homepage Forums Read Only Forums Read Only Forums WWII Fighters (Read Only) Re-Birth of Jane's WWII Fighters??

On the IL-2 Forum, people are raving about the vast difference in WWII Fighters when plalyed on upgraded computers as compared with available computers when the game was introduced. They also mendtion an upgrade, patch or CD that really makes boosts the quality of graphics tremendously. Where can I acquire this CD, upgrade, or whatever? I have tried the http://www.ww2fighters.net/ website and get the "this page not available" message. I did place an order, a few days ago, for a "Base Mods CD" (whatever that is) for $4.00 on a website that I can't recall...but there was no request for a credit card and no mention as to how I should pay for it. I have the feeling that website is dead also...so does anyone have any idea where I'm coming from or where and how I might upgrade the old WWII Fighters that I have had for 3 years?

Dr Smith,

The website for ww2fighters.net seems to have been down for a couple days. Maintainence maybe, I don't know for sure. I had it briefly yesterday. They will be back. Keep trying and and look for, oh, I forget his name on the website. Maybe Swiper, but I am not sure. I will keep trying to get on the website myself and let you know who. All you have to do then is contact this person and he will email instructions to you. But I am reluctant to say his real name without checking with him first.

I ordered just last month and am very pleased.

I let you know what I find.

Colorado out!

Dr. Smith,

I saw your query on the Ubi Soft forum. I hope the ww2fighters.net comes back up soon; I had it earlier today also. Just keep trying because that's the best place to get a final answer about the site you ordered from.

As for helping you get a copy sooner, it's perfectly acceptable (and encouraged) to reproduce the CDs to widen the distribution. I don't have a pretty label maker but I do have CD-R capability and all three of the Addon CDs. I can make you physical copies if it comes down to it. The artwork for the label, jewelcase and tray is included as files on the CDs if you can print it yourself.

Bill Grant in Texas is one of the 'real' points of contact within the US. He does a really professional job with the copies he mails out, including very nice printed labels on the CDs. I had his mailing address here yesterday but I think I've misplaced it ... I can probably dig up his e-mail address pretty easily. He's a regular at the above mentioned site and you can IM him very easily after you register. He usually posts messages in the site's 'off topic' forum and is part Regulator, part Local Color for the community.

I just want to clarify that you need to have the original Jane's WWII Fighters game to play the mods. That's kind of a no-brainer I'm sure but if your weren't sure please know that the mods discs are only supplements, not a fully installable game by themselves.

The site is having problems because we've been deluged with visits and downloads for the past three days.

Even Ramm and I can't get on!

Glad to see WW II Fighters finally getting the respect it deserves.

It well never leave my hard drive!!!

Errmmmm ... that's partially my fault, Buc ... I downloaded TFB's "Shangrila" P-51B skin earlier today ...

(Admitteldly that's another shameless plug for the site )

Dr Smith! Dr Smith! Wake up! Quick! The site is up. I was just there and everything is working. Scroll down to the free cd on the left menu and order.

Colorado out!

Thanks Colorado and Skycat! You guys surely are responsive and helpful...a far cry from my experiences with IL-2 Forum. Yep, I finally pulled-up the WWII Fighters web page. And that is the "order form" I filled out to order one "Base Mods CD", whatever that means. And, yes, I do have the WWII Fighters flight sim...although I uninstalled it because of so many bugs. I am going to buy a new computer to upgrade my system, so I now am interested in this flight sim again.

Colorado...I have received nothing from Swiper confirming my order. You mentioned that you have all three Addon CDs. Apparently I have ordered one, IF the order goes through, who knows. What would you recommend I do? It sounds as if it would be nice to have all three CDs. I am willing to pay, whatever, for the simplest, most practical way to achieve this. What advice do you have? My e-mail address is: wsmithjr@sc.rr.com Thanks for your help.

Sorry, Colorado and Skycat...I got you guys mixed up. The second paragraph above should have been addressed to Skycat. I apologize.

Yes, WW2 Fighters does indeed shine with a newer and faster computer and video card. When I originally bought it, I was running a PII-450/128 RAM/16-meg Voodoo Banshee system. It ran good. Then I upgraded to a T-bird 1100/256 RAM/GeForce2GTS-64 system, and it ran better, but now I'm on a nforce2/AthlonXP 2400/512 megRAM/Radeon 9700-128 rig, and it's absolutely superb! Hard to believe this sim just won't quit..

Mag...

That's what I'm excited about, Magneto...I just need to figure out how to get the add ons.

Dr Smith, when the site comes back up(slow right now), I will ask on their forum if they still respond with email or if something has changed. Or maybe I used a different way to order mine. Will let you know.

Colorado out!

DrSmith,

I posted a question on your behalf at ww2fighters.net forums ( http://www.ww2fighters.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1056914039;start=0 ). I have a new theory that, because the actual production and mailing of these CDs is conducted by a handful of volunteers in several countries with varying postage and currency systems, the website is simply a first place for matching customers to volunteers. In other words you may be contacted by an individual volunteer via e-mail or some similar avenue to work out the details of your order.

