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[UberDemon]

If you are interested, you can see better data on development with some videos I placed in this post:  https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,71733.0.html

Development continues slowly.

But I think I am fairly happy with the Mission Briefing features:
* It has the most convenient features
* It is easy to use
* It can automatically or manually capture a lot of the mission conditions you would include in a briefing (To include player aircraft, load, unit, weather, etc)
* It is NOT quite like the UQMB (UberQuick Mission Briefer) from UQMG Classic... I think this is more to the point for what we need as mission builders
* It is conveniently located by the main mission parameters so you can change them and update the data as needed
* Allows Red and Blue Team custom text
* Includes a convenient UNICODE to ASCII Code converter so you can have multi-language support
* Supports all the common Edit features in Windows (Select All, Delete, Cut, Copy, Paste)

Here are some pics:


* Above is a picture of a sample briefing set in 1944.  You will fly an Fw-190A-8.  Note the mission data in the left, such as date and weather.  It is captured in the briefing fields:

Short Description:

Code: [Select]

Title:  "Some Title 1944"
Player Aircraft:  Focke-Wulf FW 190A-8, 1944

"<My Mission Type>" mission for Blue Team in "<My Mission Map>" map.

Some short description.

Created by UberDemon's UberQuick Mission Generator (UQMG) 1946 Max for Il-2 Sturmovik.

Description:

Code: [Select]

UQMG 1946 Max Mission for Blue Team
Title:  "Some Title 1944"

Date:  Saturday, 1 April 1944
Time:  1403h
Weather:  Hazy
Cloud Height:  600 meters
Wind Conditions:  45.0 deg, 5.0 m/s, Low gusts, Moderate turbulence
Map:  "<My Mission Map>"

Aircraft Type:  Focke-Wulf FW 190A-8, 1944
Load:  Default
Unit:  <Germany>, Sq. 1, Flt. 3
Position:  (1) Flight Leader

DESCRIPTION:
Good Afternoon,

<WRITE CUSTOM BRIEFING HERE>

OBJECTIVES:

<WRITE OBJECTIVES HERE>

========================


* Above is just a test showing what happens when it converts the field to the format understood by the "properties" file, where the briefing resides.


* Context Menu with Windows Edit Features


* Demo of UNICODE to ASCII conversion...

The text I wanted to convert... (used Google Translator... so sorry if it looks weird)

Code: [Select]

English:  Hello.  It is a wonderful world of flying.
Swedish:  Hallå. Det är en underbar värld att flyga.
Ukrainian:  Привіт. Це дивовижний світ польотів.
Russian:  Привет. Это чудесный мир полетов.
Romanian:  Buna ziua. Este o lume minunată a zborului.
Japanese:  こんにちは。素晴らしい飛行の世界です。
Italian:  Ciao. È un meraviglioso mondo del volo.
Czech:  Ahoj. Je to úžasný svět létání.
Finnish:  Hei. Se on mahtava lentämisen maailma.
Guarani:  Mba'éichapa. Ha’e peteĩ mundo hechapyrãva oveve haĝua
Hungarian:  Helló. Ez a repülés csodálatos világa.
Portuguese:  Olá. É um mundo maravilhoso de voar.
Polish:  Cześć. To wspaniały świat latania.

The conversion result... (I copy and pasted directly from the running interface).

Code: [Select]

