouds which tend to get in the way, visually.

4. I changed the Roll/Heading toggle key on the external views' bottom status bar from '4' to Shift+4.

5. Previously after hitting F1 (External View), you would tediously cycle among 20 different subviews with '[' and ']' keys. Now I have trimmed and simplified the subviews to just 11 choice functionality:

SubView       Subview Description
=======   ======================================================================================
(00) Tracking View with Route Display Overlay - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when the the SAM close-proximity alarm goes off
(01) Tracking View with Route Display Overlay - Weapons external view - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when the the SAM close-proximity alarm goes off
(02) Tracking View with Route Display Overlay - CCIP / weapons view / F1 triple window view - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when the the SAM close-proximity alarm goes off
(03) Tracking View with Route Display Overlay - Target Area view - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when the the SAM close-proximity alarm goes off
(04) Tracking View with Ground Radar / Scrollable Map TV-TAB toggle, synchronised with 3D view of external environment
(05) Tracking View with SAM launch / AAA firing TV-TAB toggle - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when the the SAM close-proximity alarm goes off
(06) Tracking View with Ground Radar / Air Radar TV-TAB toggle
(07) Tracking View with Scrollable Map / Local Map TV-TAB toggle
(08) Tracking View with FLIR / TIALD TV-TAB toggle
(09) Tracking View with ILS / AFDS display TV-TAB toggle, accompanied by Horizontal Situation Indicator, Left & Right Engine R.P.M. indicators and Secondary Control Indicators
(10) F1 original Tracking View (no-frills)

6. For each subview, I have added Shift+8 as an on/off toggle of a half-screen-HUD view. You can also toggle the Altitude Direction Indicator (a.k.a. the Artifical Horizon) on/off with Shift+7

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/28jan2020-06.png)
Hit Shift+8 to enable the half-screen-HUD view, as well as the E0Scope view (bottom-right). Hit Shift+7 for the ADI.

7. For each subview, I have added Shift+Tab as a dual TV-TAB toggle that allows you to switch between two fixed TV-TABs (both located at the top-left corner of the external view screen)

8. In subview 04 (i.e., hit F1 followed by ']' key three times in succession), as you move your mouse cursor of either the Ground Radar or the Scrollable Map View, the external view (top half of the screen) will update its 3D environment instantaneously! A Frankie innovation.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/28jan2020-08.png)
The upper half of the screen will pan around, according to the position of your mouse cursor on the Scrollable Map

That's all folks.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on January 28, 2020, 11:51:51 PM
You have been busy my friend.

Thank you for the updates.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 02, 2020, 12:59:55 AM
161.  Weapons View enhancements
Mod: Recoloured LGB1000 and GPB1000 weapons 3D model, and enhanced V (Weapons) view

Improved on the V key for weapons view. Also recoloured the LGB1000 so that now you can see its fins.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/LGBnice.png)
Instruments of death

The GPB1000 has also seen a cosmetic makeover.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GPB1000recoloured.png)
Fins to finish the job

Hit V key for the weapon's POV. Hit V again for the external view of the weapon launched. Hit Z or X or 1 or 0 keys to pan/swivel the camera view angle of the weapon. Hit V for weapon's POV. Hit V again - the camera angles from previous swiveling are retained. The original TORNADO didn't have this feature.

So there you have it. Tornado modded to the 160++ (I've lost count) incarnation. So someone.....

...ASK me about TORNADO.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/AskMeAboutTornado.png)
Aye.

"You mean the latest masterpiece of flight simulation from Digital Integration's David Marshall? Why it's an extraordinary simulation with an interface of avionics, stunning high-resolution, 3D landscapes, sophisticated score and sound effects. Not to mention the detailed Advanced Mission Planner and special effects, elegant keyboard and joystick control of 3D models, objects, and a 332 paged book manual.

Beat the rush! Go out and buy TORNADO™ today!"
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 15, 2020, 04:48:33 AM
VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION FLIGHT.EXE

162.  Tracking View's Subviews Overhaul and Improved Design
Mod: Improved Subviews

I've made a couple more improvements to FLIGHT.EXE.

#1. I've brought back the original 5 key to toggle on/off the gradient sky horizon. The reason for this is that in the Night-Vision mode (Shift+Tab), the gradient colours can be distracting.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky1.PNG)
Once again you can hit the 5 key to change this ...

...to this.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky2.PNG)

#2. I've also changed the FUEL/VAPP toggle key from 5 to Shift+5. From this ...
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky3.PNG)
...to this.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky4.PNG)


#3. In most of the Tracking Views, you can now toggle a multi-selectable TV-TAB and MFD with Alt+T and Alt+M. Use the D key to cycle through the TV-TAB and MFD screens.
Like so...
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky5.PNG)
Hit Alt+T to turn on the TV-Tabs in the Tracking View (F1)
Cycle through the TV-Tab screens with the D key


...and so.
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/GradientSky6.PNG)
Hit Alt+M to turn on the MFD in the Tracking View (F1)
Cycle through the MFD screens with the D Key



#4. Due to the third improvement, I have reduced the number of F1 tracking views (cycle forwards or backwards with [ and ] keys) from 11 to just 6.

Sub-view     Sub-view Description (Note: hit F1, followed by [ or ] to cycle through the subviews)
=======   ======================================================================================
(00)             Route Display Overlay - cue SAM intersect view when SAM alarm sounds;  floating TV-TAB & MFD enabled.

(01)             Route Display Overlay - weapons external view - cue SAM intersect;  floating TV-TAB & MFD enabled.

(02)             Route Display Overlay - "CCIP/weapons/tracking" 3-window view - cue SAM intersect; floating TV-TAB & MFD enabled.

(03)             Route Display Overlay - Target Area view - cue SAM rolling/moving Intersect view


(04)             TIALD & MiniMap TV-Tabs synchronised with 3D view of external environment - cycle both TV-Tabs with the D key!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/movingLandscape1.png)
"TIALD" mini-window. Move the crosshairs and the 3D landscape on the right will pan.
Hold down the Control key and move the mouse scrollwheel, and the 3D landscape on the right will raise/lower in altitude!
Toggle this mini-window and the one below with the D key


In the upper-half of the screen, you can

In the bottom-half of the screen, you can


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/movingLandscape2.png)
"Map" mini-window. Move the crosshairs and the 3D landscape on the right will pan.
Toggle this mini-window and the one below with D key



(05) SAM launch / SAM Point-Of-View TV-Tab toggle - auto switches to imminent SAM Intercept view when SAM alarm goes off - cycle both TV-Tabs with the D key!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/SAM_on_the_way.png)
"SAM launch" mini-window.
Toggle this mini-window and the one below with D key


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/AAA_on_the_way.png)
"Shilka firing AAA with muzzle-flash" mini-window.
Toggle this mini-window and the one above with Tab


(06) F1 original Tracking View (no-frills) with TV-TAB and MFD toggle on/off option


#6. The 6 key (toggle iron works on/off) now only activates when you are in the Pilot's Panel view
Previously when you were in an external view, e.g., Reverse, Tracking, Remote or Spectator view, you could hit the 6 key and hide the Ironworks of the Pilot's cockpit. Now the 6 key only works when you are in the Pilot's cockpit (Home key). 'Bug' has been resolved.


#7. In all Tracking sub-views, except sub-view 06, you can activate a top-half cockpit view

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/HalfScreenCockpitNiceView.png)
Toggle this top-half cockpit on/off with Shift+8

#8. I've relabeled the Tracking subviews from TR1 to TR6 at the bottom of the screen status bar. "TR" stands for TRacking.

#9. Now you can go half-screen height map in Tracking View subviews TR1 and TR2. As usual, subviews TR3 and TR4 allow you to view the map at half-screen height.

#10. In Tracking View, if you activate the half Pilot cockpit with Shift+8, then enable the half-screen height map by hitting the M key. If you are in half-screen height, you cannot deactivate the half Pilot cockpit unless you remove the half-screen height map, for example, by hitting F1. Once the half-screen height map is gone, then you can hit Shift+8 to remove the half-screen Pilot cockpit.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Update 20th February 2020
After activating the TV-Tab with Alt+T, or activating the MFD with Alt+M, I've standardised the TV-Tab and MFD cycle key to the D key.
For the Tracking subviews TR4 and TR5, I've also standardised the TV-Tab and MFD cycle key to the D key.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 24, 2020, 12:05:03 AM
163. Various improvements to Tracking view subviews plus bug fixes

This version of FLIGHT.EXE improves on Mod#163. Chiefly this one: Hit F1 for Tracking View. Hit ] key to cycle to the TR6 (sixth subview). When you see a SAM launched at you, hit the F3 key in this subview and you will see a full-screen SAM POV showing the SAM's perspective as it hurtles towards your almost helpless Tornado.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/TripleJoy.png)
Triple window: SAM launch (top left mini-window - hit D key to cycle between two mini-views), Tornado (top half) when SAM close proximity alarm goes off,
and SAM perspective (bottom half) - you can catch a glimpse of the SAM's nose at the right edge of the screen!
You can also hit the 7 key to expand the mini-window (top left corner) to full-screen size.

The bottom left corner of the Tracking View now shows a simplified 3 character code that shows what Subview you are in. According in this format: XXN

XX
==
TR    ;Tracking view (F1 was hit)
ZS    ;ZSU-23-4 Shilka to Tornado view
ZS    ;ZSU-23-4 Shilka to Tornado view
ZR    ;ZRK ROMB (SA-8) to Tornado view
SX    ;6 O'clock (F2 was hit)
MP    ;Map view (M was hit)
FL     ;REMOTE/FLY-BY (F3 was hit)
DR    ;DRONE (F5 was hit)
SP    ;SPECTATOR  (F4 was hit)
WN   ;Weapon View (V was hit)
KO    ;DESTROYED (Self explanatory)

N
=
[0..6]

I also fixed various bugs with the TV-TABs cycled among the Tracking subviews.

Enjoy.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 28, 2020, 03:00:56 PM
164. Added the floating Route Plan Display to two more Tracking Subviews (i.e, TR4 and TR5)

So now the Route Plan Display is available in these six Tracking subviews: TR0, TR1, TR2, TR3, TR4 and TR5.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/yellowbox.png)

See attached FLIGHT.EXE.

Available keys:
F1     = first Tracking View (TR0)
]       = cycle to next subview (TR1...etc)
[       = cycle to previous subview (TR6...etc)
Alt+t = turn on/off TV-TAB (except when in TR4 and TR5)
Alt+m = turn on/off MFD (except when in TR4 and TR5)
d       = cycle to next TV-TAB or MFD
m      = half-screen or full-screen map view depending on which is the current subview
7       = toggle on/off a mini-window to full-screen size
Shift+8 = Overlay half-screen pilot cockpit panel on top half of the screen
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 05, 2020, 11:57:41 PM
Hi Tornado retro fans

Attached is the latest version of FLIGHT.EXE. I have spent quite a deal of time combing through the game for bugs. Most involving the floating TV-TABs and MFDs when in the external tracking subviews.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ALARMHITSHILKA.png)
ALARM a millisecond away from hitting a Shilka. To get this weapon POV view, upon release of the weapon with Enter, hit the v key twice.

Here are some more bugs I have fixed:

I have tested it and have found no more bugs. Which is unusual. So either the code I have used actually works as intended, or it means I am right at the precipice of ending my modding journey of Tornado's source code.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/Credits_Tornado.png)
Press backslash '\' for the credits screen.

So anyway, I leave it to you, intrepid Tornado or ex-Tornado gamer, to find the time to test this version to death. If anyone informs me of a bug, I will awaken from my slumber to tinker away at the code. What I would like to do is a farewell video which takes the viewer through each and every modification that collectively, takes the original flight simulation to a newer height.

In the meantime. enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 08, 2020, 01:06:49 AM
163.  Matrix-like Bullet-time effect with enhanced pause via Shift+P
Mod: Mouse Rotatable paused 3D environment

In some flight simulators I know, when you hit the P (pause) key, you can freeze the entire 3D environment on the screen. You can then proceed to travel around in this suspended state of 3D environment any how you like. Panning, zooming, etc. I remember doing this in Eagle Dynamic's classic Su27 Flanker 1.0 and 1.5.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/Su27flanker15.jpg)
Eagle Dynamics did the Matrix Bullet time effect pretty well with their classic Su27 DOS flight simulator.

In TORNADO, pressing the P key will pause the screen. You will be left staring at the current screen - frozen with a darkened hue. So a dynamic pause feature with a pannable/zoomable live environment has never been done before in Tornado,  Until now.

In this mod, when you are in any view, just hit Shift+P to go to the Matrix-like Bullet-time effect 3D environment. Use the mouse and the keys 1 and 2 to slew around. Everything in the environment is frozen at the exact moment you hit Shift+P. You can pan around and zoom in/out. If there are tracer or SAM in mid-flight, you will be able to pan around them like in the movies. Enjoy!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/woeisme.png)
To activate Bullet Time in TORNADI, hit F1 followed by Shift+P. To exit, hit Ctrl+Q.


To enter the Matrix-like Bullet-time effect 3D environment, hit Shift+P. For best effect, hit F1 (Tracking View) before hitting Shift+P.
To exit the Matrix-like Bullet-time effect 3D environment, hit Ctrl+Q.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/TracerUpwards.png)
Tracers arcing upwards towards my Tornado. I can pan around in full 3D, albeit clumsily using the mouse.
Keyboard commands would be much easier.

At the moment, the 1 and 0 keys are straightforward enough to use. However the mouse controls are frustratingly difficult to use. This Bullet-time feature is still buggy in that I managed to code it so that you could pan and zoom using the keyboard (which is easier), however upon hitting Ctrl+Q and returning to the Pilot's cockpit (Home key), I lost the functionality of the + and - keys. So this is still very much work in progress.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX

Mouse controls
FeatureMouse action
pitch up (climb)mouse forwards
pitch down (dive)mouse backwards
roll rightmouse right
roll leftmouse left
increase speedmouse forwards + left mouse button
decrease speedmouse backwards + left mouse button
stop deadleft mouse button + right mouse button
centre mouseright mouse button

Keyboard controls
FeatureMouse action
pitch up (climb)Key 1
pitch down (dive)Key 0

End of Appendix

Update on Sunday 15th March 2020 - I managed to solve the Keyboard control issue. See the next post below!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 14, 2020, 04:53:32 PM
163b.  Matrix-like Bullet-time effect with enhanced pause via Shift+P (enhanced)
Mod: Keyboard and Mouse Rotatable paused 3D environment

Everything is frozen still. Fly through the paused 3D environment to savour the moment via multiple heights and angles.

I managed to solve the bug which prevented me from using the +, -, 5 Numeric Keypad and arrow keys in the 3D environment. At last! The frozen 3D environment can now be admired by using either mouse or keyboard.

https://youtu.be/Q8vE15WYrLc
Finally, after 27 years, in TORNADO you can now pan and fly though a multiplane synchronised Tornado raid on an enemy airbase.
JP-233 attack with wingmen in close proximity setting off bombs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/SAMlaunch.png)
SAM launch!


Now, in addition to the mouse moves, you can pan around and zoom in/out using these keyboard keys(!):

If you are in the Pilot's cockpit (Pilot Panel with Home key), and you hit Shift+P, you will see from the vantage point near your Tornado, minus the Tornado!
If you are external Tracking View mode (F1 key), and you hit Shift+P, you will see from the vantage point near your Tornado, with your the Tornado very close in the view!
If you in weapon select mode (Enter key with package selected), and you hit Shift+P, you will see from the vantage point from the target drop impact point, with your the Tornado some distance away.

With the more maneuverable keyboard commands, I can now more easily position the freeze camera in more strategic locations.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/jp233spectacular.png)
Now I can take my time and position to view to capture spectacular angles of events. Like this JP-233 strike on a runway on a clear day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idP9lFLoekk
Bullet-time mostly in the last 2 minutes. Enjoy.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/Face2Face.png)
A one-a-million-pic made easy with this mod.



Update Sunday 15th March 2020

(1) I've enhanced the Keyboard mode to include Mouse control. Specifically ...

Mouse controls
FeatureMouse action
roll rightmouse right
roll leftmouse left
increase speedmouse forwards + left mouse button
decrease speedmouse backwards + left mouse button
stop deadleft mouse button + right mouse button
centre mouseright mouse button

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/FlaresReleased.png)
This Keyboard-Mouse combo makes it easier for me to capture the moment I want.
Here I captured the moment when flares are just being released. This is impossible without this mod.
It also makes for smoother visual effects in videos.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/almostthere.png)
Another dramatic short. A SAM intersecting a Tornado's path.
Made possible only with this mod.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DeathCometh.png)
From another angle. What a work of art! I'm getting to love the pixels more and more.



...so now you have a hybrid control by default. Makes movement much easier and flexible. Now you can simultaneously move the mouse and keyboard.
For example, try panning with the mouse while you hit the climb/dive or speed up/slow down keyboard controls.


(2) Suspended sound when entering Bullet-Time mode; Resumed sound when exiting Bullet-Time mode. More pleasant on the ears now.


Updated on Tuesday 24th March 2020.
Previously the FLIGHT.EXE would on occasion hang with the screen going black and white. This after the usual Shift+P and then followed by a later Control+Q to exit the Bullet Time pause mode.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/bandw.png)
When trying to exit the Bullet Time mode with Control+Q do you see something like this:
the entire screen goes black and whte and hangs?


