Empty skin folders for IL2 v412.

Intended for those who wish to trim down the file-size on their installation, or to provide a clean foundation to install only your favorite skins.

Installation is simple; First, ensure that you have a backup of all your skins; then delete the existing Skins folder from your IL2 installation, and replace it with the empty Skins directory from this zip-file.

If you are installing and upgrading IL2 v411.1 from a backup (containing skin files), and wish to minimize 'writes' to your storage media: select everything in the backup directory, except the skins directory, and drag-n-drop to the desired destination; then drag-n-drop the empty Skins directory from this zip-file into your PaintSchemes folder. 

Once you have applied the v412 update, you can delete the resulting skin files from the new ai and flyables, by selecting the Skins folder and entering *.bmp in the Windows search-tool. This will reveal all the additional skin files which may be deleted collectively. You may, or may not, wish to make of a backup of these files, prior to deletion. 

Q: "But if all the skin folders are empty, will all my planes be naked?" 

A: No worries; the default skins in the sim's core files will continue to display, even if a skin folder is empty.


I hope you will find this file to be useful; Good (skin) Hunting! 

~ Rudi Jaeger

