Ha ... the focus thing sounds sooooo familiar.

In my case I often had good ideas and detail solutions in my head, but actually building them in the FMB turned out to be more work than my impatient side wanted to tolerate.

Well if you do need a hand just let me know. Same to you csThor.
It is definitely a lot easier dreaming up the missions than putting them together. Once you get going it's alright but I have just lost all momentum, even though I really think the Defence of the Reich would be a great campaign to fly.

@DD_Crash - thanks for the constant encouragement, mate. Glad you like playing them.

This is interesting FSM. I'm glad to have inspired Kid321 to get into the FMB, so go for it man. I also found csThor's suggestions very good, and am attempting to implement nearly all of them in my current Redstar/whitestar 47 project (over 18 mos now). However, I can't properly do the story in less than around 25+ misns. I also don't have much room to add pilot skins, as I've had to add so many post war skins from 7 separate air arms. To toot my own horn, it's got about a million screens etc in a post just a few from this one.
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/foru...533/m/8791000676/p/1

My only completed cmpn before this one is VVS Fighters pt1, released over 2 yrs ago. I got some pretty good reviews on my early war project, but I was so green at the time that I didn't use any custom skins. I don't have time to correct that. It was at m4t long ago.

I flew many cmpns before I got into making my own and flying online. that has taken most of my time, and I haven't flown many since I started this project. However, I am 70% done with Browning 50's excellent "the siege". I highly recommend it.

I agree with the high praise of my squad mate Zeus Cat's afore mentioned two cmpns, and found "Straight shot" amazingly original and well done. I'm currently stealing time to fly his current B-25 cmpn project, which is also bloody original.

Bogustogus, your 110 cmpn was great. I think it was one of last ones I flew before I got into online flying and back to my own projects. I learned much about the 110 which I used to good advantage in the DangerDogz coop cmpn last yr. Was very wel done and exciting.

For the record, I recommend my squadmate Dubbo's rather old project "Castaways" as the best one I ever flew, and the sequel "Bush Pigs" was almost as good.

Mariskal's "Corsarios Cartrachos" was right behind it, an incredibly historic and accurate representation of flying Honduran AF Corsairs against the Salvadorian AF in the 65 Soccer war. Amazingly well done, and had some tricks in it I still can't figure out. Totally original.



FSM, I for some reason haven't gotten to fly much of your work despite downloading ALL of them as soon as they are posted, though I flew some missns from a couple of them and they were incredibly immersive (I just can't remember which due to all the crapola I've endured since). I just haven't had much time since you started making those things, but they look amazing. I wish I could win the lottery and just spend time catching up. I think we FMB guys have a special appreciation for such projects since we realize the time and work involved, which really can't be described.

I think the mods are really gonna add some great possibilities, especially if we get some of the AC that are being worked on.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Enforcer572005,

thanks! I'm only 10 missions in. I'm planning to do about 25 or so.

Strait Shot! Brilliant! I've been spending alot more time lately with player made campaigns and I'm really enjoying it!

Enforcer, thanks very much indeed

The topic starter also wondered about choices in the heads of campaign makers.

My 110 campaign has a theme that spans the entire war; and judging by the reviews, the theme itself had an influence.
There were pilots who said that the mere fact of being on a different map every couple of missions kinda spoilt the immersion factor.

However, this would mean I can't do that theme for as long as it takes Oleg to make just 1 map for the whole world.

Another factor in my mind is that if I make a campaign, I want a subject or theme that hasn't been done a dozen times before. And judging by the long list of offline campaigns, the most difficult thing is choosing a theme that hasn't been done yet.

Very interesting to find out who shares this feeling....

Hey Enforcer,
That Campaign of your doesn't even need skins now as the new defaults are so good. That was one of the few campaigns I actually made it all the way through, probably one of the longest, too. There are a lot that I will complete though. If people stopped making campaigns tomorrow and SOW:BOB never came out, the content we have for this would keep me engaged ad learning about all sorts of obscure places and machines for years to come.

I should try that Corsair's one - I remember people liking it when it came out years ago. Haven't we all been at this a long time now?

Don't worry at all about not flying my stuff. I think we are builders more than players. I do still enjoy flying missions but I find I am trying to work out how they did things and where the enemy will be coming from.

@Kernow -if you're still reading, which of your campaigns do you suggest? I thought the Stuka one that includes training missions/information looked like a really good one. I'll try it one of these days.

