My first dumb questions...

[Gambit21]

First...no Undo function?

What happens when I accidentally move every building on the map?

 

Second, I opened up my "practice" mission and I can't seem to select the flight of Yaks that I placed for some reason.

I can see the icon, but I can't click on the flight and change anything.

 

Third -how do I de-clutter the map and get rid of all the green building/bridge icons etc?

[JimTM]

First...no Undo function?

What happens when I accidentally move every building on the map?

 

No, there is no undo function. Save your mission as you go along so that if you make a mistake you won't have to back up too far.

 

Second, I opened up my "practice" mission and I can't seem to select the flight of Yaks that I placed for some reason.

I can see the icon, but I can't click on the flight and change anything.

 

Note the ID number beside the Yak and in the Mission Tree, find the plane with some number (the object ID) followed by a colon and the number that you noted (the entity ID). Then, do one of the following:

- If the plane is in a group, right click the group entry in the Mission Tree and choose "Set Group as Working". 

- If the plane is not in a group, right click the plane entry in the Mission Tree choose "Select". <-- You should be able to select the plane in the View Port, but for some reason it doesn't always work and you need to use this method.

 

Third -how do I de-clutter the map and get rid of all the green building/bridge icons etc?

 

Click the "Grp" button on the Toolbar (assuming all the bridges and buildings are in groups). If you import a file containing building and so on, it's a great idea to group them first before you place any of your mission-related objects and MCUs. That way, you can hide the imported items so that they don't clutter up the View Port.

Edited August 24, 2016 by JimTM

[Gambit21]

Great - thank you.

 

One more for tonight.

I created an AA gun emplacement, and grouped the objects and triggers etc, but the various nodes in the group did not collapse into the group icon for some reason.

So it's indeed a group, but still visible on the map along with the group icon.

 

I can already tell I'm going to be bothered by the lack of 2 things (so far)

and undo command (which was OK in the old editor because making a split second huge mistake was less likely) and a 'fly' button in the corner which allows

me to quickly and easily test my changes/additions.

 

I'm already beginning to understand how the editor 'thinks' though, which is good.

That doesn't mean I won't ask more dumb questions.

 

Thanks again.

[JimTM]

Try the "Grp" button in the Toolbar. That should hide the icons in the group.

 

There are no dumb questions! Idiotic, asinine, ignorant questions, sure, but no dumb questions. 

 

Cheers!

 

Jim

Edited August 24, 2016 by JimTM

[Gambit21]

Got it - thank you.

[Gambit21]

For a single player mission, I'm guessing "fakefield" rather than "fakefield_rnwspawn"

 

This "fakefield" will always be the way I designate the player aircraft I'm guessing?

[JimTM]

Airfield objects represent player spawn points in a multiplayer mission; they are not used in singleplayer missions except to define AI plane taxi paths. You can place multiple airfield objects on a single field (ramps, runways, etc.). It does not matter which airfield object type goes where.

 

The player plane in singleplayer is always a plane object.

 

The type of airfield object that you choose determines the spawn pattern. Looking in the direction that the airfield object is oriented, here is how planes can spawn:

 

  - The fakefield object spawns planes in a single row, starting from the left.

  - The fakefield_rnwspawn object spawns planes in multiple rows, starting from the front, left.

  - The fakevehiclefield object spawns player-controlled tanks, starting in the center and moving outwards in both directions (as far as I know)

 

In the Object Library, the spawn patterns and sizes are shown below the object that you choose.

Edited August 25, 2016 by JimTM

[Gambit21]

Got it.

My ignorant question for the evening.

 

Say I accidentally create a Russian flight (or more accurate, I keep doing that) under a German Airfield group or some such error - I can't drag the items out of that group in the tree, nor can I right-click and move/remove them. How do I remove a group or unit out from under another group?

[JimTM]

If there are no other unrelated objects or MCUs within the boundary of the group, it would easy to ungroup it, remove the Russian flight, and group it again. That said, drag and drop would be a VERY nice thing to have for the mission tree.

Edited August 25, 2016 by JimTM

[LLv34_Temuri]

You could also select the needed items, copy, delete the items from the group, reset working group, and paste. There are a number of needed shortcuts missing from the editor, but eventually you get used to the workarounds

[Gambit21]

Got it, thanks guys.

[Gambit21]

Yep - drag and drop would be nice.

It's not really the logic of this editor that's throwing me so far, it's the user interface/functionality.

I'm spoiled by the 3D programs that I'm used to working with.

 

Query - is there a best/proper folder to save my single player missions for easy access/testing?

Right now I'm saving in IL2/Data/Missions.

Seemed like the logical place.

 

Also - how do I designate the player plane for a SP mission? 

 

.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Gambit21

[JimTM]

...

 

Query - is there a best/proper folder to save my single player missions for easy access/testing?

Right now I'm saving in IL2/Data/Missions.

Seemed like the logical place.

 

I save each of my SP missions in separate folders under ...\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\Missions\JimTM.

That way, the mission list in IL-2 is not too long (it's mostly folders). If I'm testing a certain aspect of a mission, I save multiple versions of the test mission under one folder (suitably named).

