Ending an Escort command

[TP_Fritz]

I'm working on a mission where the player's flight (the player is not the lead plane) takes off and flies through a 1st waypoint - on the second waypoint the fighter group is issued a Command: Cover to cover the bombers into a target area.  The initial cover command works as expected - the fighters fly through the 2nd waypoint and 2 seconds later (with the Timer) they turn and begin escorting as planned.

 

The problem though is that, once the mission is finished and the fighters finish escorting the bombers out of the target area, I want a waypoint about 20 kilometers away to be - essentially - an "end escort" waypoint where the 109's are finished, leave the bombers, and head to their airfield to land.  And I can't seem to figure out how to do that.

 

I tried setting up a Deactivate MCU on the Command: Cover icon once the end escort waypoint is reached - but that didn't work... the 109s just keep escorting the bombers after that.  So how to I force the AI 109s to leave the escorts and begin to follow their own waypoints?  I haven't tried it yet (as I just now thought about it), but would making the waypoint after the end escort waypoint High Priority do the trick?

[JimTM]

Try triggering a force complete command, object linked to the escort flight leader. I think it cancels both the cover command and the "command" to fly to the next waypoint. That is, I think you may need to retrigger the next waypoint. Play around with the logic and please let me know what works for you.

 

Cheers!

 

UPDATE: Sorry, wasn't thinking clearly. Trigger force complete and a 2-second timer from waypoint. Then object link force complete to flight leader and target link timer to next waypoint.

Edited February 9, 2018 by JimTM

[TP_Fritz]

That worked perfectly - just had to retrigger the next waypoint for the 109s, as you suggested.

 

Thanks!

[JimTM]

Great. Check out my update above, which indicates that there is no need to retrigger the waypoint but instead to trigger it the first time after the force complete commnd is issued.

Edited February 9, 2018 by JimTM

[Habu]

Jim, may you post an exemple to be sure to understand how you use the element. I used another method Vander gave me which is more complex.

[JimTM]

I've attached a test mission to demo cancelling the cover command.

 

JimTMTestEndCover.zip

 

You are in a Bf109F4 behind and above a formation of He111s and a formation of Bf109F4s.

 

At mission begin, waypoint WP 1 is triggered for the bombers, followed by a V-formation command for bombers and fighters. Then, the cover command is issued to the fighters.

 

Now for the heart of the "end escort" logic: When the bombers reach WP 1, Stop Cover and a two-second timer are triggered, causing the fighters to stop covering the bombers. The two second timer then triggers the land command for the fighters. The bombers continue to WP 2. Alternatively, you could have the two-second timer trigger a waypoint for the Bf109F4s that is separate from the waypoint for the He111s. The fighters could then continue on their own route and then land using a land command triggered by the last waypoint on the fighter route.

Edited February 10, 2018 by JimTM

[Habu]

Ok, thx Jim.

[JimTM]

I think that the force complete also cancels the formation command so I updated the mission to tighten up the formations and reissue the formation command to the fighters after the land command is issued. 

Edited February 10, 2018 by JimTM

[Habu]

I will run some test with your logic.

[NETSCAPE]

Force Complete cancels everything. I use it all the time. There might be other methods for a group to do their next task, but I prefer the CERTAINTY that the force complete offers me. 

[Habu]

Ok, i can't do what i want.

 

The test mission from Jim work, but i can't change it to what i want. The force complete is something i don't understand in the editor.

 

Here is what i want.

 

- Bombers / transport fly from A to B and land in B

- Fighters escort the bombers/transport until they land, and after bombers landed, they land.

 

I used a complex triger with the finish filter, a counter for the number of bomber which land, a timer and force complete. But the force complete is enable at the begining of the mission like there is a Mission begin (i have a message which is displayed) link to it, except that it's a timer, but the order of the force complete has no effect.

 

I enclose my test mission.

 

 

PX_Test_Cover_Land.zip

[[DBS]Tx_Tip]

@ Habu

 

Don't have the C-Trigger enabled on Mission Begin.

I put a 1m timer to activate the C-Trigger after start.

Additionally just as a matter of course put Germany as the Ju-52s country within the C-Trig.

 

Works as advertised now.

Tip 

[Habu]

But it strange, the detection circle is not in the range of the JU52. So even activated, the complex trigger shouldn't detect anything.

 

In the filter of the complex trigger, it's not an obligation to add teh nationality.

 

You can filter on the kind of plane, or nationality, or a specific plane with a name, or a combination of several filters.

 

Thx Tips.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Habu

[JimTM]

I tested your mission Habu and the only thing you need to do is activate the complex trigger after mission start, as Tx_Tip mentioned. You can activate it at any time, as long as you do so before the Ju-52s land. You do not need to specify a country though; the script will do.

 

I also tried changing the complex trigger event to "On Entered" instead of "On Finished" and that worked even if you set the "Enabled" option in the complex trigger. So perhaps the complex trigger "Enabled" option is good only for entry and exit events and not events that happen while objects are inside the circle. It appears the output for events that happen within the circle are triggered at mission start, when the actual event has not occurred yet. I haven't tested all events though.

Edited February 11, 2018 by JimTM

[Habu]

 

 

I also tried changing the complex trigger event to "On Entered" instead of "On Finished" and that worked even if you set the "Enabled" option in the complex trigger. So perhaps the complex trigger "Enabled" option is good only for entry and exit events and not events that happen while objects are inside the circle. It appears the output for events that happen within the circle are triggered at mission start, when the actual event has not occurred yet. I haven't tested all events though.

It's not normal that the detection work outside the detection area. It's a bug. It should work without to delay the activation of the complex trigger. I'm going to run some test on another version of the game and report the bug, if i can reproduce it on the other version.

 

Thx for your help. As you confirm it Jim, i follow the instruction from Tips, and it works fine, as you report too.

[TP_Jacko]

I've attached a test mission to demo cancelling the cover command.

 

JimTMTestEndCover.zip

 

You are in a Bf109F4 behind and above a formation of He111s and a formation of Bf109F4s.

 

At mission begin, waypoint WP 1 is triggered for the bombers, followed by a V-formation command for bombers and fighters. Then, the cover command is issued to the fighters.

 

Now for the heart of the "end escort" logic: When the bombers reach WP 1, Stop Cover and a two-second timer are triggered, causing the fighters to stop covering the bombers. The two second timer then triggers the land command for the fighters. The bombers continue to WP 2. Alternatively, you could have the two-second timer trigger a waypoint for the Bf109F4s that is separate from the waypoint for the He111s. The fighters could then continue on their own route and then land using a land command triggered by the last waypoint on the fighter route.

 

will this work in a MP/Coop mission

[JimTM]

will this work in a MP/Coop mission

 

It should.

[Habu]

 

 

will this work in a MP/Coop mission

As Jim said, it should. I have to adapt that to one of my online mission.

[Gambit21]

So to clarify, Force Complete "High" cancels the command?

[No601_Swallow]

Yep (I think). Force complete clears every command/task/order.