No it is not delaying FC3 - there are other features being worked on too that take time. The Resource Management implementation is an iterative process - it will take time to flesh out fully and will form part of something greater. What you see now in DCS:-World is just the very beginning of that implementation.

Nate

Word will get around once people realise it actually works as it was always supposed to.

Been waiting a long time for this damned thing to begin working at this level.

But, these really useful planning features are a bit hidden away and inaccessable within the mission editor, unless you know they exist, know what they do, and know where to look for them, and know how to string them together. Got MACROs ED? It's a Catch-22 for the uninitiated, in this raw state. It will takes awhile for people to realise what's in there and how it works. I would have put this into a more intuitive interface as we aren't programmers Nate, we're just wee planner-flyer noddies.

Plus a more understandable and self-explanatory treatment of what the options available are and what they attempt to provide and achieve. A lot of existing user knowledge is presumed by that interface. For example, if I want to achieve the bombing of goal-X, then provide at least a flow-chart on screen of the sorts of options I might need to use in the advanced waypoint settings, so these can be plugged in, and will execute rationally, and usefully, first time out. It's no good loading up with Mk82AIR then having the Eagle drop them from 20k ft on a windy day. If I want to do a Mk82AIR lay-down delivery at 200ft over a target with a single low-level high-speed pass, then I need something like a basic flow chart to reveal the advanced waypoint setting options I'll need, and also the flight profile approach, RE: distance, speed, altitude combo, need to get 'er done. An on-screen flowchart/checklist approach can tell you not just when to turn something on, but also when and where to turn it off again, which is the other vital side of this here coin.

And that sort of info needs to be assembled within the mission editor, where you're at, not in some PDF file stashed away in an unused folder. If it is in PDF form though, is it possible to incorporate a PDF reader tab inside the mission editor, so that it's always available with a single mouse click, like the encyclopedia is?

So Nate, if you please Sir, an attack flowchart and basic checklist for a low-level, mid-level, or high-level, air to ground attack waypoint planner and flight profile, for weapon delivery in the advanced waypoint editor screen.

I know, big job, short time, million things to get done, but this sim is finally starting to get somewhere, and the mission editor (and ED) need to capitalise on what this system can do, hiding your light under a bushel in a no-no.

Remember the old saying; "Justice not only needs to be done, needs to be SEEN to be done"? Same applies to this mission planner; what it does not only needs to be done, it needs to be SEEN to be done by the user and planner.

Make it so.

Interesting analysis there, zzzspace. All the more reason I'll be looking forward to flying the Russian fast movers at low altitude against ground targets- which will be all the more fun when they're controlled by real drivers.

Interesting idea zzzspace. I think most of the mission editor is about experimentation. It simply takes a lot of time playing around with the AI placement and advanced waypoint triggers to get a an idea of how it all works in the simulator environment. Its a time consuming, interesting, and almost a required process. I say that its required because you really gotta understand how the AI work to figure out how to take advantage of the nuances within the editor. Yes the GUI manual could use some more advanced instructions on how to accomplish different tasks. However there are plenty of avenues of learning the editor outside of the GUI manual. Asking a question in the "mission builders corner" often results direct and helpful answers. Another potential and probably better approach would be to update the wiki that ED has provided with more mission editor related content.

Yeah, all true.

Streamlining and speeding up that process of learning how the Ai will execute the available options is what I'm thinking of.

Say there were 'macro's' that automatically generated the necessary waypoints with the necessary delivery mode settings that you could move around the map, to where needed, but which contained the minimum settings needed to deliver a certain style of attack, with a certain class of weapon.

I'm putting it this way, simply because I want to fly in, without being seen or seen too early, execute the attack, and get back out again. That's what I want the sim for. And the nitty gritty of every little setting being "just so", for every aircraft, to get it to work, seems to me could use macro's, thus removing a lot of the drudge and also trial an error of setting up detailed planning.

Say I get a scenario challenge that says, you must go hit target X; Is it defended? If so, by what? Do I even know? Therefore, what's the best way to get to it, and the best weapon for the attack, using that flight approach.

All used in conjunction with an on screen stepwise graphical 'flowchart', to get the macro to create the correct types of waypoint and loadout I'll need, plus to set up any support sensor, like a predator or forward observer .

So now I select a macro that delivers LGBs, at mid-levels, or else a toss-bomb attack from low-level.

Hit ok and three waypoints are added, first an IP, a target 'aim' point, and an egress turning point etc., (and every member in the flight can have different ones of course).

So you just place the waypoints where needed, paying attention to the flowchart at the bottom of the screen for the flight delivery profile numbers needed for it to work, and any distance needed for approach to release, etc., checking it all off methodically, but quickly.

Then fly it.

That's why I want the flowchart and integrated checklist for that sort of delivery planing, right on the bottom of the screen as I set it up, and a small library of macros for each weapon delivered, from a range of flight profiles.

As for these 'macros' I really just mean 'templates', like what we build and use to set up a SAM battery, Refueler flights, and place cookie-cutter columns of vehicles on the map, with speed and little effort.

So why not have the same thing for the waypoint editor for various attack types?

Either down load them or make your own and share them.

So 'templates', for waypoint planning to select and use the various weapon types, and delivery mode options, and flight profiles, from various altitudes, from any aircraft.

From carpet bombing with the B-52, LGB-ing shelters, to firing an illumination flare over a formation of vehicles.

Making more sense?

You can copy and paste objects from one mission to another using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. So it would be easily possible to create a mission with several flight path templates with the appropriate advanced waypoint options. It might not be as straight forward as a built in menu, but it will work in the meantime.

Thanks for replying.

Ok, can I ask you one question on that "iterative process"?
So.. Is FC3 release going to be one of the checkpoints on the way to the final version of resource management system? or will the system be pretty much completed version of it with the FC3 release?

Its difficult to say. I think there are certain aspects of the sim that will never be quite finished or would at least be forced to evolve further with future developments of the sim. I would think the resource system would be one of those features that will have several stages where it is perfectly functional, but will be improved upon as the sim is updated.

Yeah that's pretty much the nail on the head there mrskortch. As to its final direction no info has been released.

Nate

I was wondering if we could finally achieve dynamics PvP campaign things with the FC3 release(resource system)
But it might be too early to ask.

Thanks for replying Mr.Skortch and Nate.