Tactical Codes

[KodiakJac]

Hi Pat,

 

Could you (or anyone here) please explain to me how tactical codes work inside and outside of PWCG.  Specifically, is there a chart showing the definitions for...

 

tacticalCodeStyle (for instance "tacticalCodeStyle": 3)

 

tacticleCodeType (for instance "tacticalCodeType": "CODE_POSITION_ONE_AND_TWO")

 

In example, when I create a mission in PWCG for the Nieuport 28 my aircraft is assigned a tactical code (ie: 23).  When I run the mission in IL-2 GB I might want to change my tactical code.  The first position offers me numeric characters to choose from.  But the second position only offers me alpha characters to choose from even though there is a numeric character there as populated by PWCG.

 

And if I run a Nieuport 28 Career in IL-2 Great Battles, I get a whole bunch of alpha and numeric character sets to choose from for my tactical code.  Why don't I get the same choices in a mission generated in PWCG?

 

So, I began experimenting with the two above fields, and things immediately turned into a maze of things happening with the tactical code variables.  Where are the tactical code fields defined in IL-2 GB documentation, as I can't find them.  They must be discussed somewhere.

 

Thanks Pat (or whoever answers this or points to the right location where I can find this information) 

[czech693]

Tactical codes can be found in data/graphics/textures/common.  They're near the end of that list.  The US and French tactical codes are all numbers, so you shouldn't be getting a letter.  I'm surprised you can change the code in the sim's Missions setup since PWCGFC assigned the tactical code to the indiviual aircraft in the PWCGFC inventory, each with it's own serial number and tactical code number.

 

In PWCGFC on the final screen where you select loadouts, etc., you can select your aircraft and a drop down menu will let you choose another one with the code you want from the inventory.  If one of the wingmen in your flight has the code you want, delete him from the flight, and reassign that aircraft to yourself.  He'll get reassigned another aircraft.

 

I don't know what TacticalCodeStyle means.  I've been meaning to ask Pat Wilson what that means.

 

The CODE_POSITION refers to the graphic fields on the side of the aircraft.  They are not uniform.  Each aircraft has different field locations.  On the Nieuport 28 position one and two will be the two fields in from of the squadron insignia.

[PatrickAWlson]

24 minutes ago, czech693 said:

I don't know what TacticalCodeStyle means.  I've been meaning to ask Pat Wilson what that means.

 

Several aircraft have multiple sets of tactical codes that have the the same values (A-Z or 0-9) but the lettering style (font, I guess) is different.  I see this a lot on Russian planes.

[KodiakJac]

2 hours ago, czech693 said:

Tactical codes can be found in data/graphics/textures/common.  They're near the end of that list.  The US and French tactical codes are all numbers, so you shouldn't be getting a letter.  I'm surprised you can change the code in the sim's Missions setup since PWCGFC assigned the tactical code to the indiviual aircraft in the PWCGFC inventory, each with it's own serial number and tactical code number.

 

In PWCGFC on the final screen where you select loadouts, etc., you can select your aircraft and a drop down menu will let you choose another one with the code you want from the inventory.  If one of the wingmen in your flight has the code you want, delete him from the flight, and reassign that aircraft to yourself.  He'll get reassigned another aircraft.

 

I don't know what TacticalCodeStyle means.  I've been meaning to ask Pat Wilson what that means.

 

The CODE_POSITION refers to the graphic fields on the side of the aircraft.  They are not uniform.  Each aircraft has different field locations.  On the Nieuport 28 position one and two will be the two fields in from of the squadron insignia.

 

Thanks, @czech693

 

Strange, I don't have a "common" folder or file in the data/graphics/textures path.  And I've got "show hidden" turned on.

 

I know how to change aircraft and the subsequent serial number and tac code in PWCG, but you can override your aircraft settings in the mission startup screen.  But what's really crazy, is that it seems that the tacticalcodestyle might be a different scheme for each country.  In other words, tacticalcodestyle=3 with Germany may give you different fonts and/or characters than tacticalcodestyle=3 for England, etc.  That's why I was looking for a table that describes what the tacticalcodestyle is for each country, and for each position under that country.

 

I kind of assumed the tacticleCodeType (for instance "tacticalCodeType": "CODE_POSITION_ONE_AND_TWO") was the positions, but based on which tacticalcodestyle you use, you will see different fonts/characters per country.  I only played with it a little bit, but I got scrambled eggs when I did...lol

 

I guess one of us should go through and map it out, but I'm lazy, so first I thought I'd ask if somebody else already had a map/table 

Edited March 10 by KodiakJac

[czech693]

Well, the "common" file is probably still in one of the .gtp files.  I have all the .gtp files unpacked, so I forget which ones are not in the default folders.  The "common" folder holds all the tactical code files for each country and each war.  You can open each file and see what's on the menu for each.  That includes letters, numbers, and symbols.

