andyp_uk

Maybe this will help. Its a q/a session between a user and TK from years ago. I kept it because it has some good info in it for sfp1 as least: Hi TK, Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got a few questions about supply settings. Mainly, I’m trying to determine the timing and allocation of supply: NormalSupplyRate= <-- How often is supply replenished? Is the total amount divided among squadrons, or does each individual squadron receive the supply-rate figure? OffensiveSupplyRate= <-- When is this figure subtracted? Is it applied for every offensive sortie, for each individual squadron, or just once overall? DefensiveSupplyRate= <-- Do the same rules apply as with Offensive Supply Rate? SupplyForOffensive= <-- Once an Air Offensive starts, how long will it last? Can it stop and start as supply level rises and falls above and below the offensive threshold? Is total supply calculated from a single overall figure, or by totaling the supply level of each individual squadron? The reason I ask is that I’ve been trying to adjust supply to trigger bombing missions for my Attrition War campaign. Bombing missions were flown occasionally during this period, but not throughout several months at the level of a full-blown air offensive. While I can get the air offensive to start after a few months, it doesn’t seem to want to stop. Ideally, I’m looking to have a bombing mission assigned every four or five sorties. In practice, the solution that seems to be working for me is similar to what you originally, suggested, setting supply to zero up top and for each individual squadron. That reduces the number of aircraft. Then, to generate bombing missions: For fighters I increase the mission chance for Escort, Strike, SEAD, and Armed Recon to higher levels than the air-to-air missions For strike aircraft, I increase the mission chance for CAP and Armed Recon to higher levels than the bombing missions What seems to be happening is that when the campaign engine does generate a bombing mission for fighters, or a CAP/recon mission for strike aircraft, the higher chances tend to assign that sortie to the player’s squadron. At least, I think that’s what’s happening. Whatever the case, I’m getting a bombing assignment every four or five sorties, which seems about right for the Attrition War. Still, I'd like to understand supply better, just to make sure I'm not missing anything important. The knowledge would help in building future campaigns, as well. Any information or comments you might provide would be much appreciated, TK. Thanks! (And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m having a ball building this campaign … ! )Joker Regular Posts: 87 Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:34 pm Location: It's half past four and I'm shifting gear ... Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by TK » Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:18 pm Well, supplies are kept track of at both force level, and at individual unit level. The SupplyRates at the the top only apply to change supply at force level, and doesn't directly affect supply at individual unit. At force level, supply are modified at the end of each mission as follow: NormalSupplyRate is added after each mission if neither side is in offensive. OffensiveSupplyRate is added (or subtracted, its usually negative) instead if the force is in offensive (either air or ground). DefensiveSupplyRate is used if the enemy force is in offensive instead. SupplyForOffensive is the level of supply needed at force level for it to go into offensive mode. The offensive will generally continue until the attacking force runs out of supply (although it usually doesn't have to go all the way down to 0, there are several random triggers to stop earlier, I think Failure result by player has a chance to stop a friendly offensive, for example). For example, WOI campaign 1, for IDF force, I have... NormalSupplyRate=25 OffensiveSupplyRate=-10 DefensiveSupplyRate=-4 SupplyForOffensive=50 means it only takes maximum of 2 non-offensive missions for IDF to build enough supply to go on offensive (it goes up by 25 each mission, and it only needs 50, so even if its starting from 0, it'll be above that after 2 missions). Once it starts, IDF offensive can last 5+ missions (goes down 10 each offensive mission, and it started with minimum of 50). If the enemy is attacking instead, IDF only loses 4 supply each mission (so when the enemy stops his offensive, defender generally ends with more supply, and have a chance for offensive next round). All these are also modified by player performance and campaign difficulty level. If the offensive is not stopping, you probably need to adjust the OffensiveSupplyRate and DefensiveSupplyRate, and make them more negative. At the extreme, setting them to -100 should make it so the offensive will last only 1 mission, for example. At the unit level, you don't have too much control at this point... The individual unit supply is first adjusted up / down based on wether the unit performed mission or not, or changed based or not, or received replacements or not, etc. I think each unit generally expend roughly 10 supply points for each mission. Then, it immediately "receives" supply based on the current the force level supply point. So if the supply at force level is high, its adjusted up, and if its low, its adjusted down. Again, all these are also modified by player performance. Now, if you don't want any bombing mission at all, that might be slightly more involved, since campaign can and will generate bombing missions even if you're not on offensive. It picks random player mission during non-offensive phase based on Mission Chance, so you're right, you want to increase the chance for other types of missions besides the Strike. But, that still might not prevent bombing mission from coming up entirely because at the end of the genrator, campaign engine has to generate a mission - and if it fails to genarete a valid one, I think Strike mission is one of the default mission types it falls back on. TK -- TK Ace Posts: 6356 Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2003 5:39 pm Location: Austin, Texas Website Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Joker » Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:36 pm Terrific! Thanks so much for taking the time to provide an explanation, TK. Everything is clear, now. Thanks again! Joker Regular Posts: 87 Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:34 pm Location: It's half past four and I'm shifting gear ... Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: TK, A Few Questions About Supply ... by malibu43 » Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:40 pm Hey TK, I'm working on getting a WOV campaign to play out with a somewhat historically accurate air and ground war, and I have a few questions along similar lines: 1. What exactly does ForceWithInitiative control? I know by switching it, I seem to change which side has a ground offensive first. Does it basically just control which side goes on offensive first? If not, then what else is it controlling? 2. Is it possible for one side to be on an air offensive and the other side to be on a ground offensive, or can only one side be on offensive at a time? For example, in WOV, I'd like to have the USAF on an air offensive while N. Vietnam is on a ground offensive. If this is possible, can it be controlled or influenced in any way, or is it just up to the game engine? 3. What is the difference between being on an air offensive, and the game engine just picking random missions when not on an air offensive? Is it simply whether or not strikes are fragged based on the Offensive targets listed in the campaign_Data.ini? 4. What does StartInterdiction control? Even if it's set to 100, you still get strike missions assigned right off the bat. Does it just control when you start the first air offensive against the listed targets? 5. Now that armed recon works in campaigns, what campaign factors affect how often/when armed recon missions are fragged/available (other than the mission priorities for individual units)? For example, if I set an air unit to 0 for everything and 100 for armed recon, will I get only armed recon missions, or do certain campaign circumstances need to be met for armed recon to be fragged? Sorry for the long list of questions, but these are some things I'm having a difficult time determining by trial and error. Thanks! Greggmalibu43 Green Posts: 46 Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:23 pm Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: TK, A Few Questions About Supply ... by TK » Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:40 pm Hi malibu43, 1. ForceWithInitiative sets who starts with initiative/offensive. In campaign, one force has "Initiative" and it generates offensive missions (sweep, strike, escort, sead), and the other side essentially react and generates defensive missions (cap, interecept). Ground offensive is a subset of offensive, you have to be in offensive to go on ground offensive, but being in offensive doesn't always lead to ground offensive. The Initiative can change from one side to the other depending mostly on supply, but also on how well the player does. 2. No. From gameplay stand point, it doesn't make make sense for one side to be in air offensive while other side in ground offensive, since the player may be tasked with bombing targets while the front lines moved unrelated to the player's action. Its probably best if you want NV to go on ground offensive to let them have the offensive for a short while, so player gets missions centered around their ground offensive. 3. Well, the main difference is the mission type and targets - if in air offensive, you're getting offensive missions only, and targets off the target list. And if not, you're getting random mission (both offensive and defensive) and random targets. If you limit the player unit's mission type to offensive ones only, then there probably isn't much difference between the two, from player's perspective, the difference is probably just the size of the air activity. If not, then you'll end up with mix of offensive and defensive missions (CAP mission for example, where enemy has to send their aircraft into your airspace). 4/5. StartInterdiction is the number of missions you need before getting ArmedRecon mission, so if you want Armed Recon mission, you want this number to be low. ArmedRecon are generated if the truck routes are in movement .ini files, and if they're near the primary target area (either main strike area or main ground offensive area). Keep in mind that the campaign engine is really meant for full-scale conventional war with defined front line moving back and forth, and so you may not be able to model less conventional war like Vietnam war - mostly guerrilla warfare/police action driven by political goals rather than military goals - all that accurately... I hope this helps! TK Ace Posts: 6356 Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2003 5:39 pm Location: Austin, Texas Website Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: TK, A Few Questions About Supply ... by malibu43 » Tue Oct 14, 2008 1:03 pm Definitely helps! Thanks a lot!malibu43 Green Posts: 46 Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:23 pm Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: TK, A Few Questions About Supply ... by malibu43 » Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:58 pm OK, one more question. What is GroundUnitReplacement time measured in? Is that day's, offensive missions, etc...? What other factors affect this? Essentailly, I want ground units for both sides to replenish immediately (or as quickly as possible) so that ground offensive can happen as much as possible. What value would I want for GroundUnitReplacementTime and what other factors affect it? Thanks!

