Official Free Historical Campaigns "Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey"

[Kubert]

I'm gonna do a rant here, or feedback, or whatever.

@Juri_JS You should do something with trigger radius of waypoints in your campaigns. I just finished mission 3 of A6 campaign and noticed already two problems. 

In mission 1, my wingman followed me even when enemies already started their attack on us. Wingman did nothing until I give him an order to "Patrol for air targets".
In mission 2, my pilot gave automatic order "attack air targets" on waypoint 2 and my wingmen started attacking as soon as enemies were in range. No handholding required this time.
In mission 3, my wingmen followed me, ignoring enemies, as in mission 1 even when another four FWs of neraby flight attacked enemies on sight in the same location. 

And I know what is the cause of this issue. Waypoints must have too little radius and the game don't count them as passed when they are not passed directly. In mission 1 and 3 I missed waypoint 2 by a little, while in mission 2 I flown directly through waypoint 2. And when I mean missed by a little, I mean it. Like that...in mission 3.

I am 100% sure this is why automatic order "Attack air targets" never came and my wingmen kept following me. I am playing without any markers on the map and think my navigation is better than average...waypoint 4 on the picture was passed directly despite being over nothing but trees. But, to pass waypoint 2 directly, while climbing to 3500 meter in FW, with it's bad forward visibility is too much to ask. Despite this, I think I was pretty close, yet no order from my pilot to wingmen. (don't mind my path behind waypoint 2, I flown 196° instead 169°, but I did correction and hit waypoint 3 just fine  )

To this day I played 11 campaigns, most of them more than once and I experienced the same issue only twice in another one campiagn, Kerch-Eltigen Operation. Which is yours as well. In BlackSix's campaigns I never missed a waypoint and often I was more far then this time. Also in his campaigns we always get a message "Waypoint passed" to know the waypoint was triggered, which would be also good to have...just to be sure. 

I wouldn't mind if at least commanders orders worked as expected, but in this third mission I spent half of a time trying to force my wingmen to attack enemies. It was pretty frustrating experience. My wingmen tried to form up behind me when three Yaks were on my tail and after the order "Patrol for air targets" they turned to different direction instead attacking Yaks directly under their noses. This happened three times during this one mission. I never came up with more insults to the adress of my AI wingmen than today. I put down 3 Yaks, two of them when they disengaged. It felt like exploiting an AI. My wingmen destroyed nothing and two of them fell. They deserved that for their insufficient performance. Good thing that second flight was in the area, otherwise we would be wiped out. 

I will continue with the campaign, try my best to trigger everything, but there should be much bigger room for navigational error.

One photo of my guys watching me being hunted by flight of Yaks. They did nothing. After my order to attack, they turned right, one of them got shot down and after few circles, they tried to reform behind me again. Doubt this would have happend if automatic order from my pilot came before, as in mission 2.

[Juri_JS]

I will check and maybe increase waypoint range. 

[Kubert]

I don't know how big is their range now, but my suggestion is something like this, or even bigger:
 

Spoiler

In my opinion, waypoints should be just general direction where to go...to guide player to specific location, but hard to miss.  It will make gameplay less restrictive...with smaller opportunity to mess up scripts.

Edited May 2 by Kubert

[Juri_JS]

The problem is, the larger the waypoint radius, the larger the deviation from the flight route for people that use autopilot. Which means the player might not notice some events happening along the route or a trigger might not get activated. I will probably use 2000 m radius for normal waypoints and under some circumstances a larger radius, in particular for the last waypoint before the mission target.

Edited May 2 by Juri_JS

[BlackSix]

I set 3 km for waypoints and 1.5 km for the pre-landing and post-takeoff waypoints. The player's arrival check at the critical zone is duplicated two or three times using other tools; even if the player misses any waypoint, the mission will still work correctly. Accordingly, you can fly to the target and back to the base any way you want, ignoring waypoints, and everything will work. This reduces potential frustration and allows you to avoid replaying missions, completing them the first time, even if you make navigational errors.

Sorry for interrupting))

[Kubert]

49 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

The problem is, the larger the waypoint radius, the larger the deviation from the flight route for people that use autopilot.

Doesn't AI (autopilot) turn always in the precise point where waypoint is, no matter how wide is it's radius? Because, when I play as a wingman, in both career and campaigns, AI leader always flies through center of the waypoint, even when I know waypoint's range is very wide. In career mode, in case player is a squad leader, can be range of waypoint checked when moving it close to the other waypoint before a mission, that's how I found out. Correct me if I am wrong of course, it is just my observation from user perspective. 

1 hour ago, BlackSix said:

Sorry for interrupting))

Sorry?  You are one of the most competent person for this problematic. Every bit of information can be useful.

[Juri_JS]

6 minutes ago, Kubert said:

Doesn't AI (autopilot) turn always in the precise point where waypoint is, no matter how wide is it's radius? Because, when I play as a wingman, in both career and campaigns, AI leader always flies through center of the waypoint, even when I know waypoint's range is very wide. In career mode, in case player is a squad leader, can be range of waypoint checked when moving it close to the other waypoint before a mission, that's how I found out. Correct me if I am wrong of course, it is just my observation from user perspective. 

