Early days with Mission Builder...

[Hauksbee 103]

I'm working through the tutorial in Mission Builder, and have hit a snag. Where it says "Click the page plus (Insert Waypoint) button." Try as I might (and I've clicked everything on the UI) I cannot find "page plus"/Insert Waypoint button. Need some advice.

[Hauksbee 103]

Oooops! 'Found it. I just had to have the right drop-down menu displayed.

 

A few minutes later: First mission designed and saved in the CFSWWI folder of My Docs. I went to OFF Campaigns, but can't see how to select this mission. (Fly from Dover to Calais. Scout/shoot up German AV7 tanks, return over Channel looking for ship formation, land back at Dover)

Edited June 21, 2012 by Hauksbee

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee

You can't launch your Custom Mission from the 'Campaign' tab - you can launch it only from the 'Quick Scenarios' tab in OFF Manager.

 

Firstly...you must save the Custom Mission that you built in the proper directory. It must be saved to the matching nation sub-directory of "C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields\missions\scenarios\" then inside either Britain, France, Germany, or USA sub-folder depending on which the nation the mission is written for.

 

Then...

 

Important Notice:

You must have an active pilot for that Custom Mission's particular nation of the in order to see it in the 'Scenario Selection' dropdown selection list.

 

Finally...all you need to do is "Start/Go Fly".

 

OlPaint

Edited June 21, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

You must have an active pilot for that Custom Mission's particular nation of the in order to see it in the 'Scenario Selection' dropdown selection list.

Finally...all you need to do is "Start/Go Fly".

Seeing as the mission I built involves flying from Dover to Calais, I fully expected it to start on the ground. This is what I got. This is the mission in its entirety. Note that I'm sitting backward in the cockpit. Quick mission, wouldn't you say?

http://combatace.com...alais-clean-up/

Edited June 22, 2012 by Hauksbee

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee, I am unable to play your image file you just posted. What viewer/player are you using.

 

I don't understand...Did you say you launched your Custom Mission in the 'Campaign' tab of OFF Manager? I was convinced that Custom Missions launched from 'Quick Scenarios'. That is where I always placed my Custom Missions.

And they start just fine for me. Curious!

 

OlPaint

Edited June 22, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

Hauksbee, I am unable to play your image file you just posted. What viewer/player are you using.

I don't understand...Did you say you launched your Custom Mission in the 'Campaign' tab of OFF Manager? I was convinced that Custom Missions launched from 'Quick Scenarios'. That is where I always placed my Custom Missions.

It's a screen cap. using FRAPS. I then uploaded to the Gallery, and linked to the thread page via the method Dave just explained. (See "No More Holes in Screen Caps" Sticky) It plays OK (just barely) for me, but it takes a while for the buffering to be complete. I just keep teasing it along by pressing the Play button.

 

This was launched from 'Quick Scenarios', just as you had suggested.

 

And another question: How can I re-open the mission in the UI to make changes. If I 2x click the file name in CFSWWI/Missions, all I see is computer code. If I re-launch Mission Builder from CFS3, there's no File>Open tab. Only 'New Mission', Launch Mission and Save

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee said

And another question: How can I re-open the mission in the UI to make changes. If I 2x click the file name in CFSWWI/Missions, all I see is computer code. If I re-launch Mission Builder from CFS3, there's no File>Open tab. Only 'New Mission', Launch Mission and Save

 

You need a .XML file viewer/editor like "XML NotePad 2007". I got this one from Microsoft Downloads.

XmlNotepad.7z

Unzip this file and run the .msi file contained within and you will get an executable file with several support files in a Programs Files sub-directory. Just copy a shortcut of 'XMLNotePad.exe' to your missions folder. You can then 'Drag and Drop' the mission you want to edit onto the shortcut icon. This opens up the Mission file in a very viewable manner. Edit your changes and save the new Mission file. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.

 

BTW, I finally got a short glimpse of your "Calais CleanUp" vid but I have not been able to duplicate my limited success since. Could you possibly post your video on YouTube like Hellshade does with his creations. Then link it back to this CA Forum. That would be perfect!

 

I now see what you mean by the pilot facing the rudder. You will probably discover that there is a value to be adjusted for pilot POV in the XML code for your custom mission aircraft.

 

IMHO, I have never seen video captures successfully posted to the CA Gallery. Dave must know a trick...

 

P.S. There were a huge collection of OFF P1 and P2 Custom Missions at Sim Outhouse in their Combat Flight Simulator Add-On Library. IIRC, Many folks have tried their hands at Mission Builder: Parky, Britisheh, PilotsDen, StumpJumper, Gimpys, O1Driver and many many others. There is even a Custom Mission I found with HMS Furious aircraft carrier with Sopwith Pups. And Gothas and Zeppelins...

 

P.P.S. I managed to save the collection before we move our forum to CA several years ago. Send me your snail-mail addie in a PM and I will burn a DVD with all my collection for you. There are a lot of good ideas for custom missions in those files. Some of them worked, shaken out of the box, no editing required, But I got frustrated when I discovered that the Devs disabled the Spawn Feature of CFS3 in OFF P3. So that many of the missions must be hand-edited to remove the spawn code for most of the missions to work in OFF.

 

 

OlPaint

Edited June 22, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

OK...first off, my first YouTube post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgqnjh3tvdY&feature=youtu.be . I think that should get you to the video.

 

I downloaded the "XML NotePad 2007". and dropped the shortcut into the Missions Folder. Actually, I put a copy into eash country's folder. Here's what I get when I drop a mission on the shortcut. 'Same as I got when I just 2x clicked on any one mission. I was hoping for something closer to the original interface. Have I gone awry?

