Mission fragging

Instructions on the steps, tips, and tricks to frag large player count coordinated missions.

Learning objectives

1. Choose a strategically relevant objective
2. Create a coordinated package with the proper weapons and support to complete its job
3. Configure a campaign for hosting on a dedicated server
4. Modify a campaign to ensure an optimal player experience
5. Communicate an official event and build theme and flavor

Prerequisites

1. Air-to-air missions
2. Air-to-ground missions

Mission fragging

The following are the steps to create a 20-player event frag that is capable of being hosted on a dedicated BMS server.

1. Open the last Post_UOAF[event number] event
2. Halt the clock
3. Depending on the situation, run the clock forward by ~30 minutes at 64x to ensure that all previous mission aircraft are recovered and to simulate some time for refits and rearms
4. Save your mission at this point
   1. Campaign frags should follow the naming convention [Pre_]UOAF[event number][version]
5. Choose a mission that is strategically relevant
   1. Protect your own airbases from enemy strikes
   2. Knock out enemy air defences
   3. OCA enemy air bases
   4. Interdict enemy ground forces
   5. Strike enemy infrastructure
6. Determine the kinds of flights you think you will need to accomplish the mission
   1. Ideally, prepare to frag a full-sized package of 5xflights of 4xships, which will accommodate 20 players
   2. Try to frag a 4xF/A-18 flight in the package to accommodate players who want Hornets and carrier operations
   3. Decide if you want or need human boutique aircraft (e.g. F-4s, F-111s). But be mindful that many players are comfortable exclusively in the F-16
   4. Reference the flight inventory spreadsheet to see if you have any aircraft restrictions. Do not frag flights that use more aircraft documented here.
7. Choose sever details
   1. Set weather to dynamic, which will load the dynamic weather files every 30 minutes from WeatherMapUpdates folder
8. Right click on the map in the vicinity of the main package objective and choose Add Package
   1. Update the takeoff time for the package to at least 20 minutes past the current BMS time
   2. Click New to add a flight to the new package
      1. Choose your aircraft type
      2. Choose a squadron
      3. Make sure you set it to 4 aircraft
      4. Choose a mission
         1. If Escorting, choose the callsign of the flight being escorted
   3. A takeoff time and flight path is created.
   4. Add all remaining flights. These flights will have their mission set in the vicinity of the first flight. Don't worry if the flight plan is not what you want as you will make changes to this later.
9. Click ATO
   1. Choose Show All Packages
   2. Find the package you just created
   3. Right click and join the first flight
10. Double-click a seat in your flight to see the steerpoints
11. Set up a flight plan
    1. Set up steer 3 as a package formup in a consistent location
    2. Avoid known SAM and AAA if possible, unless you have SEAD/DEAD, you plan to avoid the threats by going NOE, or there is no other choice and you expect flights to defend themselves
    3. Choose a logical IP that has a reasonable attack bearing to the target or the objective
    4. Choose an egress path that is safe
    5. Set an alternate airport by dragging the alternate airport marker to a field you want to use in emergencies
12. Repeat the flight plans for the remaining flights
    1. Choose the checkbox to the right of the package in ATO to see all the flight plans for flights in that package
    2. When you make changes, check, uncheck, and check again to refresh the paths
13. Double-click the steerpoints for targets and Assign the appropriate subtargets, if required
14. Set the F/A-18s takeoff time so they are the first to take off
15. Set all remaining flights to start at least one minute after the Hornets
    1. If multiple flights are taking off from a single airbase, stagger the takeoffs between those flights by 1 minute
    2. It is OK to have concurrent takeoff times for flights at different airbases
    3. Lock the takeoff times for all flights
    4. Ensure that every other steerpoint is unlocked
16. Set the loadouts and fuel for each flight
    1. Choose weapons that support the mission (e.g. HARMs and Shrikes for SEAD, BLU-107s for low-level OCAs, Mavericks and CBUs for armor interdiction; make sure you have appropriate AA weapons for your CAP and escorts)
    2. Set your laser codes for flights carrying LGBs
       1. Laser codes start at 16[flight number][ship number], as per the brief. So if flight 3 in the brief has LGBs, set the codes to 1631, 1632, 1633, and 1644
       2. To set the laser codes, make sure you deselect all ships in the flight except the one you are setting the code on; do this for every ship until you have individual codes set
    3. Choose two wing bags for all F-16 flights, regardless of how far the flight needs to travel (unless you really don't want to put them on for some reason)
17. Now set up timings
    1. Determine when the slowest flight (usually the furthest, but could also be slowest) will be at the target by clicking on the target steerpoint and noting the TOS
    2. Coordinate your supporting flight's so that their TOS makes sense in relation to the main mission.
       1. I usually send in SEAD 1-2 minutes ahead of a strike, with CAP being right behind them by a minute of so. Escorts usually have the same TOS as the flight they are escorting.
    3. If you find a flight is too fast (i.e. they will be at TOS well ahead of what you want), you can either slow down the speeds on the ingress legs, or you can adjust the holding time on steer 3
       1. Flights with a holding time are expected to orbit until they meet their hold time
18. Set the bullseye to somewhere close to the action
    1. Make sure the bullseye is set so that bandit calls can quickly be assessed for threat level
19. Frag any supporting flights
    1. Frag AI BARCAPs to protect your airbase, egress routes, or to help with air-heavy missions
    2. Frag AI Prowlers if you want jamming ona SAM-heavy target that you may not be able to adequately SEAD
    3. Frag a tanker package if you think fuel might be a problem
       1. Make sure you add fighter HAVCAP/Escort for the tanker
20. Frag a new flight to act as your dedicated server
    1. Set the type to C-130
    2. Set its mission to training
    3. Drag its path so that it has a long duration. This is so the flight doesn't abort on the ground.
    4. Set its takeoff time to one minute prior to the F/A-18's
21. Resave the campaign (actually, you should save regularly)
22. Run the clock at 34x and verify that flights take off and that the AI follows your intent
    1. If flights cancel or do weird things, you need to fix the issues
23. Back out of 2D and reload your last save
24. Make any changes to get things rolling smoothly
25. Resave
26. Retest at 32/64x
27. If everything works, your frag is complete. However, it is wise to run a quick server test to make sure that the carrier aircraft work.

