UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE WW PUBLIC SERVER MISSIONS THAT ARE MODIFICATIONS OF STOCK IL2

[WWCephas]

MISSION TYPES:

SANDBOX:  The map has multiple objectives available, pick and choose what you want to destroy.  (These are being modified into random designated objective missions due to players overwhelming the server by engaging multiple objectives at the same time)

RANDOM DEISGNATED OBJECTIVES:  These missions issue a random Primary Objective upon initial player spawn. When that mission is completed a new one is generated.  Generally, 3 or 4 Primary Objectives need to be completed within the time allotment to win the mission.

Secondary Objectives listed on the mission map are optional to complete.

There may also be Bomber Objectives intended for players who prefer flying these types of missions.  Like Secondaries, they are optional and generally have a mission profile that reduces AI fighter exposure.  Player gunners are normally set to ACE to help defend the bomber.

BATTLES:  These are set piece battles of a semi-historic nature that follow a linear flow to the mission.  These generally have a singular objective required to complete the mission or possibly a series of linked objectives.  They can be either offensive or defensive missions.

 

DYNAMIC VARIABLE AI STRENGTH AND DIFFICULTY

This is an editor routine that tracks the number of live players (0-24) and provides an output for other objective modules so that they may vary the strength of enemy units, morale, points required to score an objective, or other parameters to increase/decrease mission difficulty as the player count changes.

The current difficulty level is displayed in the bottom RH corner of the screen and updates once a minute.  The Dynamic Engine periodically samples and updates the player level and can spawn or retire planes or change objective difficulty in real time even if they have been damaged already.

 

AI AIRCRAFT SPAWN & DE-SPAWNING

Every effort has been made to try and ensure planes do not spawn in anywhere near live players, if you get bounced by an enemy it most assuredly snuck up on you and did not spawn in (unless you are flying way out of the combat zone).

The same effort has been put into de-spawning enemy aircraft, but if you try to chase down a fleeing enemy for a long period of time you may find they de-spawn on you.  Therefore, if you are not gaining rapidly, it is best to let fleeing AI planes go.

 

FIGHTER AIRCRAFT LOGIC

Special editor links make AI fighters work more as team than standard IL2 mission construction intended.  This results in fighter teamwork behavior very different from what you may be used to, especially with the use of drag and bag tactics.

There is a good probability you may not notice the wingman that gets you, as they like to stay high and pounce.  Keep an eye out. 

 

CAP PATROLS

Many missions have random CAP Patrols in operation.  

CAP Patrol fighters may sometimes retreat, especially if their wingman has been killed instead of fighting to the bitter end.

CAP Patrols have an extreme amount of randomization built into their patrolling and follow no set patterns:

-Random time between new orders

-Multiple random waypoints

-Multiple random altitudes

-The number of planes in the flight varies

-Random skill levels (the lead pilot is always the highest skill level)

-Advanced wingman tactics

-Random and rotating plane types

Due to this randomization, you may have clear skies for an extended period or (especially at higher difficulty levels) you may be overwhelmed by multiple enemies where retreat may be the best option.  Stay on your toes and check your six often.

 

TRAINS (NEW)

Train carriages can now be detected as destroyed in game, this is a special feature on our server that is being retro-fitted to older missions over time.  The mission brief or map will tell you if this is active for the mission.  When this is working you do not need to kill the engine only to complete an objective involving the destruction of a train as the objective.  Also, when active, the train will come to a gradual stop when any carriage has been destroyed and derailed every time.  The train will remain stationary, and you can continue to attack it and score mission points, it will not de-spawn unless the engine itself is destroyed at which point it will de-spawn the entire train about 8-9 minutes later.  All cars will count towards the mission objective as well.  It is best to attack trailing cars first as if the coal tender is destroyed and also causing non lethal damage to the engine it can trigger the mach speed train bug.  This does not happen if the train's speed is set to ZERO by a derailing before the tender is destroyed.

 

ATTACK AIRCRAFT

Like the CAP patrols many missions have randomly generated attack aircraft generators.  These are generally more custom made for each map's scenario with built in randomness.  They may also be given an escort patrol.

In many cases the modified AI attack routines will trigger a retreat mechanism if the aircraft is heavily damaged, pilot wounded, or just BINGO.  In such cases this will result in them attempting to break and run depending on their skill level. 

Difficulty level may also cause an increase in gunner accuracy, so at level 6 approaching a tail gunner can be very dangerous.  Using realistic oblique slashing techniques against bomber formations instead of direct 6 o'clock approaches is recommended.

 

ACTIVE AI AIRFIELDS

Airfields marked as "ACTIVE" on the mission map will defend their airspace and launch interception patrols when their zone of influence is violated.

The Dynamic Difficulty Engine controls the strength of the response of the enemy airfield and how many planes it will launch in its defense. 

