B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!

I was going thru some old and forgotten game software and found this game. And I remembered how good it was and decided to get it up and running again. Then I wondered if anyone was still playing. And I stumbled on your tutorials. You have giving me the desire to get going again with this great game.
I got fairly decent at it way back when. Your guides will be very helpful in becoming proficient.
Your explanations are spot on, clear and precise!
Thanks again.

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by emmetthi

... I stumbled on your tutorials. You have giving me the desire to get going again with this great game.
I got fairly decent at it way back when. Your guides will be very helpful in becoming proficient.
Your explanations are spot on, clear and precise!
Thanks again.

Thank You

Good luck with getting back up to speed with the game. Let me know how you get on.

[Sean C]

Great ... now I'm addicted to this game. I'm even losing sleep playing it.

I've even started making my own custom nose art.

Thanks, I guess.

(At least I got it on sale for like, a buck seventy-five. )

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel B.

Great ... now I'm addicted to this game. I'm even losing sleep playing it.

I've even started making my own custom nose art.

Thanks, I guess.

(At least I got it on sale for like, a buck seventy-five. )

LOL - you're welcome

Just curious, with the nose art, have you figured out the masking procedure? I managed to do it a while ago with Photoshop Elements 10 but have forgotten how.

It's funny, I'm losing sleep due to the current game I'm playing. Weird how games can do that to us.

[Sean C]

Originally Posted by ikrananka

Just curious, with the nose art, have you figured out the masking procedure? I managed to do it a while ago with Photoshop Elements 10 but have forgotten how.

Yes. It's the same as with all other game graphics I've dealt with. I use Photoshop CS3, so there might be some UI differences.

I start by creating a background of one solid color (grey in this case - just like the original files). I then use the "Lasso" tool to select and copy just the portion of the graphic I want to use from another image and paste that onto a new layer on top of the grey background.

Once I have the graphic in the orientation/placement I want, I use the "Magic Wand" tool on that layer to select everything except the graphic and then invert the selection. This results in a selection in the shape of the graphic and is easier than using the wand tool to try and select the graphic directly because of the way the tolerance works.

Next, I click on the "Channels" tab in the "Layer" window and select the alpha channel. With the selection still active, I use the "Paint Bucket Tool" to make only the selected area white. The result is a white shape on the alpha layer in the same position and in the same shape as the graphic. This means that only the graphic will be rendered. The grey background (which is black in the alpha channel) will be transparent. As always, you can paint with various shades of grey on the alpha channel to create areas of varying transparency.

Finally, I flatten the layers and save the image. Of course, in this case, there is the additional step of adding that image back to the omf file by overwriting the original. (For that, I am using Taff in Exile's omf editor.)

The colors in this forum make it kind of hard to see links, so in case you didn't notice: the words "custom nose art" in my previous post are a link to an example I made. I think it turned out quite nice.

Anyway, I hope that helps and if anything wasn't clear or you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers!

[Eichhörnchen]

Originally Posted by emmetthi

I was going thru some old and forgotten game software and found this game. And I remembered how good it was and decided to get it up and running again. Then I wondered if anyone was still playing. And I stumbled on your tutorials. You have giving me the desire to get going again with this great game.
I got fairly decent at it way back when. Your guides will be very helpful in becoming proficient.
Your explanations are spot on, clear and precise!
Thanks again.

An oft-overlooked treasure this and, as someone observed earlier in this thread, it's a pity more was not done to make it even better. I also have stumbled upon this thread and must take the time to go through these tutorials carefully... accompanied by Aktung's big pot of coffee.

I recently looked into the bowels of this sim intending to disable the dreadfully intrusive turret-drive sound, which I find sooo distracting when sweating it in the upper gunner's position... but I find that there are no WAV or Config. files for the sounds here, such as you find in other sims like CFS3 or Microsoft Flight Simulator. Is there any way to get rid of this noise, ikrananka... there's nothing can be turned off in the "options" menu as I recall...?

[Aktungbby]

emmetthi!

accompanied by Aktung's big pot of coffee.

HOW BIG IS BIG!?? FROM MY LONG HAUL TRUCKING DAYS: SAPP BROS TRUCKSTOP; OMAHA, NEBRASKA... The coffee pot is always on at Sapp Brothers truck stops:

[HW3]

Wow! Just stumbled on this thread. It brought me back to the days of the v8th OPS group I was in many many years ago. I still have my disk, and many of the mods we used back then, might be time to reinstall.

[Eichhörnchen]

Okay, I've now discovered this treasure-trove:

http://taff04.wixsite.com/taffinexil...ighty-8th-mods

Here you can download a modding editor to open up and change/replace the various files in B-17 (you have to ensure that the game is patched to 1.0 before you load this editor into your B-17 root folder, or none of it will work)

Included in the OMFmod Manual are detailed instructions on how you can also work on these files yourself, using Photoshop etc.

One mod which caught my attention changes the terrain tiles to an autumnal colour; the bilious green of the landscape in B-17 is pretty awful in my eyes, so whether this will be an improvement remains to be seen. I'm going to look into the possibility of building my own snowy winter terrain for this... if I can change the look of it myself then that would be very exciting

[Eichhörnchen]

No luck so far... as instructed I installed the OMFMod utility into the B-17 directory after patching up to 2.0 (may be that was wrong... I don't know... it said it must first be patched to 1.0)

Anyway, to open the editor and import files from the game I'm told I have to run it from the 'Command Line'. I don't know how to set this up and the people who 'explain' it on Youtube may as well be speaking Greek. Can anyone tell me in words I understand how I can link this editor with the OM files I wish to edit, please?

[Eichhörnchen]

Well I worked out how to associate the OM files in the game folder with the OMFMod Editor by changing the extension (through Control Panel) to specify the Editor as the programme with which to open them. But the Editor itself still won't open... I just get the message "This application has failed to start because WinParts.dll was not found"...... "Que??" I just don't have the brain for this... I'm going back to playing with my nuts, it's simpler

Okay, I might be getting somewhere now... opening a Command Prompt Window via "Accessories" (this is XP) then specifying the location of the editor and then the OMF file to be opened. I'll see if it works....

[Sniper450]

Is this still playable these days? Was thinking of downloading it and playing while waiting for The Mighty Eight.

[Aktungbby]

Go for it! and give us a

[iambecomelife]

Some excellent news! Yes I know, not all these projects survive to fruition, but let's keep our fingers crossed!

[Sean C]

If it's anything like the previous game, I'm in! Anxiously awaiting updates ...