Does Editing Campaign XML to add aircraft also add AI?

J

JackMorris

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Hi All!

I'm fully aware that you have to add aircraft to the campaign XML file before you start the campaign...

This is why I'm wondering if when adding aircraft to the list, does it also mean that those aircraft appear in the campaign as AI, or just as flyables?

I'm running ETO 1.5, and the reason I'm asking is because I'd like to add the British and American heavy bombers, so they show up on escort/intercept missions as opposed to just the B-25/B-26.

If this is the case and someone has already done this for all of the ETO campaigns, I wondered if I could be cheeky enough to ask for someone to send them over, if not I'll do it myself and upload it (as long as I am allowed)

Thanks in Advance and Kindest Regards,

Jack
 
JackMorris said:
This is why I'm wondering if when adding aircraft to the list, does it also mean that those aircraft appear in the campaign as AI, or just as flyables?
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Hi Jack,

Flyable only, AI aircrafts are only generated from the spawn mechanism in the campaign mode.


JackMorris said:
I'm running ETO 1.5, and the reason I'm asking is because I'd like to add the British and American heavy bombers, so they show up on escort/intercept missions as opposed to just the B-25/B-26.
Click to expand...
As a player, fighters that will escort you or bombers that you will have to escort will always come from the list in the campaign xml file.
 
Hi Jack,

IMHO there are campaigns out there with far too many aircraft listed in the techtree. In reality you only end up flying a few of them. Most of the aircraft flavour in a campaign, as Led Zep says, is generated by the spawn files.

So I pay a fair bit of attention to getting the spawn files right so that the campaign environment I fly in is varied and interesting. One thing to pay attention to is aircraft entered service and left service dates in their xdp file. You will only see AI aircraft in your campaign if their active service time overlaps with the active time in the campaign. In some installs (like MAW), some eras are rich with aircraft, but if you try to make a campaign for a later date like 1943, the number of aircraft and ships and vehicles spawning drops away rapidly.
 
Thanks so much guys! At the moment I'm running the 1945 RAF Campaign on ETO 1.50.

just so I don't mess this up end end up editing the wrong file, could you possible point me to the directory of the file I'd need to edit in notepad and the section I'd need to add to for this campaign? (After I know this, I'll be able to apply it to all of the campaigns)

thanks again!!
 
JackMorris said:
Thanks so much guys! At the moment I'm running the 1945 RAF Campaign on ETO 1.50.

just so I don't mess this up end end up editing the wrong file, could you possible point me to the directory of the file I'd need to edit in notepad and the section I'd need to add to for this campaign? (After I know this, I'll be able to apply it to all of the campaigns)

thanks again!!
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hi Jack,

I'm not 100 on what you wish to achieve, but the Campaign folder in ETO holds a file 1945.xml, from memory. If you scroll down you will find a section beginning <techtree, which contains the aircraft which are flyable for the campaign. Presumably British, German and USA, You will see that the name of the aircraft (as used in the xdp and the m3d files) is used, and the entered service date as taken from the xdp file. The date in the techtree can be later than the entered service date provided in the aircraft's xdp file. Sometimes its a bit tricky to tell which is day and which is month on the entered service date in the xdp file. I use the cagen 1-2.xls file (available here at SOH under CFS3-Other - utilities?? I think) to give me all the information in a convenient list - but you need software that can open and edit MS Excel files.

So you can add aircraft to the techtree section.

Be careful to follow the format/syntax of the entries so that the edited file will work.
 
Daiwilletti said:
hi Jack,

I'm not 100 on what you wish to achieve, but the Campaign folder in ETO holds a file 1945.xml, from memory.
Click to expand...

Hey Daiwilletti!

I'm basically looking to add a bunch of AI aircraft to the campaign for more varied skies... When I do escort missions in the 1943 - 1945 Campaigns I never end up with B-17s or B-24s, only B-26's.

I want to add these aircraft so they appear as AI aircraft in the campaign! (I'm set on ETO Allied Spawn Mode, if that helps)

I have been experimenting with adding my own flyable aircraft to campaigns over the last few days, and it's been going really well, though your info on getting the service dates right is much appreciated.

I think LedZep said something in his original reply to me about editing the tech tree, and that it has nothing to with adding AI to the campaign, rather it just adds Flyables to my campaign for me to fly, hence my confusion since.

I just want to get it right before I start adding loads of aircraft to the techtree (as it's a lengthy process, and I'd rather not add them all there to find out only I can fly them and they don't appear as AI)

My end goal is to be able to fly a full dynamic campaign as an american fighter pilot, and go on lots of B-24/B-17 escort missions,

Kindest Regards, and thanks for taking the time to help me, it's much appreciated,

Jack
 
Hi Jack,

As Led Zep said, if you add bombers to the techtree they will be available for you to escort. Of course, the bombers that you escort are chosen by the game engine so you never know exactly what you will get. Have you looked in the existing techtree yet, noting entered service dates, to see what bombers are theoretically available for you to escort, at the date that your campaign is up to? Surely there are more than just the B-26, but entered service dates may make a difference. If there are not many bombers, by all means add more B-17s and B-24s to the techtree. Make sure they are available (techtree entered service and xdp entered service dates) at the date that you are flying your escort mission. If you change an entered service date in an aircraft .xdp file, don't forget to delete the .bdp file otherwise the change will not take effect.