 

Pat Wilson says he thinks that "style" refers to a position in the tactical code file.  I'm going to check that out as I don't like some of the fonts and would like to specify which font (or line within the tactical code file) to use.

[KodiakJac]

@czech693

 

I've only unpacked Scripts.gtp to gain access to the files necessary to turn off tactical codes at a squadron level so I could use skins that already have tac codes on them during a pilot career.  But sounds like I need to get busy and unpack them all.  Do game updates from 1C affect unpacked .gtp files?  Do I need to unpack them each time after an update?  I can't even remember which squad I turned tac codes off for, now, or if my change is still active.

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

P.S.  Ok, I found them.  Now, the question becomes "How do you make a call for the different .dds or row (character set) within a tac code .dds image?  I'm thinking back to my Nieuport 28 example.  The tac codes available from the pick list on my plane is different when a mission is generated through PWCG vs. a Pilot Career in IL-2 GB.

 

I'll keep pecking at it also 

 

Edited March 11 by KodiakJac

[czech693]

Well, that's the question I have.  How do I make it use a particular code font from the list?  I've been playing around a little with changing the TacticalCodeStyle number, but haven't seen any changes yet.  Part of the problem is that within PWCGFC I have to try a code and then create a mission and go into the mission within the sim to see the result.

 

-1 is the programming code for use default, whatever that may be for the particular aircraft.

 

I didn't like the ww1us tactical code fonts.  Too thick, the bottom font reminds me of the Keep On Trucking comics of the late '60's.  I made a copy of the ww1fr code and renamed it ww1us so the US planes use those fonts.  But since I couldn't control which font line it was using I later changed and made a ww1us code from the ww1far code (whatever that is).  It only has one number font and they are block format, what I think the US would be using.

 

Also, where the codes go on the aircraft varies from nation to nation and aircraft type.  The British codes are different and appear in different locations on the Nieuport17gbr, Camel, and Dolphin.  I would like to make the Nieuport17gbr use the same format as the Camel, but haven't had any success with that.  And, the Nieuport17gbr is hard coded to only use the British tactical codes even though there are two blank French skins provided, and the Career supplies the Nieuport17gbr along with the Nieuport17 for the French squadrons such as Esc3.  But the 17gbr appears using the British tactical code system.  I think the dev's should change that as they created a conflict.

 

And yes, new updates to the sim will change the .gtp files and you will have to unpack all of them again.  Otherwise you won't see the new changes from the update.  If you have the storage capacity, I take the folders from the (null) folder and put them into my main sim folder.  If I try modifying anything I do it to those folders, and if I mess something up I retrieve a default copy from the (null) folder.

[KodiakJac]

@czech693

 

"Part of the problem is that within PWCGFC I have to try a code and then create a mission and go into the mission within the sim to see the result."

 

Same here.  A very slow process...lol

 

I've been experimenting a little bit with the Nieuport 28 so far.  And what I'm seeing is bizarre.  So far, I've used the "-1" and "3" (no quotes) TacticalCodeStyle, and just like you, it produced the same results.  For the first tactical code position in the Editor, I'm given the choice of the first 6 characters from the 3rd line in the USAAF.dds file.  In the 2nd position I'm given the choice of the first character in the 3rd line of the USAAF.dds file, and then the first 7 characters (not including the leading blank space) in the 5th line of the USAAF.dds file!  So, I'm given the choice of a zero, and then 7 alpha characters.

 

This might be a problem with the Editor, or maybe PWCG is placing something in the mission file that is confusing the Editor.  Because when I go ahead and load the mission in IL-2 "as is" and go to the Plane Settings, I'm given the correct character choices from the entire WW1us.dds file.  I've never made a mission from scratch in the Editor, so I'm going to go to a YouTube tutorial to get me started enough to load a single Nieuport 28 into a virgin mission to see if the tactical code choices are the same as from a PWCG mission.  If the tactical choices are correct (the entire character set from the WW1us.dds) then PWCG is putting something into the mission file that is confusing the editor.

 

And the funny thing is, the PWCG mission has the tactical code displayed correctly in the Editor as far as what it corresponds to in PWCG for any given aircraft.  And that flows through to the mission after loading it.  So, it works just fine from that perspective.  But you can't change the tactical code in the Editor.  If you try, you get the confused mess I described above.

 

Good luck with your testing, too!  I've already picked up some tips from your note above, and I'm hoping you'll figure it out so I don't have to (or at least try...lol).  And you're a skilled mission builder, so if you could run the test on a fresh mission built with the Editor with a Nieuport 28 that I mentioned above, by all means please do so!

 

Cheers! 

 

Edited March 19 by KodiakJac