Waypoint Actions / Tasks:
Add a "Switch Waypoint" command for ships
Additional Parameters for role-specific missions such as CAP or Antiship
AG engagement range
Preferred weapons to employ
Fall back if enemy gets too close
RTB is enemy gets too close
[*]Set Bingo Fuel Level
[*]Allow bombers to fly in groups that have formations
[*]Launch decoy/drone at specific bearing/altitude
The lack of this functionality is already a problem for the F-14B as the plane's AI will dive to the deck and shoot it like a rocket.
[*]SAM engagement zone
Should be similar to aircraft's "engage enemy in zone" task, just with SAMs
New Trigger Actions:
"Set Flag Value" (i.e.: set flag 9 to exactly 3)
"Add Flag to Flag" (and store that result in a Flag)
"Subtract Flag from Flag" (and store that result in a Flag)
Output Flag values as to messages while in-game (True/False/Numeric Value)
If there's a way to do this in a trigger action without writing a script, I am unaware.
[*]Teleport static to location
[*]Teleport unit to location
[*]Teleport group to location
Currently I "randomize" locations by running a flag randomizer, the result of which activates a hidden group. It would be much easier on both the mission sizes (no need for duplicate unit entries) and the mission makers if we could just teleport around units.
[*]Group Emissions On
[*]Group Emissions Off
[*]Switch a country's coalition (i.e.: change Georgia from Red to Blue)
[*]Switch a unit's country (i.e.: change a specific Hornet from US to Russia)
[*]A better way to consistently push tasks to the AI via the Push AI action.
For example, I am toying with is having a reactive CAP AI that shuffles around the map based on player location. Detect at the north, fly north and patrol. Detect in the south, fly south and patrol.
The steps I have to do to achieve this via triggers are obnoxious, mainly because the Push AI Task "Switch Waypoint" action cannot be done in the same trigger and at the same time as the Push AI Task "Search and Destroy In Zone". I don't think it likes that. But why not allow it?
Please please please make some changes into how tasking, waypoints, and flags work to ensure consistent changes when sending trigger actions.
[*]Set loadout/ammunition level
Changes an air unit's loadout.
If that unit is a ground or naval unit, allows for weapons to be reloaded.
New Trigger Conditions:
Missile Out Of Zone
Checks if there are zero of a particular missile in a zone
[*]Bomb Out Of Zone
[*]Unit Has Landed
Checks if a plane or helicopter has landed and not destroyed
[*]Unit Has Landed At Particular Airfield
Checks if a plane or helicopter has landed and not destroyed and is at a particular airfield / carrier
[*]Group Has Landed
[*]Group Has Landed At Particular Airfield / Carrier
[*]Number of coalition in zone
Similar to how you can check if there are a number of missiles in a zone, you should be able to test if there are X number of Blue/Red aircraft in a zone.
It is advantageous to allow this to be setup like the "missile in zone" flag where you can select multiple classes and the number.
Please please please group airplanes, ground vehicles, and ships by type. I would find the Mig-25 until Aircraft > Fighter > Mig-25PD. If I wanted to select all fighters for blue, I should have a parent level checkbox. If I wanted just Hornets and Shilkas for Red, it should allow that too.
Moving Trigger Zones:
I would prefer a better mechanism for handling these as the current system is not intuitive. Better if we borrow the static object system and attach trigger areas to a specific unit through the GUI than force checking distances from a unit via triggers. I hope this would allow us to have the full suite of functionality we have from normal trigger zones.
If we can't do that, then I suggest we add the following trigger conditions:
Missile In Moving Zone
Missile Out Of Moving Zone
Part of Group in Moving Zone
All of Group In Moving Zone
Part of Coalition In Moving Zone
All of Coalition in Moving Zone
Other Functionality:
Templates to be saved / exported between maps
Late activation of static objects
Useful if we cannot teleport as I suggested above
[*]Allow any unit to be used by any country
As a mission designer, I want to be able to make a mission where Switzerland has purchased Foxhounds and Apaches and has built a Nimitz-class Carrier. I should not have the background story I want to tell be confined.
[*]Allow any livery to be used by any country
Allow liveries and livery changes to be locked out via GUI for particular airplanes similar to how munitions limits locks out weapons from being loaded on the ground.
[*]Decoys (ADM-141A/B TALDs) should be able to be placed like aircraft
This would allow a TALD or other decoy to be loaded/activated at a particular altitude, speed, and bearing.
Should be able to be leveraged in the future when you implement decoys like those on the Hornet that can perform course corrections!
[*]Add a "BARCAP" mission type for fighter aircraft.
This covers the gap caused by the CAP mission type. The CAP logic basically tells the AI to hunt down anything on the map like a dog chasing a ball, and outside of very simple scenarios I never use it. Instead, I delete the CAP task and select something like "Engage In Area" task.
A specific BARCAP mission type could be very flexible to mission designers like myself.
In my mind, the BARCAP task is enabled at a waypoint. The task can be edited like other tasks, but this one gives us the option of modifying the BARCAP zone:
Which area to look in for a target (aka distance and position)
Where to perform a racecar track holding pattern
What kinds of targets to engage
[*]Meanwhile, changing your planes' BARCAP position is as easy as just pushing an AI task to change to the next waypoint!
[*]Add some special logic to the "Intercept" mission type, which currently offers no benefit beyond the CAP mission.
The mission tasks for "Intercept" are currently limited to:
Attack Group
Attack Unit
Orbit
Follow
Acrobatics
And that's it!
[*]I suggest tying the mission type into some kind of coordination between AWEC/GCI/Static structure and the aircraft.
[*]Perhaps some kind of exclusion zones? Attack enemies except those located in a particular area?