Since then, I've made a small change to the CONTROL.ASM file. So far no more screen going black and white and hanging. If you experience any bug freezes, do let me know.

See the latest attached FLIGHT.EXE that, so far, solves the B&W Freeze crash bug.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 28, 2020, 03:45:27 PM
164.  See through mesh-like Clouds
Mod: Clouds are now no longer colour filled, but rather mesh-filled.

Clouds in TORNADO by default are more aesthetic than functional. This is because they are polygons that are colour-filled. Meaning, I can't look through them. Granted, most clouds in real life are fluffy and thick and perhaps the default look of clouds in TORNADO mirrors real-life clouds. Still, many times I find myself hitting the 4 key to remove all clouds from the view.

BEFORE

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/newclouds4.png)
Flying at 200 feet above ground, looking up at the underside of the polygon-filled clouds

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/newclouds3.png)
Flying at 10,000 feet above ground, looking down at the topside of the polygon-filled clouds

But what about thin, mist-like clouds where you can fly past them and still make out the features on the ground? For a long time, I've wondered how to make clouds more translucent. Today I've discovered how to make the clouds mesh-filled instead of polgon-filled. The answer lies in the two procedures MeshFill and PolyFill in CLOUDS.ASM. All I need to do is to remark (comment) off PolyFill  and type in MeshFill in its place. Super simple. Problem solved.

AFTER

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/newclouds1.png)
Flying at 200 feet above ground, looking up at the underside of the mesh-filled clouds

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/newclouds2.png)
Flying at 10,000 feet above ground, looking down at the topside of the mesh-filled clouds

See the difference now? So in my humble opinion, with the ground features now showing through thanks to mesh-like clouds, Tornado is now more interesting and gameplay is increased.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE with mesh-like clouds for you to see right through.

Cheers and stay safe at home, and God-bless all the medical and emergency frontliners in this fight against the invisible enemy,
Frankie Kam

UPDATE - SUNDAY 29TH MARCH 2020
I've enabled the clouds to be toggled between polygon-filled and mesh-filled. Hit Alt+C to switch between the two types of clouds. By default, the clouds are polygon-filled. Hit Alt+C to change to mesh-filled.

Summary: Alt+C = toggle cloud type

End
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 05, 2020, 05:13:38 PM
165.  Playing Tornado 1.0E Operation Desert Storm with SoundBlaster enabled on Dosbox 0.74-2
Mod: Soundblaster with Tornado ODS

I rarely write about Tornado's Operation Desert Storm add-on. Simply because the source code of DESERT.EXE is nowhere to be found. I only have the source code of FLIGHT.EXE which is the European (green landscape) part of Tornado. Today's post is unique in that I made a mod for FLIGHT.EXE and ended up enabling the Sound Blaster sound effects for Tornado 1.0E Operation Desert Storm! At least for me. How did this happen? It's a mystery to me. All I know is what I did when tinkering with the FLIGHT.EXE code, but it doesn't make any sense how it effected the ODS sound card settings in a good way.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-pinky0.png)
Pinky flying over the Iraqi desert at 200ft above ground.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-pinky1.png)
Pinky ingress over the target area.

For the longest time, I could never play Tornado 1.0 Operation Desert Storm with the Soundblaster setting set to on via the in-game settings. I could only use the Adlib sound card setting. In Tornado, I don't think the Adlib sound effects are as immersive as SoundBlaster, but beggars can't be choosers. So I resigned myself to playing Tornado ODS with only Adlib. Today however, I believe I cracked (solved) it. I'm not sure if this is a legit mod because I've heard that it all depends on your DOSBox version. DOSBox mods exist as well. Also others have told me that they can play Tornado 1.0E with the Soundblaster setting, albeit with degraded sounds compared to an original 486DX retro desktop PC running on MS-DOS. Anyway, read on!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-amp.png)
The outstanding and classic Advanced Mission Planner. The Gold Standard of mission planners.

In Modding Tornado, I am always finding new ways to save more bytes. As may or may not know, Tornado was written in assembly language. Yes, that's right. But not in just any assembler. They wrote a full package flight simulator, complete with the best mission planner of any DOS game in history, in 16-bit real mode assembly language. We're talking about a game that runs, competing with mouse and device drivers, in 640Kb of conventional memory! The original Tornado 1.0a FLIGHT.EXE - its 3D engine - is 569 KB (583,344 bytes) in size. After tinkering with the source code for the past two years(!) to produce 164 mods (with most of the mods are already incorporated inside FLIGHT.EXE), as of yesterday, the latest FLIGHT.EXE file is  587 KB (601,728 bytes). That's 18Kb worth of modded code added onto the original FLIGHT.EXE.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-sb.png)
Setting the Soundblaster setting for Tornado 1.0E ODS.
Caveat: if you are playing the European Theater's FLIGHT.EXE, then this will give you Adlib music and sound effects!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-error.png)
Be prepared for lots of these before you can actually begin an ODS mission.
Caveat: on my rig, I keep getting this error message. Thankfully on the third try, the error solves itself and I find myself in Pinky's cockpit.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-pc.png)
Setting the Soundblaster setting for Tornado 1.0E European Theater.
Caveat: if you are playing the ODS' DESERT.EXE, then this will give you annoying PC speaker music and sound effects!

So yesterday, I tried writing more code Tornado but when the linker always complained there I had exceeded the Segment memory. So modded Tornado had reached a stage where it couldn't take any more can'modifications or extra variables. I dug into the code more and I discovered that I could delete the PC Speaker sound code to save more bytes. I mean who plays Tornado with PC Speaker sound any more? No one. By cutting (trimming off) the Speaker sound code, the latest FLIGHT.EXE file size is now 587 KB (601,696 bytes).  Which is 32 bytes saved. Ha ha. Anyway, I discovered a side-effect in that for the first time ever on my rig running Tornado 1.0E, I could enjoy Operation Desert Storm missions with the SoundBlaster selected.

Warning!
If using this Mod#165 to play an European training, simulation, mission or campaign, take note that the Preferences screen's sound card settings are now 'disrupted'. To enable Soundblaster in for European play, you will now have to select Speaker as the sound card! And to enable Adlib, you will have to select Sound Blaster from the Preferences screen! For Tornado 1.0E ODS missions, there is no change. Select the sound card as you normally would.

This mod will not be useful to anyone who plays Tornado 1.0E on a authentic retro PC running on MS-DOS. It won't be useful if you already are getting Soundblaster effects in the game. But it sure is a milestone and a 'breakthough' for me as I can finally enjoy an ODS mission with the rich, atmospheric and immersive Soundblaster effects and sounds.


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-takeoff.png)
Night mission take-off in Tornado 1.0E ODS.

(http://moodurian.com/assets/images/027-1400x875-62.png)
Pilot's cockpit red-glow panel in a night mission.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/ods-lgb.png)
LGB strike - a view of the Navigator's cockpit panel

See attached FLIGHT.EXE.

Update Monday 6th April 2020.
Hmm...my laptop is running on Windows 10 Professional 64bit, and even without this mod, I can run Tornado 1.0E ODS with SoundBlaster effects enabled. My older desktop computer, running on Windows 7 Home 32-bit, needs this mod to run ODS with sound card selected as SoundBlaster.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 28, 2020, 02:26:22 AM
166.  Added enemy close-proximity Air-to-Air missile warning sound
Mod: Sound emitted when an enemy aircraft's missile is inbound

When an enemy aircraft's air-to-air missile is homing in on your Tornado, a close-proximity warning sound is now emitted. This should have been a feature since December 2017 (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27302.html#msg27302) when I added the SAM close-proximity sound.

In WEAPONS.ASM, all I needed to do was to comment off three lines (cmp, je and the DontMakeMoreDashSound label). Like so:

      ;cmp   WPN_Weapon.WPN_TYPE,SIDEWINDER
      ;je DontMakeMorseDashSound   

      mov CloseToImpactFlag,1      
      call   MorseDashSound
;DontMakeMorseDashSound:   

So now it's a more level playing field when up against enemy Migs.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/a2amissle.png)
My Tornado being made into toast by a couple of enemy missiles and cannon fire.
Now a least you get to hear a Mig missile close proximity warning sound!

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/shotdown.png)
I managed to evade this Mig-29's missiles by pumping chaff. Alas I was shot down by 6 o'cock cannon fire!


In addition, a few more visual bugs got squashed. Attached is the 170th incarnation of FLIGHT.EXE.



Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 06, 2020, 05:53:23 PM
166-171.  BEST VERSION EVER! 3 Full-screen modes, shaking external modes, full-HUD stores panel and various improvements
Mod: Also brought back the following: Tornado F3, all PC Speaker, Adlib, SoundBlaster and Roland sound drivers and pitch toggle with 7 key

1. In the Tracking View, you can go to three full-screen modes:

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/may-tri-full-screen.png)
Three ways to go full-screen in F1 Tracking Views.


2. Previously in external view, when you observe the Tornado being hit by AAA shots and SAM missiles, the Tornado does not even flinch or shudder. This is the default behaviour even with Tornado 1.0E Operation Desert Storm! Now if you were 200 feet or less from the external tracking view of the Tornado, the Tornado - and the whole screen - will shudder when hit by AAA or SAM. If the Tornado is zoomed away with the > key, and its distance is more than 200 feet away from the viewer, there is no shuddering when the Tornado takes hits. This, in my humble opinion, makes the simulation more visceral.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/may-flinch.png)
In ranges 0 to 200 feet, in Tracking (F1) View the screen will shudder upon impact of AAA and SAM.


3. Added the Stores Panel, activated by "/", without divider lines and panel frame for fullscreen HUDs (Shift+D)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/may-full-screen-stores.png)
Weapons store on right of full-screen HUD (Shift+D). Toggle stores with / key.


4. Brought back the famous white Tornado F3 ADV. It was missing in the previous few mods because I ran out of memory! Now, having cleared redundant code, I have enough memory to reinstate the Tornado F3.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/may-f3.png)
Tornado F3!


5. Brought back the Key 7 to toggle the pitch-angled look when the Tornado banks. I tought it was more appealing visually and cinematic to see Tornado banking in external view and in split-screen.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DOSBox_et9JjPrxvA.png)
Key 7 does this. The angled look reminds me of some aerial scenes in TopGun (1986).


6. Tracking view with F1 now defaults to your Tornado being shown lower on the screen. The sky occupies more vertical space compared to the earth. This readies the view for split-screen mode so that you do not need to manually reposition the Tornado and earth/sky heights.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/may-default-f1-view.png)
Nicely repositioned in anticipation of split-screen views (with [ and/or ] keys).


7. In Mod#165, I sort of messed with the selections of the sound options. In this edition of FLIGHT.EXE, I have decided to reinstate the original sound drivers - PC Speaker (!!), Adlib, Roland and SoundBlaster. Since I cleared off enough redundant code, now there is room for all four sound drivers. Feeling pretty nostalgic when hearing the PC beeps of the Tornado theme and from gameplay audio! The drawback of this re-hack to the original is that now I am close to the end of free memory. So in future to free up more memory, I will have to cut loose the Roland sound effects, which on my SoundBlaster emulated DOSBox, doesn't sound so nice compared to the SoundBlaster effects.

8. Corrected panning of ZRK and AAA to Tornado Views. Specifically when you hit Alt+Shift to toggle between AAA->Tornado and ZRK->Tornado view where the external models of the ZRK and AAA Shilka are seen. Rotation bug fixed for keys Z, X and 2/Shift 2. Smooth again like in the original.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/sam_NICE.png)
Restored panning of external view of SAM and AAA. Hit F1, and when enemy SAM and AAA are firing hot lead,
hit Alt+Shift, followed by Ctrl+Shift, 2, Shift+2, <, >, z and x to move/shift/pan around the objects.


9. Corrected some visual bugs: chiefly hitting End and PgDn, when in the various Tracking views, no longer results in visual anomalities


So yeah, like, this is the BEST VERSION OF TORNADO SO FAR!

End of 8th May improvements
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 10, 2020, 02:55:02 AM
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DOSBox_38gB9sXc75.png)
Hit the 3 key to go to full-screen TIALD view.

So in this mod, I have gone back to basics and have enabled the 3 Key for the Navigator's TV-Tabs. In this way, whenever you are in the Navigator's Panel with PgUp, you conveniently switch between the two TIALD views by pressing the 3 Key.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DOSBox_lvJ6wkZF9T.png)
Hit 3 key again to revert to the normal-sized TIALD TV-Tab view.

Once you have activated the full-screen TIALD with the 3 key, the [ and ] are unresponsive. You will not be able to change the TV-Tab view. This is by my design because I don't want to be able to change TV-Tab views unless you purposely hit the the 3 key again. In which case, you will return to the TIALD normal TV-Tab view size. This design greatly simplifies this full-screen TIALD process and reduces the gamer's chances of confusion in case an accidental press of either the [ key or the ] key changes the TV-Tab view. This feature is very simple to use: hit 3 to go full-screen, 3 key again to return to the standard sized TIALD TV-Tab view.
 
Regards
Frankie Kam

CHANGE LOG

Update: 10/5/2020, 6:30pm UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur timezone.
Corrected TWO MAIN TYPES OF BUGS[/b]
(1) Whenever I rolled the plane 360 degrees, the TIALD would show an "X" invalid display. This is the TIALD's normal behaviour. The user is brought back to the Navigator's Panel. However, there was a visual bug which caused the screen to be messed up. I have since corrected this bug.
(2) Initially after hitting the 3 key, the full-screen TIALD was not as responsive as normal, unless you hit the TAB key. Furthermore, the "R" and "L" indicators were missing. I have corrected these bugs. NOW the TIALD controls NOW work perfectly as I used the correct TIALDDisp procedure.

Update: 10/5/2020, 7:10pm UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur timezone.
Fixed the full-sized TIALD views with the 3 key. Now, while locked in the full-screen TIALD view, the [ and ] keys are intentionally unresponsive. Hit 3 key again to come out of full-screen TIALD view.

Update: 10/5/2020, 11:05pm UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur timezone.

I fixed the following bugs of the full-screen TIALD view:
Miscellaneous changes:

Update: 12/5/2020, 12:05am UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur timezone.


Update: 13/5/2020, 8:30pm UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur timezone.
I have updated the FLIGHT.EXE from this post (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg41689.html#msg41689) on page 21 of this awesomely long thread.[/list]
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 10, 2020, 12:08:02 PM
Thanks for the latest version, it fixed the sound back for me as well as got rid of the graphic anomalies when using End / PgDn. Great also that the F1 outside now starts with no extra displays as I like the clean look.

Some points though:
1. The F1 view now is centered very high above the Tornado and not in the center as it should.
2. The default now is the mesh clouds, maybe the solid should be the default (as I prefer them :) ).
3. The Full screen TIALD with 3 works great, but it isn't in IR at night unless you first press Shift-TAB, not sure this can be fixed so it is IR just like the display from the start?

Thanks!
/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 10, 2020, 12:19:19 PM
Hi Clark78
Thanks for test driving the latest incarnation of FLIGHT.EXE and your comments are highly appreciated.

>1. The F1 view now is centered very high above the Tornado and not in the center as it should.
>

Yeah, guess I have been spending too much time playing Tornado with the split-screens of F1 and [ and ] keys. The latest change in the sky-earth height dimensions was to position the Tornado to suit the split-screens. I'll see what I can do here.

>2. The default now is the mesh clouds, maybe the solid should be the default (as I prefer them :) ).
>

Yes, I find the mesh appearance of the clouds sometimes make the overlaid text on the HUD difficult to read. I am setting the white-filled clouds back as the default. Easily remedied.

>3. The Full screen TIALD with 3 works great, but it isn't in IR at night unless you first press Shift-TAB, not sure this can be fixed
>so it is IR just like the display from the start?
>

Was busy fixing the bugs and testing the code of this 3 key mod for two days, that I haven't even tested it in the night mode! You're right that the default mode was to immediately go into infra-red (green?) mode when it is night. I'll see what I can do here.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 10, 2020, 12:40:27 PM
Hi Frankie,

Thanks, always glad to help out to make this sim even better!

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 10, 2020, 04:29:44 PM
Done! ;-)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 10, 2020, 08:59:37 PM
Thanks Frankie!

Fixed all three! But two other things popped up (no biggies though :) ):

1 - Now the TIALD is correctly IR at night, but so is also the Shift-D no cockpit view per default and can't be turned off.
2 - The graphic anomalies when using End and PgDn for left and right still appear if you first press End, and then back with Home and press D. They go back to normal if you go to PgDn view and back Home again.

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 11, 2020, 12:20:56 AM
Hi Clark78

> 2 - The graphic anomalies when using End and PgDn for left and right still appear if you first press End, and then back with Home and press D. They go back to normal if you go to PgDn view and back Home again.
>

I can't reproduce this. Your steps are:
1. In Navigator Panel view
2. End
3. Home
4. D
?

Frankie
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 11, 2020, 07:56:39 AM
Hi,

1. From Pilot view, press End or .
2. Press Home back to Pilot.
3. Press D to switch MFD view.
4. I get a garbled overlay MFD in the top left corner as well as strange text over the MFD. Have to go to Navigator view and back again to get rid of them.

But it could be because I use my joystick hat for Left and Right view so I'll do some more testing.

