Beta 11 is now available for download.
Full version:
http://downloads.hitechcreations.com/AH19911.EXE Update from 10:
http://downloads.hitechcreations.com/AH19910T19911.EXE Aces High II Version 1.9911 Open Beta
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Added analog trim. You can program control to your joystick trim wheels.
Fixed a bug that made the runways bumpy.
Fixed a sound bug in the external view mode.
Fixed some artwork bugs on transparent sights.
Fixed a bug that could cause vehicles to fall through the terrain.
Fixed a crash bug that happened when you shot the terrain.
You can now see the turret rotate for manned-gunners as well as see their flashes and hear their sounds.
Fire now emanates from the correct spots on airplanes instead of the middle of the plane.
You can no longer see tracers through the cockpit.
Enabled B-26.
Custom plane skins have been added. You can now customize plane skins for offline play and submit them for use online. This system works very similarly to how terrains are submitted for online play. You are free to modify your skins for offline use but if a player would like to see his skin used online, he must submit his skin to HTC for inclusion. Submitted skins must pass our criteria for inclusion. This criteria includes size standards, quality standards, historical standards, and others. We will not include skins that are counter to what we do with skins. E.G. we don't include swastikas on our planes so we won't accept a skin that includes them.
Skins that are submitted for online play are available to all players. The system is not intended for private use. Whatever skin you have selected online is how your plane will be displayed to yourself and all other users in the arena. The onlne portion is not yet enabled in the beta arena.
Instructions for Making Custom Skins
1- Go into the hangar and select the plane you wish to make a skin for. We'll use the P-51D in this example.
2- Right-click the plane selection list and select "Save Skin". This will export the default skin bitmaps for the P-51D to the folder Aces High II\skins\p51d. This will be called your export directory in this discussion. The name of the export directory will always be the base name of the plane.
3- Create a new folder in the skins directory with the same name as the export folder but with a number appended to the end. In the example of the P-51D, this directory would be named "p51d1". For each additional skin you make for a specific plane, the number in the name of the directory should be incremented by one so that the directories for each additional P-51D skin would be named p51d2, p51d3, p51d4, etc, all the way up to p51d15 which is the maximum limit. This will be called your working directory in this discussion.
4- In the export directory, view the .bmp's and decide which ones you wish to modify. Copy the files that you will be modifying from the export directory to the working directory you created in step 3. IMPORTANT: Copy ONLY those files that you will be changing.
Note: There are 3 types of files in the export directory:
***.bmp - The color part of a texture. This is what you will be modifying.
***_a.bmp - The alpha channel of a texture.
***.txt - 256 color textures can have a transparent index, this contains that index.
If the name of the .bmp that you wish to modify has an alpha or tranparency file associated with it, you will need to copy that file to your new skins directory as well. Example: if you wish to modify a file called p51dside.bmp and there is also a file called p51dside_a.bmp or p51dside.txt, then you will need to copy those files in addition to p51dside.bmp to your working directory.
5- Modify the bitmap files in your working directory using a graphics editor. Note: do not change the color format, all files should be 256 color bitmaps.
6- Describe your skin. Create a txt file in your working directory with the base name of the plane, example: p51d.txt. This is a one line text file that contains the description of your skin and is displayed on the clipboard in the hangar. Open the text file and enter your skin description on the first line. Example: 357th Fighter Squadron, 1944. Keep the length of your description short enough so that it will fit within the skin field on the clipboard.
7- See your skin in the game. Go to the hangar and select the plane you modified. Use the skin dropbox on the clipboard to select your skin. Now fly with your new skin.
