MP/SP Campaign: Silent Thunder

[Mistermann]

Oh man, @Devil 505, that was an epic video!  Thanks for posting.  Another great example of teamwork.  It also shows off how great the Syria Map looks down low.  The fact that we leveraged google earth to setup/storyboard these missions shows how detailed that map is ... the folks over at Ugra Media ( @MAESTR0 ), should be really proud of their creation.

BTW, it was great to catch your perspective.  I still vividly remember flying with @Wulf103 on that mission.  Good times for sure.  I put this in the YT video comment, but will add here.  A couple of observations.  

(1) we all need remedial orienteering classes to determine East from West. 

(2) wicked bad attack at the port with the buddy lase.

(3) cracked up at the fat finger MMS reset when you tried going to point track. 

(4) Pluto's entrance with the music track was Epic.

(5) I actually saw a McDonalds on the egress out behind the CH-47.  I've never seen that before.  

Thanks for posting.

Edited August 24, 2024 by Mistermann

[Mistermann]

I have a lot of mods and skins sitting around on my hard drive from years of DCS and use OvGME to manage them.  I try and minimize their use for missions I put together for the community because I for many years I'd refuse to download missions that required a mod (my loss).  Skins are a different animal because missions don't require people to download them and work just as well with or without them.  I am therefore changing up my use of US M4 units in these missions to leverage the Blue Coalition M4 Georgia unit.  This way I can reskin these units to use a more appropriate uniform choice.  See video below.

These skins were created by @Eight Ball and you can pick them up here - 

I have gone back and updated M03 - Dawn's Light to reflect this skin choice.  New missions coming (M5/M06/M07/M08) will also leverage these skins.  

There is NO REQUIREMENT to download these if you don't want.  Those that opt out of downloading will see the units on the left side of the video.

[Mistermann]

In preparation for M05 Wild Hunt, I thought I’d provide a little color around what’s going on in this mission.  This mission really ups the ante on scouting.  You need to understand a couple of topics to succeed:

(1)    You need to know how to use Prepoints on the MMS to slew the sensor over 3 different target points established in the mission. 

(2)    You’ll need the ability to use TIS and TV modes of the MMS and manage brightness and contrast.

(3)    You need to know how to enter TP/WP into the navigation system using MGRS coordinates.

(4)    You’ll also need to know how to establish and store a target from the MMS in order to get the MGRS.  If you don’t know how to do this, check out Casmo’s video here.  https://youtu.be/-EhCJilbyDw?si=usLL62EOF1eeR2oO&t=587

As you’ve seen if you’ve played the previous missions, you may encounter resistance throughout the mission.  It is completely up to you on how to manage the engagement(s).  Keep your fuel state and ordinance levels in mind throughout.  It can be done with the base loadout as a solo ship without firing a single shot.  For MP players, you probably can’t get away with a fully passive mission experience.

This is a long mission so fuel state can be a concern at the end.  It has been completed with .50cal/Hellfire as well as .50cal/APKWS loadouts in SP.

Like I did in some of the Apache Griffin campaign missions, this mission has “backup” Kiowa’s as available slots.  They are intended to provide players with a Helo in case they are shot down and don’t want to re-start back at UNIFORM.  All triggers should work for these backup aircraft as they do for the main player’s aircraft.  Don't select these as your initial aircraft.

This mission is probably the hardest one of the campaign thus far.  It can get really difficult if you experience unlucky spawns or disregard radio instructions the back half of the mission.

I will upload this to the files section tomorrow morning and hopefully ED can approve it sometime during the day.  I’ll post again once it is live.

Thanks.

Edited August 25, 2024 by Mistermann
Spelling

[Devil 505]

M05 was a blast.  Single ship with my copilot.  Good time! I tried not to put to many/if any spoilers in the video.  If you have not already flown it, you may want to fly before watching.  Times stamps included. 

 

[Mistermann]

15 hours ago, Devil 505 said:

M05 was a blast.  Single ship with my copilot.  Good time! I tried not to put to many/if any spoilers in the video.  If you have not already flown it, you may want to fly before watching.  Times stamps included. 

If you're concerned about spoilers, do not watch this before flying.  The first half of the mission is mostly captured in the video up until some plot twists that @Devil 505 didn't include. 

