Fighters do not drop their bombs!

[stiz]

here you go Bombardier

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?l ... e=buddha13

[Bombardier101]

You might want to send a PM to Hagar about this. I don't know if he's an expert at solving mission problems but it's worth a try

Thanks Jimski! I'll look around. Stiz's Halifax is out and I've got it and I've already got the Stirling so it rules those two out.

[Bombardier101]

here you go Bombardier

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/index.php?l ... e=buddha13

Thanks Stiz! That Whitley looks cool in the screenie! Time to download........

Happy flying,



Bombardier

[jimski]

That basic Whitley is a Ted Cook fs2004 design that I got at flightsim.com. While I was checking on it the other day I saw he also had a Manchester in fs2004. Another great job. I downloaded it and tried to fly it in fs2002 and it all worked except the engines were forever in idle. That has happened before to me and I guess it is an fs2004 effect.

Jimski

[Bombardier101]

Yes, he has a Manchester too! Jimski, maybe you could fix the problem in FS2002 by getting the Manchester conversion stuff by Buddha13. I'm pretty sure that he has done some





Bombardier

[jimski]

Bombardier

Thanks for the Manchester tip. I downloaded the conversion and after a while got it to fly. It flies fine but has two problems I don't know how to fix. One is that it is a frame eater. And second is that in cfs2 it is not fully painted, the tops of the wings and about half of the fuselage and wheels, etc, are grey. (It is fully painted way in fs2002.)
As for its AI performance, it bombs its targets and follows me nicely in formation but when flying in formation without me to lead the second plane usually collides with the leader.

Jimski

[Bombardier101]

Hey Jimski


You're welcome I've just done a new airfile for that Whitley and it's basicly Thicko's Stirling airfile except a little bit modded. I have to ask him for permission to upload it. Sorry I can't help you with the Manchester but I can find a Wellington for you in a while...




Bombardier

[jimski]

Bombardier,

I need a review of the uses of the basic files in an aircraft's folder.

The aircraft.cfg file is a text file where I can modify the flight characteristics. Yes? I know how to use that one.

The ".air" file is a nontext file that I don't know how to change. Not sure what it does but I know I can make an airplane fly with the air file from a different aircraft as long as I rename it. Not exactly sure what info is stored in the .air file but I know a plane won't fly without it.

The .dp file I assume has info of how the ac is affected by damage, plus info about the weapons loadout. Since it is a text file it can be changed and I have used it to tinker with weapons carried. Is that it?

I also see a .cdp file that I don't know how to work with and don't recall what is in there. Not all ac have a .cdp file. Yes?

I assume that the basic AI behaviour is deep inside the model somewhere and I have never found a way to tinker with it. Yes?

JImski

[H]

Jimski;
Your aircraft.cfg basically tells the program which files to utilize.
I've been working with CFS1 but I believe there is an .air editor in the utilities for CFS2; your specific flight dynamics (Ctr of Gravity; fuel tank, engine, surface area info, etc.) are in this file. Although I once succeeded in changing typed info, I got lucky so, as you indicate, don't use a standard text editor to mess with this file.
You're correct about the .dp file: as well as the damage [profile] boxes, the armament types, amounts and convergences are in the gunstation info. There is an editor available but I've never used one -- it can be done safely with notepad/wordpad (at least in CFS1).

[jimski]

I downloaded the air file editor and looked at an old cfs file with it. I think nearly all of the items you can edit with it can in csf2 also be edited with the text "flight tuning" sections of the .cfg file, at least that is how I have been doing it. I saw no AI information there but about half of the data is listed as "unknown". I figured the AI smarts had to be in the .air file.

I took my Whitley bomber model, made for fs2004 by ted cook and redone for csf2 by buddha, which would not fly AI at all, it would simply fall out of the sky. I substituted the .air file from the new stiz Manchester, just putting it in the Whitley folder and renaming the .air file, and it flew great, including all AI functions! It thought it was a Manchester of course and I could hear four engines start instead of two, and it went too fast. Then I tried the .air file from the great GC-He111 which is a closer match to the Whitley and has a perfect AI function. The mod works great! So now my Whitley is fully AI functional although I still have to tune it to get it to perform to the specs in my history book ,but it is already very close. I feel I have the AI problem figured out now. I can't edit AI function but I can choose a .air file that has AI function that I want and then tinker with the flight tuning through the .cfg file or with the air file editor to make it fly per the book.

This gets back to the original topic of the AI plane not bombing its target. Many AI planes, especially add on fighters, were never taught by their .air files to do that. One thing that you need to do in mission builder for a bombing mission is to set the mission as a "strike" and many interceptors will need modified .air files to do that.

Is all this correct?

Jimski

[H]

Seems so except, possibly, in the bombing aspect; in CFS1 the plane is also directed as to its attack role (air, ground, vehicle...) in the specific mission file (except that the fighters, although they will make a bomb attack, don't do so properly). I've never altered multi-engine .air files but it seems one should be able to either change the number of engines in it or, at least, how many are heard via the sound file (depending upon specific setup for that plane or the files used for it).

[Bombardier101]

Hi guys


Jimski I hate to be one of those people who couldn't give a about historical accuracy but if you do that I'm pretty sure it will be problematic again

Vilik, make sure the aircraft loadout includes one with bombs. In some DPs the bombs don't work

Happy flying,




Bombardier

[jimski]

Bombardier,

Not sure what you mean about "historical accuracy" but if you mean an .air file that gives you a feel for the real thing, I'm quite certain that many add on aircraft don't have that to start with. In fact, there are probably very few people alive today who know for example what a Wellington flew like. So when I transfer the airfile of say the Stiz Halifax to the Stirling and it still flies like a heavy bomber, I say that is as "historically accurate" as a PC simulator is going to get. The fact that now the AI Stirling will fly as a real heavy did on bombing runs and under attack, where it did not before, is the plus I am after. Details such as max speed and cruise speed, and flying characteristics in general can be corrected with the "flight tuning" sections in the .cfg file. (By the way, the air file editor program presented in the utilites section does not seem to work in csf2 as its author warns.)

As for problems, I've changed about six misbehaving AI aircraft so far with none. So far it has all been for the good.

Give it a try if you have a model that looks good but won't fly AI correctly. Just rename the original .air file so you can bring it back later if needed.

Jimski

[H]

(By the way, the air file editor program presented in the utilites section does not seem to work in csf2 as its author warns.)

Are you speaking of this version: http://www.simviation.com/files/2cfs/aired.zip ? If so, it should be removed from the CFS2 utilities page.; if you're not, try it .

[jimski]

Yes, that was the file I tried. Is there another?

Jimski