AI units Returning To Base...

[ESMoperator]

Hi guys. Just bought this game and I have already figured out alot of stuff.

One thing I do need to figure out is this: How, in the mission editor, can i make an AI aicraft RTB at either: A) the firing of a trigger, B) after a certain extent of time, or C) when it's fuel gets low enough to warrant it's RTB'ing. I also need to know this: When I am controlling an FFG platform, once I get a Helo airborn, how do I make this Helo land at another base or helipad? I have tried in the Geopilot screen and the tactical screen and I cannot program a waypoint to be a "Landing" point, only a "Fly to" point and this is exceedingly frustrating. Its essential to do this especially in the mission where you need to rescue an ambassador by landing one of your helo's at a helipad and then bringing it back to the FFG.

I bet theres hundreds of you here who know how to do this, so can i get a step by step or a referral to another page where it's already written?

Many thanks-

Alex

[Molon Labe]

I've been testing new ship's landing pads by getting helicopters to land on them with a script that sets their fuel to 10%. I don't know where the exact threshold is, but they do head for the pad at 10%.

If there is an option to land the helo at another location, you'll see it by right-clicking the target at the Nav station. I don't think it exists though. Assuming I'm right, the mission designers should have been smart enough to allow the arrival trigger to fire at normal fly-to altitude (I know Bill was for the first mission of the RSR campaign).

[ESMoperator]

Many thanks Molon Labe, by the Nav station do you mean the geopilot station of the FFG which comes up when you press F3? And I also must ask what is an arrival-trigger? I am still rather new at this, youll have to put up with my ignorance for a little bit. :)

[Molon Labe]

Many thanks Molon Labe, by the Nav station do you mean the geopilot station of the FFG which comes up when you press F3? And I also must ask what is an arrival-trigger? I am still rather new at this, youll have to put up with my ignorance for a little bit. :)

The Nav station is the station that's basically a map that all the platforms have (F5). Triggers are tests created by the mission designer that check whether certain conditions are true. An arrival trigger is a trigger that tests for the arrival of an object at a location.

[NFunky]

I'm pretty sure AI aircraft will automatically return to base when they reach bingo fuel. As far as return to station, I seem to recall there being a little check bubble for goals that does it.

ML, I'm still a bit confused as to how DW treats triggers vs. goals. What are the main differences?

[Molon Labe]

A goal ('goal trigger') is a trigger that appears in the mission status/debrief screen and has a point value.

[ESMoperator]

The Nav station is the station that's basically a map that all the platforms have (F5). Triggers are tests created by the mission designer that check whether certain conditions are true. An arrival trigger is a trigger that tests for the arrival of an object at a location.
Ahh. Then you are right, when I rightclick on any unit I cannot call up waypoints or RTB commands (except of course when im on the FFG, then my helo's have a "recover" command.)
I attempted to do this with a goal trigger, the "unit RTB's" check box and was careful to specify the parameters of exactly where it would land, however when it reached the last waypoint it just sat there, did not RTB.

[Molon Labe]

Just to make sure we're on the same wavelength, I wasn't suggesting getting the helo to land elsewhere with a trigger/script, I was suggesting that you wouldn't need to land it because the arrival trigger would fire while the helo was at altitude over the destination.

I've actually never used the RTB script but if it allows you to specify a base to return to and it doesn't do anything, that's disappointing. Wouldn't be the first script not to work as advertised tho.

[ESMoperator]

It seems that the script indeed does not work. Either that or I havent gotten it to fire correctly yet. Beit plane or helicopter, whenever I set a trigger up so the unit is supposed to RTB (it tells me to specify what unit, where it returns to base and when/how), when the time comes for the command to function, it just doesnt. I did however take the suggestion of setting the fuel-levels down on a trigger to 10%, at which the unit WILL return to base. This is still frustrating because I cant for example, get a Seaking based on a carrier to land at a helipad, then takeoff from the helipad and land back at it's carrier. Or land anywhere else but it's own carrier for that matter.
There is also a mission in the missions list where it requires that you dispatch a helo from your FFG and have it land at an onshore helipad to rescue an ambassador. The closest thing I can do is set a waypoint and have the helo hover over the pad, quite frustrating.

Any advice is welcome.

[Molon Labe]

It seems that the script indeed does not work. Either that or I havent gotten it to fire correctly yet. Beit plane or helicopter, whenever I set a trigger up so the unit is supposed to RTB (it tells me to specify what unit, where it returns to base and when/how), when the time comes for the command to function, it just doesnt. I did however take the suggestion of setting the fuel-levels down on a trigger to 10%, at which the unit WILL return to base. This is still frustrating because I cant for example, get a Seaking based on a carrier to land at a helipad, then takeoff from the helipad and land back at it's carrier. Or land anywhere else but it's own carrier for that matter.
There is also a mission in the missions list where it requires that you dispatch a helo from your FFG and have it land at an onshore helipad to rescue an ambassador. The closest thing I can do is set a waypoint and have the helo hover over the pad, quite frustrating.

Any advice is welcome.

Hovering over the pad should be sufficient to fire the trigger, unless the designer specifically set altitude limits to require an actual landing (which would have been idiotic). In case those limits do exist, they can be easily removed in the mission editor by resetting them to -1.

Also, I didn't notice this the first time it was said, but the RTB box in the trigger isn't the same thing as an RTB script. The box in the trigger is actually a condition--I've never used it, but I think it means that to complete it you have to first satisfy all the other criteria and then RTB to get the trigger to fire. The RTB script is a command that can be executed by a trigger when it fires. The script is created separately from the trigger, and the trigger is set to call the script on the last page (I think it's a drop down menu called "action to perform" or something like that).