Suggestions or ideas for the next patch to BobII

[Hylander_1715]

Dohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just changed it Sir

Sorry about that.

[borton]

Guys, doesn't ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING=ON in the Bdg.txt alraedy just that.

So it does! We learn something new every day! Thanks, Buddye.

BTW I've checked the Manual on Page 74 where it states "Toggles the engine running on and off". I didn't realise this existed. A fuller explanation in the new manual might be helpful, i.e. that it does exactly what we've all been missing.

I find that the engine is indeed running when the Take-off IA starts. I can switch it off by turning off the magnetos and then start her up again - when I remember to switch the magnetos back on! That is going to make one hell of a difference when flying in the Campaign.

[Old Forge]

That clinches it - Rowan chose the location of Old Sarum Field for their Boscombe Down, instead of the correct one, probably as part of the same error which led them to put Stonehenge pretty much on the west end of where Boscombe Down should be. As we have corrected the location of Stonehenge, and now a few other airfields, we may be able to get this one put right. However, at the moment, we seem to be seeing some odd behaviour of the terrain around one of the recently corrected airfields, so we'll have to proceed cautiously, which is unfortunate, as I'm currently painting the town of Calais, which is going to require moving Marck airfield about 5 or 6 km east to its correct location so Calais can have its proper harbour. We'll just have to see how this evolves...

PV - sorry, should've thought of this before. some aerial views of Boscombe, Old Sarum and both together plus Salisbury and Stonehenge. Hope this is of use if you are still working on the terrain around this area. [links removed after use]

[borton]

In the 2.05 manual, may I suggest that the description for ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING on page 74 of the current manual be amended to read:

If under the FLIGHT options, Engine Management is set to Auto, when taking off in Instant Action missions and in Camapign when fragging into a squadron, which is still taking off, the engine will be running (presumed pre-started by the ground crew!). However, if Auto is selected, you will lose various 'benefits' such as being able to switch the engine off after a successful landing or feeling the effects of engine damage in combat. You will also never run out of fuel. If you want to set Engine Management to Manual but still have the engine running at the start of take-off, then change this command to ON.

I hope I've got this right.

[SeaVee]

Sounds perfect Bryon.

Never really understood what the implications were with this setting as it sounded so simple - engine always on. I had always interpreted it quite literally.

This also solves my problem of not being able to get started before the rest of the fellows are taking off. I'm glad we can still otherwise have manual engien functions as well.

[Manta]

In the 2.05 manual, may I suggest that the description for ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING on page 74 of the current manual be amended to read:

If under the FLIGHT options, Engine Management is set to Auto, when taking off in Instant Action missions and in Camapign when fragging into a squadron, which is still taking off, the engine will be running (presumed pre-started by the ground crew!). However, if Auto is selected, you will lose various 'benefits' such as being able to switch the engine off after a successful landing or feeling the effects of engine damage in combat. You will also never run out of fuel. If you want to set Engine Management to Manual but still have the engine running at the start of take-off, then change this command to ON.

I hope I've got this right.

Thank you, much appreciated!

[borton]

We appear to have a problem!

With ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING = ON, both the Hurricane and the Spitfire have their engines already running in Take-Off and Low Level Attack in Instant Action.

Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case in Campaign. Although both aircraft have their engines running at the start of 3d, they soon tail off to a complete stop. I have tried starting a new Campaign in case my existing one was set in its ways, but it makes no difference.

In all instances, the throttle is zero at start and the prop is on coarse pitch. Quickly attempting to keep the engine running in Campaign by increasing the throttle and/or switching to fine pitch, has no effect. The engine has to be started again but only after using the priming pump will it fire. The magnetos and fuel tank seem to be On.

Can somebody else try this and confirm my findings or is it just me?

[Buddye]

Hi Borton,

Just a small bug. I fixed it and now the campaign is fine. Do not forget to test it when you get a hold of the first 2.06 EXE to test. See number 7.

