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Author Topic: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building  (Read 29552 times)

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just champi

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2011, 02:20:10 PM »

Really useful and well explained. It also gives a good view about how airfields can work efficiently, I didn't know nothing about the issue, but you make it sound interesting. I'll wait paciently to read the next chapter you bring.
Many thanks Spdr109 , really appreciatted the effort you've put in making this. :) 
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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2011, 07:39:06 PM »

Now we will show how to determine parking spots for the aircraft.

This stage may seem somewhat confusing because by necessity we
must do several different things at the same time. We will need to layout
the taxiways, clear any obstacles from the paths of the aircraft and choose
parking spots that seem realistic within the airfield texture. Concurrently
we will be expanding the test mission, one flight at a time, until we reach
the maximum launch capacity of our airfield. To make this happen we
will have to load and exit the game an unbelievable number of times,
switching between Unlocked Full Mission Builder and Full Mission
Builder, changing the map and then testing the changes. This is when a
PC with fast IL-2  load times will be an enormous advantage. While we are
making the test mission we will have to keep a very close eye on the spacing
of the different flights, (air traffic control), as they approach the airfield.
It is by no means unusual to have over thirty aircraft in the air at the
same time. Adequate spacing must be maintained while trying to land the
aircraft in a reasonable amount of time. A tricky balancing act sometimes.

The first thing we want to do is to clear away any taxi or stay points remaining
on the airfield. Be very careful that you have clicked on what you intend to.
Keep the drop-down menu open to provide confirmation.



Be very careful not to disturb the runways.

All that should remain are the two runways that we created.



Now begin adding taxi points from the terminal end of each runway following
the longest possible path you may think you will need.

Remember that the test mission we started earlier has 2 flights of 4 aircraft each,
one flight on each runway, that we need to find parking places for. Place 4 stay
points per runway along each taxiway. Place one stay point right off the end of
each runway just to confirm runway function. Place another stay point at the very
end of each taxiway to confirm that the path is clear. Place the remaining 2 points
in any plausible locations.


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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2011, 07:43:11 PM »

Now we must test our changes.

Save what was done in Unlocked Full Mission Builder(UFMB).
Exit IL-2, use JSGME to switch to Unlocked Maps and reload IL-2.
Use the regular Full Mission Builder(FMB) to open the test mission.



Recall that we used the Ki-21 to test the runways because it has a long
takeoff and landing roll. Now we will change to the TB-3 because it is BIG.
If the TB-3 has enough clearance, so will just about every other aircraft.

To simplify monitoring of the action I use a little trick.
Place an aircraft on another airfield somewhere out of the way using only a
takeoff waypoint. Set fuel to zero. Make this the player plane.
This simply eliminates the need to switch on the autopilot every time you
fly the test mission and a couple other keystrokes when switching views.

The flight from the second runway looks like it may need some extra time in
the air so I will lengthen that flight path.



Save the changes to the mission.

Fly the Mission. During the first several attempts, use every device available
to observe the behavior of your aircraft. Shift/F2 allows you to switch from
one aircraft to another in an external view. Control/F2 allows you to access
your static cameras. Use the cameras to observe aircraft as they approach the airfield
as well as aircraft on the ground. Use the minimap like a radar screen.

The goal is to make the aircraft have the shortest and smoothest flight possible.
This may take several tries to get things right but put in the effort now at the
beginning. Once you have a good set of waypoints laid out it is a simple matter to
follow the same basic pattern as you add more flights.

A few adjustments were needed but this arrangement seems to work.






Only one aircraft was able to find a clear parking spot. Our next step will be to
clear any obstacles from the taxiways and stay points.


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Uzin

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2011, 01:52:36 AM »

Cannot appreciate enough your very needed work you published here.
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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2011, 05:43:41 AM »

Let us begin by taking care of any large, obvious objects that
may cause problems. There are several hangars that may be too
close to the taxiways but I do want to keep them so let us just
move them a little bit. Any camo nets and trees need to be deleted.
These items are easily replaced later.

There are several groups of objects that we need to move as a group.
Do this by pressing Alt/hold mouse left and dragging a box around
the group. Make sure you have checked Enable Select and Rotate
Objects in the Edit drop down menu. When you drag the box around
a group of objects it will light them up as red icons. To move the
group, left click on any red icon and you can drag the whole group.
To rotate the group use the number pad. Where you place your cursor
determines the center pivot of the group's rotation. When finished, left
click Unselect All.



