Is there a description of all the configuration options?

[jpanside]

I'd like to know a bit more in-depth of what each option does. PWCG is awesome for co-op players and I want to create a robust and dynamic mission menu for me and my friends. Is there a manual that describes more of what each one does? I have a few questions:

 

1. Air density. Does this mean how many enemy aircraft are in the air? But doesn't this conflict with the other settings like Max Flights per Side?

 

2. Save AI fromt itself. Does the AI somehow kill themselves in other ways? Should I turn this on?

 

3. Fighter AI adjustment and Bomber AI adjustment. Is -4 the easiest AI and 4 the hardest AI?

 

4. I don't understand Aircraft numbers. For example if I put 10 in bombing additional, does that mean whenever there is a bombing mission (for me or for the enemy), the bomber flight will have 10 more additional aircraft in the flight?

 

5. Max Fighter Flights Per Side: Fighter Campaign. Does this option limit the amount of Fighter flights on BOTH sides to just 1 in a mission?

 

6. Odds " " mission is escorted options. If I put 0 here, whenever I am bombing or the enemy is bombing, the bombers will not have escorts. Correct? This influences both sides, not just one side?

 

7. Max Virtual Escorts. This one confuses me. Not sure what it does.

 

Everything else is pretty self explanatory! Thank you for your help and for making this AWESOME TOOL!

 

[PatrickAWlson]

12 hours ago, jpanside said:

I'd like to know a bit more in-depth of what each option does. PWCG is awesome for co-op players and I want to create a robust and dynamic mission menu for me and my friends. Is there a manual that describes more of what each one does? I have a few questions:

 

1. Air density. Does this mean how many enemy aircraft are in the air? But doesn't this conflict with the other settings like Max Flights per Side?

 

2. Save AI fromt itself. Does the AI somehow kill themselves in other ways? Should I turn this on?

 

3. Fighter AI adjustment and Bomber AI adjustment. Is -4 the easiest AI and 4 the hardest AI?

 

4. I don't understand Aircraft numbers. For example if I put 10 in bombing additional, does that mean whenever there is a bombing mission (for me or for the enemy), the bomber flight will have 10 more additional aircraft in the flight?

 

5. Max Fighter Flights Per Side: Fighter Campaign. Does this option limit the amount of Fighter flights on BOTH sides to just 1 in a mission?

 

6. Odds " " mission is escorted options. If I put 0 here, whenever I am bombing or the enemy is bombing, the bombers will not have escorts. Correct? This influences both sides, not just one side?

 

7. Max Virtual Escorts. This one confuses me. Not sure what it does.

 

Everything else is pretty self explanatory! Thank you for your help and for making this AWESOME TOOL!

 

Hover over the config parameter and a description will appear.  Let me know if any of the descriptions are unclear.  

Edited April 18 by PatrickAWlson

[jpanside]

On 4/18/2025 at 9:36 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

Hover over the config parameter and a description will appear.  Let me know if any of the descriptions are unclear.  

Yup! I know how to do that so most of the options make sense. It's just the 7 options above I want more clarification on. Thank you sir! 

[PatrickAWlson]

Simple configs control several advanced configs.  Air density is a simple config that controls how many planes are in the air. 

 

Save AI from itself: The AI has a bad habit of killing itself.  This setting prevents the AI from self inflicted death.  basically, if the AI pilot is killed in a mission but nobody killed the AI pilot, then PWCG does not recor4d the AI pilot as killed.

 

Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better.

 

Base number is the minimum number in a flight.  Additional is a maximum additional number.  If you have a base of 2 and additional 10 then there will be 2 - 12 planes in the flight.  I would not recommend pushing this too far as the game will come to its knees.

 

Max Fighter Flights Per Side applies to both sides.  it is higher for fighter flights to provide more opposition (also provides more friendly fighter flights).  it is lower for ground attack missions to prevent every such mission from becoming "jettison bombs and fend off attacking fighters).

