VDP Module Update - Current Status

[kevan]

I decided to create a separate thread to track the current status of my module editing that is separate from the request thread. Please limit postings on this thread to questions/comments related directly to the status announcements. Please post any features requests in the other thread.

By the way, thanks for creating that thread, Rex. It seems like whenever I have an idea, by the time I get around to acting on it, somebody else has already had the same idea and ran with it.

So my current activities to date have consisted of inputing the remainder of the original planes (now complete) and finding new plane images to input. Andrew has proven to be an incredible resource in getting me plenty of the latter. I've actually got enough of a backlog now that I doubt I will be able to get them in by the weekend. As it is, I haven't even added smoke and flame images to about half of the new counters.

As of tonight, the tally of counters available in my module is:

Central Powers
AEG x 4
AEG G x 1
AGO C IV x 1
Albatros C x 6
Albatros x 14
Berg x 2
DFW C V x 3
Fokker Dr I x 10
Fokker D II x 1
Fokker D III x 1
Fokker D VI x 1
Fokker D VII x 17
Fokker D VIII x 4
Fokker E III x 2
Halberstadt x 4
Halberstadt D x 1
Hannover x 3
Junkers CLI x 1
Junkers DI x 1
LVG x 3
Pfalz D III x 10
Pfalz D XII x 6
Phonix D I x 2
Roland C II x 3
Roland D IIa x 3
Roland D VIb x 2
Rumpler x 5
SSW D I x 1
SSW D IV x 2
SSW D III x 1

Allied
A-W F.K.8 x 2
Breguet x 5
Bristol x 5
DH4 x 4
DH5 x 2
DH9 x 2
Dorand x 3
Hanriot HD-1 x 5
Morane-Saulnier AI x 2
Nieuport 12 x 1
Nieuport 17 x 9
Nieuport 28 x 6
Pomilio x 2
R.E. 8 x 3
SE5-5A x 8
Salmson x 4
Sopwith 1.5 x 3
Camel x 12
Dolphin x 3
Pup x 3
Snipe x 3
Sopwith Triplane x 7
SAML x 2
SPAD x 15

This should cover almost all of what I've scanned in. You can sure see the popularity of Spads, Camels, and Fokker DVIIs. You will see some new planes added that aren't in the original game - most of these come from Andrew, and I figured they might be handy at some point. I still have at least 20-30 planes to put in that aren't in the list above.

[Stephen]

Man, that will be awesome. Can't wait to use those new counters. Are they just re-numbered versions of the same planes, or are they actually new paint schemes?

[kevan]

Every plane is unique. Some are similar, of course, since you naturall have the 4 and 5 colour camo on the SPADs, the British beige, German 5-colour upper wings, Nieuports, etc, but each plane has unique markings. I'm not sure if all of Andrew's colour schemes are historical, but I've made a conscious effort to track down historically accurate paint schemes. If you have a favourite ace, you may be able to find his plane. If not, track down a copy of the paint scheme and send it to me, and you will shortly. I'm pretty proud to have included at least three of the paint schemes used on B6313 (there are benefits to being the module updater).

[kevan]

With the planes for Plane Pack 2 quickly coming together, I figure it's time for an update. Here’s the list of counters (including original and Plane Pack 1 counters) so far – just over 500 in total. There are plenty of planes that I don’t have, but because I haven’t put together a complete list yet, I’ve simply identified where I’m missing planes that had 8th ed. stats developed. Any planes not on this list are very welcome as well.

I do have or know where to find line drawings of many of the missing craft, but I don’t have the time at present to be painting them to the detail required to make nice counters – if anyone wishes to, I would be glad to make counters out of any images you send me.

