How do you use LGB's?

[MetalMania]

I'm currently using SFP1 with SP4 and Bunyap's Weapons Pack 10/06. Is targeting with LGBs the same as EO Guided weapons like the Maverick - "E" until your desired target is bracketed and drop when in range? Unless I missed it I don't recall seeing a specific command to activate the laser designator and the Weapons delivery manual doesn't differentiate specific targeting procedures for laser guided weapons. Seeing that there's no way to lock a target with the AG radar I'm assuming it's the same. (Haven't had a chance to actually try it yet).

 

Thanks

[EricJ]

http://562.50megs.com/WOE/Tutorials/GWU.zip

[Viper6]

I'm currently using SFP1 with SP4 and Bunyap's Weapons Pack 10/06. Is targeting with LGBs the same as EO Guided weapons like the Maverick - "E" until your desired target is bracketed and drop when in range? Unless I missed it I don't recall seeing a specific command to activate the laser designator and the Weapons delivery manual doesn't differentiate specific targeting procedures for laser guided weapons. Seeing that there's no way to lock a target with the AG radar I'm assuming it's the same. (Haven't had a chance to actually try it yet).

 

Thanks

The primary needs no real lock, just e til primary, then at level flight at say about five miles at 10,000ft let her drop and watch the show.

[MetalMania]

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple more questions, please bear with me!

 

I gave it a quick test run on the range, and I'm part way there. The install I tried it with was SFP1 SP4 with Bunyap's '06 Weps Pack, Burning Sands '83 F-18A (included in mod) and I think I set the year to 1983. I loaded up some GBU-12's, and at about 10,000 ft and 3 miles out from the primary target dropped one. Direct hit. So I extended out for a while and turned back for some more practice, selected a target and did the same kind of pass but no more bombs would release. Looking over the exterior of the aircraft I realized I had no targeting pod (so the primary must be "ground lased" for you?). Ok, I head back to the loadout screen and checking through the options for every station I did not see any targeting pods available, only ECM pods.

 

I'm assuming it's got to be an issue with allowed objects on a particular weapon station in an ini file somewhere, and I know that you have to be careful with mission timeframe versus years of service of various weapons, but I would have thought that if the GBU's were available in the loadout screen there would have been a corresponding targeting pod to go with it.

 

I haven't changed anything outside of the official patch up to SP4 and the BS 83 mod. Haven't edited anything else. Maybe the plane in this particular mod is just set up to not really use LGB's on its own?

 

I tried it with both "strike" and SEAD missions to see if it allowed different loadout options but still didn't see any targeting pods.

[Viper6]

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple more questions, please bear with me!

 

I gave it a quick test run on the range, and I'm part way there. The install I tried it with was SFP1 SP4 with Bunyap's '06 Weps Pack, Burning Sands '83 F-18A (included in mod) and I think I set the year to 1983. I loaded up some GBU-12's, and at about 10,000 ft and 3 miles out from the primary target dropped one. Direct hit. So I extended out for a while and turned back for some more practice, selected a target and did the same kind of pass but no more bombs would release. Looking over the exterior of the aircraft I realized I had no targeting pod (so the primary must be "ground lased" for you?). Ok, I head back to the loadout screen and checking through the options for every station I did not see any targeting pods available, only ECM pods.

 

I'm assuming it's got to be an issue with allowed objects on a particular weapon station in an ini file somewhere, and I know that you have to be careful with mission timeframe versus years of service of various weapons, but I would have thought that if the GBU's were available in the loadout screen there would have been a corresponding targeting pod to go with it.

 

I haven't changed anything outside of the official patch up to SP4 and the BS 83 mod. Haven't edited anything else. Maybe the plane in this particular mod is just set up to not really use LGB's on its own?

 

I tried it with both "strike" and SEAD missions to see if it allowed different loadout options but still didn't see any targeting pods.

only the primary can be locked or lased for LGB's unless you have a target pod ot lase pod

[+Typhoid]

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple more questions, please bear with me!

 

I gave it a quick test run on the range, and I'm part way there. The install I tried it with was SFP1 SP4 with Bunyap's '06 Weps Pack, Burning Sands '83 F-18A (included in mod) and I think I set the year to 1983. I loaded up some GBU-12's, and at about 10,000 ft and 3 miles out from the primary target dropped one. Direct hit. So I extended out for a while and turned back for some more practice, selected a target and did the same kind of pass but no more bombs would release. Looking over the exterior of the aircraft I realized I had no targeting pod (so the primary must be "ground lased" for you?). Ok, I head back to the loadout screen and checking through the options for every station I did not see any targeting pods available, only ECM pods.

 

I'm assuming it's got to be an issue with allowed objects on a particular weapon station in an ini file somewhere, and I know that you have to be careful with mission timeframe versus years of service of various weapons, but I would have thought that if the GBU's were available in the loadout screen there would have been a corresponding targeting pod to go with it.

 

I haven't changed anything outside of the official patch up to SP4 and the BS 83 mod. Haven't edited anything else. Maybe the plane in this particular mod is just set up to not really use LGB's on its own?

