Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: Ripsnort on November 16, 2001, 12:45:00 PM
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I posted this in the main, so its a cut and paste. Feel free to add your 'tidbits' to the topic:
Well, build it right and they will come.
I found out that a well planned mission keeps them coming back.
~Make sure each flight has sufficient fuel to perform its task.
~Make sure each fligh has sufficient ordnance to perform its task.
~Identify what each flights' target is within the text string allowed for each flight description.
~Make sure you edit the start locations of each mission when you re-use a saved mission, and edit time so that mission expires within 5 min after launch (For spy purposes)
~Try to hold target information until you are airborn (again, spies flourish)
~Make sure you edit the spawn points so they do not launch aircraft such a Lancasters into the mountainous terrain that they cannot fly over.
~Edit the time for joining the mission after it launches for no more than 10 min.
~Indentify potential targets as "reasonable success rate"..ie, don't throw 12-15 guys into a huge hording furball that is occuring just 5 miles from your airfield.
~Try to identify targets of opportunity that will relieve a neighboring field under attack.
~Use "Fighter Sweep Missions" whenever outnumbered, it helps relieve the battle front and they can be alot of fun.
~Allow a flexible choice of aircraft that everyone can enjoy or, do "National" sets of aircraft (Example: Japanese Jabo, with all Japanese aircraft, substituting the Betty with a B26 or something like that).
~Type in CAPS on text buffer when announcing the mission, but not so much that you aggravate the community.
~If no one joins the mission within the standard 10 min. time to launch window, simply announce the mission will be scrubbed, and try again in 30 min. Don't be discouraged if you fail to attract alot the first few tries, more will join eventually.
~Don't launch a mission where you do not have enough pilots to do the job. Just scrub the mission and try again later.
~Always make sure you goon flight is occupied, and always convey to the rest in the mission that 'the first man down, is the next man up with a back up goon'.
~Mix up mission goals, do a field capture, then a fun "Nap of Earth" mission to their city.
~Know when to call a NO-GO on a well defended field.
~Speed is life for successful field captures
~Speed is life for successful field captures
~Speed is life for successful field captures
Mission creators are not the reason a mission is successful or fun, its the pilots WITHIN that mission that make it successful or fun. :)
Also, read this related thread on how to JOIN a mission:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/Forum2/HTML/000591.html (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/Forum2/HTML/000591.html)
[ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: Ripsnort ]
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1. Plan the right kind of missions
Plan missions according to your country's current status. Nobody is going to join a large-scale buff/escort mission when currently their country is under heavy attack, and every pilot resource is barely enough to hold bases safe. These sort of large-scale missions can only be accomplished when each countries have large and even numbers, and are currently in a stagnant condition.
2. Plan small-scale missions
As one can notice, usually people only join large scale missions when it is created by "famous" pilots - such as Ripsnort, Hblair, Zigrat.. etc etc( ;) ). This is because in their case, one can trust that the mission is not ill-planned, has high success rates, and well organized. Plan small-scale, dynamic missions that can bring out small tactical advantages in small amount of time. Make it so that the people can acknowledge how your little mission helped them.
3. Maintain discipline and organization
Yes, we are not enlisted to an actual military force. We play this for fun. But still, there has to be some organization and discipline among memebers participating in the mission. For instance, for a buff/escort mission, make it clear that someone leads each sections of the flight, and firmly request that the fighter escorts respond to the buffs needs. Take time before launching, or in the process of launching to brief the mission participants that some rules and regualtions are to be kept. No buf mission can succeed when the so-called escorts all drop down to chase one Spit and never return.
4. Try and put in planes that the majority can fly well
Though the temptations of historic missions are great, these sorts of missions are rarely successful unless there are many experienced pilots among the participants specializing teamwork - such as squads. Taking five 109s, five 190s and five Ju-88s might make a LW fan smile, but of the 15 people joining the mission, you can't expect everybody flies the so-called 'challenging( :D )' planes well enough to effectively use them in a coordinated mission.
So, there. :)
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We have hit a major slump with teh new numbers in the main. it has become almost impossible to finesse a field, and now brute force is pretty much required. when each side had 100 guys, a misison of 8 guys or so cant have the impact likeit used ot... radar leads to you getting swarmed everytime.
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Punt for newbies.
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Punt for the newbies!
Great missions up this week end from Apar, and a few others in Knitland...big WTG!
