Engageble objects

[Alfaunostebas11]

In my hard learning curve of this very complex Mission Editor, I am creating a mission that serves as a ground attack test, with various types of weapons.
I posed the problem of positioning a series of objects to hit on an airport, even in order to arrive at a statistic that could establish a ranking of merit between the various attempts, even operated by different planes.
I noticed that the various objects can be positioned in different ways. The same vehicle, for example a Gaz aa can be:
1) A simple Block
2) A linked entity Block (neutral or enemy)
3) A simple vehicle
4) A linked entity vehicle (neutral, enemy, enablerd or not, engageble or not, etc.)
 and maybe more ...
The first thing I did was to place two identical vehicles on the track, one of type 2 and one of type 4 (both enemies) and attack them with a very powerful aircraft (IL-2) and with unlimited ammo, so to be sure to hit them.
I have noticed a completely different behavior between the two entities.
1) The Block appears at the last moment (about 1 km away, so with little time to aim it...) while the vehicle already at 3km is clearly visible and also padlockable.
2) While the vehicle exploded immediately at the first pass, centered by a burst of Sturmovik's cannons, the Block resisted many passages and although clearly hit with guns and rockets it seemed almost indestructible.

Finally I flew with my plane like a Kamikaze direct against the target, causing a huge explosion .. but nothing, he was there undaunted as if nothing had happened. It seems that the Gaz aa (but obviously also other units), in the Block version have a very much more hard armor than in the Vehicle version.
Then, intrigued, I placed a large compact group of these Gaz aa Block linked entities and bombarded them with multiple releases of 4 x 100 FAB at low altitude. Here, only at this point, but not at every step, I got some hits...
Finally I report that, when this happened, the hits were scored in the statistics under the section Transports, exactly as in the case of the Gaz aa Vehicle.
So my first question is: why these differences, which undoubtedly reflect a scarce realism ?

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Alfaunostebas11

[SCG_Schneemann]

Try setting the Durability values to something less...

 

And...

 

[Alfaunostebas11]

A great idea Schneemann! The value attributed by default to the Gaz AA of 25000, as I have seen, is worthy of a super armored Hangar !!! I have done some tests and it seems to me that the most correct value is 3000-3500, this allows to set on fire the vehicle with a robust burst of heavy machine guns or with a couple of well aimed 20 mm cannon shots.
Thanks for the indication.
PS. However, I see from the posts on the forum that the topic is much debated and that there are no lack of bugs on this durability

[Alfaunostebas11]

OK. The problem of durability has been clarified.
Now I want to address the other issues related to the different way of inserting stationary objects / units in the mission.
Since I know that the number of linked entities dramatically affects the resources employed by the system, I pose the problem of how to populate the map with many objects, without over-influencing the frame / rate and memory.
I thought that perhaps, to use a lower number of linked entities, we could insert "static" objects, that is, positioned in a specific place, absolutely passive, without moving or shooting, but which however enrich the scene and which can be freely be targeted by enemy forces..
So in the airfield, alongside "linked entitiy" objects such as blocks, airplanes and vehicles, I placed a vehicle and a plane as "non-linked entities" and a static camera to observe the scene.
Well, the result is quite disconcerting and is represented by the two screenshots that I attach.
When I'm in Mission Editor mode, I obviously see the two objects also through the camera view.
But when I am in game mode they simply disappear from the scene !!!
So I have two other questions, sorry if maybe there are a bit foregone or ordinary or if I have not yet read thoroughly the whole manual of the Mission Building ...
1) Why are unlinked objects seen in the Mission Editor and not seen during the game?

2) If the one referred to in point 1 is not a bug, as I fear, what sense does it have to place non-linked objects if you can not, not just attack them, but not even see them?

I hope I did something wrong ... but what?

Thank for your attention...

Edited January 12, 2019 by Alfaunostebas11

[Gambit21]

I could have saved you some time here - I wish I'd seen this sooner.

 

First, yes if you don't have the object (real aircraft, ship etc) set to 'linked entity' it will not show up in the mission.

This is new behavior from a few updates ago. It's annoying, I reported it...but might be permanent.

 

Second you can have a very large number of linked entities without a negative impact on performance, especially static objects.

Relax a little about this, but also...make friends with static objects.

 

Third - you can use actual aircraft/vehicles as "active" static objects...I do this all the time. That way there's a better damage model when attacked.

I can also activate them in randomized groupings so that they're in a different arrangement every time the player boots the mission.