English:  Hello.  It is a wonderful world of flying.
Swedish:  Hall\u00E5. Det \u00E4r en underbar v\u00E4rld att flyga.
Ukrainian:  \u041F\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0456\u0442. \u0426\u0435 \u0434\u0438\u0432\u043E\u0432\u0438\u0436\u043D\u0438\u0439 \u0441\u0432\u0456\u0442 \u043F\u043E\u043B\u044C\u043E\u0442\u0456\u0432.
Russian:  \u041F\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0442. \u042D\u0442\u043E \u0447\u0443\u0434\u0435\u0441\u043D\u044B\u0439 \u043C\u0438\u0440 \u043F\u043E\u043B\u0435\u0442\u043E\u0432.
Romanian:  Buna ziua. Este o lume minunat\u0103 a zborului.
Japanese:  \u3053\u3093\u306B\u3061\u306F\u3002\u7D20\u6674\u3089\u3057\u3044\u98DB\u884C\u306E\u4E16\u754C\u3067\u3059\u3002
Italian:  Ciao. \u00C8 un meraviglioso mondo del volo.
Czech:  Ahoj. Je to \u00FA\u017Easn\u00FD sv\u011Bt l\u00E9t\u00E1n\u00ED.
Finnish:  Hei. Se on mahtava lent\u00E4misen maailma.
Guarani:  Mba'\u00E9ichapa. Ha\u2019e pete\u0129 mundo hechapyr\u00E3va oveve ha\u011Dua
Hungarian:  Hell\u00F3. Ez a rep\u00FCl\u00E9s csod\u00E1latos vil\u00E1ga.
Portuguese:  Ol\u00E1. \u00C9 um mundo maravilhoso de voar.
Polish:  Cze\u015B\u0107. To wspania\u0142y \u015Bwiat latania.


[Knochenlutscher]

Take your Time, it looks great so far.

Wishing you all the best
Tobias

[UberDemon]

Have been working on fixes and features.  I feel I can start working on some of the mission generation parameters.

Finished writing the functions to capture data and place it in IL-2 syntax.  I have been able to use "some" of the UQMG classic code, but in truth, I was in a completely different thinking mode back 2 decades ago... so I think this will be better, I hope, at least in my mind.  Nothing dealing specifically with the flight waypoints yet, and I have not begun work on ground objects.  But as I work on this it is giving me some good ideas on how I am going to develop the mission parameters for actual play, which is encouraging.

I also added a context menu to the DF Homebase Nation selection, very simple select all and clear all...  The last piece I need to do with what I have is the DF aircraft selection parameters for the Homebases... including aircraft limitations (number of planes and weapon limitations).  I'll post again when I am done with that.

Here is a sample of what the data capture process looks like so far.

Code: [Select]

[MAIN]
  MAP ##MYMAP##
  TIME 13.00001
  TIMECONSTANT 0
  WEAPONSCONSTANT 0
  CloudType 0
  CloudHeight 1000.0
  player usa0112
  army 1
  playerNum 0
[SEASON]
  Year 1944
  Month 6
  Day 30
[WEATHER]
  WindDirection 0.0
  WindSpeed 0.0
  Gust 0
  Turbulence 0
[MDS]
  MDS_Radar_SetRadarToAdvanceMode 1
  MDS_Radar_RefreshInterval 0
  MDS_Radar_DisableVectoring 0
  MDS_Radar_EnableTowerCommunications 1
  MDS_Radar_ShipsAsRadar 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxRange 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MinHeight 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxHeight 5000
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxRange 25
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MinHeight 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxHeight 2000
  MDS_Radar_ScoutsAsRadar 1
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_MaxRange 2
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_DeltaHeight 1500
  MDS_Radar_HideUnpopulatedAirstripsFromMinimap 0
  MDS_Radar_ScoutGroundObjects_Alpha 5
  MDS_Radar_ScoutCompleteRecon 0
  MDS_Misc_DisableAIRadioChatter 0
  MDS_Misc_DespawnAIPlanesAfterLanding 1
  MDS_Misc_HidePlayersCountOnHomeBase 0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat1_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat2_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat3_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
[MDS_Scouts_Red]
  L-5_Sentinel
  L-5A
  Howard
  Hoverfly
  Hoverfly-Float
[MDS_Scouts_Blue]
  Bu-181
  Ta-152H-1
  Hs126A_1
  Hs126A_1_Spats
  Hs126K_6
  Ju-88A-1
  Ju-88A-4
  Ju-88A-5
  Ju-88A-6
  Ju-88A-4_Torp
  Ju-88A-4Late
  Ju-88C-6
  Ju-88C-6NJ
  Ju-88A-13
  Ju-88A-17
  Ju-88G1-Zerstoerer
  Ju-88G1-Stechmucke
  Ju-88G-6
  Ju-188A-2
  JU_388K
  Fi-156
  Fi-156U
  Bv_141
  Fw-189A-2
  Ar196T1
  Do_18
  Do_18N
  BV-138B
  BV-138MS
  BV-138FM
  Ar-234B-1
[RespawnTime]
  Bigship 1800
  Ship 1800
  Aeroanchored 1800
  Artillery 1800
  Searchlight 1800
[BornPlace]
  1 3000 ##X## ##Y## 1 1000 200 0 0 0 5000 50 0 0 0 #SPAWN# 0 3.8 0 0 1 0 0
  2 3000 ##X## ##Y## 1 1000 200 0 0 0 5000 50 0 0 0 #SPAWN# 0 3.8 0 0 1 0 0
[BornPlaceCountries##RED##]
  us
  ru
[BornPlaceCountries##BLU##]
  de
  fi