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 11, 2020, 06:51:16 PM
Hi Clark78

>  I get a garbled overlay MFD in the top left corner as well as strange text over the MFD.
>
I know what the 'garbled overlay' and 'strange text' are, but I can't replicate the problem.

If you have the time, do test this latest FLIGHT.EXE. I believe I have solved full-screen TIALDs bugs. Except for the anomaly you mentioned which I can't seem to replicate. Do put the full-screen TIALDs to the test. Press the 3 key and also do crazy rolls in the Tornado to make the TIALD go the "big X invalid screen" thingy. Do let me know of any problems you may face. Also try out FLIGHT /a /n4 (e.g., darkest night time) and test the full-screen TIALD and FLIR views with IR toggle-enabled with Shift+Tab.

I have tested the exe exhaustively and have iron out most of the bugs. See if you can catch some more. ;-)

Attached is the lastest FLIGHT.EXE which I have already updated into Mod#172.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 12, 2020, 05:04:41 PM
Hi Frankie!

Thanks, I've now tried to test it extensively. My findings:

1. The graphic anomalies only appear when using the Joystick Top Hat to change the view left and right etc. Can't reproduce it by pressing End / PgDn. But the problem doesn't appear at all when using Flight.exe from Mod "161.  Weapons View enhancements", so it has been introduced somewhere after this. No worries, as it only happens to me using a Flightstick.
2. The TIALD works flawlessly in both daylight and night as far as I can see! Good job!
3. The Shift-D full screen no-cockpit view however is shown in green IR light as default during night, and doesn't have the gradient sky. You can turn the green IR off by using Shift-TAB but the gradient sky can't be put back. It isn't synched with normal cockpit view at all. I found that the Flight.exe from Mod 161 works correctly where it defaults to the same as cockpit view.

Of course these are no big issues at all, just wanted to point them out for consistency sake. Thanks again for your excellent work!

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 12, 2020, 06:54:42 PM
Hi Clark78

Many thanks for your comments.
>1. The graphic anomalies only appear when using the Joystick Top Hat to change the view left and right etc.
>Can't reproduce it by pressing End / PgDn. But the problem doesn't appear at all when using Flight.exe from Mod "161. 
>Weapons View enhancements", so it has been introduced somewhere after this. No worries, as it only happens to me using a Flightstick.
>

Yeah I have just found a way to simulate the coolie hat thingy in order to solve the bug. Do test and see if the anomaly is now solved when using your Joystick Top Hat to change the view left and right etc.

>3. The Shift-D full screen no-cockpit view however is shown in green IR light as default during night, and doesn't have the gradient sky.
>You can turn the green IR off by using Shift-TAB but the gradient sky can't be put back. It isn't synched with normal cockpit view at all.
>I found that the Flight.exe from Mod 161 works correctly where it defaults to the same as cockpit view.
>

I restored the Shift+D full screen no-cockpit view from Mod 161.  Let me know if this works for you.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 12, 2020, 08:07:51 PM
Thanks Frankie,

The Shift-D view works perfectly now!

The graphic anomalies are still there unfortunately, but don't worry about them, they are easily removed by going to Navigator view and back again.

Cheers,
/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 13, 2020, 12:56:44 AM
Hi Clark78

Did the anomaly you encountered look something like this:
(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/Anomaly.PNG)
?

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 13, 2020, 07:11:02 AM
Yes, exactly like that!

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 13, 2020, 08:32:11 AM
Hi Clark78

I believe that I have solved the COOLIE hat problem that led to the gibbersh anomalies.

Please check this latest FLIGHT.EXE out.

Regards
Frankie Kam

"No anomaly left unsolved"
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 13, 2020, 09:16:03 AM
Hello,

Yes, now it is solved! Great. Also solved the anomaly when going from F1 to Cockpit view with the Coolie Hat which caused looking through the plane!

Only thing I noticed, the Shift-D at night is back to being green IR by default and no gradient horizon.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 13, 2020, 10:19:39 AM
Hi Clar78

> Only thing I noticed, the Shift-D at night is back to being green IR by default and no gradient horizon.
>

Not sure what happened, playing whack-a-mole with the code. Need more coffee for me, perhaps.

Ok, once more, into the breech!
Here you go, do test the Shift+D thingy at night.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 13, 2020, 08:05:36 PM
Hi,

Yes, now it works perfectly! Thanks a lot!

/C
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 14, 2020, 11:55:23 AM
Hi Clark78

Ah satisfaction at long last! It's good to know that the views the long-standing joystick coolie hat controls are working fine and bug free. Those bugs were around a L-O-N-G long time. The one of the best 90s DOS classic flight simulators just got more perfect.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on May 14, 2020, 01:51:59 PM
Hi Frankie!

Yes, finally! Thanks a lot for that! Having the new view possibilities and the full screen no-hud cockpit and full screen FLIR really improves the situational awareness in this sim. And being able to quickly switch between views with the coolie hat is really nice. This is important as it makes the low resolution not being such a big impact as before. Great work!

Cheers,
Lars
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 14, 2020, 02:27:45 PM
I'll drink to that!!!
 :shots
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 16, 2020, 06:47:27 PM
I discovered a bug in
Mod#166. Air-to-air missile close proximity warning (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg41415.html#msg41415).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/BuginiMod166.PNG)

In Mod#166, I mistakenly commented off lines 4743, 4744 and 4749. This resulted in some mysterious and irritating random-sounding close proximity warning sound. The sound I later found out, was some drone's SkyFlash missile going off. So what I did was to UNcomment 4743, 4744 and 4749. So now the mysterious close proximity warning sound is gone. Also, enemy incoming Air-To-Air missile is working fine with this latest small improvement.

Attached below is the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

Until the next Tornado mod,
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 25, 2020, 06:15:12 PM
173.  Automatic cinematic pan in Tracking View
Mod: In Tracking View (F1), hit the "I" key to pan around the Tornado

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/pan.gif)

This lends a nice cinematic touch to the Tornado external view. Hit F1 first. Then toggle the panning on and off with the "I" key. You can also hit Z, X, Shift+Z and Shift+X to further shift the panning along.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 27, 2020, 06:35:11 PM
174.  Automatic cinematic pan in Drone View
Mod: In Drone View (F5), hit the "I" key to have an automatic view pan around the Tornado

I applied the code from the previous mod to the drones in Tornado. Optimised for split-screen view (F1, [ or ] keys) as well. Well, I got it to work. Now I can enjoy watching the Hind and Frogfoots go about their business of death with a cinematic like effect camera panning around the aircraft at a slow and relaxed rate. IMHO, it does make a difference to the visuals. One more mod closer to the the 200th mod target I've set myself. That would be nice to achieve.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/tornado-ezgif.com-optimize.gif)

This lends a nice cinematic touch to the Tornado drone external view. Hit F5 first. Then toggle the panning on and off with the "I" key. You can also hit 1, 0, Z, X, Shift+Z and Shift+X to further shift the panning along.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 11, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
175.  Tweaked F1 Tracking, F3 Flyby and Destroyed views
Mod: Did three minor tweaks over the weekend

F1 Tracking - After an F1 key press, holding and pressing 1 or 0 raises or lowers the height of the camera. Nicer effect now.
F3 Flyby - hitting F3 no longer swivels the camera view around to bring the Tornado into view - Tornado immediately comes into view.

https://youtu.be/ViAGSCxM6tc
No more pre-swivelling. Immediate flyby view.

When the Tornado is destroyed, it will now slow down, then dive downwards and when hitting the ground, will come to an immediate stop (zero knots).

Latest Update 19/7/2020
FLIGHT.EXE now in two Tornado skin flavours - grey and green.
See attached FLIGHT.ZIP file.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 19, 2020, 04:13:38 PM
176. Modelling a Bundeswehr Luftwaffe grey livery design
Mod: A grey German Tornado

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/German_AirForce_Tornado.PNG)

The Bundeswehr Luftwaffe Tornado skin that I had created in my last post was something that I simply wanted to improve on. For two reasons. Firstly, it was simply an ADV Tornado skin with a black nose cone. Secondly, the topside and underside were the same colour. I needed the topside colour to be a darker shade of gray.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/bundeswehr-4295765_640.jpg)
Image by CaptainMeo from Pixabay.

https://youtu.be/x_xaWd_s0Pg
Bundeswehr Luftwaffe grey livery


(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/29951766063-53b6b63f00-o_orig.jpg)
"Tornado GNY" (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Rob Schleiffert from Flickr.com


So I decided to spend a Sunday afternoon to colour the flat-shaded polygons of Digital Integration's 1993 Tornado in the colours of the Bundeswehr Luftwaffe's Tornados. Took me half a day of modifying the 27-years old hardcoded-code to get this right. I think I got the 3D effect just nice. I like the contrasting greys between the topside and underside colors.

As usual, I attach the latest FLIGHT.EXE executable file. The other three files (INC and ASM source files) are just for my future reference.

Enjoy.

Regards
Frankie Kam

P.S., here are a collection of interesting articles about Germany's Tornados.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/2018/04/13/germany-fears-steeper-tornado-costs-after-the-uk-ditches-its-planes/
https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/germany-opts-for-typhoons-and-super-hornets-to-replace-tornados/
https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/germany-f-35-tornado-jets/
https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2020/04/22/german-defense-minister-makes-tornado-replacement-plans-official/
https://www.fpri.org/article/2020/05/squaring-the-circle-the-replacement-of-the-german-luftwaffes-tornado/
https://www.stripes.com/news/germany-to-order-45-us-jets-to-replace-1970s-tornados-report-says-1.626691
https://today.rtl.lu/news/business-and-tech/a/1499724.html
https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/germany-outlines-tornado-succession-plan-with-eurofighter-and-super-hornet-buy/138049.article


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 20, 2020, 02:13:02 AM
 :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 21, 2020, 02:15:49 AM
177. Modelling a Bundeswehr Luftwaffe grey livery design - Part II
Mod: A better grey German Tornado

This is Part II of the Luftwaffe skin mod

Mod#176 had a problem where the colours were not consistently laid out. Also when you zoomed in and out, the scaled image was deformed in terms of haphazard colouring and colour replacements. This has been solved with Mod#177.

This livery is now Mod#177 and it shows absolutely no anomalies when zoomed in or out. This is because I did a proper search and replace of colours. So the colours of Mod#177 are more organised, systematic and better laid out, compared to Mod#176 which was more a piecemeal kind of colour replacement.

I guess I got more skillful in the art of colouring Digital Integration's Tonka.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/luftwaffe_version2_a.png)
Topside colours are darker compared to the underside colours.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/luftwaffe_version2_b.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/luftwaffe_version2_c.png)

The colours harmonise better with the surroundings, compared to the darker Tonka of my previous post (Mod#176).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/DOSBox_gZ91rH1Ke7.png)

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/luftwaffe_version2_e.png)

The belly colours are lighter compared to the topside colours.

As usual I attach the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.


Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 02, 2020, 02:34:16 PM
TRACKING VIEW (F1) SPLIT-SCREEN MODE - VARIOUS IMPORTANT BUG FIXES

Various important bug fixes:

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/mod_various_split_screen_mode_bug_fixes.png)

As usual, I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE which makes this modded simulator more bug-free.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 03, 2020, 07:30:42 PM
178. More 'realistic bomb' effects,

Mod: Nicer bomb blast effects.

Bomb blasts and explosions in Tornado are disappointing. Missing are rapidly expanding sprites of bomb blasts like what Jane's Fighter Anthology sported. This omission is due to memory limitations. So previously when a bomb reached the ground target, the gamer would be greeted by an explosion sound effect and an immediate crater visual. All very underwhelming.

Now I have added more pyrotechnic visual effects so that a bomb explosion in Tornado looks sightly more "realistic". It all still happens in a split second. Unless you pause the screen at the right moment (Key p), ...like so(!)...

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/MoreRealisticBombEffect.png)
Triple screen. To see this triple-split-screen, hit F1, then "[" 3 times, and release your bomb toward the target.

....you will only see the effects for slightly more than a split second. Still the bomb blast is visually more active than the default (since 1993) sterile sound and crater effect.   Personally I like the visual effect of the flames arching upwards. Never mind that the effect lasts all of 1 second, this is in my humble opinion, better than the stock game's explosion effect.

Hope you like this effect.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Update Sunday 9th August 2020. The original Mod#178 hung the game after a while. I have solved the bug and I have RE-uploaded FLIGHT.EXE. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on August 04, 2020, 12:16:54 AM
Nice work Frankie  :notworthy

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 04, 2020, 03:41:22 PM
179. Late Master Arm Switch in external view

Mod: Added the Late Master Arm switch to the Tracking View.

In Tornado, to check if if the Late Master Arm switch is primed, I have to switch to the cockpit view. See below.

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ma.PNG)

With me making many mods that deal with th external view, I thought it would be nice to show the Master Arm switch outside of the cockpit.

Update: I removed the explosion effect since Mod#178 hangs the game after long play. So FLIGHT.EXE reuploaded minus Mod#178.
What I have done with this latest addition to my famly of Tornado mods, is to show the Master arm switch in the external Tracking view. Like so:

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ma2.PNG)
Hit F1 for Tracking View, followed by "[" key once. Before hitting the Enter

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ma3.PNG)
After hitting Enter

(http://www.cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ma4.PNG)
After hitting "/" key to show the Store Management Display.
The selected ordnance GPB1000x4 MAN is blinking.

What's the whole point of this you may ask? For me, it means I can concentrate more on the external view visuals and instrumentation without having to jump back into the Pilot's View (Home). It's nice to know for certain that the Late Master Arm switch has been toggled on - especially when I am fully focused on the bomb run and there are seconds left before the release of ordnance.

Note: The Late Master Arm will only show in the external tracking view either the TV TAB or MFD is visible (toggle them on/off with Alt+T and Alt+M) at the upper left corner of the screen.

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update: FLIGHT.EXE reuploaded on Sunday 9th August 2020. Solved the Mod#178 bug.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 07, 2020, 01:15:52 PM
Standard Olive Green Tornado version - FLIGHT.EXE as of Mod#179.

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/visuals/OliveGreenTornado.PNG)

This is the gamer's default Tornado skin. Enjoy.

Update: Download the Zip file and rename either GREEN.EXE or GREY.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE for the latest executable.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 29, 2020, 01:27:36 PM
Ping.

All quiet on the Eastern Front.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Clark78 on September 08, 2020, 11:37:55 AM
Ping!

Tried out your latest mods yesterday. They work really good, especially like the new explosions!

Thanks,
Lars
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 08, 2020, 12:19:26 PM
Hi Clark78

Thanks for the kind words about the rebooted explosions. I have hit modder's block. Can't seem to muster the creative spark for some weeks now.  Maybe I should retire again. That always seems to work.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 05, 2020, 05:06:44 PM
My Tornado site lives on at cefl4u.com/tornado (http://frankiekam.com/tornado)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: ajthenoob on October 07, 2020, 03:27:51 AM
Hey, just downloaded the latest. Any reason joystick settings seem to be missing? Also, can you post your GO.BAT? Mine seems to be acting weird, I wonder why we can't run FLIGHT.EXE by itself.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on October 07, 2020, 03:58:53 AM
Hi ajthenoob

Go to
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,7836.0.html

Read the PRE-REQUISITES section where you will find a Google Drive link:

1. Here is the GoogleDrive link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XzOlSB-W-RPqFtPafWvbdk6Xz0iP7C1A

Inside that link you will be able to download the full game via the zip file named TORNADO.ZIP which is the Tornado 1.0E game itself. Copy the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE from this forum into the FLIGHT folder of the extracted  zip file contents. I.e., inside C:\TORNADO\TORNADO\FLIGHT

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX

My GO.BAT file contents

@echo off
rem
rem 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커
rem ?            Tornado CD-ROM 1.0E              ?
rem ?   Copyright (c) 1994 Digital Integration    ?
rem ?                                             ?
rem ?Modified for CD-ROM by Rob Northen Computing ?
rem ?                                             ?
rem ?          Syntax GO [drive_letter:]          ?
rem ?                                             ?
rem ?To use Hard Drive C for saving to type GO C: ?
rem ?To use Hard Drive D for saving to type GO D: ?
rem ?To use Hard Drive E for saving to type GO E: ?
rem 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸
rem
cd tornado.cd
lh cdpatch %1
if not exist setup.inf setup.exe
echo Loading Tornado ...
cd amp
loadhigh amp
cd ..
cdpatch x
cd ..


