FAQ

- Runway
- Hangers
- Aircraft on the Ground
- Power Stations
- Electricity Substations
- Comms Sites
- EWR/GCI Radar
- Ships/Patrol Boats
- Artillery
- Moving armoured vehicle column
- Tanks - plinking
- Infantry Position - cluster munitions
- Ammo Depot
- Truck Column
- Building in city "HQ"
- Scud Site
- Factory - General/Munitions/Chem./Bio.
- SAM/AAA concentrations
- Tank farm
- Warehouses (can be lots of other things, like terrorist base)
- Enemy Cargo plane
- Bridge
- Helicopters

Thanks, Bob.

Some people have asked where I get my ideas for missions from and how I go about designing one.

Of course, once you have done all this, remember to set the time and weather, add any necessary labels, add the Briefing and Mission Info and design the Debrief.

Douglas Wardell asked how Target Triangles are made to appear over targets:

Some of this material is duplicated in other sections below but I thought the following summary may help. The answer is to place a waypoint very near the target, then assign the waypoint action "BOMB TARGET". Another screen comes up with the map of the target area in black and white (by which I mean "grey"). It is fairly obvious how to assign targets here - click on the green triangle, click on the aircraft number (8 will appear, however many may be in the flight. Be careful to assign Targets depending on the number of actual aircraft flying) then click on the white square representing the target.

Then decide whether you want level, loft or dive bombing by clicking on the same menu bar.

Lastly add labels - because this grey screen is the same one that players will see as their TARGETING map. It helps them and adds a feeling of realism. Make sure the area you can see on the map when you exit is right, because that's what the player will see when he calls up TARGETING.

Then click EXIT on the "grey screen" and return to the "normal" map. Now change the AGL height of the "Bomb Target" waypoint to one appropriate for the type of delivery (level, dive etc.) and the type of weapon you envisage. Paveway 15 to 18k, Mk 84 4k, Mk 84 AIR 600 feet.

Targeting in this way allows you to give the "ATTACK PRIMARY TARGET" (TAB 461) command to the flight during the game. Your wingmen will then attack the targets you assigned. This works just as well with computer-controlled flights.

If you give your flight another BOMB TARGET waypoint action you can attack this using ATTACK SECONDARY TARGET (TAB 462).

If you want to tell your wingmen to attack targets of opprtunity (TAB 463) the waypoint must be given as CAS waypoint action. No targeting screen will appear and there will be no red triangles.

To set up a SAR helo you need to place the helo on the map and assign it an SAR initial action and a response range. I usually place it 80 nm from the target and give it a 100 nm response range. Obviously, this works best if you are tank-busting along the front-line but face it: you are not going to get SAR to fly into Baghdad and pick you up!

You can give the SAR helo some Apache escorts for cover.

If SAR is requested beyond a certain range from the helo, it will not happen. CJ Martin has said he believes the maximum range of the SAR helo is around 120 nm.

I can't say for sure but I suspect that AWACS may be necessary to call in SAR units.

You can make the FAC use more interesting by using Group/Packages to vary the units around them, otherwise on replaying the player may well know where to look on the HRM for SAMs etc.

In a (very brief) nutshell, we have small EW radar sites (typically Flat Faces) which are connected (literally, you connect the site together in the mission builder) to Interceptor Operations Centers (IOC's) (which usually have a Bar Lock radar as well). The IOC's report to Sector Operations Centers (SOC's), which in turn report to the main HQ. That's the 'upstream' side. IOC's also control the ground defenses in their area, the SAMs and radar guided triple A sites. (Note, the links to the defenses are also set in the builder). IOC's also can scramble alert interceptors for nearby fields.

When you look at the links in the builder, it looks like a giant spider web. Destroying a site breaks those links that run to/from the site. For example, if a IOC is knocked out, the local SAM units will switch to their own EW radar (typically Flat Faces in the case of SA-2/3's ) if they have a EW radar available. Otherwise, the SAM site may attempt to acquire targets using it's fire control radar (vastly less effective, and much more likely to draw the attention of SEAD units). They can also fire optically, in they have that capability and have a target in site. Triple A sites that lose their links tend to either revert to barrage firing, or using their Fire Can radar to find targets (with the same limitations the SAM radar's have).

This is pretty much how the Iraqi campaign is set up (Iran is similar, but different). There is a LOT of data going up/down those links....all those AI aircraft, even those hundreds of miles from the player, are potential targets.