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~Always make sure you goon flight is occupied, and always convey to the rest in the mission that 'the first man down, is the next man up with a back up goon'.
I, for one, kind of enjoy doing the goon thing. Since I'm a miserable fighter pilot, it's one way I can feel like I'm contributing to the 'war effort' when I'm able to drop troops or supplies when and where needed.
Trouble is, most times I don't reach the target, even when part of a large, organized mission.
So I'd add a caveat to the above rule to the effect that it's essential to make sure the guys that DO come along with you in goons have dedicated fighter cover.
Unless I'm missing something about the C47, it doesn't evade fighters very well and it fights back even worse.
Splash1
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Originally posted by Dennis
~Always make sure you goon flight is occupied, and always convey to the rest in the mission that 'the first man down, is the next man up with a back up goon'.
Good One! Can't believe I forgot add that to my original list, however, I wasn't strictly thinking capture when I made this up...kinda generic for everything from fighter sweep to field capture.
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um, it WAS in your original list ... I was quoting.
My addendum was to provide for fighter cover in your mission if you're bringing goons along.
Great list, tho.
Splash1
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Ahh (shakes sleep from head)...one note about escort for goon, close escort NEVER works. A single fighter can always dive in and kill the goon, I don't care if you put 100 fiters in close escort, he's gonna die UNLESS you spread the escort out and intercept the con(s) WELL before they get close to the goon, about 5 miles min. and 20 miles maximum.
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Ripsnort and fellow mission planners
Yes I agree fully with your statements about mission planning, actually learned allot by joining your missions and haveing a good look at how you plan them.
There was a time where knights would only join your mission but now more mission planners get attendees on their missions because they starting to make sense and be succesful.
Funniest mission I had so far was a mission from A31 to A42 (Mindenao) where we went airborn with quite allot plp and almost at the same time a huge red bar developped in the sector of A42. So I thought, fek me, somebody told the Bish about the mission and they are upping major defense. But that wasn't the case, it happened to be that the Bish just upped at about the same time with a huge mission trying to take A31!!!!!
You can prolly guess what happened, the two missions came across eachother and it developped into one of the biggest furballs I've ever seen, it was awsome to be part of. Both missions (knit & bish) were a complete failure ofcourse, :D
to the Bish mission planner (I still don't know who it was)
also to SlugM and other new Knight mission planners!
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Its a relief to see other "Generals" making missions in the Knightland, I love to join them just as much as I like to make em. :)
That furball must have been a site to behold APar :)
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An easy way of making the goon less vulnerable on the way in is to fly in with the bombers, then drop down for your gooning run.
And you want 2 troop goons and 1 supply goon.
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Originally posted by qts
An easy way of making the goon less vulnerable on the way in is to fly in with the bombers, then drop down for your gooning run.
And you want 2 troop goons and 1 supply goon.
Hehe, back in my JG2 days, we once had a box formation of B17's and two goons flying in the center of the box (B17s had to throttle back about 70%) and climbed to 20k, the fighter escort carried heavy so they took out the field AA while the B17's hit the hangars, then I dropped out of the box formation with my goon and captured the field. Worked like a charm.
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Punt for newbies
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Dennis , I also like my time in the fuzegoon. They can't capture it without the goon! The fuzegoon and I may even have a 'reputation' to uphold :)
I can add a few tips on how to survive that perilous goon flight.
1st- If you have two goons in a mission, split them up so that if one is spotted, the other may sneak thru.
2nd- The enemy 'usually' covers the main path a goon will follow but sometimes they leave the back or side door open. Try the scenic route away from the main body, IF the mission planner allows it.
3rd- Always broadcast your position and keep your eyes peeled. I find that the F3 view allows you better horizon scanning to locate goon hunters farther off.
4th- I find stealth mode works better, at least for me. Fly as low as you can and I personally do not like a close escort. If someone closes on me, I yell like hell and try to get help then.
5th- Goons aren't the most manuverable aircraft but you can evade for a limited time if the attacker isn't too experienced.
I had a Ju88 on the fuzegoon's tail once for 5 minutes before an escort came over and saved my butt. He did ping me a few times but I lived to drop my troops. I've also crashed a few single attackers but those situations are rare, but most enjoyable :D
And to Rip and other posters, I'm going to study these myself. I do missions for my squad and am starting a few open ones for off-squad nights. A great aid, thanks a TON!!!
fuzeman
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Hey APAR i still have the film from that mission. Ill try to post a good pic or the hole film.
