Basic INI Editing: [Mission Data]

[+Dave 2,318]

The [MissionData] section is the first part of each aircraft data INI. It defines the nationality, role and other basic information about how the acraft was/is employed. Here is an example from the Mirage IIIC:

 

[MissionData]

NationName=France

ServiceStartYear=1963

ServiceEndYear=1990

AircraftRole=FIGHTER

AircraftCapability=DAY_AND_NIGHT

Availability=COMMON

Exported=TRUE

ExportStartYear=1963

ExportAvailability=COMMON

PrimaryRoles=SWEEP,CAP,INTERCEPT,ESCORT

SecondaryRoles=STRIKE,CAS,SEAD,ARMED_RECON,ANTI_SHIP,RECON

NormalMissionRadius=600

MaxMissionRadius=1000

Ceiling=17700

MinBaseSize=MEDIUM

 

Getting this information right is foundation upon which the rest of your flight model will be built. I'll describe each entry below.

 

NationName=

The name of the nation that is the primary operator of the type/model. This should correspond to a nation found in the file nations.ini.

 

ServiceStartYear=

ServiceEndYear=

The year that the aircraft entered service and the year it was withdrawn from service with the primary operator. The ServiceEndYear will not affect export users of the aircraft.

 

AircraftRole=

Defines the tactical role of the aircraft. Active Options are FIGHTER, ATTACK, BOMBER and TRANSPORT. Other options exist in the game DLLs but are apprantly not active. This affects the formation and tactics used by the AI when flying the aircraft.

 

AircraftCapability=

Options are DAY_ONLY or DAY_AND_NIGHT. Defines weather or not the aircraft has a night/all-weather capability.

 

Availability=

Options are RARE, COMMON and VERY_COMMON. Determines the likelihood that the aircraft will appear in a randomly generated mission.

 

Exported=

TRUE or FALSE. Defines whether the aircraft was exported to nations other than the primary.

 

ExportStartYear=

Sets the first year during which the aircraft is availalbe to export users.

 

ExportAvailability=

The same as Availability above, but for export users.

 

PrimaryRoles=

SecondaryRoles=

The aircraft's primary and secondary missions. Choices are SWEEP, CAP, INTERCEPT, ESCORT, STRIKE, CAS, SEAD, ARMED_RECON, ANTI_SHIP, RECON and TRANSPORT. Other roles exist in the game DLLs but are not active. This defines the missions the AI may use the aircraft for in randomly generated missions, as well as the mission types available to the player when selecting the aircraft.

 

NormalMissionRadius=

MaxMissionRadius=

The combat range of the aircraft under normal conditions. This usually requires some fudging, but it is safe to use the "combat radius" specification of the aircraft for the Max, and reduce it by 10% or so for the normal. This parameter tells the game how far away a target can be for it to be assigned to the aircraft.

 

Ceiling=

The aircraft's combat ceiling, in meters.

 

MinBaseSize=

Defines the required runway length for the aircraft. Choices are SMALL, MEDIUM and LARGE.

 

CarrierBased=

Set this to TRUE for aircraft capable of launching and landing on an aircraft carrier. Set to FALSE for all others.