Battle of Britain Campaign Feedback

[keith 0]

WOO HOO!

 

I'm there!

[Bandy 3]

Tally Ho!

v0.60 currently awaiting clearance here at combatace

...

Got my thinking cap on for v0.61

Enjoy

baltika

 

Congratulations on the release! And in time for the weekend!!!! You deserve every bit of praise...

 

I'm off to BoBLand now, likely due for a few burtons though

[rtoolooze 2]

Thanks, I'm up and flying too!!! Having a blast. Wonderful work!

[keith 0]

Baltika

 

I flew the first mission for the Stuka this morning. However the target ships were all sailing in London..! Is there an INI setting I can twiddle with to fix this?

 

Keith

[+Baltika 84]

I flew the first mission for the Stuka this morning. However the target ships were all sailing in London..! Is there an INI setting I can twiddle with to fix this?

 

 

Hi Keith,

 

Shipping routes are controlled by the Battle of Britain_movement.ini file in the terrain folder. There are a number of routes, those defined as "shipping" set the waypoints for ships in anti-ship missions. Looking at the version of the file released with v 0.60, I think a couple of routes are short on waypoints, with the result that your ships will sail overland.

 

Apologies for not spotting that one pre-release, and thanks for the heads-up. If you want to fiddle, the co-ordinates are absolute map co-ordinates which you can find out using KMD. The idea is to set waypoints which are over sea rather than overland, obviously. I am about to leave on a business trip, so it will be the weekend at least before I can take a look at it.

 

So, v0.61 coming along nicely then

 

Cheers mate,

 

baltika

Edited September 18, 2007 by Baltika

[+Baltika 84]

OK, here's a quick fix to the "ships that sail on land" problem:-

 

Open up the Battle of Britain_movement.ini file in wordpad or notepad.

 

Scroll down to [Route007] and [Route008]

 

Cut and paste the following as replacements:-

 

[Route007]

RouteType=SHIPPING

StartArea=Port of Brighton

EndArea=Portsmouth Harbour

RoutePosition[001]=712000,570500

RoutePosition[002]=666666,570000

RoutePosition[003]=630000,562000

RoutePosition[004]=598000,570000

 

[Route008]

RouteType=SHIPPING

StartArea=Port of Le Havre

EndArea=Port of Cherbourg

RoutePosition[001]=727750,413000

RoutePosition[002]=578000,456000

RoutePosition[003]=540000,456000

 

 

Save your amended _movement.ini file.

 

Go and sink some ships

 

I will thoroughly overhaul the _movement.ini file for the next release, as we now have many more port facilities thanks to Gepard's hard work on updating his terrain. In the meantime, thanks for the bug report, keith.

 

If anyone else spots any odd behaviour, drop me a line.

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

[keith 0]

Thanks Baltika!

[+Brainless 1]

Attention WW2 Propheads

 

Thanks to all of you who have d/l BoB Campaign

 

As stated, it is a WIP, so feedback is very welcome - I know it is not perfect, and I would like to make it better. Please post any comments, suggestions, bug reports, gripes etc here. (Except issues about the fact that the only bombers you can shoot down are Do-17Z. I also have that problem. Every time I take on a flight of Ju-88 or He-111 I get my ass handed to me. Even if I take my whole squadron with me, and maneouvre for a frontal attack on intercept, I get shot to pieces. If anyone has successfully intercepted such a flight, and shot down more than one bomber, please let me know how you did it )

 

I will kick this off by asking one question. In the readme, I say there is a big issue - RAF air units showing up in North West France, and Luftwaffe units scrunching up in a line between Paris and Calais.

 

Has anyone actually seen this happen? Since I set this up again for public release, I have been flying the campaign, and I have not had it happen. It was perhaps, as TK suggested in this thread, a problem with my install. If it is sorted, I will amend the "Known Issues" accordingly. Thanks for your attention.

 

Thread link:

 

http://bbs.thirdwire.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4037

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

 

To shoot down bombers try attacking from 2000ft below the target and then creep up gradually under the bomber avoiding rear gunners' fire. If you're doing it right you will see the tracers going over your head and in the rear view mirror. When at zero range pull up under the bomber and open up. Your'e guaranteed to hit the a/c but may not shoot it down. Repeat until you disable it. Works every time for me!

