Hornet Editing Version II
by front (Mar2000)
Section 1: Introduction
After I released a mission for the Hornet 2.0 DEMO many people e-mailed
me looking for information on how I made up the various Hornet 2.0 and Korean
Crisis STRiKE missions. I wrote this document in 1997 on how to change the
training missions in the Hornet 2.0.1 release as examples of how to edit
the Hornet 2.0.1 Data file.
Section 2: Quickstart
There are a couple of very basic ground rules to always remember when delving
around in the Hex of a Hornet Data file. If you delete even one hex offset
by mistake, the Data file is corrupted, and will not load. Work on a copy
and lock the original that you keep on your hard disk for comparison.
The placement of strings and positioning vectors is crucial. They must be
in the exact place and you are limited, by space, to the number of 'commands'
you can give an AI model. Most of the tags are in pairs so check them.
Hornet 1.1.x was limited to the number of objects that could be placed into
a mission. I think it was fourteen. I have not found the limit yet in Hornet
2.0.1., but I have found that the more you put in, the slower the sim runs
as more objects eat up CPU cycles.
The offsets, tags, and other information contained herein relate to the
F/A-18 Data 2.0 file from the full game, Kuwait Theatre only. Korean Crisis
is different. I cannot type in all the data strings so please have a copy
of the data file open. Then you can follow along with ease.
Check your own scenarios, if you make any, in all graphic detail preferences,
especially Complex. Your wingman who taxis perfectly in Low detail could
be crashing through a hangar that appears in Complex detail only.
Section 3: Notation and Nicknames used:
nn, where n is a hex number.
pv. is the positioning vector or TACN information.
AI refers to the Artificial Intelligence used by the models.
Section 4: Applications that you will need:
A hex editor, HexEdit would be preferrable.
A patcher.
And Hornet....
Section 5: The Basic Tags
1. Take Off and Flight
We'll begin by examining the first 6 training missions within the Hornet
2.0 data file, building a familiarity with the structure of the data strings
and tags.
Lets start by jumping straight into an example. This example is the first
FA18 Hornet encountered in the training mission "Take Off and Flight".
The FA18 data string in this mission starts at offset 56EE47 and continues
down to 56EFE2. Each seperate object in the missions are identified by a
number to the right of their 4 letter tag, in this case it is 00 as this
is the Hornet that you fly. (In the 'debug' mode where you enter the mission
number and type of plane you wish to fly, you will always be 'dropped' into
the plane with the 00 number. So if there are three SU27 in the mission
you choose, you're going into the first one.)
So looking along the Hex we see 46 41 31 38 00 00.... This is the Hex for
Hornet One. The next 3 offsets are always 00 00 00.
Then we come across the 0C nn pair. As far as I can tell it is an identification
code that diffrentiates between Advanced Fighters, Fighters, Offence, Ground
Targets and so on. It is used to tally the score at the end of your mission.
It can also be used as a type of radar identification code as setting it
to 0C 00 will render your Hornet invisible to enemy radar. (Stealth Hornet!)
Hornets always have it set to 0C 15, except in the Network missions where
it's 0C 34 for Red Force leader, 0C 35 for Red Force wingman etc. This has
something to do with the way the Network score is tallied.
The next pair we encounter,11 00, is for placing the model on the TACN 0
point or first pv. Setting it to 11 01 will put you on the TACN 1 point
or second pv. and so on. Setting it to 12 00 will cause the game to select
a random setting from your TACN points..., more about this later.
15 00 at the next two offsets sets the direction in which the Hornet faces,
in this case it's 00, or 360 degrees.
The next tag is the IFF tag. 0D 01 is always your friendly IFF, 0D 00 is
the enemy's 'no reply'. This is also used for scoring. Frag something with
0D 01 as it's IFF tag and you get courtmartialled.
The next offset E8 is 'end the string'
It's simple. We'll skip the pv.s for the moment and go on to have a look
at the Hornet Wingman.
Scroll down to offset 56EFE2. Here is 46 41 31 38 00 01... the hex for your
wingman. Note the 01 at 56EFE8. We see 0C 15 again, and the 11 00 pair.
Then it's 15 12 as the wingman is turned 180 degrees facing you. 0D 01 means
he is friendly.
Then at 56EFF4 we encounter 31 05. This is a time delay tag, and tells the
plane to wait exactly 5 minutes before starting up. 31 is the tag for a
minute delay, the next part sets the number of minutes.
After the time delay we get the first 'taxi' tag 19 01. Remember his start
point was his TACN 0 (11 00), so he now taxis to the first TACN point.
The next five offsets are the "wait for tower clearance" settings,
25 01 38 25 00. The middle 38 is the "clearance" tag, 25 01 is
"brake on", 25 00 is "brake off". Then 19 02, taxi to
the second TACN point. Then wait for clearance again. Now he is about to
turn onto the runway at 19 03, third TACN point...
