Friday 2010-12-03 Dev. update and Discussion

[SlipBall]

FMB very cool and powerful, lot's of time involved, and much testing. It certainly will be more of a pleasure with the new refinements, can't wait.


Getting an "Error message" after a placement if in conflict, would be awesome

[Freycinet]

Originally Posted by Oleg Maddox

PS. You may do a lot more nice buttons, including popup help(which sorry we can't produce with the small team for every feature of FMB), etc, but probably you can't make the other archtectiure of the FMB that is using BoB 3D engine.

Oleg, if other 3rd party volunteers make the texts for pop-up help bubbles, do you think someone on your team could put them into the FMB? - That would be a great "division of labour".

Sorry you spent so much time responding to a provocateur, but well, your choice...

[VectorForFood]

Oleg, just dropping in to say it looks fantastic... I hate to wish my life away, but this looks FANTASTIC!~

[Freycinet]

Ok, I have to say I am disappointed to see that the 12. Group area is not part of the map.

I know it is necessary to draw a line somewhere, but still, the whole battle is incomplete without part played by 12. Group.

[Ctrl E]

Hi Oleg,

Are we close to knowing what computer specs we will need to run SOW? I'm close to building a machine and would like to know.

Many thanks and keep up the great work. it's all very exciting.

[Flying_Nutcase]

Hi Oleg,

Another thing that would be really useful would be Favorites for each list. For example, an object could be marked as a 'favorite' and it would appear above the full list, with other favorites.

Most people use the same objects repeatedly. This would be a real time-saver.


Flying Nutcase

[nearmiss]

The new sort ability is excellent, but we need filters as well.

Filters for Country,squadron ID,etc,

examples:

1. Squadrons should only show for respective country

2. Skins should show only for respective squadron they apply


The better the filters and sorts the more efficient it will be to build missions.

Filters can be applied with third party *.mis text editor like the QMT.
Filtering *.mis files after the misson is built and saved is a workaround for something better done inside the FMB.

[dflion]

Name ( We arrive at Siverskaya
Short Flying in very bad weather we arrive at our new base at Siverskaya, just as a Soviet bomber attack is in progress\n
Description Date: 31st July 1941\nTime: 0915\nWeather:Rain/Snow\nCloud Height: 1000m\nLocation: Iyhvi-ahtme\n\nWe had quite a tussle last week with some Migs over Narva with two Friedrichs being shot down, luckily both pilots surviving, one with minor injuries.\n\nThis morning Hannes Trautloft announced to the Gruppe that we would be flying to Siverskaya, sixty kilometres south of Leningrad.\nHe had already inspected this airfield and had found nearly all the buildings intact \u2013 the Russians had left in such a hurry!\nTrautloft went on to say that he would make Siverskaya our main base for the attack on Leningrad.\n\nThe weather was very bad with heavy rain showers sweeping in from the Gulf of Finland, several aircraft had already bogged in the large mud pools forming on the airfield.\n\nSelect skin: Bf-109F-2_vomHofe_JG54_Blan.bmp (markings on)\n

Following ‘nearmiss’s’ previous discussion on ‘Mission briefing’s’, I have shown above, one of my mission briefing text’s created in the old FMB.
To save time, I have leant over the years, by ‘cutting and pasting’ a mission briefing from the FMB, you can use it as a template to create a series of new mission briefing’s, outside the FMB using your laptop. This lets you carry out research on your mission’s more easily while watching TV etc. you don’t have to open up the flight sim and type them in.

I always leave the heading’s information, ‘Name’, ‘Short’, ‘Description’ etc. changing these when I have imported the mission text back into the FMB. Writing the mission text is easy, including the ‘\n’ and ‘\n\n’ for new sentences and paragraphs.

You can see from the above, that anything written, or placed into the FMB automatically, creates and corrects in its own language. With the new FMB, this feature will be much more powerful, creating ‘script written’ trigger points most probably using key words.

