Can't get AI planes to spawn from complex trigger

[[GR]Tankie7550]

Hey one and all,

 

Normally I don't have much of a problem with this but for the life of me I can't work out why the bf110's won't "spawn in"? I have 2 trigger zones for this incase some players want to take a short cut to the mission area but either the triggers aren't firing or the planes aren't coming to life.

I have attached the mission if someone could have a look and maybe come up with the solution I would be forever in your debt.

GR operation Frankton Support.zip

[Sketch]

GRoperationFranktonSupportSINGLEPLAYER.zip  <-- mission file with my notes

 

 

Video tutorial:

 

 

 

 

Text Tutorial: You only need to have either the spawner or activation MCUs. I believe having both there was effecting the other.

 

 

[[GR]Tankie7550]

Hey Sketch,

 

Thanks for the assist What I want to acheive is those 110's to spawn everytime a plane goes in to that area which i#ve never managed to do yet with the active MCU, do you think just setting the spawner with the 110 not enabled wold do that?

 

Cheers,

 

Tankie

 

Edit the spawner only options works great Thanks.

Edited April 5, 2020 by [GR]Tankie7550

[Sketch]

@JimTM please correct me if I'm wrong...

 

For clarity, there's a difference between a checkzone MCU and a complex trigger MCU. For both of them, when a plane enters the area, they execute as you'd expect. However, when there's a plane in the area of influence of a complex trigger; the complex trigger will not keep executing itself when a new plane that enters the area. A checkzone on the other doesn't care how many planes are in the area already, and will keep executing for each new plane that enters the checkzone while other planes are already in the checkzone. 

 

No planes in area of influence:

• Checkzone: I execute as soon as a plane enters the area.
• Complex Trigger: I execute as soon as a plane enters the area.

Planes already inside the area of influence and a new plane enters the area of influence:

• Checkzone: I'll keep executing each time a new plane enters the area, I don't care how many planes there are in my area already.
• Complex Trigger: I already executed because there's already a plane there. So I'm not executing anymore until all the planes leave my area of influence

Plane was in my area of influence and then left. Now that same plane or a new plane has come back into my area of influence:

• Checkzone: I'll keep on executing as normal!
• Complex Trigger: I too will execute again as normal

 

 

I bring this up because the question is... "Do you want the bombers to spawn each time a player enters the area of influence? ie: Six players enter the influence area and now you have six sets of 110s to deal with... Or do you want 110s to spawn one time for a group of planes?" 

 

I assume it's the later, and if so, you'll need to either make the complex trigger big enough so that players fly into, but never leave it, or once a player has entered the complex trigger; you disable it so that no new 110s spawn again (because once all players leave the small complex trigger, and then a new player enters it, it executes again). Most likely, you'll need to disable the complex trigger. So now, you need to think up logic of how to reenable the complex trigger to allow a new set of 110s to spawn in. Maybe it's as simple as checking how many 110s are destroyed... If all of them are destroyed, reenable the complex trigger. There's other edge cases to think about too when it comes to renabling the complex trigger... What happens if the players get shot down? What happens if the players run out of bullets? What happens if the 110s get to their last waypoint? You'll have to think about how to handle these cases. 

 

And if you choose to go the "big enough so that players never leave the complex trigger" route, how will ALL players know to leave the area and come back? How will you deal with 110s that spawned already?

 

Now that the rabbit hole has been opened... Are you going to fall into it? ?

 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by [TWB]Sketch

[[GR]Tankie7550]

It is a complex subject and what I like to do is have it set so the players are always under pressure from the other aircraft.

 

I've had the unenvyable joy of being the Sqn's mission creator now for a few months so it is a hole I have been pushed down rather than fallen ?

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, [GR]Tankie7550 said:

have it set so the players are always under pressure from the other aircraft.

 

This is pretty broad and can't be programmed really. (I mean, one pilot may be under pressure from just one enemy, while another pilot can fight off 10 enemies.... How would we program that?)  What exactly do you want these 110s to do? And what exactly do you want the players to do?

[DN308]

Really interesting as I'm doing the exact kind of event (planes spawning in the middle of a bomb run).

How to do for making the "agressors" attack my bombers?

I've tried your method but the ENY planes just circle at high altitude without engaging.

Edited April 5, 2020 by DN308

[JimTM]

Assumption:

• The complex trigger is set to "Object Entered" or "Object Entered Alive".
• The checkzone is set to "Closer".

7 hours ago, [TWB]Sketch said:

@JimTM please correct me if I'm wrong...

 

For clarity, there's a difference between a checkzone MCU and a complex trigger MCU. For both of them, when a plane enters the area, they execute as you'd expect. However, when there's a plane in the area of influence of a complex trigger; the complex trigger will not keep executing itself when a new plane that enters the area. A checkzone on the other doesn't care how many planes are in the area already, and will keep executing for each new plane that enters the checkzone while other planes are already in the checkzone. 

...

 

Correction:

• Complex trigger will execute for each specified object that enters the area. I haven't tested lately the behaviour if there is an object in the area when the complex trigger is activated.
• A Checkzone will execute when the first object enters or if there is already an object in the area when it is triggered (i.e., a target link signals it to start detecting objects). It will execute again after all specified objects have left the area and one of them re-enters the area.

 

7 hours ago, [TWB]Sketch said:

...

Planes already inside the area of influence and a new plane enters the area of influence:

• Checkzone: I'll keep executing each time a new plane enters the area, I don't care how many planes there are in my area already.
• Complex Trigger: I already executed because there's already a plane there. So I'm not executing anymore until all the planes leave my area of influence

...

 

Correction: 

• Checkzone: << See the second bullet in the correction above >>.
• Complex Trigger: << See the first bullet in the correction above >>

 

7 hours ago, [TWB]Sketch said:

...

Plane was in my area of influence and then left. Now that same plane or a new plane has come back into my area of influence:

• Checkzone: I'll keep on executing as normal!
• Complex Trigger: I too will execute again as normal.

...

 

Clarification: 

• Checkzone: I'll only execute if the plane that left was the last specified plane in the area and the first plane to return to the area.
• Complex Trigger: I too will execute again as normal.

 

Note: Checkzones will not work for player-controlled planes in a MP mission run on the in-game server

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by JimTM