Campaigns and SP4

[SKY6A 0]

Greetings,

 

Is there any reason, apart from the new format for ground objects, that an older 3rd-party campaign should not work under SP 4?

 

I am a big fan of Edward's Solomons Campaign, but had been away from it for a while because the AI gunnery was so terrible prior to SP4. Now that that has been addressed, I am really itching to play it again. So I reformatted all the ground objects to be compatible with SP4, but for some reason the program now misidentifies them. So, for example, rather than American AA defending Henderson Field, there are Japanese AA units there instead--which means that the player's flight gets shot to pieces before it can even leave the ground! I did not change anything about the ground objects, merely transferred for each one the few necessary lines from the GroundObjectsData.ini file to the respective object's individual .ini file according to the instructions posted by USAFMTL.

 

Can anyone help me fix this?

 

Also, I have read USAFMTL's Campaign Tutorial, and that was a very helpful start. But I am looking for more in depth information on creating a campaign from scratch. I have searched everywhere I can think of, but have not been a ble to find what I need. Can anyone point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Regards,

SKY6A

[+Dave 2,321]

That campaign tutorial is the nuts and bolts of it. What information are you looking for?

[SKY6A 0]

That campaign tutorial is the nuts and bolts of it. What information are you looking for?

 

 

USAFMTL,

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. What I am looking for specifically is the means to fix the problem I described in my original post. Since the handling of ground objects is mostly in the terrain .ini files, I suspect that the problem may be there. But the campaign tutorial only addresses the main campaign files. Has anyone posted a detailed description of the terrain .ini files? That would be useful information in any case, and might help me fix this specific problem.

 

Regards,

SKY6A

[+Dave 2,321]

Could your airbase be behind enemy lines? If so that is why they are shooting at you.

[SKY6A 0]

Could your airbase be behind enemy lines? If so that is why they are shooting at you.

That seems like a reasonable hypothesis. Where in the campaign or terrain files is the front line defined? That, by the way, is just the sort of thing that I am hoping to learn.

[+Dave 2,321]

At the bottom of the campaign data.ini. Under strategic node.

[SKY6A 0]

At the bottom of the campaign data.ini. Under strategic node.

Well, that could be the problem right there. There is no front line defined under strategic node. What should be there?

[+Dave 2,321]

Well, that could be the problem right there. There is no front line defined under strategic node. What should be there?

 

A front line....lol I do not know how to get the coordinates for that.

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

Well, that could be the problem right there. There is no front line defined under strategic node. What should be there?

 

For the start of a campaign, it's defined in the terrain's _movement.ini. As the campaign progresses, and strategic nodes change hands, the front line will move. Look at the planning map prior to a mission, to see where the front line currently is.

 

If a target area is on the ENEMY side of the front line, it will belong to, and contain enemies, reguardless of it's affiliation as defined in the terrain's _targets.ini. Same for ENEMY areas that fall behind the FRIENDLY side.

[SKY6A 0]

Thanks Aggie, I think we're getting somewhere.

 

Unfortunately, in the planning map before a campaign mission, Henderson Field is covered up by the icons for the various units present. And the area is so small that, even when zoomed in, it is impossible to tell which side of the front line Henderson falls on. As you probably know, Guadalcanal was bitterly contested territory early in the Solomons campaign, so the proximity of American and Japanese forces is unlike most other situations represented in Strike Fighters, where the respective forces--and especially air bases--start out pretty well spread apart.

 

But I did also look in the Solomons_movement.ini file and, as you say, the front line is defined there by a series of coordinates. Comparing these with the coordinates for Henderson Field given in Solomons_targets.ini, it looks as though Henderson SHOULD fall on the allied side of the front...but, of course, just barely. So I have been trying to find a set of coordinates that places the front line further away to see if this solves the problem. So far, I have been unsuccessful--mostly, I think, because I am just using trial and error. I really need some way to see where these coordinates fall on the map. Do you know of a way to display coordinates on the planning map?

 

I do think we are on the right track, though, because when--just as an experiment--I removed the definition of a front line altogether, the AA at Henderson was back to American as it should be. Still, this puzzles me. Why would Edward's original front line no longer work under SP4? TK, if you read this, could you possibly shed some light on the matter?

 

Thanks again all,

SKY6A

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

Use Kreelin's mission editor here:

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autom...p;showfile=2678

 

Open up the terrain's planning map, and as you move the mouse cursor over the map, the XY coords will be displayed at the bottom. (0,0) is the bottom left corner.

 

I don't know why it would be different now with SP4. TK said he made some small tweaks to the campaign engine.

 

Is it possible that your squadrons start date is later than the start date of the campaign? This is defined in the campaign's _data.ini. Maybe there's fighting going on prior to your squadron's start, and the base you speak of may be falling into enemy hands before your squadron shows up in the campaign.

[SKY6A 0]

Yeah, I'm actually one step ahead of you now. I have been using the mission editor to see exactly where the coordinates fall and have discovered something interesting. It seems the front line defined in the movement.ini file primarily applies to single missions. In a campaign, the front line is determined by the actual position of the opposing units--which makes sense, given the dynamic nature of it.

