[Scharnhorst1943]

OK - Like a lot of people I use Mat Manager to replace the game's ugly default markings. It's a fine utility which does a great job within the limitations imposed by the game - BUT - it could be a whole lot better. 8)

The maker (Aces) knew this and was working with his programmer chum, Grat, to produce a newer, more flexible version until personal circumstances forced him to stop. He said on Sim HQ recently that he had found a way to place mat 'decals' on any part of any plane, at any size.

At the moment the positions of the mats are constrained within certain limits imposed by the size and position of the defaults. This means that even Mat Manager currently has to place mats in compromise positions - sometimes with unattractive results. The other problem is that Maddox Games placed aircraft into somewhat arbitrary groups and coded each group to share mat markings. This has unfortunate results for some aircraft and nationalities.

Another problem is that some mat markings are repeated without alteration on the fuselage and wings, top and bottom. This looks particularly wrong on RAF aircraft, but others are affected as well.

Anyway, if Aces could work out how to get around this without the benefit of QTim's work it would presumably be a lot easier now. It would be great to have a new cache-loading utility that provided correct markings options for all nationalities. I mean correct in size and position for different periods, together with nose art, tail markings, randomized kill markings, unit heraldry etc. It might even be possible to have custom comments written on bombs - who knows?

It's a lot of work, of course - but I'm sure plenty of gifted graphics people would step up to the plate, if someone could first work out how to do it and produce a utility. That's how Mat Manager began, after all. :wink:

YES!!! It would be nice to have different mats for the same country. For example: The early war USN roundel with the red dot in the middle of the star for USN aircraft, but the star with wings for USAF planes, or even China markings for some aircraft too. Would be nice ...