Mi-8 mission concept thread

[Cibit]

Hi Hip operators I used to make quite a few missions when I was heavily into A10-C but I now just make simple things to enable me to learn stuff.

I did think that now I have a bit more time on my hands, (I have a guest house but its end of tourist season) I would start with the mission making again and try to come up with ones that

 

a) Have replayability and be immersive and fun

 

b) Enable the use of most of the systems(not all together) so we learn as we fly.

 

For instance I thought of a mission which would use Doppler navigation to fly to a missing tank platoon's last known position, find it, land, deliver new radios or whatever and RTB. Stick some ZSU's to greet you if you overfly tanks and possibly enable CA so you can be a battlefield general in your Mi-8.

 

For MP and perfecting gunnery maybe have a flight of heavily armed ships to support the armoured push (realistic?) and maybe have some resupply drops for an artillery battalion or troop drops.

 

Can you please add any systems you would like to perfect/learn that I can make missions around that are implemented within the module and/or scenario's that are realistic work for the Hip

 

Cheers Cib:)

[dahui]

Ou yes, that would be great!

 

Im playing with the mission editor just for fun since a few days... (Placing Helipads in the Mountains etc...

 

it would be grate, when something would happen after a landing on a Pad, like Cargo on or offloading etc... But i have no idea how this works...

[Cibit]

I am trying to get to grips with a troop transport and unload script and have come up with a scenario where you are flying a captured Mi-8 for a clandestine Spec-op team run by the CIA.

The first few missions of a campaign (hopefully) will focus on navigation by compass/distance and use of the doppler, picking up troops and delivering weapons and ammo for resistance movement.

 

Please feel free to add any ideas you may like to see implemented and I hope to have a beta version of the first mission uploaded this evening:)

[Cibit]

Would anyone care to try this and give feedback please, you should be able to do it in an hour or less

Troops are loaded/unloaded by radio menu:)

 

I had meant to remove all f10 options for map so you could not cheat, please try to do it without map help

Edited October 9, 2013 by Cibit

[Yurgon]

Would anyone care to try this and give feedback please, you should be able to do it in an hour or less

 

Can't wait to try it when I get home tonight! :)

 

Generally speaking, with Hip und Huey I prefer missions with lots of landings and takeoffs, possibly some of them challenging with hot and high conditions.

 

Navigation challenges are always a great way to get to know the systems in more depth and detail.

 

I also love bad weather, low visibility and strong winds (in the sim, that is. In RL I love summer and blue skies). :D

[Cibit]

Clue for the Drop Zone, its near the second lake on your course. I think if I deduct 6 degrees from course to DZ to cover magnetic deviation it should prove more accurate.

My 3rd text message does not work for some reason so make your own way to home base using ATC to vector you in.

 

Will try to update it tomorrow. Hope you have fun

[Yurgon]

Clue for the Drop Zone, its near the second lake on your course. I think if I deduct 6 degrees from course to DZ to cover magnetic deviation it should prove more accurate.

 

Just flew the mission, it was quite fun! Thanks a lot. :thumbup:

 

The hint about that second lake was very helpful, without it I might have missed the dropzone (although I probably wouldn't have, I was pretty close when I spotted the smoke marker).

 

One thing I always like is extensive mission planning. If you feel pilots shouldn't use the in-game map and shouldn't use the mission planner either, it's always a good idea to draw a map on your own and highlight important points, positions and so on with images that can be viewed in the mission briefing. I know it's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding for me as a player to feel like I know exactly what I'm supposed to do, where I'm supposed to go and what to look out for. Then toss in something unexpected, like a mid-mission radio call to deviate to a new priority objective and have the player improvise.

 

Maybe the final leg home was a bit lengthy. How about placing a FARP somewhere within a few klicks of the dropzone so the player doesn't have to go back all the way? Or some (textual) radio chatter to lighten things up a bit, like the crew chief going "Well you know, sir, those spec-ops guys were really in a talkative mood today." "Really? I thought they didn't say a word." "See? That's what I mean."

