homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation DCS World Eno's Firehouse and Crew's Hollo Pointe Server Lounge

I want to say to all the regulars here in the Firehouse thread that I am thankful of the tone we stick to. Over 300 pages of good stuff, and a general enthusiasm for the DCS World series.

Wrecking Crew
Smooth Operators Squadron
"We fly so that others may die!"

I think I was warping a lil late in the mission because my brother was playing Elder Scrolls Online.

At first it seemed like there was no targets, So we flew on from WP1 to WP2, where we noticed the Arty hits around the Airbase.

So 2 of us flew out over the water and came back at 15K to Scan the Area, when I noticed smoke puffs from the hillside on the opposite side of the airbase, which was either weapons firing or AI Trucks flickering on and off.

Eventually we found the Targets in the Mountains, we engaged them and cleaned them out ( I was hit by a manpad at one point ).

after we cleaned out the hill side and SU-25s, we continued to see arty hits, but there was nothing at WP2 or WP3, WP3 was the last WP on the TAD.

unless we didnt go far enough inland, as we didnt see any convoys on the roads.

So after we confirmed WP3 clear, we RTB'd about 2-3 hours.

During RTB, I loaded up all my rockets and fired them off from my A-10C just to see if it would crash.

We all landed one after another and I called it a night as I was fighting with DCS before the Session.


First DCS didnt have sound due to TeamSpeak,

then DCS wanted me to Activate everything again for some reason,
Activated the 1st module, DCS Stopped Responding Box Came up, chose to close.

Started DCS Again, and the Re-Activate Message came up, so I Clicked Yes/OK, and when DCS Stopped responding came up, I told it to wait for the Program to respond, and it went on to the next module I had installed, repeat for everything except Mi-8 (which I dont have) and DCS Hawk (which doesnt use Starforce)

I didnt change anything in my system for it to prompt the re-activations.... so I Dunno why it asked to re-activate.

Thanks Skate.


Guys need to keep in mind the missions I tend to make aren't all "go here, kill whatever you see, leave." I'm trying to give a formula that gives guys that kind of thing to do, as well as something that is a bit more demanding in terms of searching... as well as something that could be downright difficult.

Example: In this case the artillery is there to work over almost right from the get-go... so guys who don't want to go hunting for small convoys of armour or SAM hunter killer units from 15000 feet can have something to do in the meantime.

The armoured convoys are out there in a patrol fashion moving throughout the AO... just a matter of finding them.

The SAM won't be broadcasting until it gets to its first fishing hole... but it too is out there roaming around between several staging areas. To give some perspective- of the several that are picked from randomly, a couple of them have staging areas 5-10 minutes away from their IP, and others are 20-30 minutes to their initial... it's not going to be a fast food meal.

I'll update it with a map so that you can see where the GOT area is... the GOT waypoint puts you right in the middle- the idea is that you patrol that area... similar to the Killbox mission.

Yeah, I usually dont go for the search role, as I'm not as efficient at it as others,
but I was at 15K orbiting and scanning the hillside, once it was clear I started following the roads through the mountains, and didnt find nothing.

in fact, most of the stuff I spotted through Cockpit View and Zooming in, and spotting them as they fired.

Spotting with the TGP on White hot was hard through the trees.

We had a rookie or two, and I've never ran the mission so outside of the briefing I had no clue what to do, lol.

ATC Never responded to any of my Calls, was on 130MHz, but nothing, and I didnt hear the Russian ATC Talking to the SU25s we had in our group. not even the subtitles.

There aren't that many convoys to find... but they're out there. I might need to do something like I do in Killbox where I give a report of vehicles passing through certain areas... but that's like a giveaway.


It's not supposed to be easy- We want high fidelity in the pit I think it's only fair that we have the occasional realistic tasking order as well.

Yeah, I was just un aware of what I was supposed to be looking for.
If we run it again I should be good.

Was my first time in a High Altitude Search role too, Im usually the Lunatic strafing at 100 Feet from Ground Level.

