The Air Tactical Assault Group - Team Fusion - Cliffs of Dover > IL2 Cliffs of Dover > Full Mission Builder and Scripts > Spacing between spawn points and stationary objects?
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I'm currently creating airfields for my MP mission and am trying to create a busy airfield environment (without going overboard hopefully) and am wondering how close i can place the spawn points to stationary aircraft?
I've tried to make sure i'm at least ~ 1 x wingspan away (refer attached image) but I am wondering how reliably the spawn points locate themselves on the map. In other words am i trying to be too clever by placing them too close to their stationary brethren?
Any ideas/advice appreciated - thanks.
My experience has been that aircraft spawn EXACTLY on the spawn point coordinate.
edit: if that's what you've done then ignore me, I'm only having my morning coffee just now...brain slowly waking...slowly..
Same with me, just remember the wind and its speed will move the planes nose into the wind so keep in mind whats behind and slightly to the side as well.
I'd also look at moving back your static planes and trucks a little farther back from the taxiway, there are a few on the hanger side that get close enough where someone not spawning in at point 5/6 will probably run into them.
If I really want to try and crowd things in, I put in a couple of temporary static aircraft so I can maintain my sense of scale.
But I still end up leaving a bit of a margin, and then add a bit more elbow room. I think the closest I've been able to crowd things in is about a wingspan and a bit, if you see what I mean.
I am extra careful, though, about leaving space between spawn points themselves. These really don't like each other very much! (But separate spawn trees belonging to separate airports layered over each other don't interfere with each other at all. Not at all. Nothing. Nada. Layer those buggers as much as you like!).
In the end, boring trail and error is the best way to check, though. Spawning in with no fuel, quitting the aircraft and then spawning in again with no fuel, etc, etc.
Thanks for the replies everyone - much appreciated and I'll adjust accordingly.
A follow on question - how do I test the spawn points? This is the first MP mission for me and I've seen mention of creating a server on my pc to test MP missions. Is this way to test spawn points and if so is there a guide to how to set up a server?
Delete all your actual flying aircraft so you don't spawn in them. Without any "aircraft" in the map, create your own lobby and pick your mission to launch. Once its up you'll get the normal flags, pick the side you want to test, pick the airfield and then spawn in, if the first one isn't where you know where you placed it, then back out, back to FMB and adjust accordingly. This process can get frustrating but keep at it, sometimes its just small adjustments to the aerodome runway symbol and moving it closer or farther away.
Anyways, if your first point is spot on, then hit esc, and pick the same airport, spawn again. You should spawn in on the 2nd point since your other aircraft will be there still. I was able to do this myself up to spawn point 7 before the despawn script (if you have it in) kicks in and despawns the other aircraft. If you have testers you can get a lot more points checked but honestly I only checked it up to 7.... if your first few work why wouldnt the other ones?
Thanks SM - just got my server going and was able to test most of the airfields I have created thus far.
On one base they had spawn points inside hangars which i didnt create. I'm assuming in this case the game has reverted back to the default spawn points and hasnt taken mine. From reading the posts it seems that i can fix this by moving my airfield object away from the default airfield object and / or move my 'O' point away from the airfield default?
Testing spawn points, I start me server, load the mission, click "start battle", click on the flag and zoom right in on the airfield. Then I spawn in an aircraft with no fuel. That way, when I quit it, the AI won't be able to take over and drive it away. Then I press "Esc" and click on the flag again. The game asks if I want to quit the aircraft. After I say yes, I can then respawn using the same "spawn point" and the game will hopefully put me in a new aircraft in the next "spawning location". Repeat ad infinitum (or - in my case - until my game crashes). My record is about 25 respawns.
By the way, concerning locating your spawn points, here's an old screenie of an experimental but fully functioning Oye Plage. It's a bit confusing, but you can see the airfield periferies (I've got two airfields superimposed on the map) and the two spawn points way way outside the airfields.
But it matters not, so long as the spawn points are still closer to my "airfields" than any of the map's default ones (at Oye Plage or elsewhere).
Thanks Swallow - i didnt use zero fuel when i tried spawning earlier so will do that next time. My system crashed after many spawns - wasnt counting though.
I pick the biggest static aircraft that might spawn at a field (e.g. He 111) and place it on the spawn point.
I then save, open the mission file and find the He 111. I then set it exactly to the same coordinates as the spawn point. I do the same for the others.
Then I go back into the mission editor and click on the static aircraft. I use the keypad keys to rotate the model (and those nearby) and make sure they never touch (in some missions, aircraft mysteriously rotate on the ground, and if you don't put the brakes on... KNALL!
I also make sure there is a bit of space in front (and to the front left and front right), in case the aircraft starts rolling a bit. Of course, it needs space to manoeuvre out completely, but allowing for steering errors in the initial phase is sort of important.
Someone else, Swallow actually might have answered it actually.. anyways I always had to adjust those new aerodome logos around to get them to work. Sometimes it was perfect and needed no adjustment, other airfields it took me hours.
How exactly to show in FMB SpawnPoints?