Enroute task/Search and destroy group/"Visible"

[Bahger]

What does the "Visible" qualifier mean? When it's unchecked, does it mean that the attacking units will look, but may not find, the target group and, by contrast, when it's checked does it make finding the target a certainty? How does this option affect AI performance in seeking and killing "enroute/search and destroy group targets? Thanks.

[ENO]

Having it checked means that the unit doesn't have to have line of sight in order to perform actions against a particular group. I thought it was something you found in an FAC engage group advanced waypoint task?

 

Not sure about search and destroy but I suspect it has something to do with LOS or no LOS.

[Grimes]

Had to test it because I wasn't 100% sure. It appears that "visible" will make the aircraft aware of the target group without requiring it to detect the group first. So yes, that does mean that if visible is set to false, there is a chance the aircraft won't detect the targets. Usually that will occur in low-light scenarios when the aircraft doesn't have a NV or IR targeting pod. It is functionally similar to "Perform Task > Attack Group or Unit" except for one key difference. Assume the following scenario:

Perform Task>Attack Group 1

Perform Task>Attack Group 2

 

vs

En-route Task> Search and Engage Group 1

En-route Task> Search and Engage Group 2 (visible = true)

 

In scenario 1 the AI will ALWAYS attack Group 1 followed by Group 2.

In Scenario 2 the AI will always attack group 2 first because it spotted group 2 first. However if it detects Group 1 before the attack on group 2 is finished, it will prioritize group1 until it is destroyed.

 

If both groups are set so that visible = false, then the AI will attack whichever group it spots first, but it will again re-prioritize the target if a group higher in its list is detected.

[Bahger]

Grimes' info is extremely helpful (as usual). I have a flight of F-15Es that I want to "pinch hit" for the A-10s (flown by a variable player/AI combo), i.e. thay assist with taking out several tank groups, but from higher altitude. I do not want the Mud Hens to roll in on the same target group at the same point in the mission every time. The second formulation above preserves the chance that they might not. It's one of many valuable examples of how some "randomness" can be threaded into a mission by means other then scripting.