Mto: hardcore realism/training tool

[dinger 1]

Hey folks,

I'm just finishing up writing the mother of all artillery scripts.  This sucker differs from most in that, rather than trying to make a bunch of explosions, it simulates the duties of a forward observer/fire support team for anywhere between a platoon and a battalion (! ) of 155-mm howitzers.  It's based on the following field manuals:

PDFs:

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/query/download/FM+6-30

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/query/download/FM+6-40

html:

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/6-30/f630.htm

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/6-40/f640.htm

I nearly killed myself writing this thing, and I did a bunch of debugging; but now my scrollmouse nerve is sore, I can barely lift the keyboard, and my monitor is shot from changing resolutions all the time.  So I need some folks to take a look at what I've got and tell me what they think/ What bugs there may be left.

I have tons of documentation on what I did (I designed this to be used by other mission designers), plus you CAN (and should) use the field manual, since it explains a lot of the techniques to use to be effective.

This is not another "bang you're dead" artillery script.  Sure, when you catch that infantry company in the open with an ICM barrage, the results are a pile of bodies (with maybe a couple of guys crawling around), but bringing the fire on target against an advancing foe is a challenge.  And if a smart designer limits the artillery available, it can be quite interesting.

Here's what's NOT supported:

HOB adjustments (Time fuzes detonate in according to PE at range with a center of 8 m height)

FASCAM missions/ Planned Suppression missions (Immediate suppression yes)

WP  ( )

Non-contiguous multiple targets in a single mission (quadrant fire is supported)

Realistic Target Description (it'd be cool, but it'd be purely ornamental)

Coordinated Illumination (I've got continuous, and if someone's got a mission for it, I'll throw in coordinated illum)

here's its features:

100% mod-free

Multiplayer compatible

methods of target location:

Grid, Polar, Laser Polar (with G/VLLD)

Missions: In Adjust, Fire For Effect, Immediate Suppression, Immediate Smoke, Destruction, Continuous Illumination, Copperhead

Munitions: HE, ICM, DPICM, SMOKE, ILLUM, CLGP

Fuzes: Time, Quick, VT, CP

--Different effects for different shells and fuzes.

Distributions: Parallel, Converged, Open, Lateral.  I could do a BCS circular plot if someone yells.

Quadrant Firing; sweep and zone; massed fire with TOF and PE calculated separatedly for each of the platoons and targets (with separate GT lines, of course)

Methods of Control: At My Command (By round if someone asks me for it), Time On Target.

Decent Radio comms; I've also got the hooks in there for mission reaction times if anyone feels like waiting a few minutes for the battery to get the mission ready.

Corrections: Add/Drop, Left/Right in meters along the OT or (for aerial observation) GT line.

Fire commands: Cease Loading, Check Firing, Repeat.

Shell accounting: you can ask for continuous fire, but when a platoon runs out of the munitions assigned to you by the mission creator, it ceases fire.

Oh yeah, and scripts to make the AI hit the dirt and head for cover when they hear the rounds inbound.

So as you can see, this thing ain't exactly a toy -- it can do anything from 20-minute prep fires on a square km to taking out the commander's vehicle with a single laser-guided shell.  I really need folks willing to take a look at it and take it around the block, but you'd have to be interested in this sort of thing.  Look at FM6-30 above, especially say chapters four and five, and if you want to help me out, drop me a line at dinger@raf303.org