Okay... well that's a different point entirely. I'll have to review the briefing in the mission. I know I'd done some work on it- and a lot of that work had been lost during that version issue I had. I may have been a bit vague on the target descriptions.


I can definitely touch that up.

The weird thing was the explosion flashes that were occurring under the ground at the airport. Also like was mentioned, I burned through two tanks of gas in the SU looking for any signs of life on the map. I figured a trigger didn't go off or something. I threw in the towel and was headed back to base and I think Wheel spotted the targets. Shot those for a bit then I had to go. But looking forward to trying this one again. The frames were really good in this mission. (Which was one of the reasons I thought the map was empty. )

Hmmmmm okay.

In theory, once the SA8s get to the fishing hole they should broadcast for about 15 minutes... time between broadcasts is going to be between 10-20 minutes... They should work- as I have tested out the setup in another mission and I know they should go to location... set a red state, then hold for the amount of time. Then they move- and at the next waypoint they set a green condition.


So you only have a certain window of opportunity... but I'm going to need to go free-view the scene and make sure that when they arrive at their station they're actually broadcasting- otherwise the whole concept is out the window.

Just a thought - You could use smoke markers to ID the convoys at certain points, obviously don't do many smoke markers but perhaps on logical places such as in a ground fire fight or if passing through a city etc..

We do tend to use a lot of smoke when there's a JTAC present too so that does fit in the bigger scheme of things.

Alternatively, it may be an opportunity to engage a UAV... I haven't had much luck getting one to work but now may be the time to sort it out. Guys like entering coordinates etc... working off Bulls references...

I could also randomize reports in various towns... so when a group goes through town there's a chance a local "freedom fighter" reports it- say... 33% chance?

That depends on the fidelity you'd like to keep the mission.
Basically I beleive whenever a pilot goes up, he probebly gets reports from a JTAC or a GCI so the best idea is to simulate it somehow, either by a JTAC(Willy pit/Data Link/Laser...) or by giving some reports along the way as GCI would probebly do.

Well I figured out why the SA8s weren't showing up. This AI and the mission editor... man... They HAVE to fix it.

Seems like a simple task. Set a waypoint. Set a "red state" waypoint action and a hold action for let's say 10 minutes. Set the next waypoint for them to return to green condition. And repeat.


Nope- doesn't work.

So now I have put in an additional waypoint to get them to activate on one, hold on the second, and then go green on the third... then resume their route.

See if that works-

Sigh... nope.

Can you give them a state change on flag and have the flag (with some time delay) flip on and off on waypoint activation? Is a waypoint condition activated on arrival (prox radius?) or on initial selection?

Does a test with timed/triggered state changes on a stationary vehicle group work?

Flags not working was the reason I separated all the waypoints. I've tried with all sorts of lead vehicles-

The initial hold at the first waypoint does work- it's a hold initiating at a subsequent waypoint that doesn't work.

And yes, in my initial test I was able to do a hold with a state change... it's just moving into a waypoint with these actions that it isn't working.

Hey MOLASSES!?


You still out there!?


We miss you buddy! Hope you are having a good time in the new place!

Working on Herky Jerk. Fiddling with orbits and orbit releases. And triggering sound files at the right times.

At least the C-130 is behaving.

Lucky...


I've given up on my Hunter Killer's mission- well the SA8 side of it anyway. I've had a couple of successes in the "attack group" function... so the Abbies take a beating and it gives the guys plenty to deal with- however, the SA8 group just doesn't want to hold for ANYTHING and quite honestly though I could despawn and respawn new groups... activating and deactivating- I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation to be able to get a group to hold at a waypoint for 15 minutes. So I think I'll just reoganize the priorities of the tasks... Kill the artillery before it destroys 10 civilian structures... and hunt down the SU25s and Hinds before they destroy the occupying force of Abbies at Sukbab...

Hmmmm sounds like fun.

Eno,

Check this thread out -
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=95549&page=2

You'll find excellent info about triggered waypoints there, also how to apply a script to the waypoint which solves some issues.