 

I tried it with both "strike" and SEAD missions to see if it allowed different loadout options but still didn't see any targeting pods.

 

sim limitation that when you take out the primary target - the others don't come off on alternates.

 

that corrects slightly with the new patch IF you have a targetting pod also mounted (at least my observation). but still not fully effective.

 

going against your target with an LGB and no pod - the game appears to assume another aircraft is lasing or a ground lase. So sometimes you can hit your target.

 

best bet - ensure you load the right pod and go waste the enemy

[EricJ]

[LeftSparrowStation]

SystemType=WEAPON_STATION

StationID=14

StationGroupID=4

StationType=SEMI_RECESSED

AttachmentPosition=-1.3,-2.418,-0.95

AttachmentAngles=0.0,-0.5,0.0

MissileRollAngle=45.0

EjectVelocity=0.0,0.0,-2.0

LoadLimit=500

DiameterLimit=0.3

AllowedWeaponClass=SAHM,AHM,LP

AttachmentType=NATO,USN

MinExtentPosition=

MaxExtentPosition=

 

Open the FA-18A_DATA.ini and find this and copy and paste with this. If you did this and still no worky, go to the Downloads section and find the AV-23-R from Wingwiner (it's in the weapons section of the download area).

[Viper6]

I've modded my F-4s to carry EVERYTHING lol the CA community weaps pack is the way to go for me it has it all! on strike missions my Rhinos are in a class by them selves! you can easily mod the weps and years to your liking in SF.

[gbnavy61]

It's a common thing with LGBs. Unless you have a laser on your jet, you can only "lase" and drop on the primary target.

 

You should probably check your weaponsdata.ini to see if you have any targeting pods. If you do, you will probably have to enable them via the aircraftdata.ini and perhaps the weapons editor.

 

Check that the appropriate weapon station can handle the weight/mass of the pod, as well.

 

Another "get-around" fix is to add an internal laser to your jet by making an entry in the aircraftdata.ini. Did this for the A-6E TRAM, since it really did have an internal laser.

 

Hope that was somewhat helpful.

[Rodent]

I always assumed your primary target was being lit up by ground forces or something so that is why you do not have to laser it yourself. And of course those same ground forces do not go around lazering everything just in case you want to bomb it. Unless those ground forces are lazercats.

[Viper6]

I always assumed your primary target was being lit up by ground forces or something so that is why you do not have to laser it yourself. And of course those same ground forces do not go around lazering everything just in case you want to bomb it. Unless those ground forces are lazercats.

[MetalMania]

Ok, I have to ask although I somehow suspect I might not get a straight answer.

 

What's with all the references to eels and lazercats around here?

[Rodent]

Ok, I have to ask although I somehow suspect I might not get a straight answer.

 

What's with all the references to eels and lazercats around here?

 

 

Nobody can say for certain. They are very secretive.

[EricJ]

Ok, I have to ask although I somehow suspect I might not get a straight answer.

 

What's with all the references to eels and lazercats around here?

 

Do not worry about such things and mind yourself on this subject. Any more questions and your death is certain by these foul beasts.

[Viper6]

Do not worry about such things and mind yourself on this subject. Any more questions and your death is certain by these foul beasts.

That subject is above our pay grade!

[EricJ]

[MetalMania]

It's a common thing with LGBs. Unless you have a laser on your jet, you can only "lase" and drop on the primary target.

 

You should probably check your weaponsdata.ini to see if you have any targeting pods. If you do, you will probably have to enable them via the aircraftdata.ini and perhaps the weapons editor.

 

Check that the appropriate weapon station can handle the weight/mass of the pod, as well.

 

Another "get-around" fix is to add an internal laser to your jet by making an entry in the aircraftdata.ini. Did this for the A-6E TRAM, since it really did have an internal laser.

 

Hope that was somewhat helpful.

 

Ok, well still working on this. I've done some research and apparently the F-18A didn't get it's own designating capability until 1987. No matter, I'm now just pursuing this as a learning exercise. So I checked my weapondata.ini and there are several targeting pods present. I modified the FA-18A_DATA.ini as shown to include "LP" on the left sparrow station. I made sure I had USN targeting pods in the weapondata.ini available for for the years I tried (I changed the mission date a number of times to see if it made any difference, all within the service years for both the aircraft and the targeting pod). Not only can I not load it, but I don't see any of the targeting pods even listed in the "available stores" list on the loadout page. I also noticed though that there are objects in the weaponsdata.ini that don't have corresponding individual .ini or LOD files in the weapons folder. Would that mean that they really aren't there?

 

Do I have to modify the Loadout.ini as well or is that just for "default" loadouts for specific mission types?

 

Above you mention enabling the pods in the aircraftdata.ini and/or weapons editor. Do you mean the FA-18A_data or is there literally a file called "aircraftdata.ini"? How would I enable them in that? Also regarding weaponsdata.ini - if I make a change there with something like notepad can I just save it and it's done or do I also have to save it with the weapon editor as well?

 

Sorry these are all probably questions asked hundreds of times - and I am perusing the knowledge base and modding forums to try avoiding too many redundant questions - but the tips and suggestions along the way here are much appreciated. Thanks.