[+Polovski 460]

The reason you cannot see in the cockpit is because you are flying an AI craft. They have no cockpits.

 

 

Also see

http://www.overflandersfields.com/FAQ.htm#A4M

and see below that for info under "Mission Builders notes"

 

Also that answer explains how to choose correct front lines for your mission date.

You can also click "Help" in Quick Scenarios too for setting front lines date.

Edited June 23, 2012 by Polovski

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee, that is the way the XMLNotePad displays .XML code, just like your screen shot shows. Pol is very right. SE5a_Sqd is the file name for an AI version of the aircraft. The mission code can be edited to use a pilot-controlled version of the same aircraft like SE5a_AC1 or SE5a_SQ1. ATT, I can not remember which one.

 

BTW, I am waiting for the USPS office to open Monday morning to get you a copy of my files collection of Old Missions from SOH. I think you will gain a lot of insite into what is needed codewise for a successfully designed custom mission by studying these examples. All I can say is, "Patience Grasshopper...Patience"

 

Here is a copy of the CFS3 Mission File Format Documentation that may be helpful

CFS3 Mission File Format Documentation.doc

 

OlPaint

Edited June 24, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

Hauksbee, that is the way the XMLNotePad displays .XML code, just like your screen shot shows.

BTW, I am waiting for the USPS office to open Monday morning to get you a copy of my files collection of Old Missions from SOH. I think you will gain a lot of insite into what is needed codewise for a successfully designed custom mission by studying these examples. All I can say is, "Patience Grasshopper...Patience"

Thanks OlPaint, I am printing out the .pdf as I write. It's pretty arcane looking stuff. I'll dig into this a bit, but computer code numbs my eyeballs. I guess the upshot of all this is that when I Save and close out of Mission Builder, I'll never be able to get back the its UI again to make changes?

[Hauksbee 103]

Thanks OlPaint, I am printing out the .pdf as I write. It's pretty arcane looking stuff. I'll dig into this a bit, but computer code numbs my eyeballs. I guess the upshot of all this is that when I Save and close out of Mission Builder, I'll never be able to get back the its UI again to make changes?

OlPaint: I received, and installed the CFS3 Mission SDK. But when I open the file folder, there's no .exe file. Just Documentation, which is the same as your earlier attachment.

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee, sorry to hear that the Mission SDK was not a editing tool. You know, recalling my experiences, I had the same frustration working with Mission Builder. I never could find a utility that would allow me to edit my custom mission in the same manner that Mission Builder permitted me to make them. XMLNotePad at least allowed me to read the code in a reasonably formated manner then to manually edit any changes. BTW, the Old Missions Collection DVD is on the way to you via SnailMail.

 

OlPaint

Edited June 25, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

Hauksbee, sorry to hear that the Mission SDK was not a editing tool. You know, recalling my experiences, I had the same frustration working with Mission Builder.

I never could find a utility that would allow me to edit my custom mission in the same manner that Mission Builder permitted me to make them.

Well then...knowing that, I'll just have to be especially careful what I spec. on the first go-around. I'll start simple, and see what I see. What kind of code does Mission Builder generate? Is it an object-oriented language that allows blocks of code to be cut and pasted from other missions? And thanks again for the CD. I'll be watching the mail. (...and can you show me a sample block of code to disable Spawns?)

[OlPaint01 0]

When you get the Old Missions Collection DVD, you will find I have a separate folder for 'OFF Missions for P3'. These particular missions either did not have spawns coded in or I removed the code that called for spawn actions. I've run these from 'Quick Scenarios' tab in OFF Manager with no issues. To make them playable, I just studied the code and made note of particular differences. It is fairly easy to manually edit the missions in XMLNotePad if you know what needs to be removed. The .xml code is arranged in a block manner with an opening tag <tag> and a closing tag </tag> with the code statements contained within them. In XMLNotePad the 'tree view' is easier to read than the 'XSL Output'.

 

OlPaint

[Britisheh 0]

Hi there,

 

Good luck with the Mission. One of my favorite was constructing the Tondern Mission with HMS Furious Air Craft Carrier take off. When I looked at your aircraft, it didn't seem to be at an aerodrome? This does make it easier to start from. Also one of the issues with building missions is that it is built in that the elevations are skewed high, and those can be manually corrected by going into the settings as shown above.

 

I still see the Missions over at CA. You can download them ant then edit them to see how they are laid out.

 

Cheers,

 

Britisheh

[OlPaint01 0]

Britisheh

I love flying the Tondern Mission off the flight deck of HMS Furious Aircraft Carrier. Were you able to fix and overcome the 'switching flight deck elevation' quirk that the HMS Furious had - going down to sea level on close approach when landing your kite back at "Home Plate"?

 

Hauksbee, Britisheh can be an excellent resource for Mission Building hints.

 

OlPaint

Edited June 27, 2012 by OlPaint01

[Hauksbee 103]

Here we go! The disc just arrived in todays mail. Thanks, OlPaint. On the first quick run-thru it looks like a treasure trove of goods and missions. More on this later.

 

Britisheh: If you're for it, I'll put you on the list of Instructors, 'Brains-to-Be-Picked', and Beta Testers. This may well come to nothing, knowing me and computer coding, but, here goes.

[OlPaint01 0]

Hauksbee, Looking forward to Great Things. I will be glad to beta test also.

 

OlPaint

[Hauksbee 103]

Hauksbee, Looking forward to Great Things. I will be glad to beta test also.

Yes; by all means!