Crescendo

Good job. These sorts of games can be intimidating to newcomers, but they will always reward whatever effort you put in.

It's still better to have a SPI for reasons outlined above.

That's pretty much exactly what I do, sometimes without the clock. CCRP as an indicator of time to release (with an appropriate SPI of course!), then switch to CCIP and drop GBU-12s as needed.

If you just slew the TGP onto a target and do not designate it as a SPI, the automated weapons delivery computer onboard has no way of 'knowing' that you intend to prosecute that target. For all the computer 'knows' you are just looking around with the camera. Whenever you designate a SPI you are essentially telling the avionics that this particular point in space (a set of coordinates) is of interest to you, that is, at this specific set of coordinates I am telling you that there is a target. The computer now 'knows' that you have found a target and so it is now able to calculate an accurate release solution based on that set of coordinates. So no, if you don't designate a SPI with the TGP when looking at a target, the GBU-38 in fact has no way of 'knowing' if there is a target there at all. It needs you to tell it that yes, there is a target at this set of coordinates, and yes, I do want you to calculate a valid release solution for that set of coordinates. By the way, point tracking is just a method of tracking a specific object (especially a moving one). When initiating a point track you are not 'telling' the avionics that there is a valid target at that location, you are simply telling it to keep looking at that specific spot. Until you designate that spot as a SPI, the avionics do not know what you intend to do. Are you just looking at that set of coordinates, or do you want to attack that set of coordinates? To use your terminology, initiating a point track lock is not equivalent to locking a target when it comes to weapon release. You need to tell the computer what you want to do, and locking a target is done by designating a SPI. By the way, I prefer not to use the term "locking" or "lock", as it can be confusing. Are you talking about locking a target in point track mode, or locking a target as a SPI? For this reason I prefer just to think of it as initiating a point track and designating a SPI. It's true that you can just lase a target without a designating a SPI. The problem is that the GBU-12 will not always find the target unless you happen to release it near the target. Consider this example: if you are doing a CCRP GBU-12 release on a bridge that is currently being lased but your SPI is 10nm away, the computer will be telling you to drop the GBU-12 ten miles from the target. In this example the laser seeker in the nose of the bomb will never 'see' the target (because it is 10nm away), and thus the bomb guidance system will have nothing to guide to. This is obviously an extreme example, but if you aren't careful about setting your SPI close enough to the target the bomb's laser seeker will not always work. For this reason it is always best to designate your target as SPI, so that the computer is always calculating a valid solution that will allow the bomb to 'see' the target. I suppose you could lase a target and just drop the bomb manually, but you would be always be guessing where to drop the bomb. It is definitely possible to do this consistently of course (the seeker head field of view is quite generous) and in rare cases it may be desirable to do so, but why take the risk of a non-guiding bomb if you don't have to?

Perhaps what AlphaOneSix means is that when you have a moving target locked in point track mode with the TGP and the TGP's point of interest is designating the SPI, the set of SPI coordinates itself is not 'moving' but is instead changing very rapidly as the TGP camera tracks the target. The TGP does the moving, not the SPI. The SPI just 'tags along' while updating constantly. I suppose that is one way to think about it.

Happy to help. :thumbup:

GunSlingerAUS, everyone has pretty much explained the problem you are having (the waypoint you are using as a SPI is actually in the air), as well as the best solution (markpoints). Here is a step-by-step procedure for creating a ground-level markpoint which you can slave the TGP to: 1. Set the TAD as SOI. 2. Slew the TAD cursor until it is exactly in the center of the WP of interest. 3. Create a markpoint using TMS Right Short (TMS R S). The markpoint will be created at ground level wherever the TAD cursor is positioned, in this case directly beneath the WP of interest. 4. Change the steerpoint (STPT) mode to markpoint using the AAP (toggle the knob) or UFC (press the FUNC key, then the MARK key). The TAD will now only be displaying whatever markpoints you have created. Remember that only one markpoint appears on the TAD at any one time, unlike a flightplan of waypoints. If you have created more than one markpoint you will have to cycle through them one by one to see each one on the TAD. 5. Hook the markpoint of interest with TMS F S. 6. Make the hooked markpoint SPI with TMS F L. Note that the SPI indicator in the bottom left corner of the HUD now says "TAD" (i.e. your current SPI has been set with the TAD). 7. Slave your sensors to the SPI using China Hat FWD Long (CH FWD L). 8. Your sensors (TGP, MAV, TDC etc.) will now all be 'looking' at the ground directly beneath the WP of interest. 9. You can now change the STPT mode back to Flight Plan using the AAP or UFC if you wish. Remember that when you are in markpoint mode the currently selected markpoint is your STPT. Therefore you can alternately use the China Hat AFT Long (CH AFT L) command (slave TGP to STPT) to get the TGP looking at your markpoint without doing steps 5-9. Note the difference between hooking and setting a markpoint as SPI with the TAD (hooked TAD object, in this case a ground-level markpoint, is SPI), and just using the newly created markpoint as a STPT and slaving the TGP to it immediately. It's worth understanding both methods, as you won't always need to create a markpoint - sometimes hooking and setting a correctly elevated TAD object as SPI will be sufficient (such as a JTAC tasking), in which case you won't need to mess around with markpoints. By the way, here is a link to a thread where I made a post outlining the fundamentals of what a SPI actually is: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=73204 You may or may not find the aforementioned post useful depending on your level of knowledge, but it serves as a primer for the next link, which points to a thread about getting the TGP to look at the ground directly beneath a WP (essentially the problem you are having): http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=72925