Those that watch will see the radio interactions we employ to ensure you're actually seeing the targets.  I couldn't simply use a trigger zone as that doesn't indicate if players actually recon the target.  This approach requires the players to interrogate the targets with MMS and actually interpret what they are seeing.  Personally, I like the approach and have never really seen it used before.

Those eagle eyed observers will notice this mission starts at 1730 and we touched down just after 1900, so its a long one.  

[BoFrost]

@Mistermann

M4

It looks like I am doing something wrong, or something is broken.

I start the mission as multiplayer server, as you suggested.

When I choose Slot 1, I am still stuck right in front of the Blackhawk and the ground vehicle.

When I choose Slot2 the Chinnock will not start. Just for fun I flew the route, and nothing happened during the flight. Landing at  Uniform did also not trigger anything.

 

Frank

 

[Mistermann]

I'll shoot a video.  I've not experienced this unless I start it in SP.  

[Ramsay]

14 hours ago, BoFrost said:

When I choose Slot 1, I am still stuck right in front of the Blackhawk and the ground vehicle.

I see the same.

10 hours ago, Mistermann said:

I'll shoot a video.  I've not experienced this unless I start it in SP.

Just a quick test using the SP (Run as multiplayer) option. I also tested from the Multiplayer menu which was the same.

I haven't examined the mission file in detail or tried to fly the mission yet.
Tested using DCS 2.9.7.59263.

Edited August 27, 2024 by Ramsay

[Mistermann]

@Ramsay and @BoFrost - now that's a strange one.  Admittedly, I shot the video below before watching Ramsay's video.  Thanks for posting that.  As you can see you and I are getting vastly different results.  At least you can go back to "Select Role" and respawn in the proper place.  BoFrost, can you check out Ramsay's video at the end and let me know if you can reslot into the proper place like he showed?

Let's make sure we're running the same executables.

I always keep DCS updated so I'm running the most recent patched version - 

Also, please confirm you're running the Multi-Thread Executable.

Below is the behavior I see on my machine.

For anyone wondering, I record all my DCS footage using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and produce videos using PowerDirector 365.

Edited August 27, 2024 by Mistermann

[Ramsay]

16 hours ago, BoFrost said:

When I choose Slot2 the Chinnock will not start.

If you select slot 2 and then reslot to slot 1, you'll start in the correct aircraft/position and the Chinnock will take off, etc. when instructed.

52 minutes ago, Mistermann said:

... you can go back to "Select Role" and ... reslot into the proper place like he showed?

That worked for me though I wasn't able to keep up with the Chinnock and thus the mission was aborted early into it's flight.

Still found it a cool mission but obviously formation night flying, etc. is something I need to practice.

Edited August 27, 2024 by Ramsay

[BoFrost]

@Mistermann

@Ramsay

M4

Thanks for checking.

For me it is exactly as in the video from Ramsay. Except, I did not try to move back from Slot 2 to Slot 1. Will try this the next time, unfortunately first in some days. Also I will try if makes a difference to launch from the ME.

By the way I am using the MT and I always update to latest version.

 

Thanks

Frank

 

[Mistermann]

6 hours ago, Ramsay said:

That worked for me though I wasn't able to keep up with the Chinnock and thus the mission was aborted early into it's flight.

Still found it a cool mission but obviously formation night flying, etc. is something I need to practice.

When you say "aborted", you mean by you or by Pluto?  

Practice.  Stick with it - it'll come.  Pluto starts out with her search light and anti-collisions on and turns them off as she heads inland (I don't control this).  The key is to have visual on her before she goes dark.  Flying with the NVGs is also key to success.  If you don't have much time with those, this mission can get more difficult.  

There is at least one more night escort mission coming up (M06).  It won't "abort" like M04 does however, but it is important to stick with the unit being escorted.  

6 hours ago, BoFrost said:

For me it is exactly as in the video from Ramsay. Except, I did not try to move back from Slot 2 to Slot 1. Will try this the next time, unfortunately first in some days. Also I will try if makes a difference to launch from the ME.

By the way I am using the MT and I always update to latest version.

This is really strange to me.  We must have something setup differently in our systems, I just can't figure out what.  At least there appears to be some DCS gymnastics that gets you spawned into the proper spot without too much pain.  Thanks, Ramsay for posting that.

FWIW, this is the last mission with the Tarawa so spawns should be very straight forward from M05 and beyond.

