[StargazerWoods]

Hi,

I apologise right now for starting a thread regarding QMB+. I know there are a hundred other threads onthis very subject, I have used the search facility, and perhaps that's part of the problem. The sheer volume of threads discussing QMB+ is dizzying. And after much reading and even searching the rest of the internet, I'm none the wiser. A disadvantage, I presume, of picking something up about fifteen years after it was initially released.

I have just downloaded the new English Channel map and flown one badly hacked together mission that took me all of about five mins to nail together and it was enought o convince me that I would like to spend a lot more time over it.

Until there are some campaigns from the clever bods who do that stuff, I thought logging a few QMB hours over it would be the next best thing. However, while I don;t wreck the game itself, I do keep getting a 'Wrong Target Selected' message which, from what little I did make sense of, means that there is no mission file for that map. Or at least, not one that I have aquired.

And here lies the problem... I have no idea how it works. Why does it need mission files? I thought that's what 'it' was meant to do; create missions based on the criteria you select. So is this something I can do myself? Should I wait for someone with an ounce of talent to do it for me? Has it alrleady been done? Is there another way?

I guess what I'm really asking is... Is there a one-stop-shop to fix this thing. I'm guessing it will not be as easy as that because from what I can tell, nothing ever is in IL2. I still wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because of my woeful and unsuccessful attempts at DCG/DGen/Whatever-it's-called modding.

Any links, advice, cyanide capsules or other assistance would be a huge help. Abuse for spamming is expected.

Rob.

[Scharnhorst1943]

Have you downloaded one of the big all-inclusive mod packs?

If not I would suggest to you to download either HSFX 4.1 or UP2.0.

After you install the mod pack, then go and get THIS

That is QMB+2.0. It is the latest version. When you get them installed let me know and I can walk you through the rest. There is some minor tweaking, but you can handle it.


EDIT: If you decide to go UP, then you will need the PATCH

[StargazerWoods]

Uh... Ummm... Errr... Big mod packs?

The last radical thing I did was download the Unified Installer 1.1 about a year ago, or whenever it was that I registered here.

These HSFX and other packs... I've seen the term being chucked around for the last couple of weeks (kinda been out the picture for a short while) but not totally up to speed on what they are. I just assumed they were a different brand of the UI by a different mod group.

I've not downloaded them to check them out becuase I didn;t want to get in the middle of a permissions war (AAA might allow stuff that rival mod crews might not and vice versa) and also, some thing in IL2 are way better since UI 1.1 went in, that I don;t want to risk munting them with another mod pack. I'm not savvy enough with IL2 modding to be able to know exactly what I'm doing half the time. rFactor wasn;t a problem, but for some reason, modding IL2 gives me nosebleeds.

[Scharnhorst1943]

Don't worry buddy. That war is long and over (for the most part). What you need to know is this:

1. AAA is no longer continuing any UI. UI is dead now, or rather I should say, UI is now incorporated into HSFX. So any future mod pack promoted by AAA will be through HSFX team.

2. There is another mod pack called Ultra-Pack. UP has more content then HSFX, and is also compatible with HSFX.

Sounds to me like you are an offliner. Which is fine, so am I. Anyway, I would highly suggest downloading one of the two packs. I personally went with UP2.0 because of more content. You can't go wrong with either one.

As for screwing up your install, don't worry about that. You can add all of your old content to the new pack (If anything is missing that is)
And even then, I would be more than willing to walk you through it and help you out if you want to give it a try. I know it seems overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, it's really not that bad

[saunders1953]

I still wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because of my woeful and unsuccessful attempts at DCG/DGen/Whatever-it's-called modding.

You too?!??