He's off! 1E 00 1A means get up in the air (at offset 56F006).
Next we meet our first height tag pair, 20 03. 20 is the tag for "come
to height", 03 means 2,999 ft, (and 00 is 200ft).
Our wingman is now cruising to his fourth TACN point 1C 04. 1C nn is the
general setting for turning through TACN points. 19 nn is for turning through
TACN points while taxiing, the models keep a steady 49/50 kts on the ground.
2D 01... this is a very handy tag pair. Basically it is an order for the
plane to turn to the next TACN point AHEAD of reaching it. In this instance
it's about 1-3 seconds before. We will use this extensively later when we
discuss the methods of our wingman selecting and firing at targets, with
Mavericks, from a good distance out.
The next tags are repetitive. We see our wingman turning through TACN points
5, 6, and 7 as he turns around the base.
Then comes 2D 08 20 01 at offset 56F019. Here he begins his landing procedure
about a mile (2D 08) from the end of the runway. 20 01 means he comes to
999ft. Then 2D 05 38, check for clearance to land from tower about half
a mile from runway. If cleared then 2D 01 24.... 24 is the important tag.
This is the landing tag. It tells the AI models to line up on the ILS, lower
wheels, flaps, decrease thrust (22 32), and land after a few seconds (2F
04) at 22 32 thrust.
22 nn is a great tag pair. It is the thrust tag. Most of the cruising AI
planes in the game are usually set to 22 64 which is 100% thrust. In Hornet
1.1.x, they used to be set to 90%. But you can set the tag higher eg. 22
8F is 142% which will give F16C's a steady 1.1 Mach, and the result does
not burn fuel like an afterburner. As you set the tag higher and higher
the AI planes begin to "Yo-Yo", and end up nosediving into the
ground. They keep trying to maintain their cuising height but the incresing
speed amplifies their minute corrections, resulting in a chain reaction
of up and down flight path corrections. You could set it to 22 FF, which
is as high as it will go. The result is ridiculous, but the possibilities....
we all know that the Air to Air missiles have a fixed speed. What would
be the result of an SU27 who suddenly took off at 2.5-3.5 mach the first
time you came within range of it and out-ran your missiles? See a later
section on this.
The 2F 04, at 56F025 is another time delay tag which will be discussed later.
Then it's 19 08 and 19 09 for our wingman as he taxis off the runway, and
straight into tag 3A 0A which simply means he is to repeat the moves again
and again....
E8 is "end the string"
The other Hornet at offset 5FF17E follows the same as rota as Hornet 2.
The JEEP, TNKR, and UH60 cruise around. The TNKR stops at his third TACN
point dropping his thrust to nothing, 22 00. The JEEP and UH60 run through
their strings, and then wait a few seconds before doing it all again, mindlessly.
2. Airstrip landing
On to the second training mission "Airstrip landing". Go to offset
578F3E, if you scroll down it will take you a while. As you can see there
is quite an empty space between the mission start strings, just waiting
to be filled with objects. Again the first FA18 is yours, ie. Hornet One.
Compare the tags to the example we have seen. It is basically the same,
apart from the 13 01 at offset 578F4D. I call this tag pair the 'dropped
into' pair, as it is the setting for the height into which you start the
game at. In this mission you start in the air, 13 01 is 999 ft. You can
set it to whatever you like, as long as you don't exceed the GSC ceiling.
A setting of 13 1F is 31,999ft. This tag will be handy later on for placing
enemy fighters already in the air at the target areas. The thrust tag pair
is present as your engines are already switched on at 22 4C, 76% thrust.
Note that the 13 01 tag is between the 11 00 15 00 pairs and the IFF tag
0D 01.
The other Hornets are the same, and the JEEP has been replaced by an extra
UH60.
3. Carrier Operations
Offset 583037 brings us to the carrier operations Hornet. You are at 1,999
ft, tag 13 02. Notice that the 13 02 is placed this time between the 11
nn and the 15 nn pairs. The direction in which you are facing is 350 degrees
so the tag is 15 23.
Hornet 2 is landing and taking off from the carrier in this mission just
like he would on land. At offset 5831E4 he waits a few seconds (2F 0F),
taxis once (19 01) to a catapult and launches. He cruises around, then 'goes
landing'. All this you should be able to follow by now. At offset 5831FF
we meet the string 26 01 24 2C 26 00. The first pair is the tag for "lower
hook" and the 24 is "land". 2C which is next means "come
to a dead stop" (snagging the arrestor wire on the carrier deck) as
26 00 means "raise hook". He then taxis to his first TACN and
does it all again.
The CARR (carrier) and BSHP, (battleships) around the Carrier, do not appear
in this section of the data file. They are static models, and are beyond
the scope of this present discussion.
