Airport management

[Renato71]

I know it was dicussed in various ways and in some threads here, but I feel strongly about this feature, so I would like to bumb this idea up the ladder...

 

I found additional motivation in RvE 80's server with their "reinforcements" :)

 

Under "Airport management" I mean some way to define and control (during mission creation):

- which airports are Red, Blue or Neutral (regardless of spawn point)

- where can you refuel, rearm and repair

- triggering overtaking of airport (by ground troops) and what of the above will be available and when to a conquering forces

- simple airport management in a way that you can assign certain number of each type of weapon to a specific airport

- animated support vehicles (towing by repair truck, etc...) that are triggered by pilot-tower communication

- strictly defined zones for repair, rearm, refuel

- option to change payload without exiting the mission (simple version of a pitstop communication in driving sims, but to choose only some of predefined payloads, not to create a new one)

 

Using some combination of above, in MP you could land and repair on neutral airport, but rearm only on friendly. And predefined amount of weapons would enhance usage of iron bombs, cannons, short range missiles and such without need to "read server rules regarding allowed payloads". Not to mention it would decrease missile spamming ;)

 

Cheers

[jpm1]

strictly defined zones for repair, rearm, refuel

 

that would be funny at the beginning but would be boring eventually

[GGTharos]

Neutral airports do not have the tools to repair you - your've basically landed a loss. ;) At the same time, they have no intention of say, refueling either, as that would cause them to become involved ;)

 

Using some combination of above, in MP you could land and repair on neutral airport, but rearm only on friendly. And predefined amount of weapons would enhance usage of iron bombs, cannons, short range missiles and such without need to "read server rules regarding allowed payloads". Not to mention it would decrease missile spamming ;)

 

Cheers

[RvETito]

Babalui, if you haven't noticed we do have red and blue airfileds in the server- you land on a enemy base- you get immediate 2min ban ;)

[Renato71]

strictly defined zones for repair, rearm, refuel

 

that would be funny at the beginning but would be boring eventually

That would make rwy clear of touch-and-go rearming :)

 

It would be up to person who creates mission (or in a set of server rules in a line of external vews) (not "read server rules at www") to choose if rearm is possible on rwy. Such activities do not have to be limited to parking area only, just not on runway or grass.

 

Neutral airports do not have the tools to repair you - your've basically landed a loss. ;) At the same time, they have no intention of say, refueling either, as that would cause them to become involved ;)

 

They have the tools and the fuel. And I can always bribe them or stick AKSU into their noses :D

But seriously, limited support from Neutral airports would be beneficial for new players.

 

Babalui, if you haven't noticed we do have red and blue airfileds in the server- you land on a enemy base- you get immediate 2min ban ;)

 

I do not appreciate any kind of ban for landing in neutral base on a road. If you are damaged and you manage to land safely or on the road, why punish? If you equipment is damaged and it is not possible to determine which is which, why punish?

Last night I managed to land SU-25T offroad, dead stick, but end result was only nose wheel puncture :pilotfly:

 

 

For that, I want Czech beer and Hungarian csípős kolbász, not ban :D

 

In addition, road/grass landing is interpreted as landing onto a nearest airbase. But, frontlines and borders are not defined. So how can you tell if you landed on a friendly ground? Distance alone is not enough. Example: About 1/3 of my country is "closer" to foreign airpots.

[GGTharos]

You get a 'ban' for losing the aircraft. Landing anywhere but on your base means the tools and supplies that are needed to repair/refuel your aircraft are not present. Further there is the possibility you've been captured.

[Renato71]

Agreed, but simple kick is enought, not? That will make you "loose" the aircraft and one "life". No need for ban.

 

But, beside rearm zones, I'm mostly interested into airport management where you could assign certain amounts of each type of weapon to a specific airport. I know this requires some serious programming, but interest and support for such development could make this possible...

 

Simple solution to this request could be an option to use only predefined payloads (cannot use custom or create one), but to implement in-game, not as a "read server rules on www or ban". Like a checkbox "Editable payloads"?

[Zorrin]

What's wrong with heading back to the airport you took off from....

[GGTharos]

Ah, I see where the misunderstanding comes from. He said a 2min ban which you can easily read as a 2 min kick. In terms of technical implementation, same thing.

 

Agreed, but simple kick is enought, not? That will make you "loose" the aircraft and one "life". No need for ban.

 

But, beside rearm zones, I'm mostly interested into airport management where you could assign certain amounts of each type of weapon to a specific airport. I know this requires some serious programming, but interest and support for such development could make this possible...

 

Simple solution to this request could be an option to use only predefined payloads (cannot use custom or create one), but to implement in-game, not as a "read server rules on www or ban". Like a checkbox "Editable payloads"?

 

ED might do such a thing in DCS in the future.

[Renato71]

What's wrong with heading back to the airport you took off from....

 

- That particular airport could be under attack (from air or ground)

- Could be further then (currently) Neutral one

- Makes other airports useless in a mission where there is no airgroup set to take off form it

 

Example can be found in any common mision setup. Two to three of the airports closest to frontline are set up for takeoffs. Airports in the rear are Neutral, despite the logic that they are occupied by someone. (not talking about airports "to the side", or "far out").

 

Specifying which airports are Red, Blue or Neutral could enhace flexibility and produce more dynamic mission.

