Improved Air Designer
I started out making my own mod with changes to the air designer. However, I really enjoyed Freezer’s work on the Reworked Air Designer, so I began incorporating some (many?) of his elements into my own mod. I added, changed, removed, and otherwise modified many parts.
The main add is Canopy type to Fighters. You now start with Open Cockpit and most countries start with Bird Cage type (think Bf 109). Later you get the Malcom Hood (think Spitfire) and eventually the Bubble Canopy (think P-51).
I also consolidated engine aspiration and functionality into a discreet module slot. You now have turbo-chargers, super-chargers, turbosuperchargers, compressor and improved compressor (jets), and single and dual stage rockets in this slot (depending on engine type).
Turbo Chargers and Superchargers have been revamped to make a greater distinction between the two and have much greater costs associated with them, especially turbo chargers since these were extremely problematic, complicated, and took up a lot of room in the aircraft. Superchargers are about half the production cost of turbo chargers. Both decrease engine life and, thus, reliability suffers. Instead of these items being an obvious add, you now must weigh the costs versus the benefits.
I added nose-mounted weaponry to 2-engine airframes. These are used mainly for Heavy Fighters. Nose-mounted weaponry also gives an Air Attack boost to Interception missions (center line weaponry has increased range and effectiveness) for taking out those bombers.
I modified aircraft ranges to be less than Freezer’s mod but more than Paradox’s latest modifications. So, hopefully there is a happy median there. Let me know what you think.
I have also incorporated my Improved Heavy Fighters mod into this mod, and of course there are also Medium Naval Bombers.
Enjoy!
This mod makes extensive changes to many files. It will not be compatible with any mod that has changes centered around aircraft. HOWEVER, this is definitely compatible with my New Fighter Icon Series mods!
*This mod requires the By Blood Alone DLC
This is a beta version of the mod for people to try out. I will eventually make more changes as time allows, especially if I get feedback.
Please let me know if you experience any issues. Please view the change notes to see the changes I’ve made with any updates I’ve posted.
If you like this mod, please give it a thumbs up. Thanks!
AI files for all majors completed.
Germany AI done!
England AI done!
Japan AI done!
USA AI done!
USSR AI done!
Italy AI done!
Updated the starting aircraft of all major countries (GER, ITA, JAPAN, ENG, SOV, USA, FRA) to be in line with the modules of Improved Air Designer.
Many of the aircraft were locked out because modules were not in the correct slots or were missing modules. I have corrected all of these. Also, many of the aircraft are now much more in line with their historical counterparts. For example, adding Radial Engines instead of liquid cooled Inline Engines. I also added Non-Strategic Materials to most of the Interwar biplanes to simulate wood and fabric skin coverings for these.
Many of the icons were updated also to more closely match the aircraft’s historical counterpart. This also allows the player to more easily tell the difference between aircraft instead of seeing the same single engine biplane icon for several aircraft types.
I added a Hurricane prototype to England’s starting line up since England was already prototyping this aircraft in 1936. It has fabric wing and control surfaces coverings, so I also added the Non-Strategic Materials module to this prototype.
*Added default icons to USA, USSR, Italy, Japan (Germany and England already had them). Now you will no longer see biplane icons used for other than biplanes! The icons should roughly correspond to their historical counterparts (limited by the default icon set provided by Paradox).
*Updated to version 1.14.4 (no relevant changes)
Required DLC:
These DLC should be installed in order to use this item.
Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