My DOSBox conf file settings:
# This is the configuration file for DOSBox 0.74-3. (Please use the latest version of DOSBox)
# Lines starting with a # are comment lines and are ignored by DOSBox.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
#       fullscreen: Start dosbox directly in fullscreen. (Press ALT-Enter to go back)
#       fulldouble: Use double buffering in fullscreen. It can reduce screen flickering, but it can also result in a slow DOSBox.
#   fullresolution: What resolution to use for fullscreen: original, desktop or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
#                     Using your monitor's native resolution (desktop) with aspect=true might give the best results.
#                     If you end up with small window on a large screen, try an output different from surface.
#                     On Windows 10 with display scaling (Scale and layout) set to a value above 100%, it is recommended
#                     to use a lower full/windowresolution, in order to avoid window size problems.
# windowresolution: Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
#                     (output=surface does not!)
#           output: What video system to use for output.
#                   Possible values: surface, overlay, opengl, openglnb, ddraw.
#         autolock: Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen. (Press CTRL-F10 to unlock)
#      sensitivity: Mouse sensitivity.
#      waitonerror: Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
#         priority: Priority levels for dosbox. Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
#                     pause is only valid for the second entry.
#                   Possible values: lowest, lower, normal, higher, highest, pause.
#       mapperfile: File used to load/save the key/event mappings from. Resetmapper only works with the defaul value.
#     usescancodes: Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
#fullresolution=original
fullresolution=1024x768
windowresolution=original
#output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper-0.74-3.map
usescancodes=true


#output=ddraw

[dosbox]
# language: Select another language file.
#  machine: The type of machine DOSBox tries to emulate.
#           Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.
# captures: Directory where things like wave, midi, screenshot get captured.
#  memsize: Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
#             This value is best left at its default to avoid problems with some games,
#             though few games might require a higher value.
#             There is generally no speed advantage when raising this value.

language=
machine=svga_s3
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip: How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
#    aspect: Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!
#    scaler: Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes. If 'forced' is appended,
#              then the scaler will be used even if the result might not be desired.
#              To fit a scaler in the resolution used at full screen may require a border or side bars,
#              to fill the screen entirely, depending on your hardware, a different scaler/fullresolution might work.
#            Possible values: none, normal2x, normal3x, advmame2x, advmame3x, advinterp2x, advinterp3x, hq2x, hq3x, 2xsai, super2xsai, supereagle, tv2x, tv3x, rgb2x, rgb3x, scan2x, scan3x.

frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=normal3x
#scaler=hq3x


[cpu]
#      core: CPU Core used in emulation. auto will switch to dynamic if available and
#            appropriate.
#            Possible values: auto, dynamic, normal, simple.
#   cputype: CPU Type used in emulation. auto is the fastest choice.
#            Possible values: auto, 386, 386_slow, 486_slow, pentium_slow, 386_prefetch.
#    cycles: Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
#            Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
#            Cycles can be set in 3 ways:
#              'auto'          tries to guess what a game needs.
#                              It usually works, but can fail for certain games.
#              'fixed #number' will set a fixed amount of cycles. This is what you usually
#                              need if 'auto' fails. (Example: fixed 4000).
#              'max'           will allocate as much cycles as your computer is able to
#                              handle.
#            Possible values: auto, fixed, max.
#   cycleup: Amount of cycles to decrease/increase with keycombos.(CTRL-F11/CTRL-F12)
# cycledown: Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=max
cycleup=10
cycledown=20

[mixer]
#   nosound: Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
#      rate: Mixer sample rate, setting any device's rate higher than this will probably lower their sound quality.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
# blocksize: Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering but sound will also be more lagged.
#            Possible values: 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 512, 256.
# prebuffer: How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=25

[midi]
#     mpu401: Type of MPU-401 to emulate.
#             Possible values: intelligent, uart, none.
# mididevice: Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
#             Possible values: default, win32, alsa, oss, coreaudio, coremidi, none.
# midiconfig: Special configuration options for the device driver. This is usually the id of the device you want to use
#               (find the id with mixer/listmidi).
#               Or in the case of coreaudio, you can specify a soundfont here.
#               See the README/Manual for more details.

mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=default
midiconfig=

[sblaster]
#  sbtype: Type of Soundblaster to emulate. gb is Gameblaster.
#          Possible values: sb1, sb2, sbpro1, sbpro2, sb16, gb, none.
#  sbbase: The IO address of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 220, 240, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
#     irq: The IRQ number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12.
#     dma: The DMA number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
#    hdma: The High DMA number of the soundblaster.
#          Possible values: 1, 5, 0, 3, 6, 7.
# sbmixer: Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode: Type of OPL emulation. On 'auto' the mode is determined by sblaster type. All OPL modes are Adlib-compatible, except for 'cms'.
#          Possible values: auto, cms, opl2, dualopl2, opl3, none.
#  oplemu: Provider for the OPL emulation. compat might provide better quality (see oplrate as well).
#          Possible values: default, compat, fast.
# oplrate: Sample rate of OPL music emulation. Use 49716 for highest quality (set the mixer rate accordingly).
#          Possible values: 44100, 49716, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
sbmixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplemu=default
oplrate=44100

[gus]
#      gus: Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
#  gusrate: Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
#           Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#  gusbase: The IO base address of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 240, 220, 260, 280, 2a0, 2c0, 2e0, 300.
#   gusirq: The IRQ number of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 5, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.
#   gusdma: The DMA channel of the Gravis Ultrasound.
#           Possible values: 3, 0, 1, 5, 6, 7.
# ultradir: Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
#           there should be a MIDI directory that contains
#           the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
#           with Timidity should work fine.

gus=false
gusrate=44100
gusbase=240
gusirq=5
gusdma=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker: Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
#    pcrate: Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#     tandy: Enable Tandy Sound System emulation. For 'auto', emulation is present only if machine is set to 'tandy'.
#            Possible values: auto, on, off.
# tandyrate: Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
#            Possible values: 44100, 48000, 32000, 22050, 16000, 11025, 8000, 49716.
#    disney: Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. (Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible).

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=44100
tandy=auto
tandyrate=44100
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype: Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
#               2axis (supports two joysticks),
#               4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
#               4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
#               fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
#               none disables joystick emulation.
#               auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
#               (Remember to reset dosbox's mapperfile if you saved it earlier)
#               Possible values: auto, 2axis, 4axis, 4axis_2, fcs, ch, none.
#        timed: enable timed intervals for axis. Experiment with this option, if your joystick drifts (away).
#     autofire: continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
#       swap34: swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. Can be useful for certain joysticks.
#   buttonwrap: enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=false

[serial]
# serial1: set type of device connected to com port.
#          Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
#          Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
#          parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq (optional).
#          for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
#                           (realport:COM1 realport:ttyS0).
#          for modem: listenport (optional).
#          for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
#                         transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
#          Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial2: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial3: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# serial4: see serial1
#          Possible values: dummy, disabled, modem, nullmodem, directserial.

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
#            xms: Enable XMS support.
#            ems: Enable EMS support.
#            umb: Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout: Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=auto

[ipx]
# ipx: Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
# You can put your MOUNT lines here.
mount c d:\tornadom
c:
path=c:\MASM611\BIN
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: molnibalage on November 08, 2020, 09:50:52 AM
Hi.

I'm working on a very, very long article series about the Jet (and partially WWII) flight simulators (in Hungarian).
So far I have released three parts.
https://htka.hu/2019/10/12/szimulator-tortenelem-1-resz/
https://htka.hu/2020/04/19/szimulator-tortenelem-2-resz/
https://htka.hu/2020/10/18/szimulator-tortenelem-iii-resz/

Currently I'm working on the Tornado from 1993. Because you are modding it I guess you know deeply the game then any other player.


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 08, 2020, 10:39:52 AM
HI molnibalage

Thank you for your many questions! I will do my best to answer.

Regarding the 9K33 Osa (SA-8), I remember reading the patch readme file that mentioned that they changed the model of the vehicle. So maybe that's why you can't find the SA-8.

Sorry, but I have hardly played the campaigns, believe it or not. And I have never finished one yet! Perhaps someone else, hardcore Tornadoholic can reply your answer to this question on my behalf.

Yes, the player can attack the combat vehicles of the opponent. However, sorry to disappoint you, there is NO way to order the AI controlled planes to do this. Not enough memory variables and code memory to do this.

Again, I don't know much about the Campaign part.

in the modded versions of FLIGHT.EXE, I took out the 3D models review part. Basically, I DELETED the code that showed the rotating 3D models of the various air and ground vehicles. To release more code and memory space. That's why you can't see or activate them! Otherwise, there was no way I could have crammed in so many modifications to the original Tornado. Haha.

Nice to know that there are people still playing this wonderful DOS flight simulator. There is one guy who plays (played) Tornado on Twitch.tv. https://www.twitch.tv/tertius_oculus/

Cheers
Frankie Kam
boonsengkam@gmail.com
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 08, 2020, 03:57:57 PM
HI molnibalage

> On the screenshots here I can the the 9K33 Osa (SA-8) while so far
>I never saw or killed during any mission. In the "review"section where
>3D models of the vehicles can be checked there is not such thing. I
>tested the v1.0E Desert Storm and v1.0F versions.
>


The ZRK-Romb's NATO code is the SA-8 Gecko.
See below in red bold letters:


    TORNADO REVISION 1.0b - 09.09.1993
          ==================================

           (c) 1993 Digital Integration Ltd
           ================================

            IMPORTANT
            =========

   THIS REVISION DISK CANNOT BE USED WITH THE VERSION OF TORNADO
   DISTRIBUTED BY SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE, CONTACT SH FOR AN UPDATE IF
   YOU HAVE THE AMERICAN VERSION.

   This revision disk should only be used with Tornado versions
   1.0 or 1.0a released by Digital Integration Ltd.


To install this revision:-

1) Copy TORNAD1B.ZIP into your TORNADO directory.

2) Use PKUNZIP (v2.04) to unzip TORNAD1B.ZIP.

   pkunzip -d TORNAD1B.ZIP <ENTER>

3) Run UPDATE.EXE to modify some files.

   update <ENTER>


This revision addresses the following issues:-

 1) Mission save in campaign - it is now possible to save flight plans during
    campaigns.

 2) US Robotics 14400 Modem - the program now caters for the non-Hayes
    compatible codes used by this modem.

 3) ThrustMaster rudder pedal support.

 4) Promotion bug fixed.

 5) SAM effectiveness - SAMs are no longer always lethal but you will sustain
    more damage.

 6) Quit game - you no longer have to be stationary to end a mission. It is
    now ok to end a mission when you have landed and your ground speed is
    below 30kts.

 7) Explore mode - now fixed to daytime.

 8) Air victories bug fixed in log.

9) SAM launcher changed from ZRK-Romb to ZREK-BD Strela 10.

10) Enemy aircraft barrel roll phenomenon fixed.

11) Drone view displays aircraft designation. IDS and ADV Tornados
    display abbreviated callsign (A)lpha, (B)ravo etc.

10) Digital fuel readout on instrument panel.

11) When the air radar is switched on it automatically selects range
    with respect to selected air weapon.

12) Dogfight mode. If no weapons are armed, then hitting fire will
    automatically arm air-to-air weapons and switch on the air radar.

13) RWR gives audible warning when incoming missiles are very close.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: molnibalage on November 08, 2020, 09:18:56 PM
My original questions maybe were confusing. I'm trying to explore the original and patched from of the game what was in that and what may I miss or did not understand. :)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on February 15, 2021, 12:07:33 PM
Hi there

Well it's 2021 now. Chinese New Year week. Same time last year, I was modding the heck out of this flight simulator. This year, zilch. I've hit the end of the road with modding this amazing invention of Digital Integration. Amazing that even as I type these words, the Modding Tornado thread gets between 2 to 6 guests sifting through the posts.

(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/03/04/18/22/planes-4034903_960_720.jpg)

Stay safe folks!

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 22, 2021, 04:21:49 AM
Hi All

I was tinkering around with the FLIGHT.EXE executable yesterday. Discovered a bug where if you hit F1 (for external view) followed by he "]" key, and then hit Shift+8 to invoke the split-screen half-screen HUD, if you shift back to the Pilot's cockpit with Home and hit Shift+D, the screen will be messed up.

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2367;image)

So I managed to correct the bug and the mess no longer occurs if you go down the above mentioned sequence of key strokes (rabbit hole). Attached is the latest corrected FLIGHT.EXE file. As of Monday 22nd March 2021. Note: to guests, you will have to create a dogsofwarvu.com account and login.

Well, come to think of it, this is my first mod of 2021, haha!

Cheers
Frankie Kam

P.S.,

MORE IMPROVEMENTS LISTED HERE

25/3/2021 - Allowed the user to change the HUD color contrast (by pressing the H key) in the TABS and Navigator's full screen forward-looking screen and TIALD views. Also fixed a minor but nagging bug, where when you are in half-screen mode (Shft+8 in an external view), and you hit 'M' for half-height map, hitting 6 would hang the screen.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on March 22, 2021, 11:46:23 PM
 :winner
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 27, 2021, 02:57:43 AM
180.  E-Scope Button
Mod: Added a Toggle On-Off command for the E-Scope (Nap Of The Earth Ground Level Indicator) in external views


My first real mod of 2021! Let's see if we can top off 200 mods by the end of 2021, enriching this fantastic PC combat simulator by a factor of N. That would be very nice indeed. Then I can retire the modding for good.


I added the key 5 to toggle on and off the E-Scope. The window is located at the lower-left hand corner of the screen. Available only in external views , specifically when cycling from TR0 through to TR5 (i.e., hit F1 for Tracking View, and subsequent "]"s). Does not show up in TR06.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/animgifescope.gif)
Press 5 to toggle the E-Scope on and off

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/tf2.png)
Where the E-Scope is located in the Pilot's cockpit panel

Tornado will always be remembered as a combat flight simulator that was ahead of its time. In particular the Terrain Following Radar.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/tf.png)
Page 159 from the classic game manual (http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=1509).


The E-scope was fitted to the Interdictor Strike Version of the Tornado GR1.

A key piece of equipment in this version is the Terrain Following Radar which feeds an automatic terrain following system. This system controls the flight path of the aircraft to a pre-set clearance height above the terrain. The computer generates a theoretical "ski-toe" shaped envelope in front of the aircraft and compares this to the actual radar terrain return. If at any point terrain is found to penetrate into the envelope an automatic pull-up command is given.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/C0062_(oblique)_medium.jpg)

The E-Scope displays the theoretical and actual envelopes so that the pilot can monitor the system at all times. While the radar information is in polar co-ordinate it is presented in a modified form on the display: the vertical axis represents antenna angle while the horizontal axis represents the logarithm of range. For the E-Scope, Marconi-Elliott Avionic Systems Limited adopted a novel technique of logarithmic processing of the range information to preserve a simpler linear X-deflection scan. The principal advantage of this approach is the efficiency resulting from the processing of low voltage signals instead of high current deflection waveforms.

The E-Scope uses a high brightness green monochrome Cathode Ray Tube with a contrast enhancement filter. This is a functional unit but currently lacks the top cover. It would have been manufactured around 1979. An Enhanced EScope was under development around this time. (See Tornado Systems)

The E-Scope had system trials on Buccaneer XT272 in 1980 at Warton and was shoehorned into the front cockpit.

Source: https://rochesteravionicarchives.co.uk/collection/head-down-display-hdd/tornado-e-scope-head-down-display


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_1j-T5oP4Q

I have attached the latest FLIGHT.EXE as of 27th March 2021, 11:12am Kuala Lumpur time.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 27, 2021, 10:26:31 AM
181.  Satellite View looking down (2 zoom modes)
Mod: Use Ctrl+7 and Alt+7 to look down when in external view

This mod gives you a "top-down God" view of the action. Useful when recording or capturing the screen at the moment six Tornados hit an enemy targets, seconds from each other.

In vanilla Tornado, you would hit F2 for the satellite view. That view would have you looking straight down at your Tornado which was between you and the earth. Since I modded the F2 view to show the rear view, the modded FLIGHT.EXE did not include a look down view. Until today - I decided to do something about this, and I have added two look down views.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/zoom_out_lookingdown.png)
Hit Ctrl+7 to see the Satellite view (normal - zoomed out view)

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/dawn_airfield_attack.gif)
Classic Tornado low-level dawn attack on a enemy airfield - showcasing the Satellite view

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/zoom_in_lookingdown.png)
Hit Alt+7 to see the Satellite view (zoomed in view)

These two views are basically press to show, and release to return to the previous view. They should have some strategic value and may help with awareness and immersion of the gameplay.

Hope this helps. See attached FLIGHT.EXE file.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 03, 2021, 04:34:28 AM
182.  E-Scope window in full screen FLIR
Mod: Use Shift+D in Pilot and Navigator cockpit views

I thought that when in full-screen FLIR view, the E-Scope would come in handy to keep an eye on the ground.

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/escope_add02.PNG)
Shift+D in Pilot Cockpit view - FLIR full screen (Home, then Shift+D)


The E-scope was fitted to the Interdictor Strike Version of the Tornado GR1. A key piece of equipment in this version is the Terrain Following Radar which feeds an automatic terrain following system. This system controls the flight path of the aircraft to a pre-set clearance height above the terrain. The computer generates a theoretical "ski-toe" shaped envelope in front of the aircraft and compares this to the actual radar terrain return. If at any point terrain is found to penetrate into the envelope an automatic pull-up command is given.


(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/escope_add01.PNG)
Shift+D in Navigator Cockpit view - FLIR full screen (PgDn, then Shift+D)


 The E-Scope displays the theoretical and actual envelopes so that the pilot can monitor the system at all times. While the radar information is in polar co-ordinate it is presented in a modified form on the display: the vertical axis represents antenna angle while the horizontal axis represents the logarithm of range. For the E-Scope, Marconi-Elliott Avionic Systems Limited adopted a novel technique of logarithmic processing of the range information to preserve a simpler linear X-deflection scan. The principal advantage of this approach is the efficiency resulting from the processing of low voltage signals instead of high current deflection waveforms.

