I'm getting hung up in the Mission Builder. I'm trying to select some ground forces, and there is a black bar at the bottom of the map telling me to click anywhere on the map to place said ground forces. I left click anywhere & no result. I right click anywhere & no result. Double clicking yields nothing.
Am I missing a step here?

All I can think of is that there are some areas where ground units cannot be placed due to terrain, so you have to find a better spot.

I can think of two problems, depending on what you are trying to place.

First, if you are trying to place a ground object, such a missile site, or almost any ground object, remember that relative to the size of the map they are very small. They may be the size of a pinhead, are maybe a white dot or smudge. So, zoom in before placing the object because they can be hard to locate if you do not.

Aircraft and moving moving vehicles are represented by large icons that remain the same size regardless of whether the map is zoomed in or not. To see what objects you have placed, click on the icons to the far right that have question marks over them. Doing so will list the icons.

Second, be aware of your filter setting that may be set not to include the item your are placing. If the filters have been set, you will not see it until you click on the correct filter, and there are five filters. I would expect that I covered your problem in the foregoing paragraph.

To get some good instruction on the mission builder, go here: http://tacops.virtualfightersquadrons.com/
There is no totally exhaustive instructions for the mission builder anywhere that I know of. But, reading the Jane's manual, the TSH section on new objects and creation of objects, the foregoing website and tidbits of information that you can pick up from this forum or the TSH forum, you can become quite proficient.

The mission builder is the heart and soul of the sim because it adds all of the interesting varieties of the experience of air combat. Dragon's missions are a blessing to the JF18 community becaus he produces them with great frequency by using, IMO, a method similar to mass production. He standardizes certain elements for a mission set so he can concentrate on introducing different elements and problems into each mission. That way, each mission is not created from scratch, at least as to certain components.

Shadow, Recluse and many others have produced wonderful missions and campaigns. You can download them from the VFA-41 website and from
the site I directed you to, above. TSH has made many missions and campaigns available that were authored by Dragon and many others. TSH has incorporated most, if not all, its missions into the JSGME system, and I am not sure how you convert them, if at all, with the .cmf extension to use them in TSH 3.06. Someone else can address that issue.

Good mission building is a tedious enterprise, but it can be very satisfying. It can take hours, literally days, to get the mission just right for your tastes. Once you get proficient at it, you can build variables into the mission so that each time you fly it you will face different challenges. A little knowledge of history, current events, geography and military technology will be a helpful tool, as well. Writing skills for briefing and de-briefing can make your mission more attractive, and, in the end, logical thinking when building the de-briefing for missions results is important.

Have at it.

Thanks Both, Sincerely.
I'd entertained the thought that the area was too small or the object was too large.
I was simply wanting to add more SAM sites to the training mission dubbed Using the AGM-88 HARM.
I needed to spice things up abit. Flying NOE, flying way up to lose my maneuverability, jinking and just using the Mk-20s while using the decoys as an aid...
So I thought I'd load up a max of HARMs on the wings, then examine the threats from 'every' angle.
I even tried to start a new mission build, and I ran into the very same thing.
I couldn't place SAM sites on the map. Now I discover that I can't place anything ground object on the HARM mission map-
This hurts in a huge way.
Thanks AGAIN-
Ed in 'Bama

Still no-joy.
I've checked to see if 'Read-Only' attributes were set on the training folder and they were.
I removed those attributes and flipped back into the mission editor.
I still can't place any ground objects.
But Wait-
I decided to look into the registry for anything unusual.
I found that the ncape plugin was directed to a folder called C:\F-18.
I changed that to the program folder's path on my C\drive...

C:\Jane's Combat Simulations\FA-18\ncape

Exited Janes....Restarted Janes....Tools...Mission Builder...New File...place ground object...
It worked.
I'll be go to hell.

Boy, you are having some weird experiences with the JF18 program. I think you have a Gremlin in there somewhere. I am glad to see that you figured it out.

Man, you better know it. Sometimes, I'll install a sim outside of the 'default' program files directory/folder....
I guess I loaded it one time in F-18, but I'll be damned if I can recall doing such.
Currently, my Jane's folder is under the C:\ ***
Sometimes I've just dumped the Jane's folder...sometimes I've used the un-install.
Sometimes, I'll clean the registry (manually), sometimes I won't.
So I'd think that re-installing Jane's from disk would rewrite the registry. But I guess not.
That one little pointer regarding the plugin directory was screwing up the editor.
All else seemed good to go. I'm still re-training myself.
With the flight model, the custom keys, the TSH pak, all the goodie weapon deployments.
Wild Weasel is always my fav thing to do. For me, Jane's is fairly easy to handle wild weasel w/one or two sam sites.
I need about 7 to get things moving 'upstairs'....
Not that I'm braggin'...in the old Falcon 4.08, my chances of surviving one sam launch was about 50-70%. After a full pot of coffee.


***That reminds me of watching TSH install. It didn't ask me where Jane's was. So I assumed it read the registry and added the mods defacto.
Then I noticed that there was a Jane's Combat Simulation under my program files...I knew where that came from.
So I dragged its contents into my Jane's folder and all seemed good.

Here- Have a little fun-
Altered States Mission. Place in your training folder.
No flags/triggers set yet..all coming in at once

or direct your browser below-
http://www.frontiernet.net/~dreagh/Janes/Altered_States.zip