Friday 2010-12-03 Dev. update and Discussion

[Blackdog_kt]

First of all, thanks for the weekly update. I'm not a mission builder, but i'm a mission flyer and the better the editor is, the more enjoyable the missions we get from our talented community members are going to be. So, thanks for improving the FMB for all of us.

With that being said, let me go on to a couple of specific points...

Originally Posted by Sutts

A very interesting update this week Oleg, thanks. Nice to see the full map at last. Should allow for some great missions. Is there a possibility in future that the map could be extended northwards to include the 12 Group fields or would that be pushing the current hardware too far? It would be nice one day to reenact the 12 group Big Wing attacks.

Someone mentioned specifying waypoint times of arrival and having the FMB work out the necessary speed to get there on time. This would be a great feature and was implemented incredibly well by the Tornado simulator years ago.

As far as I remember, you could do things both ways i.e. specify arrival time OR speed for a waypoint. If the time you specified required an impossible speed to get there, the waypoint track changed colour to red I think. I used to spend hours creating multi-flight attacks which would come in from different directions at different heights and speeds at the critical moment to avoid the blasts from the previous pass. A very enjoyable experience I've got to say.

The map looks very fine resolution which is great. I'm hoping we can zoom in and out smoothly (like google earth), rather than in clunky increments. A slight concern is the size of the waypoint marker....will it still allow for very accurate positioning Oleg?

Thanks Oleg.

Actually you raise a very important point. Since we've been told we'll have accurate systems modelling and that the same rules will aply to the AI (that is, they won't be invulnerable to overheat anymore), there could be cases where flights couldn't reach the waypoints without breaking their engines.

For example, a flight of fighters might be able of a 350mph airspeed but only for brief periods of time (like war emergency power settings), with their sustainable airspeed being much lower. Or, they might be unable to reach higher speeds until burning some fuel and getting lighter.

Throwing the indicated-to-true airspeed conversions and ground speed calculations into the mix could get interesting, as they depend heavily on weather conditions (which are adjustable and also possible to dynamically change).

So, in order to ensure a flight overflying a waypoint at a specified time the mission editor would have to:

1) Calculate the needed ground speed (GS).

2) Reference the GS value with the weather conditions set for the mission and extrapolate the corresponding IAS value the aircraft would need to fly.

3) Check the needed IAS value for the specified leg of the flightplan against the aircraft specifications and operating limits.

I'm not a mission builder but this is very interesting, especially if you consider the possibility of some randomness in the way the weather evolves. For example if you have built a mission that relies on some closely orchestrated attacks and/or depends highly on keeping to the schedule, an occurence as simple as a change in wind direction and strength could make the mission goal very easy to achieve (ie, the flight reaches their target area with time to spare), dangerous or even totally unattainable.

For instance think about this scenarion in a future add-on, due to strong head winds the train carrying the enemy generals has departed when the mosquitos reach the target area and now they have to split up and look for it by following the railway lines. Certainly not a welcome event when a quick "one pass and away" mission turns into having to prolong the amount of time you will be flying low inside enemy airspace.

Originally Posted by Ibis

Great update Oleg, mission building will be much improved, thanks.

One small request:
would it be possible to get the AA to lay a barrage in front of bomber formations as well as directly at them . At the moment most of the AA arrives behind the formation. I think this would add greatly to the visual effect for bomber pilots as they near the end of their final run to the target.
Waiting impatiently for the release of your work.
cheers,
Ibis.

Very nice of you to bring this up. I still remember when i flew my first mission in B17:the mighty 8th (the sequel to the original) back in the day and the reason is just that feature. Having to fly steadily and sedately into an already well developed flak barrage in order to maintain bomb aiming accuracy was one of the most memorable events of all my simulated careers.