[+Baltika 84]

Well, just to let you all know we are not resting on our laurels in BoB land:-

 

Coming soon(ish) to v0.61!

 

Flyable Squadron updates to incorporate The Wrench's mighty fine BoB skins, recently released:-

610 Sqdn (Beautiful Kevin, just beautiful! Thank you!)

BoB Movie Sqdn skin "A1" (But what Sqdn will fly it? Suggestions, please!)

54 Sqdn Curtiss-Wright Tomahawk (Again, beautiful work, thanks Kevin! Great for "Stuka Parties," and knocking down bombers - just hope you don't run into any 109s!)

 

Updated [terrain]_movement.ini file (Loads more shipping routes, thanks to Gepard for his updated terrain)

 

Updated [terrain]_targets.ini file for more villages round flyable aerodromes (Thanks to CA_Stary for the villages)

 

Revised Polish and Czechoslovak Sqdn selection (Thanks to linefighter/Hussar for pointing out the issue)

 

Dedicated Polish/Czechoslovak Sqdn skins (I'm working on it, chaps!)

 

Revised Bf-109E-1/3/4 FMs and respective Luftwaffe Gruppen assignation (Thanks to B Bandy RFC & Russo)

 

And, what we've all been waiting for, I suppose (If you want something done properly. . . !)

 

WW2 RAF Speech pack (cannibalized from EAW & Janes WW2 Fighters - all credit due!)

 

No promises on release date - 2 weeks

 

In the meantime, anyone has any bug reports, suggestions, gripes, etc. . .

 

Now's the time!

 

Oh, and BTW, has anyone made it to Operation Sealion yet? My gut feeling is that some tweaking on that front (Hur-hur ) may be in order. All comments welcome.

 

Cheers to one and all!

 

baltika

[Wrench 9,795]

I'm glad you like them!

 

As for the "AI" Spit squadron, I'll have to study the DVD again. It's Robert Shaw's squadron (I forgot the W/C flag on "A"). There are a couple of scenes in the dispersal hut, where you can see the blackboard with the squadron roster. I think you might be able to see the squadron number.

 

Have to check and get back...I know the one site that lists RAF squadron shows the "AI" prefix used on a bomber squadron in real life

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[Wrench 9,795]

Ok, after watching the movie again late last night (gotta love the 'chapter jump' feature on DVDs!!), I still haven't found ANY listing for the "AI" spits

 

There was a scene in 11 Group's Ops center (with that cool map and pretty WAAFs pushing the markers around), that showed the station/squadron listings...which I'm pretty sure you already have this stuff.

 

Northwald:

56

25

151

 

Hornchurch

65

74

54*

 

Northolt

1

257

 

Biggin Hill

600

610

32

501

 

Tangemere

43

145

601

 

Deben

17

85

 

I also caught some other squadron codes I'd not noticed before

 

Spitfire:

 

DO

BO

CD (Michael Caine's squadron -- damp tent, run down shack full of dead flys)

 

Hurricane:

MI

KV (might have been the Polish training unit, that jumped the He-111s "Repeat, please")

 

Watched the airfield attack sequence several time, where Robert Shaw says the "don't be daft, we've just come down", it's possible it could be Biggin, but probably not, as they then start to scramble, under a rain of bombs. The the next scenes are F/O Harvey and the other guy discussing the use of gasmask bags as ladies purses...but several Spits inthe background have the either the CD or DO code. Again, the AI code still dosen't match any know fighter squadron; at least that I could find.

 

So, I guess the best would be to just make up one, maybe call it 999 Squadron???

 

As to the Poles and Czech squadron, just the standard RAF camo, with the country flashes, either on the nose or near cockpit. Be advised, with decals there sometimes a little 'bleed' caused by a couple of open meshes in the LOD (see the Movie Spit skin -- that strange white line on the starboard side, near the exhaust stacks). Both the Spit and Hurri 1, 2, and 2c have this.

 

I also have a 3 Squadron Hurri 1, 2 2c skins "QO" code that not released yet. Plus a June 40 #1 Squadron AASF skin for the BoF. (did that because we don't have the 2-bladed prop for the earlier ones, and I couldn't figure out the white/black undersides. Well, I could, but I'm too lazy)

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[12ams 0]

I have a problem (not that one....one with BoB). When I enter the campaign in 1 Cdn Sqn, I blow up instantly. Anyone have any suggestions? BTW, I love what you have done Baltika.

