Top Gun Campaigns

[Wrench 9,810]

oh! good one Brian!!! 

[+Crusader 2,085]

Now that I see those Phantoms. Were the USN and USMC F4's ever cleared to carry a gun pod in central station? I think the pods were not used in combat, but those Phantoms gunpod capable? If yes, which versions?

 

F-4B and J were both capable and cleared to use the MK 4 gunpod.

USMC squadrons used the pods quite often during their CAS task in the south.

USN squadrons, there was one cruise made with 2 squadrons using the pod in the Air to Air CAP role (they didnt see any a2a action with the MK 4).  They had some problems with ammo feed in high G situations but the big issue

was less fuel with the pod hanging on the centerline. And since they already had the good AIM-9D .. the pods didnt see another cruise in the Air to Air role.

[Stratos 3,188]

Thanks for the info! I always place the carriers relatively close to the shore, so fuel is less an issue.

[tn_prvteye 36]

Ok, this thread got me thinking.  I whipped something up to "simulate" a simulated simulation of Top Gun.      Basically, I removed any damaged caused by missiles or guns.  Then I removed effects for these missiles...including missile trails and explosions.  I also removed tracers and smoke effects for guns.  I then changed the explosion sound and the "object hit" sound to a "beep".  So far it works okay.  You don't actually "destroy" any aircraft, and they will continue to engage you, but the "beep" gives you an indicator if you hit them or not.  I've actually got it set up that the Red and Blue sides have different tones, so you can tell who got hit.  Also, I changed the AI to never fight without Ammo.  So, in thoery, after the AI expends all their "simulated" ammo...they go home.

 

I've only tested a few missions so far.  Just thought I'd share in case anyone has simliar (and probably better) ideas.  The only problem is the volume of the "beep"...I'd like to configure it so the beep is heard at full volume all the time.  As it is, it treats the beep like an explosion sound, and can't really be heard from far away.

[mono27 84]

Good job! I am looking forward to fly some of that training missions. This will give a new perspective to the sim.

[Stratos 3,188]

Ok, this thread got me thinking.  I whipped something up to "simulate" a simulated simulation of Top Gun.      Basically, I removed any damaged caused by missiles or guns.  Then I removed effects for these missiles...including missile trails and explosions.  I also removed tracers and smoke effects for guns.  I then changed the explosion sound and the "object hit" sound to a "beep".  So far it works okay.  You don't actually "destroy" any aircraft, and they will continue to engage you, but the "beep" gives you an indicator if you hit them or not.  I've actually got it set up that the Red and Blue sides have different tones, so you can tell who got hit.  Also, I changed the AI to never fight without Ammo.  So, in thoery, after the AI expends all their "simulated" ammo...they go home.

 

I've only tested a few missions so far.  Just thought I'd share in case anyone has simliar (and probably better) ideas.  The only problem is the volume of the "beep"...I'd like to configure it so the beep is heard at full volume all the time.  As it is, it treats the beep like an explosion sound, and can't really be heard from far away.

 

Sounds like a very interesting idea!

[tn_prvteye 36]

Well, in practice it was fun for about five minutes...then got dull.  I set up some 2v2 with F-14s and A-4Fs.  At first it was neat to have the "Beep" signifying I got a hit, but I soon found myself just following the AI around...they didn't do much defensive maneuvering it seemed...it was way too easy.   I’ve set up my AI parameters to be pretty aggressive, but I never felt challenged.  And these modified weapons shouldn’t have made a difference to AI behavior.  Maybe in the “real” dogfights there’s more of a sense of urgency knowing I can get killed…and a sense of “closure” when I blow someone up.

 

Eh, it was worth a try.

[Boresight 51]

Hello again JSF Aggie and everyone,

 

As i said before, this campaign sounds promising.

 

Do you plan to: replicate more or less, (just some) of the most significant NAS Miramar ground structures, (their positioning relative to each other) - hangars, buildings, control tower, radar tower, etc ?

 

I.e.: the famous Hangar Nr. 2 - with the " TOPGUN " or " Fightertown USA " logo's ?

 

Not pretending to be boring, it's just that, that kind of stuff really is iconic, and for me it's some kind of "cult" material !

I believe it would undoubtedly add a supreme immersion feeling on that campaign.

 

Thank you.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Boresight

[Boresight 51]

Everyone go ahead and feel free to leave your opinions here about my sugestion.

[stingray77 4]

I like - would add a lot in terms of immersion factor! So, if it can be done (without too much labour), I do second...

 

How about a Kawasaki GPZ running parallel to the runway?  ...No, can well do without - then I'd rather love to see my/a Vette parked next to the hangars........

 

Anyway, I am still very anxious to see this one (Top Gun Campaign itself) being rolled out!  

[Boresight 51]

I like - would add a lot in terms of immersion factor! So, if it can be done (without too much labour), I do second...

 

How about a Kawasaki GPZ running parallel to the runway?  ...No, can well do without - then I'd rather love to see my/a Vette parked next to the hangars........

 

Anyway, I am still very anxious to see this one (Top Gun Campaign itself) being rolled out!  

 

Hahaha !

That might be dangerous, as Iceman could be tempted to miss the runway and run down Maverick!  

 

Well, it would be great to see this campaign to continue to develop, if possible with the things I've mentioned above also.

I've sent a pm to JSF Aggie already, but we will have to wait I think.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Boresight

[Boresight 51]

So... does anyone have news from JSF Aggie ?

[Boresight 51]

Hello people,

 

Tried " Southwest United States for SF2 1.0 " scenario yesterday... amazing scenario.

And it does give a hint of how spectacular " Top Gun Campaigns " might be.

 

I know it's vacation time for many, but come on, anybody heard anything about Aggie ?