Yes, I often play the randomly-generated missions and ocassionally after a few 9-lines the JTAC will stop responding. I too assumed that this is because the JTAC has been killed. This makes sense because if you open the randomly-generated mission in the mission editor, the JTAC units are not actually set to be invisible and immortal. The problem is that if you do set them to be invisible and/or immortal, they seem to stop providing 9-lines and just tell you to stand-by. This also seems to happen when you edit something in the randomly-generated mission like a ramp start location or waypoint. I'm not sure if this is a real phenomenon or not, but I just played a randomly-generated mission 10+ times and the JTAC only provided 9-lines when I did not alter any mission settings. The JTAC worked every time when the randomly-generated mission was loaded in its original form, but as soon as I set the JTAC to immortal and/or invisible and changed ramp start positions he no longer located targets. I suppose it could just be a coincidence and bad luck, but I did try more than once. It's strange because I can't think of any logical reason why altering basic settings in the mission and changing the JTAC to invisible/immortal would have any negative effect at all. I would be interested if anyone else has noticed something similar.

In a circumstance where I plan to share my SPI, I would personally just use the TGP's point of interest as SPI and perform a CCIP gun-run or munition drop on the TGP diamond.

Glad to help. :)

If the GAU-8 sometimes fires that means you are pressing the "Gun Trigger" button, which is not the correct button to expend munitions such as bombs and missiles. You instead want to press the "Weapon Release" button (SPACE+RAlt on the keyboard), which will expend whatever munition you currently have selected. For your information, he says "Tiger, Rifle" to communicate that he is firing a Maverick missile. "Tiger" is his callsign and "Rifle" is the NATO brevity code for a Maverick launch. EDIT: Looking at your screenshot, you should try to engage some tanks or other vehicles before you try for buildings. You might not be able to easily lock-up buildings unless you know what you're doing.

Hey Jeffyd123, I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun playing this mission in MP. It's a crime you didn't get more comments.

"Make (sensor) POI the SPI" is a pretty decent way of saying it. Perhaps "Make the (sensor)'s POI the SPI)" would communicate the idea even clearer for a lay audience. I might start using either of these in the future. I wonder what technical language the USAF uses when it trains its pilots, and what the pilots themselves actually say when talking informally.

Your are right of course, AlphaOneSix. That's why I always write " 'set as' " where I can. I use the single quotation marks (scare quotes) to indicate that the phrase is not literally correct. I just find it easier to think that way. I should have mentioned this, but you've done a more than adequate job of explaining. Nothing wrong with nitpicking, by the way. :thumbup:

