Airfields locations: Question for mission builders or Devs.

[OBN_Server]

Although the FC mission editor has some nice improvements over ROF version, one issue can be consider a major problem and bring up limitations for mission builders criativity, the location of airfields on the map.

For those who aren't familiar to this problem, in FC we have the Arras-Spring map and it has some airdromes assigned by default on it, indicated by the airdrome icon (problably where the real airfields was located) as you can see on image bellow:

 

 

The default airfield places on the map are the the only places where is possible for a plane to takeoff and land appropriately.
It's possible for mission builders to setup a drome wherever they want, but then the field soil will be like sand and make the planes wheels be half way buried and making the airfield operations impossible for most of planes.

 

This issue get even worse when you consider the airfields numbers and distribution over the map don't help at all. look to the north portion of the Arras map bellow:

 

 

All this considerable portion of the map has only one airfield each side, with brings a serious limitation to use it as a scenario for a mission.

For a fictional missions server as OBN, this is a serious issue, because we need to built missions for casuals players and these needed to be small area ones to provide some fast action, considering the low numbers of players we have at this server starting point.

 

The workaround we're using is the airstart, but this solution is not good enough, considering a good part of the player experience is the land back home.

 

I've trying hard to find a way to make possible to operate airfields in different locations as those on map default and I did found something interesting, what suggests it may be possible, but I did'nt get sucess yet.

 

FC mission editor/Surface Editing:

 

This feature brings up on map the Decals, Tapes and Shapes objects (blue objects on image), what you can see over all of default airdrome locations on map.
I'm sure it has relation with the definition of an FC airdrome.

 

<Edited>

Page 205 of FC-ME Manual:

 

</Edited>

 

When you try to work with those elements you can easily copy and paste then in different locations or even move the exists ones to everywhere you want.

 

Here the airfield elements was copy and paste just aside:

 

Here the Le Hameaux airfield elements was moved a little to the right:

 

You can see the flatness and no grass field that make an airfield landscape was move with the elements:

 

When you make changes and save it, you can see a file related to the map been changed:

 

if you close and reopen the mission editor you still can verify the changes you have made, but that is not true when you try to play/fly a changed surface mission, it will just seen and operate as an default one as you never did make any changes to the default airfields at all.

 

Conclusion is:
The tools to make all possible seems to be all there, but I don't know if it's allowed to an end user to play with map surfaces with those elements or not.

 

My question is:
Is there a way to make new airfields locations to operate as default ones on FC? (using those shapes or not)

 

If not, there's a plan to make it possible?

or at least set up more airdrome locations available on the map?

 

Gus

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by OBN_Server
include information...

[Hamaha15]

Hello Server,

 

just in case you haven't got an answer yet: you have to switch on the MODs option when running the game to activate changes to the maps.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Cynic_Al]

Does anyone involved in map editing, disagree that this functionality should be available without mods on?

[OBN_Server]

Hi! thanks for your comments, I didn't make any tests with MODs ON, I was trying to make it work in regular mode, but that was interesting to know thanks.
Anyway one of latest updates make the soil hard enough to operate Airfields in different locations, or at least that is what I got impression, didn't try yet, but if it's true this feature is not necessary any more.

The OBN server is out of working in these days because it needs to be locate in north hemisfere, the attemps I did made from Brazil is not good enough to provide a stable sever to Northen players, so it is in a temporary out of service, until I can do solve that issue.

cheers!

Gus