Setting up a simple WW2 escort mission

[Doughguy]

Hi there,

i´m tinkering around with the editor but ran up to some problems i can´t seem to overcome or even get my head around whats wrong.

Very simple.

2 flights of p-51´s. the first is on the rdv early and circles, whats for the 2nd flight that is bit behind (supposed to be the players flight).
the b-17 formation is spawned later  (08:02). the flight of p-51´s escort the b17s. the 17s drop bombs etc.

upto here its all working as expected but upon departure the p-51´s dont stop the escort despite ive limited each escort waypoint, or even tried setting the to be escorted a/c to "nothing".

on top of that, the 2 other flights of b-17s seem to break formation early and head their own way, instead of heading out to see with the lead flight and circle there.

i can´t really make out whats wrong here.

any advice greatly appreciated.

bomber_test.miz

[toutenglisse]

5 hours ago, Doughguy said:

...i can´t really make out whats wrong here...

P51s don't stop escort because last escort waypoint of the group they escort is not reached (the groups they escort are themself following 1st bomber group using "big formation", and doing that they are not reaching their own waypoints).

For same reason the 2 following bomber groups go to their wpts when "big formation" is over.

A lot of unnecessary waypoints causing issues are removed (P51s need first wpt, with escort task, and last wpt, landing / Bomber groups 2 and 3 need only 1 wpt in front of them to avoid an overriding "RTB", "big formation doing everything else).

Tasks for Bomber groups 2 and 3 are modified ("carpet bombing" is removed, 1st group of "big formation" has it - it's enough - you can change formation distances to change the "spread" of carpet bombing, and "last wpt" for "Big formation" is removed, for groups to still follow at last orbiting point).

bomber_test_mod.miz

Edited February 23, 2022 by toutenglisse

[Doughguy]

thanks ill check out the file.

ive initially used less waypoints for the bombers and got some odd behaviour aswell once the bombgroup hit the target.

[Doughguy]

Thanks again,checked out the file. wasnt that far off.

works like i wanted!

[Doughguy]

Alright ive set the misson and works like i want up until the b17s reach wp 7 (well the lead flight).

the others break off to the one wp they have and then proceed to land in maupertus.
funny enough its the same set up for the rest of b17 flights as in the fixed example mission above? bit oddly random behaviour.

the mustangs are supposed to escort the b17s up to their wp 7 then break off and return to the designated bases, while the bombers proceed to wp8 and circle.

this works to some extend for the players flight (scythe) and the accompanied flight (scythe 2) that simpyl supposed to follow the playerflight.
upon landing, scythe2 flight simply flys off and heads to the initial assembly point.

the 2nd p51 groupsl fights (razor1 and 2) follows the lead b17 flight until wp7 but then breaks off and proceed to the initial assembly point like scythe 2 and all go
on an extra round.

from the settings of the mustangs escort option id expect them to escort the bombers from wp 2 (rally point) up to the bombers wp7, as ive set the last wp of the escort to be wp7 of the lead b17 flight, and then break of and land.

just like in the fixed example mission.

but no avail... i cant really make out whats wrong as ive basically set it up the same way as the fixed example mission.

 

PS.:  atm the mission takes about 2 hrs. from start to finish.

bomber_escort.miz

Edited February 26, 2022 by Doughguy

[toutenglisse]

13 hours ago, Doughguy said:

...but no avail... i cant really make out whats wrong as ive basically set it up the same way as the fixed example mission...

In fact the same issues happen like in your first example. Wpts are not reached because the groups are doing escort or following or big formation tasks. When their task is over they resume to wpts unreached. Wpts can only be reached by AI and by themeself (with go to wpt as only active task), and for this reason you should also avoid to use any stop condition of "Wpt" type for AI following Player, because Players/clients don't realy "reach" Wpt the same way than AI does.

For bombers I just removed "last wpt" option for big formation, so they keep formation with no limit, as last point is orbiting.

I changed "stop conditions" and bomber start time to zones/flags.

Now it seems OK. One thing I didn't change (and you should change it maybe) is bases coalitions. As there are many neutral bases on both side of "La Manche", some damaged german planes land in England and vice-versa.