Central Powers

A.E.G. CIV / J.I - 11
A.E.G. GIV - 2
A.E.G. J - 2
AGO CII - 1
AGO CIV x 1
Albatros B - 1
Albatros C/J’s - 10
Albatros D’s – 47 (yeah, lots of Albatros fans out there on the interweb, even have a two variations on a few…could use a few more D.II images though)
Albatros W – 5
Aviatik B II - 1
Aviatik (Berg) C I – 1
Aviatik (Berg) D I – 6
D.F.W. B I - 1
D.F.W. C V - 6
Fokker D I/II – 1
Fokker D III – 2
Fokker D V – image needed
Fokker D VI – 5
Fokker D VII – 26
Fokker D VIII – 6
Fokker Dr I – 27
Fokker E/A – 3
Friedrichshafen FF33L – 1
Friedrichshafen FF49 – image needed
Friedrichshafen G III – have image, but will be difficult to work with
Gotha G – 3
Gotha WD 14 – image needed
Halberstadt C – 1
Halberstadt CL – 5
Halberstadt D – 2
Hannover CL – 3
Hansa-Brandenburg C – 4
Hansa-Brandenburg D – 2
Hansa-Brandenburg GW – image needed
Hansa-Brandenburg KDW – 2
Hansa-Brandenburg W-12 – 2
Hansa-Brandenburg W-19 – image needed
Hansa-Brandenburg W-29 – 2
Hansa-Brandenburg W-33 – image needed
Junkers CL – 1
Junkers D – 1
Junkers J – 1
Lloyd - 2
Lohner C – 1
Lohner L - 1
L.V.G. – 4
Packard - 1
Pfalz D III – 20
Pfalz D VIII – 3
Pfalz D XII – 7
Pfalz Dr I – 2
Pfalz E.II – 2
Phonix C I – image needed
Phonix D I – 6
Roland C II – 4
Roland D I/II – 4
Roland D VIb – 2
Rumpler C I – image needed
Rumpler C III/IV/V/VII – 8
Rumpler 6B1 – 3
Siemens-Schuckert D I – 1
Siemens-Schuckert D III – 3
Siemens-Schuckert D IV – 3
Siemens-Schuckert R I - have image, but will be difficult to work with
Uf*g – 6
Zeppelin-Lindau – 1
Zeppelin R VI - have image, but will be difficult to work with
Balloon (drachen) – 1

Allied

Ansaldo – 7
Armstrong-Whitworth FK8 – 3
Avro - 1
BE 12 – 2
BE 2 a/b – 3
BE 2 c/d – 1
BE 2 e – 3
Blackburn Kangaroo - have image, but will be difficult to work with
Breguet 5 - 1
Breguet 14 – 6
Bristol F2A/B– 9
Bristol M.1C – 1
Bristol Scout – 1
Caproni Ca3 – 1
Caproni Ca4 - 1
Caproni Ca5 - have image, but will be difficult to work with
Caudron G3 - 1
Caudron G4 – 4
Caudron G6 – image needed
Caudron R4 – image needed
Caudron R6 – image needed
Caudron R11 - 2
Curtiss H4 – image needed
Curtiss H12 – 2
Curtiss N9H - 1
Curtiss JN4 - 1
D.H. 2 – 5
D.H. 4 – 8
D.H. 5 – 4
D.H. 9 – 6
D.H. 10 - 1
Dorand – 4
F.B.A. - 1
F.E. 2 – 3
F.E. 8 – 2
Fairey IIIF - 1
Farman – 1
Felixstowe – 2
Handley Page O/400 - have image, but will be difficult to work with
Hanriot HD-1 – 9
Hanriot HD-3 - 2
Letord – 3
Macchi – 2
Martinsyde Elephant – 3
Morane Parasol - 2
Morane-Saulnier A-I – 3
Morane-Saulnier N – 3
Morane-Saulnier P – 1
Nieuport 11/16 – 5
Nieuport 12/13/20 – 2
Nieuport 17/21/23 – 19
Nieuport 24/25/27 – 4
Nieuport 28 - 8
Paul Schmitt 7 – 1
Pomilio – 5
R.E. 5 - 1
R.E. 7 - 1
R.E. 8 – 7
S.E. 5 – 19
S.A.M.L. - 5
S.I.A. –3
SP 2 – 2
SVA 5 – 1
Salmson – 4
Salmson-Moineau - 1
Short 184 - 1
Short Bomber – 1
Sopwith 1.5 – 7
Sopwith Baby – 2
Sopwith Camel – 20
Sopwith Cuckoo - 1
Sopwith Dolphin – 5
Sopwith Pup – 7
Sopwith Salamander – 1
Sopwith Snipe – 6
Sopwith Triplane – 10
SPAD VII/XI/XII/XIII/XVII – 30
Vickers – 1
Voisin 1-6 – 1
Voisin 8-10 - 1

[kirkh]

Kevan - Will there be any other additions to the module to address issues that have come up during gaming? Two examples would be a bigger gameboard so the planes don't need to be recentered every few turns and cloud counters so we have a reminder right on the board showing us where the clouds are. Also, it would be nice if we could somehow find a way to have each side have their own chat room where they can do their secret rolls without having to open up the whole game twice. I don't know if VASSAL allows that though.

[AP]

Kevan,
Here is what i have and should hopefully be able to get together for you tonight. In the meantime i just sent u an email with all the current DP aircraft stats on planes used in the game, which should be a helpful reference point.