The SPI is your current Sensor Point of Interest. Think of the SPI as a point in three dimensional space. In other words, it is literally a very specific location somewhere in the world, be it in the air or on the ground, or anywhere in between. The SPI, a point in three dimensional space, serves as a reference location that can be used to tell sensors and weapons where to look. It can also be shared with other military assets over the Datalink (your wingman for example). The SPI can be defined by any of the sensors on the aircraft. For example, the TGP can be 'set as SPI', so therefore whatever the TGP is 'looking at' is your current SPI. Similarly, the Target Designation Cue (TDC) on the HUD can be 'set as SPI', so therefore whatever point you slew the TDC to will be your current SPI. Your aircraft always has a SPI, and it is shown in the lower-left corner of the HUD. By default, the SPI will be the currently selected waypoint, i.e. the steerpoint (STPT). This means that when you first power up the aircraft, the SPI will be your steerpoint. If you look in the lower-left corner of the HUD, you will see the text "STPT". This text indicates that the current SPI is defined by the steerpoint. Likewise, if you look in the lower-left corner of the HUD and see the text "TGP", this means that the current SPI is defined as whatever the TGP is currently' looking at'. To define the SPI as something other than the currently selected STPT, you use the command TMS FWD Long (TMS FWD L). For example, if I am looking at target with the TGP and I want to set that target as SPI, I would set the TGP as Sensor of Interest (SOI), and then hold TMS FWD L. This would set the TGP as SPI, and so therefore whatever the TGP is 'looking at' is now the SPI (in this case the target). As soon as you use the TMS FWD L command with the TGP set as SOI, the text in the lower-left corner of the HUD will change from "STPT" to "TGP". This is because you have 'told' the aircraft to use the TGP as SPI rather than the default STPT. However, if you decide that you no longer wish to use the TGP as SPI, you can use the command TMS AFT L to reset the SPI to STPT. TMS AFT L will always reset the SPI back to STPT (the default SPI), no matter what the current SPI is (TGP, MAV, TDC etc.) As alluded to in the second paragraph, the reason why the SPI is so useful is that it can be used to 'tell' the sensors onboard the aircraft 'where to look'. For example, consider yourself flying in one of the easy quickstart missions. When you first take control of the aircraft, the SPI will be set to the default SPI, i.e. STPT. This means that your SPI is whatever STPT you currently have selected. If you have waypoint 2 (WP2) set as your STPT, this means that the point in three dimensional space represented by WP2 is your current SPI. In the case of the easy quickstart missions, there are two soft-skinned trucks sitting very close to WP2. Because your currently selected STPT (WP2) is very close to the trucks, this means that your SPI is also very close to the trucks (your STPT is the SPI by default). What this means is that you can 'tell' the aircraft's sensors to 'look at' the SPI, and by doing so, the sensors will be 'looking at' a point in space near to the trucks. For example, I know that there are trucks near WP2, so I set WP2 as my STPT. By default, the STPT is set as the SPI. Knowing this, I can use the command CHINA HAT FWD Long (CH FWD L), to 'slave' all of the aircraft's sensors to the current SPI. ("Slave" is a shorthand way of saying that something is being "forced to move" to a certain position.) After pressing CH FWD L, all of the aircraft's sensors will be 'slaved' to the SPI (remember that the SPI is the STPT, which is WP2). The TGP, MAV cameras, and TDC are all sensors, so this means that they are all now 'looking at' the current SPI (STPT, WP2, where the trucks are). Great! If I now bring up the TGP on one of the MFCDs, it will be 'looking at' the SPI (STPT, WP2) and I should hopefully see the trucks. However, the TGP will probably be 'looking at' at a patch of ground (the STPT, wherever the three dimensional point represented by WP2 happens to be), and I certainly don't want to shoot at that! So, I set the TGP as SOI, slew the tracking gates over one of the trucks, initiate a point track with TMS FWD Short (TMS FWD S), and then press TMS FWD L. TMS FWD L sets the current SOI as SPI. Therefore, with the TGP as SOI, CH FWD L will 'set the TGP as SPI', and so whatever the TGP is 'looking at' is now the current SPI. If you look at the lower-left corner of the HUD, the text will have changed from "STPT" to "TGP", meaning that the aircraft is now using whatever the TGP is 'looking at' as its SPI. In this case the TGP is looking at a truck. The targeted truck is now SPI, so to speak. Perfect! So, I now have a truck 'set as' SPI. If I want a Maverick to 'look at' that truck, all I have to do is press CH FWD L (slave all to SPI). CH FWD L 'forces' the Maverick camera (and all other sensors on the aircraft - TGP, TDC etc.) to 'look at' the current SPI. Because the TGP is the current SPI, the Maverick camera slaves exactly to where the TGP is 'looking', i.e the targeted truck. (As an aside, the TGP will not move even though CH FWD L slaves ALL sensors, including the TGP, to the SPI - this is because the TGP is already the SPI and therefore it doesn't need to move.) I can now bring up the MAV page on an MFCD, and the MAV tracking gates will be slaved to the SPI (the SPI being the TGP 'looking at' the truck). To kill the truck with a Maverick all I have to do is set MAV as SOI, press TMS FWD S to attempt a lock with the tracking gates, and then, once a successful lock has been initiated, launch the Maverick by pressing Weapon Release. Finally, if I decide that I no longer wish the TGP to be SPI, I can press TMS AFT L (with any SOI) to reset the SPI back to STPT. So, that's a rough 101 primer to what the SPI is. Remember that you can set the SPI with any of the sensors onboard the aircraft (TAD, TGP, TDC, MAV), but no matter what, the unique SPI with will always appear in the lower-left corner of the HUD. If you find that you've stuffed up somehow, reset the SPI to STPT with TMS AFT L and start over. There is of course more to learn of course (especially the unique functionality of CH AFT L), but nomdeplume's post should help you out with that.

I would certainly be interested in a UFC. I prefer as little home assembly as possible, but I am willing to pay for the privilege if it would be an extra cost.