 

Odds mission is escorted applies only to Ai flights.  As you guessed, it is the odds of an AI attack mission having a fighter escort.

 

AI flights are virtual.  Probably should have said "AI".  If the above places odds on an AI flight being escorted, this parameter limits the number of flights that can have an escort.  Again, the idea is not  to overload the game.

 

Most of these parameters are provided to tune mission performance.  I wish there was no need for them, but there is.

 

[Varibraun]

3 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better.

 

Oh no...I have been doing this backwards going +4 trying to help out the AI in FC (fortunately, been leaving it alone in BoS).  Really glad this question was asked/answered to expose my ignorance.  Thank you @jpanside and Pat!

Edited April 19 by Varibraun

[jpanside]

3 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Simple configs control several advanced configs.  Air density is a simple config that controls how many planes are in the air. 

 

Save AI from itself: The AI has a bad habit of killing itself.  This setting prevents the AI from self inflicted death.  basically, if the AI pilot is killed in a mission but nobody killed the AI pilot, then PWCG does not recor4d the AI pilot as killed.

 

Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better.

 

Base number is the minimum number in a flight.  Additional is a maximum additional number.  If you have a base of 2 and additional 10 then there will be 2 - 12 planes in the flight.  I would not recommend pushing this too far as the game will come to its knees.

 

Max Fighter Flights Per Side applies to both sides.  it is higher for fighter flights to provide more opposition (also provides more friendly fighter flights).  it is lower for ground attack missions to prevent every such mission from becoming "jettison bombs and fend off attacking fighters).

 

Odds mission is escorted applies only to Ai flights.  As you guessed, it is the odds of an AI attack mission having a fighter escort.

 

AI flights are virtual.  Probably should have said "AI".  If the above places odds on an AI flight being escorted, this parameter limits the number of flights that can have an escort.  Again, the idea is not  to overload the game.

 

Most of these parameters are provided to tune mission performance.  I wish there was no need for them, but there is.

 

Thank you! That explains it all perfectly! I love your PWCG!!!

 

The amount of content and Role-playing it offers is insane

[jpanside]

5 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Simple configs control several advanced configs.  Air density is a simple config that controls how many planes are in the air. 

 

Save AI from itself: The AI has a bad habit of killing itself.  This setting prevents the AI from self inflicted death.  basically, if the AI pilot is killed in a mission but nobody killed the AI pilot, then PWCG does not recor4d the AI pilot as killed.

 

Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better.

 

Base number is the minimum number in a flight.  Additional is a maximum additional number.  If you have a base of 2 and additional 10 then there will be 2 - 12 planes in the flight.  I would not recommend pushing this too far as the game will come to its knees.

 

Max Fighter Flights Per Side applies to both sides.  it is higher for fighter flights to provide more opposition (also provides more friendly fighter flights).  it is lower for ground attack missions to prevent every such mission from becoming "jettison bombs and fend off attacking fighters).

 

Odds mission is escorted applies only to Ai flights.  As you guessed, it is the odds of an AI attack mission having a fighter escort.

 

AI flights are virtual.  Probably should have said "AI".  If the above places odds on an AI flight being escorted, this parameter limits the number of flights that can have an escort.  Again, the idea is not  to overload the game.

 

Most of these parameters are provided to tune mission performance.  I wish there was no need for them, but there is.

 

Mr. Wilson, one quick question about Air Density. This controls how many planes are in the air but how does it work with other options that also affect # of planes. for example, I reduced the max # of flights and cut down the additional aircraft numbers drastically. So if I increased the air density to high, would air density option override the other options or are the other options "stronger"? Thank you for clarifying!

[PatrickAWlson]

2 hours ago, jpanside said:

Mr. Wilson, one quick question about Air Density. This controls how many planes are in the air but how does it work with other options that also affect # of planes. for example, I reduced the max # of flights and cut down the additional aircraft numbers drastically. So if I increased the air density to high, would air density option override the other options or are the other options "stronger"? Thank you for clarifying!

