Whatever happened to this popular OD 370th FG P-38 skin?

[Larry]

P38 nose is too stretchy for checks.

You sure? I just tested it and looks like with a little precision it might be able to come out decent enough.

[lyric1]

Well here is a partial picture of the profile. I don't think the old profile is correct based of the spinners & the nose looks like red checkered & not black based off of the two profiles I found?

[lyric1]

Here is a couple of good shots for you skinners when it comes to oil stains on a P38.







In fact I have a profile for the above aircraft as well.



Since I have 1ST fighter group on display & talking about checkered noses.





Another first fighter group aircraft Bat out of hell would be a cool skin as well. It is an F model though?

[cactuskooler]

You sure? I just tested it and looks like with a little precision it might be able to come out decent enough.

I've looked in to it and it didn't look like it was possible without putting up with some real ugly parts on the top and bottom. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.

[Plazus]

Wasnt there an issue with the P47's nose being too stretchy too?

[fudgums]

Wasnt there an issue with the P47's nose being too stretchy too?

look at larrys 353rd P47D25 skin, amazing.

[Larry]

look at larrys 353rd P47D25 skin, amazing.

pfff

[Knite]

Not to rain on any parades, but I think all the 38 slots are filled up, so any profiles made may not be in game for a long, long time.
=(

[Larry]

Not to rain on any parades, but I think all the 38 slots are filled up, so any profiles made may not be in game for a long, long time.
=(

The G and J are but nothing like the P51s. Im sure they would be rotated in and out like the others are.

[oboe]

I admire your work, Larry, and would love to see you do Bat Out of Hell.

What is special about the P-51s?   I understand there have been tons of skin submissions for P-51s, and alot of the current skins ack detail and would look more at home in Warbirds 2.   Why doesn't HTC rotate the '51 skins?

[Larry]

What I meant was that the slots are full but don't have as many skins to rotate in and out like the pony's do. Which is unfortunate because I would love to see my 'Berlin Express' 51C skin in game but it looks like it will be years until it gets the chance.

[Skuzzy]

It takes twice as long to rotate a skin into the game as it does to insert a new skin.  It is also difficult to rotate skins as there are many squads in the game who standardize on a skin, so we have to be cautious about which skins we rotate out.

Next worse thing is updating an existing skin.  Almost as bad as a rotation, but without the need to be concerned if a skin is being used or not.

I have a hard enough time dealing with the fifty different ways skins are submitted.  It is a wonder there are not more mistakes made than there are.

I have an idea on how to make this all work better, but I have to do it while working around skin submissions.  Might take a year or two to get done.

[oboe]

Skuzzy your efforts are much appreciated by the skinning community and those who enjoy flying all the different custom skins.   They literally "make" the game for me; I don't think I could ever go back to flying only default skins.   

The artistic talent and attention to detail put into many custom skins really make AH shine, and make historically accurate scenarios much more immersive.   So even though swapping old skins out may be more work for you, rest assured it is appreciated tenfold by the community.   It seems like such a shame that far better and more detailed skins sit unknown in the skin queue while early skins, many of which are by now quite substandard, put the "face" on AH for the public.

I'm sure there is alot of talent out there which would love to help streamline the skin submission process, or help share the workload if possible.   I wonder, would you consider starting a skin discussion thread where we could talk about your idea?

Also, I've always wondered - can HTC determine which skins see alot of use and which don't, based on logs, or is this something you just know about through interaction with the community?

Give the skinner mafia a list of the squads that have standardized on a skin, and we'll send representatives to make them an offer they can't refuse.   

[Skuzzy]

The quality of a skin has nothing to do with the determination as to which skin must be swapped out.  It always has to do with usage.  I have to contact all the squad CO's about what skin they are using before I can swap out a skin.

I missed on once and paid dearly for that one.  I will never do that again.

[Plazus]

Skuzzy,

I have an idea. I am not sure how well it would work, but hear me out. What if you were to create an in game survey message? Meaning, when the user logs into an arena, a message pops up on their screen asking something looking like this:

Attention fellow AH pilots. We are conducting a survey for some skins for the P51D to be rotated. Please select two skins that you would like to see removed. Once the survey is complete, the top two skins with the highest votes will be removed from the game and replaced with a newer submitted skin.

Skin 1 [ ]
Skin 2 [ ]
Skin 3 [X]
Skin 4 [ ]
Skin 5 [X]
etc. etc. etc.

Conduct a survey once a moth. Each month is a different plane. After six months, HTC will tally out the votes, and rotate the new skins in game for the next batch.

I think this idea would probably be more in tune to the people who play the game and dont spend much time on the BBS boards to make any contribution. While a lot of people have BBS accounts, I would bet many more who play AH dont even pay attention to the boards. This is why I feel an in game message is more important, as everyone who plays will see the message sooner or later.

Just food for thought.