Mission Builder

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=94 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="5" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="6" WIDTH="361" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#A6CAF0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#C0C0C0" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id29_rrfws.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Training"><U>Hornet Training</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="70"><div> <A HREF="id131_a.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Glossary"><U>Glossary</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id132_a_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="RadioCalls"><U>Radio Calls</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id170_onlinedictionary.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Dictionary"><U>Dictionary</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="64500c00egerdp.jpg"> <bR> <div> Mission Builder</div> <div> <B> <A NAME="mb"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>MISSION BUILDER</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="7111c5c0.jpg" border=0 width="540" height="348" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The mission builder is an extremely advanced feature, It requires a significant investment of time and effort to not only learn its functionality, but to actually create a solid and fun mission., Don't concern yourself if you never utilize the mission builder or joust use its basic functions, that wont detract from the game. However, it's a rewarding experience to design the "perfect" mission.</div> <bR> <div> If you want to start building missions, then this page is for you. The learning curve is steep, but with some practice and some experimentation, you too will be making missions that others will love to fly. Not every area is covered, but hopefully enough is said to get one started and enjoying this great Mission Builder.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE BASICS TO MISSION BUILDING</B></div> <div> <B>I. Story</B></div> <div> The first rule of thumb is to decide beforehand what type of mission you want to build. With the mission builder you are telling a story. Why are you going to risk life and limb or face impossible odds unless there is some purpose behind it. The best missions are missions that tell a good story. The mission itself might be completely boring or not well executed, but if you have a good story line going, you will want to play anyway (at least for the first time).</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Outline</B></div> <div> O.K., now that we have that first point down, you are already ahead of 75% of the amateur mission builders out there. Once you have the story down, your next step is to get some paper and write out an outline of what you want to happen. Go ahead and make this first draft your dream sheet! Put everything down on that paper that you can think of and then worry about the implementation later. If your story revolves around a defecting Russian scientist who has a briefcase full of secret documents regarding Russia's chemical weapons program, you want to write out exactly what you want to happen.</div> <bR> <div> Are you frustrated yet? Don't be. Creativity is hard sometimes, but with some exercise your brain will learn how to be creative. Mission building is not for the timid. To be a good mission builder means that you are a master of what every school teacher berated you over . . . DAYDREAMING. Seriously, if you have ever dreamed of "being there" then you have what it takes to make an exciting mission. Remember our defecting scientist? Well, how is he going to defect? Airplane? Helicopter? Does he have help? Is he going this alone? Write the basics down on paper and then fill in the specifics later. Don't worry at this point about what kind of aircraft, just outline the main points.</div> <bR> <div> <B>III. Implementation</B></div> <div> Once the main points are down in your story, then you are ready for the reality check. Your mission is the most fascinating and intricate one every created, but can you make it . . . ? The hard part is over. You have the story and the main points, now you have to exercise your diplomatic skills and work out a compromise. Sure you would love drop a B-61 tactical nuclear weapon on Zirinovski's head, but Jane's doesn't let you. Yes, you were looking forward to roasting weanies by the three trillion degree campfire, but now you have to work around your little problem. Don't give up! Just drop a MK 84 or some other little present on Uncle Zirinovski.</div> <bR> <div> In the "F/A-18 Flight Manual" on page 6.172-6.173 you will find steps that your friends at Jane's have given you to help you in mission planning.</div> <div> These are:</div> <div> 1. Place the player's aircraft.</div> <div> 2. Set up Initial Action.</div> <div> 3. Place a ground object.</div> <div> 6. Set Goal. Must Destroy.</div> <div> 7. Place Ground Defenses, SAM sites, Early Warning Radar.</div> <div> 8. Add GCI links as appropriate.</div> <div> 9. Make sure filters are all on.</div> <div> 10. Make groups.</div> <div> 11. Add enemy aircraft.</div> <div> 12. Set the initial action.</div> <div> 13. Plot players route into target.</div> <div> 14. Set action to Bomb.</div> <div> 15. Set Aircraft 1 to bomb target.</div> <div> 16. Set player's altitude.</div> <div> 17. Place the rest of the ground objects.</div> <div> 18. Make a briefing describing the mission's purpose.</div> <div> 19. Make a debrief base on goals.</div> <div> 20. Save mission.</div> <bR> <div> The key to good mission implementation is thinking logically. These steps outlined in the manual are good and a beginner might want to follow them strictly. Still, this is only a sample and will not fit the exact outline for every mission. You will need to fill in the blanks where necessary.</div> <bR> <div> <B>IV. Variables</B></div> <div> If you want to play your mission more than a couple of times, you need to add some variables. The beauty of Jane's mission builder is its ability to do random groups. When you click the group icon you have the ability to create groups and packages within each group. Take advantage of this feature! Imagine the defector scenario discussed earlier. The scientist jumps in a helicopter flown by a CIA undercover operative. They are making a mad dash out of Russia. With the groups feature you can have the computer pick what type of aircraft will respond in chase. Group one you can name "Russia CAP." Within this group you will add three packages "MIG 21," "MIG 23," and "MIG 29." You will also set the percentage to which these packages might appear. If you put the percentage high on MIG 21, say 80%, those MIG 21's will be your primary Russian response force.