Posted April 01, 2016
The following is a copy of the Tips and Tweaks that the Thrustmaster website used to host. I found it on the Internet Archive ([url=]https://web.archive.org/web/20010410031756/http://flightsim.thrustmaster.com/articles/read.php3?id=131[/url] and thought it would be useful to add it here. Unfortunately the images that accompanied the article are not available.
B17 Tweaks and Tips Guide
With the release of Hasbro's B17 in the US market, the questions are beginning to pile up. Which ordnance do I select for which target? How do I transfer a crewman out of one Fortress and into another? The manual doesn't tell me.
What about the enemy air activity? Many have noted that after one or two encounters with fighters, things get rather quiet. What's up, and is there anything that can be done?
Why is it that some of my bombers never drop bombs? And what if I can't drop on the target because of bad weather but I need to get rid of my bomb load. How do I manually drop bombs?
Is there any way I can get my navigator to figure out where we are? Most of the time he seems lost!
And how do I delete waypoints on the mission map while in flight?
Finally, what does that "balanced" setting in the graphics menu do anyway?
This brief guide is intended to answer some of the more common questions, as well as assist the tweakers out there to get the most from the game.
General Tips
As time has passed since the European release many of us have been examining the database files which the game uses to determine many simulation components. For example, the kill factor of a 20mm cannon shell versus a 13mm machine gun shell is found by B17 in the DB files. But these files have revealed many other things as well.
We now know that only twelve Fortresses will drop bombs. The other six that appear on mid to high detail settings are "ghosts," there only to make the formation more impressive on your screen. But these extra bombers will also take the attention of enemy fighters, contributing to your surviving the mission!
Dropping Bombs Manually
It is possible to drop bombs manually in the event of an emergency. To ditch bombs, take control of the bombardier (select him with your mouse and then use the "M" key) and switch to the bomb control panel (spacebar for alternate view). Activate the panel (all switches on) and open the bomb bay doors if they are not already open. Next remove the safety cover from the ditch bombs switch and click on the switch to drop the bombs.
Helping the Navigator
You may not want to play the navigator position, and in that case his initial ability is determined by two factors: the setting you selected in the game configuration under difficulty (Historical, Easy or Flawless), and by the skill rating of the navigator on board your bomber. Let's assume you chose EASY navigation.
With the setting on EASY, your navigator won't get lost as often and he won't make as many errors. However, you can help him to grow in skill by assisting in navigation when he is lost.
The game assumes growth in skill by a small factor with a certain number of flight-time (around 7 hours for each increment). But when you take over a crew position, this factor is increased greatly, by approximately ten times.
So when your navigator reports that he is lost, select him from the Position Menu at the left of the screen (move your mouse to the screen left), and then choose I for Instrument View. You will see the mission map, with the route, waypoints, and a green icon of your Fortress following the green line.
Think of your position, and track, as shown in the map view as your Dead Reckoning computations. Use F2 to switch to an external view and by looking at the ground find your actual position by comparing what you see to what is shown in the general area on the map. You may have to switch external to internal several times.
When you locate your aircraft relative to the terrain and can fix the position on the mission map you have made a Pilotage Fix. Now use your mouse to drag the green Fortress icon to the position on the map that corresponds to your actual position on the ground. The shadow of your airplane on the ground is the actual ground position you want to match what you have seen from the outside view.
Once completed, this corrects your Dead Reckoning position on the map to your actual Pilotage Fix. The AI navigator will then give the pilot a new heading to fly to the next waypoint.
What if you want to skip a waypoint?
Go to the Navigators map and find the waypoint you want to delete. Click on the gold pyramid that is the waypoint and drag it to increase the altitude above the maximum allowed and the waypoint arrow vanishes. If you lower it again to within a valid altitude, the arrow will reappear. If you release the button, the waypoint will vanish, in effect you've deleted it. The plane will now fly to the NEXT waypoint in the sequence, although it will follow the dotted line instead of the track marked on the map.
What if you want to add a waypoint?
At the top of your map screen you'll see a golden pyramid. Click on the pyramid, then drag it over an existing green line. A new waypoint! You can alter the position of the waypoint by dragging the red arrow to the location you desire.
