Let me explain simply
As an online player I like to be able to do ground-started missions, especially with the possibility of returning to base, re-arming and then re-joining the fray.
However, in an online game with the host and at least one other player there is no time acceleration and you cannot skip to the next way-point like you can in single missions, so
you are flying in real time.
In some theatres the target placement and the front-lines mean that ground-started multiplayer missions are impossible because it takes too long to reach the target or the enemy planes. You do not want to be sitting at a computer for an hour or more doing effectively nothing.
Other theatres, including the default ETO one, have a target and front-line setup with several good possibilities for multiplayer ground-starts.
The "multiplayer" installations were set-up using these "multiplayer-friendly" theatres, and without those that are not suitable for multiplayer ground-started games.
You can use the "13th June UAW160 2020 full installation", which sets up the "UAW160 Multiplayer" folder,
for both online and offline play.
Apart from one case there is no difference between the exes that we us for online play and the ones for offline play.
The one case I refer to is the "multiplayer-only" version. If you use this one there is no selection of "instant mission", "single mission", "career", etc , because it launches straight into the multiplayer screen, to save the user from having to make those choices.
The theatres available in the "multiplayer" installations include some that have been edited to make them " multiplayer-friendly".
The classic case is "South Pacific Air War". It was the first theatre deliberately constructed for carrier battles
in single missions. The carriers were placed in historical positions. You could take off from one, use time acceleration, and engage the enemy.
However, the US and Japanese carriers were so far away from each other that multiplayer ground-starts were impossible in real time.
So I moved the positions of the carriers, and made a new front-line so that multiplayer ground-starts could be flown. Multiplayer theatres are not meant to be historical, but set up for some online fun