[Ramsay]

1 hour ago, Mistermann said:

When you say "aborted", you mean by you or by Pluto?

By Pluto.

1 hour ago, Mistermann said:

Stick with it - it'll come.  Pluto starts out with her search light and anti-collisions on and turns them off as she heads inland (I don't control this).  The key is to have visual on her before she goes dark.  Flying with the NVGs is also key to success.  If you don't have much time with those, this mission can get more difficult

I'm only flying the Kiowa more or less once a week (so it's not surprising I'm "out of practice") - perhaps I'll let "George" fly the initial inbound leg and set the MMS to point track the Chinook before switching back to the right seat myself.

1 hour ago, Mistermann said:

This is really strange to me.  We must have something setup differently in our systems, I just can't figure out what.

@BoFrost @Mistermann
In the Multiplayer Advanced Settings there are settings that will start the mission at load time (i.e. before the client/player loads in) or start the mission paused.
It is this setting that allows the Kiowa to spawn before/with the static Blackhawk/service vehicle.

I had "Resume with clients" checked and this was the cause, switching to "Resume on load" allowed the slot 1 Kiowa to spawn in the correct place and as in your video.

Edited August 27, 2024 by Ramsay
Add Mission 04 Advanced Multiplayer Server Setting

[BoFrost]

vor 14 Stunden schrieb Ramsay:

In the Multiplayer Advanced Settings there are settings that will start the mission at load time (i.e. before the client/player loads in) or start the mission paused.
It is this setting that allows the Kiowa to spawn before/with the static Blackhawk/service vehicle.

I had "Resume with clients" checked and this was the cause, switching to "Resume on load" allowed the slot 1 Kiowa to spawn in the correct place and as in your video.

Thanks, will check that, and try.

Edit: This worked for me too. Thanks !

Frank

Edited August 28, 2024 by BoFrost
update

[Mistermann]

14 hours ago, Ramsay said:

In the Multiplayer Advanced Settings there are settings that will start the mission at load time (i.e. before the client/player loads in) or start the mission paused.
It is this setting that allows the Kiowa to spawn before/with the static Blackhawk/service vehicle.

I had "Resume with clients" checked and this was the cause, switching to "Resume on load" allowed the slot 1 Kiowa to spawn in the correct place and as in your video.

Oh man, GREAT find, Ramsay!!!  Indeed, I have mine set to "Resume on Load".  I'll update the FAQ in the second post.  That one would have eluded me for quite some time.  

14 hours ago, Ramsay said:

By Pluto.

I'm only flying the Kiowa more or less once a week (so it's not surprising I'm "out of practice") - perhaps I'll let "George" fly the initial inbound leg and set the MMS to point track the Chinook before switching back to the right seat myself.

As for Pluto's irritation level, she starts getting nervous once she's feet dry, so you need to make sure you're within visual range (about a mile) by the time she comes onshore.  I looked at the mission and will slow her down a bit to make it a little easier to stay with her once she leaves the boat.  I am also open to adding a couple of additional features and wondering what the community thinks.

[1] A setting you can manipulate via the Radio for the first 5 minutes of the mission allowing you to turn off Pluto's distance checks.  This would prevent her from aborting because she feels you abandoned her.

[2] Add an optional IR Strobe to Pluto's Chinook.  Make it a toggle on the Radio menu.  This will give players an extra ability to track her from NVG.

Thoughts??

[Mistermann]

M05 Wild Hunt is now available in OP.  

I also updated M04 (v1.01) to slow down Pluto's egress away from the Tarawa.  Hopefully there's less of a challenge when keeping up with her as she transitions into the river valley.

Edited August 28, 2024 by Mistermann

[BoFrost]

M4

So finally Mission 4 worked for me. I flew Version 1.00

No problem to follow Condor with Nightvision on. The only problem was the erratic maneuvers of Condor over the riverbed. This could be some kind of smoother. Sometimes Condor gets so slow and suddenly gaining altitude, that I nearly crashed into them. Also they fly much to high. I guess it is very difficult to get Condor flying "more normal"

Yeah, lets check M5 now. 

 

Frank

[Mistermann]

13 hours ago, BoFrost said:

M4

So finally Mission 4 worked for me. I flew Version 1.00

No problem to follow Condor with Nightvision on. The only problem was the erratic maneuvers of Condor over the riverbed. This could be some kind of smoother. Sometimes Condor gets so slow and suddenly gaining altitude, that I nearly crashed into them. Also they fly much to high. I guess it is very difficult to get Condor flying "more normal"

Yeah, lets check M5 now. 

