FM.dat editing - mission types
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While checking ac mission type in TE, i found some ac do not have correct (or extra) mission types. Falcas kindly sent me a a list a while ago, so i do a one-by-one check and make the list. Some types with question marks need help…
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Missions
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misTypeCapability 41 100 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 100 100 0 100 100 100 100 0 0 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 0 0 100 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 10041 mission types:
1. none
2. DCA
3. BAR CAP
4. HAV CAP
5. TAR CAP
6. Rescort
7. Ambush CAP
8. Sweep
9. Alert / scramble / QRA
10. Intercept11. Escort
12. DEAD
13. SEAD
14. OCA Strike
15. Interdiction Strike
16. Strike
17. Deep strike
18. Stealth Strike
19. STRAT Strike
20. FAC (A)21. On Call CAS
22. Pre-Plan CAS
23. CAS
24. SAD - Search and Destroy
25. Interdiction (supply line)
26. BAI Battlefield area interdiction
27. AEW/ABCCC
28. ELINT
29. Air Refuel
30. Recce31. BDA
32. EWS/ESJ
33. Airmobile
34. AirLift
35. CSAR
36. ASW
37. TASMO
38. Patrol
39. Recce Patrol
40. Abort
41. Training -
While checking ac mission type in TE, i found some ac do not have correct (or extra) mission types. Falcas kindly sent me a a list a while ago, so i do a one-by-one check and make the list. Some types with question marks need help…
41 mission types:
1. none ?
2. DCA
3. BAR CAP
4. HAV CAP
5. TAR CAP
6. Rescort
7. Ambush CAP
8. Sweep
9. ?
10. Intercept11. Escort
12. DEAD
13. SEAD
14. OCA Strike
15. Deep Strike
16. Strike
17. deep strike ??
18. Stealth Strike
19. STRAT Strike
20. FAC (A)21. On Call CAS
22. Pre-Plan CAS
23. CAS
24. ?
25. AI ?
26. ?
27. AEW/ABCCC
28. ELINT
29. Air Refuel
30. Recce31. BDA
32. EWSESJ
33. Airmobile
34. AirLift
35. CSAR
36. ASW
37. TASMO
38. Patrol
39. Recce Patrol
40. ?
41. TrainingHi
9: Alert, Im not sure maybe ready planes for scramble or if the enemy attacks?
15 Actually is Interdiction strike (?)
24 : SAD Search And Destroy…
25 : Interdiction again but if i remember well against supply lines etc (?) the first is direct interdiction
26 : BAI Battlefield Area interdiction
Now for the None and the Abort i dont really know why are there but probably they will have a reason15. Deep Strike <—here is the direct interdiction i think
16. StrikeI hope i helped you … im trying to get into this my self
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Hi CCC!
i found some ac do not have correct (or extra) mission types.
What a/c and what mission type are “not correct”? …
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well, i mean " need some tweak", not “incorrect”.
examples:
- su-15, interceptor ac, it has A-G mission types and TASMO.
- mig-25, interceptor ac, it has escort , HAV/TARcap types which need longer range.
- F-15A has TASMO and AG mission types…tho some A model do carry bombs.
- F-15J, this japan eagle is dedicated to AA, has AG mission types.
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well, i mean " need some tweak", not “incorrect”.
examples:
- su-15, interceptor ac, it has A-G mission types and TASMO.
- mig-25, interceptor ac, it has escort , HAV/TARcap types which need longer range.
- F-15A has TASMO and AG mission types…tho some A model do carry bombs.
- F-15J, this japan eagle is dedicated to AA, has AG mission types.
In fact a part of these is the question of the freedom. In RL F-15A and C (except some IAF missions) never carried and used AG weapons but they are 100% capable to do that. The plane has a good reason AG modes…
But I guess everybody wish to see the F-15A/C in pure ASF role as they were used in RL. -
While checking ac mission type in TE, i found some ac do not have correct (or extra) mission types. Falcas kindly sent me a a list a while ago, so i do a one-by-one check and make the list. Some types with question marks need help…
41 mission types:…
Meh, no Manos…
1. NONE mission , so NONE … don’t do anything
9. ALERT is … that = SCRAMBLE - target known BUT! can divert to another assigned by awacs
10. INTERCEPT - is assigned to/against an (air) target - no divert
40. ABORT - is when flight/pkg abort , jettisoned weapons , heavy losses , can’t complete the mission … what’s left - rtbNone of the STRIKE missions are against ground forces, so, target is an objective.