I will be very interested in seeing how you will set-up your airfield position prior to taxying and take-off and how the AI aircraft will behave around you. I noticed there is a ‘script spawn C’ tick box which hopefully will be linked to your mission briefing text?

DFLion

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

In IL2 FMB, many of the objects were quite difficult to find by simply scrolling through the lists. Particularly the 'object 239 / 240 / 241' list for buildings etc.
Will all objects carry a description and be filtered by drop-down lists?
If so, will the 'Sort by' categories cover all objects in detail such as 'farmhouses' or 'city houses', or would the category be more broad, such as 'houses', or more simply, 'buildings'?

Originally Posted by PeterPanPan

Yes, this has always been an issue I feel. 'Stationary Objects' have names e.g. searchlight, barrage balloon etc. but 'Objects' just have numbers. I'm sure there are hundreds that have never been used because they are so hard to find. Also, it's always been a bit irritating when moving through a list of objects with the scroll arrows, and just when you've found what you are looking for, you move the mouse away from the scroll arrow and the list jumps back to the top. It gets me every time!!

This was one of my issues with the FMB... It would be great if the objects were categorized.. even if it was just like.. building_01-Building_300 or whatever.. but something that would make them easier to find...

Originally Posted by Fafnir_6

This is the problem exactly, you (and Nausicaa) are experienced mission builders and no doubt this update is like early Xmas for you. For those of us who are just getting into mission building or who have only dabbled, the FMB of IL-2 (let alone this new mission builder with all the added functionality) has a very steep learning curve. I look at this update and see the power of this new mission builder as added potential so far on the horizon for me that I doubt I'll ever really get there. We haven't actually seen Battle of Britain yet so I can't comment on what sort of tutorials or documentation will be present but I will say that Seeker is spot on about the quality of the interface and documentation of the current IL-2 mission builder. Quite plainly, it stinks for first-timers.

I haven't seen the rumors about the lack of dynamic campaigns in BoB but the existence of the dynamic campaigns has helped mitigate the FMB learning curve in IL-2 for many of us. The efforts of community members such as yourselves also helps with this. Thanks . Seeker raises a valid concern about BoB's replayability for mission building newbs, should the rumors prove accurate. Perhaps 1C should hire Lowengrin if there is a problem. If the rumor is true, it could turn off a large and potentially lucrative gamer segment that is needed to generate the revenue for all the expansions you and I wish for in BoB's engine.

It was not negative banter but concerns raised in good faith ( I'd be lying if I said I didn't share them).
Cheers,

Fafnir_6

The complexity of the FMB is also one of it's strong suits.. considering what was available for mission building in 2001 when it was released it is quite powerful.. and since we don't really yet know how all this will be implemented.. why get negative at all about it at all.. It really isnt that hard.. it just seems that way.. Had I continued to make missions using it I am sure that by now I'd be able to whip them up in no time.. as it is though I forgot most of what I knew..LOL.. but thanks to FN it wont be hard.. The last time I used the FMB there was a similar tutorial on a site called Sturmovik Technica..

Originally Posted by BadAim

Here's the thing though, Mate. The guys who will actually put the time into building good solid missions (and more than one or two) will take the time to learn how to use this interface. It really isn't that hard if you take some time to seek out the resources. I'll grant that better tutorial info from 1c would be nice, but the simple fact is that most of the user made content for some time will be from the "old hands" anyway. Just my $.02.

That was always my major issue as to why I didn't use it more.. but it was definitely the kind of tool that if I had applied more time to it I would have gotten better at it.. but even with the limited use got out of it I could see how powerful it was.. I just used Mission Mate for most of the missions I wound up making so it was almost a moot issue for me.. but the FMB is a great tool.. very powerful and I can only imagine it getting better since with the release of upcoming patches for IL2 and the FMB enhancements coming, that the FMB in SOW will be better in every way than the one in IL2..