No, once distance of radius is reached, the next waypoint gets activated.  

[BlackSix]

2 hours ago, Juri_JS said:

The problem is, the larger the waypoint radius, the larger the deviation from the flight route for people that use autopilot. Which means the player might not notice some events happening along the route or a trigger might not get activated.

In any case, it's impossible to predict every player's actions and fill the entire map with interesting events. Therefore, it makes sense to rely solely on the autopilot route. A disciplined player will fly roughly the same way, receive all the mission "bonuses," and see all the most interesting things. An undisciplined player, however, is of no interest to us; he's deliberately ruining the game for himself.

[AndreiTomescu]

46 minutes ago, BlackSix said:

An undisciplined player, however, is of no interest to us; he's deliberately ruining the game for himself.

this is one of the coolest things i've read here on the forum.

Please replace "player" with "pilot", and "game" with "mission", and this EXACTLY what Cmd Popisteanu told his new pilots when they reported for duty at the 7th gr. before the start of operation Munchen, as told in the Lt Theodor Greceanu's diary. Undisciplined pilots were relegated to other missions and forbid to fly in fighter formations.

Still, in the recent played Ram squadron and Wind of Fury campaigns, i found out that straying aside mission path, (after completing assignment, during RTB phase, Commander BlackSix, sir! 🫡) provided with plenty events and eventual targets. Even some sudden enemy fighters that spawned close by as i was chasing some fleeing enemies to the map border. This "filling" of the map with "events" i find very, very immersive, as it really give me the sensation of a live world around. Also tempts me to do so..... anyhow, i really enjoy it.  

Edited May 2 by AndreiTomescu

[Kubert]

25 minutes ago, BlackSix said:

A disciplined player will fly roughly the same way, receive all the mission "bonuses," and see all the most interesting things.

Exactly this. I consider myself disciplined. Always reading briefings for extra info about mission, keeping correct altitude and course, following leader when I am a wingman, focusing on objective instead hunting kills all around flight path etc. Although, when waypoint's range is small too much, then is not only discipline required, but perfection. In the next mission, number 5, I am supposed to navigate in 4000 meters above forests with no unique landmark around. My bigger worry is how I do so, and not what I meet on the skies as enemy opposition. I really don't want switch on autopilot, I want to be a pilot entire time. With so small, almost nonexistent, room for error is hard to be immersed. When this unforgiving game mechanic must be checked for mission to work properly.

@BlackSix Your campaigns work as intended all the time, it should be possible to replicate it into this one too...somehow.

[Jaegermeister]

Just to put my 2 cents in, and not telling anyone what to do, I have learned the hard way to set waypoint radius to at least 1500 meters on a normal mission flight path with faster planes. With slower biplanes that is not as important. I have also started including a "waypoint passed" message just to confirm for the player. I have found that some players who never turn icons on do not follow the exact path laid out on the GUI map and don't trigger the waypoints so relying on them as triggers can be an issue.

When the player is the flight leader, It is best to use large check zones, or other triggers that cannot be easily missed to activate mission critical events like attack commands or spawning enemy. This way, the flight path and waypoints become just a general guideline and do not effect the mission progress. If the only thing triggered by the waypoints is the next waypoint, that problem is solved.

[Juri_JS]

I think there is a relatively easy solution to the issues mentioned by Kubert by just adding an additional checkzone trigger to activate the attack command of the player's flight when close to the mission target. Should be easy to do.

[BlackSix]

Yes, a simple check zone that waits for the player's flight from the beginning of the mission or from the moment of takeoff, when triggered, deactivates all previous waypoints and after a second gives the attack command - that's the simplest solution.

[Jaegermeister]

6 hours ago, BlackSix said:

Yes, a simple check zone that waits for the player's flight from the beginning of the mission or from the moment of takeoff, when triggered, deactivates all previous waypoints and after a second gives the attack command - that's the simplest solution.

Yeah, and that can be like 20,000 meters radius. Sometimes it seems like that's what's needed, LOL. That's what I use to keep @LukeFF from missing triggers. 

 

Edited May 3 by Jaegermeister

[Kubert]

Finished A6 campaign today. Pretty successful I would say. Not clean though, I had one death. In head-on with Cobra...let's say, we had the same patience and an escape route. Didn't work well for both of us.  Anyway, finall tally is 11xP-39, 11xIL-2, 6xYak, 1xA-20 and 1xPe-2. 

 

Campaign greeted me with a bullet to the engine from a rear gunner in the first mission. Really fun, to fly back to the base with oily windows in completely new environment for me.  Nevermind...

Spoiler

 

Another incident was in mission 3, the one of those where my wingmen were inactive, unfortunately. One of Yaks stole my elevator a punctured fuel tank.

Spoiler

 

But what really caught me off guard was in mission 6...