</div> <bR> <div> The variations here all depend on what you want to happen. If you lower that initial group's percentage, you can have the same basic mission but with more of a challenge. When you go to create your enemy aircraft, you will see the option to assign this flight to a group. Here again you have variables. Imagine that you set MIG 21 to two MIG 21's, but you set MIG 23 to six MIG 23's. Right away you have just changed the whole tone of the mission. Two MIG's are much nicer than six!</div> <bR> <div> Another feature with these packages within each group is that you have the ability to place the aircraft in different locations. You can put the MIG 21's forty miles out and to the North, and the MIG 23's 30 miles out and to the West. Can you see the genius here? The mission builder gives you the options necessary to add variables to a mission, it is up to you now to go and put them to good use.</div> <bR> <div> <B>V. Goals</B></div> <div> The key to your mission planning is assigning goals. A goal can be an aircraft or a ground target. When you select an object to be a goal, you have to make a decision. Will this object be a "must destroy" or a "must survive." These goals are essential. Does it matter if our defecting scientist makes it out of Russia alive? His getting out of Russia is important and this importance needs to be reflected by assigning his helicopter a "must survive" goal flag. Without specifying goals, you will not be able to tell the player if he has been successful in his mission. Oh, by the way, don't forget to give simple names to your goals. You will save yourself hours of headaches if you will take the time to add a brief description to your goals. This makes life much easier when it comes time to assign debrief actions at the end of your mission.</div> <bR> <div> <B>VI. Events</B></div> <div> Events are where the fun really comes in. Jane's says that events are the "heart" of the Mission Builder. There are three major events that the mission builder lets you work with: Time, Area, and Goal State.</div> <bR> <div> <B>1. Time</B></div> <div> The time event allows you to specify a certain "event" after a certain amount of time has elapsed. If you want something to happen at a certain time no matter what the player does, then this event is the one for you.</div> <bR> <div> <B>2. Area</B></div> <div> The area event creates an adjustable box (just click the mouse and pull to desired length) that will serve as an event trigger. Sometimes if you want to start the events when the person takes off, all you have to do is put an area event at the end 3/4 of the runway and that will start the whole mission. This is a nice feature since someone might get into the cockpit and take a few minutes setting up their aircraft. With the area event, a player's setup procedure will not penalize him.</div> <div> Area events can be tricky if a player is a wanderer. If you put an area event somewhere, be sure that the player will hit it. If a player decides to come in and bomb something from a different route, or does not fly according to the waypoints given, he might miss the area event box, and thus not cause the event to happen. Try to outsmart the player here, or specify the conditions in the briefing. If it is essential that the player fly into the area box on waypoint 2, make sure you mention that in the briefing.</div> <bR> <div> <B>3. Goal State</B></div> <div> This event allows the player to trigger actions based the goal state (destroy or survive equaling true or false). You can also make events happen based on percentages of damage. If you want a message to say "Good job, target destroyed" when a player bombs the goal target, you make this a goal state event.</div> <bR> <div> <B>VII. Debrief</B></div> <div> Don't forget this important feature! There will be a temptation to just sluff off at the end and not even deal with all the debrief variables, but crush that temptation! Debrief is where you reward the player and give him a sense of accomplishment. The debrief tools are powerful and offer the mission author a wide variety of options. You can be very specific in what you say. The best recommendation here is to load up a campaign mission in the Mission Builder and view the debrief section. Look at how Jane's did it and then use that as a model for what you do. Also take a look at some of the good missions on the Internet and see how others have done it.</div> <bR> <div> If you are a minimalist, make sure that you at least include a mission summary. There is nothing worse then performing a mission and just getting a "nice job" or a blank screen! Again, creativity is a plus here. Try not to just say "nice job" but work at being specific with comments. Think about the World's reaction, The United States' reaction, The Squadron Commander's reaction, the Flight's reaction ...etc. Another thing is don't let the player cheat and get away with it. You can make your debriefs contingent on survival and landing. Make sure they do the whole thing in order for them to see the best debrief.</div> <bR> <div> Consider the little things as well. If a player hits his target, but then is shot down, be sure to consider this in the debrief. Make one of the conditions of a positive debrief the aircrew's survival. If the player is KIA, then make a debrief for that condition. Sure the goal was important, but consider the families of the loved ones and their squadron buddies. Again, attention to detail is what separates the good missions from the bad. Don't cut corners on the end. A mission without a good debrief is a cake without the frosting.</div> <bR> <div> Conclusion:</div> <div> As you can now tell, this Mission Builder is powerful. The limiting factors are personal creativity, logic skills, attention to detail, and time. The best teacher will be experience. So, get in there and start doing it...! </div> <div> For learning more about Mission Builder please look at Jane's F/A-18 Flight manual.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="10" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="3" WIDTH="656" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#FFFFFF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="75"><div> <A HREF="id73_cpt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="cockpit"><U>Cockpit</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="82"><div> <A HREF="id80_bf.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basic Flight"><U>Basic Flight</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="80"><div> <A HREF="id88_bfm.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BMF"><U>BFM</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="78"><div> <A HREF="id94_form.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Formation"><U>Formation</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="75"><div> <A HREF="id105_mt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mission Tactics"><U>M-Tactics</U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id171_campaigns.htm" 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