IL2 Great Battles Easy Mission Generator

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

I have question and I`m asking it while I`m at work so I don`t forget, and I haven`t tested any instances so forgive me if it`s a simple answer already covered.

 

If I generate the same mission parameters 5 times in a row, will the same airfields be used, or is there an element of randomness to it?

 

Just thinking on re-playability, even though that is already good thing, using different airfields would increase that 100-fold. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Festa_PWR

[AtomicP]

Unless I'm missing something, I tend to get mission starts at the same airfield, at least when I pick Kuban as the map. 

 

This actually posed a problem in that with a bomber escort mission the Ju-88s didn't want to take-off, presumably because they would either careen into houses or into the sea due to the limited grass runway area. Tried again with Ju-87s and they managed to get in the air no problem. 

[SYN_Vander]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:48 PM, Festa_PWR said:

I have question and I`m asking it while I`m at work so I don`t forget, and I haven`t tested any instances so forgive me if it`s a simple answer already covered.

 

If I generate the same mission parameters 5 times in a row, will the same airfields be used, or is there an element of randomness to it?

 

Just thinking on re-playability, even though that is already good thing, using different airfields would increase that 100-fold. 

 

The airfields are not chosen at random. There is an option to choose "close to", "not far behind" and "far from" and I think whatever was set will be used even if the rest is random.

On 5/17/2019 at 1:53 PM, AtomicP said:

Unless I'm missing something, I tend to get mission starts at the same airfield, at least when I pick Kuban as the map. 

 

This actually posed a problem in that with a bomber escort mission the Ju-88s didn't want to take-off, presumably because they would either careen into houses or into the sea due to the limited grass runway area. Tried again with Ju-87s and they managed to get in the air no problem. 

 

Do you know which particular airfield so I can investigate  (AI are a bitch!!!!!) ? Normally there are 3 airfields per side per map, but Kuban poses a problem for the Axis side since there are no 3 airfields in the mission area, so 2 of the "your airfield is ... not far behind"  etc options map to the same airfield.

[AtomicP]

21 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

The airfields are not chosen at random. There is an option to choose "close to", "not far behind" and "far from" and I think whatever was set will be used even if the rest is random.

 

Do you know which particular airfield so I can investigate  (AI are a bitch!!!!!) ? Normally there are 3 airfields per side per map, but Kuban poses a problem for the Axis side since there are no 3 airfields in the mission area, so 2 of the "your airfield is ... not far behind"  etc options map to the same airfield.

 

I pick "close to" the enemy line and that puts me at Anapa, which is where the Ju-88s seem to struggle with. They start up and taxi a bit, but stop moving. Ju-87s have no problem at Anapa. I guess the AI knows the minimum take-off distance and it isn't available at that airfield.

[SYN_Vander]

On 5/18/2019 at 5:40 PM, AtomicP said:

 

I pick "close to" the enemy line and that puts me at Anapa, which is where the Ju-88s seem to struggle with. They start up and taxi a bit, but stop moving. Ju-87s have no problem at Anapa. I guess the AI knows the minimum take-off distance and it isn't available at that airfield.

 

Pity, I spent ages trying to make all bombers behave when taxiing; but I'll have a look. The workaround of course is to use "start from runway".

Edited January 6, 2020 by SYN_Vander

[SYN_Vander]

So I tried to reproduce this and indeed, the Ju88's don't take-off. This is exactly what I have been trying to solve for many hours. It's not so much that the runway is too short, but the last plane in the formation is not able to align with the leader. This is a generic AI bug.  I found that if the plane has less weight, it will taxi/turn easier, so I'll try to lower the bomb load.

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

Do you have any plans to add dogfight as a mode, alongside the current Single and Cooperative?

 

I suppose if nothing, we might be able to generate a single player mission and convert to dogfight via the mission editor (adding spawn points etc.), unless you have mission tie-ins with AI  and such that wouldn`t work when converted to 'dogfight'?