EDIT : regarding "big formation", when a group has this task at a wpt, they must have at least a next wpt (and different than "landing") or they immediately RTB. So if you want the leader group to land at the end (instead of orbiting), you should have for following bomber groups a "next wpt" near the "last wpt" of big formation task, plus a landing wpt. In this case, and if they start in air with big formation task, they will be oriented toward the "next wpt" and while their vector will follow leader they will seem to fly as "crabs" for some seconds. Could be considered as a very "little bug". (In your case there is no "last wpt" in big formation options, so they don't go back to the "next wpt" when big formation is over, and as the "next wpt" is oriented toward leader's first wpt they don't fly as "crabs")

bomber_escort_mod.miz

Edited February 27, 2022 by toutenglisse

[Doughguy]

thanks.

ill look into it. been years since ive used mission editors.

last time was for op flashpoint/arma/vbs1.

seemed more convenient.

[Doughguy]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb toutenglisse:

I changed "stop conditions" and bomber start time to zones/flags.

Hm,

is this a better approach mission editing wise, or even necessary? i sure have to look into this first.
kinda wanted the "oldskewl" real approach that you had to be there by time xyz etc.
eventually script a percentage that bombers might not show up or the other escort and you abort the mission, or go hunting secondary targets.

 

Zitat

Now it seems OK. One thing I didn't change (and you should change it maybe) is bases coalitions. As there are many neutral bases on both side of "La Manche", some damaged german planes land in England and vice-versa.

yea noticed this. changed already.

 

Zitat

EDIT : regarding "big formation", when a group has this task at a wpt, they must have at least a next wpt (and different than "landing") or they immediately RTB. So if you want the leader group to land at the end (instead of orbiting), you should have for following bomber groups a "next wpt" near the "last wpt" of big formation task, plus a landing wpt. In this case, and if they start in air with big formation task, they will be oriented toward the "next wpt" and while their vector will follow leader they will seem to fly as "crabs" for some seconds. Could be considered as a very "little bug". (In your case there is no "last wpt" in big formation options, so they don't go back to the "next wpt" when big formation is over, and as the "next wpt" is oriented toward leader's first wpt they don't fly as "crabs")

i see. i thought something like this, but as it was set up the same way as in the corrected test mission i was kinda wondering.

thought it might have something to do with the mustangs interacting and such.

 

btw. does it cause any wacky behavour of the ai mustangs if i assign them to escort all b17 groups, or should this be kept to lead flight/group exclusively?

Furthermore, is it possible to set up the mustags to fly in formation with the 17s? atm they just drag behind. Cant make them part of the big formation.

Aswell is it possible to set the mustangs behaviour so, that once they extend eg. 5nm away from the lead bombers, and below 18k ft, they break off any attack and rejoin the lead group? guess this would have to be scripted ?
Cause atm, once they spot bandits... they´re off... and the b17´s get done with.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Doughguy

[toutenglisse]

40 minutes ago, Doughguy said:

...btw. does it cause any wacky behavour of the ai mustangs if i assign them to escort all b17 groups, or should this be kept to lead flight/group exclusively?

Furthermore, is it possible to set up the mustags to fly in formation with the 17s? atm they just drag behind. Cant make them part of the big formation.

Aswell is it possible to set the mustangs behaviour so, that once they extend eg. 5nm away from the lead bombers, and below 18k ft, they break off any attack and rejoin the lead group? guess this would have to be scripted ?
Cause atm, once they spot bandits... they´re off... and the b17´s get done with.

 

I'm not sure. I don't know (has to be tested) what happens if leader group of big formation is destroyed. I think big formation is probably considered as a group and leadership just switch to next "inside group", so formation remains and escort still does its job. In this case it's better to associate tasks only to leader group.

I've seen that P51s struggle to stay in formation, I put that on credit of performances (a bomber is not a slow bomb truck).

Yes it's possible to make a command to "hold fire and go back to bombers" if P51s are X nm away from bombers. (ex : trigger condition : Unit outside moving zone (X nm radius, attached to bombers), actions : push AI task -> corresponding P51 groups command "weapon hold". 2nd trigger Unit inside moving zone, back to weapon free) But I'm not sure it would be better for their behavior, has to be tested.

Edited February 27, 2022 by toutenglisse