[12ams 0]

I found out the reason. If I disable collisions, I noticed that my aircraft was "shimmering" or "flickering". As I advanced the throttle, I realized that the "shimmering" and explosion were because there are 2 aircraft placed on top of each other. For V0.61, how about fixing the aircraft placement for 1 Cdn Sqn. Thanks.

[+Baltika 84]

Hi 12ams,

 

Sorry to hear you are having trouble. I must admit I can't recreate this one. Here's what I get with a ground start:-

 

 

And here's starting in the air:-

 

 

The problem you are having sounds like either (1) an issue with the allocated taxi points for aircraft, or (2) an issue with the WW2 formations mod (which deals with spacing of aircraft in the air).

 

Try reloading the WW2 formations mod:-

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autom...p;showfile=3197

 

 

The second issue is a terrain matter. Taxi points on runways are defined in the [airfield].ini file, which is flagged by the AirfieldDataFile= entry in the [terrain]_targets.ini.

 

You could try re-installing Gepard's BoB terrain v1.4, then applying the BoB campaign terrain files (Battle of Britain_targets.ini and Battle of Britain_types.ini) on top of that.

 

 

Oh, and I have just realised I will need to add a 1 RCAF skin to my list

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

[+Gepard 11,158]

If planes are set on the same place on airfields, the reason is, that there is no desert_airfield.ini file available. I guess 12ams plays WOE or WOV.

BoB terrain is written for SFP1. It use desert_airfield3.ini file for plane location on airfields. The older versions of WOE and WOV does not include desert_airfield3.ini. With the latest patch TK included the SFP1 airfield files into WOE and WOV.

The simplest solution of 12ams problem is to download the latest patch.

Edited October 8, 2007 by Gepard

[BattlerBritain 1]

Just caught up with this thread.

 

Wrench, from your post above are you after the complete list of RAF Squadrons, their locations and squadron letters?

 

If so that information is around. It's certainly on the BoB2 forums over at Shockwave. Somebody's also just done a new BoB campaign map showing the Squadron locations. Checkout the thread at: http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8866

 

BoB2 also recently did a complete set of skins for RAF and German aircraft of the BoB.

Check out the thread at: http://shockwaveproductions.com/forum/view...7aefa8ecb756829 .

 

Now wouldn't it be nice if we had a similar set of skins for BoB in SFP1?

 

By the way, your Spitfire skins are good but the underwing roundels have the 1941 style large red centre. For 1940 they should have the small red centre. Picky I know, but what the heck?

 

Cheers for all your good work,

 

Battler

[BattlerBritain 1]

Oh yeah, nearly forgot, the 2-letter squadron codes always go to the left of the fuselage roundel.

 

Hence the Hurricane picture above viewed from the right should have the LE codes the other side of the roundel towards the tail.

[12ams 0]

If planes are set on the same place on airfields, the reason is, that there is no desert_airfield.ini file available. I guess 12ams plays WOE or WOV.

BoB terrain is written for SFP1. It use desert_airfield3.ini file for plane location on airfields. The older versions of WOE and WOV does not include desert_airfield3.ini. With the latest patch TK included the SFP1 airfield files into WOE and WOV.

The simplest solution of 12ams problem is to download the latest patch.

 

 

I am using WoV, but it is patched up to 08/30/06. Are there any other patches that I am unaware of? Here are some screenshots.

 

 

[+Baltika 84]

Hi there,

 

Gepard-

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 

12ams -

 

Definitely not a problem with the WW2 Formations mod, then. v083006 is the latest version, there are no later patches.

 

What airfield are your screenshots taken from? In v0.60 of the campaign, 1 RCAF is set to start at Croydon (which is not where you are from your screenshots) but has a BaseMoveChance of 60, so you will move around a bit. There may be an issue with the particular airfield you are flying from.