 

Huh, maybe I should get into the business of building missions myself. :D

[ff4life4]

Clue for the Drop Zone, its near the second lake on your course. I think if I deduct 6 degrees from course to DZ to cover magnetic deviation it should prove more accurate.

My 3rd text message does not work for some reason so make your own way to home base using ATC to vector you in.

 

Will try to update it tomorrow. Hope you have fun

 

 

I have had much success using the -6 degree course correction. Whether it is entirely accurate or not I don't know. I flew a 50 mile course (with no wind) using -6 on my course correction and ended up extremely close to where I wanted to be.

[Cibit]

Just flew the mission, it was quite fun! Thanks a lot. :thumbup:

 

The hint about that second lake was very helpful, without it I might have missed the dropzone (although I probably wouldn't have, I was pretty close when I spotted the smoke marker).

 

One thing I always like is extensive mission planning. If you feel pilots shouldn't use the in-game map and shouldn't use the mission planner either, it's always a good idea to draw a map on your own and highlight important points, positions and so on with images that can be viewed in the mission briefing. I know it's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding for me as a player to feel like I know exactly what I'm supposed to do, where I'm supposed to go and what to look out for. Then toss in something unexpected, like a mid-mission radio call to deviate to a new priority objective and have the player improvise.

 

Maybe the final leg home was a bit lengthy. How about placing a FARP somewhere within a few klicks of the dropzone so the player doesn't have to go back all the way? Or some (textual) radio chatter to lighten things up a bit, like the crew chief going "Well you know, sir, those spec-ops guys were really in a talkative mood today." "Really? I thought they didn't say a word." "See? That's what I mean."

 

Huh, maybe I should get into the business of building missions myself. :D

 

 

 

Thanks guys, this was never going to be the finished article but due to lack of other missions for the magnificent 8 I figured I should start and as you posted earlier Yurgon I love navigation missions as they improve my flying and knowledge of the aircraft and systems. I also found that since I had to pick up troops my landings are much better as I am so worried about crushing them:P

 

I will continue to work on this to polish it up and add in some factors to encourage replayability. I think the final leg of the journey will be to a friendly rebel encampment in some quiet valley so the flight time is reduced.

 

The original DZ was going to be in a small clearing in the woods rather than the large one that it currently is. Shall I change it back to make it more tricky?

 

RE adding my own maps, this will probably work with a marker covering the general area of the drop so you still have to search for the smoke.

 

I have had much success using the -6 degree course correction. Whether it is entirely accurate or not I don't know. I flew a 50 mile course (with no wind) using -6 on my course correction and ended up extremely close to where I wanted to be.

 

One of my earlier threads on inflight navigation has been updated and I have not studied it yet but it seems ADF works in which case I will combine a general distance and course to fly with ADF to guide you in as you get closer.

 

I will also populate the map with some enemy units just to make sure you dont go where you shouldn't;)

 

I am also trying to figure out the variations with compass deviations. If I call up an ATC and fly the course they give I get it bang on even when flying over 100nm. When I use the ruler in the editor there is nowhere near the accuracy needed for 50nm + flights

I guess everyone has kneeboards so always Cntr K will show where u are if needed?

 

Anyway thanks for posting and I will continue to tweak and get my head around the transport scripts

[dahui]

thanks! will try it also...

[Yurgon]

I will continue to work on this to polish it up and add in some factors to encourage replayability. I think the final leg of the journey will be to a friendly rebel encampment in some quiet valley so the flight time is reduced.

 

Sounds great, be sure to post new versions as they become ready! :thumbup:

 

The original DZ was going to be in a small clearing in the woods rather than the large one that it currently is. Shall I change it back to make it more tricky?

 

Your choice. :D

 

I love tricky landings, so why not?

 

One of my earlier threads on inflight navigation has been updated and I have not studied it yet but it seems ADF works in which case I will combine a general distance and course to fly with ADF to guide you in as you get closer.