[UberDemon]

Actually, getting the routine to allow DF Arena planes and their limitations (number of planes and weapon exclusions), was quite challenging.

In order to make this user-friendly, I had to make some tough choices.  One of the ones I am not 100% happy with but is almost necessary, is that in order to be able to get the right aircraft in the DF mode, edits in the plane grid reset some of the DF plane features.

Best thing to do is to wait to edit DF options AFTER getting the other parameters done (flight grid, etc...)

I have some issues to debug, but it is moving along.

[UberDemon]

I think I got the DF Plane limitations working to an acceptable level...  adequacy is the cornerstone of excellence!!!

I pasted the country and plane entries to an existing dogfight arena and it worked as expected.  Something I noticed is that there is a delay in IL-2 when you have plane load limitations.  The first time you click in the loads they are all there, but give it a few seconds and all planes in the team go to only allowing the weapons you enabled.

Code: [Select]

[MAIN]
  MAP ##MYMAP##
  TIME 11.00001
  TIMECONSTANT 0
  WEAPONSCONSTANT 0
  CloudType 0
  CloudHeight 1000.0
  player usa0100
  army 1
  playerNum 0
[SEASON]
  Year 1942
  Month 6
  Day 16
[WEATHER]
  WindDirection 0.0
  WindSpeed 0.0
  Gust 0
  Turbulence 0
[MDS]
  MDS_Radar_SetRadarToAdvanceMode 0
  MDS_Radar_RefreshInterval 0
  MDS_Radar_DisableVectoring 0
  MDS_Radar_EnableTowerCommunications 1
  MDS_Radar_ShipsAsRadar 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxRange 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MinHeight 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxHeight 5000
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxRange 25
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MinHeight 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxHeight 2000
  MDS_Radar_ScoutsAsRadar 0
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_MaxRange 2
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_DeltaHeight 1500
  MDS_Radar_HideUnpopulatedAirstripsFromMinimap 0
  MDS_Radar_ScoutGroundObjects_Alpha 5
  MDS_Radar_ScoutCompleteRecon 0
  MDS_Misc_DisableAIRadioChatter 0
  MDS_Misc_DespawnAIPlanesAfterLanding 1
  MDS_Misc_HidePlayersCountOnHomeBase 0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat1_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat2_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat3_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
[RespawnTime]
  Bigship 1800
  Ship 1800
  Aeroanchored 1800
  Artillery 1800
  Searchlight 1800
[BornPlace]
  1 3000 ##X## ##Y## 1 1000 200 0 0 0 5000 50 0 1 0 #SPAWN# 0 3.8 0 0 1 0 0
  2 3000 ##X## ##Y## 1 1000 200 0 0 0 5000 50 0 1 0 #SPAWN# 0 3.8 0 0 1 0 0
[BornPlaceCountries##RED##]
  us
  gb
  du
[BornPlaceCountries##BLU##]
  de
  hu
  it
  ja
[BornPlace##RED##]
  P-47D-27 12 default overload tank none
  P-51C-NT 12 default 2xTank none
  TyphoonMkIBLate 20 default light 2xdt none
  A-20C 21 default 2x100 2x1008x100 2x1008x1002x100 none
  F2A-2 9
[BornPlace##BLU##]
  Bf-109G-6 16 default R3-DROPTANK U3-MK108 U4R3-TANK1XMK108 none
  Fw-190A-8 16 default droptank r22mk108 r22mk108+droptank none
  G_56 20 default none
  Ki-43-Ib_DZZMod 9 default 2XDT none
  Ki-43-Ic_DZZMod 9 default 2XDT none