No problem. Glad to help. :thumbup: By the way, you can also simplify my instructions a little if you experiment. For example, once the markpoint has been created and you have the STPT mode set to markpoint, technically you don't need to hook the markpoint and make it your SPI in order to slave your TGP to it. As long as you have the correct markpoint selected you can immediately slave the TGP to the markpoint by using CH AFT L (CH AFT L slaves the TGP to the current steerpoint). This is because markpoints are still actually both waypoints and steerpoints (to be clear: a steerpoint is just the currently selected waypoint). A convenient way to think about it is that when you change the STPT mode, you are just 'telling' the avionics what you want to use as waypoints and your steerpoint. You can 'tell' the avionics to display and use the flight plan as your set of waypoints and steerpoint, and you can 'tell' the avionics to display and use markpoints as your set of waypoints and steerpoint. Therefore, if you set the dial to 'flight plan' it will allow you to cycle through the flight plan waypoints and set a steerpoint accordingly, and if you set it to 'markpoint' it will allow you to cycle through the markpoint waypoints and set a steerpoint accordingly. So, when in markpoint mode, you can simply cycle through the markpoints just like you would do in flight plan mode. And because the selected markpoint is the current STPT, you can immediately slave the TGP to it using CH AFT L and save yourself a bit of time!

There are three ways to do it that I know of. Ranked in order of user-friendliness (in my opinion) they are: 1. Use the TAD to create a markpoint over the waypoint (WP) of interest (as per asparagin's suggestion), 2. slew a sensor that is set as SPI around on the ground beneath the WP until it overlays the WP on the TAD (as per PlainSight's suggestion), and 3. re-enter the coordinates into the CDU (as per sunshine_db's suggestion). Here are some detailed instructions for the first two techniques: Technique 1 1. Set the TAD as SOI. 2. Slew the TAD cursor until it is exactly in the center of the WP of interest. 3. Create a markpoint using TMS Right Short (TMS R S). The markpoint will be created at ground level wherever the TAD cursor is positioned, in this case directly beneath the WP of interest. 4. Change the steerpoint (STPT) mode to markpoint using the AAP (toggle the knob) or UFC (press the FUNC key, then the MARK key). The TAD will now only be displaying whatever markpoints you have created. 5. Hook the markpoint of interest with TMS F S. 6. Make the hooked markpoint SPI with TMS F L. 7. Slave your sensors to the SPI using China Hat FWD Long (CH FWD L). 8. Your TGP and MAV will now be looking at the ground directly beneath the WP of interest. 9. You can now change the STPT mode back to Flight Plan using the AAP or UFC if you wish. As an aside, PlainSight, the following is not a correct method for looking at the ground beneath a WP as far as I can tell:

Viper, that is what I'm objecting to. The MAV is being slaved to TGP, yes, but in saying that it skips explaining how CH FWD L actually slaves everything to SPI, not just MAV. Glossing over this is not a problem when everyone understands what CH FWD L does, but in this case I felt it might be worth mentioning. Perhaps I was a tad obtuse in making this point. I don't disagree with any of this.

Yes, you are correct. It does not reset the SPI back to STPT. That's what TMS AFT L is for. :doh: I'm not sure how I came up with that idea as it clearly doesn't work that way. I should have checked in-game before I posted, but I erroneously decided to trust my memory (won't make that mistake again). I'm going to put spoiler tags around the offending bits in my original post lest someone become confused.

OK, you might be right, but please explain something to me (as it looks like StrongHarm isn't coming back). I have read all the posts very carefully, but I still don't understand when Strongharm says: What does this mean exactly? How does one slave MAV to TGP without using China Hat Forward Long? The the MAV cannot be slaved to the TGP by itself - it must always be slaved to the SPI with all of the other sensors too. This may seem pedantic to some, but I think clarity matters when it comes to playing these sorts of games/simulations. Absolute clarity matters, doubly so to newer players. If am ignorant of something, especially of how one would slave MAV to TGP in a mutually exclusive manner, please inform me! I always welcome learning something new.

Well said. "Truth springs from argument amongst friends." - David Hume

To anyone reading this thread who is not sure which way is up: nomdeplume AND StomgHarm are correct concerning their methods of auto-slewing Mavericks. I had a quibble with StrongHarm's explanation of slaving MAV to TGP, which, due to poor wording on my part, made it seem like I thought his method didn't work at all. Apologies to StrongHarm and thanks to Viper for the nudge. Editer's note - previous sentence that might cause undue confusion: The only thing I would question is this:

Thanks, Bahger. I really appreciate the hard work and time you obviously invest in making these missions for us to enjoy. I thought you might like to know that at least some of us out there prefer the smaller, non-'sandboxy' missions. I personally only play with one other player (our preference), so missions like this are a real treat for us.

Thanks for the mission.