4. Navigation and Radar
Nothing to grab our attention, all the tags here have been explored.
5. Air To Ground
At last we get to grapple with some radar and aggression tags and a complex
wingman.
At offset 597227 we meet our FA18, and at 597233 we note that our initial
positioning tag has been set to the first TACN point, 11 01.
Onto the wingman... I'm really impressed with the ability in Hornet 2.0.1
for the AI planes to fire AGM-65 and AGM-62 weapons accurately. Lets get
stuck right into this one. At offset 5972C3 we pick up his initial strings,
it's all standard stuff. Read it like this: he's a Hornet, he's Hornet 2,
he's at his initial starting point, he's at 1,999ft, he's friendly,... then
we meet the loadout string. Ten offsets preceeded by 0E, which sets the
loadout. Change them any way you want, (but be aware that an A10A with 7
MKLD weapons, and 2 Drop Tanks will not get very far....), our present wingman
has AIM-9Ls on stations 1 and 9. He has a Vulcan cannon, and a Maverick
at the centreline. He's not travelling very fast, thrust 22 5A, then we
meet 1D 01 04. 1D means fo to a random TACN point, 01 04 are the TACN points
he chooses, as in 1C nn. Lets see how our wingman puts that Maverick on
the target.
Check offset 5973E6, and read the string 2D 18 28 45 29 01. There is our
2D nn tag we discussed ealier, where we order the AI to "do something"
before it gets to the TACN point it's heading towards. 2D18 is about two
to three miles from target, 28 45 is "fire a Maverick", 29 01
is "one only". You can change the Maverick to Walleye and it will
function the same. The Maverick will lock onto a target as near to the TACN
point that the plane is heading for and hit it every time. If you put your
wingman further back from the target, say about 22 miles, and set the 2D
nn tag to 2D 80, he'll pop that Maverick at 20 miles and usually score a
hit. After 29 01 we meet 2D 01. This sets the Hornet to travel to and turn
from TACN one about a second or two before he reaches it. In this case he
will travel over the target he just fragged. We can set this 2D nn tag to
a value one point lower then the initial 2D nn tag that set him up to fire
the Maverick. In this case it would be 2D 17. This would mean that a few
seconds after firing at the target he would turn into his next TACN, in
this case the airfield. So we can then have him avoid the target, or even
fire another Maverick at the same target. Following on, the Hornet lands
at the base, taxis through a few TACNs and then switches off engines, coming
to a stop (22 00).
Take a look at offset 597897, and we encounter our first SAMS. This is a
very docile SAM site. His 0C nn tag is set to 0C 3B, so he is Offense on
the scoresheet. His IFF is 0D 00, so this guy hates us. Notice that he has
no 15 nn tag as he does not particulary face any one direction... and then
we meet the big one, the tag above all others...
At offset 5978A6 we get a first glimpse of the Aggression tag. Here it is
set for 0F 00 which means he is asleep, and will not notice you until you
are about three to four miles out at 1,999ft. You can set this from 0F 00
to 0F 05. The 0F nn tag has a remarkably different effect on planes as we
shall see. After the aggression tag, the radar tag 27 nn appears. 27 01
is 'on', 27 00 is 'off'. This tag does not really affect the way a ground
unit will target and fire at you. It affects the way the unit will show
up on your ARAD radar. If you gave a HUMV or JEEP this tag, it will also
show up on your ARAD radar.
The ZS23 unit at offset 597A33 is similar to the SAM site. His 0C nn tag
is 0C 3A, but his initial placement vector tag is 12 00 01. The 12 00 nn
tag means choose a random position from a number of TACNs. Here its set
to 12 00 01. Which means that this ZS23 unit is to choose his position from
a choice of two. That's how in some missions, like "Black Gold",
the SAM sites move around. His aggression tag is also 0F 00. The second
ZS23 is the same. They are all asleep on that island!
6. Air To Air
Offset 5A131E is where it starts. Two of the MG27 fighters do not have their
radar on, and have aggression 0F 00. So they ignore you. The third has his
radar on but his aggression is 0F 00 as well. He has two missiles but as
his aggression tag is so low he will ignore you as well. I suppose GSC switched
on his radar so you could see him on RWR.
That's it for the Training missions. You can try changing some of the tags
now. Wake up that SAM site by changing his aggression to 0F 05. He'll really
hate you then! Select the 00 after the 0F, type in 05, and save the changes.
Make sure that you have at least 14 megs free space on your hard disk, and
be prepared to wait a couple of second while the hex editor cycles. Do the
same to that MG27, and he'll start looking for trouble, so give him some!
Section 6: Parameters
Now that you're familiar with the basic tags, we'll talk about
the size of the data strings, or the parameters under which you must work.
A Hornet object data string is composed of 412 offsets exactly, not 411
or 413 . During copying and pasting it is very easy, initially, to miss
an offset, and bang goes the entire 13.3 megs of precious data. I can usually
get it to work again now, but I remember the earlier hassles I used to have.
