Crew in the weeds

[MeerCaT]

Please don't all run away at the mention of the words "Ground Crew".

 

I know "ground crew wont respond" has been done to death already - I know this because I have just sat and read through more threads than I can remember (my counting hand only goes up to 5) - and so I appologise for digging it up again.

 

I am experiencing a lot of crashes during campaign play (program execution crashes, as opposed to getting SAMs stuck between my teeth and dirt up my nostrils) so I decided to take a break from watching the loading screen every 30 mins and play a single mission instead - "In the Weeds".

 

That's a great, challenging mission and an excellent way to learn.

...the ejection procedure mostly!

 

But anyway back to the crew...

 

The mission brief explicitly states that "You may need to return to base to re-arm to complete this mission".

 

Yeah sure, that's fine! Put the kettle on, I'll be back in a *BOOM*... (lot of tiny little pieces?)

 

Friendly Units on Station

No but seriously, the mission brief suggests that the airbase is all setup for performing re-arming (and refuelling presumably) - i.e. it has the necessary 'friendly units' stationed there in the appropriate location.

 

Radio Selection - Intercom

So the other common cause for getting the cold shoulder from the ground crew is the radio/intercom setup.

 

I have the radio selection dial set to "INT" (intercom) - at the 12 O'clock position. (By the way, can't we get the 'famously-missing' little white dash added to the texture image for this part of the panel?)

The "8. Ground crew" option then becomes available from the VHF radio menu.

 

Engine Status

I don't believe the status of the engine/APU/generators makes any difference to the use of the intercom, but I have tried a number of these combinations:

- engines running, AC generators on

- engines off, APU on, APU generator on

- engines off, APU off, canopy open

 

Aircraft Location

As for the location of the aircraft within the airport, I have tried in several different places:

- runway end

- runway middle

- taxiway

- parking bay (it's a small airport with only one small strip of parking areas)

- car park area for the main 'terminal' building - where a re-arm and a refuel truck are parked (put the doughnuts down and get out and do some work you...!)

 

 

Um, any other common 'variables' I haven't considered?

 

 

Footnote:

I have successfully communicated with ground crew in various other scenarios so I am reasonably comfortable with the things I have to do within the cockpit in order to establish contact, so I currently think the issue lies with something external to the plane.

[Grimes]

 

Friendly Units on Station

No but seriously, the mission brief suggests that the airbase is all setup for performing re-arming (and refuelling presumably) - i.e. it has the necessary 'friendly units' stationed there in the appropriate location.

 

The mission briefing is not accurate. Friendly units are not at the airbase in question, therefore you can't rearm. Simply add any blue coalition land unit within the circle around the airbase and it will work.

 

The easiest way to see if you can rearm at a base is to got to the map view in the sim and click on the airbase icon in question. Its coalition will either be "blue", "red", or "neutral".

[MeerCaT]

Thank you kindly. I will try...

 

I take it the trucks themselves (ammo, fuel, electric, comms) are not 'units' then? Or they at least have no political opinion (i.e. neutral)? :-)

 

 

I may pop something in the suggestion box for this.

[Grimes]

Only placed units on the map within the mission editor are units. Every airbase has a variety of trucks at each airbase by default, these are all considered to be part of the gameworld and are essentially equivalent to buildings you see at airbases and towns.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Friendly Units on Station

No but seriously, the mission brief suggests that the airbase is all setup for performing re-arming (and refuelling presumably) - i.e. it has the necessary 'friendly units' stationed there in the appropriate location.

 

Radio Selection - Intercom

So the other common cause for getting the cold shoulder from the ground crew is the radio/intercom setup.

 

I have the radio selection dial set to "INT" (intercom) - at the 12 O'clock position. (By the way, can't we get the 'famously-missing' little white dash added to the texture image for this part of the panel?)

The "8. Ground crew" option then becomes available from the VHF radio menu.

