PWCG for BOS Discussion

[PatrickAWlson]

21 hours ago, kaizerhund4 said:

does the new version for BOS fix the train off the rails issue? i miss shooting moving trains

 

I did not post that as a fixed issue because the attempt partially failed.  It also partially succeeded.  Somewhere north of half the trains are on the rails and moving.  Some are not.

[kaizerhund4]

yeah i figuered it was an update to your PWCG program, but was just wondering if the update fixed the train issue, but i have my answer now...thanks for your dedicated work to PWCG, obviously i enjoy your work and hope in the future the train issue will be 100% resolved

[Wulfkai]

Any plan on mixing the ar234 into the eastern front PatrickAWlson?

[71st_AH_Rob_XR-R]

Don't know of any unit that operated them on the Eastern front. As far as I have been able to research, all units were employed on Western front or Italian front because that was were the threat was for reconnaissance aircraft.

 

[PatrickAWlson]

On 6/11/2022 at 1:31 PM, Wulfkai said:

Any plan on mixing the ar234 into the eastern front PatrickAWlson?

 

I was not because I didn't think it flew in the east.  Was it there?

 

If not, then I will not create a squadon for the east.  However, you can always join a unit of some sort and use PWCG equipment request feature to bring one in and fly it.  

[raizde2]

When I transfer a pilot the date skips forward, is it possible to ask transfer but play with my other pilots until the transfer is done?

The only way to check the number of victories of a certain squad and their medals and stuff is to transfer to that squad right?

[Varibraun]

4 hours ago, raizde2 said:

When I transfer a pilot the date skips forward, is it possible to ask transfer but play with my other pilots until the transfer is done?

 

You will have to double check me on this, but I believe you can transfer without the "travel time" by using the Administer Pilots Screen vs. the in campaign transfer.

 

4 hours ago, raizde2 said:

The only way to check the number of victories of a certain squad and their medals and stuff is to transfer to that squad right?

 

I think so, but you can just create another "spy" pilot in that squadron to keep an eye on them (even if you don't ever fly him).

[71st_AH_Rob_XR-R]

5 hours ago, raizde2 said:

 

The only way to check the number of victories of a certain squad and their medals and stuff is to transfer to that squad right?

I think you should be able to just change the reference pilot...

[kaizerhund4]

my question is can we somehow have the enemy planes follow us all the way back to our base in attack mode like in career mode does? in PWCG they follow you to a certain extent then turn around and in career mode they attack you all the way back to your base. BTW i find trains on thewir tracks and some even move, others are slightly off the tracks. getting better i think

[Varibraun]

39 minutes ago, kaizerhund4 said:

my question is can we somehow have the enemy planes follow us all the way back to our base in attack mode like in career mode does? in PWCG they follow you to a certain extent then turn around and in career mode they attack you all the way back to your base.

 

Actually, this "break-off pursuit" feature is usually perceived as one of the immersion strengths of PWCG.  The thought is that in RL, enemy pilots likely wouldn't pursue too deep behind the lines out of self preservation. 

 

Pat worked hard to get this "break-off" coded a while back, and I believe deals with how far behind the lines the AF is located.  The enemy aircraft will still pursue to some of the bases close to the lines.

[FodderMonkey]

2 hours ago, Varibraun said:

 

Actually, this "break-off pursuit" feature is usually perceived as one of the immersion strengths of PWCG.  The thought is that in RL, enemy pilots likely wouldn't pursue too deep behind the lines out of self preservation. 

 

Pat worked hard to get this "break-off" coded a while back, and I believe deals with how far behind the lines the AF is located.  The enemy aircraft will still pursue to some of the bases close to the lines.

I always figured it was a fuel concern that caused them to turn back, or maybe encountering the first concentration of AA.  Pretty realistic in either case to me.

[kaizerhund4]

R/L true, just more action and was wondering if it could b done in pwcg easily, thanks for feedback

[PatrickAWlson]

9 hours ago, FodderMonkey said:

I always figured it was a fuel concern that caused them to turn back, or maybe encountering the first concentration of AA.  Pretty realistic in either case to me.