Trees can be very difficult to see. When map editing make sure you have
set  Forest=0 in your conf. To be absolutely sure that there are no objects
in the way, Alt/drag a box over the entire airfield. This will identify every
object. If you find icons identifying any blank plates, ignore them for now.



Be very careful with the delete button when working with groups of objects.
It is much safer to unselect and delete objects one by one than to risk
deleting an entire airfield.

So after cleaning it up, the airfield now looks like this.

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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2011, 09:07:00 AM »

Save changes. Exit IL-2. Reconfigure with JSGME.
Load IL-2. Open test mission. Fly test mission.





Only 3 aircraft per runway were able to find clear parking spots.
This is an improvement but there are still objects too close to the taxi/stay
points. Drag a box over the suspected areas and closely examine every icon
until you are absolutely sure that there is nothing blocking the aircrafts'
paths. Drag any groups of objects just a little bit further just to be sure.
Sometimes the smallest adjustment can make the difference!

No matter what I did I could not get the aircraft to park at the final stay
point of the second runway. Why? I don't know but sometimes that just
happens. What I did was add a group of stay points in that area to determine
how far down that taxiway I would be allowed to go. Not very far in this case.
But that is OK! We still have other options. Delete everything past the
last useable stay point and fly the test mission again.






Wonderful! All eight aircraft were able to find parking spots.





Next we will continue to add and test parking spots while at the same time
expand the test mission.
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Spinnetti

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2011, 11:38:02 AM »

A born teacher... nicely done!
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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2011, 04:08:02 PM »

Now we have 8 working stay points. We need to add more but to
save some time we can take a little shortcut. We also need to expand the test mission
with our goal to see how many aircraft can actually be launched from this airfield.

The stay point consists of 2 icons connected by a line. One icon is numbered 0
and one icon is numbered 1. The 0 icon connects to a taxi point and the 1 icon is where
the aircraft will park.

ONLY ONE STAY POINT PER TAXI POINT!

Multiple stay points per taxi point will function but with unpredictable results.
Better to keep it simple and consistent.

What we will do is disconnect the working stay points and add 8 more.
This allows us to avoid watching flight after flight after flight... working the pattern and landing.
We will be forced into that soon enough.

Left click and hold on a 0 icon and drag it out of the way.
Make sure you grabbed the stay point and not the taxi point.
The stay point line will begin blinking if you have the correct icon.
Leave the 1 icon exactly where it is.



Now add 4 more stay points per runway. Now that we know that our taxiways function correctly
we should try to place the stay points in their final locations. Add more taxi points as needed.
Don't be too concerned about the taxiways just yet. We will smooth them out later.



Save the changes. Fly the test mission.



Fantastic! Got it on the first try!

Next we will do the same thing again.


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Mixx

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2011, 08:36:19 AM »

I am very glad that you my friend Spdr109, decided to publish this manual.
Very useful and valuable book for many Map Builders!
Also glad that you make  teachings on this map!
Finally she got in good with his hands.
Thank you in advance for the reconstruction of this map
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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #21 on: March 04, 2011, 08:08:00 PM »

Hello Mixx

It is good to hear from you. I am happy that you approve of the use
of your map in this tutorial. It was simply a practical matter as I  was
already in the process of reconstruction.

I am curious about your World War I map. I look forward to providing
any help that I can. Just let me know what you need.
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Mixx

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #22 on: March 09, 2011, 08:53:17 AM »

Hi Spdr109
Thank you for Khalkhin Gol map.
I will await your modernized airfields

New map (Mod World War I ) i'll try to finish by the end of the week.
But, as you know yourself without you does not work properly install the airfields.
Moreover, that some fields are very small (2 airfield on one texture).
But the map itself will be merry, do not be bored just flying
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spdr109

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Re: Tutorial-Basic Airfield Building
« Reply #23 on: March 09, 2011, 04:12:46 PM »

Mixx,

I look forward to seeing your new map. I really enjoy flying the biplanes.

I was a little distracted recently playing with textures but I will resume work
on Kahlkhin Gol today.

You will really enjoy the new features I am adding.
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