Transferring Crew from One Fort to Another
If, however, your navigator continues to drive you crazy, and your mission results are poor because you can't find the target or line up your bomb run in time, you have two other options. First, you can cheat and set the Navigation difficulty to Flawless. Or, playing the Squadron Commander campaign, you can transfer your lousy navigator to Ground Duty and select a more effective officer from another crew.
But how do you do this? The manual doesn't tell you.
Next we go back to the bomber list in the jeep. This time we select Eagle Summit.
When we get to the bomber we hit ESC and are back at the files on jeep hood. This time we select the Crew Replacement file and find Grund's file. We click on the Bombardier box and voila!
Grund is now our new bombardier.
Tweaking the Database Files
What about enemy air activity? Many have noted that after one or two encounters with fighters, things get rather quiet. Is there anything that can be done?
B17 is set for a default escort flight of four, and a default interceptor flight size of four. Moreover, only three enemy bases are active at any time in the campaign, and new aircraft will not take off from an enemy base once the initial interceptors are downed.
I have changed the DB file in my copy of B17 from three active bases to six. I have also changed the DB file to allow new flights to take off from an active base when the first flight is no longer active.
Furthermore, I have changed the default escort patrol to eight aircraft, and the default intercept patrol to six. These kinds of changes are quite simple to make with any HEX editor. The relevant sections to search for are these:
FreeEnemyFighterSlotsOnLanding = 0 (Change to 1)
MaxNoOfActiveAirfields = 3
EscortSquadronSize = 4
InterceptorSquadronSize = 4
There are a host of other factors to experiment with, including how quickly and in what situations crewmen will offer First Aid to other crew. If you are afraid to tinker with this file, you can email me to try mine. If you do decide to tinker, be sure to create a backup copy of the original RiverAndRoadsDB file in the Databases directory.
Note that adding additional ghost bombers or additional fighter aircraft may slow the simulation down, especially if you are running on high levels of detail or on a lower spec machine.
Incidentally, choosing BALANCED detail settings in the game configuration will maximize the look of the game relative to the hardware you are running. This setting allows the game to dynamically reduce detail (especially terrain) when it isn't relevant to what you are doing.
I Wanna Fly the Jet!
Can't wait to fly the Me262? Fire up a Squadron Commander campaign in December, 1944. Me262 will be sent to intercept, and you can try your own luck at taking down a Fort or two.
If you'd like to see some of the most dazzling dawn skies ever rendered on the PC, try the #6 historical mission to Hamburg.
B17 Tweaks and Tips Guide
With the release of Hasbro's B17 in the US market, the questions are beginning to pile up. Which ordnance do I select for which target? How do I transfer a crewman out of one Fortress and into another? The manual doesn't tell me.
What about the enemy air activity? Many have noted that after one or two encounters with fighters, things get rather quiet. What's up, and is there anything that can be done?
Why is it that some of my bombers never drop bombs? And what if I can't drop on the target because of bad weather but I need to get rid of my bomb load. How do I manually drop bombs?
Is there any way I can get my navigator to figure out where we are? Most of the time he seems lost!
And how do I delete waypoints on the mission map while in flight?
Finally, what does that "balanced" setting in the graphics menu do anyway?
This brief guide is intended to answer some of the more common questions, as well as assist the tweakers out there to get the most from the game.
General Tips
As time has passed since the European release many of us have been examining the database files which the game uses to determine many simulation components. For example, the kill factor of a 20mm cannon shell versus a 13mm machine gun shell is found by B17 in the DB files. But these files have revealed many other things as well.
We now know that only twelve Fortresses will drop bombs. The other six that appear on mid to high detail settings are "ghosts," there only to make the formation more impressive on your screen. But these extra bombers will also take the attention of enemy fighters, contributing to your surviving the mission!
Dropping Bombs Manually
It is possible to drop bombs manually in the event of an emergency. To ditch bombs, take control of the bombardier (select him with your mouse and then use the "M" key) and switch to the bomb control panel (spacebar for alternate view). Activate the panel (all switches on) and open the bomb bay doors if they are not already open. Next remove the safety cover from the ditch bombs switch and click on the switch to drop the bombs.
Helping the Navigator
You may not want to play the navigator position, and in that case his initial ability is determined by two factors: the setting you selected in the game configuration under difficulty (Historical, Easy or Flawless), and by the skill rating of the navigator on board your bomber. Let's assume you chose EASY navigation.
With the setting on EASY, your navigator won't get lost as often and he won't make as many errors. However, you can help him to grow in skill by assisting in navigation when he is lost.