So I like to occasionally strip out the entire mission-in-progress, and
save it to its own file, about 41k worth. Then if I get a crash I just paste
back in the most recent saved version and carry on.
The number of offsets in the tag area is 108. It can't be exceeded. The
number of pv. offsets is 304 and this too can't be exceeded as you will
then begin to move into the next objects tag string.
You have to get used to checking this. I usually copy out the entire object.
Then I can judge that the tag string must end. You can do this now. Select
from 5A131E to 5A14BA, copy and paste to a new file. Now you have the Hornet
One from the "Air To Air" training isolated. See where the first
pv. begins? This is the border that must not be crossed.
If you are going to make use of this information, then I think that you
must get into the habit of checking these sizes constantly. We're down in
the sewers here, with flashlights and gasmasks, up to our eyes in Hex. It's
easy to slip up...
Section 7: Positioning Vectors
Now that the health warning is out of the way lets move onto the
pv.s. They are always 12 offsets long, no exceptions and come in three parts.
Lets have a look at the first pv. of Hornet One in the "Take Off and
Flight" training mission. That's at offset 56EEB3. It reads FD E2 BD
44 00 00 00 00 01 07 85 F6.
The first part, FD E2 BD 44, is the line of longitude. The first two offsets
are usually the most important to us. FD is the line running near the base.
E2 moves you across to the runway, BD puts you a little more closer, and
44 closer still. Call it that the first offset place you in the "ball
park" so to speak, and the next three refine the placement, each increasing
in accuracy.
The second part, 00 00 00 00, is used when setting on object on a raised
platform like a carrier deck or the top of a highrise. If you look at offset
58138A which is the first pv. for Hornet One in the "Air to Air"
Training Mission, you'll see 00 00 1C 16 in the second part. This puts your
Hornet on the flight deck. You can use this to put a friendly AAAS unit
on the carrier. We'll look at that later on.
The third part, 01 07 85 F6, is the line of latitude and functions the same
way as the line of longitude. Here if you set the second offset (07) to
08, you'll move him straight 'down' the runway. The distance within the
virtual battle field from 07 to 08 is about thrice the wingspan of a B52G
in the game, if I remember right.
It could not be simpler. All you need to do place a new object into a game,
using the pv.'s, is to set your Hornet's (Hornet One) first pv. to whatever
you judge is about right, save the changes, and start up the game. Now your
Hornet is exactly where your new object will be placed and you can see what's
going on. You just refine the placement using the last three offsets of
the lines of longitude and latitude, until you get it right.
Section 8: TACN points
Looking again at Hornet One in the "Take Off and Flight" training
mission we see that he has four seperate pv.'s. The first one is TACN 0,
the last is TACN 3. You usually start on TACN 0, but sometimes it changes
around.
Be careful about setting TACN points too close to a mountain if your object
is flying low. The planes AI won't cope with sudden increases in height.
Those of you with experience with Parsoft's "A-10 Attack!" will
know this. I sometimes set a TACN point just before a mountain if I have
a plane cruising to a target at 200 ft, and the mountain is in the way.
Then I make him rise up to 1000ft or whatever, cross the mountain, and then
back down to 200ft by another TACN point just after the mountain. You can
also set a TACN point near to a target, have a plane ingress to it at 200ft,
then rise up and fire a Maverick before falling to 200ft again, or rise
up for a 1000ft bombing run.
I tend to use the TACN points that are already set in the missions, taking
from one mission and using in another. It saves time, and you can just refine
the placement to suit.
Section 9: Wait Tags and Other Delays
31 nn and 2F nn are the delay tags. 31 nn is the exact minute
delay, and 2F nn is for seconds. They can be strung together, eg. 31 01
2F 0A will make a model wait for about one minute, ten seconds before for
carrying out an action. In Hornet 1.1.x, the three SU27 fighters in "Red
Ball Express" waited about 5 minutes before starting up. The first
went at 5 minutes, the second at 5.5 minutes, and the third at 6 minutes.
The method used was the above. You can experiment with different times.
One easy example to show is the A10A in the "High Flyer" mission.
At offset 692C17 you'll see a 2F 02 tag. The A10A waits a couple of seconds.
The second A10A waits a few seconds longer, 2F 0C. This allows them to taxi
to the runway without plowing into each other. You could set the delay tags
to 31 0A and 31 0B giving you about ten minutes headstart in which to take
out the air defenses at the target area. You can also put in a delay tag
before a 1C nn tag (TACN point turn). This would make the A10A circle the
TACN point giving the effect of the much-praised Time Over Target Loitering
ability of the real plane. (Just a short digression here: I think that it's
a shame that the A10A's just bomb the targets in this mission. In Desert
Storm, A-10s fired the majority of Mavericks used in-theatre. So I set them
to fire a Maverick each as well as bombing in my own file).
