COOP Mission Building - How do I add more players?

[[KG]Destaex]

Silly question from somebody not so familiar with il2. I managed to find the editor and create a tank mission for coop multiplayer. 

So far I have two tanks in it and can create and join my own mission. But the editor is saying I can only have one player... the others have to be AI

How do I mark tanks playable by players

 

I would have thought adding an airbase would have done it. But that does not seem to work. 

Is their a way to add those tank base spawn points instead of individual tanks, or are individual tanks the best way to setup coop missions?

[VSN_Razor]

You have to place down a fakevehiclefield and then add the type of tanks you want to have in the mission.

 

That should allow people to spawn at that point.

[SYN_Vander]

This only works in Dogfight mode, not in Cooperative mode. For coop, make sure the tank has ‘ cooperative start’ ticked in the advanced properties menu (double click the tank).

 

[[KG]Destaex]

Ok cool. I could see that. I will try that now thanks.

THanks boys that worked.

Can I ask if this will let multiple people decide whether to crew the same tank or one of their own?

[VSN_Razor]

That might work even without setting a spawn. They just need to select "become gunner" and that's it, as long as there is any tank already being driven by someone.

Edited July 12, 2020 by VSN_Razor

[[KG]Destaex]

Oh so commander or radio op cannot be selected? only two positions available?

Edited July 12, 2020 by [KG]Destaex

[LachenKrieg]

When setting up a cooperative mission, what happens if there are more tanks designated as playable then there are players?

 

In other words, lets say you have a coop mission that needs five tanks to attack/defend a position. So you design the mission with five playable tanks available, but only 2 players want to play. Are the other three tanks still visible, and is there a way to have friendly AI tanks fill in so that strength of the platoon stays at five?

[[KG]Destaex]

I now have a test mission that allows a mkIV and mkVI on one side and a KV1s on the other as playable. The tanks that do not get taken by players are played by the AI.

I had both sides right next to each other and they all fire at the enemy or neutrals automatically. Did not see anybody move though. 

I would say that setting up waypoints and proper groups that allow commands to be understood is a whole different kettle of fish.

Here is the coop selection screen from my test. 

[LachenKrieg]

26 minutes ago, [KG]Destaex said:

I now have a test mission that allows a mkIV and mkVI on one side and a KV1s on the other as playable. The tanks that do not get taken by players are played by the AI.

I had both sides right next to each other and they all fire at the enemy or neutrals automatically. Did not see anybody move though. 

I would say that setting up waypoints and proper groups that allow commands to be understood is a whole different kettle of fish.

Here is the coop selection screen from my test. 

Hey that's great, thanks for sharing.

 

Just so I understand completely. Do you know what the difference is between a coop and a dogfight mission? I was assuming that a coop mission had real players attacking enemy AI, and a dogfight mission was two teams of real players attacking each other. But that doesn't seem to be the case here with playable tanks on both sides.

 

So you spawned in one vehicle, the other friendly vehicle which is also playable was shooting along side you as an AI, and the other playable Russian tank was shooting back as an enemy AI?

 

If you need someone to test whether two players could spawn into the same tank, I would be happy to help.

 

 

Edit: Oh I just noticed that you were spectating. You should occupy one of the tanks and see if that changes anything on either side.

Edited July 12, 2020 by LachenKrieg

[[KG]Destaex]

Ok. Good questions.

I do not know if people can play tanks on each side in coop mode. 

I also do not know what exactly the difference between coop and dogfight modes is. I assumed coop was people vs AI and dogfight was pure and simple deathmatch.

I was not spectating. That screenshot is just before I choose a tank. You are put in the spectator pool before using "click to occupy" in that screenshot, on your tank of choice.

Your below statement is correct.

"So you spawned in one vehicle, the other friendly vehicle which is also playable was shooting along side you as an AI, and the other playable Russian tank was shooting back as an enemy AI?"

Thinking about it. From what I know thus far. The difference between coop and dogfight might simply be that dogfight includes a respawn point that gives players a choice of a new tank and spawn time each time they die. So the server stays up and is persistent. Coop mode is probably where you occupy a tank and get one life. Intended to be used in more scripted role play missions.

