Weapon Delivery Planner released
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Hei Falcas… THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Your WDP i’ts wonderfull and the bestsoftware about falcon that i’ve never seen before!!! -
Hi Falcas,
Also just want to say thank you for continuing to work on WDP. Its a wonderful fun program. I have two questions though:
(1) In the manual it says the TGT coordinates are entered automatically but I find this does not happen even when the TGT waypoint is STRIKE in the DTC. I have tried it will all sorts of mission types in TE and it does not load the coordinates automatically.
(2) Also I noticed that if you change a waypoint to specific coordinates in the DTC the coordinates do not always match exactly in WDP.
(3) Finally I noticed that if you manually change coordinates because they do not match this is not carried through to the POP UP PLANNER.
Thanks
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@DirtyHarry
i have some questions… about your questions
1 do you load the mission(.tac) in wdp when you try to get the coords?? i found out that you have to Recon your traget ingame to get exact coordinates and be 100% succesfull
2 it depends on something… when you change the coordiates in dtc do you save it? and if so… did you make shure that it was loaded in WDP??
3 i had a Multiplayer mission the other day… we where given a head’s up on the location of the target and what were the key points to strike so i did a recon on a mission i made myself(same target in order to get STPT/coordinates info)…
copied the coord and went to the WDP… althought i could not select the TE button i found my markers(VRP PUP OA1 OA2 waiting at the target…)
worked like a charm to me…!!!anyway… falcas i have a question too!
i get that WDP finds the coordinates through the mission TAC, is it possible to get target coords without having to reccon the target itself inside BMS??
i mean i hate to do alt-tab in order to get the coords right…
maybe a target sellection menu with the ability to also set the coordinates? -
Hi. Basically what I do is the following. Create the TE. Go ingame and update the coords for the target. Exit falcon. Go in WDP and load the TE tac file. Then if I look at the coords they are often slightly off?
Regarding point 2 - I do save the DTC - I even thought it might be a windows issue and made sure falcon and wdp were in admin mode. My WDP is installed in Program Files folder… could that be a problem? Should it be installed in a root directory like falcon?P.S. I am redownloading and reinstalling WDP tonight. Going to install it in the root directory and will try again. If it does not work again I will post a step by step of EXACTLY what I do so you can try to reproduce the result.
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Ok so I did some testing.
Created a TE strike mission with Sokami-ni radar station as target. I go in game and update target coords to the radar itself 38.48.479/127.06.045. I save to DTC alt tab out and load WDP. No the coords come up as 38.48.479/127.06.048. Again the coords are not entered in the data card unless I do so manually even after I set the strike waypoint (which is now blank) to strike in WDP.
Now here is the interesting bit… I go in game again and check the position of the target diamond on the HUD and it is bang on target. If I go to LIST and DEST in the DED I check the coords and they are exactly the way I set them in the DTC ending in 045… NOT 048 like reported by WDP. However I enter the WDP coordinates the TGT diamond moves so little my eye cant see the difference.
I am not sure what is causing this but I am pretty sure it occurs with everyone but no one has noticed it yet because the coordinates are so close together it would not make a difference to your DMPI.
This really creates problems with mission designing as I do not know what coords to use for the TGT steerpoints in briefings etc.
Please give me some feedback on this.
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WDP might modify your coords just a bit but it is still on target so no prob…(unless your target is smaller than a 19" monitor… ) you can use any of the two because they are too close…i would sugest falcon because they are the ones that need to be crosschecked…
i use W7 and i had to modify the permitions of WDP directory to save some stuff i still wonder why…!
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Condor,
Thanks for the info. I did realise that the coord modification that WDP did was very small on testing. Makes no difference. So its working for me too. BUT I did notice if I updated the coords in WDP and saved to DTC this will NOT modify the coords in game, I also think that its says in the manual you cannnot modify coords this way.
I will also add permissions like you said.
Please help me with another problem though. If I make a mission with a pop attack and modify the TE.ini file using WDP and want say a wingman to have a diffirent pop up profile. The way to do it would be to make one ini file for myself and then change the pop profile resave (with the same name but obviously temporarily change the file name so it does not overwrite the file I will use) and then send the modified file to my wingman. Is this correct?