Spoiler

...when some of the attacking IL-2s were dogfighting us. I really didn't expect that and underestimate them. I put down one in head-on...in retrospect, not the wisest idea to go head-on against IL-2  ...but as I was turning behind his friends, another sprayed my wing and completely removed my maneuvering capabilities. Even in this sorry state, I shot down another 4 IL-2s. Then Yaks came from above and after that, I have not idea how I survived.  Everything was broken on my plane except pilot. Right wing barely held in place, fuselage had at least three cannon hits, oil was on windshield, wheel covers disappeared somewhere, fuel level was dropping fast...well, at least until I had functional fuel gauge. Even my reflect sight was shot off and bullet probably hit armored glass from the inside...that's the only explanation how it could be broken.  I was still under fire during landing approach, hit the runway at 270kph and only when parked planes were closing fast I realised my rudder is not responding. Breaks were probably last functional thing in this poor crate and saved the day. I did taxi off runway and hide in a hangar as the last coward. Well, mission accomplished...just another boring day in the office I guess. 

Overall well balanced and entertaining campaign. Though, I encountered my flight inactivity in 5 missions, 100% sure the reason was the same as we talked before. Easy to miss waypoints caused by their small range. Once waypoint range will be increased and/or some backup for attack command added, the campaign will be perfect. If the campaing will be updated, I certainly re-fly it again. I died once, so there is an unfinished business.  

Edited May 9 by Kubert

[GiftGruen]

Also started the campaign now and had my first mission in my A6. Really enjoyed the beautiful landscape and the lovely details !

Killing 3 IL2 and 2 P39 in one mission is, well .... it feels not sooo realistic - the AI is simply stupid, that's probably rather a well known IL2 problem though.

[Kubert]

I had 2x P-39 and 1x IL in this mission. First Cobra in hard deflection shot, second after few minutes long dogfight and IL as they were outbound from target area. IL-2s managed to destroy us two ships, so despite my air kills, mission was failure. Of course, I did not restart the mission, but still...

@GiftGruen How realistic are your settings? Any markers for easier spotting or icons on a map? I am just courious. 

[GiftGruen]

Yes, I was flying with markers until first contact, since I also fast forwarded. During fight I switched them off then, cause this is really too much ‚cheating‘ then having them always on.

I first downed the IL2s to avoid them sinking my ships. P39s chilled around mostly and/or danced a little with my wingman, so I could rather easily take down the IL2s ( well. some exact gunnery needed but a A6 has quite a good punch )

I think the trick here is to damage first all off them so they leave their attack path and finish them off in further pass.

After that then I chased the P39s. I hit them and they were ‚smoking green’ but even wasnt really sure if I had a kill since out of ammo, I turned homewards.

My buddy plane didnt do so much but probably kept away the P39s from chasing me.

Mission stats then showed me 5 kills.

I am not that a good pilot, really not. The AI just doesnt really cover their buddys.

Edited May 12 by GiftGruen

[CzechTexan]

Thank you for this interesting campaign.  Interesting because I had not known much about the fighting in Karelia but now, I've done a little more reading about it.  These campaigns of Kuhlmey are inspiring, even though I can only fly the Stuka, since I don't have the other required modules.  I also don't know anything about the Stuvi sight.  I just jumped in, flew to the target, got close to the tanks and guessed when to drop.  Got two tanks!  

[Juri_JS]

Campaign was updated and changes suggested by Kubert were added:

- Waypoint radius increased

- Mission target events get triggered even when a waypoint was missed

[Kubert]

Today I finished F8 campaign. Five missions were played before patch 7.007 and five after the patch. Activity of my flight increased noticeably in the second half. No manual orders from my side were necessary, at least until mission was reported as completed. Only after that, when I wanted them to attack even more...above their paygrade.  But that has nothing to do with mission design anymore.

Another difference I noticed is that, in all after patch missions, this message was stuck here for entire time...

Spoiler

...I know it can glitch like that when the game is paused during communication, but this message was already here before I unpaused the game after loading. It is just slight annoyance, nothing critical.

Only gameplay anomaly I found this time was in mission 8...

Spoiler

...when for some reason my wingman destroyed friendly targets.  Except few AA+searchlight accidents in the past, I've never seen that before, ever, can they do that? Air-to-ground friendly fire? 

 

 

Except that, nothing to report...I had one death in mission 4 and textbook belly landing behind friendly lines in mission 7. Both due to AA fire.

Now as campaigns are patched, I am gonna refly them again. Without deaths...if possible. FW has that potential in both versions. 

Edited May 21 by Kubert

[Juri_JS]

10 hours ago, Kubert said:

Another difference I noticed is that, in all after patch missions, this message was stuck here for entire time...

Probably an issue of the game and nothing I can influence.

 

10 hours ago, Kubert said:

...when for some reason my wingman destroyed friendly targets.  Except few AA+searchlight accidents in the past, I've never seen that before, ever, can they do that? Air-to-ground friendly fire? 

Strange, I guess the AI did not actually target the friendly howitzers but the artillery positions, because these were set to "neutral". But this shouldn't have happened, because the battery was outside the area of the attack command? 

Edited May 22 by Juri_JS

[Deacon352nd]

Where is this located?  Is there a link?

[AndreiTomescu]

see the first post in the thread

[Juri_JS]

19 hours ago, Deacon352nd said:

Where is this located?  Is there a link?

No download link needed, you already have it in the game.