Creating Missions

[Greg Stelmack]

In the CAP event, we've started using the mission editor to hand out assignments to players. Due to the number of walkons, this has been an excellent tool for getting people into appropriate rides. However, I've run into some shortcomings:

We need a better tool for waypoint placement. The map in the map room does not seem to have enough view controls. Trying to place waypoints in the northwest corner of the Phillippines map just doesn't work, as you have stacks of field icons close together and no good view. Are there map control keys I'm missing?

I'd like to be able to specify flight launch times as T + so many minutes, and then be able to launch the mission manually. In CAP, the open windows may be off by a few minutes, and it's difficult to adjust the flight times manually. I'd like to be able to set the flight offset times, and then click a "launch now" button that starts the timer for the individual flights.

I'd like to be able to copy waypoints from one flight to another. Alternately / in addition, I'd like to be able to tie flights together so that escorts know who they are escorting, and the escortees know who they are being escorted by. The escort waypoints should follow the escortee's points.

I'd like the dots in the map during flight to change color to yellow for the mission to help coordination in the air. This might need to be a CM option as you may not want it for scenarios, but for walkon events the coordination would be a big help.

I'd like to make sure one person can upload and have multiple missions in the queue. I ran into some issues with a mission showing twice when I had one mission up and edited someone else's. Right now we try to have individual flight leaders upload missions, but in the multi-life CAP event the CO is about the only one who can create missions for the reup windows, and right now we can't take the chance of submitting two.

That's it for now, but I'm sure we'll come up with more as we use this tool more heavily for CAP.

[Dantoo]

Amen

Frankly after last weekend, my view is that it is too buggy and too difficult to use for what I suppose is its primary purpose - coordination of larger groups of untrained flyers.

The biggest problem we had was the "carrier map room bug".  In a frame where we already had a major numbers balancing problem it was terrible to lose so many players to this bug.  Joining a mission from the map room of a cv causes a screen freeze.  Too many did not come back to the arena.

The second most frustrating bug was pilots being launched with the wrong plane.  I had several Kate pilots find themselves in other types.  This meant they had to ditch (so much for personal achievement logs) and replane.   Coordination out the window.  If I am forced to ask pilots to throw away their plane/life 30 seconds after launching then we have lost our way.  CAP is already in danger of being "whined" back into a MA mentality.  Such problems drag us further back.

The "launch now" button would be my greatest priority.  It is an entirely different set of command control and communication difficulties in the SEA.  What is easy enough for a MA general is a practical impossibility for a CO in the SEA.

Aside:

Greg we may have to look at FL's creating a number of alternate missions and posting them when and where they are appropriate.  After the weekend I would be very reluctant to use "missions" again.  In fact until/unless the bugs at least are addressed then I strongly reccomend against pursuing it.

[Kronos]

Greg has a point about map room controls, it would be better if we can get finer viewing controls within the maproom, or a better way to set waypoints.


Also, it would be extremely nice to be able to load up several missions at once for SEA events.  As it is now, if I were to set up a mission for 5 squads in TOD, I would have to use each squad as a flight.  But then all squads in mission turn yellow, because all are in the overall mission.  If the color yellow was only assigned to the flight that a person chooses within the mission, that would be good to.