The game assumes growth in skill by a small factor with a certain number of flight-time (around 7 hours for each increment). But when you take over a crew position, this factor is increased greatly, by approximately ten times.
So when your navigator reports that he is lost, select him from the Position Menu at the left of the screen (move your mouse to the screen left), and then choose I for Instrument View. You will see the mission map, with the route, waypoints, and a green icon of your Fortress following the green line.
Think of your position, and track, as shown in the map view as your Dead Reckoning computations. Use F2 to switch to an external view and by looking at the ground find your actual position by comparing what you see to what is shown in the general area on the map. You may have to switch external to internal several times.
When you locate your aircraft relative to the terrain and can fix the position on the mission map you have made a Pilotage Fix. Now use your mouse to drag the green Fortress icon to the position on the map that corresponds to your actual position on the ground. The shadow of your airplane on the ground is the actual ground position you want to match what you have seen from the outside view.
Once completed, this corrects your Dead Reckoning position on the map to your actual Pilotage Fix. The AI navigator will then give the pilot a new heading to fly to the next waypoint.
What if you want to skip a waypoint?
Go to the Navigators map and find the waypoint you want to delete. Click on the gold pyramid that is the waypoint and drag it to increase the altitude above the maximum allowed and the waypoint arrow vanishes. If you lower it again to within a valid altitude, the arrow will reappear. If you release the button, the waypoint will vanish, in effect you've deleted it. The plane will now fly to the NEXT waypoint in the sequence, although it will follow the dotted line instead of the track marked on the map.
What if you want to add a waypoint?
At the top of your map screen you'll see a golden pyramid. Click on the pyramid, then drag it over an existing green line. A new waypoint! You can alter the position of the waypoint by dragging the red arrow to the location you desire.
Transferring Crew from One Fort to Another
If, however, your navigator continues to drive you crazy, and your mission results are poor because you can't find the target or line up your bomb run in time, you have two other options. First, you can cheat and set the Navigation difficulty to Flawless. Or, playing the Squadron Commander campaign, you can transfer your lousy navigator to Ground Duty and select a more effective officer from another crew.
But how do you do this? The manual doesn't tell you.
Next we go back to the bomber list in the jeep. This time we select Eagle Summit.
When we get to the bomber we hit ESC and are back at the files on jeep hood. This time we select the Crew Replacement file and find Grund's file. We click on the Bombardier box and voila!
Grund is now our new bombardier.
Tweaking the Database Files
What about enemy air activity? Many have noted that after one or two encounters with fighters, things get rather quiet. Is there anything that can be done?
B17 is set for a default escort flight of four, and a default interceptor flight size of four. Moreover, only three enemy bases are active at any time in the campaign, and new aircraft will not take off from an enemy base once the initial interceptors are downed.
I have changed the DB file in my copy of B17 from three active bases to six. I have also changed the DB file to allow new flights to take off from an active base when the first flight is no longer active.
Furthermore, I have changed the default escort patrol to eight aircraft, and the default intercept patrol to six. These kinds of changes are quite simple to make with any HEX editor. The relevant sections to search for are these:
FreeEnemyFighterSlotsOnLanding = 0 (Change to 1)
MaxNoOfActiveAirfields = 3
EscortSquadronSize = 4
InterceptorSquadronSize = 4
There are a host of other factors to experiment with, including how quickly and in what situations crewmen will offer First Aid to other crew. If you are afraid to tinker with this file, you can email me to try mine. If you do decide to tinker, be sure to create a backup copy of the original RiverAndRoadsDB file in the Databases directory.
Note that adding additional ghost bombers or additional fighter aircraft may slow the simulation down, especially if you are running on high levels of detail or on a lower spec machine.
Incidentally, choosing BALANCED detail settings in the game configuration will maximize the look of the game relative to the hardware you are running. This setting allows the game to dynamically reduce detail (especially terrain) when it isn't relevant to what you are doing.
I Wanna Fly the Jet!
Can't wait to fly the Me262? Fire up a Squadron Commander campaign in December, 1944. Me262 will be sent to intercept, and you can try your own luck at taking down a Fort or two.
If you'd like to see some of the most dazzling dawn skies ever rendered on the PC, try the #6 historical mission to Hamburg.
Post edited April 01, 2016 by ikrananka