 

I have absolutely no clue yet as to how the navigation equipment works in the Mi-8, so I welcome any mission that requires me to read up on it before I take to the skies again. :)

 

I will also populate the map with some enemy units just to make sure you dont go where you shouldn't;)

 

On the one hand, that sounds like an additional challenge, which is good. On the other hand, why would they shoot down their own chopper (in one spot but not the other)?

 

Huh. Leaving the required corridor could be seen as entering a neighbor ATC area, who's controller hasn't been bribed and would send some fighters to take a closer look at the bogey. Okay, why not. :smilewink:

 

I guess everyone has kneeboards so always Cntr K will show where u are if needed?

 

I think that kneeboard is a really nice tool. Didn't even know it existed when I flew the first couple of "UN Pilot" missions in the Huey. Made navigation a lot more challenging than intended by the designers. :D

[Cibit]

Updated mission. Added ADF section to fly with explanations in briefing:)

[lorenzoj]

Flew it. Interesting. Still having trouble with the Doppler system. I'm missing something in the setup I think. The distance count doesn't seem to work properly ?

 

The setup for the radio signal for the drop zone worked well. How far out should it pick up on the instruments ?

[wolle]

Updated mission. Added ADF section to fly with explanations in briefing:)

 

Does that mean ADF is working now? Are the 6 preset channels the only frequencies available? How can the preset frequencies be changed?

[Yurgon]

Updated mission. Added ADF section to fly with explanations in briefing:)

 

Cold start, very good! :)

 

I don't think the ADF worked for me, but it's highly likely that I missed a switch here or there (had to repeat the cold start training before the mission because I hadn't done that in a while).

 

The new Drop Zone is cool :)

 

 

After dropping the troops, I couldn't get the FARP to respond. It's "London" on 127.500, isn't it? I don't usually screw up my comms, but it's possible I did so in this flight.

 

Anyways, good progress, keep'em coming! :thumbup:

[lmp]

Does that mean ADF is working now? Are the 6 preset channels the only frequencies available? How can the preset frequencies be changed?

 

The ARK-UD (meant to search for emergency locator transmitters) is working and the ARK-15 (traditional ADF) is not. The ARK-UD frequencies are set in the Mods\aircrafts\Mi-8MTV2\Cockpit\Scripts\Devices_specs\Radio\ARK_UD.lua script file. You could in theory change them there.

 

If you want to use them in the Mi-8 version of your (wonderful) SAR mission, it would probably better to use the default frequencies. You have no way of enforcing your users are using the same presets you are, and it's probably not realistic to change them - the real device uses the same 7 channels.

[wolle]

Helicopter War mission with Mi-8 ADF

 

I quickly adapted the Helicopter War mission to allow use of the presently available Mi-8 ADF system. I have not yet carefully tested it, and hope I didn't break anything when I made those changes. Since I will leave for a three week business trip tomorrow, I will not be able to work on it for a while, so I thought I'd throw out the present version. Maybe someone has time to test fly it.

 

Other changes compared to the version posted in the "User Files" section of the ED webpage include:

 

now uses mist 3.2, which means that several bugs caused by bugs in mist 3.0 are fixed.

 

now includes the possibility of helicopters ferrying supplies between ships and airbases (co-pilot will call out instructions to the pilot to aid landing on ships)

 

I'd be glad to learn if the Mi-8 ADF stuff works for them. B.t.w. since there are presently only 6 available ADF frequencies, units will eventually reuse frequencies. For that reason, a given ADF frequency may guide you to a different unit than you might think...

 

EDIT Oct 12th: fixed bug with F10 radio items.

The Helicopter War Oct 11.miz

Edited October 12, 2013 by wolle

[Cibit]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I made this with the idea of learning some of the nav aids for our beloved Hip, it is never going to be too exciting but I hope it will help people to learn.