The Mission Builder Map Scale can be accessed by pressing F1 while in the mission builder. This shows the size of the visible screen in the bottom right hand corner.

Alert Intercept is a useful way of introducing an element of uncertainty for the player. It works like this.

2) Place a GCI Radar such that the Alert Intercept flight's airbase is within the detection zone of the GCI radar.

3) Shortly after the player's flight has been spiked the Alert Intercept aircraft will take off.

4) Be aware that a low flying target is difficult to spot so the flight will probably only be spiked when it is halfway into the GCI detection zone. This isn't a problem if the GCI Radar is near the target but might be a problem if you are relying on Radar along the ingress route to trigger the response.

5) Alert Intercept can be used with Groups/Packages to good effect. Place three different packages on the runway, all assigned to Alert Intercept. Then the player will not know what he is facing or how many if he reflies the mission.

6) Alert Intercept is a good way off getting aircraft to come in from one side of the player or even from behind. relying on waypoints is not a good way as there is no guarantee that the player will arrive at a certain place at a certain just because you have placed waypoints there. Alert Intercept mean that you can get aircraft to intercept him from the side (or whatever) WHENEVER he arrives.

These attacks are normally made from the upper limits of effective bombing altitude and this should be borne in mind when designing missions. I have successfully tested B-52G Mk 84 and F-117 Paveway attacks from 18,000 feet.

And tempting though it might be it is not realistic to have B-52G attacks on Baghdad (or other cities). Political considerations wouldn't allow it.

I was trying to build a mission in which the aim is to down an IL-76 which takes off from Kuwait Intl. and lands at Basra. I found out that you can give each Flight EITHER a Take Off OR a Land Action, but not both. The trick is then to place the target aircraft 20 metres in the air off the end of the runway as though it had just taken off when the game starts. If you want to build in a delay give an ORBIT command with a time or USER FLAG as appropriate. It's not perfect, but it's a work-around.

There has been much confusion (mine!) in the past on what to do with FORM ON aircraft. This is a waypoint action by which we command Flight A to fly in close formation with Flight B. So here we are over the target and Flight B does its bombing run and Flight A tries to stay close behind the Flight B Leader. Not very realistic.

So now we want Flight A to use its SEAD capability to defend Flight B during the attack. We give Flight B (at the combined waypoint some 30 miles from the target) a RELEASE FORM ON action. But when we try to issue orders (i.e. a new waypoint) to Flight A we find that the last waypoint always comes up as Flight B's waypoint.

The answer is to click on the waypoint button in the toolbar, then click on the RELEASE FORM ON waypoint, then click on the Flight A aircraft ICON (found at the beginning of its flight) then click to place the new waypoint.

There is a slight problem (sorry, Andy, "feature") that occurs when our F-15E flight arrives on station to escort another aircraft.

We say to the C-17 "Gulf One this is Chevy One we have you in sight"

C-17 says in the TEXT message "Chevy One, Gulf One, Good to have you with us"

but in the WAV file "Gulf One, Intercepting Incoming bandits", which is a bit odd for a C-17 and very odd in a mission that has no bandits.

Groups and Packages are used to give a degree of replayability to missions. Some people use them simply to vary the number or type of intercepting fighter aircraft, but they have a wider use - they can make the plane approaching you a single helo, a line of transport aircraft or enemy bombers with escort. That aircraft high over your target may be enemy, friendly or even a neutral civilian passenger jet (set a MUST SURVIVE goal on that then have fun designing a mission debrief if the player shoots it down).

Step 1. Go to Groups/Packages in the taskbar and click on it.

Step 2. Create (Add) a new group and name it (e.g. Aircraft over target)

Step 3. Add packages to that group (e.g. Su-22 x 2 = 40%, Mig-25 x 2 = 30%, friendly F/A-18 x 3 = 20%, civilian 707 = 10%)

Step 4. Place the above aircraft on the map and assign them to their packages by right-clicking on their icon or in the initial set-up screen.

Clearly the packages appearing will have ramifications for the difficulty of the mission but the variety may well be worth it, as will the degree of uncertainty before firing. In any case Packages can contain several flights, so the civilian airliner in Package 4 (of the above example) may be offset by having 3 Mig 29s in the SAME package as part of an Alert Intercept whereas the Alert Intercept of Package 1 might be a single Mig 29.