 

Combined with airport management you could have:

- need to fly to a secondary airport, as the primary is "empty"

- or primary ammo/fuel storage is destroyed

- rwy is permanently destroyed (or over longer period of time)

 

If airports could have this level, you could retreat, fight from the rear, and return after repairs are done.

 

@GG - Lets hope, is this was kinda discussed before...

[Boberro]

Generally I agree with Babalui. But most I would like to do rearm without game exiting. It is annoying, strange no one from programmers didn't think about this feature in LO:(

[GGTharos]

DCS is not LOMAC. That's all I can say.

 

@GG - Lets hope, is this was kinda discussed before...

[RvETito]

Yeah, you get a 2min kick for losing an aircraft. Just in these 2 mins you can't conenct to the server. That has another goal- to deal with road cheaters- some stunt oriented players like very much to land on roads near enemy bases and wait on 1st gear to scramble at any unawared enemy that has no idea about their presence or just to 'get the score'. Cheap amd ruining good gameplay.

[Renato71]

Yeah, but what if make road/offroad landing close to MY base? Kick/ban is a punishment for everybody on account of few nerds. Improve your air defence - scatter few dozen MANPADS in questionable areas. Efficient and realistic.

[GGTharos]

Actually it is pretty realistic. You land your plane on a road, it's probably unusable for a good deal of time, given the time it'll take to tow it there. It is realistic to LAND AT YOUR AIRPORT OF OPERATIONS OR THE DESIGNATED ALTERNATE. It is NOT realistic to ask to be able to land on roads or airfields that aren't designated for your use and expect to remain operational.

 

Emergency/flameout landings are exactly that: Emergencies. In one way or another, you've lost that aircraft.

[RvETito]

Yeah, but what if make road/offroad landing close to MY base? Kick/ban is a punishment for everybody on account of few nerds. Improve your air defence - scatter few dozen MANPADS in questionable areas. Efficient and realistic.

 

If you land on a road near friendly airbase you won't get kicked in our server. The AMRACT uses the mp_log.txt to work and if you land on a road or make an emergency landing on the grass this LO will report landing on the nearest base. This is how we deal with it- we can only say which bases are enemy and which are friendly. In LO every base has a certain territory where, in case of road of emergency landing, the chat says 'pilot XXX landed at YYY'. So when flying in our server- always read the brief to know where you can land without being automaticaly kicked ;)

[graywo1fg]

just put a TON of mines on neutral bases where you dont want them to land and hide very carefully enemy artillary just in range of the enemy base so they cant land there.... or if they do... its "oh i'll just land at the enemy base" *Land* "CRAP WHATS THAT EXPLODING!!!! QUICK TAKE OFF!!!" and they go elsewhere :D and if they do land they wont be there long enough to refuel HEHE

 

I'm against kicking :( i only do it in our server if someone is disobeying the rules.... and if they somehow cheat the mines and the artillery good for them :P just let em have fun. I'm in for the fun of it.

Edited September 22, 2008 by graywo1fg

[monotwix]

An airport services would be an excellent feature, furthermore for the purpose of realistic simulation a pilot should take a responsibility to carryout relevant tasks, on the ground as well as in flight.

If a pilot deviates from assigned tasks or operational airspace by his own will, his airport services should be terminated and a banned for the re-entry of that mission.

(I support no taxiway racing, no runway refuelling, no buzzing somewhere close to the north pole unless doing reconnaissance).

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

This looks very promising! I cant help but notice a few mentioned repairing on the ground, can you do this now? I've only been playing LOMAC for around a few months I know you can re-fuel ad re-arm but not repair.

[jpm1]

An airport services would be an excellent feature, furthermore for the purpose of realistic simulation a pilot should take a responsibility to carryout relevant tasks, on the ground as well as in flight.

If a pilot deviates from assigned tasks or operational airspace by his own will, his airport services should be terminated and a banned for the re-entry of that mission.

(I support no taxiway racing, no runway refuelling, no buzzing somewhere close to the north pole unless doing reconnaissance).

 

being able to be towed by a truck to the parking (or take off zone) would be nice

 

This looks very promising! I cant help but notice a few mentioned repairing on the ground, can you do this now? I've only been playing LOMAC for around a few months I know you can re-fuel ad re-arm but not repair.

 

For repairing land at a base and cut the engines at Simferopol the mechanics are aces :D

[Renato71]

@GGTharos - But, I love my plane :cry_2:

 

@AirTito - Oh, so you can land out of airbase and not to be kicked? Well, that's a completely different story :) Thanks for input!

 

@graywo1fg - Yeah, but minefields and obstacles are clumsy solution. They take up some (CPU) resources. Options to choose airport functionality can very quickly and painfully (for CPU) turn an airport into "tarmac only"....

 

If you could assign whether airport is R, B or N, which could simplify mission creation and add much more space. Mission would no longer be limited to frontline, as you could fall back or advance. That could turn a single mission into ongoing campaign :)

And, I believe that could render vulching and stalking obsolete. Currently it is possible only because, during an average mission, there are only 2-6 airports in use.

 

If above exists, you could specifically target fuel dump and/or repair shop. Despite the damage inflicted on the rwy, on most airports you can still take of from taxiway.

 

As for weapon management, there could be some preset amounts, and you could choose unlimited, percentage of predefined total, percentage of each weapon type (guided missiles per type, bombs and rockets per caliber, cannon shells, fuel tanks...), or percentage of predefined payloads. And, you could define the amount of fuel available.

 

There is also tower control. Destroying that would disable tower/GCI communication and all airport functions.