Test your mission on the server

1. From the server
   1. Close BMS
   2. Close IVC client
   3. Close IVC
   4. Start IVC
   5. Start BMS
   6. Choose Comms
      1. Choose UOAF Server
      2. Start
   7. Click Campaign
   8. Load your last save
   9. Halt the clock
   10. Join the training flight
2. Clients connect
3. Clients slot into the carrier flight and any others you want to test
4. Clients perform a quick IVC test (optional)
5. Commit the server Takeoff -> Taxi
6. Clients commit
7. Run some quick tests to ensure nothing blows up or gets canceled
8. If everything checks out, proceed with the event post

Create the Event post

1. Open the previous event thread
   1. Quote the event and copy everything
2. Create a new event thread
   1. Paste the copied material, but omit the <quote> tags
3. Change the title
4. Change the content
5. Add some role play flavor, especially situations that create continuity between the results of previous missions
6. Link to the graphics

Event post graphics

You can use any image editing software you want. One option is TechSmith's Snag-It. This tool has good cropping, image resizing, text effects, line effects, arrow effects, and opacity options. But it is not free. Paint.net or anything that you have is good enough to create basic mission graphics.

1. Take a screenshot of the map unsing PrtScn
   1. Crop the map
   2. Draw colored lines for the different flights
   3. Add text labels to show which flights are which
2. Take a screenshot of the briefing
   1. You may have to scroll and take multiple screenshots to get the whole briefing
   2. Crop and paste the two briefings so it is complete
3. Take screenshots of any strike targets
   1. Crop
   2. Add a title to identify the target
   3. Add a graphic to shw which way north is
4. Add any flavor images
5. If weather period has changed, open GRB file, cycle to mission start time and save cloud and precipitation maps
   1. Crop the weather images and set them up side-by-side
   2. Label the weather images

Calendar post

1. Post the event to the UO forum calendar.

Event conclusion

1. After an event has concluded, save the campaign as [Post_]UOAF[event number] on your client as a backup
2. Update the flight inventory spreadsheet with the human air losses

Tips and tricks

• If you try to frag missions when you are a remote client (i.e. you are not fragging directly on the server), your steerpoint 3 will not be a holding point steerpoint. So ideally, frag the initial flights on the server and make changes to these flights from the clients or server.
• Sometimes that AI does not send up fighters to defend itself, resulting in a bit of a boring time for human escorts. In some instances, you may want to join REDFOR on the campaign and manually frag some Sweeps or BARCAPs over the AO for the event, to keep things spicy.
  • Just be careful not to go overboard, especially on night missions.