I'll let Swiper confirm how the process works. I'm an outsider when it comes to the Add-on CDs.

If no answers soon, my offer to burn some copies for you still stands.

Skycat is right.
My site is simply a pre-order site.
Depending on where you are, one of the distributors will then get in touch with you to arrange for payment etc...
Give it a few days, most of us do this besides regular day jobs, and for me at any rate, that means only about one evening a week to deal with it.

If it really doesn@t come, check that the order went through correctly. On the order page, you should get a little box popping up saying something like "Thanks for the order..."

Swiper ( J-M )

Good job Skycat. I saw your post over there. Swiper, you sure are fast. Thanks for coming over and helping Dr Smith out.

Colorado out!

Thanks, Skycat, Colorado and Swiper. I'll keep checking to see of the order went through. By the way, the order page stated "As of 1 March, 2003, the entire Addon CD's collection has been reviewed and modified. Addon CD's 1,2&3 have been replaced by Base Mods CD and the new Addon CD 1". They only offer the Base Mods CD. Does that mean the CD's 1,2&3 are included in the Base Mods CD, or that I need to also find a way to purchase the Addon CD 1 to include the 3 mentioned above?

Dr,

The history of this Add-on CD phenomena is something akin to this:
A couple of years ago, Swiper saw a need to start collecting the skins, utilities, models, templates, "how tos", patches, and just about anything else created or used by the fairly young WWII Fighters community. The Add-on was intended to be "free" (at cost of materials and postage) to anybody who wanted it. Obviously, it was a very popular addition to the the WWII Fighters experience.
A little more time passed, and Swiper decided that there was enough new material to warrant a second CD. CD#2 had more custom 3D models and skins on it because so many 'new' or updated planes had been created since the release of the first CD. The first CD has mostly skins for the original 'Jane's' 3D models with some experiments in 3D editing, so honestly I'd think that very few people would be as interested in the older material.

One of the problems with the first CD is that there were some bugs reported with it, and some things wouldn't install right. Also, CD1 and CD2 duplicate each other in many areas. And, as I mentioned, some of the content (while beautifully done) is outdated unless you absolutely must run the default 3D models.

So, Swiper looked at the two CDs already in circulation as well as the current new material and decided to basically recreate the Addon CDs series. Addon CD #3 would become the new series' starting point (therefore becoming the "Base Mods CD) and CDs #1 and #2 would be discontinued. Future CDs after Base Mods could focus on skins and new material while Base Mods would represent the basic collection of utilities, missions, 3D models and other stuff.

"Base Mods CD" does not include a collection of skins for each plane. It does however have all of the available 3D models (custom and default) plus their debut skins; 13 terrain sets; a collection of ground objects, runways and trees; nearly all of the campaigns and missions submitted to the site; user made utilities; game patches (official and hacks); MIKH's Russian Front total mod; custom sounds; and various small fixes for various planes. All is presented with an easily navigated menu and usually are able to install directly from the CD nearly instantaneously.

I believe the follow on CD to "Base Mods" is in the works and will have the custom skins for all of the planes. In the meantime, many skins are available for download at the community site filed under the aircraft links for which they represent. (Also, please check the Vintage Mods area. The first two subpages makes many of the custom skins available.) And Addon CD#2 is still a good companion for "Base Mods" if you're able to get a copy of that.

Introduction from CD#1:
"Welcome to the first Unofficial Addon CD for Jane's WWII Fighters !
This CD has a host of information and mods relevant to this wonderfull flight sim. From within this front end, you may launch specific missions, install custom mods, view historic information on the aircraft used, pilots involved, flight tactics and much more.
Most of the utilities however will have to be installed to your hard drive to function correctly - You will be prompted when necessary.
Many mods are available as both High Res and Low Res. High Res will only function if your graphics card can cope with 512x512 texture maps. This applies to all Geforce2 and TNT2 based cards, as well as to Voodoo5 cards( make sure your rendering mode is Direct 3D in the game options ). Voodoo 2/3 users must stick to low res."

Introduction from CD#2:
"This CD contains user mods available between June 2001 and January 2002.
Also included are all available missions and campaigns, as well as the more important patches and utilities.
You do not need Addon CD1 to use this CD, but will need a full copy of Jane's WWII Fighters."

Introduction from "Base Mods CD":
"This CD is the first in a series following on the popular 'Addon CD's 1&2.'
Don't worry if you didn't get these, this series is even better !
The Base Mods CD contains all 3D mods which have been released for this game since it was released in 1998 !
It also includes 13 pre-installed terrain sets, plus many other small mods and sound effects, and, last but certainly not least, features MIKH's excellent Russian Front mod in a semi-installed state. All you need to enjoy the contents of this CD is a full copy of Jane's WWII Fighters and a few months off work...."

Thanks for the information, Skycat. You told me exactly what I wanted to know. Do you have any idea where I might find the Addon CD #2? I assume I will hear something about my order of Base Mods CD.