Helicopter Gunship DEX News

This update adds the following...

1. The Scenario Generator will now add some light forces to both allied and enemy sectors. Allied forces consist of M1A1 tanks while the rest of their units are borrowed from the current REDFOR vehicles until I get the correct unit models in game.

2. Allied air defence threat circles are now shown on the Mission Planning map and can be toggled on/off using the map layer menu

3. Once the mission starts the button to select your starting base is now removed correctly

This update fixes the following...

1. The Infantry Beta mission now works again. It is still based on the old random mission code so doesn't obey the sector system as such. This can lead to the mission generating pick up and drop off points inside enemy territory.

2. Door gunners should now be able to target infantry that have entered buildings more easily as they will now receive the correct positioning information for the soldiers.

3. Fixed the bug where sometimes your wingman would spawn inside your helicopter. This was due to incorrect helipads being assigned at the start of the mission.

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This should mean that everything is now as functional as the current public branch but with added Sectors ːsteamhappyː

I shall now begin re-writing all the mission scripts to utilise the Sector System with the first set focusing on cargo and infantry transportation.

I will also be looking at getting enemy & allied forces to deploy into their sectors correctly as I really need to see how much stress this will put on the whole game. Fingers crossed the bubble system will hold and performance impact should be minimal. ːcoolstar2022ː

Quick hotfix for Norway and Lush Desert so that the front lines are generated correctly and the game knows where to place things!

This update adds the following...

1. Introduces the basic Sector System setup to the Dynamic Mission Generator. You will now see the various sectors marked on the map. By default the sectors will be split approximately 50/50 between allied and enemy owner.

The front line is now generated dynamically and takes into account sector ownership as well as sector strength. Enemy unit placement will still follow the rules of the front line system and won't go too far into allied territory.

Each sector has a stats readout that tells you the status of that Sector as well as the number of helipads and which helicopters are currently assigned to that sector's helipads. At the moment these details are not used and can be safely ignored for the moment.

Each sector will have at least 2 helipads and a possible maximum of 12 spread between 1 or more bases. You can choose which sector to start at by clicking the "Set As Homebase" button and you will be assigned a pad by traffic control - there's currently no penalty for doing this so if you want a shorter mission feel free to choose a base closer to the front lines.

You can filter what is shown on the map by using the Map Layer options in the bottom left of the Mission Planning screen as well as scale the map icons.

Everything else for the Random Mission remains the same.

Central Libya, Norway and Lush Desert have all been upgraded to work with the new Sector System.

2. Dragging waypoints now updates the path line in real time.

3. Infantry will now only engage air units with small arms fire at a maximum of 350m. Range of MANPADS remains unchanged at 1km. Infantry will still fire upon ground targets upto 750m away.

4. Infantry system has been updated to return the correct centre point for a infantry team member. This should increase the accuracy of door gunners who were actually shooting at the infantry's feet! This also effects the small arms tracer fire which should no longer come from a soldier's AK-47 boot!

5. Experimental rotor air flow system which will cause smoke particles to be blown down and away from the helicopters main rotor blades. This should effect everything from gun smoke and missiles trails to burning wreckage smoke.

KNOWN ISSUES

1. The "Set As Homebase Button" are not disabled when the mission starts. It's probably best not to click on them while in flight ːsteamlaughcryː

2. When using the "RTB" command your wingman might land on your helipad.

Here's a quick preview of the incoming Mi-35 and SuperHind models + their colour schemes ːsteamhappyː

The Mi-35 has a more advanced targeting pod over the standard Mi-24. However, due to its "clipped wings" it does lose two hard points. This is mostly over come by the fact the outer hardpoints can carry 8 x AT-6C Spiral each and, eventually once I have some models for them, 8 x Ataka (Spiral 2) missiles. This give the Mi-24 upto 16 guided missiles while still leaving the inner hard points free for rocket or gunpods!

The Mi-35 has fixed undercarriage which reduces its top speed.

The SuperHind is a massive upgrade over the standard Mi-24 with improved optics, a 20mm cannon turret and 6 hard points!