Creating realistic and dynamic weather

1. Get zyGrib
2. Configure it for your theater
   1. KTO:
   2. ITO:
   3. Balkans:
3. Download weather
4. Save the grb file
   1. It will save compressed, decompress it and save the raw grb to your desktop
5. Run grbtofmap
   1. Set weather interval (30 minutes seems to work)
6. Create fmaps
7. Load all fmaps and grb file into WeatherMapUpdates folder in your campaign

Mission Commander

Sometimes, you need to use Mission Commander to fix or enhance your mission. While MC seems like a stable choice, there is a risk that you will corrupt the campaign. Therefore, it is suggested that MC be used sparingly. When using MC:

• Back up your missions external to MC. If you use MC's Save As, you will lose the HIS file and lose all of your historical intel.
• Test your missions after you edit them to make sure nothing has broken.

Repairing airbases

Sometimes the enemy is able to knock out your airbase. The first suggestion is to start fragging flights from other airbases, but that may not be possible to accommodate 20 players due to a lack of aircraft. In special instances, you may want to repair a destroyed airbase (friendly or enemy).

Restocking fuel tanks and weapons

BMS consumes tanks and weapons, regardless if they are brought home. This can lead to annoying situations where you run out of things like fuel tanks or limited specialized weapons that you don't use. You can restock certain supplies for your squadrons.

Restocking fighters

BMS will not allow you to use 2 reserve fighters. This can lead to shortages when trying to frag missions. Furthermore, if you are tracking losses, there is usually a manual restocking rule that is in play. This is how you add or replenish your fighters:

Destroying airbases

Sometimes your strike hits an enemy airbase but BMS reports that it is still up. If so, here is how you can know the runways or other structures out of action:

Canceling flights

Sometimes the AI can frag a bunch of flights that you do not want. Rather than cancelling them in game, you can remove the flights completely using MC:

Changing the carrier task force

Due to the way ships work, it may be necessary to custom edit the waypoint paths of your carrier to that it is pointed into the wind. You typically do not want your carrier aircraft traying to land in a crosswind.

Setting up user selected callsigns

Sometimes it is fun to choose the callsigns of your package aircraft rather than letting BMS do it. Here is what you need to do:

Hosting on the dedicated server

UOAF has its own dedicated server. This is a VM with no graphics card, so some special steps are required to get it to work. Furthermore, when hosting on a dedicated server, it is important that the server be running in 3D while the mission is being flown by humans. Not doing this results in invisible aircraft and missiles, and generally glitchy behavior.

You need to be granted TeamViewer permission to access the UOAF BMS server.

Start-up

1. Connect to the dedicated server with TeamViewer
2. Make sure BMS and IVC are closed
3. Run IVC server
4. Run BMS headless client batch file
   1. This batch file allows the server to run in 3D on a system without a graphics accelerator
5. Select Comms
   1. Select UOAF server
   2. Click Connect
   3. Verify server starts. You will get a dialog box popped up letting you know IVC is connected.
6. Go to Campaign
7. Load the event mission
8. Specify server settings
   1. Make sure clients are at 30
   2. Make sure realism is set high
9. Halt the clock

Taking the server in

1. Check Comms and ensure all clients are connected at least 1024kb/s
2. Put the server account into the fragged server flight
3. Once everybody is connected and ready to fly, commit the server to takeoff taxi
4. The server is configured to go taxi at 6 minutes from takeoff
   1. The screen will turn black and you will hear aircraft engines when the server loads. This means you are in 3D
5. Leave TeamViewer and continue to fly with your own BMS client

Shutting the server down

1. After the mission, connect to the server with TeamViewer
2. Click the black screen
3. Press Escape and E a few times to get the dedicated out of 3D
   1. You won't be able to see anything, so you may have to do this a few times
4. Save the campaign as [Post_]UOAF[event number]
5. Exit the campaign
6. Close IVC
7. Close TeamViewer