The next "sort-of" delay to discuss is the "wait for..."
tag. Go to offset 5E8D55. Here is the "Black Gold" mission MG23
that waits until you get too near the base and then scrambles. The string
is 34 14 46 41 31 28 2D 30 30, which reads as: 'wait until the FA18 00 Hornet
is 3 miles from you'. The 34 nn tag is the "wait for..."tag, the
nn can be set up to FF which is about 41/45 miles out. The rest makes it
wait for Hornet One. Looking at the ascii you'll see FA18-00. You can change
this around. Changing it to B52G-03, would make the MG23 wait for the third
B52G to come past, but as there is no B52G models in this mission it would
never scramble. This tag is really useful in 'staggering' SAM sites along
an approach to a target. The SAMS would only start radiating as you cross
their 34 nn tag.
Section 10: Random Placement
Now we are about to meet the tags that give the missions a
more random feel. At offset 5E7DE0 we encounter the random placement tag
for the first MG23 in "Black Gold". It's 12 00 03. The 12 00 03
means "choose a random starting point from the first few TACN points",
as opposed to 11 00 which would put him at TACN 0. If you look down at his
pv.'s you'll notice that he has six. He chooses from the first three and
then continues to the fourth as usual.
In making your own missions, you could set multiple SAMS all over the place,
choosing a random position for themselves. The SAM site in "Black Gold""
does this. It makes the game a little more appealing to those who get bored
quickly having flown the same missions about fifty times over.
I was given a suggestion by a Network player about making the Network missions
a little more random by changing the start points of the players. It does
not work... Hornet 2.0 did not allow totally random starts. Each player
would see different results on their application.
Section 11: Carrier Deck
The Carrier Deck is set at 1C 16 height in most of the missions,
1C 20 in "Bird Down".
You can place friendly AAAS site on the carrier in "Night Threat"
by finding a pv. on the flight deck, but away from you, and your wingman's
position and taxi-path. Stick a 1C 20 before the line of latitude, and hey!...
your carrier is armed!
While developing the 173rd Demo Patch, I put in the old ASLT craft that
used to be in Hornet 1.1.x. (the AV8B used to take off from it in "You
Can't Hide".) I originally put you on the ASLT. You had to take off
at After Burner 6, but you made it. I put a friendly AAAS site on the ASLT
near the tower. Then if you were chased by the MG23's, why you could just
cruise over the ASLT and let it splash the fighters.
Section 12: GSC 'Normals' & 'Real'
vs GSC Loadouts
The wingmen in some of the GSC Hornet missions have their radars switched
off. That's why the "Night Threat" wingman ignores the carnage
around him. His aggression tag is set to 0F 03 but it's only effect will
be to have him jinx and dodge around a bit if the enemy shoots a missile
at him as his radar is off.
The normal enemy planes in the released mission set, have usually only one
or two missiles. Your wingman has only one AIM-9L in a couple of missions.
This is a frequent cause of complaint. I suppose that we have to consider
the GSC game psychology a little. A quick fast mission that you can win
against a lightly armed AI model and complete in a couple of minutes is
probably what they aim for. Consider why they never released a mission where
you ingress for about 30 minutes and then meet six SU27's with 8 AIM-120's
each! Bang, bang, bang, you're quickly dead, and dissatisfied. The one thing
GSC don't want you to be is dissatisfied, so it's back to the lowest common
denominator.
The B52G's in the released mission set fly around on the deck. I usually
set them to 20 1F, which is 31,999ft. However the SAMS will never get them
quickly at that height. They try, but most of the time the missiles rise
and fall without a strike. GSC want the B52G that you protect in danger,
with a good chance of being struck down.
The SAMS sites are very tough in Hornet 2.0. They keep firing an endless
supply of missiles at you, but they are still wide open to a AGM-88 right
down their radar cone. So I suppose GSC considers this about equal. I don't,
so I devised the SAMS site that switches on and off it's radar. The first
time you see that locked SAMS on your ARAD radar blink off is going to be
an eye-opener! The problem I had and, still have, is that the SAMS will
keep shooting at you with their radar off. I have discussed the reason for
this earlier. I think, though, that I'll keep using the switching site.
I discuss how to make one in the Air Defense section.
One of the reasons I poked under the hood of Hornet in the first place was
the lack of "landing" enemy planes in Hornet 1.1.x. If they survived,
they just cruised back to base and slowly augured onto it. Now Hornet 1.1.x
had landing AI controls (as in the A10A in "High Flyer") so why
they were never used on the fighters was a shame. If you hack up a mission
set, one of the polished edges that you can give is having all the AI planes
land and taxi. Remember someone is going to fly that SU27 you hack in and
if they see their SU27 wingman just belly up on the air base every time,
they'll let you know about it. GSC expected that you would'nt be around
to notice if the enemy planes landed or not as you'd be dead or back at
base...
