F/A-18C Multiplayer Cooperate Mission - Operation Jupiter’s Javelin

[Mistermann]

Here’s a mission that me and my flying buddies have flown for almost a year now.  There’s randomness built into it, so it plays differently depending on RNG. 

This is a fictional based mission set in the Caucasus region and is designed for COOP play.  The mission can be done solo if you desire.  The player(s) spawn on deck of the George Washington as the sun is coming up.  I created this mission with some built in variability.  This variability comes in the form of probabilities for additional spawns that can be changed in the triggers.  I suggest flying this as provided and then tweaking probabilities to your needs. 

The mission isn’t terribly difficult in it’s base form.  I routinely flew it solo during my testing.  My group of flying buddies has a total of 3 players and there were nights we made it through just fine and others where none of us made it back. 

The mission can be found here - https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332119/

[Designer's Notes]

A few elements of note.  I use the F10 radio menu to control several optional elements of the mission.  The only required use is the START MISSION command.

When first entering the mission, players will see this message (below).  This allows all players to enter the host’s MP server and establish comms before the action starts.  Once everyone is ready, someone can select “START MISSION” which starts the mission moving forward.

There are additional F10 options should the player(s) want/need.  These mostly relate to the carrier static units so players can remove/add for performance reasons. 

Above is a screen grab from the beginning of the mission before anyone selected the START MISSION option. 

"Spawn Alert 5 Fighter Support" - spawns 2 alert 5 hornets armed for CAP should they be needed by the players.

“Delete Launch Statics” – removes the carrier deck static units present at time of player startup/launch.

“Add Recovery Statics” – this happens automatically within the mission itself, but should the player wish to spawn them in at any point, they have the option to do so.

“Remove Recovery Statics” – should the recovery statics cause performance issues (or they just don’t want the additional scenery), the player has this option to remove them from the deck so the carrier is empty when landing.

“Add LSO Statics” - this happens automatically within the mission itself, but should the player wish to spawn them in at any point, they have the option to do so.

“Remove LSO Statics” - should the LSO statics cause performance issues (or they just don’t want the additional scenery), the player has this option to remove them from the deck so the carrier’s LSO station is empty when landing.

[Choosing Role]

When starting this mission, players should select jets from the "Players" group.  These start you on deck and are the intended cold start loadouts.  Do NOT start your mission in the Air Start jets.  You will notice 4 Air Start Hornets with the group name “z_AirSpawn_*”.   These only exist for players who might perish on the way to or at the target location.  These 4 jets are armed with LBGs, or Mavericks, etc.  The last part of their name indicates what they carry.  No mission triggers are associated with these jets so if all players in the “Players” group die, the mission will no longer trigger unless someone reselects a “Players” jet when choosing a role.  Think of these jets as a way to immediately re-enter the fray should some meet an early demise.

[LUA Scripts]

There are a couple of scripts that I run within this mission. 

Splash script – I run a modified version of Grimm’s Splash Damage 2.0 Script (https://forum.dcs.world/topic/289290-splash-damage-20-script-make-explosions-better/).  See the forum thread for details.

Set ShipID – don’t change this.  This is how I control the static spawns on the carrier deck.  If you want to see how to do this, see this video from RedKite - 

 

Using RedKite’s method, I created LUA files for all the deck spawns.  You’ll see me use these files in “DO SCRIPT FILE” actions. 

 

[Random Spawns]

To enhance replayability as well as increase difficulty, I built in randomness directly into the mission itself.  Players can control the probability of these random spawns directly in the MISSION START trigger.  Note, the mission is designed to be played as-is and players do NOT need to adjust anything in this mission to enjoy it out of the box.  However, once played, people might want to tweak.  These tweaks are how me and my group continue to run this mission almost a year after I created it.  It still hasn’t gotten old.  I will put the following content in a spoiler tag so those that want to avoid can do so.

Spoiler

Below are the starting settings I established for the mission.  Each setting is a probability percentage that the setting happens.  A setting of 0 means the event will NEVER happen.  A setting of 100 means the event will ALWAYS happen.  Any number between 0 and 100 represents the probability of that event happening.  So for instance, the first event (“Intercept_Appear”) has a 75% chance of happening.  Players can change these settings however they want.

null“Intercept_Appear_%” – this is the probability that enemy jets spawn once players are detected over target area.  These provide an opportunity for A2A engagement if players desire (and have enough fuel). 

“Patrol_Appear_%” – these are enemy CAP jets that spawn on route to the target area.  If these spawn, they guarantee an A2A component before dropping bombs/missiles on target area.  I recommend leaving this at 0 until players are confident in flying this mission.

“SA3_Appear_%” – this is an SA3 unit 2mi east of the safehouse and can make life interesting for those who are out of HARMs and still have targets to destroy (or HVT to chase down).  I recommend leaving this at 0 until players are confident in flying this mission.

“More_SA2_Appear_%” – These are additional SA2 units that can spawn in random locations in the vicinity of the safehouse once the Pre-Briefed SA2 is eliminated.  This is the first setting I suggest changing once you're familiar with the mission.  There are more than 1 additional SAM spawn controlled by this setting (also random).

“SA6_Appear_%” – this is a surprise unit that appears once bombing of safehouse begins.  If the garage next to the safehouse remains undamaged, this event can occur.  I recommend leaving this set to 100 unless having a difficult time in this mission.

“ZSU23_Appear_%” – There are ZSU units that spawn around the safehouse and can make low flying jets cry for mother.  I recommend leaving this at 0 until players are confident in flying this mission.

