FMB Poll

[Blackdog_kt]

I use it occasionally to create custom missions for testing/training on specific scenarios. For example, instead of having to start a free flight mission to train my bombing techniques, i made a custom mission with complete take-off,cruise, attack, RTB and landing phases, plus some actual targets on the ground and a bit of flak to spice things up.

As for the difficulty of it all, maybe it's a case of acquired habits. I didn't know anything at all about the old IL2 FMB until i convinced a friend to get back into flight sims after a long break of his: i had to make a simple coop mission for us to fly in IL2:1946 with a bit of easy yet diverse targets to try out and a bit of AI action on the side to spice things up, so that i could get him a refresher course on the basics.

I went to that community website (http://www.il2-fullmissionbuilder.com/) and followed the video tutorials and i had one up and running in no time at all, us flying a couple of tropical Spit Vbs on the Sicily map with a friendly convoy crossing the straits, an axis coastal battery firing on the merchant ships and the lead escort zig-zagging while returning fire. The aim was to bomb the coastal battery and then shoot down two Ju52s that were executing a supply drop over the same area. I think it took me about two hours total from knowing nothing to getting that mission done.

That being said, i didn't have any trouble at all switching to CoD FMB and i think i know the reasons for this:

1) I didn't have to break long time habits of doing things a certain way with the old FMB because i hadn't touched it up until i had to make that coop for my buddy during the last winter.

2) I didn't need to use 100% of the features in the old FMB so i certainly haven't used yet the extra ones in the new FMB either.

Documentation is indeed a necessity, but i think that anyone with a basic understanding of the old FMB can certainly use the new one for some quick and dirty mission editing. Most of what's in that tutorial website i linked still applies to the new version after all.

The main differences lie in the area of scripting, radar reporting contacts (needs stations and a defined grid) and the fusing of coop and DF into a single MP mode (spawn points now are actually objects you can place on an airfield).

[Madfish]

I've tried but didn't succeed creating anything else beyond creating a little airport with some lights set up. The people churning out these nice missions have my full respect.

Usability wise, I believe, the current editor is a desaster. Eventually I'll boot it up again and try if I can describe what changes would help me to use it better.

[CadMan]

all the time,
how else would you make missions for hosting persistent battles with scripts and triggers.

[senseispcc]

The bug that block my use of the FMB on a regular basis is the weather system that is badly documented and also does crash the game when used in certain way.

[Blackdog_kt]

That's because the weather module is unfinished, possibly even pre-beta material.

Luthier once said it would be completely omitted from the initial release, the only reason it's there is that a lot of us asked for it so they gave it to us in a sort of "use at your own risk" way, just to experiment. In other words it's not meant to work well, it's just the early rough draft they were working on and only got released because of community pressure, so that we could experiment with it.

[Ataros]

Looks like no one answered what is missing from the new FMB compared to the original IL-2 one? Is it just a myth then?

[ElAurens]

Ease of use would be my comment.

I fully understand how to make missions that suit the needs of myself and my friends in IL2/46.

I can't even make a home base appear in CLOD, much less place ground objects/armour/etc... Nor do I know how to "import" what I have done into the online part of the game so I can see it to start it.

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

I can't even make a home base appear in CLOD, much less place ground objects/armour/etc...

Just navigate to a desired item (spawnpoint, airfield, armour, etc.) in Object Browser and CTL-leftclick to place it. I don't know how can it be done easier in original IL-2 Anyone who opens an existing mission and clicks various objects in it can easily see how they are built (spawnpoints, ground objects, etc.).

Originally Posted by ElAurens

Nor do I know how to "import" what I have done into the online part of the game so I can see it to start it.

You do not have to import anything. It is even easier. The only difference between online and offline mission is that online missions do not have a "Player" checkbox checked in any airgroup properties and most of online missions have spawnpoints ("birthplaces"). You can just start a server and load a mission in it.

I opened original IL-2 FMB a couple of times about 5-7 years ago and was scared by its complexity. The mistake I did was opening a blank map and trying to create something from scratch.

This March I did the opposite: I opened CloD offline mission in FMB and started to fine-tune it one step at a time and fly it after every change I made. Everything was self-explanatory with this approach except for 5-6 questions I could not figure out and had to ask in the FMB section, which were:
- how to rotate objects
- how to use triggers (including delayed flight)
- how to branch spawnpoints
- how to put AAA on a tanker
- (don't remember now)

Other questions were related to scripts only, i.e. to more advanced functionality compared to the original IL-2 FMB.

I think the problem is not that CloD FMB is harder to use but that it is different compared to the original one. It is harder to change habits than to learn from scratch. For various reasons people do not have enough motivation to learn by posting their questions in the FMB section or using forum search function to find answers.

[bolox]

Originally Posted by Ataros

Looks like no one answered what is missing from the new FMB compared to the original IL-2 one? Is it just a myth then?

2 obvious ones are:-

mission success parameters (both primary and secondary)- without scripts

destruction brush

number 1 being a 'little bit important' for offline campaigns imho


we all come at this new fmb with different expectations /experience levels and different ways of working- my IL2 fmb useage was rather limited (but i always started with a blank map and experimented from there) but unless my memory is blanking out stuff i'm finding cod fmb to be more frustrating- it certainly seems to need a different frame of mind, needing a more 'technical' mindset than the 'creative' one that orig IL2 encouraged(imho).

to finish i'd like to thank you (and all the others) for all the hints (however cryptic they appear).