Section 13: Objects
Here is a list of the objects mentioned in the data string
that lists the models. The list is at offset 070533 in the data fork of
the application (Hornet 2.0.1).
FA18 F16C SU27 A10A F111Ý MG27
MG23 MG33 * MG21 F117 AWAC C5BA *
B52G TU20 DC10 UH60 MI24 CH47
AV8B HOVR BOAT DIAB JEEP HUMV
MTLB BT60 T72A M1A1 SAMS SS1C
AAAS ZS23
Mmmm... did you spot the MG33? What about that CB5A, that would be very
nice if it was in the Kuwait Mission set. The F111 is mentioned but you
are not going to get it in the Kuwait Mission set. The MG21 can be added,
but is dressed out in North Korean markings. Two kinds of tanks are there,
M1A1 and T72A. The DIAB is well known by now. It was in Hornet 1.1.x. and
it's a nifty red sportscar.
The MG27 in the Hornet 2.0 Demo had only one wing when seen from above.
One object that intrigued me was the TRUK in the Hornet 1.1 data file that
I had. It 'appeared' only during the "Homecoming" mission, where
it was parked on the runway. Of course I never saw it, but it looked serious
in the data file...
Section 14: Landing, On the Ground, and Taxiing to Parking
I like to have all the models I patch in lined up to start on the runways.
Just set them up one after another, with time delays, and off they go. When
I want them to taxi, I cheat a little...
First find out the name of the base you want to have your planes take off
from. Then look in to the mission set, and find all the missions that start
from that base. Play the game and watch the GSC models move. Do they taxi
cleanly? If so copy that section out. You can then use the 19 nn tags and
the pv.'s already there in your own model.
The next part is going to get a little complicated, so please be familiar
with what has been discussed already. In the next section we are going to
look at how we can get the DC10 in the "Take off and Flight" training
mission to take off from Oahu airport, then fly to and land at Maui airbase.
At offset 56F31A select the tag data from the DC10 (44 43 31 30) to 1C 06
inclusive. Copy and paste it to a new hex file. Then at offset 58D48F select
from the 2D01 to the E8 inclusive. Copy and paste to the hex file after
the 1C 06. What we have just done is take the primary taxi and take off
tags of the DC10 and spliced them to the landing and taxi tags of the Hornet
in the "Navigation and Radar" mission that is performed about
Maui.
Simple.
Now we select the pv.s. At offset 58D66E we find the TACN 0 for the DC10.
select this and the next four pv.s. Copy and paste to your hex file after
the E8. At offset 58D37E select the pv.'s from 01 B6... to the final 28.
Copy and paste into the hex file after the last pv. Now you should have
ten pv.'s from TACN 0 to TACN 9.
In the our hex file we now have about 9/10 lines of hex. It's time to set
the proper length. At offset 42 of OUR hex file we start adding in zeros,
pushing that first pv. down to offset 6C. Then from offset E4 at the end
of the last pv. we add more zeros right down to offset 19B. That is the
proper length of the model string. Look at the way it's arranged, and remember
it. Copy out the original DC10 and compare them. Do the first pv. offsets
correspond? Is the whole string the same length.
What you now have is DC10 ready to fly. Select the whole document and replace
the DC10 in the "Take off and Flight" mission with this one. Now
save and fly the mission. Follow him down to Maui and watch him land and
taxi to a point just off the runway.
That's the way you construct your own model. Copying, pasting, and changing
a few tags.
Section 15: Special Wingmen
We have'nt touched on the bombing tags yet, but we'll encounter
them in this section. I'm going to start by looking at an example we can
make up that will have our wingman in "Black Gold" take out the
refinery with three bombing passes and then switch on his radar and hunt
down any remaining MG23 models that are still around.
This is the only really complex model that I will go through step-by-step.
I did'nt include the all hex because if you can master this procedure using
this guide then you will have absolutely no problems making up any other
model that you like. All of what follows has been tested on my machine,
literally TTD, so it works. Follow the procedure, and you'll get a big laugh
out of this wingman.
At offset 5E7B82 the data string for Hornet Two in "Black Gold"
begins. You should be able to read off his 'attributes' by now in the hex
and note that he is of no use to us.
What we are going to do first is select the whole of the models string,
copy it and paste it into a hex file, from 5E7B82 to 5E7D1D.
Change the 11 02 to 11 00. We want him to start on TACN 0, not TACN 2.
Change the 0F 00 to 0F 03 as we want him a little more aggressive.
After the 0C 15 and before the 38, put in the load out string, OE 42 47
47 44 47 55 44 47 47 42.
Delete all the "brake on..." tags from 25 01 to 3A 0D inclusive.
Change 19 03 t0 19 01.