 

 

BattlerBritain-

 

Thanks for the info, and tips re skins. I would also love a full set of BoB skins in SFP1, but I am very much a .ini meddler, rather than an artist. Wrench has been cranking out some great ones recently

 

Cheers for now,

 

baltika

[Wrench 9,795]

That's definately an airfield ini problem..I've experienced that before. So,we're talking about this one:

 

[Runway001]

Heading=0

Offset=0,0

Length=1200

Width=90

TouchDownHead=0,500

TouchDownTail=0,-500

TakeOffHead=0,635

TakeOffTail=0,-635

 

Parking[01].Heading=0

Parking[01].Offset=655,-340

Parking[02].Heading=0

Parking[02].Offset=625,-340

Parking[03].Heading=0

Parking[03].Offset=595,-340

Parking[04].Heading=0

Parking[04].Offset=565,-340

 

Parking[05].Heading=270

Parking[05].Offset=655,-270

Parking[06].Heading=270

Parking[06].Offset=625,-270

Parking[07].Heading=270

Parking[07].Offset=595,-270

Parking[08].Heading=270

Parking[08].Offset=565,-270

 

Parking[09].Heading=0

Parking[09].Offset=655,-250

Parking[10].Heading=0

Parking[10].Offset=625,-250

Parking[11].Heading=0

Parking[11].Offset=595,-250

Parking[12].Heading=0

Parking[12].Offset=565,-250

 

Parking[13].Heading=270

Parking[13].Offset=655,-195

Parking[14].Heading=270

Parking[14].Offset=625,-195

Parking[15].Heading=270

Parking[15].Offset=595,-195

Parking[16].Heading=270

Parking[16].Offset=565,-195

 

TaxiHead[01].Heading=270

TaxiHead[01].Offset=65,650

TaxiHead[02].Heading=292.5

TaxiHead[02].Offset=115,646

TaxiHead[03].Heading=315

TaxiHead[03].Offset=150,625

TaxiHead[04].Heading=315

TaxiHead[04].Offset=178,596

TaxiHead[05].Heading=315

TaxiHead[05].Offset=210,565

TaxiHead[06].Heading=315

TaxiHead[06].Offset=244,533

TaxiHead[07].Heading=315

TaxiHead[07].Offset=280,494

TaxiHead[08].Heading=315

TaxiHead[08].Offset=316,458

TaxiHead[09].Heading=315

TaxiHead[09].Offset=348,421

TaxiHead[10].Heading=315

TaxiHead[10].Offset=383,390

TaxiHead[11].Heading=315

TaxiHead[11].Offset=423,352

TaxiHead[12].Heading=337.5

TaxiHead[12].Offset=444,318

TaxiHead[13].Heading=0

TaxiHead[13].Offset=448,270

TaxiHead[14].Heading=0

TaxiHead[14].Offset=448,320

TaxiHead[15].Heading=0

TaxiHead[15].Offset=448,370

TaxiHead[16].Heading=0

TaxiHead[16].Offset=448,420

 

TaxiTail[01].Heading=270

TaxiTail[01].Offset=65,-650

TaxiTail[02].Heading=247.5

TaxiTail[02].Offset=115,-646

TaxiTail[03].Heading=225

TaxiTail[03].Offset=150,-625

TaxiTail[04].Heading=225

TaxiTail[04].Offset=178,-596

TaxiTail[05].Heading=225

TaxiTail[05].Offset=210,-565

TaxiTail[06].Heading=225

TaxiTail[06].Offset=244,-533

TaxiTail[07].Heading=225

TaxiTail[07].Offset=280,-494

TaxiTail[08].Heading=225

TaxiTail[08].Offset=316,-458

TaxiTail[09].Heading=225

TaxiTail[09].Offset=348,-421

TaxiTail[10].Heading=225

TaxiTail[10].Offset=383,-390

TaxiTail[11].Heading=225

TaxiTail[11].Offset=423,-352

TaxiTail[12].Heading=202.5

TaxiTail[12].Offset=444,-318

TaxiTail[13].Heading=180

TaxiTail[13].Offset=448,-270

TaxiTail[14].Heading=180

TaxiTail[14].Offset=448,-320

TaxiTail[15].Heading=180

TaxiTail[15].Offset=448,-370

TaxiTail[16].Heading=180

TaxiTail[16].Offset=448,-420

gee...did I just post that???

