New mission for the 1.27 open beta

[VapoR]

I've been working on a new mission for our server and have gotten it mostly ready to go. Pretty much the bulk of the functionality that I'm going for is in the mission.

 

Here's what it's all about:

 

This is a large MP red vs. blue mission with most of the flyables present.

 

Currently none of the helos are represented, but I will be adding the Ka-50 and probably the Mi-8 in the near future. The UH-1 is just too far out of the era to be included.

 

Features a very long FLOT that stretches from the coast at Tuapse and almost to Mt. Elbrus.

 

One of the things I'm trying to achieve with this mission is to have a very full war with lots of activity. In the past I just had random AI going around doing various tasks but they were all still very disconnected feeling. My approach to overcome this is to have AI packages spawn whenever certain clients are present, basically this populates the server based on who is online. For each CAS flight the lead slot will spawn an escort package containing fighters and SEAD. Hopefully this will mitigate some of the "me vs. the world" feeling that DCS has always had.

 

As soon as the master server is back up we will have the new mission up on the 314th server. Please come and give it a try!

 

Mission: P254 Push

[theOden]

Thank you very much VapoR, this is exactly what an Falcon4 pilot as me look for in DCS and not quite managed to create in the script engine as of yet.

Let's hope it turns out ok too and not falls into performance and other DCS pockets.

[VapoR]

So far it's working sort of ok. The AI is really holding this sim back, I don't understand how anyone would ever fly this sim in SP.

 

SEAD flights are pretty worthless. They just dump their weapons when fired on then try to run in with guns.

 

It's very hard to get the package timing to work correctly, they don't try to fly with you at all. This is exaggerated if they are from a different but nearby airfield.

 

I need to find a different way to name the flights. On the aircraft selection screen the width for the name is very small. By contrast the payload is WAY too wide. Devs are you listening? :)

Edited December 21, 2013 by VapoR

[Trubshaw]

Sounds a great and ambitious idea VapoR. Good luck with it.

[Vedexent]

VapoR - I've been flying CAS flights solo this morning.

 

If you orbit around WP 1 a couple of times, the support mostly catch up. The SEAD flies separately to the same target anyways - and so far no problems with fighters.

 

This morning at least, the Su-24 took out the Avenger, and the two Vulcans before I even got to the target zone, and RTB'd - allowing me to clean up the armor tidily with Karens.

 

The AI may not be consistent or reliable, but it does apparently "get it right" occasionally.

[VapoR]

Maybe this behavior is due to the fact that I have the AI set to random. I think I will change the SEAD flights to Excellent to have them be more effective. The fighter escorts I will leave on random.

 

Also I'm going to set all the long range SAMs to excellent. They are there to protect the airbases and provide a safe haven for everyone. The client SEAD flights should only focus on the medium and short range stuff along the FLOT.

[VapoR]

Several updates (now at v0.82, will be up as soon as Vedexent checks his email :))

 

--Set SEAD flight AI to excellent to hopefully get better performance

--Reduced the blue SEAD flights down to 1 aircraft each to match red side

--Set long range SAM AI to excellent. This is meant to provide a protective umbrella over friendly territory. Client SEAD flights should focus on defenses along the FLOT.

--Changed the naming format for ALL client slots. Hopefully the important info won't get cut off anymore

--Added fighter sweep AI flights that spawn with the flight lead for each client SEAD slot (same as how it works for the packages for CAS slots)

--Numerous small cleanups in several areas

 

Future plans:

Ka-50 slots

Trigger-driven fighter scramble when enemy aircraft pass too deep into friendly territory