FMB Help Plz!

[3./JG51_Rudel]

Hello,


After searching the mission builder forums at PF.com and M4T.com i found some answers to my questions but not many.
I have a long list of questions about using the FMB feature in Il-2 1946 4.08m. I plan to make a few missions to practice my skills in FMB and then maybe create an late war campaign set during the bombing of Japan By US B29's. I hope that some of the campaign builders in here can help a bit since im just starting out.

1. I need to keep large bomber formations together like their real life counterparts. How do i do that? any special tricks to doing that. Every time i do it with b29s they don't stay in formation. Most do but some 4 ship formations either fly way behind or way in front of the rest.

2. How do i set a bombing attack point where the bombers down go into a shallow dive to drop their bombs? Most bombers go into a shallow dive and before they release the ordinance. Some of the German and Russian bombers dive and i can't them to follow their group to fly back home.

3. how do i make all the bombers release their bombs at the same time or almost the same?

4. I need to simulate the bomber stream breaking up and going after individual targets. How do i simulate that? I want to try the same effect that the allied bomber streams did in the ETO.

5. How do i add escort p51s and Jugs to the mix? I plan to make a large formation of about 44 bombers and around 20 escorts. That way its not an fps killer but still believable. I need the fighters to escort the bombers and engage the enemy then fly back and escort the bombers again.

6.Whats the best skill to set the bombers at? I don't want the attacking Zero's and Raidens to get killed before they have a chance to get to the bombers.

These are it for right now. I hope that i can get some answers if not all. I have more questions but these will do for right now.


Thanks in Advance.

S! Rudel

[Former_Older]

I recommend asking at M4T. It's a mission building site, after all; there are many more mission builders there than here

Your question is a complex and long list.

1) forget about making them "like their real life counterparts". Settle for making them go where you want them to go. Until you get the hang of it, you'll just get frustrated trying to do too much at once. Worry about making them go to the right place and drop bombs first. Part of the key is to allow them room. Since you can't choose the formation of the 4 plane group, if you don;t allow enough room, the flights will collide

2) this depends on the aircraft type, the height at which you have them attack and the proximity to the target when you make your gattack. Too compound and complex an issue for a simple answer. Experiment with distance to target from your gattack

3) assign them targets in the same area. Trucks, etc work well, even if in buildings. Sometimes I place another waypoint right behind the gattack, make it another gattack, and assign that a target too, in case the first one is already destroyed by the time the flight gets there

4) set the way points up to do this. The problem is re-formation

5) with the 'escort' target

6) rookie. Always.

These are very general answers. I could write three or four paragraphs on each question...sometimes the FMB is very non-intuitive, and until you sort of "get" what the FMB needs from you, you need to do some trial and error

[nearmiss]

The QMT is a standalone program that allows you to build flight groups outside the FMB. You specific separation between flight groups, effectively allowing you to build large groups of flights that fly in close formation.

You can then SET target waypoints for the different flights when you bombers enter target areas.

You can set fighters to SET escort bombers. They will fly all around and escort the bombers.

http://mysite.verizon.net/resvd35w/qmt/index.html

I prefer only to SET escort for AI. The player flight group should be under player control as much as possible. If you set escort for player flight group you get to fly around in circles to the target area. LOL

[dflion]

Hope I can help Rudel

Firstly I would get some real flight stats on the B29 -
Max.speed @ 30,000ft (9150m) - 357mph (575km/h)
Max. continuous cruise speed @ 30,000ft (9150m) - 342mph (550km/h)
Economical cruise speed @ 26,000ft (7930m) - 220mph (353km/h)

Looking at these stats, I would set up a cruise speed somewhere in between max. continuous cruise and economical cruise - say 450km/h with full bomb load.

The historic B29's flew at between 26,000ft and 30,000ft which I think is a bit high for IL2 - I would put your formations at a max of 5000m (16,400ft).

