H.M.S Ark Royal
****************
VERSION 1.2
--------------
Date: November 15, 1999
Created by Neil Park (RAF_Nello)
-------------------------------------
This Aircraft Carrier was designed for use with
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator ****ONLY*****.
The AutoInstall program will automatically install the
Scenery and texture files for you. If you have the RAF 662
Base scenery then the files will be placed there.
If not the files will be added to the CFS\Scenery\All\Scenery
folder and the CFS\Scenery\All\Texture folder.
For other CFS Scenery and Addons visit the RAF 662 web site:
http://www.dyno-tech.com/bravo/index.shtml
NEW IN THIS VERSION
*******************
This version adds some night lighting to the Ark Royal for
Night Operations in CFS. I have not been able to add as many
night lights as I would have liked as CFS does not recognise
the Day,Dusk,Dawn,Night variables that Flight Simulator has.
This would mean that all lights would still be seen during
the day as the BGL file cannot get the information required
to detirmine if it is day or night.
I have also textured the mast so that the mast will be faintly
visible at night as BMP files are slightly visible at night in
Combat Flight Simulator.
METHOD OF CREATION
*******************
The Ark Royal was produced using FSASM only and the new
CFS BGL instructions were used to handle bitmaps instead of
R8 files.
I could find no plans on the Ark Royal and took most of my
measurements from a 1:720 scale model. The detail of the
bridge structure (Island) is based on many photo's but may
not be entirely accurate.
The aim of this project was to produce something that could
be used for Carrier Landings in CFS and that fitted the time
period.
To all those people who do not find this a good representation
of the Ark Royal I apologise but this was a very tough project
without plans and I did the best I could do with the
information I had.
SCENERY COMPLEXITY
******************************
The Ark Royal was placed in a location that provideds very high
frame rates as I thought that the shear size of this object
would have an impact on the frame rate. This does not seem to
be the case on my system (PII 450 , 128 mb RAM and Viper 500
Video Card).
However I have programmed the Ark Royal NOT to appear on a
Complexity setting of VERYSPARSE. If you don't see it then
You probably have your complexity set to VerySparse.
On the Sparse setting the deck and Hull will appear but not
the Bridge (Island) Structure. Sparse can be used as indicated
in the next section below.
SOME PROBLEMS AND WORKAROUNDS
******************************
The deck of the Ark Royal is what is known as an elevated
surface allowing Aircraft to land above ground or sea level.
In CFS, you cannot land on water or even belly land (Ditch)
in water without exploding.
To my amazement this also occurred on the deck of the Ark
Royal when it was over water.
To correct this problem I covered a small Island off the east
coast of Guernsey with Water Texture and placed the Ark Royal
in the middle of the Island.
This worked but it also meant that Aircraft could happily land
in the water surrounding the Ark Royal and I could not accept
this situation. To correct this, I made the area I had covered
with water texture crash enabled if the Aircraft came into contact
with it.
This means that you lose a small Island off Guernsey in
having the Ark Royal installed.
An elevated surface can only be rectangular. The Ark Royal
narrows at both ends so you will find that you can actually
move out over "THIN AIR" at each end. This is a limitation
of Flight Simulator and CFS. Don't try to go too far though.
In multiplayer mode where multiple Aircraft are landing on the
deck it is a good idea to move to the side of the Carrier the
bridge is on (to protect yourslf). Unfortunately this blocks
your view of the Landing of other Pilots (Great Fun and laughs).
To make it possible for you to see the landings and get more
parking space you can set your scenery complexity level to
sparse. The bridge (including the crash zone within the bridge)
will dissapear enabling you to park in that area and have a clear
view of the other aircraft landing.
SPOT VIEW PROBLEMS
******************
The crash detection I have used for the Ark Royal is the same as
one would find in Flight Simulator. This means that only one point
of the Aircraft (Cockpit) will cause a crash when passing into a
crash detection area.