 

Also, general question . . . coop gameplay mode doesn`t offer any kind of respawn, right? It`s a 'single life' kinda deal?

[SYN_Vander]

8 hours ago, Festa_PWR said:

Do you have any plans to add dogfight as a mode, alongside the current Single and Cooperative?

 

I suppose if nothing, we might be able to generate a single player mission and convert to dogfight via the mission editor (adding spawn points etc.), unless you have mission tie-ins with AI  and such that wouldn`t work when converted to 'dogfight'?

 

Also, general question . . . coop gameplay mode doesn`t offer any kind of respawn, right? It`s a 'single life' kinda deal?

 

Dogfight mode uses different kind game functions so it usually isn’t simply a matter of converting coop to dogfight mission mode. It will need a lot of new template groups and special logic for respawning AI, because the mission can run theoretically for ever.

 

yes, coop is one life per mission, and this makes the game mode a little more “serious”. However, if you die and another player flies in a multi-crew plane, then you can join him as a gunner. 

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

5 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

Dogfight mode uses different kind game functions so it usually isn’t simply a matter of converting coop to dogfight mission mode. It will need a lot of new template groups and special logic for respawning AI, because the mission can run theoretically for ever.

 

I can understand that Coop -to- dogfight is hard to do, but i was referring to single player mission -to- dogfight. It used to be possible to change the player controlled plane in single player to a respawn object to allow the mission to be used as dogfight online. Things may have changed, as this was 12months+ the last time I even looked at the mission editor. I used to use this method to test dogfight missions I was working on in single player so I didn`t have to keep firing up a dserver.

 

5 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

yes, coop is one life per mission, and this makes the game mode a little more “serious”. However, if you die and another player flies in a multi-crew plane, then you can join him as a gunner. 

 

Thanks. We`re not the best group of pilots, so I can see one or two of the 'lads' getting annoyed that they`re dead and having to wait, but that's the game and not your mission gen, so we`ll work around that somehow

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

Is hoping the recent silence is because Vander is working on updating the EMG mission templates to coincide with the update?? Hopeful hopeful??

 

Unless I`m an idiot and this doesn`t need doing?

Edited June 10, 2019 by Festa_PWR
Edit: I typed too fast and missed some letters

[SYN_Vander]

LOL. Indeed, it doesn't need to be updated. I tested it and still works.

 

However, I’ll have to add the Me262 to the plane list. I will try to add some more  features/changes soon.

Edited June 10, 2019 by SYN_Vander

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

2 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

LOL. Indeed, it doesn't need to be updated. I tested it and still works.

 

However, I’ll have to add the Me262 to the plane list. I will try to add some more  features/changes soon.

 

Ah good. I`m sure the 262 can be added manually like all the other planes. Just need to find the proper naming of it i guess.

 

Possibly - ("Me 262 A": "me262a") ??

[SYN_Vander]

Well I need to add the me262 to the global list first, which is not in the config file (yet). Something on my backlog. Also thinking about making it so that you can always choose from all planes, but the (generated) AI will stick to the plane set that is defined for the map.

[SYN_Vander]

Small update:

 

Version 14 release notes:

-Fixed waypoints at airfields so Ju-88's will take-off after taxiing.
-Added Me262A to global plane config so it can be added to individual plane list per map.

 

See first post for download link.

 

In case you want to add all planes to a map, use this to replace the lines in the config file. Make sure you use a proper editor such as Notepad++ :

 

all_planes.txt

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

2 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

Small update:

 

Version 14 release notes:

-Fixed waypoints at airfields so Ju-88's will take-off after taxiing.
-Added Me262A to global plane config so it can be added to individual plane list per map.

 

See first post for download link.

 

In case you want to add all planes to a map, use this to replace the lines in the config file. Make sure you use a proper editor such as Notepad++ :

 

all_planes.txt 1.15 kB · 2 downloads

 

Hahaaaa. You`re a good lad!

