Helicopter Gunship DEX News

[p]This update adds the following...[/p]

1. [p]All trees on Central Libya have now been updated to the new instancing system Trees are now visible out to a 12km distance - which is the maximum range of the targeting pod.[/p][p]You should also see some sort of performance increase although this will vary depending on your individual specs.[/p][p]Trees will also align to the terrain even when flattened by installations.[/p]
2. [p]Fixed the wingman "Fire on my designator" command which would only make them fire once. After that they would no longer fire on any target.[/p][p]You MUST designate a valid target so that your wingman can choose a suitable weapon. You cannot target the ground, at least not initially - see below.[/p][p]When using this mode your wingman will be able to launch weapons from cover if that weapon has a "top down" attack mode like the Hellfire & Brimstone. All other weapons require line of sight.[/p][p]When the missile is launched you will get the count down to impact on your HUD and you can re-designate targets while the missile is in flight, even targeting the ground if you so wish.[/p]
3. [p]Fixed the Reaper UAV (again!) so its Hellfires now launch and track correctly.[/p]
4. [p]Fixed a bug on the Chinook where cargo bay 4 would not unload correctly.[/p]
5. [p]Added some skill levels to the Enemy Force Strength drop down which provides some randomisation but locked within a specific range. The options are as follows...[/p][p]1. Very Easy (50-100pts)[/p][p]2. Easy (150 - 200pts)[/p][p]3. Normal (250 - 350pts)[/p][p]4. Challenging (400 - 500pts)[/p][p]5. Hard (550 - 650pts)[/p][p]6. Very Hard (700 - 800pts)[/p][p]7. Impossible? (850 -1000 pts)[/p][p]I can then tweak these ranges based on feedback but I think they should be roughly correct ːsteamhappyː[/p]

[p]This update adds the following...[/p]

1. [p]All Apache helicopters have been upgraded to use the new engine sound system.[/p]
2. [p]Chinook loading ramp animation updated so the top part of the ramp slides into the bottom part correctly.[/p]
3. [p]Updated sling load cargo to prevent any floating point issues.[/p]
4. [p]Added "Random" options to Deployment Point and Enemy Strength drop downs which works as follows..[/p]
   • [p]Deployment Points - will select a random value between 200 and 1,000[/p]
   • [p]Enemy Strength - will select a random value within +-50% of the Deployment Point value but never more than 1,000.[/p]
   [p]This ensures that missions are generated within sensible value ranges and not opposite ends of the scale which could create seemingly impossible missions. You can still override manually if you so wish.[/p]
5. [p]Added an "EQUAL" option to the Enemy Strength drop down which makes Enemy Strength always equal to the Deployment Point value. There are no limits on this so if you select 2,000DP then the enemy strength will also be set to 2,000![/p]
6. [p]Updated some gimbal limits for the Chinooks tail gunner.[/p]
7. [p]Updated Chinook pilot and co-pilot seat positions so the cockpit MFDs are more visible.[/p]
8. [p]Updated the MFD LODs to fix some nasty looking low poly meshes.[/p]
9. [p]A.I. wingmen should now work a lot better. It looks like a bug was introduced a few updates ago and I had to roll back to a previous version. This means the A.I. currently won't use the Maverick and may make multiple "No Targets in Range" calls when they run out of targets.[/p][p]The other thing I noticed is that the A.I. will stick to the correct engagement ranges of missiles and report "No suitable Weapon" (they need to say "Target is out of range" but I don't have a audio file for that!) which can cause some confusion. Hellfire / APKWS / DAGR actually have much shorter ranges than what you can achieve with them. [/p][p]For example; Laser Hellfire max. real range is 6km but you can strike targets right out to 12km. The A.I., however, will obey the 6km range which means you can often be designating a target what you think is well within range only for your wingman to say "No Suitable Weapon" because technically it is out of range!
   
   Until I implement these true ranges for the player I've increased the range to 12km for the A.I. as well. ːsteamhappyː[/p]
10. [p]Fixed a bug with A.I. wingmen which would cause them to stop firing after they had engaged and killed infantry.[/p]
11. [p]A.I. wingmen will now follow your altitude much more closely when in formation.[/p]
12. [p]Introduced a new rendering system for the trees on "Central Libya" this should give a good speed boost (I gained 20% fps). The caveat is that there is more "popping" of trees in the distance but this is something I shall solve in the next iteration. The plus side is that even dead trees now react to rotor wash![/p]
13. [p]Updated all mission scripts to fix any mis-assignment of side - you shouldn't see allied buildings in enemy bases and vice versa.[/p]
14. [p]Updated all mission scripts to allow a larger margin of error when landing at designated points.[/p]
15. [p]Fixed a script error which was causing the Harrier to be unflyable. I think this also may have effected other fixed wing support units.[/p]
16. [p]Fixed a badly decimated mesh on the MFDs which was sometimes visible when they reached a certain size on the screen[/p]
17. [p]Fixed an incorrect angle on the front Chinook rotorblade[/p]