The airfield MAY also attempt to call for reinforcement from nearby CAP patrols to bolster its defense unless it is DESTROYED, so keep an eye open for that.

When an airfield has lost enough aircraft (based the current difficulty level), that field's status will change to "SUPPRESSED" and it can no longer launch its own defensive fighters, although it may still receive CAP protection.

When an airfield has lost enough infrastructure; planes, fuel tanks, hangars, vehicles, etc.** its status becomes "DESTROYED" all AI activity there ceases.

 

AIRFIELDS THAT RESUPPLY

If an enemy airfield has resupply it will attempt to replenish itself as it takes damage.  Supplies may come in from air or ground roads and if they arrive safely at the base damaged portions are revitalized.

Generally, an airbase will have 3 different resupply needs: Airplanes, AAA, and Infrastructure.  The current status of each will be listed on the mission map.

If all three resupply needs are brought down to the level listed in the mission brief the base is destroyed.

In most other respects it follows the same rules as a standard ACTIVE AI field, it can just repair itself making it harder to defeat.

 

CAPTURING AIRFIELDS (NEW)

Newer missions may call for an airfield to be captured, in this case you only want to attack AAA and actively flying planes,

When a base has lost enough AAA and fighters it will give a SURRENDER message.  All enemy AI based from that base will change to your team and retreat to despawn.  There may be CAP patrols that continue to engage though.  AAA will flip sides as well.

You can attack base infrastructure like parked planes to try and push the SURRENDER but if you destroy too many of the base assets you are trying to capture the base will become DESTROYED and no one can use it.

Once captured a friendly SPAWN point will appear of that plane type used at that base.

The enemy may at some random point try to launch a COUNTERATTACK to reclaim the base, so do not take it for granted they will leave you alone.  

Base control can shift back and forth multiple times unless the base is DESTROYED by collateral damage.

 

AAA

Stock IL2 does not model bomb damage well against static AAA guns in the open.  In real life a 250kg bomb will devastate a wide area, but in the stock game it only kills at a short range.

A modification has been made to increase the vulnerability of static AAA batteries to bomb blasts (this does not include AAA vehicles).  On this server it is better to use large bombs on AAA batteries as it is possible to destroy the whole battery in one shot depending on placement and bomb size.  (In this case BIGGER IS BETTER!)

When open air AAA platforms are knocked out by cannon or MG there is a random chance that it may recrew over time.  If an AAA platform is knocked out by bombs it will be permanently dead.

 

'SPLODY PLANES AND OBJECTS:

Statically parked aircraft and fuel dumps will randomly explode with enhanced blast and pyrotechnic effects.  They also may cook off after a random delay period.  This is to make their destruction more realistic instead of the standard small puff of smoke and thin fire column.

Bombers and attack aircraft MAY have an increased explosive effect to simulate secondary detonation of a bombload that can be quite large, so be careful flying over burning airplanes. 

In most cases tanks are tweaked to explode (standard game effect) upon destruction instead of just remaining inert as they often do.  This is done for gameplay reasons so pilots can tell they are not just shooting at a lifeless hulk that is already dead.

 

MISSION SCOING AND BOMB SIZES

Many target objectives, especially buildings are lumped into a single object of multiple parts in the mission builder.  If you drop a bomb on a building complex object and kill 5 pieces of it at once it will only score one kill point towards an objective because all the kill signals arrive simultaneously and there is no way to filter them out.

This can result in generating lower score totals towards a Mission Objective, and the possibility of failure to score an objective before all items are destroyed so it can no longer be finished.

I try to factor in leeway for this and also in some cases use FAILSAFES to ensure completion, but it is best to use the following advice:  

Use SMALL BOMBS (50-70 kg) on buildings, oil tanks, and trains.

LARGE BOMBS should be used on bridges, ships bigger than a barge or patrol boat, medium+ tanks, fortified shore batteries, and static AAA batteries (see above on AAA vulnerability)

 

SERVER RULES:

The use of voice comms is HIGHLY encouraged, we recommend using the Discord channel we provide for our servers.  https://tinyurl.com/ww92invite 

Friendly chatter is encouraged but please practice comms discipline while pilots are actively engaged. 

Please follow the mission brief limitation on loadouts if given, especially when the server has other players flying as on many missions, especially bomber intercepts, it can throw off the game balance due to the increased lethality in a theater of war where they were not used historically.

Flying with Navigation Lights on is acceptable as the A.I. enjoys perfect 360° 10Km vision and IFF.  Please always get target identification before shooting in all cases as not every pilot uses navigation lights.

AVOID FRIENDLY FIRE:  Be sure to identify an enemy before firing, players do not always use nav. lights.  If a mistake is made, please text an apology. If you purposely kill another player, you will be banned.