[UberDemon]

Begun Working the Waypoint Prototyping Routine.  It will use a lot of tags to do mass substitution when I create the map template formats.

A Normal flight group that uses standard takeoff and landing (whether it is on land, sea or carrier) will have 19 Waypoints.  If there is taxiing involved, then there will be more.  If you recall in the Waypoint Editor, there are 7 sections for flight:

1) Takeoff: 2 or more Waypoints
2) After Take Off:  3 Waypoints
3) Transit:  3 Waypoints
4) Action Area:  4 Waypoints
5) Transit:  3 Waypoints
6) Before Landing:  3 Waypoints
7) Landing:  1 Waypoint

Each section can be removed, and can be associated with other flights... so you could have ferrying or landing in different bases.

Amphibian aircraft will be able to operate in either land or water.

[UberDemon]

Now that I have been working the Waypoint prototyping, I believe that limiting the total number of waypoints (to 19) is not necessary.

Depending on the map, the Flight Groups may have more or less Waypoints.  In large maps it may be necessary to have more waypoints anyway.

How I'll indicate that per map template is still in the design table but after testing with a function I just wrote, it will be possible, and should make UQMG 46 Max more flexible.

Back to drinking, or programming, or playing guitar, not sure... either way it will be fun.

[UberDemon]

I think I got most of the GUI interaction from Form to Form for the existing forms.  There are some things that I want the GUI to catch to avoid mistakes.  For example, you want the Flight Editor and Waypoint editor to have matching choices.  For example, if you want to use carriers, the Waypoint Editor needs to reflect that, just as in the Flight Editor.  You should not be able to escort or attach to yourself if you are selecting an escort flight or setting up a composite flight.  This took some time.  Now I can get back to working on the waypoint building code related to mission generation.

Oh, BTW, I added some additional cues to the Flight Editor when you are selecting your planes.  The full list of cues are included below:
* Nose Art Support / hints
* AI Only planes
* Gliders
* Seaplanes (includes Amphibians)
* Dockable Planes (like planes in Tug-Glider, Zveno, Mistel combos) (Some planes, like the He-112B is only dockable to Dirigibles and only if you select the proper load)
* Air Refuel plane (tanker or receiver - only applicable to JTW)
* Arrestor Hook (Plannes with them... whether they are carrier based planes or not, like F-16s)

Again, do not shoot the messenger.  The tags apply to whatever information is coming from the Java classes...  For exmple, the Bf-109T-2 does not show the arrestor hook tag even though it is supposed to be a carrier plane)

Below are some pics...

[UberDemon]

I realized that I can't really have the map options interface until I build a template.  I am using the 1C/Maddox DF/Online Italy map as the first WAW BAT template.

I am realizing that creating map templates will not be as easy as I wanted it to be.  In the end of the day the template needs to be "hand-crafted" and "organically" created and tested.  I will create some programmatic features to take advantage of automation mostly on the ground scenery as possible.  Main thing is that having the ability to do taxi needs to be done by hand... and it takes time.  I still think that it will be a lot less work than the current UQMG Classic template debacle I created... which is horrendous to create.