[Indigene]

 

On 6/11/2019 at 2:32 PM, SYN_Vander said:

Small update:

 

Version 14 release notes:

-Fixed waypoints at airfields so Ju-88's will take-off after taxiing.
-Added Me262A to global plane config so it can be added to individual plane list per map.

 

See first post for download link.

 

In case you want to add all planes to a map, use this to replace the lines in the config file. Make sure you use a proper editor such as Notepad++ :

 

all_planes.txt 1.15 kB · 14 downloads

Sorry to bother you, Vander, but I can't for the life of me get this to work. I copy and paste the "Me 262 A": "me262a" into the Config using Notepad, save, and attempt to open the Generator, but I get the "Failed to execute...", and then I'm back to square one replacing the changed Config with the original. I tried other planes, as well, and the same occurs. I updated to V14, replaced all relevant files, set the IL2 game folder location, et al. Any help would be appreciated, thank you. ?

[SYN_Vander]

5 hours ago, Indigene said:

 

Sorry to bother you, Vander, but I can't for the life of me get this to work. I copy and paste the "Me 262 A": "me262a" into the Config using Notepad, save, and attempt to open the Generator, but I get the "Failed to execute...", and then I'm back to square one replacing the changed Config with the original. I tried other planes, as well, and the same occurs. I updated to V14, replaced all relevant files, set the IL2 game folder location, et al. Any help would be appreciated, thank you. ?

 

Are you using Notepad++? Or the ordinary Notepad that comes with Windows? The last one won’t work.

[Cathaoir]

@indigene  here you go....just use notepad+ and save the config.txt as config.ini....... FYI I have it set to have all planes on all maps.

 

config.txt

Edited June 13, 2019 by 216th_Cathaoir

[SYN_Vander]

I’ll try to think of a way tune your plane list in the utility.

[[SRH]Festa_VR_Noob]

40 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

I’ll try to think of a way tune your plane list in the utility.

 

Some kind of grid and check box setup, similar to the mission editor MCU for spawn point?

[DD_fruitbat]

I used Notepad++ to add it with no problem?

[Cathaoir]

True I had no problem either but there are some/maybe more than some who are not familiar with editing files that is why I provided my edited config file...

[Indigene]

11 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

Are you using Notepad++? Or the ordinary Notepad that comes with Windows? The last one won’t work.

Thank you, Vander that did the trick! I thought I had Notepad++, but nope, just regular Notepad. I appreciate the help! ?

8 hours ago, 216th_Cathaoir said:

@indigene  here you go....just use notepad+ and save the config.txt as config.ini....... FYI I have it set to have all planes on all maps.

 

config.txt 9.03 kB · 4 downloads

Thank you, Cathaoir for taking the time to respond, too. ?

Edited June 13, 2019 by Indigene

[Lord_Pyro]

As soon as i try to use the .exe after unpacking the Zip (V14) i'm getting the "failed to execute script" error. do i have to tune the config in some way? never tried the older versions before though.

[SYN_Vander]

mmmm, no, it should work out of the box. You did unpack all files/folders in that zip?

Edited June 13, 2019 by SYN_Vander

[Lord_Pyro]

Yes, i did. I even tried to manually edit the installpath into the config, so that the script would skip that part. but to no avail.

[SYN_Vander]

Where did you unzip it...in program files folder or just any folder?

 

[Lord_Pyro]

My downloadfolder. But i moved it into an newly created subfolder of IL2 as well and tried it there.

[SYN_Vander]

All I can think of now is some windows permission issue, but I tested the same procedure myself (extracted in a new folder under IL2 which resides in Program FIles folder) and for me this also works fine. Did you try to run it as admin? Although the error message suggests you are missing one of the files...

Edited June 14, 2019 by SYN_Vander

[1./JG42Nephris]

Shot into the dark - some Antivirus issues?

Means the used antivirus tool values a certain file as threat? For what reason ever...