I, personally, only have one campaign out for download, but I think it's the best effort I have given so far on mission building.

И-16: The Beginning of the End

Bogustogus - there's actually loads of areas that haven't been covered - late war Japanese Navy is one example - there aren't any N1K2 or J2M campaigns as far as I'm aware. Also late-war Russian fighter campaigns are thin on the ground, especially Yaks. There was a thread on GD about the lack of Yak-3 & Yak 9 campaigns quite recently.

I was going to cover these, but I'm entering semi-retirement now, so will have to let them be. One of the reasons I've done so many campaigns is I felt there were loads of planes/scenarios that just weren't going to be covered. My heart used to sink when someone announced a campaign and it was yet another Finnish Gladiators effort. Nothing against either Finns or Gladiators, but that story is a lot less original and obscure than a lot of mission builders seem to think it is.....

The problem of the Yaks is that they aren't the most popular rides (on a grand scale) and have the tiny problem of facing heavily armed/armored Luftwaffe aircraft while sporting a rather meagre armament and ammo load. I also think the aircraft family is a bit nervous flying-wise (kinda like "balancing a perfect ball on a needle") which in turn leads to people prefering other kites.

IMO there's still a lot of uncharted territory in this game, particularly on the Eastern Front. With the new Bessarabia map one could make several campaigns about the efforts of the Royal Romanian Air Force in 1941 (i.e. IAR 80, Bf 109 E-4, He 111 H-2) or the battles at Iasi in 1944 (JG 52's aces vs the VVS). The Murmansk map could be used for campaigns ranging from 1941 to 1944, using pretty much all the major combat aircraft of the Luftwaffe and the VVS (and, of course, the Lend&Lease aircraft). There hasn't been an in-depth Stalingrad campaign, or an in-depth Sevastopol campaign (although I must admit both maps leave a lot to be desired) ... Or how about flying elderly Bf 109 F-2 with JG 51 at Rzhev in summer 1942 (try shooting down single-seat Il-2s when you have Yaks and LaGGs trying to kill you)? Not to mention the spheres of 1946-style "What if" campaigns (i.e. Do-335s replacing the Fw 190 F-8 as main ride of the Schlachtgeschwader). The list could be pretty long.

BUT: Campaign projects require a certain "stamina" and "focus". There aren't many people who have produced campaigns which are interesting, challenging and yet down to the historical facts. I know I can't, because I'm too erratic in my interests and too lazy to workthrough all the problems such a campaign entails. Or maybe I expect too much detail and am put off by the workload required.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil_K:
Bogustogus - there's actually loads of areas that haven't been covered - late war Japanese Navy is one example - there aren't any N1K2 or J2M campaigns as far as I'm aware. Also late-war Russian fighter campaigns are thin on the ground, especially Yaks. There was a thread on GD about the lack of Yak-3 & Yak 9 campaigns quite recently.

I’m still amazed that the Yakovlev fighters get no respect in IL-2. The Rodney Dangerfield of aircraft! Yeah, it's not the ride for everyone, it can be quite challenging to fly and fight in. But, it's a fun challenge!

I would enjoy a campaign in the N1K2. Surprising that no one has touched that yet. One of the few Japanese planes that I like, the other being the Rufe, and that only has a couple of campaigns. I’ve seen a lot of Japanese Army campaigns, but it seems like the Navy ones aren’t as prevalent. I wouldn’t mind a IJN counterpart to “Cactus Diary” or “Cat ‘O Nine Tales”.

I'm quite keen having just read Norbert Hanning's (I think - good read though) autobiography to do a campaign covering JG52 (plus the Green hearts cos I LOVE their schemes). I have made a couple of practise missions using Rumanian aircraft, too, on the Bessarabia map - such great hills on it. Again, the problem is not a lack of ideas or information, it's just time and motivation.

I said I was finished making campaigns, but I had started an He-111 torpedo campaign ages ago that I wanted to finish. I asked Beebop if he was interested in helping me as I was fairly certain I wouldn't finish it on my own. Fortunately, he said yes.

I had finished about 6 of the 25 missions and so we set a time frame of about 5 months to finish it. Of course, that was before he started training for a new job so we shall see.

I think I am done doing them on my own; it's just too much work.

This is why I am determined to finish my 47 project in the next few weeks. I'm gonna do a few more misns and then comes alot of testing and arranging, readme stuff, etc.