Hi Wrench. I didn't know you could do that until I read your reply so thanks. I am so tempted to do that..... The only thing that puts me off is the number of years work I have put into the existing terrain and campaign. It was sort of a long term project to take the basic work done by Edward to a whole new level. The thought of throwing it all away gives might bring on a stroke!!! lol. I have thought of moving to SFP2 but I keep reading reports that its not so easy to mod and tweak as SFP1... maybe I'm wrong. Alexis99, I have had to tweak so much that I would need to get lots of people's permission to upload modded versions of their stuff. Never needed to worry before as it was always intended for my own use only. However if you need help on anything or I have something you need that I can share feel free to ask. Unlike the flight/history purists that want an absolute true simulation, I have preferred to opt for making the game more enjoyable for myself. So for example, the campaign starts with mostly prop/WWII planes, and gradually moves onto more advanced jets as the campaign progresses. In the later stages of the war, to make it harder for player, Chinese makes use of the Soviets lead on missile techs for basic early SAM and long range ground-to-ground. Developement aircraft (that never made it to Korea) are rushed into service by both sides to be tested in the conflict. Early nukes become available in limited numbers which forces the player to change tactics and go on the hunt for them before they can swing the balance. So, it's not a purist approach but I find it makes the games much more enjoyable for me at least.

Not sure if that Korean campaign is the same as the one I got (it was so long ago), but the one I had was a bit sparse on targets so I've spent the last few years adding lots of goodies to blow up. I also only play campaign which I have greatly expanded to cover the whole map and oceans. Funny but I never got a kick out of single missions. I just love trying to bang aheads against a beefed-up opponent across a map lol.

I have replied with detailed answer in the other section that you posted in. Andy