 

Deactivate antivirus for testing and in the low chance the antivirus is responsible for the problem, you need a file exclusion for the generators folder/files.

 

[Lord_Pyro]

Interesting idea. But i would expect some kind of warning/information from the anti virussystem in case he smells something fishy.

[Hartsblade]

Great mission generator!  Thanks for all of the hard work.

 

May I make a request/suggestion?

 

Currently you have a total of two flights for the team to spawn.  Would it be possible to increase that number to four flights, or even better add a drop down menu so the player can pick how many separate flights are created (say 1 - 6 or 1 - 10)?  This way a server could spawn a couple of different aircraft for players to choose from if they wanted, almost like a simplified version of the Aircraft menu for Dogfights.

 

Again, great job on the generator, it is a great help!

[Pukindog88]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:42 PM, Hartsblade said:

Great mission generator!  Thanks for all of the hard work.

 

May I make a request/suggestion?

 

Currently you have a total of two flights for the team to spawn.  Would it be possible to increase that number to four flights, or even better add a drop down menu so the player can pick how many separate flights are created (say 1 - 6 or 1 - 10)?  This way a server could spawn a couple of different aircraft for players to choose from if they wanted, almost like a simplified version of the Aircraft menu for Dogfights.

 

Again, great job on the generator, it is a great help!

I Second this! I love this tool, I use it to make a basic mission and then just add in a few planes here and there and within a few minutes I have a working mission. Many thanks. 

 

An intercept preset would also be cool. Keep up the good work.

[SYN_Vander]

On 6/15/2019 at 8:42 PM, Hartsblade said:

Great mission generator!  Thanks for all of the hard work.

 

May I make a request/suggestion?

 

Currently you have a total of two flights for the team to spawn.  Would it be possible to increase that number to four flights, or even better add a drop down menu so the player can pick how many separate flights are created (say 1 - 6 or 1 - 10)?  This way a server could spawn a couple of different aircraft for players to choose from if they wanted, almost like a simplified version of the Aircraft menu for Dogfights.

 

Again, great job on the generator, it is a great help!

 

For coop this is a bit of a problem since I need to define parking spots/runway locations for all these flights, which also depends on the size of the aircraft. Perhaps if I figure out a routine to determine spots more dynamically.

[Hartsblade]

5 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

For coop this is a bit of a problem since I need to define parking spots/runway locations for all these flights, which also depends on the size of the aircraft. Perhaps if I figure out a routine to determine spots more dynamically.

Thanks for the reply, and thank you for even considering the option. I hope you do figure it out.

[Pukindog88]

How would I add an airfield to respawn/refuel at? I've made a mission using the editor and would just like the option to respawn. Is it possible?

 

[SYN_Vander]

15 hours ago, DOGPukindog88 said:

How would I add an airfield to respawn/refuel at? I've made a mission using the editor and would just like the option to respawn. Is it possible?

 

 

Not in SP or COOP. I'm thinking about adding Dogfight mode as well; then you could easily respawn. Do note that as soon as you go for this mode and fly with friends, pretty soon everyone is flying alone unless you have very good discipline in your team! ? 

Edited June 20, 2019 by SYN_Vander

[Pukindog88]

1 hour ago, SYN_Vander said:

 

Not in SP or COOP. I'm thinking about adding Dogfight mode as well; then you could easily respawn. Do note that as soon as you go for this mode and fly with friends, pretty soon everyone is flying alone unless you have very good discipline in your team! ? 

Good to know. I've put this on the IL-2 subbreddit, please let us know when you update this amazing tool.

[TheOldCrow]

I recently just downloaded this tool and I love it. It actually adds more variety to single player accessible content. Even just doing patrols I found this an excellent practice for MP, helping with spotting and being able to actually bounce your opponents unlike the quick missions in game. 

 

Great work and keep the updates coming!

[Boomerang]

A Huge Thank you very much for this Vander