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Bolox, I want to thank you for your work. In your opinion are COD's scripting and triggers helping to make better campaigns and missions? Not to mentiion documentation, but how much work/repair/improvement is required by the devs in the FMB to make it even better?
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First off I'd like to make it clear i'm a newcomer to mission building, I hardly touched fmb in IL2
- mainly cos there were so many really good mission builders out there.
Scripting was even worse- that was a real " they expect me to do what?!! " moment. However you can still make missions without any scripting or triggers so with the aid of a few IL2 fmb guides I started playing around, finding out what actually worked in CoD (and as importantly what didn't!)
So, does scripting/triggers make for better missions?
I'd say that they don't in themselves; that comes from creative mission building.
. Triggers are a nice addition (been long asked for in IL2). Using them well requires thinking in advance how (and why) you are using a trigger within the mission structure.
Scripting does give alot of possibilities, there's masses of data that can be collected, however there are limits to what you can do ingame-Sure skilled coding can make up for alot - see Desastersoft.
Campaigns sort of need a script for success criteria, but it's quite possible to use only a very simple script, Spitfire on my tail uses a very basic script, with a few triggers/special scripted events used only occaisionally.
Documentation- well anything would be nice
There is no substitute for getting stuck in and trying stuff imho. There are bits of information out there for fmb eg
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.ph...ml#Post3423371
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=30017
Scripting- I don;t see how they could have documented this. At least they provided examples with the original Cliffs of Dover RAF campaign
There's more than a few C# tutorials on the net eg
http://www.csharp-station.com/Tutorial/CSharp/Lesson01
For the CoD specific bits there is an fmb forum where you can find examples and maybe help.
What needs fixing? - how long have you got?
Actually I find the fmb far from the worst offender.- it's how the AI attempt to carry out you're orders.
One thing I would like to see is a 'formate' waypoint type- bombers would form up on leader Sqn, fighters would act as close escort, always trying to get back to the bombers instead of wading in on any scrap going. Add some sort of control over the group formation so you can have 3 sqns each in vic formation, flying line astern of each other (with height stagger)
I'd also like the more realistic icing levels of previous patches restored in a fully working weather system.
I count 11 campaigns released this week (surely some sort of record?)