The intention of this FAQ is to provide an overview of what is now possible in Jane's WW2 Fighters. You will often be referred to other articles from various other people, who have delt in depth with a certain subject.

• Game Control Options
• Game Play Issues
• Missions and Campaigns
• Mods

• Game Control Options
• Can I change the game's Key Mapping ?
• Can I change the game's Joystick Mapping ?




• Game Play Issues
• How do I optimise a slow machine ?
• How do I get rid of blue streaks and texture tearing ?
• Can I play without always having the CD in the drive ?
• Can I fly the bombers ?




• Missions and Campaigns
• What is a Mission ?
• What is a Campaign ?
• Can I launch the game straight into a mission ?
• Can I launch the game straight into a campaign ?
• Can I add new missions to the game ?
• Can I add new campaigns to the game ?
• How do I create my own mission ?
• How do I create my own campaign ?
• Can I bypass a certain mission in a campaign ?
• Certain mission cause the game to crash
• The mission debrief is incorrect !




• Mods
• What is a Mod ?
• Where can I obtain mods ?
• How can I make my own mods ?
• How do I install mods ?
• I install mods but cannot see them in the game
• After installing a mod, the game won't start
• The game crashes when I switch to outside views ( F5, F6..)
• The cockpits and/or wheel surrounds are bright pink !
• Can I have a winter scenario and a summer scenario and swap between them easily ?
• Can I add totally new objects or aircraft to the game ?

Game Control Options

• Can I change the game's Key Mapping ?
  Yes. In the game's main folder is a file called "ww2keys.txt". This holds the entire key mapping. By editing this file you can change you key mapping. Just make sure you retain the original file formatting.
  
  
• Can I change the game's Joystick Mapping ?
  Yes. This is one of the options available from the game's main menu. You can choose from one of 7 predefined joystick types. If this is not what you want, you can also set each button's mapping individually, by editing the file "ww2keys.txt". You will notice entries such as JOY1 or JOY2 in front of certain key combinations. These refer to the various joystick buttons. Just edit these so that they emulate the correct keys.
  
  

Game Play Issues

• How do I optimise a slow machine ?
  There are a number of steps to this :
  • Disable all virus checkers or other background processes before starting up WW2 Fighters. You can view which processes are running by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL simultaneously (Three finger salute..)
  • Make sure your hard drives are regularly defragmented
  • Open the game's ww2.ini file in notepad or using one of the ini editors.
    Set the number of deer to zero - NumDeer=0
    Disable 3D Clouds
    Enable Single Engine Sound - SingleEngineSound=YES
    Disable Complex Engine Sound - ComplexEngineSound=NO
    Disable the direction Indicator - DirectionIndicator=NO
    Disable Shadows - Shadows=NO
    Disable Lens Flare - LensFlare=NO
    Disable Cloud Layers - CloudLayers=NO
    Turn Down Effect Detail to the minimum acceptable to you, as well as terrain detail, cultural detail and object detail
    Reduce the Colour Depth to 16 - ColorDeth=16
    Disable VSync - VSync=NO
    
  • When in flight, turn off the virtual cockpit and fly using the popup instruments
  • As a last resort, buy more RAM !

  
  
  

• How do I get rid of blue streaks and texture tearing ?
  This is a driver problem with Geforce2/Elsa cards. Obtain the latest drivers version. First completely uninstall the old drivers, then install the new ones.
  
  
• Can I play without always having the CD in the drive ?
  Yes. There are two "NO-CD" cracks available, one for the English 1,08 version and one for the German version. Once installed, you will still get the warning "Please insert WW2 Fighters CD" but this doesn't matter. You will no longer have the introduction video sequence, nor the inflight music, unless you copy music.elb and museum.elb from the CD to the game's Data folder.
  
  
• Can I fly the bombers ?
  Yes !You will however not have a cockpit, but can fly using the popup instruments. There are a number of missions available where you fly the C47 or some other bomber. To set this up manually, generate a small mission, then edit it using Notepad. Under the relevant aircraft entry, where it says

  .PlaneAI 0

  , replace this line with

  .IsPlayer

  , then replace the original

  .IsPlayer

  entry by

  .PlaneAI 0

  , save the modified mission file and launch it. You might start off with a completely red cockpit. Just switch off the virtual cockpit (BACKSPACE) and voila ! Although you can fire the guns ( just pull the trigger, and watch all the guns blaze away !), the game might crash if you attempt to drop any bombs ...
  