Originally Posted by fruitbat

i'm glad the GUI is the same.
for those who are familiar with the il2 FMB such as myself, it will make the transition very easy, and it seems as though my wish list for the FMB is complete, so i am very happy.
for those who are complaining about the GUI of the il2 FMB, and its difficulties, you obviously haven't bothered to spend more than 10 mins on it and gave up, its very easy to use if you can be bothered to spend a couple of hours learning it, and is far easier than other mission building stuff I've used.
A funkier GUI won't change the fact that you will still have to take some time to learn how to use it....

Exactly.. and that would be the case regardless to how similar or dissimilar from the IL2 one it is.. I think that t is good to keep the continuity in the look of the sim anyway.. The sim itself, the flying etc will speak volumes... but it is good to keep much of the interface either the same or similar to IL2..

Oleg.. will there be a separate QMB or will there just be one MB that is scalable to either setting up quick missions or full scale missions...? Like say by clicking QM it would just eliminate many of the options ion the FMB.. but the interface would be basically the same.. unlike the differences between the FMB & QMB in IL2.

[dflion]

1. Select Campaign folder and create the first mission file.

2. Click-on the ‘Edit’ tab and select ‘Weather Map’ to select weather type. Then select ‘Battle Area’ (to edit objects in the object tick-box listed in 11 Group area) and ‘Armies’ type (Red/English). Select ‘Languages’ (English) and then select ‘Briefings’ to create your first Mission briefing. Finally select ‘Script’ to set specific ‘trigger points’?

3. Click on ‘View’ tab to set-up the display filter. Tick the following: - aircraft, armour, vehicles, train, ship, buildings, static cameras, front markers, show AI actors, show spawn areas, show weather front, show time, show army ‘Red’. Then select Icon size and tick smooth ship path (ships travelling in curves instead of angles?), toggle battle area, show grid, animate camera, fit objects, mission parameters.
Select Landscape options (lighting effect?), Select Mission objects (from list?), ‘Snap’ to look at, Rotate as group, select layers, ‘or’ Undo ‘above’ stack?

4. Click on ‘Object browser’ and view airfield objects list to delete those airfields not in ‘Battle area’? Or enhance airfields in use with new objects.

5. Click on “Object browser’ and view Aircraft to select ‘Aircraft type’.

6. In the ‘Object browser’ select ‘Group properties’ tab to set-up ‘Country’ (United Kingdom), ‘Mission type’ (Fighter), Squadron No., how many Flights in squadron, Formation (type), select squadron ‘Call Sign’, select ‘Weapon set’, slide fuel slider to select fuel %, Check automatically calculated aircraft weight, select ammo belt type, ordinance detonator timing, pilot skill, use slider to create weathering %, select briefing type, tick ‘parachute tick box’, tick ‘scramble’ tick box.

7. In the ‘Object browser’ select the waypoint tab to create mission waypoints, altitude ‘0’, speed ‘0’, action (take-off, etc.etc), type ‘auto’, # passes ‘auto’, (before returning to original track?), radio silence box ticked.

8. Within the waypoint area, go to ‘Inbetweening’. Select waypoints 0-14, select ‘before’ current waypoint and tick ‘interpolate altitude’, ‘interpolate speed’ and ‘carry over type’, tick boxes. Press the ‘Create’ button. I am presuming that these actions will synchronise the waypoint timings of Allied and Axis waypoints to meet at the right time? (Hopefully?)

9. In the ‘Object browser’ select ‘Pilot #1’ tab, tick player tick box, select ‘skill’ (Ace), select skin type, slide ‘weathering %’ slider, select ‘briefing type’, select left noseart, select right noseart, select aircraft tactical number, select aircraft serial number, select band colour, either A,B or C (set colours or custom colours), tick ‘show markings’ box and finally hide 3D view of aircraft.

Looking good, though there is some ‘guess work’ in some areas?

DFLion