Fuel level, Ammo level

[merlin2]

Is it possible to adjust starting fuel level and ammo level in Mission Builder or by hand editing a mission?

thanks

merlin2

[bobhegf]

Are you talking about the player AC or the AI AC?

[merlin2]

I'm talking about the player AC; but I'm intersestedin the AI as well.

thanks

[Cody Coyote]

You can't make those adjustments from within in Mission Builder. However, you can adjust them from the Briefing screen by clicking on Player Aircraft and adjusting the sliders there.

When I design a mission where the fuel or ammo amount is important I give the player instructions to adjust those settings as part of the briefing. You have to trust the player to follow the instructions but at least it is a way for them to start with the fuel/ammo levels you intended.

I don't think there is anything you can do about the AI. As I recall, they always have unlimited fuel and ammo.

[bearcat241]

You can adjust for both player and AI in MB:

Triggers button (sixth from left) > New > Trigger Parameter > Type (select Stores) > Param (select Internal Fuel(%), then Operator (Greater than, Less than, Equals, etc), then go to Value to set numerical value of the trigger.

Do this again for Ammo...

[merlin2]

thanks, one and all!

[merlin2]

But Bearcat: those are only triggers; they will only engage one the fuel or ammo is below a certain level; they won't put them there . . . will they?

merlin2

[Cody Coyote]

bearcat241 - I don't think that will do what he wants to do. The trigger will activate when the parameters used to set it up are true. So if you set the trigger for internal fuel at less than 50% the trigger would become active when the fuel reaches that level. The trigger does not set the fuel to that level, it merely responds once that level of fuel is reached.

I was thinking merlin2 was wanting to start with a reduced level of fuel or ammo as opposed to having an event occur when he reached a certain level.

[merlin2]

You are right Cody: I want to be able to begin the mission with only 100 gallons, and no ammo. Setting it up in "player aircraft" as you enter the mission works just fine; thanks again to all!

[bearcat241]

The trick is in learning how to link triggers AND events. You can set up the triggers for lower fuel and ammo, then set up another trigger for the player entering the area starting position and speed at 0 mph. Then you link it all into one event, like "Take-off, low fuel/ammo" with a 1 second delay.

The best example i've ever seen of this kinda thing is Guy's Milne Bay campaign - Ferry 01 mission where you get an engine fire on take off immediately after reaching 70 mph on rollout and you have to ditch (or crash land) successfully to survive for the next mission, which is a Ferry 02 second attempt. Even though he uses different parameters in his triggers, the concept is the same as what Merlin is trying to do here - set up the mission from start with configuration deficiencies in the player's aircraft.

If you have Guy's Milne Bay campaign with all the many parts properly installed, you can open and analyze this MB01 - Ferry flight in Mission Builder and see how he set up his triggers and events. A close inspection of the events and triggers shows that he could have set the fire to start as soon as the player spawned into the mission start position.

This can be done, as Guy Boullenger has already proven...

[Cody Coyote]

Sure you can set up events to occur as soon as the mission starts. Simply set a trigger of Player at Waypoint #1 then link it to any number of events. No problem there at all. The example you describe would cause an event to occur when the player "enter[s] the area starting position" and his speed was 0 and he was low on ammo and he was low on fuel, but it wouldn't cause any of those triggers to occur, only the event linked to those triggers.

The engine fire is a selectable event thus it can be triggered. If "out of ammo" or "out of fuel" were similarly selectable events you could incorporate them in a like manner. The low ammo and fuel triggers only become active when they are reached through game play or by making the pre-game setting I described above during the briefing.

I now of no way other than making the adjustment in the briefing (or modifying the air and DP files) to start a mission with less than 100% fuel and ammo. If there is another way I'd be interested in seeing the mission.

I don't have Guy's Milne Bay campaign. If you have it please post the MB01 mission so we can all have a look.

[merlin2]

I really enjoyed the Milne Bay missions and the engine fire! what a thrill.

I am planning on building in random percentage engine fire in my Torpedo Bomber missions, to simulate the problem they were having with their engines catching fire.

But I agree with Cody that you can only set the ammo and fuel in the player aircraft settings as you enter the mission in play.
When yoy think about it, if they were settable in MB, then they would have to be disabled from the player's control, so I think the builders of the program chose that these two parameters would be under player control rather than mission designer control.

thanks, very interesting for me.

[bearcat241]

I don't have Guy's Milne Bay campaign. If you have it please post the MB01 mission so we can all have a look.

What a shame Cody :-).....you 're missing one of the most outstanding campaigns of all CFS2 PTO...really great work.

Here's the webpage to find the full camp: http://www.simviation.com/cfs2missions22.htm

Its an autoinstaller but completely trustworthy. It even alters your GSL file after it backs up an original, but make sure you do your own backup too. I think it also auto installs an entry in your scenery.cfg, country.cfg and airbase.dat, but not sure (been a long time since i installed it). Do the installation drill and find the first mission.

Notwithstanding, i still attached them below for a quickie glance. Remove the txt....

[Cody Coyote]

Thanks for the link bearcat, I downloaded the campaign and when I get some play time I'll give it a go.

I did load, open and test the mission and I saw nothing germane to merlin's specific issue of starting with either low fuel or ammo as a result of something in the mission file. The mission is fun, especially taxiing behind the truck, and it makes good use of triggers and events to cause an unexpected fire. But I stand by my earlier statement that The engine fire is a selectable event thus it can be triggered while "out of ammo" and "out of fuel" are not selectable events and can only be obtained by either running out in game play or adjusting the player's aircraft settings through the Briefing screen.

If someone knows of a way to use Mission Builder to start with low fuel or ammo I'd be very interested in seeing it as it would add another dimension to our abilities to write interesting scenarios.

[bobhegf]

The 1% aircraft have a fuel dump button. I have never used it so I an not sure how well it works.

[Cody Coyote]

bob -

It's an old Bill Potvin gauge and might still be available through the link at Martin Wright's site. The fuel dump button works well and you can dump to a level, such as 10%. It is an alternative that you can use instead of changing the fuel load setting during the briefing for those that have it installed.

[bobhegf]

Thanks CC, I wasn`t sure how it worked.

[merlin2]

the fuel dump gauge is great, but I'd rather keep it for its specific function and use Cody's idea of the player setting the fuel and ammo levels in my missions.


I expect I have the gauge around somewhere if it is needed by anybody.

merlin2

[p14u2nv]

Hearing about the fuel dump gauge again brought back vivid memories of days gone by when in "The Zone" and the arguments about whether or not dumping fuel was cheating...I remember the many rooms/rules "No Mods and NO FUEL DUMP!" lol

[Cody Coyote]

Exactly p14u2nv, if I remember correctly that was exactly what it was designed for: the ability to dump fuel when you entered a dogfight to reduce weight and improve performance. It quickly became controversial.

It also works great to refuel while airborne. On long flights where the fuel consumption of the sim doesn't match real life you can use it to top off your tank while on the go so to speak.

[merlin2]

Thanks, Bearcat, for sending along those files; they were a big help to me; I didn't want to reinstall the whole Milne Bay campaign to get the trigger information!

merlin2

[bearcat241]

You're welcome...:wavey:

[p14u2nv]

It also works great to refuel while airborne. On long flights where the fuel consumption of the sim doesn't match real life you can use it to top off your tank while on the go so to speak.

Well that's something I didn't realize Cody. Up until now I thought that either drop tanks would have to do and then land and refuel or just hit "Alt" and reload whatever aircraft you would be flying for full tanks again.

Amazing what you can still learn about this sim and after all these years too! Thanks for that tip Cody...