Cheer
Frankie Kam

P.S., minor update on 4/4/2021, 1:52AM Kuala Lumpur time: I corrected the bug which removes the clouds when full-screen FLIR is activated when in the Navigator's cockpit. Latest FLIGHT.EXE has been uploaded.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 04, 2021, 06:18:53 PM
183.  Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) for manual landings in Tracking View
Mod: Use F1 and D to invoke the HSI

The HSI has three main functions:
(1) To indicate direction (North, South, East and West)
(2) To indicate the direction of the Runaway (once in the ILS beam/cone)
(3) To indicate aircraft's relative nose up/nose down to the glideslope

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/AddedHSI.PNG)
The HSI - second gauge from the left - in action

The HSI was first introduced in Mod#142 (http://bit.ly/2M1LN5d). Then it disappeared. I have brought it back and repositioned it to the top of the screen, next to the ILS display. Appropriate, I would think. The HSI comes in handy when the ILS displays in both the HUD and MFS are no longer functioning due to damage. Refer to page 170 of the full 323-paged manual (or page 55 of the abbreviated 77-paged manual)  to read the HSI instrumentation.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/HSIfromManual2.PNG)
How to read the HSI for manual landings

What I did was to add the HSI next to the ILS display. The HSI is a vital component in manual landings.

I modified TAB.ASM and NAVIGPAN.ASM. Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/TenWindows.png)
Modded Tornado's full complement of TEN(!) mini-windows and floating instruments in the Tracking (F1) view

To view these floating gauges/instruments first go to Tracking View with F1. Then hit "]" once. Followed by the keystroke of the gauge/instrument you want to make visible. Some will already show up automatically.

1.   MFD display -> Alt+M key, and cycle through with D key
2.   TAB display -> Alt+T key, and cycle through with D key
3.   Warning/Damage Panel - Scroll Lock key
4.   RWR display to alert you to missile threats -> ` key
5.   Permanent navigation/waypoint route display
6.   Weapons Store Management display -> / key
7.   Master Arm toggle - to remind you that you have a selected weapon, ready and primed for release -> Ctrl+Enter key
8.   E-Scope - to show you your aircraft relative to the ground -> 5 key
9.   Altitude Display Indicator -> Shift+7 key
10. Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) for manual landings

You also can hit the \ key for the credits window. Shift+8 brings up the half-screen pilot's cockpit. More situational awareness.

Cheers and hope this helps.
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on April 06, 2021, 11:43:04 PM
Nice  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 11, 2021, 03:29:36 AM
184 & 185.  Two Post-Easter Weekend improvements
Mod: Extended the lookdown view to other External view modes. Invoke with keys 7 and Ctrl+7.

These two mods are an extension of Mod#181 Satellite View looking down (2 zoom modes) (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg46157.html#msg46157).


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/coptor_looking_down.png)
Drone lookdown view - hit F5 for DroneView, and then 7 or Ctrl+7.
The Uber-Zoomed-out view is useful when visually identifying and targeting ground vehicles like SAMs, AAA and trains.
See here: http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/DroneLookDownView.gif for full animated gif


External ViewEffect of pressing the 7 keyEffect of pressing Ctrl+7
1. Tracking View (F1)Lookdown viewZoomed in Lookdown view
2. Reverse View (F2)Lookdown viewZoomed in Lookdown view
3. Flyby View (F3)Like taking a lift (elevator) downLike taking a lift (elevator) up
4. Spectator View (F4)Like taking a lift (elevator) downLike taking a lift (elevator) up
5. Drone View (F5)Lookdown viewLookdown view but superzoomed out
6. AAA to Tornado View (F11)Like taking a lift (elevator) downLike taking a lift (elevator) up
7. SAM launher to Tornado View (F12)Like taking a lift (elevator) downLike taking a lift (elevator) up
8. Weapons View (v)Try it!Try it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2X4GXsQWE


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/bombs_6plane_attack.png)
A 6-Tornado coordinated dawn-strike against an enemy airfield.
Lookdown view shows the explosions of bombs released by the Drone Tornados in the strike.
See: http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/dawn_airfield_attack2.gif for full animated gif



Some additional minor improvements
I also amended an earlier bug where when you hit F5 to see Drone View, you could not zoom in or zoom out with the < and > keys. This has now been rectified. Also improved the view when toggling between F1 (Tracking View) & the "I" (panaromic) key, as well as toggling between F5 (Drone View) & the "I" (panaromic) key.


Responsive Horizon key remap
Previously the Responsive horizon was invoked by the 7 key. So because of mods#184 and 185, I have changed the Responsive Horizon key to Ctrl+` key (i.e., Ctrl+Tilde combo keys).

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Unresponsive1.png)
Before hitting Ctrl+`

(http://www.moodurian.com/tornado/images/Responsive1.png)
After hitting Ctrl+`

See attached "Post-Easter Weekend improvements" FLIGHT.EXE as of 11th April 2021.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

UPDATE - I re-uploaded the FLIGHT.EXE on Sunday 11th April 2021, 8pm.
The version of FLIGHT.EXE that I uploaded earlier had a bug in that you  couldn't take off the runway! This has been corrected.

UPDATE - I re-uploaded the FLIGHT.EXE and FLIGHT-GREEN.EXE on Sunday 11th April 2021, 10pm.
* FLIGHT.EXE - Luftwaffe Grey skin Tornado
* FLIGHT-GREEN.EXE - Standard Geen skin Tornado (rename to FLIGHT.EXE if you prefer the stock green skin)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 12, 2021, 08:29:47 PM
186. Pseudo Operation Granby 1991 Theme


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/desert_flyby.jpg)
More than thirty years ago...


Problem: The source code of Digital Integration's 1994 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) add-on is nowhere to be found. Which means I can never mod the DESERT.EXE executable file. So how do I enjoy all the mods done so far, in the ODS add-on? It's simply impossible! Or is it.....(?)

Solution: How about I change all Europe-green colours, of the original 1993 Tornado Version 1.0's FLIGHT.EXE, into the sand-desert colors of the ODS addon which was released in 1994? Yeah, that would give a nice illusion that the gamer playing is the ODS add-on with with all 185 mods firing away on their pistons!

Here's the result of my latest mod.

By the way, the Operation Desert Storm addon source code may never be found. I am still awaiting news of the possibility of the source code from one of the members of Digital Integration's original development team. But don't hold your breath as it was more than two years ago that I last made contact with him.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Pseudo_ODS.PNG)
Fancy an Operation Desert Storm theme to enjoy all the latest mods in a make-believe desert environment?


In the meantime, I have found a way to convert the environment, objects and aircraft colours into a desert theme. Do give my latest FLIGHT.EXE a test flight to enjoy the 'desert colours'. Also, do stay tuned for more improvements to this Pseudo Operation Granby 1991 Theme.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/jp233attack.gif)
A low-level sortie with the JP-233 on an enemy runway.

Recent related 2021 reads on the Net:

RECOMMENDED READING!

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/nice_read.png)

Read the full 4-paged article from http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/AFM2018-06-DesertStormTonkas.pdf

ADDITIONAL READING
https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/the-raf-remembers-the-beginning-of-operation-granby/
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38745/how-british-tornados-used-a-special-weapon-to-ravage-saddams-airfields-in-daring-desert-storm-raids
https://rafa.org.uk/blog/2021/01/17/operation-desert-storm-and-granby/

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on April 12, 2021, 11:57:09 PM
Awesome  :winner

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 13, 2021, 06:44:05 PM
187. Pseudo Operation Granby 1991 Theme (Part 2)

I managed to "desertfy" the daytime MFD and TAB-TV mini-maps, Like so:

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/pods-01.PNG)


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/pods-02.PNG)


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/pods-03.PNG)

So now the daytime maps are consistent with the external 3D environment. This is still Work in progress, as the nighttime maps still will show up as the standard green-European maps. I tried my best to make the colours faithful to the 1994 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) addon. Hope you enjoy this remake.

Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. This FLIGHT.EXE is essentially the European Tornado Ver1.0 with all mods incorporated, with a Desert skin. It is impossible to mod the original DESERT.EXE without the source code. So this is my version of DESERT.EXE which uses all European objects, maps and environment with a desert look.

I am also attaching the Excel file that allows me to do quickly do the palette colour Europe to Desert conversions.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 24, 2021, 07:14:57 AM
Some minor improvements.

(1) I removed all terrain-auto follows for heights below 200 feet. This is realistic as in Operation Desert Storm, the Tornado pilots could NOT terrain auto-follow below 200 feet. To get below 200 feet they had to fly manually!  Digital integration got it right in 1993. So I want to simulate this realistic but dangerous maneuver.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado-24thApril2021-03.PNG)


(2) I changed the label colours of the bottom status bar from green to blue. This is reflected in night mode as well.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado-24thApril2021-01.PNG)

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado-24thApril2021-02.PNG)


(3) Now you have two flavours of FLIGHT.EXE. FLIGHTEU.EXE is the original lovely green and khaki colours. FLIGHTDS.EXE is the Operation Desert Storm colours. To use either executable file, just rename to FLIGHT.EXE. The source code file responsible for the colour switching is PALETTES.ASM. I am attaching both versions of of the PALLETES.ASM files for my reference.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado-24thApril2021-04.PNG)


Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 26, 2021, 01:43:01 PM
Hi.

New poster. Just a question. Are the trees removed to simulate the desert environment? Also this could save space and might fix the tree bug in maps directory like mod 48.  Cant wait till night matches day then ill grab a copy.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 26, 2021, 04:26:16 PM
Hi Bewsher

No, I didn’t remove the trees. in fact the fir trees are still in the landscape, and they are sand-desert in colour. In the actual Operation Desert Storm addon (circa, 1994), there is no tree-height vegetation. Only patches of desert shrub here and there. I am not able to duplicate the shrubs 3D objects. Simply because I don't have the source code to the Operation Desert Storm addon.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 26, 2021, 05:07:51 PM
Hi.

Thanks for the reply. Just one other question Can you color the 1000LBG a middle green like the 1000LB GPB instead of default grey?

If so that would be fantastic.

Great modding on your part.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 03:26:54 AM
188. Recoloured the LGB1000 from stock grey to green/desert colours

Hi Bewsher and other Tornado Fans

The LGB1000 was always grey in colour. Thanks to Bewsher's request, the LGB1000 has now been recoloured.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/LGB_Reallife.PNG)
Photograph of a laser guided bomb being released from a Tornado

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/LGB_EU_gray_original.PNG)
Stock DI Tornado LGB1000 grey colour

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/LGB_Green_colours.PNG)
Modded DI Tornado LGB1000 in European colours

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/LGB_desert_colours.PNG)
Modded DI Tornado LGB1000 in Desert colours

Attached is FLIGHT.ZIP which consists of:

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 04:19:36 AM
OMG Thankyou Frankie. Ill grab this now.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 06:01:25 AM
Hi Brewsher

You are most welcome Brewsher. Nice to know that there is someone out there who is as crazy about this 1993 classic, other than me.

My goal is to hit 200 (useful) mods by the year's end. If you see anything worth changing either out of curiosity or out of gameplay necessity do share in this thread. Most of the mods are of the design or visual improvements category. I'll see if it is (a) within my means; (b) or way beyond my programming skill-set. Either way, as it is, the original and unchanged Advanced Mission Planner (AMP) is the REAL star of his simulation. The AMP is a software engineering marvel and is really the heart and soul of Tornado.

I only have the source code for the 3D simulation engine which compiles and links into FLIGHT.EXE. Two years ago, I contacted Nick Mascall who has the original Amiga tools to create and edit the 3D objects you see scattered around the landscape. He only replied once and after that, total silence. So with such tools (drool), I would be able to mod the objects like trees, petrol stations and cities. One can only dream.

I also offered a Tornado freelancer job (https://www.freelancer.ec/projects/assembly/give-the-panavia-tornado-its/?ngsw-bypass=&w=f) in order to get a shadow done for Tornado. After a few text messages with at least two coders, nothing is happening. For two main reasons: (1) too complex; (2) not enough money offered to justify development time and effort to add a shadow below the Tornado. Which is a pity because even Jetfighter 2.0, which came out in 1990, was able to cast a dynamic shadow that changed in relation to the position of the sun. JF 2.0 had a shadow for every static and moving object, if I recall correctly.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/jf2b.PNG)
The still very impressive Jet Fighter 2.0 by Velocity (1990) .
Dynamic shadows and smooth framerates, made this DOS flight simulator, well ahead of its time!

I believe I can reduce Tornado's memory demands in order to make mods. So after 188 mods, the sky is still the limit.
 
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get started with Tornado. And why (silly question) are you still playing it, heh?

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 06:46:18 AM
Frankie. Hi again.

Noticed in the Tiald the LGB1000 Green Euro mod still shows as grey in it even though the model is now green externally. Any way to investigate this if its not too difficult (not to detract from this fantastic mod).

Other than that yes what you've modded is fine.

Oh yes i remember the manual and running it on a Amiga 2000 25mhz 1993-1994 here in Australia and it was a slideshow. There was an AGA version but had no mission planner and killed the sim till the PC version came and DosBox fixes it like Winuae does to amiga games.

Reason why I'm playing now is the sheer feel of speed no other sim has (DCS etc) as everything just zips by. This is how a real pilot would feel and a side note back around 91 my brother was going to move to England and try to get into the RAF since weve got dual passports. But glasses ruined it for him as requirements demanded 20/20 vision or better.

And yes ive been into flight sims sin the C64 days.

Shame Nick couldnt have helped. Yeah maybe memory limitations (Thank Bill Gates for that major 640k blunder).

Just one other mod thought is doing the euro terrain in a snow theme colour using the green lgbs and doing the other free fall 1000LB bombs as green too. Just throwing that out there.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 07:31:38 AM
Hi Besher

> Noticed in the Tiald the LGB1000 Green Euro mod still shows as grey in it even though the model is now green externally.
>

Any chance you can email me a screenshot the LGB1000 showing up in grey? I was quite sure I managed to convert it to green in every use-case.
My email is b o o n s e n g k a m @ g m a i l . c o m.

> Just one other mod thought is doing the euro terrain in a snow theme colour
>

Just last week, I enabled Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's winter mod on another tornado folder. Yes, that would make one more mod, although it would take me at least 2 days to test and substitute all the green/khaki colours to white/gray. Thanks for the idea.

By the way, Heinz's original Geocities home page is no more. The good news is that it exists as an archive in the Internet Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20040406042916/http://hometown.aol.com/hbeggenst/tornado.html

Since you won't be able to download any of the zip files from the archive copy, please see the Google Drive file link of my entire compilation of Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's Tornado mods.

Google Drive link is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fxM-zzXWs6E8JFeTSqDG1HtQ3G1uOqCf/view?usp=sharing

Yes the Amiga version was rendered unplayable unless you had a faster (more expensive) model. Removing the Mission Planner was like when Parsoft removed the mission planner from the Windows version of A-10 Cuba! The Mac version of A-10 Attack! had a very nice mission planner. Sometimes life is like that.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 07:43:32 AM
Oh yes if you could recreate heinz mod that would give you another mod goal.

Oh thankyou for the link. No wonder but its a thought you could continue his work in your euro mod. Sure take as long as you need till you think its ready to be added.

Ok before i take a snapshot as i can best describe as the bomb comes into view on the TIALD the dot is still grey.
Thanks.

Karl.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 07:58:16 AM
Ok just sent off the email with snapshot. Youll see a dot 45 degrees bottom right heading in to target. However it may be my eyes confusing the colour of the dot (LGB) for grey but is green as youve modded.

If you need more info let me know.


Added just noticed the other bombs are green my mistake.

Karl.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 08:29:36 AM
Hi Bewsher

Yes the dot is grey. Nothing wrong with your eyes.

Kevin Bezant wrote the Tornado 3D engine code to use some algorithm to reduces a 3D shape into a "ever-diminishing in size" version. The the pixels somehow magically form to project the 3D object as it should appear given the perspective and distance from the viewer.

I did catch a fleeting glimpse of the LGB1000 in the TIALD view as it leaves the Tornado. Seems to be when it is a discernable shape, the color is green. But when it reduces to a single pixel, it reverts to the original grey. When the 3D shape is projected as a single pixel (as shown in your screenshot), there is definitely a color code assigned to it. For now, I am unable to find that code in the Tornado's code universe.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 08:36:47 AM
Ok Great that my eyes can still pick it up. Yeah looks like a major project to mod so take as long as you need on the dot fix. Meanwhile i can pretend its been shaded by the cloud and changes hue so that still ok.

Thanks ever so much for this LGB mod and yes i saw the other bombs are green so my imagination was wrong.

Looking forward to your Heinz redux snow version too.

Good to know someone is still looking after this sim and yes im out of other mod ideas for now too.

Thanks

Karl.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 08:52:46 AM
Hi Bewsher

> For now, I am unable to find that code in the Tornado's code universe.
>
I found the code! In the file \VISUALS\LGB.INC there is this line:

lgb      OBJECTHEADER <OBJ_SCALE16,1024,-1,1,COL_GREY4,3,5,3>

I believe that line of code tells the 3D engine to render the LBG 3D object as a grey single pixel when the 3D object is 1/16th the normal viewing size. That line is the only line in the file LGB.INC that has a grey color code. So the simple solution was for me to replace the text COL_GREY4 with COL_OLIVE5 like so:

lgb      OBJECTHEADER <OBJ_SCALE16,1024,-1,1,COL_OLIVE5,3,5,3>

I have compiled the code and have attached both FLIGHTE.EXE and FLIGHTD.EXE once again. See the attached FLIGHT.ZIP that contains both EXE files.

