targeting diamond and possible targeting box

[striker77]

its been mentioned before on here i think

 

is there anyway you can turn the targeting diamond off, as flying CAS,ground attack etc etc you will have to visually look for the targets rather than being steered towards them via the targeting diamond, i know the A10 has the pave penny pod buts thats to pick laser pointers which isnt modeled in lomac yet !! as i do like immersion/realism

 

 

also someone mentioned before having a "target box" so you can make a mission that targets lets say a group of buildings/refinery/oil platform etc etc put a "target box" over them and if you damage any buildings in that box thats objective complete, because doing low level raids a pilot can only make a one pass and drop ordnance rather than going back and forth destroying all the targets which would then make the attacker vunrable to AAA,Manpads etc etc

 

 

also having a percentage system in place I.E. a convoy of 10 trucks and you have to destroy 80 percent of them to complete the mission that would mean destroying 8 trucks to acheive your mission objective

 

thanks for reading

 

striker77

[Prophet]

If the object is selected as a target in the ME, its gonna show a diamond.

 

And if I remember correctly, the diamond is what the A10 would see if the object is illuminated with a laser. So just image some guy is down there designating the target for ya :D

 

I have not seen a way to turn it off.

[159th_Viper]

Regarding the targeting diamond, it appears due to the fact that the specific object has been designated as a target in the mission editor by the mission builder in question. Can be removed by "un-designating " the object via editing of the relevant mission.

 

MBot will probably be able to tell you more regarding the targeting box as he has been working on that if I am not mistaken.

 

Regarding the mission objective, you are able to create user-specific Mission Goals as you have explained in order to establish success/failure of a mission. A detailed explanation as how to create said goals can be found on Pg 88 of the L.O. FC Quick Start Manual in your LockOn/Docs Folder.

[striker77]

thanks for the replies

 

the diamond appears for all aircraft except the su25 not just the A10 which has a pave penny pod

 

also its unrealistic some Recon,Special force guys illuminating countless targets, or even if lets say a vehicle convoy is moving at speed how would they keep up ???

 

it would be an idea to have the option to turn it off to add more realism to the game so you would have to visually look for the target rather than know where they are !! also you would have to contour, "pop up" and visually ID more often rather than being steered towards the target

 

striker77

[EricJ]

It's not difficult with a portable designator to track targets. It's all about skill.

[striker77]

reference the portable designator well yes there are numerous types from hand held laser pens to tripod mounted systems

 

so how do you expain targeting a moving vehicle column thats traveling at 40 KPH that would mean the supposedly Recce,FACS or Special Forces guys are in a vehicle following them but that would give them away !!!!

also how do you explain the diamond being painted on a ship miles out to sea ???? laser targeters do a have a limited range and i think when standing on a beach looking out to the horizon a person can only see 4 miles out to sea

 

i know the A10 has the pave penny pod buts its not modeled in the game IE we dont have FACS designating targets and anyway alll the planes in lomac have the targeting diamond in there HUDS except the su25 its quite unrealistic, hence if it was not included or have the option of turning it off, the game would be more realistic as flying a CAS,ground attack,strike you would have to the "pop up and look" to visually ID/find the target rather than being steered towards the target

 

thanks for listening

 

striker77

[EvilBivol-1]

You're right, the magic diamond is bit of a stretch. The only way to get rid of it is to undesignate the ground target in the mission editor. Of course, you then lose the success/failure condition. The best compromise, I think, is to designate a set of coordinates as the target(s), which is realistic enough in that target coordinates are usually programmed into the computer prior to take-off in real life. This gives the player a visual cue as to where the targets are supposed to be, even though they may not actually be there.

[striker77]

i agree a good idea

 

what about having the ability to have a map board you can plan your route on in the mission editor, flight plan,steer points,enemy forces,friendly forces,target point ingress/egress likely enemy routes etc etc so there would be no need for the targeting diamond all you would have to do is look on the map and fly towards the target area, something similar to "Falcon 4 kneeboard map" you can access in game or you could simply print a map of area off and use paintshop or something

 

these are just ideas to add more realism to the game

 

striker77

[Guest IguanaKing]

IIRC, there is a kneeboard map available on lockonfiles, but I'm not sure if it shows your steerpoints and so-on. You're absolutely right about the TD, its capabilities are a little exagerrated. Now, there IS a provision for the TD to show the location based on INS coordinates, but it only works for stationary targets. Moving targets being lased, yeah, PAVEPenny is going to be LOS-limited. For ships and moving targets, you can just pretend there is an OH-58D or some other aircraft buddy lasing for you, but PAVEPenny in LOMAC still sees that s**t through mountains and clouds, which isn't realistic. Switching over to LGBs will increase the realism a little bit, since the PAVEPenny suddenly becomes LOS-limited...but it still sees through clouds. :(

[EvilBivol-1]

Striker, I'm not sure you understood me. Designating coordinates as targets is something you can do in LO right now. It is what I usually do when designing missions. I give the player a diamond in the HUD, but it only tells him the "pre-programmed" target coordinates. If the target is stationary, like a bridge or a building, it is accurate. But if the target is mobile, it is merely an estimate, or 'anticipated' target location.

 

Certainly an in-cockpit map with route/threat/target info would be great though. Only way to do anything close to that is to take a screenshot of the route in the mission editor and mod it to your cockpit pilot texture. Too much of a price for the benefit, unfortunately.

[ZoomBoy27]

Like EvilBivol-1, I prefer diamond-targeting for the stationary targets and general area for moving vehicles.

[MBot]

The only way to get rid of it is to undesignate the ground target in the mission editor. Of course, you then lose the success/failure condition.

 

Just a small correction, this is not entierly correct. The target you designate at the attack waypoints are only describing the targets/coordinates you or the AI are supposted to attack ( and therefore affecting the target diamond and he nav system ). It will not affect success/failure conditions.

 

Success and failure conditions are set under the goal tab ( the tab after static objects I think ). These goals are independent from single flights and affect the mission as a whole.

So you can removing the target diamond without loosing victory conditions.

[tflash]

Just a small correction, this is not entierly correct. The target you designate at the attack waypoints are only describing the targets/coordinates you or the AI are supposted to attack ( and therefore affecting the target diamond and he nav system ). It will not affect success/failure conditions.

 

Success and failure conditions are set under the goal tab ( the tab after static objects I think ). These goals are independent from single flights and affect the mission as a whole.

So you can removing the target diamond without loosing victory conditions.

 

 

Exactly. So instead of assigning the targets toyour flight, which produces the diamond, you just assign them in the Target list menu (gives you a pointer to indicate targets on the map and define success criteria like destroy/survive etc)

 

I do this all the time.

 

This way, you really have to look for the targets with your Mk.I Eyeball (or schkval targeting system whatever).

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

what about having the ability to have a map board...........etc

 

Check out a Lockon util from the French Community called LOBrief, it may give you some of what you want,

http://perso.orange.fr/nicoleon/index_ev.htm

 

Assigning unit(s) / group(s) / building(s) as targets using the TARGET button from ATTACK waypoints is what makes the diamond appear in your HUD. Incidentally this is also the mechanism by which AI units are assigned specific targets to attack.

 

But the SUCCESS / FAIL at the end of a mission is caused by having set MISSION GOALS using the icon on the left of the screen that looks like a sniper sight. Having these as seperate actions means that a mission can have SUCCESS/FAIL goals set without necessarily having targets diamond'ed - eg MBot's excellent Urban Thunder mission.