Don't worry, Scharnhorst is the expert to follow if you ever decide to try DCG/DGEN again. Although I'm still getting up the courage to dive into this thread...

viewtopic.php?t=1770

[Murph]

The first thing you must do if you want to use one of the mod packs is to start with a fresh, clean, unmodded install of Il2 1946. Then install the official patches 4.08 and 4.09m ( do NOT install the beta version of 4.09 that you used for UI 1.1- get the official version from Team Daidilos [sp?]) Make a copy of "official 4.09m" to use as a backup. Then you can install whichever pack you want to use.
You may want to do some research on both HSFX 4.11 and UP2.0 before you decide, or, provided you have enough hard drive space, set up separate installs of both to do your own comparison.
Always have a saved "official" version if you can. There is a new official patch due out soon, and at least initially it will not be compatible with any of the mod packs.

[StargazerWoods]

Heh... This isn't the first time Scharnhorst has attempted to help me out. Unfortunately, his wisdom far exceeds my limited comprehension.

I'm downloading the UP2.0 right now and will apply it to a new install of IL2. I think this time, I'll install to my External HDD because my ancient 80gb drive is almost ready to burst at the seams. The SAS1946 thread had two downloads in it, I've downloaded them both but will await further instructions before I do anything catclysmically stupid.

The torrent for UP2.0 should finish in about and hour or so...

Crossing fingers.

Rob.

[Scharnhorst1943]

Just to let you know I am on a night schedule, so I won't be back home to check this until 8:30-9:00pm (US Central Time). I will check and see when I get home though.

Once it downloads, you can go ahead and reinstall and patch up to 4.09m. However, I have a suggestion that will save you lots of time. Before you install UP2.0, copy your entire 4.09 game folder to another location (assuming you have enough room on your HD) That way if the install is corrupt or gets screwed up, you don't have to reinstall. This will save you LOADS of time.

If you run into any problems it is probably because of a corrupt file in your download. I personally had some problems with this but you should not have an issue ... I am pretty sure all the "kinks" have been fixed.

[Dragline]

I'm glad you posted Stargazer, and I'm really encouraged by all the help that really great folks give on this forum. I was in your spot too, and slowly picked things up here. The stuff that's been given to us is staggering, and really makes a great game superb.

Here is my problem... I'm a little embarrassed to bring it up, because we've been given so much and I feel like I'm asking for more.

I just loaded HSFX 4.1 yesterday, and everything is working fine, fantastic addition. The only problem is that I understand there is a pack of Korean war aircraft supposed to be in there. I can't find them anywhere. The Korea maps are in FMB, but nothing in QMB except the F9F. Nothing for Korea shows up on the JGSM either.

Any ideas??

Many thanks

Dragline

[Dragline]

I guess the reason they call it an "Idiot's Guide" is because of idiots like me.

Evidently I had only installed HSFX 4.0, NOT 4.1 I just installed it and hoo-boy... My life just got a WHOLE lot more interesting. This is now officially the flight sim game of my dreams and my life just became perfect.

Many thanks!!

[StargazerWoods]

Right... Good news and bad news...

Good news:

I started from scratch, installed everything in the right order and can conform that everything installed absolutely nop problem and it runs. It works, it flies, it doesn;t do anything horrible like lock up or fail to load so all seems to be where it should.

Bad News:

I now have a ton more questions than I did before I went the way of the UltraPack. I mean, the mods folder has the minus in front of it as if to say, that it isn't required anymore. That can;t be right can it? And now there a JSGMEMods folder that has to be activated and deactivated with an addon manager? So what the hell do I do with all the other mods that I had? Put them in there and then activate them or re-enable the mods folder as well as that or what? And little things like the Silverplate cockpit? In the old directory structure, there was a quick fix for this... How the hell does it work in this one?

Also, the sounds are good, but I kind of preferred the UI1.1 sounds. So I'll have to copy them back tomorrow... I hate change... just when I get used to something, it all changes... Heeeeeelp.

And this QMB thing... I don;t even know if I want to get involved anymore... after all, maybe Crimea and the Pacific Islands are underated.