If I download missions from others, I put them in a separate folder similar to the JimTM one above and create subfolders for each mission from that person.

 

Also - how do I designate the player plane for a SP mission? 

 

Place a plane object, make it a linked entity, and set the "AI" field in the advanced properties to "Player".

Note: If you copy a "Player" plane, the copy becomes the "Player" plane and the original reverts back to AI Normal. If you do not realize this and you 

change the copy to an AI level like "Normal", you now have two AI planes and no player plane. In this case, when you start the mission, you are in external view and cannot enter a plane.

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by JimTM

[Gambit21]

Thanks once again. ( I feel as though I will be thanking you many times)

I didn't bother with the AI drop down since I didn't foresee the 'player' hiding in there.

 

I'm building an airfield and missing all of the many hundreds of static objects, AC, (cargo planes were nice), people, etc that I remember from the old sim.

In time I suppose.

 

I also remember being able to place a smoke object, (placed a farm house nearby) and it showed up in the editor as it would in-game.

Just tried it "house-smoke" and all I got was an icon.

 

Only shows up in-game I suppose? So how do I place it accurately then?

That will be my last ignorant query for the night.

[LLv34_Temuri]

Check the "3.8 Smoke and Artillery fire" chapter in Prangster's Mission Building Guide: http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/17721-prangsters-il-2-bos-mission-building-guide/

[JimTM]

...

I'm building an airfield and missing all of the many hundreds of static objects, AC, (cargo planes were nice), people, etc that I remember from the old sim.

In time I suppose.

...

 

 

Populate the View Port with Buildings and Other Objects

 

You can import miscellaneous groups of buildings and other objects that make your mission environment more realistic. There are templates available for import that contain objects for the various terrain presets that you can load in the Mission Properties Dialog.

 

Important! It is best to follow this procedure before you add your mission-related objects and MCUs. By importing miscellaneous objects first, you can easily select and then group those objects. Grouping the miscellaneous objects makes it easier to see your mission-related objects and MCUs in the Mission Tree and View Port.

 

Do the following:

 

1. In the Mission Tree, right-click the top entry and choose "Set Group as Working".

 

2. In the File menu, choose “Import From File” and navigate to the IL-2 Sturmovik directory and the \data\Template sub-directory.

 

3. Choose an object group that corresponds to the current terrain in the View Port and click Open.

 

    All of the objects in the group appear in the Mission Tree. With large maps, it may take a few minutes for the objects to load.

 

4. (Optional) Delete objects that are outside of the area related to your mission.

 

    In large maps, deleting objects that are never seen by players saves memory. You can click and drag to select many objects at a time for deletion.

 

5. Select all the objects that you just imported and make them a group, with a name such as "Scenery".

 

    Grouping non-mission related objects makes it easier to work with the mission-related objects, MCUs, and groups.

 

6. (Do any time before testing mission) For a multiplayer mission with "Friendly Fire Notification" enabled on the server, do the following for objects that are near a potential target and likely to be hit:

 

    a) Make the object a linked entity.

    b) In the object advanced properties, change the country from "Neutral" to the same country as the target.

    c) In the object properties, click "Delete Linked Entity".

 

    The country that you specified remains for the object. You can verify the country by making the object a linked entity again and checking the advanced properties.

 

    This step avoids erroneous "fired on a friendly" chat messages. These messages can occur because an object country defaults to "Neutral", which is considered friendly to human players and an

    enemy to AI objects. If a player hits the neutral object while attacking an enemy object, the friendly fire chat message is displayed.

Edited August 26, 2016 by JimTM

[JimTM]

Check the "3.8 Smoke and Artillery fire" chapter in Prangster's Mission Building Guide: http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/17721-prangsters-il-2-bos-mission-building-guide/

 

Actually, implementing a smoking chimney on a house is easier than implementing a smoking village due to artillery fire:

 

Make Chimneys Smoke

 

You can make smoke come out of chimneys (or anywhere you want). This effect makes your

missions more realistic.

 

Note: Do not use too many smoke effects because that can use up a lot of mission resources.

 

Do the following:

 

1. Place a "house_smoke" effect object over a chimney and make the effect a linked entity.

 

2. Object link an effect command to the effect.

 

3. Trigger the effect command with a target link or message link from another mission element.

[Gambit21]

Got it

I appreciate you taking the time to post that.

 

 

Eventually I want the ability to link a complex trigger to a custom audio file/radio chatter.

My brain is already churning on what I could do with that feature.

 

Smoke implementation seems simple enough - relatively speaking.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Gambit21

[JimTM]

No worries!

 

Cheers!

[Gambit21]

Hmm...why doesn't my mission show up in game?

I can see my "Gambit21" folder under "missions" in the game menu, but I only see "my mission" listed, not the other 2 I have saved in that folder.

[LLv34_Temuri]

Have you checked that the Mission type for your missions are set as "Single"?

[Gambit21]

Yes, just verified.

[JimTM]

Hmm...why doesn't my mission show up in game?

