CFS2 Perma-stickied help / problem / tweaking thread

A Win7+ panel problem will lock up at the start of any mission that you fly it. Thinking a gauge problem. Try removing the b17-fuel gauges. They are FS98 era and some do not work well in CFS2.
 
Reply...

Allen,

Thanks. I know it’s a VC problem, so that’s a good place to start. 😎
 
Reply...

Allen,

Going section-by-section, I narrowed it down to this panel.cfg entry, but I can't determine what is the actual trigger. The remainder of the panel.cfg works flawlessly. :dizzy:

[Vcockpit04]
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=512,512
position=7
visible=0
ident=
pixel_size=512,512
texture=$vc4.bmp


gauge00=737-400!Transponder, 9,27,175,64
gauge01=boeing777-300!PFD, 187,30,111,61
gauge02=boeing777-300!Comm 1, 5,94,144,67
gauge03=boeing777-300!Clock, 5,165,72
gauge04=boeing777-300!Nav 1, 148,95,150,67
gauge05=cessna!VOR1, 78,164,70,71
gauge06=cessna!Master_Alt_Bat, 5,240,41,60
gauge07=cessna!Avionics Switch, 48,240,36,63
gauge08=cessna182rg!Switches, 93,244,193,61
gauge09=concorde!Annunciator, 0,306,286,32
gauge10=concorde!Radio-Lights, -1,340,286,48
gauge11=concorde!Radio-Adf, 294,334,127
gauge12=concorde!Radio-Altimeter, 150,166,74
gauge13=concorde!Radio-Comm1, 293,278,127
gauge14=concorde!Radio-Naviagtion-1, 429, 278 ,55,52
gauge15=concorde!Radio-Naviagtion-2, 431,333,56
gauge16=concorde!Radio-Transponder, 298,173,199,94
gauge17=GPS100A, 303,29,194,132
gauge18=concorde!Fuel-Flow, 226,169,64,70
gauge19=mooney_bravo!Fuel Flow, 343,391,144,70
gauge20=mooney_bravo!Clock, 232,393,108,64
gauge21=mooney_bravo!Amps, 169,391,58,62
gauge22=mooney_bravo!Fuel Pressure, 100,391,67,61
gauge23=mooney_bravo!Altitude Alerter, 2,391,95,62
 
Rami,

Try editing out a subgroup of gauges and retrying the AC. As soon as you get it to work ok you will know that the offending gauge is in the last subgroup you deleted. Then reinstall all gauges and start eliminating each gauge from that last subgroup one at a time until the thing works. Then dump that gauge permanently.

Narrowing it down like that is sometimes the only way to do it.

Have fun! :^)

MR
 
My guess is on one of the add-on gauges. 737-400!Transponder or GPS100. The SM84cfs2.zip didn't have both so this may be why I had no problems but you did as you got those gauges from someplace.
 
Andrew,

I'm using Windows 7 and the panel is working perfectly for me. I had a look at virtual cockpit 4 in FS Panel Studio and all the gauges are displaying.

Try deleting the entire Vcockpit04 section and see what happens. The gauges are unrealistic after all.

Kevin
 
Reply...

Kevin,

Deleting that VC section was a total cure, and the AI behavior for the torpedo run works beautifully, so I am inclined to just go forward without the section entirely. Thanks! :encouragement:
 
I wish I had known how to do this earlier...

Good evening,

Shaking my head in disgust about some missions I did in the past. I dug out an old mission I did on the Battle of Cape Matapan, and did a complete re-do for the Balkans update. Breaking up the flight of eight Swordfish into four flights of two, and setting them up like a Stuka mission, I used object health triggers for all ships in the Italian formation of cruisers and destroyers. Each flight of two Swordfish targeted a different cruiser, (Fiume, Bolzano, Duca degli Abruzzi, Guiseppe Garibaldi) and on their attack run, all four cruisers got sent to the bottom. Two Swordfish were lost to AA fire.

Chopping up the flight of eight into four groups off two means that you as the player get credit for you and your wingmen sinking four cruisers, rather than just one. This worked on a couple of German and Italian missions as well with torpedo and dive bombers.
 
That's an interesting observation Rami, did you set them up to attack from four quadrants to split the AA fire, or just designate the attack order?

I'm guessing that each flight of two, therefor had their own assigned priority target. If I understand your statement correctly, I'm thinking if they all went in at the same time , you must have a pretty good computer to track all the damage records.

Well done, thanks for the tip.
 
Reply...

Sarg Willy,

Thanks for responding. I wish I could set them up from four quadrants, but the AI have a set pattern. As you they approach a ship target, they peel off to starboard and drop down to about one hundred feet, passing astern of the ship formation. About three or four miles away from the ship(s), they then make a turn to port and swing 'round to attack the ships essentially from an angle a bit off dead astern.

With a Beaufighter, Sm-79, Sm-84, He-111, Avenger, or a Barracuda, the attack run is usually pretty quick. When flying a Swordfish or an Albacore, you have time for a hot towel and a shave.

I also set it up so that you are not the lead aircraft in the formation. Since you are flying a Swordfish, Albacore, He-111, Sm-84, or the like, you're not going to be asking the AI to break off and attack fighters anyway. The AI will automatically follow through with the attack, and because you can play follow the leader, it gives you some flexibility to hang back a bit and see if the AI hit their targets, then select another ship that the AI weren't assigned to hit if you wish.

That's why I include all ships in the formation when I use health triggers and events. It makes the missions more complicated to write, but it gives you many more attack options as well.
 