  

Missions and Campaigns

• What is a Mission ?
  A mission is a simple text format file containing information such as flight descriptions, waypoints, ground objects etc. It is used by the game to generate a single scenario which is played until the player is shot down, exits using Shift-Q or the mission objective is met.
  
  
• What is a Campaign ?
  A campaign is a collection of missions set in a specific order. A campaign may have branchpoints determined by the success or failure of the player to complete given missions. A campaign in WW2 Fighters has at least 7 missions.
  
  
• Can I launch the game straight into a mission ?
  Yes, you can. If you launch the game from a DOS prompt, using the -m switch followed by the mission name will set you up directly at the start of a mission :
  Assuming the mission is located in it's usual folder (Data\Missions) and called "sample.mis", you would type :

  "ww2.exe -m Data\missions\sample.mis"

  If you are uneasy about using DOS prompts, "Mission Manager" can do this for you, giving you a preview of the mission briefing and allowing you to modify your player's callsign before launching directly into the game.
  Note : A mission can actually be located anywhere on your hard drive, it does not have to be in the game's missions folder.
  
  

• Can I launch the game straight into a campaign ?
  No, unfortunately not.
  
  
• Can I add new missions to the game ?
  Yes. If you simply copy the mission files (*.mis) to the game's Data\Missions folder, they will then be visible in the mission launch options under the "custom missions" selection.
  
  
• Can I add new campaigns to the game ?
  Yes. Simply copy the campaign file (*.cmp), the campaign results file (*.csd) and the associated missions (*.mis) into the game's Data\Campaigns folder.
  Note : The campaign file and the associated mission files must be located in the same folder !. If the .csd file is missing, the game will generate a new one and you will start the campaign from point zero.
  
  
• How do I create my own mission ?
  The game comes with a built-in mission editor. Use this, in conjunction with the DME and notepad or any other wordprocessor. Please read Ivarb's excellent Mission Making tutorial.
  
  
• How do I create my own campaign ?
  You first need to have create all the missions you will be using. A campaign must have at least 7 missions. I suggest you use "Campaign Editor" to then generate the campaign, as this simplifies the entire process using a nice graphical interface.
  
  
• Can I bypass a certain mission in a campaign ?
  At the risk of being accused of cheating, Yes, you can ! On some machines, certain missions will cause the game to crash, no matter what you do. This is due to insufficient RAM, graphics glitches, etc. To bypass the mission causing this trouble, you will need to edit the relevant campaign results file. Go to the Data\Campaigns folder and find the relevant *.csd file. Before you open it, remove the Read-Only attribute.
  You will see the following entry :

  .Completed #

  Simply increment the value by one. Make sure that you also update the relevant value for .Stage1Wins or .Stage1Losses. If your campaign has a branchpoint, you will need to know in which branch the current campaign is located and accordingly edit .Stage2Wins or .Stage3Wins. Now save the modified file, and return to the game.
  
  

• Certain missions cause the game to crash
  This can be due to a number of factors :
  • The mission file itself could be corrupt
  • The mission might have lots of objects and your computer needs more ram or a better graphics card ! Try setting your graphic detail lower to resolve this.
  • Your sound card might be the culprit. In the windows sound settings ( Control Panel/Multimedia ), disable all soundcard harware acceleration, and try flying the mission again

  
  
  

• The mission debrief is incorrect !
  WWII Fighters is notorious for not being able to count ! These is currently not much that can be done to rectify this problem.
  
  

• What is a Mod ?
  A Mod is a new addition to the standard game. This could be a replacement for a certain texture ( aircraft skins, terrain sets ), an improvement on old files ( New flight models ), or brand new additions ( New 3D Models and textures for Fw190D ).
  
  
• Where can I obtain Mods ?
  The main source for WW2 Fighters Mods is WW2 Fighters Online.
  
