Bahger

Hey Eno, thanks for dropping by... There were no Enroute commands available for my F-15E flight. There has been some strange behavior associated with setting the "Bombing" and "Attack Map Object" commands. Sometimes they disable all access to the flight and it has to be deleted/re-placed. EDIT: Tried different starting loadouts (but I never get any "Enroute Command" options nor any search in zone then engage... engage group... etc... It appears you have to use "Bombing" or "Attack Map Object" to get an AI ground attack flight to engage anything. Can this be right? EDIT 02: Wait a minute, found it: I needed to set the Strike Eagles to a CAS mission (as opposed to Ground Attack) to get the Enroute command menu under Advanced WP Orders.

Ha! Really? OK, thanks, I appreciate it. (A pity, though that you have to remove the ability to do something stupid to prevent the AI from trying it.)

I have a flight of Tornados flying SEAD against two large Tunguska batteries. They do very well with their ALARMs but because there are still launchers alive once the Tornados have run out of missiles, they start rolling in on them with their guns, going low, flying right into their AAA envelope and getting killed. This is aggravating. I want the SEAD flight to RTB once it has expended its missiles, there's no point in it pressing the attack with guns. Using ROE "Evade Fire" or "Allow Abort Mission" does not appear to help (although I haven't used them both at the same time.) What can I do to prevent the AI SEAD flight from exhibiting this dumb behavior?

I am trying to get a flight of F-15Es to strike an enemy group. In the Advanced Waypoint Orders" I have set them to "Bombing". However, can someone verify that there is no more "Attack Group" or "Attack in Zone" option available for AI ground attack aircraft, and there's no range circle for the area to be bombed? If so: If I want the group to bomb one enemy target, then another, should I set two "Bombing" commands in the Advanced Waypoint Orders menu with different targets and then expect the F-15Es to attack them in order of priority? I tried "Attack Map Object" but found that all the F-15Es did was dive from 25,000 ft and start burning insane amounts of jet fuel by flying NOE for no apparent purpose. Can anyone explain how this item works?

Thank you, Keats. Here's the problem with JTAC "Lase" and why, even dismissing the currently glitchy, "Mark, No mark" behavior, I am reluctant to use it in mission design in its present state: You now need an "armed" unit to be able to lase a target. This unit will also supply a data link. Once you get that, the lase becomes redundant, as the datalink is guidance enough. I'm going to see if disabling ELPRS for the FAC vehicle will disable to datalink. What I want the player to do when there is a JTAC "lase" task is to put a Markpoint on the ground (all waypoints are at navigational altitude) as close as he can to where he thinks the target is. He slaves his TGP to that, but needs the lase for target refinement, in other words, he needs the lase/LSS search to guide him to a small building that he might not find otherwise. if he has a pinpoint datalink to slave to 15 miles out, what's the point of going through the whole lase procedure?

With certain exceptions (see below) JTAC units tend to be one shot only, i.e. you have to give them a dedicated target in the ME and when it's destroyed, the JTAC becomes redundant. There are exceptions; I have had JTACs call out other targets, perhaps because they are in the unit's LOS, or within a certin range, but I am not sure what governs this. I'd like to be able to use an aerial FAC, such as a UAV, to call out targets spottted within a certain zone; does anyone know if this can be done?

I have now noticed some other problems. The tasking messages when the player reaches anchor point DeNiro step all over each other when I'm sure I was able to separate them before using interlocking triggers, as advised by grimes. Between that and the misbehaving JTAC Mark/lase function, I'm a little frustrated. If keats, or anyone else, would care to fix the mission and repost for testing, I'd happily update it in the DCS upload database, giving due credit!

Thanks. Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but you did test JTAC lase, not laser bomb deployment from the aircraft, right?

I apologise for double-posting both here and in the A-10C/Bugs/AI forum but I am not confident that the devs ever visit that forum (if they do, they rarely acknowledge a bug post, if ever) whereas I know that certain devs, especially those involved with the ME, come here. I am eager to get some kind of answer to this issue, as I have tested it extensively, am confident of my conclusions and feel unable to use JTAC "Mark" or "Lase" functionality in any future missions I make unless I can at least get some form of acknowledgement of the problem. A commitment to fix it would be even better. Here's my post:

I have done a LOT of testing and am very confident that the above functionality is broken. When attempting to use JTAC "Mark" with smoke (using armored units, as directed in the revised manual), I inevitably get a "Mark...No Mark" communication from JTAC. Same with JTAC laser-designation, which, even when properly set up, gives me either "Mark...No Mark" or an unwarranted "Terminate" command. I will not create missions with these functions until this is either acknowledged or fixed. Please, will somebody address this? Thanks.

