Keeping a formation

[Sel94]

I'm trying to make my own level but I'm having a bit of trouble. I want to protect a big formation of transport planes but I run into two problems.

 

1) When I try to create a group of them, only one spawns(starting in air) which makes it a little harder to make the mission, but really just an inconvenience. Does anybody know a way around this?

 

2) There are only two points I am putting down for each transport. The first is the longest and and the second is just for landing. My idea is to have planes try to attack them with only guns, but when they get close, the transports move off of the path to evade. Is there a way I can get them to keep flying straight even if there is an enemy attacking them? Thanks.

[nomdeplume]

Large aircraft only have one unit per group. You'll have to create multiple groups with slightly offset waypoint positions to get a formation going. Blindspot's mod (here) will make that a bit easier.

 

You can't avoid having the AI try to evade enemies.

[Sel94]

Do you know if after evading, will the transports get back on the path?

[nomdeplume]

I imagine they would do, but they wouldn't try to make up for lost time or anything like that, so they won't rejoin the "formation" with the other planes flying similar routes.

[Sel94]

Thanks for the info. While we are on this topic, is there a way to make a plane circle an area forever? Thanks.

[nomdeplume]

Waypoint types Begin Loop and End Loop; once it reaches the "End Loop" waypoint it will fly back to the "Begin Loop" position.

 

This will continue until it runs out of fuel. Most planes you want to circle have a lot of fuel, so this is probably okay. If you really want it to stay up for ages, you could try adding a "Refueling" waypoint inside the loop - just be aware that they'll refuel every time they hit that, so you probably want to make a very big loop.

 

N.B. the manual says the intended use is for the Begin Loop and End Loop waypoints to be adjacent, and the aircraft will loop between the two. It seems to work fine for me with additional waypoints between the two.

[Sel94]

Thanks!

[71st_Mastiff]

yes thats how I do it. Works for me.

 

Waypoint types Begin Loop and End Loop; once it reaches the "End Loop" waypoint it will fly back to the "Begin Loop" position.

 

This will continue until it runs out of fuel. Most planes you want to circle have a lot of fuel, so this is probably okay. If you really want it to stay up for ages, you could try adding a "Refueling" waypoint inside the loop - just be aware that they'll refuel every time they hit that, so you probably want to make a very big loop.

 

N.B. the manual says the intended use is for the Begin Loop and End Loop waypoints to be adjacent, and the aircraft will loop between the two. It seems to work fine for me with additional waypoints between the two.

[Sel94]

Again, thanks for the info. To not spam the forum with tons of question threads(as I usually do), I'm just gonna ask a few map editor questions here. So....I can't seem to find how to make the map night time. Is this possible? Thanks.

[Sel94]

Hey, I've run into another little problem. I can change the season in my map but not the weather. For example, when the my season is summer and I pick "summer thundershower", nothing in the menu changes(like all of the numbers and stuff). After I press O.K. and load up the map, it looks like regular default summer, and when I go back to the mission editor, the weather is set to default. Could this be because of the mission editor mod? Thanks.

[nomdeplume]

The time the mission starts is set on the briefing screen, look for the clipboard icon under the Miz heading. START time is given in format [hours] [minute] [seconds] / [day]. Leave the [day] value at 0, so 21 0 0 = 9pm = should be dark.

 

When you select a weather scheme from the drop-down menu, you need to click the load icon (folder) next to it. You should see the changes in the dialog immediately once you do that, and you can then customize it to your liking.

[Sel94]

Thanks man, you're awsome!

[Sel94]

Hey guys, got one more question to throw at 'ya. Is it possible to make an AI use smoke from the smoke pods? I know you can do it for your wingmen but I don't know about other aircraft. Same question for the external lights on the planes. Thanks.

[nomdeplume]

Edit: realised you meant the smoke trails; no, I don't think there's a way to make AI aircraft turn their smoke generators on/off.

 

For lights, you have no control over them. The only time the AI seems to use its external lights is during take off, landing, and when RTB after being damaged (which may also fall under 'landing').

[Sel94]

Alright then, thanks.

[Sel94]

Another question, if I make a target area for a unit and check the "ships" box, will it only go for ships or will they just take priority? Thanks.

[nomdeplume]

You might need to experiment to find out. In theory yes, but in practice, who knows. Choppers love to try to shoot down the A-10 regardless of what their task and targeting orders are...

 

I think for attacking ground targets they generally respect the targeting zones and types fairly well.