[saunders1953]

Stargazer, don't despair! The Mods folder has a minus to disable it so that you can have the option to just use the JGSME mods (or only those ones you want) AND use your "old" mods. Just re-enable the "Mods" folder (right click on the name and "rename" it by just removing the minus sign)...good to go! Now you can add all the mods you want, just like the old days. The mods in the mod folder are loaded first, and in alpha order, so there should be no conflict with those you "turned on" in the JGSME installer/initiator...whatever you call it. The file structure in the Mods folder is different than the JSGME one...Mods folder does away with a "Files" folder. Check out both the SAS and UltraPack forums for all the help you'll need.

Good luck!


http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php

http://ultrapack.il2war.com/index.php

P.S. Try the Distant Sound Mod by Redbat. It's really, really good and just make a new folder, call it what you like, say "DSM", drop in the sample and preset folders only in that new folder (he put extra files in the mod that turned out not to be needed), and drop the new folder in your now-activated Mods folder, and voila good to go. Read up on it more in the SAS forum "Soundz" thread. I'd also suggest Tiger's Sound Mod as a possibility, but that can get hairy and it sounds as if you have enough on your plate!

[Scharnhorst1943]

don't panic. I will be home in a couple of hours and will walk you through the rest. You got the hard part done. The rest is simply renaming and copying files. Seriously. the hard part is done. You're half-way there!

[Scharnhorst1943]

OK. Here we go.

JSGME folder: If you open up and run JSGME, you will see a list of mods. These mods are optional. Enable the ones you want. But what you basically need to know about this is that should you ever want to play online, you can switch between HSFX and UP2.0 with a simple click. So other than a few additional mods that are optionaly enabled and not included in the pack per-say, this is mainly for compatibility online.

What I personally would recommend is enabling the following mods in your JSGME:

--> 00_FMBPlus
--> 00_Hakenkruz_Enabler
--> 02_CarrierTakeoffMod_5.3.3
--> 02_DgenOfflineCampaigns(Hsfx)
--> 00_H&P_Effects_Uranium_Edition

Now, as for your old sounds, simply copy and paste into your Files folder. Overwrite and you should be good to go on sounds. If you have a mod that you want to add that is not in UP2.0, just copy over from your old MODS folder.

Also, I would highly recommend getting the latest buttons file from SAS site. Make sure you download the appropriate version. If you play offline get the offline version, and if you play online download the online version. What is the difference? The offline version has opening canopies for all or most planes where the online version has opening canopies removed because of a graphical issue online.

Now when you go to make any changes to any files like air.ini, planes_ru, Weapons_ru, all.ini, buttons or any other file, Make a backup of these files and save them in a safe place Trust me, if anything goes wrong you can always go back to stock UP2.0 and figure it out from there. It sure beats redownloading and reinstalling the whole thing over again.

Just remember to backup any file before you alter it and you should be good to go. Let me know if you have any troubles, we are here to help. Also let me know if there are certain mods you want to get working and have difficulty with or can't get to work.

[StargazerWoods]

Thanks for the tips peeps.

I now have IL2 running (more or less) exactly how I want it to... Or rather, it's kind of where it was before I decided I wanted to start changing things.

UP2 is in and the suggested mods are activated. I enabled the additional mods directory and I got a few things transferred over and they work without breaking anything. Sounds from the old install moved accross and all seems to be cool.

Now... There are somewhere in the region of about 500 offline pilot careers, but as far as I can tell, they still only use the stock aircraft. Now I know in the past you've tried to help me out with either DGen or DCG, I get mixed up about which does what, and I'm not sure I want to get involved in all of that again, unless there was a quick fix in the form an executable that just did a wham-bam update on all the things that needed updating...

But I guess now... I'm back to where I was before... Hoping to get all the good stuff showing up in QMB. There are some improvements in the one that is currently active, but since I'm too daft to fly careers in the nice maps, I'm hoping to have any plane working in any map in the QMB.

Is it possible?