Like the other said, that's included in the latest patch upgrade. If not, copy the text above into a blank notepade sheet and 'saveas" DESERT_AIRFIELD3.INI, and throw it into the BoB terrain folder. That should work.

 

Battler: I thought the roundels were off...it's just a simple matter of swapping out the lower ones in the skin template...which of course, means new a skin bmp. Insteresting to note, my Hurri's are correct!!! It's probably because the Spit Mk.1 template is usable on everything from the 1 through 9 and the Seafires (with the addition of the extra prop blade for the 4 bladed prop), and I've just reused the same layer. I mean, the psd template is ONLY 25 megs right now....(if you think that's big...my FW190 is 72 megs! - must have 30+layers on it)

 

Mostly, we were trying to answer what squadron, if any, the "AI" code represented from the movie. Personally, I don't thing it's ANY squadron, probably somebody's initials from the production crew!

But most definately, the Squadron code letters should be AFT of the roundel on the Starboard side, forward on port. Which, unfortunatley, give us the decal bleed from the individual letters near the engine cowl. Nothing for it, as they say, except having Capun look at the lod again, and close off the gaps. Same would have to be done for the Spits as well. But we've got sooo many projects in the pipeline, don't expect it happen.

 

But I"ll have a look at those sites anway...might answer the question.

 

And speaking of Messerschmits and Focke-Wulfs....there's some interesting thing coming (albeit for later in the war).

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[12ams 0]

Like the other said, that's included in the latest patch upgrade. If not, copy the text above into a blank notepade sheet and 'saveas" DESERT_AIRFIELD3.INI, and throw it into the BoB terrain folder. That should work.

 

No dice. Didn't work.

[Wrench 9,795]

You DO have the pointer for you VietnamSEA.cat in the BoB.ini, right?? Assuming you're basing the game off a modded WoV.

 

[Terrain]

TerrainFullName=Battle of Britain

DataFile=Battle of Britain_data.INI

CatFile=..\VietnamSEA\VietnamSEA.cat <-this line, like so??

TargetFile=Battle of Britain_targets.ini

TargetTypeFile=Battle of Britain_types.ini

NationsFile=Battle of Britain_nations.ini

BriefingText=Battle of Britain_briefing.ini

MovementFile=Battle of Britain_movement.INI

DogfightFile=Battle of Britain_dogfight.INI

DogfightOnly=FALSE

Latitude=50.0

Longitude=0.0

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[12ams 0]

I solved my own problem. I installed SPF1 and went from there. Everything is cool now. Thanks for all the help, though. I know I should have went with SPF1 right from the start, but I didn't even have the wrapper off (and I've had it for almost a year now). I just never really saw a need until BoB. Is there any other recommended mods for SPF1 or WoV? Unfortunately, I can't find WoE anywhere in Ottawa.

[Wrench 9,795]

You know, of course, that you can take that whole wonderful desert terrain folder, and just drop it into WoV, and have it all, right??? (or WoE -- don't work in First Eagles though)

 

It should be noted, as a sidebar, in my WW2 install, which originally started out as an SF mod, is now in WoE (SWOTL I call it, due to all the 'Luft46' birds in there), and my pointer is to the desert cat, in the swapped over /desert terrain folder. I found the WoE GermanyCE cat "acted funny" with the BoB terrain.

 

Works perfect with the desert cat, though. Pure, honest strangeness!

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[BattlerBritain 1]

Wrench,

 

OK Dood. Didn't know about the decal bleed issue and I can understand about the priorities list.

 

With respect to the Battle of Britain film for some reason they decided NOT to depict the actual squadron markings or specific pilot names for any of the RAF Squadrons, so AI doesn't represent any particular Squadron.

 

I also think the same is true for the Germans, eg in the famous scene where Goering berates the Jagdflieger the pilot who replies "Give me a squadron of Spitfires" wasn't called Adolf Galland in the film (I think).

 

However, for the RAF Robert Shaw is meant to represent Sailor Malan of 74 Sqdn (ZP) . The Poles are meant to be 303 Sqdn (RF). Thats' about as specific as you can get for the film.

 

And yeah - if I was any sort of an artist I'd have a go at doing the BoB skin pack. If I could do anything like what they've done for the skins in BoB2 I'd be a happy man

 

Cheers,

 

Battler.