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Couple quick additions (you guys already covered all the main stuff):
1 -- Dunno why more people don't do this, but get at least some fighters in mission to type .wingman NameOfGoonDriver. They can then easliy track the mission goon, and with good SA know when to go help him.
2 -- If you leading, try not to die. By all means help everyone get that ack down, just don't dive in 1st and alone. Keep E and alt fairly high above the crowd to help direct some while you fight. It is demoralizing to see your mission lead die to a HO right when everyone gets to the target :).
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Originally posted by Elysian
Couple quick additions (you guys already covered all the main stuff):
1 -- Dunno why more people don't do this, but get at least some fighters in mission to type .wingman NameOfGoonDriver. They can then easliy track the mission goon, and with good SA know when to go help him.
2 -- If you leading, try not to die. By all means help everyone get that ack down, just don't dive in 1st and alone. Keep E and alt fairly high above the crowd to help direct some while you fight. It is demoralizing to see your mission lead die to a HO right when everyone gets to the target :).
Good additions! You too Fuze, (Gotta love a guy who writes about his goon plane like a 3rd party, LOL ! "Fuzegoon" :) )
First thing I do in a mission is ".wingman Goondriver" and then thank the goon driver for joining! :)
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
Gotta love a guy who writes about his goon plane like a 3rd party, LOL ! "Fuzegoon" :) )
Great post, I reckon the mission builder is one of AH's greatest assets, and I'll usually join them when I see one 'advertised'.
I reckon though that there should be some more concrete way of alerting people that a mission is on the boards and requiring pilots....perhaps a system message specific to the tower of the field the mission is running from? maybe in the form of a pop up box like the con 2002 messages etc and the info boxes on login in CT and TA.
Something along the lines of "Player xxxxxx has posted a mission to field XX, leaving in X minutes".
Nothing elaborate, just enough to let you know it's happening without the mission designer having to yell himself hoarse to get the roster filled........anyway, just an idea.
About the Fuzegoon........I'm usually of the opinion that if you want a field gooned right, at the right time, do it yourself, it's about the only way to ensure it goes down as you would plan it....usually.......but if Fuze is around driving that crazy Gooneybird of his, you can consider the job done right, first time, every time, any time.
Fuzeman guys like you are the 'unsung heroes' of our virtual battlefield, and essential to any real ongoing success in the MA. WTG.
Blue
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[Punt to get this to the top, I couldn't find it.]
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I am all up for fun missions, I think the gangbang ones get a little boring. While flying with the Arabian Knights on some missions, we would box the goon in with fighter/attack escort and go all the way to the field like that. The assortment of planes was good, and we always had fun. In the MA, if I try to post an SBD or IL2 mission, no one feels like joining. I know most people enjoy capturing the field all the time, but once in a while I wish they'd wake up and join something fun for a change. Any suggestions for implementing a fun mission and generating interest in the MA?
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Now I have played with the Mission Editor and even posted a few small missions (all scrubbed - no one trusts me lol) (I get the fear when I see a mission with slots for 30 tiffies - like what? I'm expendable?).
The mission editor is IMHO a bag of spanners. How am I meant to place waypoints accurately when I can't see the map (especially on Pizza map) for all those pointless chess pieces in the way. Even if I F3, F8 and rotate view, I can't do more than guesstimate where each wp should be. Not only that but radar range circles don't show up in map room making threading a flight of Lancs thru radar a toughie.
Ok that sounds like a whine, and I suppose it is. Your mission planning points above are very useful to me and I will def take them into account, including high gooning and bringing a supply C47 too.
But a more intuitive mission planner would be great as it takes me 30 mins to set up a mission with wp, by which time the tactical situation has usually changed enough to render the mission obsolete.
Would it be too much to have a built in flight computer as well? So when you set a waypoint for a flight, the mission editor knows the flight/climb characteristics of the plane you are using.
You could be able to set your WP with time or altitude priority, so each WP would be pinpointed in space and time, allowing the possibility of tightly coordinated attacks against multiple targets.
I wanted to build one of these as an offline editor, but I get the feeling that HTC probably wont let my app log into their serevr and retrieve maps, roster, field ownership etc. Although I haven't asked.
But, whining aside <> to all you Knight Mission Planners. You make the game much more interesting, especially when none of my squaddies are around.
And Question to mission planners out there, some use WP others do not. Advantages, Disadvantages?