“Try2Escape_%” – this is the probability of the high value target reacting to overhead jets and trying to escape.  If the players don’t destroy the safehouse in a timely manner, the HVT will attempt to escape via helo.  I highly recommend leaving this flag value at 100 as it's integral to the story.  The mission will work, however, if the HVT doesn't try to escape..

“Alert5_Aircraft_%” – this is the probability you have access to alert 5 aircraft during regular mission events.  This has NO control over the manual spawning of Alert5 aircraft using the F10 radio command.  I recommend leaving this at 100.

[Kneeboard]

I included a brief kneeboard with 2 pages for this mission.

[Briefing]

Attached is mission overview in PDF form.

Please let me know what you think and how this could be improved.  Hope you all enjoy the mission.

 

 

Operation Jupiter's Javelin.pdf

EDIT (March 10, 2024) - Corrected Briefing, Kneeboard and Scratchpad assets to reflect proper height of PROD1.  

EDIT (July 21, 2023) - I updated the mission version in the files section to 2.02.  I inadvertently left my group's starting probabilities in the mission instead of a more beginner friendly configuration.  I changed the probabilities in the mission and they are now reflected in the spoiler section of this message.   

 

Edited March 10 by Mistermann
File Update - 3/10/24

[Wulf103]

As one of the "Three Amigos" having flown this mission during its development, and the least talented noob, I can testify that it's challenging and fun at the same time! The immersion is top notch and the game play will keep you entertained and on your toes. Check six often!

[Mistermann]

On 7/18/2023 at 9:21 AM, Wulf103 said:

As one of the "Three Amigos" having flown this mission during its development, and the least talented noob, I can testify that it's challenging and fun at the same time! The immersion is top notch and the game play will keep you entertained and on your toes.

Thanks Wulf!  

120 downloads after just a few days ... as this is my first mission upload I am humbled by the interest.  I hope this meets the high expectations of the community.  I am also hopeful this encourages other mission creators to share as well.  Especially anyone creating multi-player content.

For anyone interested I put together a short video showing some mission highlights.

 

[Tophatter14]

I flew it solo and enjoyed it immensely.  Well done.  
Great chance to flex all the Hornet muscle groups - JDAM, HARM, A/A, tanker and CV recovery.  
Please continue to make more missions, I’ll happily play them.  

[Mistermann]

20 hours ago, Tophatter14 said:

I flew it solo and enjoyed it immensely.  Well done.  
Great chance to flex all the Hornet muscle groups - JDAM, HARM, A/A, tanker and CV recovery.  
Please continue to make more missions, I’ll happily play them.  

Thank you for taking the time to download, play and also comment here, @Tophatter14.  When I put it together for my group, I considered tasks that weren't part of our everyday Hornet routines.  That's how the HARM element came to be.  Also the Pre-Briefed JDAM element wasn't something we were all that familiar with either.  

For me, I've personally never had to tank during this mission, however my flying buddies have.  The tanker's there more as a "just in case" contingency.  

For you (and others that have played through at least once), I recommend replaying but this time don't take out the safehouse.  Maybe take out both production facilities, or the FARP or the Garage instead of the Safehouse.  The story takes a different path that you might find interesting.  

I will definitely share additional content that I have in the future.

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Mistermann

[Tophatter14]

1 hour ago, Mistermann said:

Thank you for taking the time to download, play and also comment here, @Tophatter14.  When I put it together for my group, I considered tasks that weren't part of our everyday Hornet routines.  That's how the HARM element came to be.  Also the Pre-Briefed JDAM element wasn't something we were all that familiar with either.  

For me, I've personally never had to tank during this mission, however my flying buddies have.  The tanker's there more as a "just in case" contingency.  

For you (and others that have played through at least once), I recommend replaying but this time don't take out the safehouse.  Maybe take out both production facilities, or the FARP or the Garage instead of the Safehouse.  The story takes a different path that you might find interesting.  

I will definitely share additional content that I have in the future.

 

 

I did switch the secondary target on another go around = and noticed some nice variations in the game triggers.  Helo stayed on deck and some Fulcrums launched vs Su-27's.  I will try it again as per your tip!

[Mistermann]

3 minutes ago, Tophatter14 said:

I did switch the secondary target on another go around = and noticed some nice variations in the game triggers.  Helo stayed on deck and some Fulcrums launched vs Su-27's.  I will try it again as per your tip!

If there was a helo involved, then you experienced the event.  

Glad you had fun!

[dporter22]

Dumb question - is there anything else to do after destroying the primary target? Are there triggers for more targets or is this a single-target mission?

Also, I noticed that the elevations on the kneeboard are different in the Flight Plan section than they are in the Targets section, and these are different than the F10 map elevations, and some of the decimal coordinates are slightly different between the kneeboard and the F10 map.

 

[Mistermann]

Just a single target mission depending on a couple triggers.  There are some random probabilities you can adjust to increase difficulty however.  The mission results that flash on screen when returning to the boat also vary with how much you destroy.

 

I'll check out the elevation mismatch you point out.  Thanks!

[Mistermann]

On 3/3/2024 at 6:08 PM, dporter22 said:

Also, I noticed that the elevations on the kneeboard are different in the Flight Plan section than they are in the Targets section, and these are different than the F10 map elevations, and some of the decimal coordinates are slightly different between the kneeboard and the F10 map.

Thanks.  The kneeboard flight plan now matches the targets elevations.  The PROD1 elevation was also incorrect in the Targets section of the kneeboard.  As for the coordinates, I double checked them all and they are correct.  Those target buildings occupy a large footprint and the provided coordinates all fit within those footprints.

Thanks for flying and providing feedback.