Hi.
I am attempting to write a very complex mission that ends with base capture on a custom terrain (my "NGuinea4") that has a very dense concentration of Japanese bases simulating the Rabaul complex of WW2 infamy.
A lot of it is working. I've got bots sinking all of the nearby enemy ships and wiping out all of the ack ack at the base (if they are properly escorted by live players that keep opposing Zeroes off of them).
There is no nearby town, (nearest town is about 3 or 4 miles away) and the maproom is at the edge of the airfield. I shoot down all of the opposing Japanese planes as I am escorting a trio of C47s over the base.
The C47s are loaded with ten troops apiece, and they fly the assigned route at the assigned speed and altitude. As I fly nearby in an escort fighter, I can see that their exit doors are open, and I can see paratroops standing in the doorways, ready to jump, as soon as they commence the single "DROP_ORDS" segment that takes them directly over the maproom. I've designated the maproom as the "Target" for the DROP_ORDS segment.
But the paratroops never bail out. It's as if they are afraid of ack ack that could potentially shoot in their direction (even though it's two or three miles away and I am flying between it and them, drawing all fire away from the C47s. I've made sure that all of the ack-ack at the base is dead. There are no bullets flying at the C47s.
So.... What are the requirements to get airborne C47 bots to drop troops? I've got them going 160 MPH at 1200ft above ground level, with about a 5-mile, straight-and-level approach.
I have other planes with DROP_ORDS segments working perfectly (B24s, B25s, B26s, SBDs, and TBMs). Whether they are doing level bombing, or dive bombing, or dropping torpedoes, I get the desired effect, and targets (mostly ships in Simpson harbor) are destroyed as I had hoped.
But dropping troops isn't working. Is there some additional complexity I am overlooking?
Thanks!
