how do i make ai takeoff/land on the carrier?

Hello,all...first off,I have ArmA2:CO with SEVERAL addons.I'm trying to create a mission with the awesome addons, JDG_Nimitz,F-18F SuperBug,F-14D SuperTomcat(you authors know who you are!I may have not named the addons correctly,but,you all know what is what!)

I'm trying to create a carrier deck with lots of ambient action:I.E.:launching of aircraft,recovering of aircraft.

The problem:I do not know the scripts to get the AI(focusing on the AI)aircraft to launch from the catapults or to get inbound aircraft to land on the carrier!

First i place the AI aircraft near one of the catapults and try to use a catlaunch.sqf entry in the init field to launch the a/c(got this from researching the forums,placed in mission folder to no avail.Aircraft named and referenced the catapult number correctly)The aircraft simply turns 20deg to the right or left and then stops or just runs off the deck to either side and blows up!Also,when i set the waypoints for the ("Flying inbound")aircraft to land on the carrier(placing an invisible "H" and syncing the a/c to the waypoint to land)...it will go to the nearest airfield to land..not the carrier.

Any thoughts? I realize this may be vague, but i have dail-up(ONLY) and have researched as much as possible into this situation with what i have...so any input would be welcome!THANKS!

Hi there Viper, the way I've done this was with UnitCapture & UnitPlay. You can record yourself doing the flights and then have the AI play that recording back, other than that I'm not sure I'm afraid.

But if you are interested in UnitCapture & UnitPlay and haven't heard of it before this video was useful for me so it should be for you too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryB20wQhSr0

As you said you are on Dial up a video may not be best for you so this link may be more use:

http://www.kylania.com/ex/?p=36

The codes you need for UnitCapture & UnitPlay are:

Once you preview your mission with that all set up triggering Radio Alpha will start the game recording the vehicle named "Heli1", once you have flown your desired route double tap the Escape key to end the recording. Do NOT suspend your mission preview yet. Now back in game press the F1 key, that will copy the data of your flight path which you now paste into your "Path1.sqf" file. Then restart your mission preview and trigger Radio Bravo, Heli1 should fly the route you just have provided you are not still playing as the pilot of Heli1.

Regards Hawk.

Thanks Hawk!

I'll give it a try and let you know how it turns out!

just be aware unitplay is something that takes alot of resources..put more than 4-6 in a mission and you will notice it

It may be possible to implement Mando's Mando Runway to be used with carrier fixed wing aircraft. This should work with VTOL also (Harrier/Osprey). AFAIK, it was not updated to ArmA2, but per Mandoble should work in ArmA2. I know it was used in this airbase template by Macadam Cow:

Airbase Template with Mando Runway

Mando Runway can be found here:

Mando Runway

You may also be able to use Mando's Heliroute, which was updated to ArmA2, for rotor wing aircraft landings on carrier/lhd. It can be found here:

Mando Heliroute

Thanks,Darwin,for the heads up!...I think Panther42 is on to something...The AI a/c need to "think" that the carrier IS the landing waypoint. I will test this and see what happens.

First,I need to get to work(been down with a sinus infection)..to download files onto flash drive(DSL at work....;)...).

Would like to give this Mission Idea to someone who has unlimited resources to see if they are willing to create this vision!

PM me for details if interested.

Thanks All!

viperBAT37 I did some testing last night, and the results were quite promising.

I had no problems getting the F-14 and AV8-B to take off. There are some quirks I've got to work out. The F-14 and F-18 seem to want to "slide" to one side of the deck. I think this has to do with the markers I placed in the editor, as I believe those just have a Z value of 0 when placed. That may not work well while setting on the deck of the carrier at 18 ASL...

The landing script works quite well, except for the actual landing. I need to mess with the script a bit, as Mando had removed a piece of the code which allowed for deviation from 0 ASL (carrier and lhd landing)

I will test some more and let you know what I figure out.

Update:

I've got this working quite nicely. I had to make some changes to Mando land.sqf, and have sent a PM to Mandoble to make sure it is ok to share. I have not seen Mandoble on these forums in quite some time, so hopefully he gets my pm...

I have tried several settings trying to get Meatball's F-18 to cooperate, but that aircraft is stubborn! The F-18 fights it all the way. As it is moving toward the launch position, its rear end always slides toward the left(port) side of the carrier. Also, when launching, something blows up on the F-18 and it stops, which usually results in it falling off the deck. It might be the front wheel, as it is always sitting/moving on the deck with the front wheel turned to the left... I have not succeeded in launching the F-18 yet. I will test more settings.

Tests of the AV8-B, Ikar's F-14, and GLT F-16 are all good. The F-14 seems to want to slide left(port), like the F-18, but not as bad. All three have successfully been launched and recovered via Mando's scripts.

I will do more testing with other aircraft, and test VTOL.

Does anyone know off hand if the Nimitz has a built in script to shut down the plane's engine when landing? Mando's script does, but not until the last wp is reached. I even commented out this line in Mando's script, but the plane still shut down the engine.

I will dig some into the Nimitz thread.

Thanks Panther,your insight is very helpful and i hope to learn the exact script you are using!

I have not tried the AV-8B yet....will try soon....whenever this "SuperFlu"...decides to release me from its clutches!

Thanks again,Panther for your interest in this matter,as I think this will help me create an awesome mission!

_remedy = "obj_chickenSoup_EP2" createVehicle position viperBAT37;
viperBAT37 doNom _remedy;

Update:

I've got this working quite nicely. I had to make some changes to Mando land.sqf, and have sent a PM to Mandoble to make sure it is ok to share. I have not seen Mandoble on these forums in quite some time, so hopefully he gets my pm...

I have tried several settings trying to get Meatball's F-18 to cooperate, but that aircraft is stubborn! The F-18 fights it all the way. As it is moving toward the launch position, its rear end always slides toward the left(port) side of the carrier. Also, when launching, something blows up on the F-18 and it stops, which usually results in it falling off the deck. It might be the front wheel, as it is always sitting/moving on the deck with the front wheel turned to the left... I have not succeeded in launching the F-18 yet. I will test more settings.

Tests of the AV8-B, Ikar's F-14, and GLT F-16 are all good. The F-14 seems to want to slide left(port), like the F-18, but not as bad. All three have successfully been launched and recovered via Mando's scripts.

I will do more testing with other aircraft, and test VTOL.

Does anyone know off hand if the Nimitz has a built in script to shut down the plane's engine when landing? Mando's script does, but not until the last wp is reached. I even commented out this line in Mando's script, but the plane still shut down the engine.

I will dig some into the Nimitz thread.

I will look into why the F/A-18 is acting funny... it will have to wait until I get my computer back from being reparied.

_remedy = "obj_chickenSoup_EP2" createVehicle position viperBAT37;
viperBAT37 doNom _remedy;

Now that is the best response i've had in a very long time!!LOL!!Kudos kylania, the laughter did make me feel better!Thanks!:D

Well,I'll have to put this vision on hold....I really stink at editing scripts(I have studied hard,but I'm just not getting it)and i'll have to wait for someone to do this.

I've tried to open the great Carrier Operations:Duala with the handy PBO Viewer(kudos to the authors!)...but,it simply will not open the pbo file.

It states that it isn't a pbo file,while,obviously it is.

Well,off to stuff I know!!!

Thanks for all the input!

lol... nice remedy kylania... btw... did you guys manage to get ai planes to take off from the nimitz yet?