Hi Rami,

Very interesting reading. As I read your post it sounds as though the new player flight is 2 aircraft and the other 3 flights are generated separately, being assigned using triggers to attack particular ships. If that's what you set up then Sarge's idea of attacking from 4 quadrants would also be possible using quadrant specific areas from which attacks could proceed, with loitering timed to "dilute" the AA fire.
 
Reply...

Ravenna,

In theory, that could dilute AA fire to an extent, but now you're talking about adding extra layers of timing complexity onto a scenario that already is very complex, for a benefit that would likely be marginal to minimal.

You are attacking a ship formation of eleven Italian vessels; four cruisers and seven destroyers. Each one is set up so that if you sink one, you get credit for it. Sinking one of the cruisers or light cruisers is a mission goal, and you can also get the same benefit of a mission goal if any combination of two destroyers in the formation are also sunk.

Timing the mission is already tricky due to the nature of using object health as a trigger. Because this implies that the ships exist when the mission starts, you have to spawn the ships at the first waypoint, when the mission begins. Ergo, your attack waypoint has to coincide where the ships will be at the same time as the waypoint for the aircraft flight, which requires practice to get right. Now multiply that for the other ten ships and three additional flights, making sure the ships are in recognizable order with the destroyers screening the vessels.

And, because this attack did not exist in a vacuum, the British cruiser and destroyer flotilla is sandwiched between the southern formation, which you attack, and the northern formation, which included the Vittorio Veneto, their own cruisers and destroyers, and an attack by Fairey Albacores which are coming in as you skedaddle to the south.

I use a similar approach with carrier missions in this specific campaign. When you take off, the carrier and her protection screen continue on their way, and when you come back, you meet the carrier and her escorts where they would be when you get back, not where you began. This requires the same technique of timing.

It's why I'm not a big fan of naval missions the way I construct them.....they are time consuming!
 
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Ravenna,

Here is a pic of the attack zone. :santahat:
 

Attachments

  • Cape Matapan Battle Royal.jpg
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Because this implies that the ships exist when the mission starts, you have to spawn the ships at the first waypoint, when the mission begins
Rami if you don't mind my asking, is there a reason you can't just add the spawn event as part of the trigger?
 
Reply...

P51Fan,

Because I include a "mission failure" trigger for each ship if their health remains above 51 percent, and a "mission success" for each ship if their health reaches 50 percent or below. (Conversely, if you're protecting a convoy for ship formation, these percentages are switched)

This is how I generate target flexibility and increased mission success for both the AI and yourself.

If the ships are not spawned so that they are present when the mission starts, then the sim interprets that as the ships already being either destroyed or saved, and if it's a protection mission, this sim were interpret this as the ships being destroyed, and since I include multiple targeted ships being lost as a failure, the mission will end twenty-five seconds after takeoff. Fortunately, unless the AI are making torpedo or dive bombing runs, they can't hit the broad side of a barn during level bombing attacks.

Conversely, if it's an attack mission, the mission will end in failure or a "better luck next time" message once you release your bombs/torpedoes and fire off your ammo without damaging any of the ships. However, the chances of this happening become very unlikely, because not only do you get credit for any ships that your wingman / wingmen get, you also get credit for any ships that the other AI flights get as well. So not only does it make it easier to achieve mission success, it also provides you with a way to avoid a mission failure if your aim sucks.

I use the same technique for Stuka mission against ships. :santahat:
 
Rami,

You can try to add a trigger to the mission failure/success events that indicates the ships health level just after the attack. ie...

Trigger- A/C ??? reaches way point ???
Trigger- Ship ??? health above 50%
= Event Mission Failure

and conversely...

Trigger- A/C reaches way point ???
Trigger- Ship ??? health below 50%
= Event Mission Success

This way the event looks for something after the attack to consider the ship's health. I use these kind of triggers in my escort success/failure events.
 
Reply...

486_Col_wolf,

I use that for bomber and other escort missions, but for ships it doesn't work as well to provide the level of target flexibility I look for. Good advice though.
 
CTD in Essex campaign

I've posted this all over, sorry I'm a bit new around these parts:


I have been struggling for what feels like weeks now to make any significant progress through the Essex campaign. However, I can never get past the first couple missions before I perpetually crash to desktop (usually the Wake missions). I take off all fine and good, but I can never load the next action scene. I have actually flown to within 35 nm of the rendezvous point several times as well, but same result - abrupt crash to desktop.

Is there any fix or clues as to what I'm doing wrong? I installed and re-installed several times, following Rami's PTO instructions (and the individual installations) to a T, and have been hunting for conflicts all over. Sometimes it's the first Wake mission (F6F-3), sometimes the second (SBD). I am operating off of a brand new Predator Helios 300, so I know my computer can handle it. I've been super excited to fly through this campaign, but I'm starting to lose hope for it :( Any and all advice is welcome - this is a cry for help!!

Steven
 
This sounds like a mission problem as it sounds like you are over water when things crash so nothing should be spawning at that point.
 
This sounds like a mission problem as it sounds like you are over water when things crash so nothing should be spawning at that point.

I think there's some truth to this - I get the same result when I place the missions into the MISSIONS folder rather than arriving at them in the campaign. But then I have to wonder, how is it that I was able to play through the first Wake mission a few times, but not on other attempts? Maybe because I started a brand new campaign?? And is there a fix, given I've downloaded the campaign multiple times with the same result? I've edited dps and cfgs with ease, but the mission files might be beyond my capabilities.
 
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