 

The crew issue I think is because the patch 1.1.1.1 conflicts with the missions themselves. I am at mission 13 of the campaign, and using easy comms and radio assists, no tooltips or other options (sim is my setting). I land at Sukhumi-Babushara, park at the ramp, and frequently get my ass kicked with a spawning viper. I do as you say, Intercom selector to 12 o'clock, HM- hot mic switch open (elevated), and channel set to 251.00

 

It is really frustrating that you expend your fuel and payload, the mission succeeds, you land, and your 2nd nature tickles to go up again, and attrite more tanks, only to find yourself compelled to hit ESC and quit because the crew issue is at hand.

 

However, if you're using normal (no easy) comms, I suggest you take a look at this

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1028737&postcount=1

[Grimes]

Basically what happened was the rules that defined airbase ownership changed between FC2 and DCS:A10C and some of the missions haven't been updated to account for this change. The old rules allowed ownership to be defined on whether or not a coalition had aircraft taking off or landing at the base. This has since been removed to rely 100% now on ground vehicles. I haven't really tested if anything else has changed or what occurs when both coalitions have forces near an airbase, I'll probably get around to it once FC3 comes out.

[sotosev]

The easiest way to see if you can rearm at a base is to got to the map view in the sim and click on the airbase icon in question. Its coalition will either be "blue", "red", or "neutral".

 

Because I have had the same problem in this mission, I couldn't rearm. Can you please explain in a more simple way how can one add ground crew in this mission in the airbase.

[Grimes]

When you load the mission up in the mission editor, all airbases will have a circle around it. Place any ground unit from your coalition within the circle. That airbase will now be "owned" by your team, and you can rearm, refuel as needed.

[MeerCaT]

Thanks to Grimes for confirming that the issue was due to the absence of friendly units within the airbase. I honestly didn't think this was the case.

I have updated the mission accordingly and sure enough the ground crew are now willing put down their coffee and talk to me during those long lonely hours sat in the jet-powered bath tub.

 

For fellow 'non-editors' (sotosev), here is a step-by-step guide to 'enabling' ground crew for any single airbase within any single mission.

 

In this example we will be placing a single shipping container within an airbase (this is a nice idea I read from somebody else in another thread on this topic):

• Main Menu - "Mission Editor"
  
• Choose the desired mission (e.g. In the Weeds)
  
• Navigate the map to the desired airbase
  
• Zoom in so that the airbase and its surrounding circle is clearly visible
  
• On the lefthand toolbar, locate the button/icon to "Add static object" (it is about 5 or six from the bottom of the list and has a picture of a bridge, I think)
  
• Left-click anywhere within the circle that surrounds the airbase to place the new object
  
• Within the properties pane for the new object, on the righthand side, choose what type of 'static object' (e.g. "Container - white")
  
• Save the mission file (it is up to you whether to overwrite and replace the original mission file or save it as a new, separate mission)
  
• Rinse and repeat for all desired missions
  

I have not tried but presumably there exists a bunch of mission files for all of the missions that appear within the campaign. I think I will perform the same process for all of these campaign missions too.

[sotosev]

For fellow 'non-editors' (sotosev), here is a step-by-step guide to 'enabling' ground crew for any single airbase within any single mission.

 

Did the steps you refer and check again the mission and hopefully now I can rearm. Thanks for the input man!:smilewink:

Edited April 23, 2012 by sotosev

[Fish]

My 0.02$

Intercom prerequisites/features

 

1. Intercom works from a cold jet i.e Nothing switched except intercom dial.

2. The 'hot mic' switch on the intercom panel is a red herring in 1.1.1.1. ignore it.

3. You need a friendly 'ground' unit parked at the air base.

5. The status of the AM,FM or UHF radios are irrelevant, they don't need to be on.

6. The intercom dial needs to be set to INT (interphone).

7. The MIC FWD is used for interphone (same as switch for VHF AM)

8. You can 'stack' commands, and they will do the work in sequence

 

You might find some of this useful

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=87196