Unfortunately in CFS, the crash detection position follows the spot
view position and you can find sometimes that if you go into spot
view that you explode suddenly. Make sure you are away from the
bridge structure if you go into spot view.
INCOMPLETE DETAIL
*****************
Many will notice that the Cranes, Guns and Lifeboats are missing
from this version of the Ark Royal and my only excuse is that I
just do not have the time to continue developing this project
any further.
FINDING THE ARK ROYAL
*********************
As stated above the Ark Royal is located east of Guernsey Island
at the following co-ordinates:
49d28'42.8157"N, 02d26'59.8303"W
I have included an Airport Facilities Directory listing for the
Ark Royal so that you can select the Ark Royal from the Airfield
listing in CFS.
NOTE: IN FREEFLIGHT MODE, CFS IGNORES THE SET ALTITUDE IN THE
FACILITIES FILE AND ALWAYS PLACES THE AIRCRAFT ON THE WATER IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE ARK ROYAL. iF YOU DO NOT HIT THE "Y" (SLEW MODE) KEY
QUICKLY YOU WILL EXPLODE. PRESS "Q" TO GO UP AND WHEN ABOVE THE
DECK PRESS "A" TO DESCEND BACK DOWN ONTO THE DECK TOP.
TO CORRECT THIS YOU CAN SELECT THE ARK ROYAL FROM THE AIRFIELD
LISTING THEN CLICK ON EXACT LOCATION AND ENTER 64 FT. THIS WILL
CAUSE YOU TO START ON THE DECK OF THE ARK ROYAL
IN MULTIPLAYER MODE YOU WILL OF START ABOVE THE ARK ROYAL.
LANDING ON THE ARK ROYAL
************************
First rule: BE PATIENT !!!!!!!
It is not easy to do and even expert pilots will have trouble.
The easiest way to land is to obtain an Aircraft that uses an FS98
.AIR file that has a "HOOK" (Severe spoiler) included in it.
NOTE: CFS .Air files do not support this hook feature.
Personally, I and most of the RAF 662 squadron land stock CFS
Aircraft on the Ark Royal using the following procedures:
1 - Use a low fuel setting
2 - Start with the Spitfire Mk1 and work you way up.
3 - Use full flap
4 - PUT THE PARKING BRAKE ON BEFORE YOU LAND !!!!! To do this
press the "Control" Key and the "." period key.
5 - Come in at a normal angle, too high and you will bounce, too
low and youre dead unless you do a POPUP at the last minute.
6 - TRY TO HAVE THE AIRCRAFT JUST ABOVE STALL AS YOU CROSS THE
EDGE OF THE DECK AND PULL HARD BACK ON THE STICK AS YOU CUT
THE POWER TO ZERO.
7- IMPORTANT: Trim the Aircraft. At such low speeds you will find
that you may have the stick full back and the aircraft is still
descending but has not stalled. Press the end key repeatedly to
introduce back stick trim so that you can hold your attitude
with the stick still centralised. This will give you authority
over the controls when you need to flare.
8 - Some CFS Aircraft are VERY hard to land on the deck if not
impossible. One trick to help you slow down is to kick in full
rudder as you get closer to the end. This will increase the
braking effect. I have to do this most times in a P51D with full
Fuel.
9 - In freeflight mode you can set a wind strength that will greatly
help you land. As the wind only comes from the north in CFS you
will have no crosswind as the Ark Royal faces true North.
10- REMEMBER COME IN SLOW AND ALWAY TRY TO LAND ON ALL 3 WHEELS AS
THIS WILL INCREASE THE BRAKING EFFECT. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for Multiplayer mode..... have a lot of fun as I and other RAF 662
members have had.
ALWAYS LAND AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE CARRIER FLYING NORTH.
DECK LIGHTS
************
Although Aircraft operating at the time of the real Ark Royal would
have a Member of the crew using "paddles" to wave the Aircraft in for
landing I was not about to attempt something like this. :) Instead
I placed 2 lights at the rear of the deck. These 2 lights when green
indicate that your are within 6 metres of the centreline. A red light
on one side means you are too far over to THAT side so you should
turn away from the side the red light is on.