Also if I wanted my wingman to target a different building in the target complex just before flying he would have to update the target coords just before we fly, correct? Also updating just before you fly would not change the HUD cues as they are fixed according to the target coords in VIP and IP coords in VRP, correct?
I hope I am explaining this properly.
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you would probably get results with what you say(create one ini for u and one for your wingman) but why getting into trouble and not just give a lesson to your wingman about WDP and how to use it?
the cues IIRC are related to the target stpt number…
i don’t remember if those values are saved in TE.ini… usualy every member of the flight calculates his popup so i can’t realy answer to that… -
Condor I just figured another problem out. If I am in WDP and update the target coords it is not updated in the jet. I then realised I have to SAVE the DTC in game to affect the changes in the WDP.
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Hi,
There is a reason for what DirtyHarry describes, but this is going deep into the code.
So the following is just for reference and understanding. If you are only a simple user, this is not important to know.
Falcon works with a flat X,Y,Z coordinate system. These are basically X,Y,Z in feet with its origin in the left lower corner of the theatre. To get the latitude and longitude Falcon uses an approximation calculation. This is the reason why the vertical lines get bent more and more if you go to the right upper corner. (this is also the reason why you can’t use RL coordinates in Falcon) WDP uses exactly the same calculations.
However, in the TAC /CAM file Falcon stores the coordinates in KMs. Also reverses the XY and to top it off Falcon does something special with these coordinates. When loading these KM STPTs, it first adds 0.5KM and then transfers them to feet. This was missing in WDP and is corrected in the next update.
It is easy to understand… if you know this
Gr Falcas
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Hi Falcas, thanks for explaining that. Just to clarify I did some in game testing and noticed NO PROBLEMS with targeting the differences are so small that it makes no difference at all.
Using offset angles for Pop-Up, HADB etc the pilot must check 3 things in the pit. (1) that VRP/VIP is actually on in the relevant DED page, (2) That the correct waypoint is selected in this instance IP for VIP and TGT for VRP, (3) the coordinates for the waypoint are correct.
If you do this every time I do not think you will have any problems.
Another way to handle multiple targets for a single flight is simply to use the leads target coordinates and once in the jet update your coordinates for your target once in the pit and doing the ramp start.
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In fact what I have started to do is have an VRP profile (a standard pop profile). I then fly with VRP disabled. Then if there is a target of oppertunity and I want to do a pop attack I create a steerpoint using mark. Select the steerpoint and enable VRPCRP. Fly to a good run in point and fly the pop attack. Takes a little longer and a bit more planning but allows you to do a computed pop attack on the fly.
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Falcas,
Im a BMS newbie and I’m really excited to try out your program. I’m having some issues though loading my campaign data into the WDP.
I’ve loaded my callsign.ini and I can load my campaign file but when I try to select my package, I can’t expand the US bar. Is there something really basic that I’m missing?Thanks a ton for all of your time and effort!
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Just expand the ROK, you find your flights there.
The US is part of the ROK in the campaigns.Gr Falcas
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Gah! You’re completely right. I must’ve written down the wrong package number when I was searching before.
Thanks for the speedy response.
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Falcas can you please confirm if the following is correct.
(1) Create TE. Adjust waypoints, loadouts, PPTs etc.
(2) Exit TE builder go into mission, pause, create lines which I cannot create in WDP and adjust target waypoints to exact coordinates if possible. Save DTC.
(3) Alt TAB out of Falcon, open WDP, open mission. Select relavent flight. Open TE file in WDP.
(4) Go to MAP and create additional lines if neccesary. Check that lines/PPTs created in TE show up. Check waypoint coordinates and replace ‘blanks’ to NAV and STRIKE as relavent.
(5) Go to DTC in WDP and make relevant changes. Save all to DTC.
(6) I then go to the TE folder and immediately make a copy which can be distributed.
(7) If I exit falcon and WDP and reload I should now be able to load up the TE and everything should be set up correctly with specific target coords etc right?I notice the following problems:
(1) No matter what I do the target coordinates do not show up automatically like stated in the manual.
(2) Same goes for air to ground weapons. They NEVER show up. I am not sure if it is with specific bomb types only. I tried with BDU50s and MK82AIRS. -
Falcas can you please confirm if the following is correct.
(1) Create TE. Adjust waypoints, loadouts, PPTs etc.