 

So, by removing the Japanese units that begin the campaign on the island of Guadalcanal, I am able to force the front line back enough that Henderson Field falls squarely in American territory. However, the presence of even one Japanese unit on the island reverses this--even if the the balance of forces is even.

 

Actually, that last statement is a bit speculative, since for some reason I am unable to get more than one American unit to appear. I set the "Intelligence" value of all units to 100 on the assumption that this will reveal their presence in the campaign, set the campaign start date to a fixed value (i.e., StartDateDeviation=0), set the unit start dates to the same fixed value, but for some reason only the first American unit ever appears. Even more strange, the same does not apply to the Japanese units. I can make them show up or not at will. So I have to admit, I'm a bit stumped right now. I sure wish TK would jump in here ...

 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted if I discover anything further. If nothing else, I am learning a lot about campaigns and what makes them tick!

[+Dave 2,321]

Front lines have always been my problem. Not sure how to set them up. I made some of the first 3rd party campaigns and that has always eluded me. So if you figure it out let me know so I can add it to the knowledge base.

[SKY6A 0]

Front lines have always been my problem. Not sure how to set them up. I made some of the first 3rd party campaigns and that has always eluded me. So if you figure it out let me know so I can add it to the knowledge base.

 

USAFMTL,

 

These are my observations with regard to the front line.

 

The coordinates set forth in the movement.ini file establish the front line used in single missions and a default front line for campaign missions. So, if you wanted to create a front line from scratch, for example, you could draw it as a flight path in the mission builder, write down the coordinates of the way points used to draw it, and then use those coordinates in your movement.ini file as the coordinates of your front line. However, it seems that fronline coordinates must all be of the format ###000.000--that is, only the first three digits can be anything other than zeros--otherwise the campaign will fail to load at all.

 

Now, as I said, the coordinates in the movement.ini file establish a DEFAULT front line for campaigns, but this will be locally deformed to reflect the actual position of ground units. So, if the campaign_data.ini file places some units forward of the default front line, or if in the course of the campaign ground units advance beyond it, then the front line in that area will be moved to reflect the actual ownership.

 

I hope all this makes sense...and--more importantly--that it is accurate. At the very least, I hope that it helps others to learn more.

 

Regards,

SKY6A

[SKY6A 0]

Aha! I've figured it out!

 

What I failed to notice before was that Edward had set the campaign start date to two weeks before the earliest start date of a playable squadron. So what has been happening is this: each time I start the campaign, the program calculates was has happened in those preceding two weeks. And given the relative strengths and weaknesses of the respective units, the Japanese have eliminated all but one of the American units each time, thus pushing the front line past Henderson Field. Whatever TK "tweaked" about the campaign engine in SP4, it apparently makes the Japanese in this situation all but invincible.

 

However, by setting the campaign start date to equal the squadron start date, I am able to force the campaign to begin with the American units still in place--though in immanent danger of being overrun! But at least the player squadron has a base to take off from and a fighting chance to turn the tide.

 

Anyway, things seem to be moving forward in updating Edward's great campaign to work with SP4. Thanks USAFMTL and Aggie for all your help!

 

Regards,

SKY6A

[SKY6A 0]

Okay, a little more insight gleaned from my tinkerings--in case anybody cares.

 

Perhaps part of the reason the American units were taking such a drubbing is the fact that the latest weapon pack--at least in its default installation--no longer includes the 7.62MM M60. The American units were thus deprived of a significant portion of their firepower. I'm not convinced, however, that the program actually takes such matters into account in its combat calculations.

 

What definitely has made a difference is simply increasing the USMC force moral and supply values to be on par with those of the Japanese. Even using the original campaign start date, this causes the early stages of the campaign to play out pretty much as I remember it before SP4--and so, I hope, more or less in line with Edward's intentions.

 

This leads me to wonder whether TK's latest campaign engine tweak included a more detailed implementation of the force morale and supply values in the calculation of combat outcomes. That is the only way I can think of to account for the wildly different results derived from the same campaign .ini files before and after SP4.

 

Regards,

SKY6A

[ezlead 42]

Sky6a:

I ran into the same problem when I loaded the Solomons Campaign.

Go to the Solomons_Targets.ini in the terrain folder,open it up with wordpad, Scroll down on Henderson Field and Fighter1 Field. Any where it says AAA change to US anti-aircraft weapons, bofors,35inch or 35inchEmplaced. The game reads AAA as enemy triple A as in the Solomons_Types.ini file.

Be ready after takeoff the Jap gunners still have AAA right outside Henderson Field. The new AI makes them pretty good shots. Also, the US Fleet right off Henderson Field will show up as enemy after a few missions. I used the mission generator to find new coordinates for them. I moved them down by Fighter1 Field.

Thanks for the info on the dates,the moral and supply. That explains why I always fly 1 or 2 missions and get transferred to Fighter1 Field.

 

I hope this helps.

 

I really enjoy this campaign,but be careful flying up by the Jap airfields. The AAA is HORRIFIC!!! And the gunners(AI) are really good. I usually have to fly the first few missions more than once to make it through.