> Meanwhile i can pretend its been shaded by the cloud and changes hue so that still ok.
>

Haha, no need to pretend anymore. I have tested the TIALD view. In FLIGHTE.EXE (European colours), the single pixel LGB is rendered as an olive-hued pixel. Even in FLIGHTD.EXE (-->rename to FLIGHT.EXE to use), I can see a brownish pixel screaming in before hitting the target. So that single LGB1000 grey pixel should be no more.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 09:39:40 AM
Confirmed working and OMG what a fantastic piece of work you've created.

You're a legend my man.

Thank you so much.

if the original programmers saw your mod their jaws would drop.


Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 10:06:56 AM
Hi Brewsher

Haha! Thanks for your kind words.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 06:47:51 PM
189. Winter Skin Theme

In 1995, Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein wrote a mod named the Tornado Map Fax Machine (TMF). Included in the TMF package was an unofficial patch of Tornado that gave the impression of a winter landscape in the European warzones. The ground and buildings appeared to be covered by snow and some aircraft were painted in winter camo. To enable the Snow feature, you needed to install the TMF executable. You also needed to run two batch programs: tsg.exe with a /c flag  and a batch file named snow_on.bat.

Today, with mod#189, I present to you my Winter Skin theme mod. Inspired by Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's Snow mod.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado_Snow_Mod.PNG)
Mod #189 is a tribute to Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's snow mod


https://youtu.be/0YqqPeGNdkM


Attached is FLIGHTW.EXE ("W" for Winter). To use, download and rename to FLIGHT.EXE.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

APPENDIX

Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's home page only exists as an archive in the Internet Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20040406042916/http://hometown.aol.com/hbeggenst/tornado.html

Since you won't be able to download any of the zip files on the archive copy, please see the Google Drive file link of my entire compilation of Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein's Tornado mods. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fxM-zzXWs6E8JFeTSqDG1HtQ3G1uOqCf/view?usp=sharing
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 27, 2021, 07:45:10 PM
Fantastic. testing it now and works. The grey camo suites the terrain on this mod.

I have another mod idea you could do. Change the Alarm colour from grey to white as google pics show them white. Since you're on a roll.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 27, 2021, 08:31:53 PM
Hi Bewsher

You mean from this:

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ALARM_before.PNG)

to this?

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ALARM_now.PNG)

ALARM is now a lighter shade of grey. If I colour the ALARM missile white, you won't be able to see it against the white snowy landscape. I've tried using white. Hard to see visually. So this is the shade of grey that seems to work well.

Other side of the ALARM is still grey. Not perfect for now. Code is a bit tricky. Attached is my first attempt at "winterising" the ALARM missile.
Will continue later. Past my bedtime. ;-)

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 28, 2021, 02:48:36 AM
You've got the proper color by the looks of it.

Modified post as Alarm was recolored.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 28, 2021, 04:22:21 PM
Ok. I managed to solve the colour code of the ALARM missle. So from now onwards, in all three themes, original European, Operation Desert Storm and Winter, the ALARM missile will be of the 'white' colour. Done it for both the Direct and Indirect ALARM modes. For the Indirect ALARM's parachute, I had to make sure that the parachute's canopy did not disappear in the snowy background. So I had to alter the outer part of the parachute from pure white (hex FFFFFF) to a slightly darker shade of white. Mod #190 coming right up.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 28, 2021, 05:22:15 PM
190. White ALARM missile

ALARM (Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile) is a British anti-radiation missile designed primarily to destroy enemy radars for the purpose of Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD). It was used by the RAF and is still used by the Royal Saudi Air Force. In stock Tornado, the missile is gray colour. However, more accurate would white, as seen in the photograph below. Many thanks to Bewsher for pointing this out.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-00.jpg)
The ALARM missiles were white in real-life.

In this mod, I have coloured the ALARM missile white. I had to be careful to make sure that the missile would NOT be invisible against a snowy background.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-01.png)
The ALARM missile in ignition mode.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-02.png)
The ALARM missile about to go into Loiter Mode


The Indirect Mode ALARM has a parachute which is deployed in Loiter Mode. Again I had to make sure that the top-side of the parachute is of a slightly darker shade of white compared to the snowy background of the Winter theme. This is to ensure sufficient contrast so that the gamer can still make the parachute out, despite similarities between the two white colours.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-03.png)
The ALARM missile in Loiter Mode.


This white ALARM missile is now the norm for BOTH the European and Desert themed modded FLIGHT.EXE.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-04.png)
White ALARM missile in the European theme.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/alarm-05.png)
White ALARM missile in the Operation Desert Storm theme.


You can get all three FLIGHT.EXEs by downloading the FLIGHT.ZIP file. Rename the FLIGHTX.EXE file to FLIGHT.EXE before using.

Cheers and enjoy!
Frankie Kam

P.S., For my reference, I am also attaching the PALETTE.ASM files used to create all three different FLIGHT.EXE files, as well as the two ALARM.INC files (see ALARM_INC_FILES.zip)

Update 29th April 2021, 2:38am Kuala Lumpur Time.
P.S.2, I had to RE-UPLOAD the three FLIGHT.EXE files inside a NEW FLIGHT.ZIP file. This was because the LGB1000 reverted to grey colour in the previously uploaded zip file. This has now been corrected in the latest FLIGHT.ZIP below. I have also uploaded the source code file named EXRNPAN.ASM which controls the colors of the labels on the taskbar (bottom-most row of the screen).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 28, 2021, 06:24:35 PM
Holy Jesus man. Thankyou. Wish i could give you some cash but that might be illegal.

Yeah all 3 versions now have the standard whitish Alarm as there was no grey variant.

I cant begin to thankyou.

If i think of anything else ill post but for now The alarm is fixed now.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 28, 2021, 06:34:29 PM
Haha. Thanks for the ideas, and it's a joy to add new stuff to this venerable game.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Bewsher on April 28, 2021, 08:29:23 PM
Yep fixed as euro version of lgb1000 in flight is green.

Using Euro version as its closest to The Ukraine crises facing the world now.

Thanks again.

(Edited as was confused with old grey and new winter grey and using wrong flight exe)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on April 29, 2021, 03:53:41 AM
Minor improvement log. 29th April 2021, 10:49AM Kuala Lumpur time.
Corrected the over-boundary view error when the 7-key is pressed after invoking the flyby view of F3, while the Tornado is on the ground. Now if the Tornado is on the ground, hitting F3 and immediately following up with the 7-key and Ctrl+7 (to shift the view perspective vertically down) no longer gives the wrong result.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/ElevatorEffect.gif)

Previously the effect would be a jump in viewing altitude which was quite jarring and abruptly shifted the vertical view to some unknown height. Now the F3 and 7-key combo feels more natural, when the plane is on the ground.

So now you can hit F3 and then followup with the 7-key or Ctrl+7 key, for a fluid vertical "elevator-like-up-and-down" viewing motion.

Source code modified: VIEWS.ASM
Executable FLIGHT.EXE: Desert Storm Theme exe.

Note: this minor improvement does not warrant a full mod version. This log is more for me to record minor improvements as the days go by, lest I forget.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 07, 2021, 11:07:43 AM
191 & 192. Improved Flyby (F3 key) and Weapons views (V key)

Mod#191 - Improved Flyby View with emphasis on ground action (F3 key)
I thought I'd spice up the already modded flyby view by adding a low-level action element. When the Tornado is flying 800 feet or below, and the gamer hits the F3 (Remote view key), the Tornado is viewed flying by from the ground level, looking up. In my humble opinion, this makes for a slightly more dramatic flyby (read: less boring) view.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/flyby01mod109.PNG)
Low-flying Tornados will be viewed from the ground when the Flyby View (F3) is hit.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/flyby02mod109.PNG)
Another view from the ground when viewing the external Tornado in Flyby (F3) mode.


Mod#192 - Improved Weapons View (V key)

In the current modded Weapons View, the weapon will fly all the way to the target, usually situated at ground level, and explode right at the target. The screen will be filled up mostly with the crater. In mod 192, I stopped the camera view a few seconds before impact. So the final moments of the explosion are shown together with more of the surrounding area of the target.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/weapon01mod109.PNG)
GPB1000 hitting its target

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/weapon02mod109.PNG)
Aftermath of the explosion.


Attached is the Desert Storm version of the latest FLIGHT.EXE file.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on May 28, 2021, 02:13:33 PM
MORE BUG-FIXES

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/TornadoMay2021.PNG)

I sat down and whacked a few nagging bugs. Here's what has been cured:

(1) When the player's Tornado is destroyed, now you can hit Control+Q to end the mission.
(2) Clouds no longer go missing when you activate full-screen mode in the Navigator's panel. I.e., PgDown and Control+D.
(3) There was a rogue orange pixel caused by a misplaced procedure call was visible when in the External View. That pixel was the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI)'s travelling bug travelling around its circumference. This has been solved.
(4) Within the Remote View (flyby view that is), when you hit 7 or Ctrl+7, the height of the camera will remain as its adjusted height within the Remote View. It won't reset unless you hit the Tracking View (F1).
(5) I gave the status bar (at the bottom of the screen in the external views) text readouts better colors for both day and night times.
(6) Previously hitting the 4-key would remove both the clouds and stars at night. I changed it so that the stars would not be removed.

Latest FLIGHT.EXE is attached.

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Update on 30th May 2021!
Previously uploaded FLIGHT.EXE still wouldn't exit the mission when the Tornado dies and you are in the F1 and "i" mode of cinematic rotation external view. I've finally corrected this bug. Re-uploaded the latest and greatest FLIGHT.EXE. Hope this helps!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 15, 2021, 03:00:13 AM
Latest FLIGHT.EXE, as of 28th May 2021, in 3 flavours (palettes):

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/panorama_3_skins.png)

1. FLIGHTE.EXE = default European palette
2. FLIGHTD.EXE = Desert pink palette
3. FLIGHTW.EXE = Winter white palette

Simply rename to FLIGHT.EXE and copy and paste to the TORNADO/FLIGHT/ subfolder.

Cheers
Frankie "TornadoMan" Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 17, 2021, 12:36:27 PM
193. Automatic Fly-by (F3) view

Now when you hit F3, it will display a fly-by view after every 9 seconds. Hands free. Meaning that you need not hit F1 or F3 again after the initial F3 keystroke.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Tornado_F3_view_rebooted.gif)
The animated gif above starts with the F1 Tracking view. Impressive initial view, huh? Would look nicer with a Tornado shadow!
Then I hit the F3 key and I leave it as it is, interspersed with the occasional F3 keystroke.

If you do not hit the F3 key again, the next fly-by view will be with the Tornado flying away from you. If after the initial F3 keystroke, you hit the F3 key, the Tornado will be flying *towards* you, before flying past you and receding away into the horizon.


WHAT THIS MOD DOES VISUALLY,
1. Hit F3 (Remote View, a.k.a., the modded to Flyby view)
2. Wait 9 seconds
3. The Tornado will again do a flyby, but it will briefly approach from a side angle, before disaapearing into the distance
4. Step#3 repeats itself again and again unless you intervene with a F1 (Tracking View) or some other view like V (Weapons view) or F4 Spectator view.

FOR "BEST" FLY-BY VISUAL RESULTS,
1. Hit F3 (Remote View, a.k.a., the modded to Flyby view)
2. Wait 6 to 7 seconds
3. Hit F3 again manually and the Tornado will be approaching you, before flying past you as a flyby view

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: ajthenoob on June 19, 2021, 03:33:12 AM
Hey Frankie,

Do the patches compound? Like with this newest one, how can I switch to desert/winter?

Amazing job though! Love the seasons.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 19, 2021, 04:27:26 AM
Hi ajthenoob

Thank you for your kind words!

Yes the patches compound. The latest FLIGHT.EXE is always the executable with accumulated patches (mods). Some patches have been discarded and won't make their way into the final FLIGHT.EXE.

The FLIGHT.EXE is the European theater skin executable. I haven't yet done the Desert Storm and Winter themed FLIGHT.EXE. Yet. I am still experimenting with the "automated views once you hit F3 (Remote view), F4 (Spectator view) and F5 (Drone View), then wait 8 seconds for the view to change by itself". Once things sort of stablise, then I will release the Desert Storm and Winter theme versions of the latest FLIGHT.EXE.

Unfortunately, there is no way to dynamically change the seasons in-game. All season code has to be pre-compiled and pre-linked to a FLIGHT.EXE. So if I use the Winter season code, I create the FLIGHT.EXE and rename it to FLIGHTW.EXE and post it on this forum thread. You will then download the FLIGHTW.EXE, rename your currently existing FLIGHT.EXE, to something like FLIGHT.ORI, and proceed to copy FLIGHTW.EXE to the \FLIGHT\ subfolder. Then you rename FLIGHTW.EXE to FLIGHT.EXE and you are good to go.

Clunky I know, but it will give you the results you want.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 20, 2021, 05:34:00 AM
194 & 195. Automatic Spectator View (F4) view and Cyclic Drone View (F5)

I extended mod 193 to other areas of the 3D simulation engine.

Hit F4 and the Tornado will be shown in the Spectator View. Tornado flies away into the centre, away from the gamer, as an ever diminishing shape. Wait for 6 seconds and the view will repeat itself. There is no need to hit the F4 key. These features apply to all drone aircraft and ground mobile objects as well.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Mod194_195w3.png)
Mig-29 in European colours


Hit F5 and the current Drone (Tornado, F15, F16 etc.) will be shown in the Drone View. Wait for 12 seconds and the view will cycle to the next available Drone. I created this cyclic view because I had, in the modding process much earlier, removed the Drone Demo code.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Mod194__195.png)
Boeing AH-64 Apache in Desert colours


In the original FLIGHT.EXE, if you executed a FLIGHT /d1 command at the DOS or DOSBox command prompt, the Drone demo mode would kick in. So I decided to add this feature back into modded FLIGHT.EXE. So to speak.


(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/Mod194_195w2.png)
Sukhoi Su-25 in winter colours


Attached is the latest FLIGHT.EXE in three flavours, packed inside the "FLIGHT_Europe_Desert_Winter_EXE.zip" file.
1. FLIGHTE.EXE = European (game's default) colours
2. FLIGHTD.EXE = Desert colours
3. FLIGHTW.EXE = Winter colours

Rename to FLIGHT.EXE and add to taste. And a very Happy Father's Day to all!

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 07, 2021, 06:30:47 PM
196. Minimalist clock

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/clock_skeleton.gif)
The skeleton clock in daylight colours

I added a minimalist clock display below the skeleton route plan display. Hit F1 for the tracking view, followed by a the "]" (right-square bracket) keys.

The idea came to me when looking at the Advanced Mission Planner. Every waypoint has a real-time mission time deadline. I don't think it is possible to display a waypoint's arrival time one the screen.

(http://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/visuals/waypoints.png)
The famous and powerful Advanced Mission Planner created by Robin Heydon. Unchanged for nearly thirty years!

However if I could manage to display a waypoint's expected arrival time on the screen, then the clock would show the Tornado gamer how far off or how close to the mark, he is from the actual arrive time.

(http://frankiekam.com/tornado/images/visuals/skeleton_clock_night.png)
The clock at night.


Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on December 25, 2021, 05:22:11 PM
Merry Christmas 2020 everyone!
(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2522;image)

I fixed a minor but annoying bug -  when the Tornado is on the ground, and while in external view (F1), pressing and holding the key "1" will cause a horizon anomaly.

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2512;image)

This has now been fixed.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 01, 2022, 10:13:53 AM
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE,
ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE STILL FIRING UP
DIGITAL INTEGRATION'S TORNADO
IN 2022!

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2517;image)
The "Rotation of Death" sequence. In this case, it is not a good idea to open the laps while flying at 600 knots!

In Mod#106, I removed the death sequence - which puts the Tornado in its death throes, with the view rotating around the plane - before ending the mission abruptly. After much thought I have decided to add back this original functionality for these two reasons:

1. I could find no way of getting the Tornado to spiral out of the sky and crash into the earth! In most cases, the destroyed Tornado (among the various death scenarios would be: hit a building, exceeded the speed safe limits of its flaps, hit by SAM, hit a hill, etc.) would continue to fly on at a constant speed, even though all inputs would be disabled due to its destroyed state; in other cases, the Tornado would float gently down to earth, as though made from paper - these made absolute no sense of all!
2. The "Rotation of Death" sequence is logical and realistic conclusion that the mission has ended in failure. It is a call-to-action that forces the gamer to restart the mission, create a new character, or to quit the game;

So here is the latest FLIGHT.EXE attached, with the original "Rotation of Death " sequence and mission-end consequence, reprogrammed into the code.

Enjoy!

I have also corrected the labels in the Look Down view options. Namely these 3 (highlighted in yellow):

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2524;image)
Hit NumLock to view the Lookdown (of Aviator's thigh pants!) view

Shift+4 = Toggle of Bank and Roll labels on status bar
Shift+5 = Toggle of Approach modes (Fuel or VAPP)
Control + Tilde symbol (~) = View the Tornado as level or tilted at an angle in external views when the Tornado is turning at an angle

I also added the undercarriage and flap speed limits information back into the empty space. Helps a lot since I can never remember the limits without having to consult the game's manual.

THAT'S A WRAP for the first day of the New Year! If you have any ideas for bug fixing in modded Tornado, do let me know in this forum thread. And I will see if the correction/fix can be done. If anything, the modded Tornado is chockful of a few years of goodies. All painstakingly coded in by me. So hopefully there won't be too many requests or any difficult requests. So here we are in 2022, and Tornado STILL has no shadow. Still, one can be grateful for the JOURNEY thus far, right?

