Install guide for Steam version of PWCG for IL-2 BOS.

[Toriatrix]

Hi, just wanted to get all you newbies an easyer time with how to install, the old guide seems to not include steam option of the game. (i appologize if it's there and i didn't see it).

 

First dowload the file from : http://www.pwcampaignmanager.com/pwcgbos/web/PWCGBoS.php

Unpack the zip file from your downloads folder like this. (I use the freeversion of Winrar).

Navigate in to the folder C:\Users\("your unsername")\Downloads\PWCGBoS 8.0.0\PWCGBoS

 

Then you want to copy the files from there to your install directory of IL-2 like shown below.

(It also works to have it in the data folder of IL-2 but it seems faster to write actual missions and according to Pat Wilson the root of IL-2 is the correct path).

Then open your "startup.cfg" inside the data folder and enable mission_text_log = 1

 

Then you are ready to run the campaign generator. PWCG.exe

(in my case) Located under : D:\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\PWCGBoS

You then select the planes you own. 

Make a new Campaign.  *Call it whaterver you like. I use "LW Battle for Moscow" for instance when i started that campaign.

Administer Coop (users).

Enter the campaign you just created on the top right side. (Double click).

Adminster Coop Pilots. (adding a pilots name for each user, don't need one for the host).

Then you can generate a mission and select what pilots and what planes you want to use..

It takes about 2-3 minutes for my pc to save the missions. So be patient. (i have an Ryzen 5 1600 CPU with M2 drive and SSD drives. and 16 gb of ram)

Missions runs fine but i get the occational "multiplayer server overload". i run most things on default settings.

When its' done the mouse pointer will be normal again. and you will be back in the pilot's roster screen.

NOW you can start up IL-2 and (remember to open ports / Ports forwarding. I have opened alot of ports, probably overkill but it works and i don't care about my pc secuity.

ALSO remeber to go to settings in IL-2 and select what IP adress it's going to connect to the internet from.

You can now host the missions play them. (and of this i ALLWAYS gets the mission failed when done when playing).

REMEMBER YOUR KILLS. write down the planes you shoot down if you have to.....

After missions are done and you get the satus screen, leave server. and exit IL-2.

Open PWCG.exe, enter the campaign. 

Do the combat report. And claim your kills. (Remember if someone else did the most damage to a plane and you finnish them off, you might not get the credit for it. And if you are alone you might also be denied for the kills. Atleast thats my theory).

 

Now you can host a new mission, and if you get an error trying to host a mission it might be that the pilot you selected is wounded, prisoner of war or otherways incapacitated.

 

Hope this helps.

If you like PatWilsonsCampainGenrator show your support by posting bugs, logfiles, and even donating on the download page.

 

Best regards.

-Toriatrix.

 

(Feel free to contact me if you need help setting up stuff).

My Discoord is - Toriatrix#6436

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Toriatrix

[Yogiflight]

@Toriatrix does it work in the data folder? Usually you unzip PWCG into the main folder Battle Of Stalingrad (or which game is your main game).

[PatrickAWlson]

5 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

@Toriatrix does it work in the data folder? Usually you unzip PWCG into the main folder Battle Of Stalingrad (or which game is your main game).

 

It shouldn't.  PWCG looks for the data directory in ../data, so I suspect it would not find it.

Edited March 23, 2020 by PatrickAWlson

[Toriatrix]

On 3/23/2020 at 8:53 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

 

It shouldn't.  PWCG looks for the data directory in ../data, so I suspect it would not find it.

Edited my guide, after testing it seems to be writing the mission files alot faster now. For some wierd reason. Both options actually works, but as i suspect the correct path is the root dir, i'll leave it there. Feel free to sticky this if you want to.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Toriatrix

[Dawg35]

"REMEMBER YOUR KILLS. write down the planes you shoot down if you have to....."

 

 

 

Is there another mod etc. that can generate after action reports, not only of my kills but what other flight members (AI or real) have accomplished / how they met their demise?

[PatrickAWlson]

17 minutes ago, Dawg35 said:

"REMEMBER YOUR KILLS. write down the planes you shoot down if you have to....."

 

 

 

Is there another mod etc. that can generate after action reports, not only of my kills but what other flight members (AI or real) have accomplished / how they met their demise?

 

I'm not sure. 

 

PWCG manages this by creating a comprehensive, populated world.  It knows the names of every pilot in its universe.  It knows who is flying in the mission and what planes they are flying.  It knows the fate of each pilot and the progression of each pilot,  Because it knows all of this it is able to present this sort of information to the player in detail.  The "world creation" stuff (thens of thousands of lines of code) is the foundation for everything that PWCG does.  Without that foundation I'm not sure how you go about it.

 

[Varibraun]

 

32 minutes ago, Dawg35 said:

not only of my kills but what other flight members (AI or real) have accomplished / how they met their demise?

 

@PatrickAWlson - Doesn't your new 8.0 persistent & AI pilot tracking squadron log feature really already do what @Dawg35 seems to be seeking?  This feature really shows its stuff in competitive coop where you can switch sides and squadrons within the same campaign (you can see how your mates fared while you were away with other squadrons). 