 

The rules go something like this: most fighter flights have check zones around enemy bases that will cause them to RTB if they trigger them.  The only way they would be triggering them is by flying well out of their designated route - i.e. chasing an enemy.  Fighter flights that are supposed to penetrate enemy air space - offensive patrols - do not have this restriction and will follow you to the ends of the earth.  Escort flights also do not have this restriction but they are covering bombers as a first priority.

[354thFG_Leifr]

Morning Patrick.

First, I would like to thank you for your massive efforts in producing the PWCG. I have played it offline for a little while now and it has been superb, it really is the best way to enjoy the BoX series.

 

We have recently been trying to play co-operative mode and for the most part it is working great, the experience is much better for us as a group than playing on one of the public servers. There is a query I have about the AI and taxiways though; we've noticed that if we place an AI behind the player group on the chalkboard, and consequently behind us on the taxiway, they have great difficulty in managing to find themselves a place on the runway and tend to display erratic behaviour (circling, etc). Is this to be expected as a quirk of the AI (I understand that you have very little influence on this)? Should we allow all of the AI to taxi out first, and then follow ourselves, regardless of the spawning positions?

 

Also, occasionally the lead aircraft will call in as being ready for take-off, and will then proceed to take off whilst the rest of the flight (players and AI) are still coming off the taxiway and lining up on the runway. The latter isn't really an issue since we always catch up within a couple of minutes, but it is mildly frustrating.

 

I can just about manage four or five player aircraft in the skies with low aircraft/med ground densities before rubberbanding and other server oddities creep in, but we're still having a blast!

 

Thanks again.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Leifr

[PatrickAWlson]

7 hours ago, Leifr said:

Morning Patrick.

First, I would like to thank you for your massive efforts in producing the PWCG. I have played it offline for a little while now and it has been superb, it really is the best way to enjoy the BoX series.

 

We have recently been trying to play co-operative mode and for the most part it is working great, the experience is much better for us as a group than playing on one of the public servers. There is a query I have about the AI and taxiways though; we've noticed that if we place an AI behind the player group on the chalkboard, and consequently behind us on the taxiway, they have great difficulty in managing to find themselves a place on the runway and tend to display erratic behaviour (circling, etc). Is this to be expected as a quirk of the AI (I understand that you have very little influence on this)? Should we allow all of the AI to taxi out first, and then follow ourselves, regardless of the spawning positions?

 

Also, occasionally the lead aircraft will call in as being ready for take-off, and will then proceed to take off whilst the rest of the flight (players and AI) are still coming off the taxiway and lining up on the runway. The latter isn't really an issue since we always catch up within a couple of minutes, but it is mildly frustrating.

 

I can just about manage four or five player aircraft in the skies with low aircraft/med ground densities before rubberbanding and other server oddities creep in, but we're still having a blast!

 

Thanks again.

 

Taxiing is no longer actively supported.  We were never able to get proper rules that would ensure good AI behavior while taxiing.  Without that it was guess work with far too many misses.  Murleen did a ton of work trying to get that to go, and it does work in my places.  However, at this point, it either exists in the state that it does or I rip it out so I don't have to deal with it anymore.

 

[354thFG_Leifr]

Hi Patrick.

 

Thanks for responding.

I'd say in most instances the AI does get to the runway intact and lined up, sometimes they have a wobble and require a couple of ground-loops before getting there. Occasionally we'll observe a pilot looping over and over, but in those cases we simply take off without the AI.

 

All the best.

[71st_AH_Rob_XR-R]

10 hours ago, Leifr said:

Morning Patrick.

First, I would like to thank you for your massive efforts in producing the PWCG. I have played it offline for a little while now and it has been superb, it really is the best way to enjoy the BoX series.

 

We have recently been trying to play co-operative mode and for the most part it is working great, the experience is much better for us as a group than playing on one of the public servers. There is a query I have about the AI and taxiways though; we've noticed that if we place an AI behind the player group on the chalkboard, and consequently behind us on the taxiway, they have great difficulty in managing to find themselves a place on the runway and tend to display erratic behaviour (circling, etc). Is this to be expected as a quirk of the AI (I understand that you have very little influence on this)? Should we allow all of the AI to taxi out first, and then follow ourselves, regardless of the spawning positions?