Regards
Frankie Kam
1st January 2022, 7pm, Kuala Lumpur
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 03, 2022, 06:56:21 PM
(http://www.moodurian.com/images/Tornado_29b_Years.png)


As it is almost impossible to identify existing working keys from all multiple posts in this DOWVU forum, I have created a compilation of all the new/changed keys that I have introduced in Tornado modding since 2017 until January 2022.

The updated list of keyboard commands used in MODDED TORNADO is here:
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,6640.0.html

Enjoy
Frankie Kam
 
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on January 17, 2022, 04:25:07 AM
197. Improved Fly-By view (F3) - persistent viewpoint after pressing 7 and/or Ctrl+7

The previous Fly-By view's height viewpoint was not persistent. This version of FLIGHT.EXE is!

Use together with
Shift+F1 (reset Tracking view)
Key 7 (lower viewpoint)
Key Ctrl+7 (raise viewpoint)

Note: After pressing F3, the fly-by will last 10 seconds and then repeat itself. During this time, you may change/raise/lower the vertical viewpoint of the camera with 7 or Ctrl+7. At the next cycle of the viewpoint, or just do nothing for 10 seconds after hitting F3, the viewpoint will follow the last changed camera viewpoint's height.

https://youtu.be/1GIUIPs-mpI
Example gameplay with keystrokes used shown

Regards
Frankie Kam

Enjoy.
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 12, 2022, 08:35:42 AM
Hi I just realised 6 months whizzed by and I haven't lifted a finger to mod the venerable Tornado! Hope everyone is doing okay.
Cheers
Frankie Kam
Malaysia
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 12, 2022, 11:23:50 PM
Hey Frankie

I knew the modding would continue my friend  :roker
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 14, 2022, 08:26:28 AM
198. Desert Colors of latest FLIGHT.EXE

Here is the latest FLIGHT.EXE (inclusive of all mods as of January 2022) with desert colors. Does that bring back memories of January 1991?

(https://i.imgur.com/l4sW34z.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/a4gnlEB.png)

Caution: remember to rename your current FLIGHT.EXE before using the attached Desertised FLIGHT.EXE(!)

Regards
Frankie Kam

Update Sat 16/7/2022: I have updated the Desert FLIGHT.EXE to the latest FLIGHT.EXE of this post (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg48965.html#msg48965).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 14, 2022, 08:30:33 AM
Winter Colors of latest FLIGHT.EXE

Here is the latest FLIGHT.EXE (inclusive of all mods as of January 2022) with winter colors. Does that bring back memories of Christmas 1991?

(https://i.imgur.com/kv4FQNF.png)

Regards
Frankie Kam

Caution: remember to rename your current FLIGHT.EXE before using the attached Winterised FLIGHT.EXE(!)

Postscript: I've re-uploaded the corrected Winter FLIGHT.EXE which shows winter coloured map displays in the MFDs and TV-TABs. SO you might want to re-download the FLIGHT.EXE. This executable is the same as my posts below dated 15th July 2022.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Wexodius on July 14, 2022, 04:34:28 PM
Thanks a bunch Frankie :howdy, I'm so hyped to try these out.
Gonna start with the desert one, gonna keep the winter one for when Christmas comes near.
If only we could find that source code for the expansion pack, I'm sure you would go mayhem on it :P.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 15, 2022, 04:23:44 AM
199. Winter Colours again!

Hi All

I noticed that for the Winter FLIGHT.EXE file, the the TAB-TV and MFD map displays were showing up as the European green colours, which is of course inconsistent with the external and TIALD winter (whiteish) views.

(https://i.imgur.com/57vJzni.png)
Inconsistent MFD and TAB-TV map colours!


So I've modified the Winter FLIGHT.EXE. This time the TAB-TV and MFD map displays will show up in the proper winter colours. As shown below.

(https://i.imgur.com/uKVqprU.png)
Consistent winter colors!

See the difference? You can almost feel the fluffy snow outside of the cockpit. You might want to RE-download the Winter FLIGHT.EXE. Hope this helps with the immersion factor.

(https://i.imgur.com/2H9ctgW.png)
Pilot cockpit MFD winter colors!

Cheers
Frankie Kam

Update Sat 16/7/2022: I have updated the Desert FLIGHT.EXE to the latest FLIGHT.EXE of this post (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg48965.html#msg48965).
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 15, 2022, 04:57:43 AM
LOL! I just realised that during the night missions, the Winter and Desert colors do not show up in the MDF and TV-TABs. Tornado has 4 night levels. In each one, the default European green colors show up for the MDF and TV-TAB Map displays. Like below.

(https://i.imgur.com/DDN0vnj.png)
Schizroprehnic colour displays!

All the more reason to source for the elusive and lost original source code of Digital Integration's Operation Desert Storm addon, circa 1995. Okay, failing that, the good news is there will be more forum post fodder for me, as I aim to correct these visual design 'wrongs'.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 15, 2022, 05:04:33 AM
Thanks a bunch Frankie :howdy, I'm so hyped to try these out.
Gonna start with the desert one, gonna keep the winter one for when Christmas comes near.
If only we could find that source code for the expansion pack, I'm sure you would go mayhem on it :P.

You're most welcome Wexodius! Yes I would go ape-sh*t-crazy if I had the original source code for the ODS expansion/addon. It's a pity no one I know, among the ex-Digital Integration staff, has it. A pity really as that source code was Tornado Version 1.0E which quite a few improvements to the code. Like in the close-proximity SAM and A2A missile warning sounds. My hacks (see http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg41415.html#msg41415 and http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg27302.html#msg27302) pale in comparison to the original.

Cheers
Frankie "Durian Defense" / "TornadoMan" Kam
Malaysia
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 15, 2022, 05:09:52 AM
Nice to know that after I made these couple of posts today, the number of visitors to this thread jumps up. People are curious about Tornado? 2022 fascination with pixel-screened old games? Or just a coincidence? Shrug.

(https://i.imgur.com/910IMES.png)

We're talking here about a 29-year old DOS flight simulator, lulz.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 16, 2022, 05:03:03 AM
200. This European colors FLIGHT.EXE has two improvements over tha last FLIGHT.EXE:

1. Alt+F5 now properly toggles between Allied and Enemy airplanes when in external mode (F1).

(http://frankiekam.com/tornado/gifs/toggle_altf5.gif)


2. Pressing the "i" key when in external mode (F1) rotates the cinematic view with the player's Tornado properly centered in the screen.

(http://frankiekam.com/tornado/gifs/cinematic.gif)

The good news is I have incorporated these two new changes into the Desert FLIGHT.EXE and Winter FLIGHT.EXE executables. See the previous posts above.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Wexodius on August 02, 2022, 02:48:36 PM
Hey Frankie,

Where you ever able to contact Eric Joiner, Basil Copeland or Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein? It seems they're the people that helped make the TSCS tutorial for starters. This TSCS-team also released an add-on called Desert Storm: Gulf '96 for 1.0d & 1.0e which helped fix some bugs. Makes we wonder if they had access to the source code of version 1.0e?!?
I might be completely wrong on this, I don't have any coding experience, but wanted at least to share this info with you. :-\
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 02, 2022, 06:36:07 PM
Hi Wexodius

I emailed Heinz back in October 2015 when he was working at the Max Planck Institute For Garvitational Physics. https://www.aei.mpg.de. If you search for his name in the link given, you will see it appear. He replied:

Hi! Indeed, that's me! OMG, seems like ages ago now.  How did you track me down? ;-)
bikeman



Over time I sent Heinz six emails but to no avail. Perhaps his career in astrophysics was/is now his life.


I also contacted Eric Joiner back in 2019. Via the Sim-Outhouse.com forums. http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums
His username is ejoiner and he was still active in the forums as recent as March 2021. His reply to me was:

Hi Frankie. yes, thats me. Same old guy as did the TCSC stuff many years ago with my friends Terry Goldman and Mark Hermonat. I loved that sim. Was great fun. Always wished that an updated version was done. Now I think something like DSC is the best venue for that. Anyway, Im still around. Dont do combat sims any more mainly because there really are not any. There are mods to Falcon 4, and DSC etc. but for now I am content zooming and booming with military aircraft in P3D. P3D could become the future platform though....I haven't messed with Tornado in several years.


So with the exception of Kevin Bezant, those whom I contacted just replied to me once and then zilch. I guess I was passionate (fanatical) enough about Tornado to track them down one by one. So anyway, no source code. I also sent and received email to/from the late David Marshall. Here's what David said to me in his email:

Hi Frankie. Well, this is a bolt out of the blue!  I really appreciate you getting in touch and thank you for all of your very kind words. With regards to making any changes to Tornado then I think it’s a forlorn hope.  The rights to the source code passed to Titus when they bought out DI, and Titus no longer exist.  That throws considerable double over the existence of the Tornado source.   Unfortunately I am in a very poor state of health and not fit enough to offer any assistance in locating source code, assuming that it still exists. After leaving DI back in 1999 I was rather “burned out” with all things involving simulation so I didn’t touch a flight simulation until February 2012.  I now amuse myself designing scenery and flying light GA aircraft on XPlane 10. Thanks for keeping the dream alive.  Those were exciting times. Warmest regards


I also contacted Rod Swift through his Twitter account. As for Robin Heydon, the brilliant chappie who wrote Tornado's famed and incomparable Advanced Mission Planner (AMP), I also contacted him through Linkedin. Here's Robin's reply to me back in May 2016:

Sorry, I don't have the C source code. I doubt I have the time to be involved in this. I have a full time job and do lots of part time charity work as well.


And then there's Nick Mascall who wrote the code that allowed all the 3D objects to be placed in the map. I emailed hin in April 2018. He informed me that the code is stored away in two Amiga Falcon machines that hadn't been switched on for more than 20 years. In fact he told me that quite likely there was Tornado 1.0E source code in one of the those Atari machines. In Nick's own words:

Matt’s (referring to Matthew Smith) statement is essentially correct, but I wrote and used two main software tools, plus a few minor ones, to create Tornado’s 3D content. The main two are an object editor used to create and export all buildings and vehicles, and a map editor which allowed for sculpting of terrain, placement of objects, and setup of road, rail and river networks. The one minor tool I can remember at the moment was used to create the river ‘tiles’ which were laid down in the main map editor.

These tools were all written in GFA Basic and used only on an Atari TT (rare ‘workstation’ variant of the Atari ST) . The good news is that I still have the TT (currently in storage), and all the software was GUI-driven. The bad news is that the machine hasn’t been powered up for about twenty years, and the only copies of the software reside on its ancient hard drive.

Regarding your other desiderata (source code for the front-end and the Desert Storm add-on), I may possibly have something useful, in the form of two Atari Falcons (rare final upgraded version of the Atari ST) which were supplied by Atari to be used to develop a version of Tornado which would run on them. At least one, and probably both, of these machines were used to develop the unreleased ST port of Tornado in parallel with the (severely cut down) Amiga version, and there’s almost certainly source code on them. Obviously the ST/Amiga version isn’t of much interest, but I think it’s possible that they may also have some of the original PC source from which the ports were derived. Once again, though, these are computers which haven’t been powered up for twenty years, and are currently in storage. I’ve been meaning to catalogue my rather large collection of ST/Amiga hardware and software in the hope of selling it off - not that I delude myself as to its financial value.


Sadly, Nick never replied to me since that one reply, despite me sending countless emails. Finally in 2019, his email address was discontinued. Dead end. So close, yet so far!

As for the Gulf'96 mod, it's available here in this link of Tornado mod compilation:
http://frankiekam.com/tornado/tor/mods/tornado_all_mods.zip

Here's the complete Tornado mod page on my website: http://frankiekam.com/tornado/home.html?http://frankiekam.com/tornado/tor/mods.html&content
which contains all the original 1990s mods by the brilliant Heinz and the TSCS Group trio of Eric Joiner, Basil Copeland or Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein.

I guess I'm quite a Tornado curator, eh?

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on August 02, 2022, 09:19:21 PM
Awesome.

You should be a detective  :clap

It is great that you are keeping this alive  :winner
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Wexodius on August 03, 2022, 02:39:48 PM
Wow, that's quite the thorough investigation you launched there. Quit impressive might I say.
Thanks for the lengthy reply, you did not have to put so much effort in it, but I'm happy you did as it was an interesting read.
The game is almost 30 years old, and I still enjoy it to this day. It really left a mark on us, didn't it?

I find it also remarkable there's a version 1.0f of Tornado, while the expansion pack 'Desert Storm' only went to v1.0e.
Any idea how that v1.0f came to fruition?
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 05, 2022, 06:02:25 PM
2001. Credits window version

Thanks to feedback from user ajthenoob, I decided to put the mod 'version' (date really!) inside the Credits window. Activate by hitting the "\" key.

(https://i.imgur.com/lv8x6Fq.png)

Thanks ajthenoob!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 18, 2022, 03:47:39 PM
202. Unlimited Flares

This was a request by a user named Snakebreath.

(https://i.imgur.com/uav3dhh.png)

Hit the Numlock key to go to the Kneepad vierw. Then hit the Zero (0) key to toggle the UNLIMITED flares ON and OFF. Consider it as a 'cheat' mode.
regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 24, 2022, 01:05:23 AM
203. Minor bug squashing

I always wanted to solve these 2 bugs but never found the time to. Until now.

(https://i.imgur.com/jByiv81.png)

Bug#1: When the Tornado is on the ground, pressing and holding down "1"  or "F1" would angle the viewpoint vertically but would lead to a broken sky due to overflow limit of a variable. This has been solved.

Bug#12 When the Tornado is on the ground, pressing "PgUp" to go to Navgator's cockpit and pressing "Shift D" several times would lead to some broken MFD graphics as the TIALD is not activated when the Tornado is on the ground. This too has been solved.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 30, 2022, 01:15:04 PM
Who's still firing up DI's Tornado in October 2022? And more importantly, WHY!?
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: snakebreath on October 05, 2022, 10:10:46 AM
 :howdy  I still play Tornado and have been off and on since it came out way way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth  lol....I love the mission planner and the terrain following radar. I don't even notice the dated graphics to be honest.. :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 24, 2022, 01:32:43 PM
Just a little Tribute post here to my 90-year old father who passed away peacefully in hospital this morning in Kuala Lumpur. When I was a kid, he would buy me model planes. Airfix, Tamiya and my favourite - tri-colored Matchbox airplanes. And we had that Tornado GR1 model plane that he helped assemble.

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2570;image)

He also was an avid reader of WW2 non-fiction war books. The Wake service is tomorrow night, and the funeral service is Saturday morning. He accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. I will see him in heaven one day. Bye Pa!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Rinix on November 24, 2022, 11:41:06 PM
I'm sorry for your loss, Frankie. :(
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on November 25, 2022, 12:31:56 AM
My thoughts are with you and your family my friend.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on March 05, 2023, 12:32:48 PM
Still here.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on March 05, 2023, 03:56:25 PM
Still here.

 :grouphugg
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Rinix on March 05, 2023, 09:21:53 PM
 :happyhappy
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Mandjare78 on March 27, 2023, 09:46:11 PM
... of course, still here and rolling through the virtual sky of Tornado!  ;D actually have all 3 major versions installed, Tornado.... Tornado DS and your modded version.

VERY VERY SAD to learn about the loss of your father, Frankie...my deeply condolence.

André
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on June 07, 2023, 01:54:57 AM
Itching to get back to x86 assembly modding of Tornado, but looks like I've scraped the bottom of the barrel,.....unless .... it's a deep barrel.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 09, 2023, 02:28:30 PM
I just realised that I had, some time back, set the External View (F1) to Internal Engine Sound. Which is the same sound mode as the Pilot's and Navigator's sound mode. The External View in original FLIGHT.EXE of 1993 was set to External Engine Sound mode. So I've restored the External View (F1) to External Engine Sound.

https://youtu.be/Dac4BwW6qvs

Now the switch from External View (F1) to Cockpit View (Home)/Navigator View (PgUp) - and vice-versa - is more immersive. Especially when using the SoundBlaster sounds. As it should have been, following the original 1993 sound plan.

Cheers
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 09, 2023, 04:06:04 PM
204. Flyby view Air-Ground perspective toggle

My first mod in 10 months!
I added a companion function to the existing modded fly-by view (F3). I added a ground-perspective key (Shift+F3).

The original Tornado game did NOT have a fly-by view. A fly-by view is actually considered as a standard view among flight simulators. I don't know why DI never implemented a fly-by view. Probably because they spent so much time on the game's avionics and aerodynamics that they figured that the gamer would be busy working out the controls from the cockpit. What I have done today is to enhance my modded fly-by feature by giving the gamer a choice of seeing the flyby from either the plane's or the ground's perspective.

https://youtu.be/1NKQjE23Lhc

When you hit Shift+F3, the Tornado fly-by is seen from ground-level. I.e., from the perspective of the ground.
You can also hit F3, and the fly-by will be seen from the plane's altitude at the moment F3 is hit.