Hi, I have carriers working with all naval aircraft. You need to get copy a carrier object from WOV etc or download one from here. Note, although you will see your own carrier during flight, you will NEVER see other carriers that AI is using. Also AI carrier take-offs sometimes get stuck silimar to the problem you are seeing yourself. No solution to this yet. Here is some text from a sfp1 document I downloaded long time ago. Its meant dor WOV but you can easily adapt the instructions for Korea as I have. I only play the Korea mod and have done extensive modding to the campain, terrain objects, and ground objects and aircraft. Mainly because Oct2008 patch messed up existing aircraft etc. So I have to do a lot od modding to get them to work properly. Andy -------------- ADDING AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Adding the aircraft carriers from Wings Over Vietnam to the standard Burning Sands campaign is easy and adds a new dimension to the campaign we have become familiar with over the past two years. This article will explain how to extract the Kitty Hawk-class carrier and add it to SFP1, allowing you to fly from it during campaign missions. You will need the following: Legal copy of SFP1 with SP3 installed Legal copy of WoV with Patch 1 installed SFP1E Extract Utility Kreelin's Mission Editor (Optional) A text editor Step 1: Extract the Carrier From WoV Open the SFP1E Extract utility and browse to your Wings Over Vietnam installation. Locate and open the ObjectData.CAT file, which should be located in "C:\Program Files\Wings Over Vietnam\Objects" if you have installed using the default path. Once you have opened ObjectData.CAT with the Extract Utility, you need to browse to the bottom portion of the file and extract all files whose names begin with either CV63, CV-63 or CVA-63. There are a total of 27 files that need to be extracted. When done, all of the files will appear in your WoV Objects folder. Step 2: Copy the Aircraft Carrier Files From WoV to SFP1 Copy the 27 files you extracted in step 1 from your WoV objects folder to your SFP1 objects folder. Step 3: Extract INI Files From SFP1 You will need to edit several INI files to add the new carrier to SFP1. These files are: Campaign1_Data.INI Desert_Nations.INI Desert_Targets.INI Check to see if Campaign1_Data.INI already exists in the Campaigns\Campaign1 folder. If it is already there, you do not need to extract it. If it is not present, use the SFP1E utility to open MissionData.Cat located in the Flight folder. Extract Campaign1_Data.INI and copy it to Campaigns\Campaign1. Next, open the Terrain\Desert folder and look for Desert_Nations.INI and Desert_Targets.INI. If they are already present, you can move on to the next step, otherwise, use the SFP1E utility to open the Desert.CAT file and extract them. Caution: If any of the above files already exist in the target folders, DO NOT extract them. This probably means you have installed some other mod using these file, and if you overwrite them with files from the CATs, those mods will stop working. Step 4: Modify INI Files Browse to your Campaign1 folder and open Campaign1_Data.INI. You need to add a carrier unit to the campaign. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the file and add the following: [CarrierUnit001] CarrierType=CVA-63 CarrierNumber=63 UnitName=CVA-63 USS Kitty Hawk ForceID=1 Nation=USN BaseArea=Echo Station NumSquadron=5 BaseSize=MEDIUM Experience=100 Morale=100 Supply=100 Note that the CarrierType must remain CVA-63, but the CarrierNumber and UnitName can be changed to whatever you want, so you could use the CVA-63 model to represent any Kitty Hawk class carrier. While your are editing the Campaign1_Data.INI file, you must make one of the player air units carrier based. To do this, scroll up towards the top of the file and find [AirUnit004]. This is VA-36, an A-4 squadron and a good unit for our purpose. Change "BaseArea=D1 Airfield" to "BaseArea=Echo Station" then insert the following lines: CarrierBased=TRUE CarrierNumber=63 If you are using a carrier number other than 63, be sure to make the change. Now browse to the Desert folder in your Terrain folder. Open Desert_Nations.INI and under [Theater] add the following line: Location003=Straits of Dhimar Finally, open Desert_Targets.INI and scroll to the bottom of the file. Add the following lines [TargetArea074] Name=Echo Station Position=700000,700000 Radius=5657 ActiveYear=0 Location=3 Alignment=FRIENDLY CarrierStation=TRUE Make sure that the number in [TargetAreaXXX] is actually the next number in sequence. Note that I have set the position of the carrier station to "700000,700000". This puts the carrier in a good position off the Parani coast. You can use Kreelin's Mission Editor to select any position you like though. Just open the Desert map with the editor and locate the coordinates you prefer. Enter them on the "Position=" line. The procedure above may seem a little complex but if you walk through it step by step you should have no problem. You can then use the same methods to extract and add the small-deck carrier to your SFP1 game as well. With a little work, you can add carriers to any SFP1 map and campaign that you want to! The Carrier Take-Off problemI was able to figure out the fix for the Carrier Takeoff problem with the Albion, Bulwark and others. The problem seems to be the catapult length Here's the current values of the cat1, the fix is applicable to cat 2 also [Cat1] SystemType=CATAPULT CatapultID=1 StartPosition=-8.5184,66.5617,15.3340 EndPosition=-5.0452,106.9257,15.3340 The StartPosition is the cat launch pad, the EndPosition is the end of the "runway" Within the numbers, you have the x,y,z coordinates The EndPosition y value minus the StartPosition y value gives you the cat length. For the Albion in this case, the cat length is about 40 meters. You need to increase the EndPosition y value to be able to takeoff. I did not narrow down the exact value, but this values work [Cat1] SystemType=CATAPULT CatapultID=1 StartPosition=-8.5184,66.5617,15.3340 EndPosition=-5.0452,156.9257,15.3340 It gives you about 90 meters, I tried 80 meters and it launches ok. Also, make sure the Panther has the following statements under the [MissionData] section in its _DATA.INI file. This will probably be called F9F-5_DATA.INI MinBaseSize=SMALL CarrierBased=TRUE

Hmmm... thanks. Tried that but I still get solid white model. I think its because the material specified within the LOD inself needs to be something like diffuse??? or something ??? Simply masking out the tga with an alpha channel just shows whats left underneath i.e. the unpainted solid LOD. I'm sure it the LOD's material definition that is making it impossible to appear invisible. groan..... lol

Might be Oct'08 problem but I had similar problem with several model. The canopy deploy and retract values need to be reversed. This works: [Canopy] SystemType=HIGHLIFT_DEVICE DeploymentMethod=AUTOMATIC_SPEED Setting[1].Angle=30.0 Setting[1].DeployValue=10.0 Setting[1].RetractValue=15.0 MaxDeflection=30.0 MinDeflection=0.0 ControlRate=0.3 AnimationID=4