[p][/p][p]Thanks to all those who posted bugs etc, that made my life much easier ːcoolstar2022ː [/p]

[p]This update adds the following...[/p]

1. [p]Chinook now has access to M134 door gunners[/p]
2. [p]Chinook now has access to M2 .50cal tail gunner[/p]
3. [p]Updated and fixed Chinook door gunner gimbal limits so they no longer shoot their rotors off![/p]
4. [p]Random Scenario options are now saved between gaming sessions.[/p]
5. [p]Pilot and Co-pilot selections are now saved between gaming sessions.[/p]
6. [p]Updated the default Random Scenario settings to be a little more forgiving for new players. Now the 1st time you play a mission the settings will default to 1,500 Deployment Points facing a 100pt Enemy Force Strength. [/p][p]This should give a much less punishing mission for new comers and allow them to deploy pretty much whatever helicopter/weapon load out they wish while they learn how the game works.[/p]
7. [p]Sector's now respect the Enemy Force Strength setting when deploying forces. This is calculated as a ratio between selected Enemy Force Strength and the Sector's air and ground defence levels.
   
   A 500pt Enemy Force Strength is considered a hard bur fair mission level and is the baseline that I use to when comparing difficultyːsteamhappyː[/p]
8. [p]Fixed a distance calculation error which would sometimes prevent trees and ground detail from being displayed when transitioning between terrain tiles.[/p]

[p]This update adds the following...[/p]

1. [p]Separated Deployment Points & Enemy Force Strength into two separate options when generating a Random Scenario.[/p][p]Enemy Force Strength only effects front line and specific target defences. Sectors are still populated according to their Supply Level so you'll still need to see where strong holds are and avoid those areas if possible but running a low Enemy Force Strength should open up a lot more room to manoeuvre.[/p][p]Mission score is still currently based on the Enemy Force Strength selected so the lower this value is the lower the reward for completing a mission. This is actually not really fair and should actually reflect the difference between the Enemy Force Strength and Deployment Points selected. I'll update that shortly.[/p]
2. [p]Updated the Apache's rotor brake force so that it slows down a bit more realistically.[/p]
3. [p]Hopefully fixed the bugs causing cargo to not register as delivered correctly.[/p]
4. [p]Sling loaded cargo deliveries are now logged in the mission log correctly and you will be awarded the correct score.[/p]
5. [p]Updated all theatres so the BLUFOR no longer uses the Strela or TOR. Instead it will use the Roland 2[/p]
6. [p]Fixed a bug that would cause errors when opening up the mission map mid-mission.[/p]

[p]This update adds in the Chinook as a fully flyable aircraft. This is a beta as there are still a number of things that I need to tidy up etc.[/p]

1. [p]Flyable Chinook! The Chinook can be used in any mission that requires delivering cargo or troops. Currently it can be fitted with M60 door and tail gunners.[/p][p]The Chinook is sling load compatible and the A.I. can fly it although currently they cannot pick anything up via sling load.[/p]
2. [p]Updated the Chinook A.I. so that it will fly in formation more accurately and won't lag behind or go too high. I'll be able to apply this to all helicopters once I'm sure it's all working correctly.[/p]
3. [p]The Maverick missile is now useable by the A.I. and will no longer say it is unsuitable in the load out screen.[/p]
4. [p]Fixed the "Time of Day" system so that the time is displayed correctly and any time compression is applied correctly.[/p]
5. [p]Fixed a bug which would cause the secondary mission briefing to not be displayed if you tried to fly a mission involving 2 troop transport missions.[/p]
6. [p]Hard point loadout position indicator is now shown correctly when loading a saved custom loadout.[/p]
7. [p]Increased the margin or error allowed when landing on helipads to collect or deliver cargo. It was a little unforgiving ːsteamhappyː[/p]
8. [p]Added a new music track "Heavy 8" for all those cargo pilots out there![/p]

[p]Known bugs[/p][p]Sometimes it might be impossible to collect or deliver cargo if a 2nd installation is really close to your destination installation. I'm working on a fix, but be aware that you might not be able to complete the cargo missions at the moment if this happens.[/p]