Start small by adding 3 or 4 bombers to the techtree and see if you notice a difference when you fly escort missions. And in ETO IIRC there are AI versions of the bombers which have less drain on computer resources - you could add those AI bombers to the techtree rather than their equivalent full-scale ones, and your frame rates should be better.

One trick that will benefit your success in the campaign is to look towards the bottom of the campaign xml file, at the MissionEffects section. If you want to fly a lot of escort missions, then change the M,S, P values for escort missions. Eg at the moment, escort missions might give 1, 1, 1 as values for M, S, P (Morale, Supply, Power). These values are the impact that a successful escort mission will have on the frontline over which you fly on the way to the target which the bombers you escort will hit. Try changing the values to say 2,3,3 and a radius of 3. Then when you go to the start screen for a campaign mission, the first available mission for a sector will likely be an escort mission.

If your Alliance is undertaking an offensive, then the OffensiveEffects section will apply, not the MissionEffects.


HTH,
 
JackMorris said:
Hi All!

I'm running ETO 1.5, and the reason I'm asking is because I'd like to add the British and American heavy bombers, so they show up on escort/intercept missions as opposed to just the B-25/B-26.

Jack
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, as Led Zep says, adding bombers to the techtree will make them available as bombers for your Escort missions. However, for Intercept missions, aircraft appearing are controlled by the spawn files. I do not have access to my CFS3 computer at the moment, but presumably ETO has some bomber_intercept spawn files. You control whether stock spawns or era-specific spawns appear, in your selections when starting ETO. I presume that when you look in the spawns folder you will find a set of bomber_intercept spawn files. There are quite a few variables controlling which bombers will appear on a bomber_intercept campaign mission. For example the ETO bomber_intercept spawn xml files (as opposed to the bomber_intercept.spawns file) could refer to #bombers, #level_bomber, or #tactical_bomber - I'm not sure which are referred to in the ETO era-specific spawn sets. According to the SDK, the #bombers pick type will choose between tactical_bombers, level_bombers, and even fighter_bombers! (Not sure I believe them about the fighter_bombers but who knows?). Whereas the #tactical and #level prefixed picktypes will only choose between available subgroups of the bombers.

Another variable is of course, the date. And obviously another variable is what nation you are flying for. Another variable is the enemy country specified by the spawn xml file. If no country is specified and the random #enemy choice is used in the spawn xml file, then the nationality of the spawning target enemy bomber will be controlled by the country.xml file. The first Axis nation listed in the country.xml file is the Axis nation that random spawns are taken from. Generally it is thought that the second Allied nation listed in the country.xml is the default for allied air spawns, but I am not 100 percent on that I've had some variable results.

So if you want more variety of bomber targets on bomber_intercept campaign missions, make sure the relevant spawn xml files use #bombers, and not a subset pick type.

Darn, this gets more complicated the more I try to explain it!
 
Actually you explained it very well. You also answered a couple of campaign questions that I have been wondering about for some time. I am glad to hear that other people are interested in improving the ETO campaigns.

By the way, does anybody know of any good campaign design resources (tutorials etc.)?
 
Daiwilletti said:
.xdp file, don't forget to delete the .bdp file otherwise the change will not take effect.
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Reply was an amazing explanation, thank you!! I now fully understand what I have to do to change the spawns of aircraft I intercept! I'm perfectly happy flying allied side at the moment and escorting the aircraft I've added to the techtree, but when you do get a chance to look at your ETO PC, please let me know where the files are so I can have a go at editing them. I can find tons of xml spawns files in the spawns folder, but have no idea which one is relevant to which campaign, can't find any .bdp files in the spawns or campaign folder of my directory, but I'm probably looking in the wrong place (Don't get me wrong I know all there is to know about Microsoft Flight Sim 98 to X, but CFS3 with an ETO install makes me feel like a fish out of water at this stage, but I'm learning as quickly as I can thanks to the help of you and others in the community!!)
 
Daiwilletti said:
(Not sure I believe them about the fighter_bombers but who knows?)!
Click to expand...

I can confirm this, I spend a lot of time in the campaigns flying P-38s Escorting P-51's, it's annoying haha, and the entire reason I started this thread... (B-26's werent much better)

So I'll definitely use your "...relevant spawn xml files uses #bombers", that is if I ever find the relevent spawn .xml file haha!



 
@jackmorris, I will try to look at specific ETO install today. You need to use the tactical or level bomber pick types if you wish to avoid escorting p-38s!!