Also, for some Flight Groups, they will be by default taking off from carriers so there maybe some limitations, but for the most part you will be free to pick all options.

Once I finish the waypoint logic and how to implement the templates, I'll start working on adapting the clone algorithm and adding ground features.

Some of what I want to do will need some fancy trigonometry and some templates.  What I want to do is have some set scenery and dioramas that can be re-used and modified through the UQMG GUI, kinda like in UQMG Classic.

Once I figure how I want to implement it, I can write a guide for users to create their own.

I am thinking German Flak positions, Artillery positions, etc.  Not sure if I can do set things with moving objects because of terrain issues but maybe...  We'll see.

[UberDemon]

One of the things that I am thinking about doing is giving UQMG to open ".mis" files... partly because I want the templates to be based on mis. files alone.  If I am able to pull that off, that means that a user could conceptually open an existing IL-2 file and use UQMG to "enhance" the mission, with things like cloning so you have more planes...  I am still thinking how I want to do that... but we'll see.

I really want UQMG to be not only a quick but capable mission generator, I want it to be a companion tool for mission designers, something to enhance FMB.

[Dimlee]

One of the things that I am thinking about doing is giving UQMG to open ".mis" files... partly because I want the templates to be based on mis. files alone.  If I am able to pull that off, that means that a user could conceptually open an existing IL-2 file and use UQMG to "enhance" the mission, with things like cloning so you have more planes...  I am still thinking how I want to do that... but we'll see.

I really want UQMG to be not only a quick but capable mission generator, I want it to be a companion tool for mission designers, something to enhance FMB.

Wow. That would be a real game-changer.
Editing a complex mission in FMB can be a real pain. Doing that with UQMG will save a lot of time.

[UberDemon]

Dimlee,

Because I have to read a "mis" file to get the map template, I should be able to adapt the "Open" dialog to load an existing file.  The only thing is that there would be a limit of 12 flights per team in a mission, which I think is reasonable.  I am also thinking about doing away with UQMG mission script files like I did in UQMG.  I am thinking that if I deal only with IL-2 "mis" files it may be just better.  (Well they use more Disk space though...)

Something I am also toying with is the ability to edit coordinate values.  Something simple.  The idea is that the Waypoint Editor has 7 distinct sections (TO, After TO, transit, Action Area, Transit, before Landing and Landing).  I should be able to implement something like:
* Move all coordinates in a section North/South, East/West.  You already have control of altitude and speed per section.

Obviously if you open an existing mission file, I'll have to figure out how to implement that...

Fortunately the mission file has an associated "properties" file, and I can put data there to help with the programmatic stuff.  Particularly because if I am loading a file, I need to be able to distinguish how to load associated cloned flights.

BTW, I did toy with the idea of reading and writing to existing mission files in UQMG classic.  The UberQuick Mission Manager (UQMM button) allows opening an existing file, and allowing the user to pick any flyable plane in a mission instead of the original player flight, and it adjusts the mission objectives in case you pick the enemy team.  Of course it only deals with the older IL-2/1946 files... not the newer MDS/FoW parameters... and of course the newer planes in BAT or any of the other non WAW modules (DOF, TGA, JTW).  Something cool is that in UQMM, you would also generate 3 versions of the mission one SP, one DF and one COOP, the same way that a UQMG generated mission was done...  This would also be a feature in the new UQMG...  (This feature came out years before QMB+, FMB+)

That is, if I am going to open "mis" files, when you save it, it will generate 3 versions as well, in the right directory so you can have a huge wealth of missions that suddenly are available for COOP or DF... and of course, SP.

Soon I'll be asking for help from the community to get some templates and work done to help with UQMG... stuff like screenshots of all the planes in DOF, TGA and JTW.  Possibly ground objects... still thinking about that.

Users will be able to create their own map templates as well.  As new maps come out, it would be nice to have user-developed content that I can incorporate in UQMG.