He already has 1C 04, 1C 05, 1C 06, and 1C 07 is the TACN that puts him
at the end of the runway for landing.
Change the 1C 04 to 1C 02, 1C 05 to 1C 03 ,1C 06 to 1C 04.
Now change 1C 07 to 1C 09 as we need some more TACN tags for the bombing
runs.
Just after 1C 04 2D 01, and before 1C 09, type in 1C 05, 1C 06, 1C 07, 1C
08.
We changed the numbers to clean up the hex so that we could read it in a
linear fashion, and not get confused by 'jumping' TACN points.
We want him to head to the target, drop some bombs, pass over the target
for TACN points just beyond the refinery, turn, do another bombing run and
so on.
After the 24 in the string add some taxiing tags as we want this guy to
taxi to parking, 19 0A, 19 0B, 19 0C, 19 0D, 19 0E. After 19 0E type a 22
00 as we want him to halt here.
Now move the 20 03 from just after the 1C 02 to just before it. We could
leave it the way it is, but it may get a little cluttered.
Back to the Hornet file at offset 69CD26 we encounter the bombing tags that
let the F117 in "NightHawk", take out the bridge. Copy the 28
47 2B 29 01, and paste it just after the 1C 02 in our hex file. You should
be able to work out what the commands of the bombing tags mean by now. Paste
them again after the 1C 04 and the 1C 06. Do not delete the 2D 01 tags.
After 1C 05, 1C 07 and 1C 08, put in a 2D 01 for each one (1C 05 2D 01 etc)
Put in 2D 01 after the 29 01 of the 1C 06 bombing tags.
After 1C 07, and before the 2D 01, put in an active radar tag 27 01. This
is where he will start up his radar for the dogfight if any MG23 are still
around.
Check all that you have done,... hey!... look,... now you have a bomber
Hornet.
All that's left to do is add in the pv.'s.
There are already eight in this models string, and we are going to move
some around, delete others, and add more.
Delete the first two as he does not need them. These are meant to be used
to allow the original Hornet Two to taxi around, and take off again, just
like in the early training missions.
He should now be starting at FB A8 45 03 00 00 00 00 F7 A6 A0 4E.
He taxi's to FB A7 E8 74 00 00 00 00 F7 A6 AB 5C, and takes off. Leave them
in.
Delete FB A7 E8 74 00 00 00 00 F7 D7 02 5C.
Now we need to set the first destination for Hornet Two which is also where
he drops his first bombs. Look at the TACN 1 of Hornet One in "Black
Gold". It's FB 7F 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 98 01 3C. We are not going to
use this as it put's you at a point just to the left of the main body of
buildings, but we will use it as a guide, and work all around it
We are going to put in the bombing and turning pv.'s about the refinery
now. Here are the tags that I have worked out already. There are five. Copy
them and put them into the pv. string just after FB A7 E8 74 00 00 00 00
F7 A6 AB 5C, and before FB 81 3C 74 00 00 00 00 F7 D7 02 5C.
pv. data: TACN tags it relates to:
FB 83 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 94 01 3C (1C 02) bombs
FB 83 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 B4 01 3C (1C 03) turns
FB 82 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 98 01 3C (1C 04) bombs
FB 83 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 74 01 3C (1C 05) turns
FB 81 71 00 00 00 00 00 F8 96 01 3C (1C 06) bombs
Simple. Now the taxi pv.'s.
After the FB A7 E8 51 00 00 00 00 F7 7C 4E 70, (1C 09 or 'landing' TACN)
put in:
FB A7 F6 4D 00 00 00 00 F7 A8 59 3E (19 0A)
FB A8 98 00 00 00 00 00 F7 A8 59 3E (19 0B)
FB A8 A6 B5 00 00 00 00 F7 A6 92 AC (19 0C)
FB A9 2E DC 00 00 00 00 F7 A6 99 50 (19 0D)
FB A9 44 B6 00 00 00 00 F7 A3 50 EC (19 0E) stops
I am not going to explain where the taxi pv.'s at Safwan put you, they work
for me.
Now set the proper length of the model. Notice that there is no 'space'
between the E8 and the first TACN. We really filled up this Hornet Two,
he's loaded with bombs and instructions. Now copy and replace the wingman
in "Black Gold" with this one. Set the IFF 0D nn tags on the enemy
models to 0D 01. We want to test this without the enemy splashing Hornet
Two. (You can all fly around waving at each other... (Peace Hornet)) Then
set them back to 0D 00 when your finished testing and try the mission.
So much more rewarding, I think. The mission changes ever so slightly, your
aim in your Hornet is to keep the enemy defenses away from Hornet Two.
Section 16: Air Defense Systems
I subtitle this section "Infra Red Guided Surface to Air Missiles",
and I got the idea from an early text (on the Graphsim site) that described
how the RWR worked . In the text it stated that the RWR could detect radar
guided SAM launches but not Infra Red guided.