  
• How can I make my own Mods ?
  If you want to create new skins for aircraft, there are some very good templates available, giving all panel lines and smaller details, helping to speed up the skinning process. You will first need to know which files have to be modified. Please view the "Textures List by Plane Type" to get an idea. You will then have to extract these files from the appropriate archive. Bruce Jenson's "Resource Manager" is a good tool to use for this purpose as it allows a preview of each file. For objetcs other than aircraft, use "Resource Manager" to search through the archives.
  You then need an image editor. Whilst it is possible to use Paintbrush, programs such as Adobe Photoshop or JASC PaintShop Pro ( available as shareware ) will be easier to use with their additional functions. Make sure that your new bitmap files are saved to 72dpi and to 8bit colour depth ( 256 colours, indexed mode). For other files, make sure you retain the original file formatting.
  
  
• How do I install new mods ?
  The first thing to do before installing any mods is to make sure you have made backups of the important archives ( normally ww2.sqs and terrain.sqs ). If these are then damaged during the installation process, you will not have to reinstall the whole game !. Most mods come with some type of installation script and a readme.txt file, but if this is not the case, there are a number of options available :
  • Use Sqzip or Elbzip, depending on the files to install

  This requires using a DOS prompt box to enter commands manually. These are the basic installations tools which all graphical front-ends finally use.
  
  

  • Use SkinMaster.

  This graphical frontend for Sqzip and elbzip provides a quick and easy way of installing mods. You don't even need to know where the files are supposed to go to - SkinMaster does it all for you. It can also manage your archive backups.
  
  

  • Use Sound Manager

  This little tool is solely meant for sound files to be packed to Sim.elb and voice.elb. Provides logical sound grouping functions.
  
  

  • Use Resource Manager

  This graphical frontend to Sqzip provides a quick way of extracting or packig single files. Not advised for large installations, you do have to know to which archive the files must be packed.
  
  

• I install mods but cannot see them in the game
  This probably means that the mod hasn't been installed correctly. Make sure that the relevant archive is not set to "Read-Only" ( right-click the file and select "Properties"). The most common archives are ww2.sqs for all aircraft skins or 3D mods, and terrain.sqs for new terrain sets. These are located in the game's Data folder. The reason for this could also be that you have made backups of ww2.sqs or terrain.sqs and still have them located in the game's Data folder. Make sure any archive backups you make are located in a separate folder.
  
  
• After installing a mod, the game won't start
  The installation has probably been corrupted. Check that the archives are still present and are not simply 0 byte sized ! Check the mod to see if any of the files included seem strange.
  
  
• The game crashes when I switch to outside views ( F5, F6..)
  This is most likely due to the new skin having the wrong resolution. Skins must be in 72dpi and must be saved to 256 colours( 8 bit, or indexed mode ). You could also have a file missing in the mod package.
  
  
• The cockpits and/or wheel surrounds are bright pink !
  Such parts are normally represented with a transparency mask. On the skins, this is represented by a bright pink colour. This must be set to : Red=255. Green=0 and Blue=255. If it is slightly off, the bright pink will be displayed in the game.
  
  
• Can I have a winter scenario and a summer scenario and swap between them easily ?
  Yes. The best way to do this is to first install the winter terrain, and make a backup of the terrain.sqs file and put it in a folder called "Winter". Then install the summer terrain, and put it's backup in a folder called "Summer".
  When you want to fly in a summer setting, simply copy over terrain.sqs from the "summer" folder to the game's Data folder, and that's it ! This saves you from having to reinstall the full terrain set every time. Of course, this can also be done with the desert terrain or the spring terrain. You can also apply this to the ww2.sqs archive and have specific aircraft sets installed, such as Eastern Front, Western Front, Desert set....
  The only drawback of this method is the sheer size of the archives, just make sure you have enough hard drive space !
  An easier and slicker way of managing archives, is to use JCPanel, which you can then use as a front-end for the game.
  
  
  
• Can I add totally new objects or aircraft to the game ?
  Yes. However at present, these objects will have to replace already existing objects in the game. For example, the new Fw190D is an entirely new object, it is however installed to replace the regular Fw190A/8. You cannot have both available simultaneously. This might or might not be solveable.