@Pa11ssage.Flyer, there is a campaign SDK which fills in a lot of the blanks about what each part of the campaign.xml file does. It should be here at SOH, along with all the other Microsoft SDKS - no, sorry, it doesn't seem to be there??? :banghead: It needs to be uploaded. However it is in .doc format meaning you need MS word or other software able to read .doc files.
 
Thanks, that's good to know. There seem to be a number of minor SDKs that never made it to the SOH library (or Internet Archive). Are the CFS3 SDKs free for all to upload? I noticed that all the ones on SOH are uploaded by "Microsoft".

As for the *.doc format, that's no problem, Open Office works well for that.
 
JackMorris said:
when you do get a chance to look at your ETO PC, please let me know where the files are so I can have a go at editing them. I can find tons of xml spawns files in the spawns folder, but have no idea which one is relevant to which campaign, can't find any .bdp files in the spawns or campaign folder of my directory, but I'm probably looking in the wrong place (Don't get me wrong I know all there is to know about Microsoft Flight Sim 98 to X, but CFS3 with an ETO install makes me feel like a fish out of water at this stage, but I'm learning as quickly as I can thanks to the help of you and others in the community!!)
Click to expand...

The campaign file in my install is located thusly D:\Program Files (x86)\CFS3 ETO Expansion\campaigns

The file itself is called 1945.xml. It can be edited in Notepad, but I prefer the freeware software called xmlwrench. This helps you to see all the different sections in 1945.xml quickly and easily.

1945.xml is where you add aircraft, under the <techtree> section. See the threads I've provided for discussion on adding aircraft to campaign files.

The campaign 1945.xml has problems and badly needs editing. For example, in the phases section, Germany loses and aircraft after the first phase!! You are going to need to add aircraft otherwise your skies will be fairly empty. viz:

<Phase>
<Date Month="1" Year="1945"/>
<Country Name="USA" F="76" B="11"/>
<Country Name="Britain" F="69" B="11"/>
<Country Name="Germany" F="80" B="5"/>
</Phase>
<Phase>
<Date Month="2" Year="1945"/>
<Country Name="USA" F="96" B="18"/>
<Country Name="Britain" F="70" B="18"/>
<Country Name="Germany" F="0" B="0"/>
</Phase>
<Phase>
<Date Month="3" Year="1945"/>
<Country Name="USA" F="96" B="18"/>
<Country Name="Britain" F="70" B="18"/>
<Country Name="Germany" F="0" B="0"/>
</Phase>

You can see that from February 1945, no German fighters or bombers are provided for. Very easy to fix just bung in similar numbers to January.

Also, under the techtree section, USA and British bombers are pretty unimaginative. I think you are right to want to add a few more "heavies".

If you want to look at the bomber intercept spawns, you come out of the Campaigns folder and scroll down your install to the Spawns folder. In my setup the pathway is D:\Program Files (x86)\CFS3 ETO Expansion\spawns.

Are you using stock spawns or running the spawn selector - "3. Allied Side ETO Campaign"? I will assume you are using option 3 from the spawn selector, and Era 5 under ETO start.

Sorry I put you crook there is no set of bomber intercept spawns for campaign play, only a more generic "intercept.spawns" set. In this case the intercept.spawns file will tell you which spawn xml files control the enemy aircraft which you are intercepting (set the .spawns extension to open by default with Notepad):

Intercept.spawns:
"<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SpawnControl Stop="n" Priority="1000">
<Spawns Roll="1D4">
<Spawn ID="1" FormationType="CMP_MG_German_FB_6,CMP_air_German_escort_6"/>
<Spawn ID="2" FormationType="CMP_MG_German_Bombers_6,CMP_air_German_escort_6"/>
<Spawn ID="3" FormationType="CMP_MG_German_FB_6,CMP_air_German_escort_6"/>
<Spawn ID="4" FormationType="CMP_MG_German_FB_6,CMP_air_German_escort_6"/>
</Spawns>
</SpawnControl>"

So for example there are 4 different formations possible (die roll is one four-sided dice 1D4). If die roll is 1, then the spawns which are activated are CMP_MG_German_FB_6.xml, escorted by CMP_air_German_escort_6.xml.

I can see one big problem straight away - Only one of the four possible options involves bombers - that is if the die roll=2. The other three options are fighter bombers (FB). So if you are interested in intercepting bomber formations you might want to add a few different bomber xml spawns and add corresponding die roll options to the intercept.spawns file. Or change the FB xml files to mention bombers not fighter bombers

The trick with all this messing around with xml files is to open existing ones to see how it is done. Copy the syntax exactly. So #bombers and #fighters are plural, but fighter_bomber, tactical_bomber and level_bomber are singular. Just copy what syntax is used in other spawn files.

I will upload the Campaign SDK to the set of MS Insider docs.
 
@JackMorris, sounds good to me! Like everywhere else in the developed world, craft breweries have become very popular, so there is plenty of choice :ernaehrung004:
 
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