Can someone please help. I want to make a working ground object invisible. I'm using Oct 2008 sfp1 and none of my infantry units turn to fire when defending. Maybe Oct'08 messes up the axis (I don't know as every infantry type I have does the same). When they move its ok because they turn to fire, but defending troops won't turn at all. So to fix it I have used the M55 LOD (which rotates nicely) and added the infantry LODs as weapon attachments. This all works fine so far. To hide the M55 I have hex edited it's LOD to use tga instead of bmp files and then copied the CompletelyClear.tga as Quadmount.tga and usgunner.tga The problem is that I can still see the M55 but as a solid black object (it's not transparent). I know its using the transparent tga because if I remove the new tga's it appears as a solid white object as you would expect for a missing skin. Note: I have gone for this solution after spending forever trying to get the original infantry LODs axis rotations to work correctly and given up. Does everyone on Oct'08 have the same problem ? Thanks Andy

Can someone please remind me where to aim in order to destroy runways. I seem to remember it was the bit of runway right near the control tower but for some reason I can't ever destroy it no matter how many 1000lb bombs I drop. Thanks in advance...

Keep your original warship folder file as is in case they are used in campaign etc as WARSHIPS. Lets say warship is "Destroyer" To get it to appear in anti-ship mission do the following: Copy Destroyer folder and rename to Destroyer_2 (for example) In the new folder find the file Destroyer.ini and rename it to Destroyer_2.ini In the new folder find the file Destroyer_data.ini and edit it as follows: Find line new top that says: GroundObjectRole=WARSHIP change this to read: GroundObjectRole=CARGO_SHIP You will now have 2 destroyer models. One a WARSHIP and one a CARGO_SHIP The CARGO_SHIP version will now be selected randomly for anti-ship missions.

After many hours of experimenting I have found a fix to this problem that I also have been suffering from in SPF1 with a couple of aircraft - the Spitfire 1A, 2A, and the Yak-9U It may be the problem arose with Oct08 patch, I don't really know as I bypassed the earlier versions myself. Anyway the problem lies in the [Engine] definition section with the AltitudeTableData 1st entry. Not sure what this table does but I'm guessing it must be something to do with power rates at various altitudes, so I'm guessing the 1st entry is "ground level". Anyway, I found that by gradually increasing the value of the 1st entry it reduces the planes tendancy the go round in circles instead of taking-off. Here is what I have for the Spitfire 1A. As you can see I have increased the 1st value from 1.300 to 1.800 This have solved the problem to the extent that occassionally some planes will still wander off a bit but will always come back to the right position on the tarmac and take-off. I still need to increase the value to fully eliminate the problem so am increasing it by 0.1 at a time. I reckon a few more tweaks and the Spit with be totally fixed. //AltitudeTableData=1.300,0.895,0.925,0.955,1.000,0.845,0.585,0.125,0.000,0.000 AltitudeTableData=1.800,0.895,0.925,0.955,1.000,0.845,0.585,0.125,0.000,0.000 Andy

Stary, I've been using this mod for a long time now in sfp1 jets and it's great - thanks. Now I'm playing sfp1 BOB and have tried to modify it to look like a WWII pilot bailout. I have removed the code for the ejector seat fire sequence easily. Problem is I can't seem to get the pilot to just float out of the cockpit slowly instead of shooting straight up I assumed it was the line: ParticleWeight=-51.00000 so have tried changing this to a positive value like 100 but the pilot still seems to shoot straight up. Also I wanted the spite to inherit the horizontal volocity of the plane until the chute open so that it look more realistic with the pilot floating above the open cockpit as he bails out but I cant seem to get this to work either - he and the plane part company way to quickly I tried fiddling with the Inheritence= value but with no luck. Can you give me any ideas as to how I can achieve these effects ? Much appreciated if possible. Thanks, Andy

I'm running Oct08 spf1 and had same problem with canopy for F-84G and Meteor i.e closed on tarmac and open in flight. I easily fixed them to be the other way round just by reversing the deploy and retract value. Here's what I have for the F-84G: [Canopy] SystemType=HIGHLIFT_DEVICE DeploymentMethod=AUTOMATIC_SPEED Setting[1].Angle=30.0 Setting[1].DeployValue=10.0 Setting[1].RetractValue=15.0 MaxDeflection=30.0 MinDeflection=0.0 ControlRate=0.3 AnimationID=4 and for the Meteor: [Canopy] SystemType=HIGHLIFT_DEVICE DeploymentMethod=AUTOMATIC_SPEED Setting[1].Angle=30.0 Setting[1].DeployValue=10.0 Setting[1].RetractValue=15.0 MaxDeflection=30.0 MinDeflection=0.0 ControlRate=0.3 AnimationID=5 MinExtentPosition=1.8169,0.5474,-0.9940 MaxExtentPosition=-1.8544,-0.4772,0.0110 Andy