Hi All:
It's been over 3 months since my last posted update -- thought I'd bring you current on the most recent version of the AWNVN project. All the key components have been updated, including the AWNVN mission set, the NAM-ELH LIB set, and the NAM-MAPS map set.
Here's a quick summary of what's been changed and added...
NAM-ELH:
- SAM and AAA units no longer appear on radar. Instead of following the big bright Xs on your radar scope to their location, you'll have to hunt them down.
- SA-2 and SA-3 units are now more aggressive.
- The SA-2 vehicle item now displays the proper "damaged" shape when destroyed instead of disappearing.
- The USMC RF-4B Phantom II recon aircraft has been added.
- The USAF A-7D Corsair II now sports an improved SEA cammo texture.
- The MiG-21F-13 Fishbed-C now sports a grey texture/shape by Centaurian based on the J-7E.
- The MiG-21MFK Fishbed-J now uses the grey/green cammo formerly used by the MiG-21F-13.
- The little-used M117 2-Pack ordnance item has been replaced by the M117 6-Pack.
- The single Mk-81 ordnance item is now a TER/3-Pack.
- Added a MK-36 Destructor Mine TER/3-Pack.
- Added the M117 12-Pack for use by large bombers.
- A number of soft targets (e.g., hooches, slums, trucks, and soldiers) are now marked "Not collidable when destroyed," which prevents them from interfering with bombing missions once they've been destroyed.
- A Camera Pod for recon aircraft has been added (borrowed from JJ's FA Advanced LIB & using KAPTOR's
recce pod icon).
- Added a "Target Marker" vehicle item for use in non-standard air-to-ground misssions such as recon missions (the new Camaera Pod can damage and destroy the Target Marker) or mine-laying missions (drop mines on the Target Marker). The target marker item could also be used for runway bombing to give attack aircraft several points on a runway to hit.
- A new ship has been added: the CGN Long Beach, which downed several MiGs with her RIM-8 Talos missiles during the war. The Long Beach appears in missions during parts of 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1972.
- Several large aircraft with odd landing/taxiing behavior have been fixed.
- Rockets now arc slightly downward under the force of gravity.
NAM-MAPS:
- Lakes have been added to both maps. In NVN0-MAP (North Vietnam), lakes are located west of Hanoi (south of Viet Tri), north of Yen Bai, and west of Kep. In NVN1-MAP (South Vietnam) a lake appears in Route Pack I near the Laotian border (in addition to the lakes located in North Vietnam). In order to use these new maps, the NVN-TEXT custom texture set (which includes new tiles) must be loaded along with the maps you're using.
- The Hang Gai coastline (NE of Haiphong) is now better represented.
- The Thai Nguyen & Yen Bai areas in Route Pack VI are now better represented with new scenery items.
- The POL storage areas at Haiphong and Hanoi have been reworked.
- The mission planning map for NVN1-MAP (South Vietnam) now has more features marked and labeled.
- A few items have been added to NVN1-MAP, including AAA and SAMs for the defense of Da Nang, and a better airport to represent Dong Hoi.
- Several airports in North Vietnam that were overrun with paddies (making them difficult to see) are now cleaned up. Several areas in Route Pack VI that were previously dominated by vast expanses of nothing now have paddies.
- A medium bridge south of Hanoi has been changed to a small bridge.
AWNVN Missions:
- Thirty-plus new missions have been added, most historical. They range the entire gamut of mission types from 1965-1972. Several of these new missions use the NVN1-MAP for South Vietnam and the southern panhandle of North Vietnam.
- Twenty-plus other missions have been revised to bring them more in line with historical events or to improve playability..
- Minor corrections have been applied to many other missions -- most of the errors corrected would never have been noticed by players, but they bothered me to no end.
The net result of all these changes and additions to the AWNVN mission set is a collection of missions that is larger, more historically accurate, more playable, and more fun and interesting (I hope). Rather than list all the new and revised missions in this post, I have uploaded a plain text summary which you can view here:
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/fa ... ssions.txt
Finally, all the AWNVN documentation, including the Air War Timeline, has been updated. Of course, all these new components can be downloaded from my FA home page:
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/fa/index.html
Best,
Eric L. Howes
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