I thank you for the offer to test. If my friends are not around and you are. I will certainly take you up on it. 

[JimTM]

11 minutes ago, [KG]Destaex said:

Ok. Good questions.

I do not know if people can play tanks on each side in coop mode. 

I also do not know what exactly the difference between coop and dogfight modes is. I assumed coop was people vs AI and dogfight was pure and simple deathmatch.

I was not spectating. That screenshot is just before I choose a tank. You are put in the spectator pool before using "click to occupy" in that screenshot, on your tank of choice.

Your below statement is correct.

"So you spawned in one vehicle, the other friendly vehicle which is also playable was shooting along side you as an AI, and the other playable Russian tank was shooting back as an enemy AI?"

Thinking about it. From what I know thus far. The difference between coop and dogfight might simply be that dogfight includes a respawn point that gives players a choice of a new tank and spawn time each time they die. So the server stays up and is persistent. Coop mode is probably where you occupy a tank and get one life. Intended to be used in more scripted role play missions.

I thank you for the offer to test. If my friends are not around and you are. I will certainly take you up on it. 

 

A coop mission is a mission that players must join at the start and a dogfight ("Deathmatch") mission is a mission that players can join at any time. 

 

For a coop mission, you can create tanks for players on both sides and any unclaimed tanks are controlled by AI. You can also create AI-only tanks.

 

[LachenKrieg]

Thank you!

 

Can you tell me if there is any distinction between the two modes regarding player respawn? Can you have multiple lives in coop Mode, and if so, how does the mission editor adjust/set that?

[SYN_Vander]

Simple. There is no respawn in Cooperative. The only thing to do after you die is occupy a gunner position if a friendly (human piloted) bomber is still flying.

This is something you have to be aware of when you design the mission. It requires discipline of all players involved. One little mistake while taxiing to the airstrip and you are out of the mission altogether. It's pretty hard-core. Unless you deliberately design the missions to be quite short; if you want you can start in the air.

 

EDIT: In your context -tank crew- it will be possible to join another (human controlled) tank as driver/gunner after you have died and so continue the mission. In that regard coop works better for tanks than for planes.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by SYN_Vander

[LachenKrieg]

33 minutes ago, JimTM said:

 

A coop mission is a mission that players must join at the start and a dogfight ("Deathmatch") mission is a mission that players can join at any time. 

 

For a coop mission, you can create tanks for players on both sides and any unclaimed tanks are controlled by AI. You can also create AI-only tanks.

 

 

14 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

Simple. There is no respawn in Cooperative. The only thing to do after you die is occupy a gunner position if a friendly (human piloted) bomber is still flying.

This is something you have to be aware of when you design the mission. It requires discipline of all players involved. One little mistake while taxiing to the airstrip and you are out of the mission altogether. It's pretty hard-core. Unless you deliberately design the missions to be quite short; if you want you can start in the air.

 

EDIT: In your context -tank crew- it will be possible to join another (human controlled) tank as driver/gunner after you have died and so continue the mission. In that regard coop works better for tanks than for planes.

 

Thanks again guys. What about win conditions. What determines a win in either mode? I am assuming that there is some type of point system to entice players into competing for kills?

[JimTM]

21 hours ago, LachenKrieg said:

 

Thanks again guys. What about win conditions. What determines a win in either mode? I am assuming that there is some type of point system to entice players into competing for kills?

 

I believe the major servers such as Combat Box may or may not have some custom logic outside of the game to determine a winner. However, a mission builder can use MCUs (Mission Control Units) on the map to set up one or more conditions that will trigger the end of a mission. For example, if the Allies destroy five out of six targets, trigger the end of the mission (using a "mission end translator" MCU) and announce the winner (using a "subtitle translator" and a "mission objective translator" MCU). Also, a builder can set up a mission so that the first team to run out of points (shown at the top right of the game screen) loses. I haven't tested the points mechanism for quite awhile so I'm not sure exactly how points are lost currently.

Edited July 13, 2020 by JimTM

[[KG]Destaex]

Was able to get a friend to join my coop mission and roll around with me. Although unless I wait for him to ready up and load into the mission (where I can become gunner from spectator. I cannot start in the same tank so far. 