So, against ground forces are 21, 22 , 23 ,24 ,25 … sad / cas / int / bai … and of course 12 = DEAD (they all have ground-attack type target waypoint. against battalions)
Cheers
– ALSO, don’t forget you’re counting from 0 , so 0 - 40 , not 1 - 41… 0 = NONE … 40 = TRAINING
so, note that when “playing” , as I’ve listed numbers by your “standard” 1-41 … and that’s wrong in the “Code” , shift everything by -1 -
thanks for the info.
as for 0-40 numbering, it just means there’re 41 slots… i still have to count a while to edit new fm.dat… well i think FM manager tool can do it easily.
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9. ALERT = QRA in the the ATO
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well, i mean " need some tweak", not “incorrect”.
examples:
- su-15, interceptor ac, it has A-G mission types and TASMO.
- mig-25, interceptor ac, it has escort , HAV/TARcap types which need longer range.
- F-15A has TASMO and AG mission types…tho some A model do carry bombs.
- F-15J, this japan eagle is dedicated to AA, has AG mission types.
Oky so it has to be set in .dat indeed.
IIRC, Total score (including the % set in .XML)
1% => no mission generated by ATO, but mission remains available in Add Flight menu
5% => mission generated ONLY if no other a/c type is available (marginal task capabilities)10% => normal behavior
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1% => no mission generated by ATO, but mission remains available in Add Flight menu
5% => mission generated ONLY if no other a/c type is available (marginal task capabilities)10% => normal behavior
thanks for the info. so F-15A can have AG mission type 5%, and F-15E have AA mission 5%.
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Be careful at what will be the ATO loadout possibilities …
Do not set them blindly … if you are considering such “tweak” … care about DEEEEPLY testing it before in campaign and ensure it works properly. Otherwise you might have a/c tasked on mission without any weapons.
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Thanks DeeJay…
What about same entries but for squadron/flight … in db ? … are those relevant only for sq/flt mission type assignment ?
… as in FM.dat , those would be only for the missions assigned to plane type…Now, isn’t that a bit “complicated” … then there are 3 levels of mission type assignment , … by the plane type , by flight , and by squadron …
Of course , only 2 would be effective at the time , . by plane type AND by flight OR squadron … (flight is used only when creating flights directly, without pkg, like in TE or editor , yes? )
So now we have to watch out that mission type for plane and squadron should be consistent … if that’s what we want… I mean, with this “double” filtering simple algorithm can be put like this =>
- Even if the plane is capable to go on that mission type , its squadron is NOT/ALLOWED to fly that type of missions … yes ?
2nd questions…
What about AUTO generated missions , QRA/SCRAMBLE/ABORT … should those be enabled (>5-10%) in FM.dat or ? - I mean , every interceptor/fighter should have a percentage in QRA … ABORT should be enabled (NOT 0 ? ) for EVERY plane …
What’s the behavior… - if you know from memory, as testing that is … meh, complicatedThanks
Cheers
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my test shows TE/Sq role scores control the mission types first.
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Correct, yes… default behavior since F4 days. - but db entries doesn’t cover those “special” auto generated missions - that’s how it should be … and that’s the problem as those are NOW configurable in FM.dat, so more room for ****up - IF that entry isn’t “fixed value” in the code , so value is ignored
— to many guessesIMHO BEST way is to adjust only those which are adjustable in db … so don’t touch any of the special until we hear from “God”
So what’s the word ? … are those should be left alone (0) in FM.dat , or they can be adjusted as any other adjustable by default … OR they should have 100% vs 0% , eg for ABORT
As DeeJay said, misconfiguring any of these can have a tremendous impact on behavior and “gameplay” (bugs )
-for now , I think I’ve seen both. planes on QRA/scramble (confirmed 100%) and ABORT (not sure)… but how they’re set in FM.dat , I haven’t even looked at that…
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Thanks DeeJay…
What about same entries but for squadron/flight … in db ? … are those relevant only for sq/flt mission type assignment ?
… as in FM.dat , those would be only for the missions assigned to plane type…Now, isn’t that a bit “complicated” … then there are 3 levels of mission type assignment , … by the plane type , by flight , and by squadron …
Of course , only 2 would be effective at the time , . by plane type AND by flight OR squadron … (flight is used only when creating flights directly, without pkg, like in TE or editor , yes? )
So now we have to watch out that mission type for plane and squadron should be consistent … if that’s what we want… I mean, with this “double” filtering simple algorithm can be put like this =>
- Even if the plane is capable to go on that mission type , its squadron is NOT/ALLOWED to fly that type of missions … yes ?
Consider the database role sores as general “roles” … then .dat as tasks.
The best person to answer is probably Biker.
