Customize missions better?

[Wolf8312]

I would really like if the devs could implement an option to fly long or short missions in the campaign like they used to. I am not one who hated the old campagin system and though I think the new one is better on the whole I miss being able to change the mission from long to short.

 

I would fly long missions when I had the time and felt in the mood, or sometimes just to benchmark a particular setting. Kind of a shame that we could not have kept the old campaign as well, as there was alot I did like about it. I know it was not popular amongst veterans but I (a relative noob) was actually enjoying it and in the middle of playing it when it was taken down! I would just play the mission generator but it feels too pointless really and isnt actually a mission for which one recieves any form of attaboy!

 

Dont get me wrong I like to fly long missions when I have the chance but with a slower time compression the missions are not something I can just casually dive into any longer and sometimes I miss that too. I also would like the ability to pick and choose my missions again, as personally I find some of the same missions boring. Basically everything is fine, but I would really appreciate more options, and the more options the better. Options to control time of day, season, weather, number of planes etc would all be great in my opinion, so that people could play in a way they prefer, or how they feel like playing at that particular moment.

 

[ShamrockOneFive]

I know what you mean Wolf. The old system did have a few advantages (and lots of weaknesses too). Setting an airstart for missions in the new campaign does shorten the missions a fair bit. You can also end the mission the moment that the success criteria are accomplished. That cuts down on the time quite a lot too. I was worried that I'd be stuck flying long missions and while some are longer there are mitigating factors.

 

One of the devs mentioned integrating the old scripted missions from the old campaign system into the quick mission builder. I love that idea but I also think it may open the door to some enhancements to the QMB to the point where it may even have a few more features from the old Campaign system. Who knows.

[busdriver]

25 minutes ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I know what you mean Wolf. The old system did have a few advantages (and lots of weaknesses too). Setting an airstart for missions in the new campaign does shorten the missions a fair bit. You can also end the mission the moment that the success criteria are accomplished.

 

You sure about that? I've not tried to exit a mission while over enemy held territory. But I have failed an escort mission 20 km inside friendly lines because (apparently) either the bombers being escorted weren't close enough to home or I wasn't close enough.

 

But to the OP's issue of too long of missions, unless you're playing Iron Man (dead is dead) it's no big deal to have a mission scored as failed. All of your kills will count, so quit when you want. Of course your unit may suffer massive losses if you make a habit of exiting while they are still in the target area.

[ShamrockOneFive]

33 minutes ago, busdriver said:

 

You sure about that? I've not tried to exit a mission while over enemy held territory. But I have failed an escort mission 20 km inside friendly lines because (apparently) either the bombers being escorted weren't close enough to home or I wasn't close enough.

 

But to the OP's issue of too long of missions, unless you're playing Iron Man (dead is dead) it's no big deal to have a mission scored as failed. All of your kills will count, so quit when you want. Of course your unit may suffer massive losses if you make a habit of exiting while they are still in the target area.

 

Completely sure. The mission has to be a success first and then you can end it.

 

Sometimes that means immediately after a strike mission has fulfilled the necessary destruction on the target. In the case of an escort mission the attackers/bombers have to make it home.

[Wolf8312]

I think I should be clear. I wouldnt want to end a mission without flying back to base, as that is all part of the experience for me trying to get home safely and land. I would just prefer to start closer to my target area as in the old campaign. It would be great if they could replace mission generator with the old campaign as it was in itself a mission generator just better than the one we have at the moment. 

[sniperton]

I'm flying a BoM fighter campaign and in my experience air starts spawn you pretty close (4 to 6 minutes) to the action area most of the time. Escort missions are a different story, you have to escort the bombers from takeoff to landing, which practically means that you start over your airfield, and all this can take 30+ minutes to complete. I hope the devs will find the way to bring back 4X time compression for such missions.

[EAF19_Marsh]

In my Kuban campaign with SchlG 1 we always seems to go miles across the bridgehead or into enemy territory, which is a bit tiresome.

