[comrpnt]

File Name: VMFA-531 Mission Pack 'Gold' (WOV) V1.0
File Submitter: comrpnt
File Submitted: 08 Feb 2010
File Category: User Made Missions

Welcome
Welcome to VMFA-531 Mission Pack 'Gold', for Wings Over Vietnam (WOV). This pack covers the entire set of missions flown by Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) between the dates of April 13 through April 30, 1965. Where possible I have tried to stay true to the historical write-up of Mike Wanamaker and Lee R. De haven*, given the constraints of the publicly available aircraft and ground objects in WOV. Where necessary, certain stock aircraft and ground objects are used in place of their historical counterparts.

*Special mention goes to Ken King (531_Ghost) for commissioning this work.

NOTE: This mission pack has been optimized and tested to work with the October 2008 patch for Wings Over Vietnam.

VERSION: 1.0

Missions included in this Pack
This pack contains over 60 single missions, scripted to reenact the engagements undertaken by the F-4Bs of VMFA-531. You will also get the chance to fly sorties in support of VMFA-531 in other aircraft, such as the A-6A, F-100D (acting as a Misty fast FAC) and the F-105D.

Acknowledgements, Disclaimer and Terms
Thank you to all those modders that have provided the prerequisites I have used in my mission packs. If there are any problems with these missions and my own modifications, then please contact me directly, not the authors of the prerequisites. Note that some models used by this pack may have different terms and conditions (consult the accompanying documentation for details).

Released under Fair-Use terms, as defined at CombatAce

Special thanks
Some contributors deserve a special mention, either for explicitly granting me permission to include their work in this pack, or for publishing their work under the aforementioned Fair-Use terms at CombatAce, and therefore permitting its inclusion in whole or in part in this pack*:

• Kesselbrut – US_Squad_early and VC_Squad ground forces, updated by TeTeT**.
  
• Ravenclaw_007 – Martin Baker Mk7 Ejection Seat, used in F-4B.
  
• Suicidal – Type-21 Frigate.
  
• Sundowner – VMFA-531 (early) F-4B skins.
  
• Swambast – M18 smoke canisters, used with the marker smoke effects in missions involving US ground troops.
  
• Veltro2K – C-141A transport aircraft, and KC-135 tanker aircraft.

*Please contact me if you feel this list is incomplete or contains errors. Thank you.

**Included in this pack after consultation with USAFMTL.

Contents
This mission pack replaces all previous VMFA-531 mission packs that I have published since late 2007. Briefly, the contents are as follows:

• New smoke marker effects
  
• New formations
  
• Comprehensive mission briefings documentation
  
• 60+ scripted single missions
  
• Static aircraft with low-rez skins to populate your airbases during scripted single missions
  
• Pilot skins to personalize your strike aircraft
  
• FM tweaks to provide an auto-opening canopy for each strike aircraft used by this pack
  
• Loadout enhancements to match the ordnance expended during the 'real' missions
  
• A static frigate and carrier to replicate carrier task forces for both Yankee and Dixie stations
  
• Comprehensive target definitions for each mission, with some enhancements to existing friendly airfields
  
• New type definitions to support the new targets
  
• Full airfield approach, tall structure anti-collision and ramp flood lighting for all friendly airfields

Installation
Download this pack to a neutral location on your local machine, extract the files, and then consult the detailed ReadMe for installation instructions.

Files are included to drag-drop this mission pack onto a clean install of WOV (patched to October 2008) with minimal configuration required. Detailed instructions are also included to perform a merge-install.

A final word
This 'Gold' release of the VMFA-531 mission pack completes the set originally published in a series of mission packs from late 2007 onwards. This final version is intended to replace those earlier separate mission packs by offering everything in one place, re-written and enhanced to make full use of the October 2008 patched version of Wings Over Vietnam. The work presented here is the culmination of over 2 years worth of effort. I had a lot of fun doing it, learned a lot, and met some good people along the way. I hope that you enjoy it. I think you will.

Good luck.

comrpnt (February 2010).

Click here to download this file

[topcat II]

Great Stuff many Thanks!!!!!

[mppd]

Thanks for the update, lots of effort into this sort of package.

[ikon71]

Yes dude, lots of work went into this, and its much appreciated. At first I thought it would be a poor man's YAP, but it stands on its own merit. It great to be able to fly someone's wing for a change and the immersion level with the formation flying is great. Just try to stay in formation with 8 other aircraft for any length of time. I merged mine with the WOV Gold mod and no probs so far. This must have been a labor of love for you man, and I'm really enjoying it. Even the mission briefs are top notch.

[krfrge]

Comrpnt,

Wow! Superb work as always. Your work is always first class. This is an exceptional product.

Kindest regards

KRFRGE

[comrpnt]

Thanks folks for your kind words of support - always appreciated. Yes it truely was a labor of love but I was determined to get in finished.

Please let me know of any 'issues' I may have missed during my testing, or installation problems - these are always the hardest thing to test without spawning a whole new instance of WOV.

All the best, regards, comrpnt.

[ST0RM]

Thanks for the work Paul. This has been one of my favorite intalls. Glad to see it fresh.

-Jeff

[swambast]

Darn, I missed this thread earlier. This is a must-have. Paul, your attention to detail is second to none, and this updated pack is absolutely fantastic...over 60 missions!!! Thanks much, you can truly tell it's a labor of love and always top quality...Congratulations on the release and this will be my new spare-time enjoyment!

[Pappa Goat]

Great work once again. It helps provide a sense of immersion in South Vietnam. I had a question though, what happened to the B-66 and slow FAC's? Were they not used in the real missions?

[comrpnt]

Pappa Goat, on 25 April 2010 - 03:05:06 AM, said:

Great work once again. It helps provide a sense of immersion in South Vietnam. I had a question though, what happened to the B-66 and slow FAC's? Were they not used in the real missions?

Hi Pappa Goat, when I revised the existing missions and completed them I wanted to make sure that the whole set worked well with the October 2008 patch. The B-66 did not function well under AI control with the new patch and failed to land properly on the carrier, so I made a Hollywood-style decision to sacrifice historical accuracy for gameplay. The same goes for the O-1E. No specifics on the type of FAC were given in the mission write ups, although O-1Es were probably used on some missions, together with, I expect, ground-based FACs. Because of the slow speed of the O-1E and distance to travel to the target areas, again, for reasons of gameplay, I swapped the O-1Es for F-100s and gave the replacements a Misty-style flight profile, to step up the speed of the game on some of those missions.

Regards, comrpnt.