Back in 2010-2011 prior to 1st 4.32 release, while I was working on ATO tuning and mission planning/package composition, I was looking for a way to separate DEAD role from SEAD role.
In the past, we had Sead Strike and Sead Escort which doesn’t really mean anything RL wise. So goal was to have SEAD and DEAD (since some a/c can have DEAD capabilities but no SEAD capabilities, we’ve aimed for a way to separate both roles. Problem is the former .bin database (now .xml) were managing mission tasks as groups regrouping tasks and we had no way to change the structure without breaking F4Browse (BMS Editor wasn’t mature enough at that time).So only solution was to set the the role scores “per tasks” instead of group of task somewhere else. It has been chosen to set them in .dat.
So we can set a Squadron/Vehicle “role” capable, and in the .dat, inside those role capable groups, setting “tasks” role scores. (SEAD in .bin is then separated in .dat as SEAD & DEAD). from that point we could set an a/c DEAD capable with no SEAD mission generated. (same applies for some other tasks such as Stealth Strikes, BARCAP vs HAVCAP … etc …
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2nd questions…
What about AUTO generated missions , QRA/SCRAMBLE/ABORT … should those be enabled (>5-10%) in FM.dat or ? - I mean , every interceptor/fighter should have a percentage in QRA … ABORT should be enabled (NOT 0 ? ) for EVERY plane …
What’s the behavior… - if you know from memory, as testing that is … meh, complicatedWhat matters is the Total score (.XML % + .DAT %) : I.e.: . XML SEAD (100% regrouping SEAD & DEAD) .DAT (SEAD 0% / DEAD 100%) = SEAD 0100/2=0% and DEAD 100100/2=100%
Can’t tell you about ABORT and TRAINING … maybe is no used at all (?) … Just known that INTERCEPTION is a task automatically converted by the code from QRA when needed.
QRA in ATO … when enemy detected within a given range, QRA are converted in INTERCEPTION. (I think it can be the same for a BARCAP and/or ESCORT while in flight)
IIRC, DEEP STRIKES are also converted from “regular” STRIKES in some conditions.…
Since now BMS Editor is fully functional and F4Brose definitively dead (no more need to keep compatibility) we could now imagine changing this and either suppress .DAT or .XML role scores and set everything in the same place. I would like to … but it means more work and would require re-setting all a/c. But it would male it more intuitive and user friendly.
Maybe some day. But since it is working fine ATM, we have other priorities … considering it is working as is., not sure Biker would like to chime into that again with the risk of breaking stuff or inducing bugs.
meh, complicated
Some other things are much more complex than this.
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About Flight/Squadron in .XML … Nothing to think about here => just set them identical.
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… BTW, the same way, I would also dream about the same way of separating “roles” from “tasks” for the PAK/Priorities slider in campaign … so we could set a SEAD requests at a different level then DEAD … or ESCORT/BARCAP/HAVCAP on some dedicated sliders rather than just one global DCA slider. It would allow much more control of the ATO generation that today.
Maybe someday (?) … but it is a risky area. Easy to break everything by touching those stuff.
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Hm….
I try to understand how can be modified role score for red side to make fly more CAS and SEAD even with old planes.
What should be changed in this file? Setting different sq. role in camp. and setting different role scores in DB did not had strong effect… -
THANK YOU …
Ok , hierarchy … XML > DAT (fine tune)
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Hm….
I try to understand how can be modified role score for red side to make fly more CAS and SEAD even with old planes.
What should be changed in this file? Setting different sq. role in camp. and setting different role scores in DB did not had strong effect…Just put 100% in those scores in db for squadron and flight (identical copy) for the RED planes you want … of course … your .PRI files should be adjusted in campaign, the sliders., to allow ATO generating more of that missions… planes are just “available tools”
-you could do the same for the FM.dat (same score values) , … as DeeJay EXPLAINED , more important were LIMITERS for DEAD vs SEAD … but huh… in FM.dat then your RED - CAS/SEAD planes shouldn’t have 0 (zero) for that missions
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Just put 100% in those scores in db for squadron and flight (identical copy) for the RED planes you want … of course … your .PRI files should be adjusted in campaign, the sliders., to allow ATO generating more of that missions… planes are just “available tools”
-you could do the same for the FM.dat (same score values) , … as DeeJay EXPLAINED , more important were LIMITERS for DEAD vs SEAD … but huh… in FM.dat then your RED - CAS/SEAD planes shouldn’t have 0 (zero) for that missions
But this is the problem. I do not see to happening this.
The sq. role scores means what planes are used by the ATO if generates SEAD. But if AI does not want generate any SEAD because of PAK priorities…