2.06 Summary

1. Fixed Collision Avoidance (CA) so that a different time can be used for head-on collisions (larger time as the closing is so fast) and a smaller time can be used for head to tail collisions so that the AI will not pull off as fast when shooting at an enemy’s tail.
2. Fixed the damage model so that when the left and right fin/elevators or the left or right outside wings are equal to BS_DEAD (totally damaged from a collision or gun fire) the player’s A/C will not be flying home.
3. Fixed buffet sound so it turns off when player bails out or crashes.
4. Implemented new and enhanced maneuvers when Skill level Novice and Poor is selected in the Instant Action missions. The AI will be less aggressive (Novice less and Poor a bit more) and the maneuvers will be less defensive (Novice less and Poor a bit more).
5. Implemented new more aggressive AI maneuvers for Ace and Hero skill levels when selected in instant Action Missions (about the same level). The goal is so the customer can see a difference in both offence and defense when different skill levels are selected.
a. Novice the easy one has very little offence mild defense
b. Poor up the aggression some with better defense
c. Regular and Veteran same as 2.05 level (the normal)
d. Ace and Hero increased the offense some defense about the same as c but with increased attention on offence..
When one thinks of skill many thing come to mind. This implementation considers the flying skill of the pilot to perform maneuvers and the experience to recognize the situation and select the better maneuver
6. Implemented the new Bdg.txt parameter for fighting with Terminator AI. Just set Do_You_Want_To_Fight_The_Terminator_AI=ON. The terminator AI should not disengage (except when they kill an enemy) and they do not go home. It is a fight to the death for both the wingmen (friendly) and the enemy AI. The Terminator AI is as aggressive as Hero and Ace and may even ram you as he does not care about being killed. He has a weakness as his defense is rather normal.
7. Fix a Bug in the campaign when using ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING=ON where the engine started then died.

[Tako_Kichi]

2. Fixed the damage model so that when the left and right fin/elevators or the left or right outside wings are equal to BS_DEAD (totally damaged from a collision or gun fire) the player’s A/C will not be flying home.

AWW SHUCKS!!!!

Does that mean I won't be coming home like this any more?



I quite enjoyed the challenge of nursing a sick plane back home .

[Buddye]

Yes, I am afraid so as I checked and A/C do not fly with shot off fins, sorry. I can always put it back the way it was, however.

With shot off Fins and wing tips you will go down like a ton of bricks.

Just fixing another bug.

[Bader]

Just one missing fin might be nice, mind you

[Tako_Kichi]

Yup, in the above case I was still able to fly it back to base but IIRC I did need to apply full right stick in order to maintain level flight and to compensate for the lack of lift on the damaged side. It certainly wasn't flying as if the damage had no affect on the controls. Mind you, I think that shot was taken prior to spins being active so maybe that helped too.

[Lewis - A2A]

what, no damage!?

I liked the challenge of nursing a damaged aircraft home as so many did in those days. On paper an aircraft should not fly without all of the tail surfaces, but then again on paper a ju88 should not fly with 1/3 of its rear fuselage at a 45degree off angle, or a wimpy make it back to blighty minus everything but the wooden frame around the tail.

Point being it would be nice to have this in as a feature, OR with your coding whizz any chance of making it somwhat random as to if you drop like a brick or the controls go all squiffy

[Tako_Kichi]

Point being it would be nice to have this in as a feature, OR with your coding whizz any chance of making it somwhat random as to if you drop like a brick or the controls go all squiffy

I'll second that .

While I can see why you are trying to fix the chopped off wing tip problem Buddye I would really hate to see a complete change to 'unflyable' damage in every case. It is fun to try and limp home with a damaged AC even if it all ends with a 'splat' on the airfield after all your valiant efforts .

It would be nice if we could have the gear acting up too if you have been hit, either not coming down or only one side dropping down. It would certainly up the ante regarding flying skills and add a lot more realism to flights too.

Just some thoughts .

[Hylander_1715]

What should be the deciding factor is if the control cables are severed, or not. If the stick goes mushy, you're in trouble. But the flying qualities should be affected by the loss of surfaces.

Whether you're able to maintain any control, should take those factors into account, along with how the real world counterpart reacted to the same kind of damage, and loss of surfaces. Most pilots when able would prefer to leave a stricken ship like in Tako's picture. The loss of one empenage on the horizontal would usually damage the tubing connecting bothsides, so most of the time you'ld be s.o.l. anyways, as the other side would flap in the breeze and there would be no elevator control as it would damage the main pivot point either from the rounds hitting the area, or the added stress to one side.

The plane would start to head down anyways, so hit the silk.