Q: To Group or not To Group?

[jollyjack]

I noticed that grouping is most commonly used for blocks, bridges etc.

Looking at various downloaded and sometimes expertly created missions , career missions especially, and campaigns, a lot of them are constructed without grouping that much.

 

In my attempts so far i tried to group more and more, especially active entities and their waypoints, mostly to keep the overview in complex situations in case of fixes needed.

But i get the impression that it slows down the game actions maybe? Importing and exporting groups is a god-given attribute, but should one keep them as group?

 

BTW if you convert to binary, an existing mission, i get the impression that the ID numbers change or are reordered if you delete (rename) the msbin file first. Is that so?

[Gambit21]

Jack, all of my work is neatly organized.

Grouos, subgroups, just like a folder structure. Do not go by what you see in a career mission. Also I’ve seen work by others that I just can’t even look at as it's so unorganized. Be neat and organized.

 

Now as far as grouping slowing down a mission - never thought about it. I wonder if you’re on to something there.

 

If this were the case, simply ungrouping after you’re finished (saving a grouped version of course) would solve the issue.

[Habu]

I agree with Gambit. Some missions are awfull when you want to help to find a bug.

 

I never find that groups slow the game.

[jollyjack]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Now as far as grouping slowing down a mission - never thought about it. I wonder if you’re on to something there.

If this were the case, simply ungrouping after you’re finished (saving a grouped version of course) would solve the issue.

 

Your time delay mission as tester?

Edited January 28, 2021 by jollyjack

[SYN_Vander]

I'm not 100% sure, but my guess is that the binary version of the mission, (.msbin) the version that is actually used by the game (if it doesn't exist, it will create it first) doesn't have any groups anyway as they have no purpose outside the ME. So it really shouldn't matter or it only has impact on loading.

 

And yes, converting to binary also re-indexes the .mission file.

Edited January 28, 2021 by SYN_Vander

[Jaegermeister]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Grouos, subgroups, just like a folder structure. Do not go by what you see in a career mission. Also I’ve seen work by others that I just can’t even look at as it's so unorganized. Be neat and organized.

Now as far as grouping slowing down a mission - never thought about it. I wonder if you’re on to something there.

If this were the case, simply ungrouping after you’re finished (saving a grouped version of course) would solve the issue.

 

Gambit convinced me a while ago that neat groups makes troubleshooting much easier. Now that I am having to go back and revise missions to keep up with updates, I can't begin to think how terrible it would be if I hadn't listened to that advice. Even if it does slow the missions, it's worth it. 

 

I guess it could be tested to see if it makes a difference. Go for it!

[jollyjack]

I started with the ME only a year ago, and remember this grouping advice both from Jim_TM and Gambit. Only recently i started looking at some complex stuff.

I think i was amazed how a tank mission with so many non grouped active entities (mainly tanks, Saldy's LSSAH) ran so smoothly on my system.

Maybe since there were almost no waypoints for the tanks, and formation commands for tanks set to 'plane V-form' LoL (planes were waypointed)

Only attack area and check zones getting tank-stuff to move via Ai.

 

The only 'grief' i found was that Time Scale' does not work, even 2x. My i7 9700k and graphics settings probably being the cause. That LSSAH mission is great BTW

Now a version for the USSR as player?

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by jollyjack