 

I spend a good bit of time reviewing that log as my pilots meet their fate and their successors join.  From that perspective, my future "immersion" feature requests on this front would be:

1) to add back in the name of the enemy victim pilot (vs the generic "the pilot") into the AAR and Squadron Log (when fog of war is not active), and

2) to have a squadron totals tally at the beginning/end of the log. 

 

Thanks again!

[Dawg35]

Full disclosure: I've not used PWCG, I'm installing now (working on issues with Java 1.8). I only asked because the original post seemed to indicated to me that for some reason one had to keep track of their kills themselves, made me think that this wasn't done in a PWCG campaign.   

 

[Yogiflight]

29 minutes ago, Dawg35 said:

(working on issues with Java 1.8)

You need the 64bit version, which is not installed by default. You have to manually select it.

 

31 minutes ago, Dawg35 said:

I only asked because the original post seemed to indicated to me that for some reason one had to keep track of their kills themselves, made me think that this wasn't done in a PWCG campaign.   

 

PWCG tracks all your kills, but you have to claim your airkills in the debriefing, to get them credited. This is to make it like in real life, where pilots had to claim their kills as well.

I, like others only claim kills of aircrafts I really know they were going down after I shot at them, with burning engine, lost wing or tail or seeing it crash. So I don't claim aircrafts that crashed at landing or so, as IRL I wouldn't have noticed that.

Destroyed ground targets get credited automatically.

[Dawg35]

Thanks Yogi.

 

I just got 7.4 installed and working (to get around the Java issue I was having with 8.2, I'll work on getting my Java updated now)

 

Am I correct in assuming that the coop process is to: create a coop mission, fly it, get results, create next mission after getting results, rinse/repeat?

[Yogiflight]

5 minutes ago, Dawg35 said:

Am I correct in assuming that the coop process is to: create a coop mission, fly it, get results, create next mission after getting results, rinse/repeat?

I can't really speak for coop, as I only play Sp, but this is the way PWCG works. One thing to mention is, PWCG is not in the game itself, so you have to leave the game with Alt+Tab after leaving the Missions section and going back to the main menu. So you have to change between the game and PWCG.

[Dawg35]

3 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

I can't really speak for coop, as I only play Sp, but this is the way PWCG works. One thing to mention is, PWCG is not in the game itself, so you have to leave the game with Alt+Tab after leaving the Missions section and going back to the main menu. So you have to change between the game and PWCG.

 

 

Yeah, I figured that out

 

Thanks!

[Varibraun]

@Dawg35 the 2/19 post below may help with getting JAVA 64.  Regarding Coop, you are correct.  Also, you can actually play it single player and have different pilots in different squadrons in the same "war", just switching when you like.  The only downside is you have no pause or time acceleration.  Pat has a quick Coop tutorial on Youtube, the only difference is you just create all the pilots for yourself as "host" and remember in coop you don't claim kills like in SP - they will be assigned.  You can use airstarts and adjust your waypoints closer to help speed up the missions since you won't have acceleration.  

 

Here is the link for Pat's Youtube:

 

Here is the JAVA 64 link:

 

It is a fantastic product that hopefully gets you where you want to go - Good luck!

Edited April 7, 2020 by Varibraun

[Bunny287]

Hello,

 

So I did my first mission on FC and it saved and worked great but after doing my second mission it says it does not have any data of it as if it didn’t happen and I guess I’ll have to play again ? Am I doing something wrong ? Thanks in advance !

[Varibraun]

10 hours ago, Bunny287 said:

So I did my first mission on FC and it saved and worked great but after doing my second mission it says it does not have any data of it as if it didn’t happen and I guess I’ll have to play again ? Am I doing something wrong ? Thanks in advance !

 

I think the first places to check are to be sure you have 64 bit Java and be sure you have logs enabled.  If that doesn't solve the problem to let you advance, there is a "Report Error" button in the campaign screen that will let you generate a zip file.  Post that here and when Pat has the time he can look at that to see if he can diagnose your problem.

 

Bottom line - It is well worth the time spent getting PWCG setup...Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!     

[Bunny287]

Thank you and happy thanksgiving! Quick question. Could you explain how to “enable logs”? I may have not done that ? Thanks !

[Varibraun]

49 minutes ago, Bunny287 said:

Thank you and happy thanksgiving! Quick question. Could you explain how to “enable logs”? I may have not done that ? Thanks !

 

Ahh....that's probably it.  See Pat's setup post below (it is old, but I think everything is pretty much the same except that he switched to 64 bit Java).  He also has short Youtube tutorials linked in the very first pinned post.  

 

[Bunny287]

Yeah I changed that to “1” and like I said first mission was good and saved but I’ve now played my second mission twice and when I go back to the campaign it says “unable to find find last log set for last mission” ? As if I haven’t flown it yet 

[Varibraun]

Okay, be 100% sure you have 64 bit Java (because for some reason I think FC can partially work on the standard 32 bit version based on what others have reported).

 

If so, then I have had that happen when I accidently clicked on Cancel AAR (probably not your issue).  So, to be sure it wasn't a one time glitch, I would generate a new mission, do a quick circuit to immediately land, run the combat report, claim no kills, run the AAR (which shouldn't generate any action), end the AAR, and see if that works without error.  If not, run and attach the error report.  Good luck!!