[MetalMania]

Do not worry about such things and mind yourself on this subject. Any more questions and your death is certain by these foul beasts.

 

Lasercat = F-14D or upgraded A/B with LANTIRN targeting pod?

[EricJ]

Fine I'll "expose" the eels and lazercats. It's just something to lighten up the mood here that's all. We can get pretty serious and some of us (USAFBLT is a complete slacker I tell you ) do need a good laugh every once in awhile. I've been in pretty crappy moods and sometimes a B-52 looking EEL is just something that makes your day.

 

As for pods.... you may have to muck with the nations. Pylons accept NATO, WP, SOVIET, USAF, USN, etc. so you are going to have to check some nations or look in the _Data.ini (not aircraftdata.ini) or adjust times. I'd recommend using the Weapons Editor, as somethings you can't figure out on Notepad.

[gbnavy61]

 

It could be that there is a missing .lod or .ini file for the pods you are looking for, but I doubt it. Since you are using a weapons pack, it should have all the necessary files included.

 

Loadout.ini's are just for the default weapons when you get assigned/choose a particular mission. If they're not there, they don't hurt anything - you just might have to load up your whole flight of 8 manually.

 

Yes, I was refering to (your aircraft here)_data.ini - so FA-18_data.ini or some such, not literally a file called "aircraftdata." They would be enabled by editing the particular weapon station you want to mount them on and under the allowed wepaon class, making the appropriate entry for the desired targeting pod (LP). So, like you have already done. Check the KB for the proper codes for different weapon types. It's in there somewhere.

 

For editing the weaponsdata.ini, it has only worked for me when I have used the weapons editor. If adding a new weapon, open the .ini file with Notepad and type/copy in the entry - making sure to number it as the next number weapon in sequence. Save and close. Then, open weaponsdata.ini with the Weps Editor and select your new addition. Open it and check the info is accurate. Save and close. Should appear in game now.

 

Another thing you can check is the "allowed mass" on the weapon station and compare that with the mass of the targeting pod you're trying to load up. Sometimes, the stations are only allowed to support the mass of a missile, which could be less than the mass of the pod you want to mount (i.e. the pod is "too heavy"). Manually adjust the allowed mass so that it can support the pod.

 

Let us know how you fare.

[MetalMania]

It could be that there is a missing .lod or .ini file for the pods you are looking for, but I doubt it. Since you are using a weapons pack, it should have all the necessary files included....

 

 

....Another thing you can check is the "allowed mass" on the weapon station and compare that with the mass of the targeting pod you're trying to load up.

 

....Let us know how you fare.

 

Well, I guess I'm inching closer. Problem solved #1 was the load limit on the desired weapon station - it was just barely under what the weight of the pod is. So now I DO have one of the targeting pods available and can load it (ironically though it's one that was NOT the one that I modified to be available). On the one that I was trying to make available I added "USN" to the attachmenttype but I now see that the "nation name" is only USAF - so I'll try adding USN to it to see if that makes it available for a Navy plane.

 

Back to the one that is now showing up: it's available in the loadout and lets me run the mission - and it works - but there is no visible model on the aircraft, it just looks like an empty station. In the weapondata.ini it says for this particular pod the modelname=ASQ-173, but there is no other file in the weapons folder with that name in it. I see ini, LOD, and bmp files for a lot of (all of?) the other objects. There IS a BMP ASQ-17 that looks like it should be for a targeting pod type of model, so I wonder if this is supposed to have been the bmp for the ASQ-173 especially since I searched through the entire weapondata.ini file and there are no objects called "ASQ-17". However there's still no corresponding LOD or INI file to go with it. I wonder if I should just edit the modelname for the ASQ-173 to use something like the AAQ-14 LANTIRN pod - looking at the BMP for that it looks almost exactly the same as the ASQ-17 but just a darker color.

[gbnavy61]

Yeah, changing the nation name to match up with the attachment type should fix that problem.

 

Duh, stupid me, of course missing .lods would make those weapons invisible. You could try editing the modelname but now you're getting into unfamiliar territory for me. If I were you, I'd look around the downloads section for the pods you want. Most likely they are available.

[EricJ]

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=5717

 

It's always a goody, perhaps my favorite one.

[MetalMania]

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=5717

 

It's always a goody, perhaps my favorite one.

 

 

Yeah, I was actually going to try that one. Funny thing is though I know you mentioned "AV-23-R" by wingwiner in one of your earlier posts to this thread, so I went looking for it in the weapons downloads. Except in his description he says it's the AAQ-13, so I figured maybe the AV-23 had been removed or something and the weaps pack I'm using already has an aaq-13. So I downloaded it anyway because it looks like a more hi-res representation and looking at the .ini edits included in the download I see that this one IS the av-23-r. So just a little confusion between the description info and what's in the file. I haven't had a chance to try dropping it in game and loading it up yet, but I'm definitely getting a better handle on what I need to do to make it work.

[EricJ]

As pods go and how the game engine treats them, it's pretty much a good looking pod, perhaps one of the best done, but it's been very reliable