Nitpicky Details/Quality of Life Suggestions for Makers

[ajsarge]

Having played a handful of missions now, mostly online, there's a few details that I always seem to change or certain things I always turn on in every mission I fly. I'm 90% and A-10C guy, so lots of stuff will be aimed at that airframe. If there's something you see frequently, feel free at add it here.

 

"Why don't you just make your own missions with these improvements?" Because I can place units, set waypoints, and do the simple things. But, I'm terrible at coming up with scenarios, I have a very difficult time with script coding, and I want every mission to be just that bit better. Not just the simple things I could make.

 

Parking: With Nellis, comes the arm/disarm parking areas. Please do not spawn aircraft here. If I have to land and rearm or refuel, I A: Don't want to park on taxiways and clog up other aircraft if I have to repair and B: I'm always worried about parking in a spawn spot and getting blown up by a spawning aircraft. This kills a lot of my effort, and possibly blocks an aircraft because there's now wreckage on the tarmac. Additionally, Nellis parking isn't that far from the end of the runway. If you plug all your A-10s into the HESCO-covered spots, and conglomerate your fighters under the covered parking, less people will be trying to takeoff opposite direction because they're parked at the other end of the airfield. This opens up the arm/disarm spots for people who RTB to rearm/refuel/repair.

 

Loadouts: Almost everyone uses certain weapons in the same spots. For the A-10s, it's a pair of AIM-9s and a TGP on the right wing, and an ECM pod on the left. If you pre-load these for everyone, it helps with cold starts and allows us to scramble for A/A without being grounded while MX defuels the jet and loads our guns. Same for setting fuel. I almost always change my fuel, and 50% or possibly 75% is about right for most every combat load and will still let you fly for a while.

 

Waypoints: Though I can understand only inserting one waypoint in multiplayer for four dozen aircraft, I see some waypoints get placed in odd spots or altitudes. If it's a target on the ground, please set it to 0 AGL (game defaults to 98ft). If you're placing a Final Approach Fix, a good estimate is 1,500ft AGL 5nm from the end of the runway. Or, just plop it at the end of the ILS map indicator.

 

Unit Choice: While the AA gun on the T-90s is quite irritating, it causes a lot of people to be forced to use mavericks, or fly high and drop bombs. If you downgrade your tanks or switch to APCs/IFVs, it opens up a lot more play options for us CAS birds to use unguided bombs, rockets, or our guns. By using buildings, you can start looking at strikers grabbing 2,000lb bombs instead of carrying a lot of small munitions.

 

SAMs: In the same vein of the T-90, I see so many Buk's, and nothing else, it's silly. You split players in SEAD aircraft like the SU-25T, who can kill a Buk easily from range, versus CAS planes like the A-10C, who have to expend all their AT missiles at max range just to have a hope of killing just one TELAR. And that winds up being either the only SAM system around or there's 15 of them guarding an area. Read into IADS doctrine, and you should quickly run into talk about layered defenses. Sure, have the Buk, but throw some Tunguskas, Strela-1s, Osas, or other SAM systems into the mix. SA-6s/S-300s behind hills or mountains are great for keeping CAS jets low to avoid its missiles, and you can plug an SA-19 or SA-13 into your target area to keep the attackers on their toes. Maybe even hide a MANPADS in a nearby forest if you're feeling dastardly.

[EasyEB]

Whether it's coming up with scenarios, scripting or any other aspect of mission making, nobody starts out beeing an expert (or even talented) at it. Everyone has to spend the time learning that stuff. So "I'm no good at it" is no excuse, especially if you want to complain on mission builders for the entire post afterwards. Those missions you have been playing might just be that one mission makers next step towards a richer experience. I get that you are trying to be helpful by sharing your thoughts on quality, but I'm not sure how this thread is going to be useful for anyone.

 

Because basically, what you do is lay down a list of your preferences, and as someone who has shared a few missions with this and other communities, those preferences are different for all players. Some like a full tank of gass, some don't. Some like more or less realistic armament, some just want to watch as many things as possible go boom. The list goes on and it covers just about every variable in the game.