Something I'm working on -

[Ghostrider]

OK, I've been frustrated with "Hailstone" what with framerates, mdlnames conflicts, etc... I have not given up.

I have spent a lot of time getting my 4 installs just how I want them, but not as much actual flying, you know?

Meanwhile, I've had an idea: I have made a single mission that is designed to be flown over and over again, with different experiences. Here's how it works: My mission takes off in a corsair from Barakoma (Had to be VMF-214), and has only one waypoint. That is what I call your "Final approach" waypoint. As it's name suggests, when you reach it, on runway heading, you are on a nice final approach. That's the only waypoint you get. It's kind of a "cheater" to find your way home if you get completely lost. Other than that, navigation is up to you. TBD. Time, bearing and distance. Get a good map. A period map is best. Depending on where you fly, you will encounter various enemy units. Your peflight briefing can (maybe) give you instructions on where to fly for certan things to happen, such as "Fly to Munda to rendezvous with a B-24 strike on Rabaul"

Some of these events are not laid out for you pre-flight. But fly close to an enemy airbase, and you'll see flak start bursting around you, and you'll either have fighters scrambling, or run into a CAP, or both. Fly over various friendly bases, and you might find a bomber strike taking off, that you can escort to their target and back. Fly over the slot, and other ocean areas, you can run into friendly or enemy ships, which you can fly CAP over, or attack, as appropriate. There could even be hidden "Easter Egg" type missions which are unusual, totally unexpected, hidden, and might only be found by accident. You can return to base after a successful mission, out of ammo and fuel, only to see smoke rising from your home airbase, and enemy bombers winging away back towards Rabaul. Then you start thinking about "payback for those *******s from Rabaul." Revenge. Emotional investment=immersion.

I have labelled all of the bases in the area, and geographical features, so you really get to "know" the area. You start navigating by terrain association and TBD instead of the "X" key. You start to know where you are, and where you're going. Instead of "look at the pretty island", it's there's Cape St. George - the eastern tip of New Ireland. Rabaul is due west of there, about 45 miles. (I use auto pilot to control heading and altitude on long flights, and accelerate to 4x, but use the time to practice my navigation skills, get to know where I'm going, enjoy the scenery, the aircraft, and look out for bandits.

I flew an escort mission of a B-24 strike to Rabaul the other night, and I spent the whole time trying to keep visual contact with the bombers, match their course and speed, and keep a reasonable relationship with their formation and altitude. Realistically, I didn't have to worry about navigating at all - the bombers knew where they were going - I just had to stay with them, and hopefully a little ahead of them, without losing them (which I did once - GULP - but then I found them again - WHEW!). It was a good feeling to see their bombs smashing the docks and a submarine tied up in Rabaul. Mission accomplished for them. Also a good feeling to see all of them still flying in formation when the last of Rabaul's CAP was driven off. Mission accomplished for me.

All of this is accomplished by spawning units when you fly into certain designated areas - trigger and event. But MB has a wealth of possibilities for this stuff.

At the beggining of the mission, you can modify your payload, but not your wingmen's - I haven't figured a way around that yet. But to me it represents a sort of open-ended campaign. If you feel like a fighter sweep, saddle up, and buzz and enemy airfield. Ground support? There are operations on Bougainville that need help. Bomber escort - fly to the rendezvous point, and pick up some heavies. Bomber intercept? Can do. Whatever you feel like doing, it's there. The map is labelled - you get to know the AO, and the local units.

Anyway, I think it's got a lot of potential - anyone else interested? This of course, can be done with any aircraft, theater, base, ships, etc.

 

[Pen32Win]

By using Alternate WP's, Areas and Percentage Events you could create a very reactive and random Mission. Taken to the limits you could fly the thing dozens of times and never run across the same series of events.

For your Payload problem... Make several versions of it.... Fighter Sweep, Search and Destroy, Anti-Shipping Patrol.... Where you go and how you get there are still up to the player, you'll just have your unit outfitted properly for the Misson of the Day.

 

[Ghostrider]

That's what I'm talking about! As the flight leader of your element, section, whatever, YOU plan the flight - look at your range, fuel requirements, and ordnance needs - Do I need external tanks for this? Might I make sure I'm burning the gas in my drop tank first, so I can drop it when I'm engaged, and still make it home? Will you find yourself watching that fuel gauge a lot more? You bet. Looking around, keeping track of where you are? Absolutely. Pucker factor going up when you're out of sight of land, with no ground references? Yep. Hauling Iron and thinking about skirting fighter bases so you're not forced to jettison your payload? Uh huh. Got enough extra gas to take the long way around Kahili on the way in? Hmmm... Maybe at high altitude with a rare mixture, the CAP will never catch me? More fuel, or more ordnance?

Anyway, the possibilities are endless. Just pick your favorite aircraft and AO. Lightnings over New Guinea, anyone? AVG? Navy Hellcats/Corsairs based on CVs aroound Okinawa? Mustangs at Iwo Jima? Wildcats on Cactus? Some of those new B-25s busting ships and ground targets in SOWESPAC. Oh yeah...

 

[dvslats]

Anyway, I think it's got a lot of potential - anyone else interested? This of course, can be done with any aircraft, theater, base, ships, etc.

If you mean flying it, hell yea! It's sounds like a great idea. It would be a long time for a mission like that to get old or worn out. I likes the every day brings a new twist aspect. Very creative thoughts there Ghostrider.

 

[Ghostrider]

Thanks for the input guys!

So far, I have just done some basic stuff with the VMF-214 mission, and flown it a few times. I have to say, I've never felt quite as much like I was "there". Planning the mission, having my wingmen following me around, depending on me to find the objective, give the orders, and find our way back home. It reminds me of military days.

Don't get me wrong, single missions, campaign missions, mini-campaigns, quick combat, and free flight all have their place, and advantages and disadvantages. But I look at this as a way to operate in an area somewhat autonomously - your superiors gave you the mission - planning and execution is up to you. You get familiar with the area, and from a sim standpoint, you can just fire up one single mission, and have an immersive experience that is somewhat controlled by you and the type of mission you want to fly, while at the same time, you're subject to other things going on around you. I always hated flying over some big fighter base, and nobody says "boo" to you, because it's not the objective. No one even bothers to shoot at you. Immersion killer. This way, it feels somewhat like there's a war gojng on around you, that you have to take into consideration while planning your flight. I'll shoot you guys the mission - check it out at your convenience - I have only just scratched the surface of possibilities, as Pen has alluded to above. It's set up for the FDG F4U-1A, but of course feel free to hack the .mis file as needed!