[+Dave 2,322]

Sorry I forgot to post this. I heard from him last week and and real life has gotten in the way. Rest assured though he is back on top of it and will have a progress report soon.

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

Guys, I need one of our experienced campaign gurus to lend me a hand.

 

The TopGun campaigns are very basic, i.e. Air2Air only.  I'm getting a CTD consistently when trying to start the 2nd or 3rd mission.  It seems to be the 1st mission of the 2nd day of the campaign.

 

I'm not sure, but I believe it started when I updated to the latest patch.

 

Is there anyone who would like to take a look at it and see if they see something I'm missing?  Thanks

[Centurion-1 1,228]

I would not call myself a "guru", but I have dabbled in campaigns more than a little. I'd love to give it a shot. I'm on May 2013 patch level.

[Boresight 51]

Very good to hear news about this campaign !

[+Dave 2,322]

Guys, I need one of our experienced campaign gurus to lend me a hand.

 

The TopGun campaigns are very basic, i.e. Air2Air only.  I'm getting a CTD consistently when trying to start the 2nd or 3rd mission.  It seems to be the 1st mission of the 2nd day of the campaign.

 

I'm not sure, but I believe it started when I updated to the latest patch.

 

Is there anyone who would like to take a look at it and see if they see something I'm missing?  Thanks

 

 

 

Post the campaign.ini

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

If someone can give me some constructive assistance, I would really appreciate it.  Otherwise I'm near giving up.

 

Attached are the campaign files for one of the TopGun campaigns.  At this point, most of the supply settings and such match Linebacker II. 

 

One big difference is that no one is assigned strike missions, but I don't think that's my problem.  I think it has to do with strategic nodes.

 

The attached files will currently CTD as soon as you click "ACCEPT" and not let you start the campaign.

 

If you delete the strategic nodes, you can start the campaign and play a mission or two, but as soon as it gets to the 2nd calendar day, the campaign will CTD.

 

The strategic nodes are exactly that of Linebacker II, accept the target areas have been changed to friendly/enemy bases that exist on the SWUS map. I've had some other variations of the strategic nodes that will give me two or three missions (and calendar days) and then the campaign ends (NO CTD).

 

This is with the Jul 2013 version of the game.

 

If you want to try and load it and fly, you'll be missing the A-4E_SuperEcho and an enemy nation AGRS from your NATIONS.INI file.

 

Any help is appreciated.

TopGun74.rar

[+Dave 2,322]

Let me ask eburger, he is damn good at this stuff. 

[stingray77 4]

Don't give up - PLEASE!

[Peugeot205 2,745]

I've been testing some things and it seems they worked. I'll provide you with my final solution in a few hours.

[Peugeot205 2,745]

Ok guys I'm going to develop my solution to the problem.

 

What I did?

 

1) I created a fake ground war, that means that the systems develops a ground war, but, it does not really takes place phisically in the game, and you won't see any tank or ground battle.

 

2) By creating this fake ground war the CTD problems disapeared

 

How I did it?

 

1) I went to the SWUS folder and I created a folder called "SWUS_movement.ini" , in which I created the new bases both for friendly and enemy units.

 

2) I added this bases in to the targets.ini , with coordinates very close to each other

 

3) I created via SWUS_movement.ini a small front line between the new bases

 

4) I went to the campaign data, and I deleted the previous bases , and I added the new ones. Why? Because having air bases as main bases and nodes is a very bad idea.

 

5) I modified the Force data with this values:

 

StartGroundOffensive=0

StartOffensiveDate=10/01/1974

StartAirOffensive=0

StartInterdiction=0

Morale=100

Supply=100

NormalSupplyRate=20

OffensiveSupplyRate=50

DefensiveSupplyRate=50

SupplyForOffensive=100

AircraftReplacementTime=6000

AircraftReplacement=6000

GroundUnitReplacementTime=20

RandomTransportType=ANY

WeaponResupplyTime=6000

AllowRandomAceCreation=FALSE

StartAirDefenseLevel=0

RandomCAP=FALSE

 

6) Then I added the nodes as simple as that:

 

 

[strategicNode001]

Area=Friendly Base

ConnectTo[001].Target=Enemy Base

 

[strategicNode002]

Area=Enemy Base

ConnectTo[001].Target=Friendly Base

 

 

7) I created two ground units , one friendly at friendly base, and other enemy at enemy base

 

8) I reduced (Because I want it) the lenght of the campaign up to 1 moth

 

9) The "fake offensive" , takes place the last day of the campaign length

 

So doing this I got a 100% working campaign , with losers, winners wihout a single AG mission

 

 

 

Mofications I made for my campaign

 

1) Enemy units are "soviet"

 

2) I created my own "super echo" based on TK's A-4E with this feautures:

 

* No weapons, even cannon

* No AG capability

 

 

Modifications that may be interesting:

 

* Creating dumb missiles so that you won't kill your Top Gun instructor flying the Skyhawks

* To implement this you don't need to create a new loadout or aircraft, just by making the weapons supply limited and adding dumb weapons instead of real ones, they only thing to take into account is that the aircraft should be manually loaded.

* You'll fire agaisnt the enemies, and the mission will be consider a failure as they won't be shoot down, but it won't affect to the final result of the campaign as the "fake ground war" only makes the blue side to win.

 

So with this new information we'll be able to have an "almost real" Top Gun campaign , taking into account game's engine limitations.

 

 

I enclose a copy of my modified files for you to give it a try

 

 

Cheers

 

                        FRPignon

UPDATE.rar

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

Thanks man. I'll give it a try tonight.

[+JSF_Aggie 1,291]

Thanks all for the help. I think I have this behaving the way I want.

 

I just want to fly it to completion a few more times.