CfC DF missions for 4.10

[=CfC=Bounder]

Well I could not resist trying to convert a few of our 4.09 missions to 4.10 yesterday.

To be fair....it was  bit like the "Curate's egg" (sorry.....Ted's egg) with several bugs already in missions saving particularly with MDS features.

To get to the point.......I now have three working versions of our DF missions converted to 4.10 so if everyone is up to it we can move to 4.10 this Tuesday.

There are a few settings that we will need to agree on and it may mean a poll to find out what everyone favours:-

For the first batch of DF's I have only used a few of the features:-

- MDS does not offer RRR at present (will probably be added in 4.11) so the only benefit we get is moving objects. The "Islands" and "Italy online" missions are working well with moving carriers/ships and just a sprinkling of AI flying boat patrols to add a little interest. I have also tried introducing submerged submarines as the damage model has been changed to allow for proximity damage.

- At the moment, I have not added wind to DF missions as invariably the runway directions favour one side in terms of crosswinds. However, I have added the lowest level of turbulence (active between about 3-500m) and we will see what everyone wants.

- It is possible to change the date of a mission. The effect is that the sun and lighting is very different for winter. You may already have noticed this effect in the winter maps where it is automatically set to winter light. So far, I have not made changes to the normal summer maps.

- The “G” effect is a fairly bland effect unless you carry bombs. I have experimented with the “speed bar-on” to see when the effect starts to kick in, but it is actually hard to exceed the G limitations unless carrying bombs. It maybe that you will want the speed bar available for a while until you are used to this effect and see when it kicks in.

- The “realistic navigation” setting is only really for large maps as it introduces radio navigation…e.g. with this active, you do not see the carriers on the minimap and have to use the radio navigation feature to find your carrier. I think we will probably not use this for DF.

- I believe we should try using the two switches to give realistic engine problems and pilot injury. More careful use of the engine is now necessary (e.g. if you fly the Seafire and select WEP for take-off.. the RPMs exceed the limit for a few seconds and this sort of engine management is sure to cause problems unless you open up the throttle carefully). The pilot injury is just a progression of what we already had and is probably a valid addition. Interestingly, I think the bullet hits and tracer seem to be much more visible in 4.10.

If you find anything new in 4.10 that you particularly want /don’t want in our DF missions could you post here and if necessary we can have a poll.

To summarize…….we have 4.10 DF missions ready in the wings if everyone has it installed.

Bounder