Campaign mission easier than the exact same single mission?

[RichNagel]

Now here's a weird one:

Has anyone noticed that playing a single mission seems to be CONSIDERABLY harder than playing the exact same mission contained in a campaign?

I was attempting to play the "Hard" missions included in my "Mess At Midway Island" mission pack ( http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforu...-Midway-Island-quot-Mission-Pack-by-RichNagel! ) as regular single missions, and they are basically impossible to win (as I have designed the "Hard" versions like that). I've been flying the P-39D Airacobra (converted to be player-flyable), as that one has some good weapon punch.

NOW... I copied over all of the "Hard" mission files:

Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M2_Zeros_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M2_Zeros_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M5_Zeros_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M5_Zeros_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_B5N2_Kates_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_B5N2_Kates_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_D3A1_Vals_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_D3A1_Vals_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_G4M2_Bettys_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_G4M2_Bettys_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_Ki-43-IIb_Oscars_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_Ki-43-IIb_Oscars_-_Hard_USN.mis
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_N1K2-J_Georges_-_Hard_USN.dyn
Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_N1K2-J_Georges_-_Hard_USN.mis

from the "Missions" subdirectory to the "Campaigns" subdirectory, and created a "Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_Hard_-_USN.cmg" campaign file with the following contents:

[Campaign Global Info]
version=2.0
campaign_name=%campaign_name_string%
overview=%campaign_overview%
allegiance=3

[failure]
moviefile=
soundfile=

[success]
soundfile=
moviefile=

[node.0]
true_branch=1
filler=0

[node.1]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M2_Zeros_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=2
soundfile=
moviefile=..\..\opening.mpg
filler=1

[node.2]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_A6M5_Zeros_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=3
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[node.3]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_B5N2_Kates_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=4
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[node.4]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_D3A1_Vals_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=5
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[node.5]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_G4M2_Bettys_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=6
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[node.6]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_Ki-43-IIb_Oscars_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=7
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[node.7]
mission_name=Mess_At_Midway_Island_-_N1K2-J_Georges_-_Hard_USN
true_branch=1
soundfile=
moviefile=ptk.mpg
filler=1

[Strings]
"campaign_name_string"=Mess At Midway Island - Hard - USN
"campaign_overview"=Just another nice sunny day at Midway Island... OR MAYBE NOT, in this completely fictional and NEVER-ENDING mission campaign!

When playing these missions in "campaign mode", they seem to be A LOT easier than when playing them as "Single" missions. In "Single" mission mode, I can't win the missions (again, flying the P-39D Airacobra, and with the "Hard" setting in the mission selection screen). BUT, when playing them as as campaign (also starting the campaign with the "Hard" setting for the campaign), I can win them fairly easy.

So far I've won 3 of the missions (with a total of 19 kills), and had to bail-out for one of the missions... and it seems A LOT easier than when playing them as single missions.

Anyhow, has anyone ever noticed similar behavior, when playing a campaign mission, verses playing the same exact mission as a single mission?

P.S.

[node.7]
true_branch=1

...yeah, it's a "never-ending" campaign <grin>

 

[Allen]

Found Campaign missions harder as your wingmen become dumber than a box of rocks.

 

[RichNagel]

Agreed 100% about the boneheaded wingmen in campaigns... been a real bitch of mine for quite some time now.

That being said, the thing is, in my "Mess At Midway Island" mission pack you have no wingmen. There are other friendly squadrons flying around (as well as friendly ships and vehicles that can also knock down enemy aircraft), but no wingmen for yourself.

It's almost as if the other AI friendlies in the campaign mission fight better and harder than they do when playing the mission as a single mission.

 

[Shadow Wolf 07]

For the campaigns, try using the "Wingman Promoter" utility (attached). Before each mission, you can select which wingmen are in which section and place only the most skilled and experienced wingmen for a specific mission. In that way, you can decrease the bone-headedness of your wingmen in a mission. It won't work for individual missions though.

 

[RichNagel]

Thanks for that file, Shadow Wolf 07 I remember downloading that a while back, but forgot about it. I'll have to give it a whirl