AI wing men bombers attack

[_486_Col_Wolf]

I'm sure this has been covered many times but I can't find any info on it. Does anyone know why my Stuka wing men won't attack ground targets when told or at all for that matter. I'm using the Alpha JU-87 d3 as my player AC, they have bombs and the way point is selected to "attack with bombs" and is centered on an infrastructure target. We go over the target, I order wing men attack, flip over and dive from 7000 Ft but only I attack. The others just fly around. This AC works fine as AI only and attack their targets with great accuracy.

[bearcat241]

Col_Wolf,

The reason AI models perform differently as independent AI vs wingmen AI is in the way that the ai_playr.dll module works. As independents, they are guided and controlled on target by the mission builder programming--- easy-peasy. But as wingmen, they have to be commanded properly by the player to be effective. You can't simply command "all attack" (A-A) and roll in first. They won't follow effectively that way.

Once you reach the target area, use the targeting brackets and target window to select the primary target or any target of opportunity (for dive bombers make sure you're coming in at a good altitude between 5000 and 10000. For fighter bombers and glide bombers you can be lower).

Hit the 'attack' command ('A' key) once - not twice - and watch your last element roll in first. In an eight ship formation that will be the last two wingmen.

Keeping the prime target selected or selecting another, hit the 'attack' command again a few seconds later. You will now see the the next two from the last roll in. Keep orbiting the target area and monitoring the attackers. Don't go in early yourself. You need to stay high to manage the flight until everyone has made a strike.

After the second pair go in, select the target and command 'attack' again in a few seconds and watch the next element roll in. That leaves you and your number 1. Hit 'attack' again and your number 1 will dive in, with you following.

If they seem to stray before dropping their ordnance call for a rejoin (or call for help which is even more effective). As they begin to regather on you select a target and command attack with single keystrokes on the 'A' key.

It will take some patience and practice to get it right. Its best to do this kind of practicing in a single mission that can be played repeatedly as opposed to a campaign mission that may give you something different to do on the next sortie.

[Rami]

486_Col_Wolf,

If you have a flight of AI wingmen, you have two options. Either...

A) Fly by yourself and have your other wingmen as a separate flight...

B) Hand-edit the mission after you complete writing it in MB and set up the flight so that it looks like this...

[unit.44]
id=9321
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.44%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.45]
id=9322
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.45%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.46]
id=9323
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.46%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.47]
id=9324
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.47%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.48]
id=9320
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.48%
is_player_aircraft=1
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[formation.10]
id=6000
type=air
waypoint_path_id=5000
alternate_path_id=5002
directive=128
players_formation=1
formation_type=8
points=2
unit_id_position.0=9321,0,-300.0,-600.0,0.0
unit_id_position.1=9322,0,300.0,-600.0,0.0
unit_id_position.2=9323,0,-600.0,-1200.0,0.0
unit_id_position.3=9324,0,600.0,-1200.0,0.0
unit_id_position.4=9320,0,0.0,0.0,0.0

Instead of this...

[unit.44]
id=9320
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.44%
is_player_aircraft=1
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.45]
id=9321
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.45%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.46]
id=9322
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.46%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.47]
id=9323
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.47%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[unit.48]
id=9324
type_id=3868
name=%name_string.48%
allegiance=2
skill=2
aggression=1
payload=1

[formation.10]
id=6000
type=air
waypoint_path_id=5000
alternate_path_id=5002
directive=128
players_formation=1
formation_type=8
points=2
unit_id_position.0=9320,0,0.0,0.0,0.0
unit_id_position.1=9321,0,-300.0,-600.0,0.0
unit_id_position.2=9322,0,300.0,-600.0,0.0
unit_id_position.3=9323,0,-600.0,-1200.0,0.0
unit_id_position.4=9324,0,600.0,-1200.0,0.0

The advantage of this as that all of your wingmen will attack, but they will not respond to your individual commands. The disadvantage is that they will all attack the same target, unless you actually set up an attack on an airbase by placing the target on the "X" of the airbase.dat entry; this gives the AI the freedom to attack any target on the base.

Also, the AI flight model for the Alphasim sucks, Wolfi's model from his "B" variant is much better.

[The B24 Guy]

486_Col_Wolf,
Lots of good advice already given but here are a few things to check.

The AC Category type it should be a 3 - aircraft dive bomber (Stuka, Dauntless, Val).
MS made the Stock Dauntless a Cat. 10 - aircraft fighter-bomber (any fighter equipped with bombs) or Dive Bombers.

Also make Sure the unit_family=2 in the mission file.

Regards,
B24Guy

[Roxane-21]

Also make Sure the unit_family=2 in the mission file.

IIRC, "unit_family=2" in mission file is used for level bombers. Your Stukas will never do anything but follow waypoints if you set them that way.

[Rami]

IIRC, "unit_family=2" in mission file is used for level bombers. Your Stukas will never do anything but follow waypoints if you set them that way.

Roxanne-21,

Sorry, but this is just not true. Every single Stuka mission in the Battle of France has the Stukas with a "2" designation, and the AI model works beautifully.

[Roxane-21]

Roxanne-21,

Sorry, but this is just not true. Every single Stuka mission in the Battle of France has the Stukas with a "2" designation, and the AI model works beautifully.

My bad, this should have been true for CFS1 only. So what is the difference between "1" and "2" then?

[Captain Kurt]

The mission file tells the AI what it is supposed to do. If the AI .dp identity is not compatible, the AI won't be able to perform as the mission intends. For example, a Betty identified in the dp as a level bomber won't perform as a torpedo bomber even if the mission requires it. Or you can get odd behavior, for example the Val acting like a fighter if attacked if the dp identifies it as a fighter bomber.


There are 2 categories in the .dp. The first identifies the unit_family:

1= fighter
2= bomber
3= ground vehicle
4= static object
5= ship or boat
7= aircraft carrier

The second is the category of the unit:

1= aircraft fighter
2= aircraft level bomber (B-24, He-111, Betty etc)
3= aircraft dive bomber
4= aircraft torpedo bomber
5= aircraft tactical bomber (B-25, A-20 etc)
6= aircraft strike (Beaufighter, Mosquito bomber etc)
7= aircraft Civil
8= aircraft recon (L-5A Storch etc)
9= aircraft transport (c-47 etc)
10= aircraft fighter-bomber (any fighter equipped with bombs) or dive bombers

Thus a bomber can be identified as a bomber i.e. unit_family 2, and then further sub-categorized as;
a level bomber category 2
a dive bomber category 3,
a torpedo bomber category 4
a tactical bomber category 5
or a strike bomber category 6.

Each of these combinations have an AI behavior set in the program. Ideally the Stuka .dp [MISC_DATA] identity would be unit_family 2 with a category 3 or 10.

[_486_Col_Wolf]

The Stukas I'm using have the correct designation. When used as AI only they perform flawlessly. It may just be simply targeting with brackets that will solve the issue but it will take time to get used to. When I was the CO of the 486th FS online at MS Zone we banned the use of targeting, radar, enemy indicator and any other unrealistic flight practices such as full flaps at high speed for tight turns ect... because we wanted only realistic practices used in our squadron. Because of that, all those functions have no joystick or keyboard command selected in my program. I'll just have to use the targeting for my Stuka campaign. Thanks for all the quick responses!