 

I look forward to trying your new version of Helowars thanks Wolle, I think the way to eliminate getting 2 signals at once is to vary the Wattage to broadcast, this has an affect on distance recieved but it needs more research than I have done presently, but I think 2 frequencies the same if placed far enough apart should work ok.

 

lorenzoj when I use the doppler I key in course to steer but leave distance and it seems to work. one thing I noticed is the map ruler tool and the doppler give different total distances, the doppler is a higher figure than when you use ruler. Also knocking off -6 degrees from ruler reading is definitely more accurate.

 

Yurgon, I will also make the FARP to have a broadcast for the ARK-UD on another channel. It maybe the location of the FARP is the issue. Does it need line of sight ?

Glad you liked the DZ

 

And all credit to Imp for sussing it all out:thumbup:

 

Hope to have a final version up later tonight:)

[Cibit]

Latest and probably last version of this. I have tested it so much I know it backwards:P

 

So a mission to assist learning navigation using Doppler, ARK-UD and radios, with some tasks to make it a little interesting.

It appears that a radio bug is not allowing contact with FARP.

 

So I hope people get some benefits from this :thumbup:

 

Next mission is going to be called Rendition and will involve an aircraft carrier:music_whistling:

[lorenzoj]

"lorenzoj when I use the doppler I key in course to steer but leave distance and it seems to work. one thing I noticed is the map ruler tool and the doppler give different total distances, the doppler is a higher figure than when you use ruler. Also knocking off -6 degrees from ruler reading is definitely more accurate."

 

Cibit thanks, that's about what I had figured out. And Thanks for the work on this nav-radio mission.

 

Wolle, really anxious to jump into the latest Helicopter Wars version and try it out. Still my most played mission in SP and MP for both Huey and Mi-8. Now I have to go away for 2 days though.

[Yurgon]

It appears that a radio bug is not allowing contact with FARP.

 

So I hope people get some benefits from this :thumbup:

 

Good to know about the radio bug.

 

The navigation worked flawlessly for me this time, nice misison! :thumbup:

[Suchacz]

When I was returning home to Senaki from the DZ ater the extraction, I was unable to contact the Senaki ATC, my radio was tuned to 135MHz as in the briefing.

[Cibit]

Good to know about the radio bug.

 

The navigation worked flawlessly for me this time, nice misison! :thumbup:

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I have another one in the pipeline will get your night flying hours up;)

 

When I was returning home to Senaki from the DZ ater the extraction, I was unable to contact the Senaki ATC, my radio was tuned to 135MHz as in the briefing.

 

That maybe an earlier version. I cut the flight time down in version 1d to a farp you find using ARK UD :)

[lorenzoj]

Wolle, the Helicopter Wars just keeps getting better. Gave the Mi-8 a quick go with the "ADF channels" active. Worked really well for the first two intercepts before I made a too close encounter with the terrain. Before that had called for a gunship escort too. Fun to have a Mi-24 traveling along with you keeping the bad guys off your six.

[MikiBzh]

I quickly adapted the Helicopter War mission to allow use of the presently available Mi-8 ADF system. I have not yet carefully tested it, and hope I didn't break anything when I made those changes. Since I will leave for a three week business trip tomorrow, I will not be able to work on it for a while, so I thought I'd throw out the present version. Maybe someone has time to test fly it.

 

Other changes compared to the version posted in the "User Files" section of the ED webpage include:

 

now uses mist 3.2, which means that several bugs caused by bugs in mist 3.0 are fixed.

 

now includes the possibility of helicopters ferrying supplies between ships and airbases (co-pilot will call out instructions to the pilot to aid landing on ships)

 

I'd be glad to learn if the Mi-8 ADF stuff works for them. B.t.w. since there are presently only 6 available ADF frequencies, units will eventually reuse frequencies. For that reason, a given ADF frequency may guide you to a different unit than you might think...

 

EDIT Oct 12th: fixed bug with F10 radio items.

 

Very nice mission, thank you :thumbup: