make the rear gunner more offencive

[Dutch_P47M]

This is a question about WoFF, because WoFF is CFS3 based I was hooping that somebody could help me. Did ask this also in the official WoFF forum but nobody there seems to know how, or is afraid to bring in the answer. I have noticed that the rear gunner is acting pure defencive when I approach an enemy airplane. As a sample when flying a 2seater pusher like the RAF FE2b and getting on a tail of a Fokker EIII, the gunner is not shooting, he is only shooting when I am in front of the Fokker.

Is there something that can be changed, to make the gunner in a 2seater more offencive.

[Kodiak]

Yes, you can't use the Fe offensively in WOFF. You can be straight and level 50 yards off the six of an Fokker E.III and your gunner will not fire. I think its a firing arc problem rather than aggression, as if the gunner in the Fe would behave like the nose gunner in a CFS3 WW2 plane the Fe would be firing at an E.III 100 yards off its nose. Does anyone know how to mod the behavior/firing arc of the nose gunner in a stock CFS3 WW2 plane? A point to the file(s) and a few quick tips should be enough.

Thanks!

[gecko]

I've wanted this too, and I haven't figured out what controls it. Some aircraft seem to have more aggressive gunners, while others are criminally passive. For instance the Bf 110G has a very active gunner, while I have a very hard time getting the Defiant gunner to shoot at a target. I have no idea why the difference.

I know WOFF has extensively modified the AI behavior, so comparing with CFS3 may be apples and oranges.

[Daiwilletti]

I'd start by looking at the gunstations section of the xdp file for the aircraft. Don't know how accessible this is in WOFF?

Firstly, from memory there are some gunstations where trigger=0 and others where trigger=1. I don't recall what means what, best way to find out is to take a look at the documentation on the xdp file, found in the Aircraft and Vehicle SDK. Whether the setting is 0 or 1 will influence whether the gunstation will engage with the enemy.

The panning and elevation of the rear gun will be described in the gunstation section.

In the CFS3 engine, I think aggression/skill levels affect the distance at which an AI aircraft opens up on you. (I'm still bitter about a sniping 109 taking me out in one campaign, from around 700m ).

Also check the ratelimit of the rear gunner that is not shooting. That will influence the AI gunner's ability to hit anything. I would assume the WOFF manager's settings would tweak the ratelimit in the aircraft xdps and also the noise setting within the gun xdp files.

HTH,

[Kodiak]

Thanks, Daiwilletti.

That is more info than I had to start with and a good place to start

[NachtPiloten]

There are a couple of variables that need to be adjusted. First as was stated, the ratelimit speaks to how quickly the turret turns and hence the accuracy the turret gunner has. Second, the bullet has parameters that limit the range at which the gun fires. The problem is that the bullets in our planes did have a range of 700 meters, but no pilot or gunner usually fired at that range. I have read that pilots attacking bombers did open up at around 500 meters since the allied gunners with the 50 cal could reach out and touch the attacking planes so this is an issue. But really hitting a plane at 500 meters was the "golden beebee". I made a set of guns/weapons for night fighters that had a range of 150 meters. Why - since this was the range reported by pilots and gunners that they used during combat. It makes the game more realistic as all hell breaks loose when you get close and at 150 meters, the turret gunners are very accurate.

So if you don't want 700 meter engagements, change the variables that control the gun range. I think that the weapons folder is the place that you can change the range- just don't remember. Also, health, eyesight parameters too as well as the AI settings. These all can be tweeked to make the game the way you like it. I set up the eyesight parameters to reflect the range on the radar screens for nightfighting, that is most radar was able to see out 6 km (German) so by revising the pilot attributes you can change when objects appear on the radar screen. I also believe that this effects pilot performance in other ways as well. Health also effects eyesight and engagement range too.

Have fun!

[swpierce]

I think that NachtPiloten was referring to the range entry in the .xml file that is located in the guns folder instead of the weapons folder. Remember to delete the corresponding .bdp file.
I did this with the Defiant and it made the gunner more aggressive.

[gecko]

What did you set the Defiant gun range to?

Ted, how does health change engagement range? Very curious about any ways we have to control it.

[swpierce]

What did you set the Defiant gun range to?

Ted, how does health change engagement range? Very curious about any ways we have to control it.

Gecko, if you were asking me about the Defiant gun range:
I changed the AvHistory_gb_gun_303cal_power_turret Range="593" to Range="1000".
It's not a number based on any logical calculation, it was just an experiment to see if it would work.

[NachtPiloten]

What did you set the Defiant gun range to?

Ted, how does health change engagement range? Very curious about any ways we have to control it.

Opps - I think I over reached here. It seems that my memory is not healthy...it all pertains to pilots. Sorry about that....

[Daiwilletti]

Opps - I think I over reached here. It seems that my memory is not healthy...it all pertains to pilots. Sorry about that....

But still relevant to this thread! I am sure you are right, some of those pilot health/vision/blackout type provisions, which are eminently tweakable, can change the game. No doubt this is done in WOFF as those AI are vicious.....
edit - oh and aren't there AI specific tweaks in the same file? Or wingman specific at least. Sorry don't have CFS3 files in front of me.