 

In short and most importantly,  don't worry so much about linked entities, unless you have a poor system you can place quite a few.

 

 

[Alfaunostebas11]

Thank you for your intervention, Gambit.
I believe there must be a way to position many stationary linked entities, but in the way that they at the beginning of the mission are inactive and come into play only when the mission actually needs them.
I will have to study how to activate them based on the occurrence of certain conditions.
Perhaps there is a command like "on event ... enabled object" ... or not ?
If you want to, for example, populate an airport with dozens of objects that are visible and attackable (buildings, planes, vehicles, cannons, tanks, etc.) what kind of unit do you use? (I see that the little table-window in the right bottm corner of Mission Editor screen shows a maximum number entities of 40 veichles, 20 planes and 10 buildings and this would be a severe limitation...)
However, my perplexity remains with regard to question no. 2: what is the use of placing non-linked objects on a mission?

[Gambit21]

You want static objects (vehicles, aircraft, structures) - any of which can be linked entities. 

 

You can use actual aircraft and vehicles at

your discretion. 

 

Only actual vehicles and aircraft  can be spawned or activated however. You cannot spaw/activate static blocks.

[Alfaunostebas11]

OK thanks.
Your words are reassuring ...
I go forward in the learing curve ...

[Sketch]

I typically do something like this with static objects:

 

 

 

 

In the upper right hand corner is my static objects 'paint bucket'. I've already modified these objects, and when I need a new object, I select one of them, and copy/paste that object where I want it. This way I'm not constantly setting the 25000 damage value (or any variable) each time I place an object. See image below:

 

 

 

Then, I'll make a few of my objects in the bunch actually 'count' towards the objective. Players get notified via icons on how badly damaged the static objects are. I'll normally stack these icons on top of each other, and place them on top of or near the objective. Once one icon disappears, the next one shows up and so on till the objective is destroyed. The icons system is from JimTM's damage switch display group, included in his mission editor manual files. See image below:

 

 

 

Finally, I added a simple "We're being attacked!" subtitle message and icon. This fires off immediately, only to the Allies, anytime any of the active static objects are attacked. It then waits 3 minutes 30 seconds till it fires again. The 'Attacked!' icon also disappears at the 1min 30 second mark and will reappear if the static objects are attacked again after the 3min 30sec mark. See image below:

 

 

 

As Gambit stated, I wouldn't worry to much about static objects. I've seen missions with 30k static objects running just fine. Having said that, you can optimize your missions in various ways including:

• Removing static objects not in your 'play area',
• Deactivating/Activating dynamic objects (smoke, AAA, gun fire, etc) as players get near them,
• Limiting moving objects (vehicles, tanks, planes, etc) to about 20-30 or so

 

 

Attached is the group in the images above.

RussianAirplanes.zip

Edited January 13, 2019 by [TWB]Sketch

[Alfaunostebas11]

Thanks Sketch, but I'm not able to open the zip file in the Mission Editor. It seemes that the mission file is missing...

In any case, the problem of who from the IL-2 Sturmovik 46 FMB approaches the IL-2 Great Battles ME is that it is a much more complex and completely different system in construction and philosophy.
The great manual "Mission editor and multiplayer server manual" is very detailed but I don't find a logical thread, a simple tutorial that will accompany you, step by step in the creation of a mission from nothing to the final configuration.
Even the FME Manual SP Missions are of little use, because you see a large number of icons linked by many links, but you do not know which way to start to understand how they work ...

 

[Alfaunostebas11]

Sorry Sketch I was trying to open mission file instead of import file as group...

Now I have into the ME... and I try to understand how it works

Edited January 20, 2019 by Alfaunostebas11

[Alfaunostebas11]

Sketch, I have imported your group in the scenario and put a player plane flying nearby in order to see what happens.

In the first attempt I vainly tried to find enemy parked planes, because in the white snowy landscape, I was not able to see them (they are not lockable..).

However I have put them right on the airport of Lapino to be sure to identify them.
So I attacked with my Bf-109 F4, destroying a pair of them.
But, although I had the HUD active and the icons (for defaul keys H and I) I had no news of the damage inflicted or units destroyed and, when I finished the mission, no victory was credited to me.
So I wonder what the usefulness of all this is and go back to my main question: since a static object is not lockable, it is hardly visible (unless you are very very close) and, even if destroyed , gives no score ... what is the reason for placing these objects in the scenario of a mission?
I apologize if my question is silly, but sincerely that's what I'm trying to understand ...