Update (see above post): I changed the JTAC unit to an armored HMMWV in the runway-start mission (file attached) but encountered the annoying "Mark...No mark" glitch on one run, and an inexplicable "Terminate" command on another. I am now completely convinced that the JTAC "Mark" functionality is broken. Could someone else run the mission as amended to confirm? Midnight Run Runway FINAL_2013_02.miz

Hrey IADC, glad the mission went well for you, hitting everything in your sector before advising the convoy to proceed is a perfectly valid approach to the mission; the only downside is that it delays the convoy so that it can be a while before it reaches the town and gives you a "Mission Success" message in response to your success in accomplishing the briefed tasking. Since you flew ENFIELD, I hope SPRINGFIELD AI behaved itself and took out its briefed targets (the SA-9 launchers and then the vehicles guarding the HVT's escape route) without poaching your targets. Getting the AI to stick to its tasking is my biggest achievement with this mission. With your own wingman you need to use F3 "at my SPI" target prosecution orders to keep him focused on your AO, or he, too, will poach. Yup, would be very happy to team up, it might make mission creation a little less time-consuming. I'll PM you in the next day or two and we'll brainstorm on TS.

That's very useful info, Keats, thanks; it explains the "Mark...No Mark" glitch that has popped up in other missions where I'd been trying to use infantry to mark with smoke. DCS should revise the ME so that mark and smoke designations are not available for the designer to use with non-armed units (not that infantry is not "armed"), otherwise the result is just ambiguity and glitchy output. I'll see if I can put a Humvee in the spotter squad without destroying mission logic. Stand by and thanks again. (PS I just tried to send you rep but that function is borked, too.)

Thanks Sorin, for flying it and at least trying to add a rating. The DCS mission download site has been very eccentric lately, it's a pain. Very glad you enjoyed the mission and your response encourages me to make more.

He always did before, but i think the DCSW transition borked certain JTAC mark functions.

Having a programmer's brain is a tremendous advantage with both editors. Lua is obviously the engine under the hood of the DCS product and ArmA is more script-dependent than DCS (although in the ArmA 3 Alpha editor there are many indications that they are trying to make the UI more intuitive and the programming less script-driven.) As Grimes and Speed know, I am a half-wit when it comes to scripting. However, I have found that a good grasp of of the relevant tactics and equipment, plus the ability to use the DCS Editor's non-scripting UI extensively, can produce missions as good, and even as randomized, as those created with scripting. In all my missions, however, I have needed to use simple scripting to do things that seem impossible in the UI.

Stop Press: Fixed!

Keats was kind enough to fix the mission. Link to updated version here. Thanks, Keats! I look forward to playing it, it's been a long while!

Thanks Arteedecco, this is very helpful. I'm always grateful to anyone who can spare me hours and hours of trial-and-error in our very favorite mission editor!* * I'm not being snarky, actually. The ArmA editor is just as quirky, if not more.

This is a useful caveat for me, as I've been considering an airport capture scenario. Are there any steps I should take at the very beginning in the ME to ensure that the capture mechanic will work?

Thanks! OK, back at it.

Flew the first mission tonight, really impressed. The scenario is strongly atmospheric and requires good SA and a decent level of mastery of the airplane's systems. The way you have organised the JTAC voiceovers and synchronised them with the F10 radio menu is ingenious. I did pretty well, hitting the primary in several passes from 20k ft, then tasking my flight to provide CAS for the JTAC once I put down a SPI from the coordinates. Got home in one piece, scored a 50, FWIW. My question, and again I apologise if I'm not understanding how the campaign structure works, is: after I finished the first mission, the sim did not put me in the second mission but cycled back and wanted me to play the first again. In order to fly the second mission, it appears I will have to navigate to its location in the Mods, etc. folder. That's fine, but if I do it this way, can I expect the engine to keep track of my campaign progress or will I just be flying it as four individual missions? I have found the "factory" campaigns to be really weak, so I have very little experience flying campaigns.

Got it. Sorry to have been a bit dense. I think I've figured it out now and look forward to starting the campaign. I've never d/l-ed a user-made campaign before.

OK, well good to know it's not just me. if you guys also submit support tickets, they might fix this quicker...

Hey Quirk, I'm a bit dubious about the installation instyructions as they do not seem to mesh with my DCSW file tree. I do not have a DCS file but a DCSW file, and my campaigns are organised as: /Mods/Aircrafts/A-10C If I replace that Mods file with yours, I'll lose my other aircraft data, i.e. the FC3 F-15E and Su-25. Can you suggest a safe way to install this under the DCSW structure? Thanks.