Quote:Even the most basic seemed to assume I knew stuff from IL2, for example I had to search for ages to find out how to 'deselect' an object which I had selected! Nothing is intuitive in the FMB! But I have now learned a thing or two which other novice mission builders may also benefit from. So here is Heinkill's Full Mission Builder for Dummies. When time permits, I'll add a few screen captures to illustrate this guide.

INTRO

Want to create a 1 vs 1 mission for a Beaufighter vs a Bf110? 8 Ju88s vs a Sunderland? Ground attack on a Luftwaffe airfield in Belgium? You can, using the full mission builder (FMB).

The FMB is found in the EXTRAS menu.

CREATING A NEW MISSION

It is easiest to create a new mission from an existing mission - such as those that are in the existing Single Missions menu, or, by creating your own missions in the Quick Mission Builder, then saving and adjusting those. If you do this, you can avoid a lot of the work to set up all the waypoints, altitudes, airspeeds, skill levels etc etc as many of these will already have been created.

I will explain both processes then outline some FMB basic commands.

A. Modify an existing single mission

This is easiest, just open the FMB (EXTRAS menu) and choose FILE>LOAD MISSION and you will see a list of the missions that are in the Single Missions menu and folder. Load one of these that is close in design to the type of mission you want to create, and start modifying it! (See example mission below)

B. Create a quick mission and then make it accessible to the FMB

This requires a little more manual intervention but gives more flexibility.

1. Choose a Quick Mission type that fits the mission type you want to create (eg dogfight, ground attack, bomber intercept etc)

2. Adjust the parameters to the extent possible in the QMB (aircraft type, altitude etc) and 'save as' a new mission. It will appear at the bottom of your Quick Mission list.

3. Go to the folder: 1CSoftclub>IL2CliffsofDover>Mission>Quick and COPY the mission and briefing files for the mission you have just created (note this folder is 'mission', not 'missions')

4. PASTE these files into the folder 1CSoftclub>IL2CliffsofDover>Missions>Single (note, this folder is mission's' with an 's'. Confusing, I know).

You can then start the FMB and you should find your newly created quick mission in the list of missions available for you to open and modify.


The 11 Commands You Need to create or edit a mission

• Pan around the map with mouse: left click and hold
  
  
• Zoom in and out: mouse wheel
  
  
• Selecting an object or flight: Point and left click
  
  
• Editing an existing flight or object: Select and right click, then click Properties
  
  
• Delete an object: Left click to select, and hit DELETE
  
  
• Unselect a flight or object: right click when selected, and choose Unselect. Or just hit Ctrl+Alt
  
  
• Add a new flight or object: Ctrl and left click. This gives you a circle that you can either change to an object via Properties, or turn into a flight with waypoints by pointing at another part of the map and repeating Ctrl and left click.
  
  
• Moving an object or waypoint: Left click, hold and move
  
  
• Changing object type and properties: Select a flight or object, right click and choose Properties. Now you can change the object or aircraft type, the side (axis or allies), waypoint actions and altitudes, formation type and size, squadron etc.
  
  
• Setting time of day and weather: You can't save time of day in the Quick mission builder, so don't try. And you can't set weather. To do this go to the FMB main menu bar, choose VIEW>MISSION PARAMETERS and then you can change weather, time of day and cloud altitude.
  
  
• Writing mission briefings: Go to main menu and choose EDIT>BRIEFINGS. Here you can write the briefings for each unit in the mission, and add the screenshot which will be shown on the briefing screens.
  

Quote:

• You can ALT+LMB [LMB= left mouse button] click and drag a box around a group of objects, e.g. a composed flak battery, then RMB [right mouse button] over the map to bring the pop-up menu select "Copy to file" and save then as.
  
  
• To import in another mission, RMB and "Paste from file".
  
  
• To deselect a group of objects, ALT+RMB click and drag a box over (grouped) objects.
  

Quote:This is a tricky one.

In the FMB menu, you will see an option to "Rotate Objects as a Group". This allows you to select a whole bunch of objects and then rotate them all together as a unit.

There are several persnickety steps:

• Right click on the map & "unselect". This unselects any individual object you may currently have selected. The following steps WILL NOT WORK unless you do this step first! And, you'll have to keep re-doing the step prior to each time you want to rotate as a group, as you will almost always end up 'selecting' something as you click around the map to manipulate and move your group.
  
  
• Use alt key + right-mouse-button click-and-drag to de-select any grouped objects you have previously selected. The group-selected objects will display as red and will return to their normal color when you de-select them.
  
  
• Now use alt key + hold-and-drag left mouse button to select a groups of objects. You can do this several times to add more objects to the selection. The objects will turn red as you select them.
  
  
• You can also use alt key + hold-and-drag right mouse button to deselect some of the objects. They will turn from red back to their normal color as you deselect them.
  
  
• Continue selecting & deselecting until you have the objects you want to rotate as a group.
  
  
• Now go until the FMB menu and deselect "rotate as a group" (ie, uncheck it) and then select it (ie, make it have a check mark)
  
  
• Now you can rotate the group of objects the same way you usually rotate a single object. By default this is done using the keypad keys (ie Keypad 4-6, 7-0, 1-3, etc) but check your "Settings/Controls" to see what keys are set up in your FMB.
  
  
• The mouse position is the center point of rotation, so move the mouse around in order to change the rotation. Usually I put the mouse pointer right in the middle of the group I'm rotating, for best precision of resolution.
  
  
• As soon as you click an object or most anything else on the map you'll lose your rotation control. You'll have to go through that whole process again to get it to work again.