[LachenKrieg]

22 hours ago, [KG]Destaex said:

I now have a test mission that allows a mkIV and mkVI on one side and a KV1s on the other as playable. The tanks that do not get taken by players are played by the AI.

I had both sides right next to each other and they all fire at the enemy or neutrals automatically. Did not see anybody move though. 

I would say that setting up waypoints and proper groups that allow commands to be understood is a whole different kettle of fish.

Here is the coop selection screen from my test. 

 

23 hours ago, SYN_Vander said:

This only works in Dogfight mode, not in Cooperative mode. For coop, make sure the tank has ‘ cooperative start’ ticked in the advanced properties menu (double click the tank).

 

There is no "cooperative start" tick box in either the properties, or the advanced properties of the FakeVehicleField. And from its properties, when I click "vehicles" and select the vehicle type, I do not see a cooperative tick box available either. The mission is set to cooperative, and I have made both FakeVehicleField" objects a linked ID, and assigned a country so that the icons have red and blue borders. While in the lobby, I do not see what (KG)Destaex's is showing above. All I see is the German flag icon with green border, there are no tanks to select. And there is no Russian flag icon. If I add a Opel Blitz service vehicle and make it a linked ID, I can see a "cooperative start" tick box in its advanced properties.

 

Any suggestions? 

[Thad]

Why are you using "FakeVehicleField" objects? 

 

Use regular player vehicles.

[LachenKrieg]

11 minutes ago, Thad said:

Why are you using "FakeVehicleField" objects? 

 

Use regular player vehicles.

My intention was to create the spawn point for each side. I then selected from inside its properties the "vehicles" tab, and from there I selected the vehicle type I wanted to spawn. Is this not correct? Do I also have to place all the individual tanks in the map? If so, then what is the FakeVehicleField needed for?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[[KG]Destaex]

What worked for me in co-operative. I don't think spawn points work in coop missions.

1. When you create a mission you must select co-operative type of mission in the mission parameters

1.5 Note that the terrain preset must be the same as the terrain GUI (prokhova terrain must have prokhova terrain GUI selected)

2. Add a vehicle to the map. The vehicle name should start with and underscore _ for example _kv1s and not kv1s which is an AI vehicle.

3. Select your vehicle and click "linkt" to make it linkt

4. Select the little tiny right arrow next to the unit name to reveal the detailed properties for the vehicle and tick the "cooperative start box

4.5 Make sure you select a country for the vehicle! Very important. Otherwise it will not show up at all in the lobby.

5. Save the mission to the data\multiplayer\cooperative folder

6. Port forward the multiplayer ports in the game settings\multiplayer screen of the il2BOS landing page if you need to. Beware of firewalls on your PC also stopping the ports. Otherwise other players will not see your game.

For Dogfight missions which can have spawn points that let the player choose vehicle from inside the mission and repeatedly spawn again once dead.

- use fakevehiclefield .... this does not work in cooperative missions. 

I have not played with dogfight (deathmatch) missions yet.

 

 

Here are a couple of shots showing cooperative mission selection and the cooperative tick box for linkt units. The co-operative start box for the unit is on the top right of the larger box in the first shot. The linkt button which is already pressed now says delete linked entity in the smaller box on the left.
You can also see the tank names on the right start with an underscore _pzIV etc

Also note. No need to mark them as players. You can leave them as AI.

You DO have to place individual tanks in the co-operative missions and make them playable as per above. To answer your last question.

Edited July 13, 2020 by [KG]Destaex

[LachenKrieg]

 

On 7/12/2020 at 7:45 AM, VSN_Razor said:

You have to place down a fakevehiclefield and then add the type of tanks you want to have in the mission.

 

That should allow people to spawn at that point.

 

On 7/12/2020 at 8:59 AM, [KG]Destaex said:

Ok cool. I could see that. I will try that now thanks.

THanks boys that worked.

Can I ask if this will let multiple people decide whether to crew the same tank or one of their own?

Thought you were responding to the post regarding use of the FakeVehicleField. My bad. Thanks for your help.

[[KG]Destaex]

All good of course. Us tankers have to stick together.