Set up your bomber formation in a large 'V Shape' with each 4 plane formation having a 50m height difference and experiment with the distance between 4 plane formations - try and keep them as close together as you can - you get better bomb saturation over the target. The bombers on the outside points of the 'V' should be at the lowest altitude, stepping up each formation by 50m as you move to the 'V' centre.

Your fighter escorts should be placed on either side of the 'V' formation and 'tied onto' the second or third 4 plane formation from each side. Your fighters should be at least 100m above your highest bomber formation and each flight should be seperated by 100m.

You should keep all your bombers at a constant speed of 450km/h and your fighters slightly higher at 490km/h. Over the target each bomber group should have the 'G-Attack' designation which will make them all bomb at the same time.

I have not answered all your questions - my suggestion is to experiment a bit until you are happy with the results. Please refer to my Mission (32) in the 'Long nose Focke-Wulf - Eastern Front' campaign. This mission sets up a large B24 formation flying over the Slovakia map.

There is a fault in the game sometimes with the 4 plane bomber formations - the last bomber sometimes does not fly with the other three and dives up and down towards the ground - approaching the target it seems to fix itself. I had an email exchange between Oleg and myself about this problem and he managed to fix it on the earlier versions of the game. This fault appears to be back again on the later versions.

Good luck with your FMB.

DFLion

[Aviar]

"You should keep all your bombers at a constant speed of 450km/h and your fighters slightly higher at 490km/h. Over the target each bomber group should have the 'G-Attack' designation which will make them all bomb at the same time."

Always know the top speed of your bombers. I don't believe the B-29 can go that fast, although the FMB allows you to set such a speed (and faster).

Aviar

[RickRuski]

Instead of using FMB try "Mission Mate". This utility has the ability to set distances and to make corrections with target accuracy. Available at M4T. The author of this utility is "CrazySchmidt" and he is always available to give advice on how this program works. It also comes with an excellent help file. The best part is this is a "free" program and is having updates with extra maps as these become available

[IceFire]

Everyone has made great suggestions but the one I think is most useful is to find other missions where large formations are used and have a look at how those people did it. Basically large formations involve allot of work and sometimes some fine tuning with waypoints. Speed and altitude are very important here.

[3./JG51_Rudel]

Here is a mission i made using the advice you guys gave me. Tell me what you think.

http://www.mediafire.com/?tyy1oexnxyz

Just extract to your mail Il-2 1946 directory.

There is a JA and US version of the Mission. On the US side you are a P51D escort. On the JA you are a Ki-84 sent up to to intercept the bombers.

[dflion]

I have just had a look at your missions Rudel - very impressive sight - all those B29's.
Just a few changes I would recommend.
1. The Mustang escort
Tie them down to each group of bombers selected for at least two waypoints (or more) and that will keep them circling the bombers until the Japanese fighters arrive.
Increase the Mustang speed to 470km/h
You could leave one or two formations of Mustangs not tied down to the bombers to range ahead and engage the Japanese fighters before they get to the bombers - this is what is happening now in the mission.
2. B29 Bomber formations
Seperate each bomber formation by 50m (highest formation in the centre) stepping down on each side (I personally think the formations look better like this and they don't climb or dive at the turn waypoints to avoid crashing into each other)
The 450Km/h speed looks very good at 6000m.
Extend the bomber track over the target in a straight line (add another waypoint in a straight line after the 'G-Attack' waypoint)
Flatten out your bomber turnpoints by adding more waypoints - try to keep the basic 'V' formation. (avoid sharp turnpoints with large bomber formations)
3. The Japanese fighters
Tie each group of Japanese fighters to a 'target formation of bombers' and some 'Mustang escort formations if you wish' - the Jap fighters will attack each group and then attack other groups eventually - if they survive?
4. General
Add more waypoints on the bombers tracks, keeping the 'V' formation and same speed
I liked the way you split up the bombers into two streams to attack seperate targets - looked very impressive.
DFLion