I have a friend who loves formation flying in flight sims. I hacked up a
Demo mission in the early days for him where he was 'dropped' into the air
with 2 other Hornets and then flew around with them for about an hour, while
they cruised along four or five TACN points. He said he was practising for
mid air refueling... I got bored watching him do this so I put a surprise
into the tag strings of both AI Hornets. I told him one day that I had put
an Infra Red Guided SAM on a MTLB at the bombing practise area, and off
he went. When he was about 7.5 miles from target, Hornet Three just ...exploded.
"Jesus Christ Almighty", he shouted, jumping out of his chair.
"Quick, stick with your wingman......look out, here comes another!",
I cried, tapping the screen. He tried to form up with his wingman when Hornet
Two also went boom. He did'nt see or hear anything to indicate a hostile
launch. My friend jinked and took off for home at AB 6, throwing the odd
suspicious glance at me on the way back.
Here's how it's done.
First go to offset 605E6A. This is the start of the Hornet that fires a
couple of AIM-9L's at the airbase in "Homecoming" and takes three
hits before exploding. He is not fired upon though... The string that makes
him explode is 2A 03 2F 01 2A 03 2F 01 2A 03. So the "BOOM'er"
tag is 2A nn. 2A 01 knocks out four out of the fourteen damagable systems
on your Hornet, and 2A 03 breaks it up, if the difficulty options are all
unchecked. It's a sneaky thing to do to Hornet Two.
Next go to offset 67545F. This is the string that explodes the Rishaupt
plant in "Road to Destruction" when the MTLB gets a few metres
from it.
Now we combine the two strings, change a tag or two, and you have this:
34 28 4D 54 4C 42 2D 30 30 2A 01, which means that a MTLB is going to cause
your Hornet to take a 2A 01 grade hit, when you get within 7.1 miles of
it. Just put this data into the tag string of Hornet One, or anything else
that moves. The 34 28 is the "wait for..." tag already discussed,
set for 7.1 miles, the next seven offsets set the MTLB-00, and the 2A 01
is the "BOOM'er".
You could now devise a mission where a player has to take out an MTLB before
he crosses the 7.1 mile marker to the MTLB. Just give a briefing that the
MTLB's in the mission are armed, which of course they are not. The Hornet
just behaves as if it's fired upon and takes a hit.
This is also useful in getting rid of a player's wingman, just in case Hornet
Two becomes a little overzealous.
I'm at two minds about using this. One the one hand it is a little sneaky,
on the other it simulates an invisible IR guided SAM hit, and all the player
has to do is stay away from MTLB's or whatever else he has been warned about.
Outrunning Air to Air Missiles
In the "Air to Ground" mission, Hornet One is dropped
into a height of 13 02, 1,999ft, with an engine thrust of 22 5A. In a test
I set the height 13 04, and set the thrust to 22 CC. When I entered the
game loaded with 2 AIM-120/2 AIM-9L, I immediately hit auto-pilot and sat
back. Hornet One's engines cycled up to 204%, and it just... took off! As
it passed over the weapons practise area at 2.2 mach, the SAMS site fired
off a SAM and the Hornet outran it. I watched the SAM on the RWR close,
slow, and then fall away. When Hornet One reached 2.3 mach, the "Yo-Yo"
effect began as it compensated for flying over a mountain. I continued to
let Hornet One accelerate until 2.4 mach was reached, and then escaped.
Next I changed Hornet One to SU27, changed Hornet Two to Hornet One, gave
it a load out of AAM, and restarted. The SU27 took off past me, accelerating
smartly. I selected it on ACM radar, locked it with a AIM-9L, and waited.
At 3.1 miles the "Shoot" que stopped. I fired the AIM-9L at 7.0
miles, and the SU27 outran it.
Endgame
In the Hornet 2.0 DEMO mission I made up I had a Hornet that flew smartly between the high rise buildings near the Demo base before bombing a SAMS site. It ingressed at 200ft, before twisting between the towers and rising to 1000ft. It still does..., at least on my old clunker Macintosh. The reason is that the demo defaults to the graphics mode best suited to your machine. On mine, it was Low detail, in Complex, another high rise appeared in his flight path so on the faster machines he hits one of the towers. So remember that though your fancy flying AI plane may look good on your old machine, the PowerMacs may chew it up in Complex graphic mode. I guess this is why the GSC planes cruise around at steady altitudes. They used the method of 'lowest common denominator' in their Data file and kept things simple.
I hope this text made things a little bit clearer and you have as much fun playing around with Hornet as I did over the years. One last thing... please don't email me any of your own missions for Hornet 2.0.1. It's not that I am or would be ungrateful... I do not have the time (nor the platform) anymore to try out the missions.
___
Hornet 2.0 is a trademark of GSC