I can see my "Gambit21" folder under "missions" in the game menu, but I only see "my mission" listed, not the other 2 I have saved in that folder.

 

Cannot Find a Mission in the IL-2 Sturmovik Missions List

 

If you save a mission but you cannot find it in the IL-2 Sturmovik missions list, it may be

because of the following reasons:

 

- The mission name that you specified in the "Name" field of the Mission Properties

  Dialog may be the default ("My Mission") or the name of an old mission

  that you copied to create the new mission. The mission name is shown in the IL-2 Sturmovik

  singleplayer missions list. If you leave the Name field blank, the IL-2 Sturmovik list

  shows the file name without the .mission suffix.

 

- You may need to refresh the IL-2 Sturmovik cache files that store mission names.

  To refresh the cache files, do the following:

 

   1. Close IL-2 Sturmovik and the Mission Editor.

 

   2. In your games folder, under the data subfolder, delete the files ctreecache.eng and mtreecache.eng.

       Important! Be careful not to delete other IL-2 Sturmovik files.

       The cache files are rebuilt when you start IL-2 Sturmovik.

 

   Note: If you save an existing mission under a new name. You can avoid the cache

   problem by changing the Name field in the Mission Properties Dialog before you save

   the mission.

[Gambit21]

Odd...tried everything and still not showing up.

Aside from deleting those files, (making sure IL2 and editor were shut down) I've double checked the name in the dialog, tried changing the name of the mission just for grins, got rid of the _ in the title

just in case, made another folder and put the mission in there. 

 

It's like they're somehow in a different format that the game isn't recognizing.

 

Have to go to work now, I'll check it out again later.

In the meantime if there are any more ideas, I'm all ears.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Gambit21

[JimTM]

Odd...tried everything and still not showing up.

Aside from deleting those files, (making sure IL2 and editor were shut down) I've double checked the name in the dialog, tried changing the name of the mission just for grins, got rid of the _ in the title

just in case, made another folder and put the mission in there. 

 

It's like they're somehow in a different format that the game isn't recognizing.

 

Have to go to work now, I'll check it out again later.

In the meantime if there are any more ideas, I'm all ears.

 

Can you please post the mission when you return. Thanks.

Edited August 29, 2016 by JimTM

[Gambit21]

This is my play/experiment/learning mission.

 

If you have a chance, see if my logic is sound getting the AI IL2's to wait for the player AC to taxi into position before taking off.

Upper right-hand of map.

If no time for that, no worries...main thing is being able to test to damn thing.

 

Haven't added the "report" for the AC taking off...just now got to that part of Prangs tut.

 

 

 

 

 

Vluki Mission.zip

[Gambit21]

Loaded a different map, named and saved mission (type 'single') still no luck.

[JimTM]

This is my play/experiment/learning mission.

 

If you have a chance, see if my logic is sound getting the AI IL2's to wait for the player AC to taxi into position before taking off.

Upper right-hand of map.

If no time for that, no worries...main thing is being able to test to damn thing.

 

- Change your player plane to Russian

 

- In the complex trigger, delete the items in the scripts list and clear "Check Vehicles" because neither are needed.

  If your mission gets complex, consider changing out the complex trigger for a check zone trigger. Complex trigger

  uses up a lot of resources and should be used only if the extra detection functionality is needed. 

 

- Place a vehicle where you want the flare fired and make it a linked entity. Object link the flare command to the vehicle.

 

 

Haven't added the "report" for the AC taking off...just now got to that part of Prangs tut.

[Gambit21]

THANK YOU - good tip on the Check Zone vs Complex Trigger.

Just so I understand the Complex Trigger though, it will trigger "object entered" in this case (player AC entering detection radius) with

only "check entities" ticked - no need to specify models, etc.

 

I suppose the vehicle is the 'brain' for the flare as it were - making it a linked entity by proxy.

 

After I get my other issue sorted, I'm moving right to the Ju52 campaign and I'll continue my learning process there.

[JimTM]

THANK YOU - good tip on the Check Zone vs Complex Trigger.

Just so I understand the Complex Trigger though, it will trigger "object entered" in this case (player AC entering detection radius) with

only "check entities" ticked - no need to specify models, etc.

 

That's right.

 

I suppose the vehicle is the 'brain' for the flare as it were - making it a linked entity by proxy.

 

Actually, think of the flare command and the associated MCUs as the 'brain'. Making the vehicle a linked entity just allows it to respond to commands from the 'brain' and use it's built-in flare gun.

 

After I get my other issue sorted, I'm moving right to the Ju52 campaign and I'll continue my learning process there.

 

Good luck!

[Gambit21]

Ignorant queries for the day.

 

Is there a way to get the second guy in an AI flight to come in right behind his leader instead of taking off and doing his own thing before he lands?

 

In this latest build should I keep AI flights to a maximum of 2 planes each for behavior reasons? (taking off, taxiing, landing) 

 

Is there an ideal place to put the final waypoint before landing so that the flight comes straight in and lands, or will they always enter their own pattern

when they get close to the base?

 

Not a question - I'm having fun!