An extra bonus feature is this: with your plane on the runaway, ready to take off, hit the F3 or Shift+F3 key. You will be treated to a cinematic view. This only works if the plane is on the ground and not moving.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on July 09, 2023, 08:48:49 PM
Awesome  :thumbsup

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 22, 2023, 02:58:53 PM
205.    Backslash invokes ADI. Bonus: FLIGHT.EXE in 3 color palettes (European, Desert and Winter)

I removed the credits screen (invoked by the backslash "\" key).
The backslash "\" key is instead being used to invoke the Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI) gauge. First go to Tracking View (F1), the hit the "[" key twice, followed by the  backslash "\" key. You will see the Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI) gauge pop out at the lower-left corner of the screen. Like so:

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/European.PNG)
European (default) colour palette

In addition, I have also created the latest modded FLIGHT.EXE in TWO other COLOUR PALETTES. The pseudo-Operation Desert Storm version of FLIGHT.EXE with desert colors, and a winter version of FLIGHT.EXE with mostly snowy colours.

(https://github.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/blob/master/Desert.PNG?raw=true)
Desert colour palette

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/Winter.PNG)
Winter colour palette

NOTE
====
Today, 22nd July 2023, I had to recompile and RE-UPLOAD all FLIGHT.EXE files inside the FLIGHT_Euro_Desert_Winter.zip. Reason for this was there was some visual bug in the ealier FLIGHT.EXE that caused the horizon gradient to not show up (yuck!). So this has been solved, but I have to repost this post. So there.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Hiuuz on July 25, 2023, 06:29:11 PM
It's awesome how strong your calling to Tornado  :)
You inspired me to start looking into the tornado CODE to play with it. I'm more of a "realism" guy so wondering about a few things. One of them is how could I turn the TIALD more forward to search targets from longer range.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 26, 2023, 04:09:02 AM
Hi Hiuuz

Thank you for your kind words. Tornado code was originally written with realism and accuracy at its core. Having a wider arc for the TIALD may exceed the actual specifications/ability of the TIALD in the then 1990s Tornado GR1 planes. I don't have the max angle reach of the TIALD, but maybe some reader of this forum can contribute a link. But it's an interesting question from you nevertheless, and may actually be possible to implement.

BTW, the original Tornado 1993 game code is here: https://github.com/tornadorebooted/tornado-dos-flightsim.

Regards
Frankie Kam

P.S., I've had a look at the TIALDDisp procedure in TAB.ASM but am seeing stars. I'll send a quick email to Kevin Bezant to see if his memory is still sharp to spot which part of the code is responsible for fixing the upper and lower bounds of the TIALD mouse scan movements.

Email sent.

I think it may have something to do with the AdjustXYOffsets procedure. SInce that the code that controls the mouse sweep movements.

;* AdjustXYOffsets - adjust x and y offsets (using mouse input)
;*
;* pass: nothing
;* ret : TDXOffset
;*       TDYOffset
;* kill: assume all

AdjustXYOffsets   PROC   NEAR

           mov   bp,TDScanSize
...

Or even the CalcScanSize procedure...

;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;* CalcScanSize
;*
;* pass: M_VIEW
;* ret : TDScanSize
;* kill: ax, flags

CalcScanSize   PROC   NEAR

;* scan size = ubound(alt, 1, 23170)

      mov   ax,23170   ;assume alt > 65,535ft

      cmp   WORD PTR M_VIEW.VP_ZFT_HI,0
      ja   @F

      mov   ax,WORD PTR M_VIEW.VP_ZFT_LO

      UBOUND   ax,1,23170

@@:      mov   TDScanSize,ax

      ret

CalcScanSize   ENDP


Etc. Like I said. Stars.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Hiuuz on July 26, 2023, 06:20:58 PM
Looks like it was able to see full forward an had two zoom level:

https://youtu.be/FBoql-wc52A (https://youtu.be/FBoql-wc52A)
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Hiuuz on July 27, 2023, 04:20:45 PM
Further examining the question I found that in tornado the TIALD picture is a TOP view of the map, not a perspective picture from the plane to target. Because of that it's obvious the limited view distance but from 30000ft its around only 4miles what you can look ahead. I think making a real camera perspective from plane to target would be much harder to coding than simply push further the limit of the current view point.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 28, 2023, 01:49:44 AM
In cockpit mode (Pilot Panel default mode), if you hit Shift+D in modded Tornado, you will get the cockpit-less (full) view, looking forward. Click the attachment below to see if in good clear res.

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2582;image)

I've always wanted to see if that view could be slewed left-right and zoomed in and out. That would make for a great mod. Tried in the past, was defeated. Worth looking again on one fine lazy Sunday afternoon.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Hiuuz on July 28, 2023, 04:26:57 PM
Or there is the forward looking camera what you can see among the MFD/TV pages.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 29, 2023, 03:43:01 AM
I can angle the TIALD view to look forward. However when I press Ctrl and move the mouse the zoom will zoom downwards rather than zoom forwards. Sounds as easy a switching vertical to horizontal arises, but the code is brutal...for now I can't find which code to modify to zoom forwards  and to unzoom backwards....
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Hiuuz on July 29, 2023, 06:17:07 AM
If you mean the camera position moves down, than I would play with an other value. Is there a value for Field of View? If you can change the FOV than that could be a way.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on July 29, 2023, 07:43:18 AM
This is the best I can do for now. Lost the gradient horizon though.

(http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5046.0;attach=2585)

Give it a try.

Go to Navigator's Panel with PgUp.
Then toggle the TV-Tab to show up the TIALD view.
Then hit "3" to go to full-screen TIALD - you will see the TIALD is now forward-looking.
Move the mouse forwards and backwards. Then side to side. There is some displacement in the view - I wish it would slew more up/down or left/right, but for now I am unable to find the code.
Press Ctrl and move the mouse forwards and backwards, the altitude (height) will change dramatically.

That's it for now.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 09, 2023, 02:24:40 AM
206. A new TIALD view with tilt and pan

Shoutout to Hiuuz for suggesting this mod. Thanks to his sharing of this video:
https://youtu.be/FBoql-wc52A

Here's my latest modded take on the 30-year old Digital Integration's TIALD view in Tornado:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc8R989-aS0

How to activate this view:
1. Hit PgUp Go to the Navigator's Panel
2. Hit ] to cycle the TAB-TV view to the standard TAB-TV-sized TIAD view
3. Hit 3 to go to FULLSCREEN TIALD view (you will look looking directly downwards to the ground)
4. Hit 1 to tilt the view down
5. Hit 0 to tilt the view up
6. Hit Ctrl+Z to  to skew the view left
7. Hit Ctrl+X to  to skew the view right
8. Hit Ctrl+1 to  to reset the FULLSCREEN TIALD view to the same viewing perspective (looking downwards) as in Step#3

Not:
9.   while in this view, you may move the mouse away and towards you for a limited zoom forwards and zoom backwards
10. while in this view, you may press Ctrl and move the mouse away and towards you to reduce/increase view altitude

I also solved the earlier missing horizon gradient. Well, wonders never cease with the 30-year old assembly source code by Kevin Bezant. I guess you could say that it stands the test of time. Have FUN!

Regards
Frankie Kam

P.S., this mod only affects the user's view perspective. It doesn't influence the targeting systems of the laser-guided bombs (LGBs).

P.S2., For further enhancement. I'll see if I can't implement the TIALD view in B&W (grayscale). Here's a mock-up of what could be:

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/TIALD_BW.png)

Cheers!
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 11, 2023, 04:20:44 AM
206b. A new TIALD view with tilt and pan (EVEN for the standard TV-TABs-sized TIALD view!

This is not a new mod per se. It's a natural progression from Mod#206. I've extended the panning and pitching features to the standard TV-TABs-sized TIALD view in the Navigator's Panel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKc3d7AIbvc

So now you can use the keys 1 (pitch upwards), 0 (pitch downwards), Ctrl+Z (pan left), Ctrl+X (pan right) and Ctrl+1 (reset to vertical-looking-downward view) in the standard small-sized TV-TAB TIALD view.

Plus you can press the "3" key to toggle between the full-screen TIALD view and normal-small-sized TIALD view. The pitched or slewed angle with be retained between these two modes.

Hope this helps with the immersion factor.

Regards
Frankie Kam

P.S., my next mini-project is to see how to get a gray-scale (B&W) image for the TIALD view. Like what you see in the Panavia Tornado documentaries.

Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 12, 2023, 05:20:31 PM
207. Change the Panel Lighting within the NumLock Kneepad screen

Which panel lighting in Tornado do you prefer? Red or Green? Colors play a huge role in Tornado. Matt Smith of Digital Integration spent hours perfecting the color of the Tornado 2D cockpits and the 3D pixel-world. Tornado allows two different panel lighting - Red (amber) and Green. In vanilla Tornado, you can only change the panel lighting within the VGA GUI. Like so:

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded.PNG)

What I've done in this mod is to allow you change the panel lighting WITHIN A MISSION ITSELF! I've added a toggle option (Key 7) in the Kneeboard screen. To use it is very simple. Simply invoke the Kneedboard screen by hitting the NumLock key. Then toggle back and forth between the colors Amber and Green. When you do a toggle, the Kneedboard screen itself will not initially change colour. However if you were to switch to the Pilot's (i.e., hit Home) of the Navigator's (i.e., hit PgUp) cockpit, the panel lighting color change takes effect and is immediately apparent.

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded02.PNG)

Hit the "7" key to change the pilot and navigator panels from teh default Red (Amber)....

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded00.PNG)

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded01.PNG)


... to green!

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded03.PNG)

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded04.PNG)

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded05.PNG)

Tired with the green panel lighting? No worries! Just hit NumLock, then key "7" and toggle the panel lighting back to the default red.

Why did I add this feature? Well, I thought it would relieve the monotony of looking at the same red panel lighting to change its colour to green. And vice-versa. Plus I have provided a convenient way of doing so within the mission itself. So now you no longer have to finish or quit a mission before changing the lighting panel from the VGA GUI itself.

I don't know if the real Panavia GR1 Tornado of the 1990s allowed its pilot to switch the Panel Lighting color from red to green, but I hope this custom featire adds to the immersion of Tornado. See attached latest FLIGHT.EXE as of 13th August 2023, 12:30am, Kuala Lumpur time.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 13, 2023, 04:39:07 PM
207b. Improving the NumLock Kneeboard screen (Now it is colour coded!)

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/Kneeboard_modded05.PNG)

Previously the text of the Kneeboard screens would be very difficult to read. Case in point is the screenshot above.

Here's what the kneeboard screens looks like now, depending on whether you selected the Red or Green panel lighting:-

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/KneeBoard_Red.PNG)

(https://cefl4u.org/tornado/images/KneeBoard_Green.PNG)

The text is now easier to read.

Here's the mod in action!

https://youtu.be/BkJda8PsHRo

Hopefully this helps.

Regards
Frankie Kam
Malaysia
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Asid on August 14, 2023, 11:42:24 PM
Great stuff Frankie  :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Rinix on August 15, 2023, 03:45:01 AM
I agree, great job. :thumbsup
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on August 20, 2023, 01:47:30 PM
Here are the equivalent Winter and Desert FLIGHT.EXEs of the modifcations made to the August 13, 2023 FLIGHT.EXE.
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on September 10, 2023, 02:00:34 AM
Breathing life to a 30-year old DOS flight sim - Digital Integration's Tornado. I've added a 200-degrees pannable pilot view (non-HUD) to simulate the player moving his head inside the cockpit. See video below:

https://youtu.be/xbQy-QDSZoU (https://youtu.be/xbQy-QDSZoU)

Let's see if I can't add this feature to the sterile and limited existing "Glance Left View" (End key) and the "Glance Right View" (PgDn key).

Cheers!
Frankie Kam
Title: Re: Modding Tornado
Post by: Frankie on November 12, 2023, 05:53:35 AM
Mod 208. Remembrance Day Special Mod Combo

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/remembrance_day_Blog_Image_1200x630.jpg)
In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning.

I. Improved Flyby view
Description: I've improved the flyby view. This time, after hitting F3 to view your Tornado flyby, you can raise or lower the viewpoint. The adjusted viewpoint height is persistent. Meaning that the next time you hit F3, the view remembers the last perspective. So this leads to some nice cinematic views of your Tornado zooming by. There is also Ctrl+F3 which assumes you are on the ground, looking up towards the Tornado. Hope you enjoy these new features of the flyby view!

https://youtu.be/FzjQ8E2d69Q


F3           = flyby with current viewpoint height retained
F3 | 7       = lower bystander viewpoint
F3 | Ctrl+7  = raise bystander viewpoint
Ctrl+F3      = Flyby from ground zero viewpoint
Shift+F3     = Flyby from plane's level viewpoint



II. Fullscreen panning 360 Pilot view
Description: I've created a full-screen PilotView minus the HUD. This view points in same direction as the full-screen Pilot HUD View, but the difference now is you can pan left, right, up and down. You can also reset the current view so that it points dead-centre, in sync with the Full-screen Pilot HUD View. Purpose? To simulate scanning of the pilots head when looking for ground or air objectives.

https://youtu.be/YtbOJIn7kDA

Press Shift+D once = Home PilotPanel view
Press Shift+D again = brings you to the 360 view
1 = Pan up
0 = Pan up
< = Pan left
> = Pan right
Ctrl+1 = Reset 360 view to looking forwards centralised
d = back to PilotPanel view
1 & 0 pressed together = vertical perspective does not change (both 1 and 0 keys cancel each other)
< & > pressed together = horizontal perspective does not change (both < and > keys cancel each other)



III. Dual Lookdown View

Description: I created a dual-kneepad view as a programming challenge. I wanted to see if I could create a second settings screen where the user can change the settings mid-mission. In this, I was successful. However some of the features were incomplete, as I shall explain below. With this dual-kneepad view, the Tornado gamer is able to do the following:

https://youtu.be/TUxJt2D9KE4

Kneepad View1
Numlock = Kneepad View1
< or >  = Toggle bwteeen Kneepad1 or Kneepad2 view
4 = Change ambience from Day->Dusk->Night->Midnight (buggy/incomplete)
5 = Change horizon behaviour from level to tilted
6 = Change night panel lighting from red to green and vice-versa
7 = choose damage effects row1 (Engine1 out, Flaps, Pilot MFDs, TV-TABs)
8 = choose damage effects row2 (Engine2 out, Gear, Radar, HUD)
9 = choose damage effects row4 (Afterburner, Sweep wings, RWR, Electronics)
0 = unlimited chaff and flares; weapons not decremented when used


(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/knee1.PNG)
Screenshot 1 - first kneepad view

Kneepad View2
1 = Visibility (as per original 1993)
2 = Ground Textures (as per original 1993)
3 = Hill Textures (as per original 1993)
4 = Sky/Clouds (toggle on/off)
5 = Horizon Textures (as per original 1993)
6 = Fog/Overcast toggle
7 = Devices (as per original 1993)
8 = Sound effects (as per original 1993)
0 = Min/Max visuals (as per original 1993)


(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/Knee2.PNG)
Screenshot 2 - second kneepad view


IV. SAM Active tri-view
Description:  I've created this view so that you can experience the view of a SAM being fired from its SAM mobile. There are 3 views. View of SAM being launched and as it travels in the air towards your plane; reverse view of the SAM - seen from the front of the missible, looking towards its rear, and SAM crosshairs - seen from the front perspective of the SAM. To activate any of the three part-views, hit the Function key F12 when engaging SAMs in a SAM-rich target environment. Then choose among the keys F1 (Missile view), F2 (reverse rear crosshairs missile POV) and F3 (front crosshairs missile POV). Hit F12 again to disable the tri-views. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/_8mWvFrrhm4

F12 = activate Tri-missile view
F1   = Missile launch and flying view
F2   = Rear Missile POV
F3   = Front Missle POV
] and [ keys  = show Tracking View split level (TR01 to TR06)


Additional keys when engaging AAA (ZSU) and SAM mobile launchers (Zomb). Refer to the video below. And to this link (http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5046.msg30273.html#msg30273).

https://youtu.be/TMNjj0Rghvs

F12 = activate Tri-missile view
F11 = Toggle between active AAA and SAM mobile unit
Ctrl+Alt   =  raise the perspective of the AAA or SAM mobile unit
Ctrl+Shift = lower the perspective of the AAA or SAM mobile unit

Note: when you see tracer from the AAA, try hitting F12, Ctrl+Alt, Ctrl+Shift and F11....eventually, a unit will appear on the screen.

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/SAM1.png)
Screenshot 3 - SAM view with F12 and F1

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/SAM2.png)
Screenshot 4 - SAM front-facing POV crosshairs bearing down on your Tornado. Punch flares!

A majority of my mods are focused on external views. It is of course possible to play the entire game relying 90% of the time on just the Pilot Panel, Navigator Panel and the famous multi-mode Autopilot of Tornado. With these external mods, I hope to provide a glimpse and angle of Tornado seldom or never seen before in the stock game. Hope you enjoy this Remembrance Day Combo Mod!

Enjoy this two (Sept-Oct 2023) months of accumulated mods!

Regards
Frankie Kam
Malaysia

P.S.
I have attached the FLIGHT.EXE executable with this post. Hope this helps.

NOTE:
If you are unable to view the FLIGHT.EXE attachment, it's probably because you don't have a forum account with the Dogs Of War Virtual Unit forum. Fear not. You can also join the Tornado2 Discord channel where you can download the latest FLIGHT.EXE (as of 12/11/2023). Just click on this Discord Invite link: https://discord.gg/7wecsHytAw

(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TornadoGame/Tornado/master/RemembranceDay.PNG)

ENJOY!