(2) Exit TE builder go into mission, pause, create lines which I cannot create in WDP and adjust target waypoints to exact coordinates if possible. Save DTC.
(3) Alt TAB out of Falcon, open WDP, open mission. Select relavent flight. Open TE file in WDP.
(4) Go to MAP and create additional lines if neccesary. Check that lines/PPTs created in TE show up. Check waypoint coordinates and replace ‘blanks’ to NAV and STRIKE as relavent.
(5) Go to DTC in WDP and make relevant changes. Save all to DTC.
(6) I then go to the TE folder and immediately make a copy which can be distributed.
(7) If I exit falcon and WDP and reload I should now be able to load up the TE and everything should be set up correctly with specific target coords etc right?Basically you can do what you write and will work. However you are making this more complecated than it is.
At (1), you don’t need to create the PPTs, can also be done automatically in WDP. Is a choice.
At (2), All lines can be created in WDP as well as in BMS.
You write that you adjust target waypoints to exact coordinates. Are you sure you are doing this correctly? For the problems you describe this part is very important.
Recon your target, in the recon screen set the correct STPT and hit assign. Then save the DTC. (to check, write down these coordinates)
At (4), ??? Where are you checking this??? why would you have “blanks”. There should be no need to replace anything. (This is an option where you go wrong)
at (6), read the article “Mission Planning with WDP” chapter “Managing your Datacard”.
at (7), as long if you have the correct TE.ini in the correct directory (depending on the theatre) you are all set.I notice the following problems:
(1) No matter what I do the target coordinates do not show up automatically like stated in the manual.
(2) Same goes for air to ground weapons. They NEVER show up. I am not sure if it is with specific bomb types only. I tried with BDU50s and MK82AIRS.(1), Where do you expect the coordinates to show up automatically?
(2), What weapons do you expect to show up where?Gr Falcas
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Basically you can do what you write and will work. However you are making this more complecated than it is.
At (1), you don’t need to create the PPTs, can also be done automatically in WDP. Is a choice.
At (2), All lines can be created in WDP as well as in BMS.
You write that you adjust target waypoints to exact coordinates. Are you sure you are doing this correctly? For the problems you describe this part is very important.
Recon your target, in the recon screen set the correct STPT and hit assign. Then save the DTC. (to check, write down these coordinates)
At (4), ??? Where are you checking this??? why would you have “blanks”. There should be no need to replace anything. (This is an option where you go wrong)
at (6), read the article “Mission Planning with WDP” chapter “Managing your Datacard”.
at (7), as long if you have the correct TE.ini in the correct directory (depending on the theatre) you are all set.(1), Where do you expect the coordinates to show up automatically?
(2), What weapons do you expect to show up where?Gr Falcas
Falcas, thanks for the tips.
Regarding the last two points.
For point number (1) aren’t the strike coords supposed to show up in the data card. I thought that if a steerpoint was designated ‘strike’ the coords would automatically show up in the data card. At this stage I just manually type them in.
About point number (2) when you have loaded weapons in the TE and you load the mission in WDP and select the flight. The weapons all show up in the data card except the A2G weapons. I have to type this in manually too. Its no biggy but I just want to make sure the wdp is working properly on my pc.
Finally about the ‘blanks’. If you go to the TE and adjust the waypoint of the target and IP using the recon screen and save. I then go to the WDP and if you go to DTC/steerpoints you will notice the coords are there but the steerpoint type is blank. I read in the manual you must then simply update it again in WDP so that the data card shows strike again. (See page 14 of the WDP manual v2.0.
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Hi,
Now that BMS has been released, Weapon Delivery Planner, (WDP in short) can also be released.
WDP is a planning tool for Falcon that will help the pilot. The program contains so much that is is beyond this post.
Check out this website for the download and articles about WDP.
http://www.weapondeliveryplanner.nlJust a couple of things that WDP will do for you.
- Manage your DTC. More than you can actually do in BMS itself.
- Create a datacard/lineup card with a few clicks.
- Manage all the files for large MP flights.
and much much more
Enjoy,
Falcas
Awesome! Another quality tool we can use.
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When loading WDP “ALOW MSL” in DTC -> SYSTEMS -> ICP always appears to be reset to 10000 feet and, unlike everything else on this page, does not display the value already present in callsign.ini
Currently one must therefore correct ALOW MSL every time.