First time in Mission Editor

[ratherbegliding]

Hi guys,

 

I've played DCS for a while, mostly just learning systems and free flight.

 

I recently bought the excellent VEAO Hawk and wanted to make some simple training missions/scenarios.

 

Now I've read the DCS World manual and clicked on every button in the Mission Editor but for the life of me I can't figure out how to add the player-controlled aircraft?!

 

Please can someone help me get the ball rolling.

 

Also, any recommendations re online articles, or other ME guides would be most helpful.

 

Many thanks,

 

RBG

[Blooze]

Click HERE for a great video tutorial series.

[NeilWillis]

All aircraft when you add them start off as AI, but you can change them to player control by setting the skill option to "player".

 

You also have the choice of whether the aircraft is in the air, on the ground with the systems all fired up, or cold and dark, by selecting the relevant waypoint type.

 

Just choose "Take off from Ramp" for cold starts, "Take off from runway" for hot and ready to just open the throttles and go, or "Take off from parking hot" for an aircraft ready to taxi out with all the systems running.

 

It is a simple task to add a flight plan by adding waypoints too. They will by default be placed at ground level unless you change the altitude parameters. They'll be pre-programmed into your CDU, ready to go.

[Cibit]

There is a PDF attached to my sig you may find useful

[feefifofum]

The guides and videos by the users here are excellent.

 

For a quick answer to your question:

Add a plane by clicking the plane-shaped button on the left side of the screen.

Select your country and plane.

Click on the map to add the plane you have selected.

Now, close the "add aircraft" menu, and click on the plane you've added.

You should see a menu on the right side of the screen with your new plane group's properties.

One of the menu items will be a drop-down for AI skill level, by default set to "average"

Simply click that menu, and change "average" to "client" or "player" and the aircraft will be flyable.

 

Note there can only be one "player" aircraft; this is used for scorekeeping in single player campaigns, though the plane will still be flyable in multiplayer.

I only mention it because if you make a second plane a "player" aircraft, the previous "player" aircraft will revert to being an AI flight.

 

Enjoy!

Edited June 18, 2015 by feefifofum

[ratherbegliding]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

This is what I needed:

"All aircraft when you add them start off as AI, but you can change them to player control by setting the skill option to "player"."

 

Would never have guessed in a million years! LOL!

 

Looking forward to going through the various resources suggested....roll on the weekend.

 

Happy flying!

 

RBG

 

:pilotfly:

[DarkFire]

Click HERE for a great video tutorial series.

 

Seconded. Ranger79's video tutorials are the dog's nuts when it comes to learning the mission editor.

[ratherbegliding]

Ok, so I now have a player controlled aircraft sitting in a parking area, cold pit.

 

I thought I'd add some other parked aircraft as static objects to provide a bit of atmosphere (my Hawk looks kinda lonely!)

 

So I've added three other Hawks as static objects (not plane groups) but they don't appear when I fly the mission??

 

There aren't that many options when creating static objects so I'm surprised I managed to screw this up!

 

I've managed to add a C-130 as a plane group and watched it take off (woo hoo!) but, still no static objects.

 

Can you not add static objects to a parking ramp/airbase?

 

Sorry for the noob questions - I must be lowering bar by now.....

 

RBG

[feefifofum]

Hey RBG.

Can you post your .miz? Not sure what the issue could be, statics are pretty straightforward.

[ratherbegliding]

Hey feefifofum.

 

When you open it you'll see a few other plane/heli groups - these work fine.

 

With the static objects I even tried placing a structure, a cafe, but still no joy.

 

:huh:

 

RBG

Test1.miz

[feefifofum]

I'll take a peek when I get home in a couple hours, or tomorrow AM if I'm too exhausted. Long night tonight. :)

[feefifofum]

Okey doke Mr. RBG....

 

Good news and bad news.

 

The good news is you didn't do anything wrong, your static objects are placed correctly, and the cafe showed up for me without issue. I dragged it over to the edge of the runway to make it more easily distinguishable from the rest of the map, but this shouldn't have affected anything.

 

The bad news is, static object Hawks appear to be broken. I didn't try running into the place they should be to see if they are just invisible or completely absent, but I can confirm that they're not showing up where they should be.

 

If you need an inactive Hawk on the runway for the time being, add an AI flight with the "start from ramp" parameter, then go into ADVANCED WAYPOINT ACTIONS for WP 0, click ADD, then select SET OPTION from the drop-down menu, and GROUP AI OFF.

 

This should prevent your runway hawks from ever starting up, though there will be a guy drooling on himself in the cockpit when you roll by.

 

You might consider heading over to the Hawk subforum and posting a bug report for the developer, or seeing if other users have reported this issue.

Best of luck, and don't forget to share your missions with the rest of us goons when you get the bugs hammered out. ;)

Edited June 21, 2015 by feefifofum

[ratherbegliding]

Woo Hoo!! I'm not an idiot!

 

I was getting worried there for a bit.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to troubleshoot.

 

I will try what you suggested, I seem to be spending more time messing around with the Mission Editor these days than flying the simulator LOL!

 

Gradually getting through Ranger's video tutorials too.

 

Aaah well, helps pass the time whilst I wait for DCSW 2.0 ........

 

;)

 

RBG

[ratherbegliding]

Quick update

 

Under SET OPTION I couldn't find GROUP AI OFF so I changed all the fuel quantities to zero which seems to have had the desired effect.

 

So I now have the 4 Hawks in various liveries parked next to me on the ramp, a static C-130 and an AI C-130 which starts up and takes off when the mission starts - adds a little atmosphere!

 

Small steps.....

 

Thanks again for the help chaps.

 

RBG

 

:joystick:

[feefifofum]

Whoops, I'm thinking of ground units.

 

Got your problem solved either way, sounds like. :thumbup: