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[benitomuso]

People,
                        finally I achieved what I first suggested in this thread:
                                                         

http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,10549.msg113497.html#msg113497

You can download the updated 1.1 MOD from here:
                          

http://www.whatwalrus.com/sas2/benitomuso/il2fb1.1.rar

Old 1.0 version:
                          

http://www.whatwalrus.com/sas2/benitomuso/il2fb.rar

 

                The MOD has a new modified il2fb.exe with the neat IL-2 1946 icons (an original work of Squog from the HSFX team) instead of the old Pacific Fighters ones. Now it works with my new wrapper called il2fbPAL.dll instead of the original wrapper.dll made by QTim.

How to install it?
Backup your previous il2fb.exe from the main IL-2 Sturmovik installation folder and later extract from the .rar the corresponding il2fb.exe to the amount of memory you have. Now in version 1.1 I have added in different folders the .exes made for the next memory configurations:
 
-Std: the stock il2fb.exe made by QTim as in former times (only icons and working with my wrapper changed).
-512Kb
-768Kb
-1Gb
-2Gb
-4Gb
 
What it does?
Gives you the chance to select in runtime the Files and MODS folders used to start the game.

How do you do that?
Parse in the command line for the main executable the parameters F and M this way (this is just an example):

                       il2fb.exe F:FilesKorea M:MODSKorea

Your IL-2 will start using the contents of the FilesKorea (instead of Files) and MODSKorea (instead of MODS) folders. If no parameter at all is given to the .exe it will use the defaults: Files and MODS.

Advanced new use since version 1.1:
Now you can specify new parameters the next way:

                  il2fb.exe FC:FilesCore F:FilesKorea MC:MODSCore M:MODSKorea

The logic of overwriting contents is this one:

                   FilesCore <- Files <- MODSCore <- MODS

Whatever the name of the folders invoked themselves, FilesCore=FC, Files=F, MC=MODSCore, M=MODS.

What's the suggested way of using it?
Create copies of your IL-2 shorcut icon, edit the properties and add the 2 parameters after the full command line, example:
       
 

"C:\Games\Ubisoft\IL-2 Sturmovik 1946\il2fb.exe" F:FilesKorea M:MODSKorea

 

Rename that shorcut with a representative name, i.e. IL-2 1946 Korea and so.
 
Example:                           
     

 
And that, the shortcut is what you can copy n times, adding where it says "Destino:" the parameters F: and M: like F:Files1956 M:MODS1956

Because of the fact that you made n different shortcuts, each of them will drive your IL-2 start to different sub-installations. You can change the name of the Shortcut (that originally will be copy of IL2 Sturmovik) to make them more clear for you.

What are the benefits?
You can have different folders to test new MODs, with different configurations, specialized by periods (WW1, Korea, standard WW2, etc.) using specific sets of maps, 3D objects, effects, etc. Give me some feedback if you try them.

Please: read the ReadMe file inside the .rar for full details and some functions not specified here.

Regards,
                       Pablo

 
Credits for:

QTim for the original MOD Activator who made all of us being MODers or MOD users. And I want to specially thank him for his help.
 
Squog from 457 Squadron for the icons based in the IL-2 1946 logo.

[SAS~Malone]

many thanks, Pablo, will try it..
i am a little worried about the 4GB exe, though - the earlier version of this one caused many crashes in my game - any possibility of a 1GB/2GB version?
this is a great mod, regardless - will save many GB's of HD space....

[benitomuso]

Malone,
             I made different versions (I mean, I adapted a standard version too, and I can adapt some of the last UP exes), but I think that even this one should work in almost any case.
 
  Please try it, and if you have problems I will post 4 different versions.
 
