[ACE-OF-ACES]

I have been away from Sturmo for too much time. Now I'm back and I find a new forum, new huge mods and stuff, I feel a bit lost.
Before logging back I did my install, so at the moment i have

Sturmovik 1946 - updt 4.09
AAA Soundmod
Bender's Ultimate Environment 1.0
3rd Eye smoke & fire

All of them installed and running.

But now I hear of this HSFX and it looks cool. The question is:

do I have to re-install a clean game to use this? Is HSFX better then the AAAsoundmod, is it like an upgrade, I mean ALL that nice stuff and more? Please tell me what should I do and if it is worth it

Thank You!!!!

First off welcome back!

It is allways good to start with a clean install before installing a mod pack like HSFX or UltraPack..

They both include the sound mods..

There is an aditional sound mod called Tiger33 sound mod that you might want to try out if you dont like the sound mod included in HSFX or UltraPack

As for which pack to use..

I recomend you get HSFX

Why?

Welll if your a big fan of the Mustangs

Like I am..

Than you may want to consider HSFX over UltraPack!

Why?

Well long story short UltraPack made a lot of changes to Lt. Wolf's new 51s mod flight models..

As a mater of FACT UltraPack made changes to dozens of the original HSFX new mod planes flight models..

With regards to UltraPack including HSFX..

I have yet to get a straight answer as to what version of HSFX is included..

It is HSFX 4.0, 4.1, 4.11?

And if it is 4.0 how do you apply the current HSFX 4.1 and 4.11 patch?

But I digress

In the case of Lt. Wolf's new 51s UltraPack reduced the top speed and rate of climb of Lt. Wolf's new 51s..

At that time the folks over at UltraPack said they made the changes to Lt. Wolf's new 51s in UP 1.8 to make 'more realistic' performance wise..

Based on their research at that time..

Luckily some folks like me pointed out that their research was 'lacking' and their test methods were in 'error' (didn't use the std atm map) and that the changes they made actually resulted in 'less realistic' performance..

The good news is that in UltraPack release 2.0 they made more changes to Lt. Wolf's new 51s to increase the top speed and rate of climb..

That is to say in UP 20 the un-did some of the changes they made in UP 1.8

The bad news is they did not change it enough to restore them to their original Lt. Wolf's performance values..

That is to say the UltraPack version of Lt. Wolf's 51s are still slower and don't climb as well as the original HSFX version of Lt. Wolf's 51s..

What does that mean to you?

Well if you fly online in a server that allows mods and your using HSFX..

Your HSFX 51 will be faster and climb better than those flying the same 51 using UltraPack..

To make an analogy..

It is like the UltraPack users got the late Friday afternoon production line 51 (read lemon) and your got the early morning bright eyed and motivated production line version

In short you will have a performance edge if you use HSFX wrt Lt. Wolf's new 51s

On a related note..

UltraPack also made changes to dozens of the original HSFX new mod planes EMD files..

Which has to do with the planes engines..

I'm told that the UltraPack 51s have more of a glass jaw when it comes to 'damage'

But I have not come up with a good way to test that to prove it to myself..

So take that with a grain of salt..

All in all as noted UltraPack made changes (FM, EMD, etc..) to dozens of the HSFX new mod planes..

So for your UltraPack users out there that thought you witnessed a hacker pass you by in the same plane..

Remember they may have been simply using HSFX!

I have not finished checking all the flight model changes yet..

So I can only assume that some perform better than the original HSFX version and some perform worse than the original HSFX as is the case for Lt. Wolf's new 51..

But once I am done I will post my findings!

On that note here is an example of the tests I do..

Case in point the F-51D-30NA for example..

Let's compare the HSFX 4.1 ROC to the UP 1.8 ROC

F-51D-30NA HSFX 4.1 Rate of Climb (ROC)


F-51D-30NA UP 1.8 Rate of Climb (ROC)


As you can see HSFX 4.1 has a max ROC of ~4200fpm where as UP 1.8 has an ROC of only ~3500fpm

That is a difference of nearly 700fpm!

And as anyone in the know knows that the ROC testing of WWII is analogous to the modern energy methods Ps testing which is a measure of excess power. Excess power which is analogous to maneuverability.

But as noted above..

UltraPack caved to the pressure by folks like me who pointed out their research was lacking and their test methods were in error and added back some of the ROC in version UP 2.0

With that said let's compare the HSFX 4.1 ROC to the UP 2.0 ROC

F-51D-30NA HSFX 4.1 Rate of Climb (ROC)


F-51D-30NA UP 2.0 Rate of Climb (ROC)


As you can see HSFX 4.1 has an max ROC of ~4200fpm edge over UltraPack 2.0 max ROC of ~3900fpm

But that is just wrt the max ROC!

Note that at just about every altitude HSFX 4.1 performs better than UltraPack 2.0

Now let's compare the HSFX 4.1 TSPA to the UP 1.8 TSPA

F-51D-30NA HSFX 4.1 Top Speed per Altitude (TSPA)


F-51D-30NA UP 1.8 Top Speed per Altitude (TSPA)


As you can see HSFX 4.1 has a max TAS of ~445mph where as UP 1.8 has an max TAS of only ~435mph

That is a difference of nearly 10mph!

And as anyone in the know knows speed is life!

But as noted above..

UltraPack caved to the pressure by folks like me who pointed out their research was lacking and their test methods were in error and added back some of the TAS in version UP 2.0

With that said let's compare the HSFX 4.1 TSPA to the UP 2.0 TSPA

F-51D-30NA HSFX 4.1 Top Speed per Altitude (TSPA)


F-51D-30NA UP 2.0 Top Speed per Altitude (TSPA)


As you can see HSFX 4.1 has an max TAS of ~445mph edge over UltraPack 2.0 max TAS of ~438mph

But that is just wrt the max TAS!

Note that at just about every altitude HSFX 4.1 performs better than UltraPack 2.0

So now that you know more you can make a more informed decision

Hope this helps!

S!