 

Also, occasionally the lead aircraft will call in as being ready for take-off, and will then proceed to take off whilst the rest of the flight (players and AI) are still coming off the taxiway and lining up on the runway. The latter isn't really an issue since we always catch up within a couple of minutes, but it is mildly frustrating.

 

I can just about manage four or five player aircraft in the skies with low aircraft/med ground densities before rubberbanding and other server oddities creep in, but we're still having a blast!

 

Thanks again.

We only use the taxi option when we are playing with 100% human flights. If there is even one AI, I turn the option off

 

[Spidey002]

I didn’t even know there was a taxi option!

[Mtnbiker1998]

8 hours ago, 71st_AH_Rob_XR-R said:

We only use the taxi option when we are playing with 100% human flights. If there is even one AI, I turn the option off

 

This makes me wonder if instead of a campaign option in the settings menus, if we could get it as an option in the mission generation? In the waypoint options perhaps?

 

I do enjoy ramp starts but theres definitely times when its best avoided, would be much more convenient than having to scrub the mission and go dig through the settings.

[354thFG_Leifr]

12 hours ago, Spidey002 said:

I didn’t even know there was a taxi option!

 

In the 'Mission Limits' configuration page, you can set your preferred start type (air, runway or cold start).

@PatrickAWlson, does the 'Time until flight takes off' affect how long the AI sits on the runway with the '0' option selected for start type (runway)? If so, that would suit us just fine rather than mucking about with the AI taxiing... It doesn't seem to be working at all right now, the AI just starts immediately on spawn. We only selected cold start so that we have a grace period on spawning to ensure bindings are correct and folk know the flight plan etc etc.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Leifr

[raizde2]

Is it possible to add a back button on the combat report on the debrief page... second time that I accidentally pressed continue before adding the claims... of the 7 planes I shot down I only got one in my name and if I cancel debrief it's weird... is it the same as finishing it but without seeing all the reports?? shouldn't allow us to redo the combat report?

[PatrickAWlson]

4 hours ago, raizde2 said:

Is it possible to add a back button on the combat report on the debrief page... second time that I accidentally pressed continue before adding the claims... of the 7 planes I shot down I only got one in my name and if I cancel debrief it's weird... is it the same as finishing it but without seeing all the reports?? shouldn't allow us to redo the combat report?

 

Decent idea, but a bit tricky.  Probably would be a cancel button that requires a restart.  Have to look into the process to remind myself exactly what the point of no return is (PWCG did the AAR and overwrote the files).

 

[556x45]

Hey everyone can i use this to start a career with my 2 friends? If i can is there any guides about starting a coop career mode?

[PatrickAWlson]

2 hours ago, 556x45 said:

Hey everyone can i use this to start a career with my 2 friends? If i can is there any guides about starting a coop career mode?

 

You can.  The only difference between starting a coop career and s single player career are:

1. Select coop on the career generation page

2. When you create a pilot you have to associate that pilot with an actual person

3. When you generate a mission you have to select the human participants.

4. When you do a combat report you have to provide claims for every human participant in the mission

 

Other than that it plays out like a single player PWCG career.

 

If you are completely unfamiliar with PWCG I would suggest creating a single player career and playing a few missions.  This way you get familiar with the mechanics.  

[Stonehouse]

Considering the difficulties with taxiing and also that in some situations AI have issues even for a runway start (eg snow on runway) would it be possible to get two flavors of air starts Pat in some future version? One as now where you start close to the action and a new one where you start roughly near or over your base on the first leg of the mission?

 

Reasoning behind the thought is that in one of my campaigns on the Eastern Front I've been forced into air starts for the winter due to snow and finding two things (a) starting up close to the action means I miss out on the whole immersion from flying the distance from base to initial point and deciding how I want to approach the target and (b) particularly in winter on the Eastern Front I find that it is very hard to figure out where you are when you spawn unless you turn on map icons. So being that I try to fly using dead reckoning and that I can't fly every day or even close to that, I find with the current air starts I don't build up a mental picture of the area around the base or the landmarks you fly over on the way to your target so it gets pretty easy to end up completely lost. Don't have the same issues on Rhineland as the topography seems to lend itself to easier nav but Eastern Front in dead of winter becomes quite "samey" and hard to pick out features within the snow and frozen water, particularly when busy trying to disengage from a horde of Russian fighters.