 

Simple settings are there for folks who don't want to fool with the advanced settings.  Best thing to do if you are starting with a fresh campaign is choose a set of simple settings and the tailor them in advanced setting if you wish. 

 

If you have already played with advanced setting, don't use simple anymore. Changing and accepting simple settings will change the advanced settings.

[czech693]

I have been doing this backwards all this time.  If 1 is Ace and 4 is Novice, is -1 Ace enhanced and -4 Novice enhanced?

 

EDIT:   Went back and read old threads.  This in conflict with what was spelled out previously.   I've been using +4, but now I'm totally confused.

 

 

Edited April 20 by czech693

[AeroCrab]

I just checked the output of things in both the mission editor and the .mission file and the old thread appears to be the correct answer. AI goes:

 

0 - Player

1 - Low

2 - Normal

3 - High

4 - Ace

 

so +1 will increase the AI level.

[czech693]

Something else came up when I was looking at old threads.  Pat said the AI Configuration only appied to the external AI's, both friendly and enemy.  It doesn't effect the AI in your squadron.  If that's the case, I've been giving the enemy all Ace pilots while the pilots in my squadron are all lower grade (and frequenly get shot down).

[jpanside]

14 hours ago, AeroCrab said:

I just checked the output of things in both the mission editor and the .mission file and the old thread appears to be the correct answer. AI goes:

 

0 - Player

1 - Low

2 - Normal

3 - High

4 - Ace

 

so +1 will increase the AI level.

 

what does 0 even mean? player difficulty? also, in the in-game hover tooltip, it says it can go to -4. What does that mean?

 

So what Pat said is wrong? "Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better."

 

So I can put -99 and PWCG will understand?

Edited April 21 by jpanside

[Stonehouse]

7 hours ago, jpanside said:

 

what does 0 even mean? player difficulty? also, in the in-game hover tooltip, it says it can go to -4. What does that mean?

 

So what Pat said is wrong? "Pilot AI Adjustment: Pilot skill is represented in the game by a number 1-4 (0 is player).  1 is an ace and 4 is a novice.  Adding makes the pilot worse.  Subtracting makes the pilot better."

 

So I can put -99 and PWCG will understand?

 

I believe it is a weighting factor not an absolute. So +4 skews things towards many more pilots being aces, -4 skews things towards many more pilots being novices. Pat usually (as I recall) recommends leaving this as 0 because it allows natural progression of pilots to occur as they gain experience.

[AeroCrab]

@jpanside The list I gave was for the game itself and the values are for AI level. So 0 means "not AI" and is for the player. But again, those are values the game uses. In any case yes, I believe Patrick was mistaken (it is possible I'm missing something here, but the PWCG code also seems to bear this out).

 

PWCG allows you to adjust the "native" AI level of each pilot (including the player flight @czech693, so far as I can tell from the code, but of course not the player themself). It determines this native level though all the cool internals it does, and then allows you to adjust that level "up" or "down". If you put in -99, every AI will be set to "low" in-game (what PWCG calls "novice"). If you set it to 99, every one will be Ace - the code clamps min/max. 

 

[jpanside]

24 minutes ago, AeroCrab said:

@jpanside The list I gave was for the game itself and the values are for AI level. So 0 means "not AI" and is for the player. But again, those are values the game uses. In any case yes, I believe Patrick was mistaken (it is possible I'm missing something here, but the PWCG code also seems to bear this out).

 

PWCG allows you to adjust the "native" AI level of each pilot (including the player flight @czech693, so far as I can tell from the code, but of course not the player themself). It determines this native level though all the cool internals it does, and then allows you to adjust that level "up" or "down". If you put in -99, every AI will be set to "low" in-game (what PWCG calls "novice"). If you set it to 99, every one will be Ace - the code clamps min/max. 

 

thank you Aerocrab! 

 

Quick question about PWCG. If I like using the advanced configs more than the simple configs. But I can't seem to find the ground units in advanced config. I want to remove all Anti-air in my PWCG campaign. How can I do this? Im a fighter flying a bf109 and I dont want any Anti-air to shoot me down. 😃 I want to focus on killng airplanes first.