 

Frank

If only there was a way for me to fly the Chinook myself and somehow record the flight path and save as waypoints.  Alas, in order to keep Pluto over the river the herky jerky experience is the best I could do given DCS' limits when it comes to pathfinding and AI.

I have some ideas to possibly improve the experience but wanted to move forward with the missions given these results are "good enough" right now. 

I may come back to this mission once through with the campaign to see how I can make it better.

Best of luck with M05.

 

[BoFrost]

M5

Real Life got me grounded for some days. But today I finally managed to fly Mission 5.

This is a nice one, even did not fire a single shot.    But had to use the Smoke Cheat as I lost Tigr with the MMS and could not find him visually afterwards. Not so easy as a single seater.

Everything worked fine for me in this mission.

 

Regards

Frank

[Mistermann]

Outstanding, @BoFrost!!  

You're caught up.  Was on Holiday a bit this past week.  M6 is still under construction and I hope to make progress on it over the weekend.  It'll need some testing of course which is going to be limited next week due to work constraints with me and the fellas.  

We're probably talking 2 weeks (best case) before I can post M6.  

What did you think of the radio dialog at the different target points in M5?

[BoFrost]

vor 12 Stunden schrieb Mistermann:

What did you think of the radio dialog at the different target points in M5?

Thats a good idea. So you can not just say "no view on target" and then just fly to next checkpoint without to confirm you looked at the right spot.

And sometimes you maybe have to correct the angle from where you are looking, to see if you can identify the asked question correctly. Which makes it more interesting from the scouting side.

 

Frank

[Mistermann]

3 hours ago, BoFrost said:

Thats a good idea. So you can not just say "no view on target" and then just fly to next checkpoint without to confirm you looked at the right spot.

And sometimes you maybe have to correct the angle from where you are looking, to see if you can identify the asked question correctly. Which makes it more interesting from the scouting side.

That's what I was going for.  Didn't want it to feel "gamey" or punitive to the player, but I think it works.  Thanks.

[Mistermann]

Progress Report:  September 8, 2024

The story is building up to the climax and we'll be there soon.  Probably 3 more missions before we'll call this campaign "done".

Mission 6: @Devil 505 and I flew this one yesterday to test out the "bones" of the mission and make sure everything seemed in order before I go in and add all the voiceovers.  This mission is definitely my favorite thus far.  It's going to be challenging for SP and I may consider giving a "cheat" like I did in M05 with the smoke (spoiler free).  It all depends on feedback I receive on this particular mission.  

This is a night mission, but there's a full moon so its not very dark.  However, I found an awesome script from @WirtsLegs that allowed me to add IR Strobes to units.  You can turn on/off these strobes via the F10 radio menu.  It'll be a little more obvious how these are used when you play the mission.

Devil505 posted a video of this test for anyone who's interested.  I'll warn you right now, however, it is one big SPOILER.  

It takes me a while to write, record, and produce the voiceovers so it will probably be a week before I can get M06 posted.

Mission 7 & 8: We have the loose storyboards for these missions but I haven't cracked open the ME for either of these.  

To those that have downloaded and played these missions, I hope you enjoy playing them as much as we do making them.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Mistermann

[jumphigh]

On 9/8/2024 at 2:12 PM, Mistermann said:

I found an awesome script from @WirtsLegs that allowed me to add IR Strobes to units. 

I saw the mission video on YT and thought: WTF, the IR strobe is hanging above the main rotor of the Blackhawk? Now I know it is not wrong modelling but a generic script add-on. There isn't a possibility to shift the strobe placement to a suitable place on the model?

[Mistermann]

7 hours ago, jumphigh said:

I saw the mission video on YT and thought: WTF, the IR strobe is hanging above the main rotor of the Blackhawk? Now I know it is not wrong modelling but a generic script add-on. There isn't a possibility to shift the strobe placement to a suitable place on the model?

You can certainly inquire over on Wirt's thread here -

Honestly, I am just thrilled to have an IR strobe option.  For me, I can suspend belief that the physical location isn't on the model and it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.  The mission allows players to toggle the feature so it doesn't have to be on.