Waypoints are easy to do yet I have still downloaded missions from the net that have a single waypoint 300 nm away with no jump points and no return to a home airbase. Even worse, there was no bomb target command when you got there so wingmen were useless against the ground targets.

My waypoints for a ground attack mission go like this:

1. Speed 0 Alt 0 Initial action Take Off

2. 20 miles away Speed 400 Alt 2000

3. 100 miles from the target - Speed 450 Alt 6000 (depends on tactical situation) Jump Point with Label "Ingress"

4. 30 miles from target (offset a bit to assist with HRM) Speed 450 Alt 500

5. At target Speed 500 Alt 1000 Action Bomb Target (if primary) or CAS (if targets of opportunity)

6. 30 miles from target Speed 450 Alt 500

7. 30 miles from home Speed 450 Alt 10,000 Jump Point with Label "Close to Home"

8. Over Home airfield Speed 350 Alt 1000

Most people will fly waypoints 4 to 6 manually.

Other simple waypoint actions can include secondary targets and refuelling points.

Note that while the speed and altitude isn't really that important for the player flight it is at jump points as they determine the "restarting" condition for your plane.

Area Events are very useful and badly under-used by mission builders. When I compared the missions that come with the game with the good missions people have posted on the web this still stands out as the major difference. "So what are those blue square things anyway?"

Area Events, which are not related to area goals, are events that trigger an action when the player either enters or leaves them. This usually means that a USER FLAG is tripped.

So we place an Area Event box (click on the Area Event button, then drag the mouse) across the end of our runway and set it to PLAYER ENTERS, USER FLAG 1 and 1 TIME. Then we give the IL-76 the Take Off action with the condition USER FLAG 1. It will now only take off when we are airborne.

Sure, we could put a goal and say "when the runway is destroyed then USER FLAG 1" and "USER FLAG 1 = interceptor take-off". This has a major disadvantage. It allows the player to concentrate on destroying the runway before he has to think about the interceptor.

So we place an Area Event over the airport and surrounding area and set it to PLAYER ENTERS, USER FLAG 1 and 1 TIME with the interceptor take-off (or maybe release from ORBIT over Basra) to USER FLAG 1. This is also good because the interceptor takes off very close to the player, denying an easy MRM kill and perhaps forcing a good dogfight.

You can also set delay flags. For example our plane taking off sets USER FLAG 1 by AREA EVENT. You then set a TIME EVENT so that USER FLAG 2 is tripped 5 minutes later. This then causes something to happen.

An excellent example of this is the mission that came with the game in which you have to stop a Hercules full of terrorists and hostages from taking off. There is an Area Event above the target airfield. Entering it "sets the clock running". Two minutes later the Hercules will try to take off if you haven't destroyed the runway.

This mission would never have worked any other way. There is no way you could do it simply with TIME EVENTS because there is no way you can predict when the player will arrive on scene. The result is an elegant, simple piece of logic programming that does the job well.

In the example the player will hear machine gun fire as he approaches his airbase to land. I placed an Area Event across his flight path, labelled it (important once you have many) and added the Message Action linked to a WAV file in the Missions Folder.

Ground objects will not fire at each other. The "fire while waiting" action at the Ground Object waypoint is for Ground to Air fire only. The only exception, as far as I can tell, is SCUDs, which will actually fire their missile - looks pretty cool!

 If you want the proper aviation maps of Iraq:

H-6A (Northern Saudi Arabia, South-Western Iraq, Western 1/2 Kuwait)
H-6B (Kuwait, Eastern Iraq, Western Iran, Persian Gulf)
G-4C (Pretty much the rest of Iraq)

The Map Store, Inc.
1636 Eye Street N.W.
Washington, D.C.
202-628-2608

There are some problems with aircraft on the ground. There are two types:

1) Aircraft that will take off but haven't yet done so. This may be because the FLAG that tells them to take off has not yet been tripped (i.e. the target bridge hasn't been destroyed etc.). The problem here is that they are visible to AWACS when they shouldn't be.

2) Aircraft on the Ground that are parked (stationary targets). These should NOT be placed using PLACE FLIGHT but using PLACE MOVING OBJECT, in which you will find a number of "vehicular" aircraft (with a V suffix), although the selection is unfortunately far too narrow. These will have their engines turned off and will not be visible to AWACS. Unfortunately it seems they don't appear on HRM either.