Also, if I save my simple configs, does it overwrite the advanced configs? I dont want to screw anything up.

 

Lastly, is there way to force PWCG to give me missions where I have to shoot down transport planes? I want to hunt transport planes.

Edited April 21 by jpanside

[AeroCrab]

@jpanside With regards to AA and hunting transports, the short answer is "no." I have to be a little careful here since my version of the code has changed from stock, but you can reduce the amount of AA significantly by setting the simple "AA Density" to Ultra Low. There's a bug associated with the "low" setting, so stick with ultra low if you really want to reduce the AA amount. (Also there is a hilarious bug with respect to railroad AA, but that mostly seems to affect FC).

 

You can't force PWCG to generate "hunt transport" missions, as far as I know - that would not really go with what I think is the fundamental nature of PWCG. There may not even be an active enemy transport squadron nearby, for example.

 

As far as simple configs go, Patrick has said elsewhere that it is intended as an either/or situation. As a practical matter, you should definitely only set Air Density before any "complex" changes, as that simple setting will change ones that the complex values also change. Basically, set your Air Density simple setting once and then leave it alone. However, the other four simple settings do not conflict and can be changed as you wish.

 

All of this with the big caveat that I am not Patrick and I'm just reading the code, possibly badly. No guarantees 

Edited April 21 by AeroCrab

[czech693]

1 hour ago, AeroCrab said:

@jpanside The list I gave was for the game itself and the values are for AI level. So 0 means "not AI" and is for the player. But again, those are values the game uses. In any case yes, I believe Patrick was mistaken (it is possible I'm missing something here, but the PWCG code also seems to bear this out).

 

PWCG allows you to adjust the "native" AI level of each pilot (including the player flight @czech693, so far as I can tell from the code, but of course not the player themself). It determines this native level though all the cool internals it does, and then allows you to adjust that level "up" or "down". If you put in -99, every AI will be set to "low" in-game (what PWCG calls "novice"). If you set it to 99, every one will be Ace - the code clamps min/max. 

 

I don't think so.  Based on this thread, Pat says your squadron is not effected.  I can confirm this as my squadron started with a Novice setting.  I had set the AI Configuration to +4, which should have made all AI an Ace.  Based on a comment by Pat, Ace is an AI with 5 kills or more.  My squadron AI had no Aces.  Anyway, I've gone back to using 0 so that the AI on both sides will be somewhat equal (Germans tend to have more Aces).

 

 

Edited April 21 by czech693

[AeroCrab]

3 minutes ago, czech693 said:

I don't think so.  Based on this thread, Pat says your squadron is not effected.  I can confirm this as my squadron started with a Novice setting.  I had set the AI Configuration to +4, which should have made all AI an Ace.  Based on a comment by Pat, Ace is an AI with 5 kills or more.  My squadron AI had no Aces.

 

 

 

Well, I certainly could be wrong, but I think we're perhaps talking about different aspects of "AI level". According to what you are quoting, the player squadron is simulated over time such that pilots improve with activity. This is unrelated to the UI-based AI adjustment and is indeed not affected by it. What the UI-based adjustment does is say "However we arrived at an AI level (through squadron simulation or random generation in the case of other AI flights), now add/subtract this amount." So it isn't a "permanent" increase, it just applies to the mission being generated. In other words, this modified value appears in the .mission file and is never heard from again.

 

So my theory is that, while your squadron AI had no Aces as far as PWCG is concerned, in the actual generated missions they all were (if you were using +4). You could look in the generated .mission file (it is just a text file - search for an AI pilot's name) and see what the AI level is to be sure.

 

Same caveat as I gave above, of course.

[PatrickAWlson]

35 minutes ago, jpanside said:

thank you Aerocrab! 