I think cmpn creation is gonna go the way of modern warfare....coalitions seem to be the only way you can actually be successful in minimal time. OF course, we do get alot of help from skin guys on here. I couldn't have even come close to creating the atmosphere I've done so far without them. I'd like to make a couple of short movies to place in it to help explain things, but I don't have time to learn that stuff.

As good as this FMB is compared to most others, I hope that the near future has some real improvements concerning time saving options and access to features that we haven't had before. I know the mods are helping this greatly (like VP media's skin mod that allows skins on static planes), but there's still much that is just so great a pain in the keyster and time consuming.

Due to some economic conditions (take a guess), I should have even more time to finish this stuff. I just was more computer savy so I could help make some of the mods stuff that we still need, but........

Personally I find the most time-consuming aspect of mission-building is the testing. Even with all the stuff I've done, I never cease to be amazed at the creative ways the AI manage to not do what I want them to.

I thought I'd seen it all until I started doing missions with the Ju-88. It's honestly like herding cats trying to work with the AI for that plane.....

@Zeus - it's so hard to just give it up, eh? I can't keep away, even though I sometimes get sick of it. there's always some other battle I want to try and capture.

@Enforcer - shame to hear about the economic conditions affecting you. Maybe BG can just adopt you, or employ you as a woodcutter or serf on his estate.


Yeah, testing/error correction is a pain in the arse. And I always always miss things which I then have to correct and reupload.


I'm hoping SOW:BOB's FMB has some improvements, too.
What would it contain? Here's my wishlist.

1.Ability to select groups of units for positioning (ground)AND for setting waypoints, altitudes etc (ie 'formations' - said the man working on an 8th AF campaign). This alone would save lots of time.

2.Object list WITH FRIKKIN' NAMES!!! Ok, so I have actually almost memorised it but it would certainly help first-timers. Organising it into classes would also be a nifty thought.

3. When you set a certain speed on different aeroplanes or the same planes but with different loadouts they should actually travel at the same speed.

4. A UI with 'Knowledge in the world', rather than one that relies on 'Knowledge in the head'.
Why is the damage paintbrush use so unclear -which way do I move it, why do I have to hold down "F" to apply it? Label the slider, or use a tooltip or something.
The images of the new one, the map maker at least, look pretty visual and intuitive so that's encouraging.

@Phil_K - what's the problem?The different bombing routines they have dependent on altitude?

Heh heh...Phil K..."herding cats". What a great description. Try making Ar234 blitz jets do a low level attack....sheeesh. I can post a thread on how to use that blasted thing.

BG won't adopt me, and I can't live in Superman's fortress of solitude....too damn cold. And he has a basic philosophy I disagree with...."no fookin jets"...that's a quote. I think he misses WW1.


And FSM, you have given me an idea for a whole new thread.......stuff we need in the FMB.

FlatSpin,

I'm finding it easier to give up than ever. I really struggled to finish my last campaign. I let it sit for a year when it was already 50% done. At the end I only had a few hours of work to do on it and that still took me two months.

I wanted to finish in large part because Beebop did some great skins for me that shows the effects of the campaign on the aircraft. The player uses the same aircraft for all the missions and it progressively gets beat up as you go. I think we have 5 skins from start to finish. Anyway, I would have felt bad never publishing the campaign considering the great work he did.

I already had a theme and mission ideas for everything and about 25% of the missions completed for the He-111 campaign so I asked Beebop to help me finish it. I hope we can do it as it will be good. It will be a little different than my other stuff. Usually my stuff has a tragedy to begin with and the player has to redeem himself. This time the player starts off as a commander of a group of 30 men going through He-111 training. As the war progresses the player watches as his men are lost to horrific wounds, killed, suicides, bailed out over enemy territory to be taken as POWs or their aircraft simply disappear and they are never seen again. How many of the 30 will survive?

I like some of the new maps and mods and we will redo a few of the alredy completed missions to use them. We will try and use things like vp_media's ship skins and some desert objeects that have been made too. Maybe Beebop can do aircraft skins too. His free time has evaporated recently as he is training for a new job. I haven't even opened the FMB for two weeks now, so we shall see what happens.

I am loving the fortass europa campagne at the moment just the feeling of being part of the RAf in world war 2 is butifaull i used to dream of flying a spitfire when i was littel but as we all know thay are not in service anymore as thay are totaly obsleat now

I think ill include the N1K2 as a bearcat in the camp im working on.

There is a great looking post war navy skin for it availible....I think on M4T. I was going to use it myself, but decided to stick to corsairs.