Albatros DIIs - i will get u a few more
Albatros W – image needed I have the W4, 2 nice counters
Aviatik (Berg) C I – image needed - i have an awesome one of these
Friedrichshafen FF33L – image needed - will get it to you
Friedrichshafen FF49 – image needed- will get it to you
Gotha G – have a few good colored ones for you
Hansa-Brandenburg KDW – image needed -have 2 great ones
Hansa-Brandenburg W-12 – image needed-have 2 great ones
Hansa-Brandenburg W-19 – image needed-have 2 great ones
Hansa-Brandenburg W-29 – image needed-have 2 great ones
Hansa-Brandenburg W-33 – image needed-have 2 great ones
Pfalz D VIII – image needed - have some good colored ones
Phonix C I – image needed THINk i have it....
Rumpler C I – image needed - have one


Allied


Caproni Ca3 – image needed -have a good one for you
Curtiss H12 – image needed -have 2 great ones for you
Felixstowe – image needed - have 2 great ones for you
Macchi – image needed have 2 great ones for you
Morane-Saulnier N – image needed
Morane-Saulnier P – image needed -i think i have both moranes
SVA 5 – image needed - think i have 2 of these

[kevan]

kirkh said:

Kevan - Will there be any other additions to the module to address issues that have come up during gaming? Two examples would be a bigger gameboard so the planes don't need to be recentered every few turns and cloud counters so we have a reminder right on the board showing us where the clouds are. Also, it would be nice if we could somehow find a way to have each side have their own chat room where they can do their secret rolls without having to open up the whole game twice. I don't know if VASSAL allows that though.

I am hoping to include at least one map with Plane Pack 2. I'm working on an aerodrome, referencing old aerial photos to make one that is close to real scale and layout, and the map will be slightly larger than the original map at 31 x 31 squares - I may make it larger if I can reduce the file size sufficiently. A big part of the work is creating generic images for things like roads, trees, etc, so it should be easier for me to make future maps - I'd like to do a section of the front lines for the next one.

Cloud counters would be a relatively simple addition.

I'm not sure about separate chat rooms. I seem to remember that Rex was looking into that, but I can't remember what he found out.

As a side project, I'm working on a version of VDP without the grid for movement - instead, moving forward will be a single plane length regardless of facing, and there will be more plane facings. My single real peeve with DP has always been the square grid. This will be a totally separate module though.

[kirkh]

I've seen a set of rules for DP using a hex grid. I think I saw it at Boardgamegeek. I've always had trouble with a few of DP's rules such as getting a 1 square bonus per 100' of dive yet not losing anything for climbing, counting diagonal movement the same as straight movement, and the fact deflection has so little impact. I just assume those were sacrifices made for the sake of playability though and move on. Maybe I'll have to host a VDP game where we play a game using my "house" rules to see how people like them.

[kazorm]

Many of the images you are looking for can be gotten at this website.
www.geocities.com/ww1fighters/index.htm

[kevan]

kazorm said:

Many of the images you are looking for can be gotten at this website.
www.geocities.com/ww1fighters/index.htm

Yep, already scavenged that site. One difficulty I have is that so many planes are only available as black and white line drawings, and I just don't have the time to research and paint the authentic colour schemes so I can make counters out of them.

[kirkh]

Hey, is anybody here an expert with Lview? I ask because I have lots of pictures that would fill Kevan's needs, but the photos show the top view of the plane on one half of the picture and then the bottom half on the other side of the center line. I worked with Lview to try and remove the half of the picture that shows the bottom of the plane (I was able to do that by cropping the picture) but I can't figure out how to copy the half of the picture that shows the top view, flip it over, and paste it to the other side to create a full top view picture.

[AP]

Kirk,
I dont know much about Lview, but if you have a windows OS, you can just use the paint application...

[kirkh]

Yeah, I was messing around with that as well but couldn't figure out how to copy, flip, and paste to the end of the picture.

[kevan]

I have software than can mirror the top side of the image - a big portion of the planes in Plane Pack 2 have been made that way. So any split-view drawings, just scan them in and send them (higher resolution if possible, small images are really tough to work with, and I like to fix planes with non-symetrical features).

Kirk, I can't remember for sure if it was you that mentioned having Bombers 1914-18. If so, I've taken all of the single-page split-view images from that book (and plan on eviscerating it to get the two-page images when I've finished reading it - those are the "difficult" images mentioned in my list).

[kirkh]

Yup, that was me. I had the book, mentioned it to you, and you happened to find it somewhere a couple days later. BTW, were the images of the three planes I sent yesterday useful? I spent a lot of time massaging those images to get them to look right. I got them from an old book called "Color Profiles of World War I Combat Planes". Here's the Amazon listing for it: www.amazon.com/Color-profiles-World-combat-planes/dp/B0006W3X0G/ref=sr_1_27/002-9991300-7718441?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179960863&sr=8-27