 

Quick question about PWCG. If I like using the advanced configs more than the simple configs. But I can't seem to find the ground units in advanced config. I want to remove all Anti-air in my PWCG campaign. How can I do this? Im a fighter flying a bf109 and I dont want any Anti-air to shoot me down. 😃 I want to focus on killng airplanes first.

Also, if I save my simple configs, does it overwrite the advanced configs? I dont want to screw anything up.

 

Lastly, is there way to force PWCG to give me missions where I have to shoot down transport planes? I want to hunt transport planes.

 

Simple settings for ground attack don't have corresponding advanced settings.  The are used directly in the code.  Setting simple settings to ultra low will eliminate almost all AA.

[jpanside]

A few more questions about PWCG. Does PWCG randomize when enemies show up during a mission or is it generally at a certain timeframe or trigger? I think I am noticing a pattern to my patrol missions where I run into enemies after my first patrol/intercept waypoint. Is this just a coincidence? I would prefer it be totally random so that I don't know what to expect. Cheers!

I know that I can change the mission box location. Do enemies simply spawn when I reach the enemy mission box?

[PatrickAWlson]

11 hours ago, jpanside said:

A few more questions about PWCG. Does PWCG randomize when enemies show up during a mission or is it generally at a certain timeframe or trigger? I think I am noticing a pattern to my patrol missions where I run into enemies after my first patrol/intercept waypoint. Is this just a coincidence? I would prefer it be totally random so that I don't know what to expect. Cheers!

I know that I can change the mission box location. Do enemies simply spawn when I reach the enemy mission box?

 

It is neither randomized nor triggered.  I sort of invented virtual waypoints.  AI flight paths are "flown" virtually through a mission flight path exactly the same as a player flight.  They are doing what they are supposed to do, just in the background.  When a virtual flight gets within a certain distance of the player then the flight spawns and it becomes fully realized in the game.  It then continues on its mission.  

 

The mission box is simply the general target area for AI flights.  

 

You might run into enemy aircraft at any point in the mission.  For FC in particular, over the front is going to be the usual.  However, there might be enemy AC overhead when you are taking off or landing or anywhere in between.

 

This system is what I consider to be the biggest differentiator between PWCG and the stock game.  In PWCG AI flights are moving as you move.  They might come to you just as you come to them.  This is why other flights might join the fight in a PWCG mission.  It's not that it was planned that way.  It just happens.

 

 

[jpanside]

19 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

 

It is neither randomized nor triggered.  I sort of invented virtual waypoints.  AI flight paths are "flown" virtually through a mission flight path exactly the same as a player flight.  They are doing what they are supposed to do, just in the background.  When a virtual flight gets within a certain distance of the player then the flight spawns and it becomes fully realized in the game.  It then continues on its mission.  

 

The mission box is simply the general target area for AI flights.  

 

You might run into enemy aircraft at any point in the mission.  For FC in particular, over the front is going to be the usual.  However, there might be enemy AC overhead when you are taking off or landing or anywhere in between.

 

This system is what I consider to be the biggest differentiator between PWCG and the stock game.  In PWCG AI flights are moving as you move.  They might come to you just as you come to them.  This is why other flights might join the fight in a PWCG mission.  It's not that it was planned that way.  It just happens.

 

 

Thank you! that is assuring! It's just like real war, you never know when you will make contact with enemy. Thanks for making such a great program for us. unlimited replayability

[jpanside]

@PatrickAWlson quick question about select adjustment to pilot injury. If I increase it, does it reduce the chance of injury? is 4 like no chance of injury?

[Ghost666]

4 is death! if you don't want to be die go <=3.

Happy flying.  

[PatrickAWlson]

19 hours ago, jpanside said:

@PatrickAWlson quick question about select adjustment to pilot injury. If I increase it, does it reduce the chance of injury? is 4 like no chance of injury?

4 = dead is dead.  Captured is captured.

3 = Serious wounds maximum.  Serious wounds can cause you to lose weeks to months.

2 = Light wounds.  Light wounds can make you lose days to weeks.

1 = I'm invincible!