  Regards,
                        Pablo

[SAS~Malone]

Pablo, unfortunately it doesn't seem to work for me...
i'm using a fresh Modact 2.3 version, in which i have my regular FILES and MODS folder, then I added my WW1 folders, called FILESWW1 and MODSWW1. then, in the command line, i entered D:\_IL2_MODACT_23_VERSION\il2fb.exe F:FILESWW1 M:MODSWW1, D being the drive with this version, and it crashes at what looks like 50% loading.....also, the first sign for it working for me, would be my WW1 loading screen, but it loads with the default Modact loading screen before crashing, not the WW1 screen...

[benitomuso]

Mmm...
 
   a couple of things:
 
  -Has this installation of you ever worked on D:\_IL2_MODACT_23_VERSION\ ?
 
  -You should be possitive that your FILESWW1 and MODSWW1 folders being the canonical ones (Files and MODS) run properly. They do?
 
  The MOD will not solve you any problem of loading. If the combination of your Files and MODS directories are not working ones, it will fail in the same way the standard il2fb.exe/wrapper.dll will.
 
  Just in case it could be a problem related to memory, here you have my MOD in the standard (not 4Gb, base) version:
 
 

http://www.whatwalrus.com/sas2/benitomuso/il2fbBaseQTim.rar

 

 

  I never tried it in a different volume (D: as yours), but it should work.

 

 

  Regards,

 

                           Pablo

[SAS~Malone]

Pablo, yes, the D installation works normally.
and yes, the files and mods (WW1) folders i copied directly from a working version of the game, and just renamed with the WW1 part.
i'll test this new one soon, thanks...

[SAS~Malone]

sorry, Pablo...no change for me with this next version....
possibly, i'm not going about it in the right way?
should i remove the wrapper.dll from the install i'm trying to work with?
i am trying to run it via the Start/Run....tab in Windows, perhaps this isn't the right way to do it?
if not, then i'm not sure how to correctly interpret this line from your readme: Parse in the command line for the main executable the parameters F and M .....i don't see a way to add any extra parameters in the Properties tab of the il2fb.exe, and the only other way i know to do this is via the Run...tab, but this way doesn't seem to work.

[benitomuso]

Malone,
              I think that you are doing something wrong. If you use the command prompt, the procedure should be like this (my one is in Spanish):
 
       

   
    Done like that you shouldn't have any kind of problems and as soon as you hit enter, the IL-2 will open in this case using my MODS1956 folder.
   
    But this is not a comfortable method. You don't have to edit the properties of the il2fb.exe but of the IL-2 icon you have in the Windows Desktop. There you have to click Right Button / Properties, and then you go to this window:
   
       

         And that, the shortcut is what you can copy n times, adding where it says "Destino:" the parameters F: and M: like F:Files1956 M:MODS1956

  Because of the fact that you made n different shortcuts, each of them will drive your IL-2 start to different sub-installations. You can change the name of the Shortcut (that originally will be copy of IL2 Sturmovik) to make them more clear for you.

  I hope it helps, but I tested my exes in 3 different computers (all with Win7) and it worked OK.

  Regards,

                          Pablo
   

[Neil Lowe]

Very clever Pablo, thank-you. This will be very handy

Cheers, Neil

[SAS~Malone]

yes, i thought i must be doing something wrong...
thanks for the explanation, Pablo...i can see the problem with my system now,  unfortunately, i don't know how to fix it yet. 
if i right-click on the shortcut, Properties, i only have 3 tabs to select: General, Shortcut and Compatibility. see below:



i use XP Pro, 32-bit, perhaps this is an issue?

also, i have tried it running via the cmd prompt, but i have the same loading crash at 50/60%, with the wrong loading screeen...
if i run direct from your exe, and not tfrom the desktop shortcut, the game loads fine, obviously just the default setup, and not my WW1 setup.
but, so far, all other options i have tried to load my alternate WW1 version, it has the same crash...muchos strange...

[SAS~BravoFxTrt]

Cool Mod Pablo, Thanks again.

[No457_Squog]

It's nice to see that my icons are still around

Did the .SFS file association icon & IL-2 folder icon get transferred across to the SAS pack, too?