 

Also reduced chances of survival to single figures...

[CIA_Yankee_]

11 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

You sure about that? I've not tried to exit a mission while over enemy held territory. But I have failed an escort mission 20 km inside friendly lines because (apparently) either the bombers being escorted weren't close enough to home or I wasn't close enough.

 

But to the OP's issue of too long of missions, unless you're playing Iron Man (dead is dead) it's no big deal to have a mission scored as failed. All of your kills will count, so quit when you want. Of course your unit may suffer massive losses if you make a habit of exiting while they are still in the target area.

 

On escort missions you have to wait until the escorted flight makes it home, that's when you get the mission success message. At least that's what happened to me last night.

[dburne]

Just now, 71st_AH_Yankee_ said:

 

On escort missions you have to wait until the escorted flight makes it home, that's when you get the mission success message. At least that's what happened to me last night.

 

Yep that seems to be the case, have flown several of those escort missions now. Those can certainly be some long missions.

[busdriver]

6 hours ago, 71st_AH_Yankee_ said:

On escort missions you have to wait until the escorted flight makes it home, that's when you get the mission success message. At least that's what happened to me last night.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I honestly thought in my case the bombers had requested clearance to land, but I was only 20 km inside friendly lines (lolly gaggin'). But the point I was emphasizing, is that if a player is not using the Iron Man mode, then mission success or failure is irrelevant. The player gets to keep all his victories. So if time is a constraint, then simply exit. I need to conduct a test...

[CIA_Yankee_]

16 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

Sorry for the confusion. I honestly thought in my case the bombers had requested clearance to land, but I was only 20 km inside friendly lines (lolly gaggin'). But the point I was emphasizing, is that if a player is not using the Iron Man mode, then mission success or failure is irrelevant. The player gets to keep all his victories. So if time is a constraint, then simply exit. I need to conduct a test...

 

Does success or failure even matter in Ironman? As I understand, Ironman is mostly an issue if you die or get captured, but you can still fail missions and keep on going, yes?

 

Or does ironman also prevent ending a mission early?

[=LD=Hethwill]

Can fail a mission. The war goes on.

 

The key missions, special events... no so sure about those.

Edited March 23, 2018 by =LD=Hethwill

[busdriver]

4 hours ago, 71st_AH_Yankee_ said:

 

Does success or failure even matter in Ironman? As I understand, Ironman is mostly an issue if you die or get captured, but you can still fail missions and keep on going, yes?

 

Or does ironman also prevent ending a mission early?

 

LOL...again my apologies for confusing the issue and not clarifying.  

 

You are correct that Iron Man is mostly (completely) an issue of getting killed or captured and being able to replay the mission. I did a terrible job of explaining the ability to end a mission early and continue a career. If you check Iron Man, then you should wait until you are safely back in friendly territory to avoid becoming a POW. And wait for your mates to cross back as well to prevent their loss according to my reading of anecdotal evidence. That makes sense but I cannot confirm it. 

 

Again just in case a reader perusing this thread for the first time misunderstands. If a player wants to exit a mission prior to landing or getting the mission accomplished message (say for RL time constraints), they can and keep their kills/victory credits. But there are additional risks a player faces if they have Iron Man checked and exit the mission whilst behind enemy lines or possibly too close to the front. Early in testing I bailed out and landed in a river I thought was held by friendlies, but I was captured. At the time I thought Iron Man meant you were invincible (a teaching moment for me). I honestly don't know if you can simply exit just crossing back into friendly territory. There might be some buffer where you are still in jeopardy. Or my experience was simply an anomaly.

 

[edit:  E-7 career, not Iron Man, had battle damage, bailed out in enemy territory, MIA (captured), end of career, entire flight also captured]

 

Thanks for keeping me honest, and sorry for sowing confusion. Mea culpa. 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by busdriver