AI & Multiplayer Aircraft Carrier - HMS Ark Royal R09

Comments

• stuartc

  April 22

  A little hint for those thinking its going to be like the Stock carriers. Its not.

  Size difference compared to a Nimitzs class

  
  

  

  
  

  Landing and takeoff tips.

  Landing. Be bang on the red Centre line or you may require a change of underwear.

  Take off. Larger / heavy aircraft are best using the side Cat. Its longer and give that little bit extra. For F4 type aircraft its best the carrier is at full steam. Its still a short deck for such an aircraft.

  Good luck.
• inexel0853

  10:22AM

  Thanks Stu for this impressive development.

  I have some 3d models of Japanese WWII carriers which I used in AI scenarios. To facilitate take-off and landing I would like to add catapult and arrestor animations, even if anachronic. I have some difficulty having the catapult position defined in the .ac file seen by the command Engage Launch Bar. I have therefore some questions to help me finding a solution, after looking the way you implemented these functions for R09:

  • In the R09 AI scenario what is the purpose of the <catapult> property ? I did not notice it for other carrier scenarios (nimitz, etc).
  • Is it mandatory to put the carrier AI model directory within FGROOT/data/models/geometry to have the catapult and wire animations working ? Or can it be freely put elsewere ?
  • Is it mandatory to have a nasal section in the .xml for controlling the carrier position ? If yes what should it be at minimum ? Can it still work with a 0 kt speed carrier?

  Any other relevant advice would be appreciated, should you be kind to pay attention to my demand.

  Thanks in advance for your consideration

  Best regards

  F-LCAS
• stuartc

  11:40AM

  Ok, this is something that took me 10 years to get working. Don't feel bad that you are also finding it difficult to work out. It just is a complete pain.

  <catapult>

  <num>3</num>

  <cat>

  <id>1</id>

  <!-- Match cat-1 position as reference -->

  <pos-x>-60.0</pos-x>

  <pos-y>-10.95</pos-y>

  <pos-z>16.3</pos-z>

  <heading-deg>6</heading-deg>

  <end-speed-kt>300</end-speed-kt>  <!-- catapult power -->

  <length-m>120</length-m>

  </cat>

  </catapult>

  Without this entry in the AI scenario for the non standard carriers, The cat may only work in a basic low power way. With this you can define the position, heading, power and virtual length of the cat.

  Side note. The aircraft also need to have a launch bar defined in the FDM and a hook defined as well to use the wires and cat effectively.

  
  

  "Is it mandatory to put the carrier AI model directory within FGROOT/data/models/geometry" - This is what makes your carrier solid. Objects loaded from that directory are solid. Load it from else where, and you will likely fall through the deck as it wont be classed as a solid object by FlightGear.

  
  

  • Is it mandatory to have a nasal section in the .xml for controlling the carrier position ? If yes what should it be at minimum ? Can it still work with a 0 kt speed carrier? - If you are only needing a static object, then no, you dont need the nasal for an AI ship that is static. The nasal for controlling the position in the model xml in the geometry folder is mainly for multiplayer use. ( for ships with a live captain ).