Mission Builder Assistance...

[Typhoon Willy]

Hi all,

Now that I have my CFS2 Europe installed and planes chosen (for the most part), I wanted to do a "quickie" mission. My schwarm of Fw190s takes off from Abbeville to intercept a flight of 8 B-17Fs coming across the channel. I'm using an AI B-17F, not sure who made it, possibly Bismarck13. I changed the unit_family to 2 (bomber) and category to 2 (heavy bomber) within the Misc Data section of the dp file, however, regardless of what formation I use in MB, several planes end up crashing into each other shortly after spawning and the remaining planes want to break formation as we approach them. How can this be corrected? Lastly, these Indianer have long range guns, what adjustment needs to be made to the gun entries to level the playing field?

Thanks in advance,

TW

[Rami]

Typhoon,

1) I can't speak for the behavior of the AI B-17, but that sounds odd. I like the FDG model with the AI bombs; they are very stable in flight, and provided you set up the formation carefully, they don't crash into one another.

2) With formations of bombers, I have settled on a formula that seems to work for me. Either separate the formations by altitude, (At least five hundred feet, but even that can be tricky...I like a separation of 750 or 1,000 feet) or by a distance in Mission Builder of 0.5 nautical miles. This will allow for AI formation maneuvering during heading changes without crashing. The distance rule also applies for bomber escort fighters; make sure to give them breathing room...or set them up to lead the formation.

3) As far as the over-zealous gunners, perhaps you could ask Captain Kurt; he toned down many of the German gunners for the Heinkel He-111, Dornier Do-217s, and the Ju-88s, to name a few.

[Typhoon Willy]

Hi Rami,

After I posted this last night, I went back into MB and changed the aggressiveness to low and rookie. The 8 bombers stayed in formation for quite a while before scattering. I believe the breakup my have occurred when they reached a way point where they had to turn slightly northward. I didn't actually have any payload assigned to them due to the fact that they had no specific target, just passing through "my turf." They also have breaking parts and on one test flight I actually crashed into a wing of a plane I had just down. On more than one occasion, I found myself slicing through the formation as I probably carried a bit too much speed going in to attack - not a good place to be as the gunners are pretty accurate at extremely close range. Perhaps I'll go back and try the FDG B-17s...after I finish my accounting homework.

TW

[Rami]

Typhoon,

AI aircraft, ESPECIALLY bombers, have a tendency to turn very slowly, and will often slide well off-course at a waypoint only to correct as they gain the new course. That's one of the reasons why it is vitally important NOT to have the bombers turn too close to the target if you want an accurate strike. You always plan for at least five, or better yet, ten nautical miles to allow for a course correction and give the bombers enough time to recover and drop accurately.

[Typhoon Willy]

Hi Rami,

I changed my AI bombers to the FDG planes and adjusted the way point so they wouldn't be required to turn and for the most part it worked. I put them in a diamond formation and nobody crashed when they spawned. They stayed together until there were about 4 left. My 3 wingmen and I did very well shooting down all 8 without loss...that is, until I landed. Made it to the far end of the runway before my #2 rearended me. Maybe he lost his brakes. I love the German radio calls!

TW

[The B24 Guy]

Hi Typhoon Willy,

To tone down the guns open the DP with DPED and check the guns section. If the "Trigger" box is set to "1 CANNON" change it to "0 GUN". Save and close.
This will make the AI gunners much less accurate.

Regards,
B24Guy

P.S. Don't forget to delete the CDP file.

[Rami]

Typhoon,

120 aircraft (48 fighters and 72 bombers) packed into 1.5 nautical miles of sky, with no crashes. In CFS2, all things are possible. (This is for the upcoming 20th Fighter Group campaign)

[Talon]

TW,

You can also reduce the range the guns will start to fire at you in the dp file and few other things.

Rami

Yes many things are possible in CFS2.There are many work arounds to get the results you want with mission builder,L've found quite a few of them through the years an posted them in the forums.

The one thing I'm proudest of though is getting you to do a campaign from scratch.Doing the research and getting it to work in MB is a good feeling isn't it?

[Typhoon Willy]

I need to something, cause this is how my missions have been ending up. Tail Gunner Joe and Top Turret Tom have been pummeling me as of late. Does anyone know how to say, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" in German?