Making the missions come alive on the ground and in the air is really great news Pat. Once again thanks for your efforts.

A quick question for anyone. I cannot seem to find an answer to this: are different experience levels represented in a single flight? i.e. a mix of ace to green? or is one flight composed of all aces, or all vets, etc...

They should be mixed. If they are not then I need to look into it.

Hey Pat, a question for you regarding two-seater missions. Every time I encountered a Central two-seater flight, it was a group of 3 aircraft. Is that because Central typically flew 3 aircraft together like that? Or is it some limitation of the game engine that you have to have (at least) 3? I was under the impression 2 seaters (i.e. artillery spotters, recon types) often flew as single aircraft, perhaps with escort nearby. As it stands now it is real butchery for my flight to attack a flight of observer aircraft. My wingmen typically are all killed and it is extremely hazardous for me as well!

Interested in your comments on this.

@ arjisme: I agree, three does seem to be a popular number, but on rare occasions I have seen flights of two. No single 2-seaters thus far, but have seen 'Lone Wolf' single scouts in enemy territory. Historically most recon missions had multiple 2-seaters for protection, especially the RFC. From what I've read, only later on once the Germans developed better cameras and high(er) altitude aircraft with oxygen for the crew did they turn to single aircraft recon missions to sneak in over the lines undetected. McCudden modified his SE5 and became proficient at sneaking up and attacking these recce machines, but he paid a terrible price with altitude sickness.

The AI 2-seaters are tough to bring down, but in historic reality they should be. The limitation for AI scouts attacking 2-seaters is that they use the wrong tactics, and in all WWI sims the AI does the same: a straight-6 approach... There is no easy answer to the dilemma. If you tone down the AI rear gunner, then 2-seaters are a cake walk for players. The AI needs to be coded to attack 2-seaters (and only them) from below, or to break off attack after short bursts, then re-establish attack, etc. Hopefully it can be done.

What I found works sometimes is to dive into the attack, and the 2-seater formation breaks up, then get your wingmates to follow you and attack single aircraft out of formation. Also, try to stay high and attract the AI rear gunner--but dodge like hell!!! Let your AI wing mates get the kill for a change.

@Pat: Thanks for reply re: flight mix. I do not have experience leading me to believe the mix isn't there.
It was a simple question because in the QMB flights all are one experience level. To get a realistic mix in QMB you have to make the 1st flight an ace, the 2nd flight 2 vets, and the 3rd green. Then they are all spread out rather than in a proper 'flight' formation.


Another question: On a recent balloon protection mission no buildings were rendered on either airfield or village immediately close by (like I mean underneath the balloon! That close...). Is this a limitation of the mission type, or just a bug in that particular mission generated? I can provide a copy of the offending mission if requested.

I got this unzipped in the correct folder, can create a new mission, accept the new mission, but it doesn't show up in the game. I'm lost here atm. Perhaps all the lack of sleep is catching up to me.

Folder is located in C: / Games /Rise of Flight / RoFCampaign

Tried starting RoF first and Generator first, couldn't seen anything in the Campaign section except for the 3 stock ones.

Thanks, any help appreciated.

Edit: Even though I have the correct planes checked that I own, it keeps assigning me planes which I don't. I've tried to create campaigns for all countries to no avail. My heads gonna 'splode! Found out my problem. I was starting on 1/1/16 and only own the stock RoF ICE planes atm, which are later model planes. Learned that after my brother was setting up his campaign.

Edit: It does list the missions under the mission folder, so at least I got that going for me, which is nice. Too bad I don't own any of those planes yet......yet.

Hi PatrickAWilson

Would it be possible to make the balloons winch reel them in back to the ground when the aircraft are spotted (say within 10 clicks). This would make it very realistic (in addition to AAA protection, balloons were winched back down when under attack)

In anticipation

And thank you for all your hard work.

Thats something for 777 way beyond Pats creative genius..needs coding...

Could you please tell me how I solve the take off missalignment bug in the new versions of RoF Campaign?
When my squadron planes are spawned facing the hangars,( It used to happen in some airfields in previous versions...I thought it was solved but afaik, it's still there!), I used to edit the take off starting point and could make them take off safely...I couldn't find that parameter though in the latest version...any ideas?

Hi 777 Geniuses

Would it be possible to make the balloons winch reel them in back to the ground when enemy aircraft are spotted (say within 10 clicks). This would make it very realistic (in addition to AAA protection, balloons were winched back down when under attack)

In anticipation

And thank you for all your hard work.

I just posted version 9.0. It should be available for download in a day or two. This will probably be the last major release before 777 releases their campaign. I don't want to do too much more before I see what the next 777 release offers in terms of the mission editor.

Version 9.0 is a major rework of the mission generation process. What started as individual flights and evolved to linked flights has now morphed into "flight packages". This involved major restructuring of the software, to such a degree that I actually abandoned two attempts before finally getting it right. A flight package is an integrated series of components. For example, an artillery spot will have thearty spot flight, then the target, then friendly artillery to fire on the target, and finally an escort. Multiple flight packages are involved in each mission, including the one that involves the player.

In truth, for those who do mostly scout missions, I'm not sure how much change you will notice. By version 8.0 I had integrated most of the air components by 8.0 and there is not too much new in that regard in 9.0 (escorted two seaters will now be seen). What 9.0 does is add a ground component. Even more important, it provides an architectrue for further expansion.

Given the scope of the changes I am sure that there will be bugs. Report them and I will fix them ASAP. There are also a ton of minor improvements to handle (airfield start positions, support for the DFW as a flyable, etc.)

With the increase in ground activity performance may start to become an issue. There are lots of performance related parameters to tweak, so that should help.

Happy flying.