[PatrickAWlson]

@Stonehouse Is this related to planes doing doughnuts when they try to take off in the winter? 

[Stonehouse]

Yes that's correct. I know there are issues with the whole taxiing thing and seemingly with heavy snow and runway starts and I'm happy to just change to air starts to sidestep the problem but just thinking it would be better to be able to fly from base rather than start almost at the target. However, also understand quite a few people probably like the start close to the action. Hence the idea of two types of air starts. If it is too difficult or not something you want to do that's fine, it was just an idea.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Stonehouse

[Varibraun]

On 7/12/2022 at 6:24 AM, 556x45 said:

Hey everyone can i use this to start a career with my 2 friends? If i can is there any guides about starting a coop career mode?

 

@Requiem probably has the most current Coop tutorial if you still need some guidance:

 

 

[MAJ_Raptor]

Hey just wanted to take a minute and say thank you for all your work on this Pat. 

[=RAW=Tobermory]

will there be an update for the Normandy map? 

[FodderMonkey]

There’s a whole thread on that, “PWCG Normandy”

[Guest deleted@359951]

This programme is great. Good job PatrickAWilson.

 

(Looking forward to Normandy to be included.)

[=EAustral=Topeka]

Any chance to disable aircraft icons on the map during PWCG co-op missions? Thanks in advance

[Stonehouse]

6 hours ago, Topeka said:

Any chance to disable aircraft icons on the map during PWCG co-op missions? Thanks in advance

That's a game difficulty setting. I think it was navigation markers that need to be deselected in the host's difficulty settings before the mission is launched.

[=EAustral=Topeka]

2 hours ago, Stonehouse said:

That's a game difficulty setting. I think it was navigation markers that need to be deselected in the host's difficulty settings before the mission is launched.

Hello Stonehouse, it seems that there is no way to deactivate them. I have also used the Easy Mission Generator to generate cooperative missions and I do not have that problem, so I deduce that it must be a peculiarity of the PWCG, it would be good to have the ability to choose icons on the map or no. Greetings!

[Mtnbiker1998]

10 minutes ago, Topeka said:

Hello Stonehouse, it seems that there is no way to deactivate them. I have also used the Easy Mission Generator to generate cooperative missions and I do not have that problem, so I deduce that it must be a peculiarity of the PWCG, it would be good to have the ability to choose icons on the map or no. Greetings!

The icons you are seeing are a result of the spotter/radar units on the map. They are part of the missions and are not effected by the map icon difficulty setting. 

 

Think of it as being radio'ed the locations of enemy aircraft and getting vectors to them.

[=EAustral=Topeka]

8 minutes ago, Mtnbiker1998 said:

The icons you are seeing are a result of the spotter/radar units on the map. They are part of the missions and are not effected by the map icon difficulty setting. 

 

Think of it as being radio'ed the locations of enemy aircraft and getting vectors to them.

Thanks Mtnbiker1998! Does anyone know if it can be disabled in the mission editor before launching the mission? Thanks

[donkeysaint]

Hello @PatrickAWlson !

New player here. I used to play the original IL-2 game many years (decades?) ago, and have just discovered BoS and your excellent campaign generator. Thank you for it!

My question: Would it be possible to implement the base game's nice looking squadron insignias/symbols/flags, into the PWCG campaign interface (currently playing a Soviet campaign and sort of miss them)? It would add some nice colour and flair to it.

[Patricks]

Just saw yet another great realism enhancer from PWCG. In IL-2 when I exited the mission I had (rightfully) shown 3 fighters down. In PWCG debrief I claimed 3, but one was refused! Just like it may have been in real life... great work Pat.

[Picchio]

I would like to ask if it were possibile to implement target marking at night.

As we currently have no TI's, how about having ground targets already illuminated? Perhaps with a flare or fire placed on the ground to light up the target area? Could this be done?