The Ark Royal now has center line night lighting and a beacon on top
of the mast.
ADF/NDB Location for the Ark Royal
***********************************
The RAF 662 CFSG has provided to the CFS community an ADF/NDB
navigation package that allows users to locate Airfields within CFS
where NDB transmitters have been installed. The Ark Royal has been
given an NDB frequency of 777 kHz but these files are not contained
in this package.
Please visit the RAF 662 web site (Downlods section) to obtain this
utility. The URL is:
http://www.dyno-tech.com/bravo/index.shtml
(While you are there check out the bombers, I think they look FANTASTIC)
FREEWARE
*********
This program is FREEWARE ONLY it :
* MAY NOT BE sold.
* MAY NOT BE uploaded to, nor archived in, BBSs which charge file download fees.
* MAY NOT BE uploaded to, nor archived in, BBSs which are partly or
wholly beneficially owned or operated by a commercial enterprise which is
engaged in the sale of computer hardware or software.
* MAY NOT BE redistributed with computer hardware or software for which money is
charged.
* MAY NOT BE redistributed by a commercial publisher in any form or under any
pretext. This prohibition includes but is not limited to floppy disks and
CDROMs distributed with magazines or books.
* MAY NOT BE redistributed on floppy disk, CDROM, nor in any other printed or
electronic storage form for which money is charged, nor as part of a package
for which money is charged. This prohibition includes but is not limited to
any form of redistribution for which any type of materials or handling fees
are charged.
* MAY NOT BE disassembled, decompiled, decomposed, nor reverse engineered.
Subject to the exclusions listed above, this file may be uploaded to BBSs and
otherwise redistributed on a FREE-WARE basis provided that the original
Installation file and its contents are not modified in any way.
THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS to the redistribution terms stated above.
John Blackie for teaching me low level FSASM code.
RAF_Dynotech for supporting me on this project.
RAF_Prune (Roger Lowery) for the Skidmark texture.
RAF_Falvo,RAF_Rush,RAF_Yank and RAF_Eber for helping me test this
even when it was just a plank above the ground.
SW_Mojo for testing the AutoInstall routine (and nearly giving me Heart
failure. LOL).
ALL RAF 662 members for the fun we have had on the Ark royal BEFORE
it was finished which inspired me to continue due to your very positive
feedback and enthusiasm. Salute (S!) All.
To all the people that have thanked me for the first release of the
Ark Royal and are now using it on the Zone and providing me with great
feedback.
Of course this Carrier model is dedicated to all those brave souls who
lost their lives or were injured when the Ark Royal was sunk by a Uboat.
I also dedicate it to the Microsoft Art Work team that produced what I
think is FANTASTIC terrain scenery in the CFS world.
I know other NEW simulators may now have better scenery but the detail of
CFS and the excellant Frame Rates you can achieve with this scenery is
just superb.
I hope you all enjoy this Aircraft Carrier especially landing on it.
EMAIL NOTE
***********
I have been absolutely inundated with email on the Ark Royal. I am
sorry to all those people that have emailed me asking me how to
create something like this. The answer I give is not what most people
want to hear... Its hard work and takes years of experiance with a
BGL compiler language.
The Ark Royal was created manually in Windows Notepad and a lot of A4
paper and pens. A visual design program WAS NOT USED. All work was
done manually.
Unfortunately many want to go out and create something like this
and expect that there is an easy,quick method. There may well be but I
am yet to find it.
I am always happy to help anyone with FSASM code but people must
understand that complex objects require a very good understanding
of the language used and therefore a lot of time and dedication must
be put into it before very complex objects can be successfully created.
It has taken me 3 years before I tackled the Ark Royal and I very
nearly gave up on 3 occasions.
I am happy to receive email regarding the Ark Royal but please don't
ask me how I created it. LOL