Please do not shoot "over the shoulder" of a pilot who is actively trailing an enemy within effective gun range.  (Unless you are working together on comms with mutual consent)

Please fly the missions like you were an actual pilot of the time period and do not kamikaze objectives/AI opponents or bail instead of returning to base to re-plane faster.

Try to use the active runway and take off and land in the same direction you started (it may be called out on the mission map for the base).  Generally, you will spawn at a 30° degree angle left or right of the main runway unless it is a grass field.

PLEASE READ THE MISSION BRIEFS, some of it is repetitive but most have important specific mission info there.

 

 

Edited October 20 by WWCephas

[WWCraven]

It just keeps on getting better and better, love what you're doing Cephas

[WWCraven]

@WWCephas pinned per your request.

[WWCephas]

I am adding a new feature to upcoming and some of the more popular older maps as I get to it.

This is a friendly fire detection routine that works really well.  A previous version of this I made I had to scrap due to errors and oddities in configuring it but I had a brainstorm and figured out a simpler method that works really well.  (Still not "Simple" though)

I have attached a video walking you through how it works instead of trying to explain it.

S!

 

I would also like to add this reminder that due to mission builder mission scoring limitations you should always follow this advice for bombing targets:

Use SMALL BOMBS (50-70 kg) on buildings, oil tanks, and trains.

Use LARGE BOMBS (200kg+) on medium and larger ships, medium and heavy tanks, shore batteries, and multiple AAA batteries (to get the bomb blast bonus on AAA emplacements, but not guntrucks)

Edited May 31, 2023 by WWCephas

[WWBiker]

super cool dude, great time for bombers to drop there loads while fighters engage .

[WWCephas]

More changes being implemented on new maps and over time on older maps:

AIRFIELDS:

The number of 'splody trucks at airfields is being greatly reduced, they previously were used liberally to allow strafing to destroy buildings.  

Ammo and fuel dumps no longer will go explode from a nearby 'splody truck, but the actual model will need to be attacked which in turn gives a random chance of a secondary big explosion.

With the advent of FF detection airfields will be equipped with short range 40mm and smaller AA guns for self defense.  Large caliber AAA flak batteries will be located strategically elsewhere and likely be larger batteries of 6+ guns with some short range defensive guns added.

[WWCephas]

I have updated the core Dynamic Difficulty routine to a new revision.  Overall, it is adding more flexibility and while it has increased complexity in one section it eliminated an entire other section making it more efficient overall.

Now instead of being locked into difficulty levels being locked into multiple of 2 or 3 which each had pros and cons now it can be non-linear and can even modified per mission if the M.E. desires it.  

Originally it was set to level up for every 3 players at: 4,7,10,13, & 16 active fighters.  (Heavy fighters always count for .5 players, bombers are ignored)

With input from Biker to make the game level up quicker at low levels I changed it to multiples of 2 (2,4,6,8,10) but this makes the game get to very high difficulty fast when we have a big turnout.

Now the default standard will be a step increase of one for the required number of players to count for each level, so levels will increase at: 2,4,7,11, & 16.    

(Remember it only counts players actively in the cockpit at the time of the polling)

In conjunction with this I have changed the polling mechanism to update every minute. 

It was originally every 15 minutes then later every 10 minutes, but with the installation of an input timeout for the CAP patrols difficulty level input to once every 10 minutes now every other difficulty level input in the game can update more frequently.

(CAP patrols need to time to retire planes out of the player area when the count goes down, if an input comes back and raises it up before the plane is retired it could generate extra planes)

This also allows me to let the current level info in the lower RH corner of the screen to update once a minute instead of every 5 seconds so it will not flash as much and be less distracting.  

 

I have also started upgrading Convoy targets to a new standard with the extra power our server allows for resources.  Convoys previously have been static on the number of kills required to defeat it at any difficulty level.

Now they will generally be larger in number of vehicles and Dynamic in scoring, the percent remaining iconology will remain as it was but now denotes the percentage of total vehicles killed that were spawned and not necessarily objective progress. (especially at low levels)

 

I have started upgrading some of the older missions to the new standard and Biker has shown interest in this new configuration as well for WWI when I mentioned it to him.

Also new or reworked missions that have been upgraded to take advantage of the power of our new server will now have their file name appended with an "X" before the file name.  (The dynamic routine upgrade does not affect server resource usage)

( @WWBiker Let me know when you can get together with me over Discord screen share to go over the changes)

[WWGeezer]

Wow, there is a lot under the hood there!

[WWSandMan]

Interesting changes, looking forward to flying with them in place. 

[WWCephas]

The primary thread has been updated with some of the new features on our Dedicated Server missions.

Of note:

Airfields that have RESUPPLY

Airfields that can be CAPTURED

TRAINS: How carriages can now count for mission objectives (if the mission states that) and also a new function to eliminate runaway locomotives.

[WWGeezer]

You have definitely turned this into fine art…..to bad the developers don’t see this as an opportunity to add features to the mission builder