What is a "scripted on-line campaign", and how is this different from a "dynamicly generated" campaign?

The normal Il2 campaign consists of a number dynamically generated random missions (DGEN and NGEN) which the player attempts to complete with his/her campaign pilot. The idea in the campaign is to accumulate aerial victories ('kills') and points, ostensibly. There is no fundamental direction to the unfolding of the campaign, as such, as the missions are essentially random.

A scripted campaign, however, makes use of prepared missions to recreate an historical situation or scenario. The campaign pilot participates in the missions chronologically, and the outcome of each mission plays a role in the exact nature of subsequent missions. Adding more human players, co-operatively, allows for greater command-and-control and teamwork aspects to develop in the campaign game play.

The first VPB campaign placed the players in the 146 IAP during the difficult days of 1941. The campaign followed the deployment locations of this regiment faithfully, and the individual missions themselves were based on actual combat sorties undertaken by the 146 IAP. All aspects of play were made to be as realistic as possible, and the nature of the tasks undertaken, the enemies faced and the selection of aircraft available all reflected historically authentic situations.

A pictorial summary of two of these campaign missions may be viewed here:   Mission 10   Mission 12   [NB-- these screen shots are notably out of date, and reflect the poor performance of the recording PC at the time they were generated]


VPB On-Line Campaign Rules

The following set of rules were developed for our on-line co-op campaigns. These may be updated or amended as needed, and were the result of much free discussion during their creation. The rules reflect the nature of the last campaign, and include specifically Soviet VVS related ranks and nomenclature. Suitable translations will be made for campaigns involving other national services.

Server

The campaign will take place on a designated server [IP to be determined prior to play], usually that belonging to the Regimental Politruk. The server PC will be responsible to recording a full NTRK of each mission. This recording will serve as the final and absolute 'finding of fact' for all matters pertaining to the results and outcome of campaign play.

A second server will be made available prior to play to host voice communication. TeamSpeak or another application will be used in lieu of the IL2 comms system. Conference calls on Skype are not recommended.

The currently agreed server Realism settings are as follows:
SeparateEStart:ON
ComplexEManag: ON
NoMapIcons ON
NoMinimapPath: off
NoInstantSuccess:ON
TakeoffLanding: ON
WindTurbulence: ON
FlutterEffect: ON
StallsSpins: ON
BlackoutsRedout: ON
EngineOverheat: ON
TorqueGyroEffect: ON

RealisticLandings: ON
CockpitAlways: ON
NoOutsideView: off
Headshake: ON
*custom Icons
RealisticGunnery: ON
LimitedAmmo:ON
LimitedFuel: ON
Vunerablity:ON
NoPadlock: ON
Clouds: ON

These values are equal to the lines in the settings.ini file

[difficulty]
single=13628927
net=13628927

The external view has been enabled to allow for “spectator mode” for those who have been shot down, and is used on an honour system basis. It is not permitted for any active pilot to use external views at any time during the simulation, no exceptions. A custom icon set is in use for the time being, this rendering black (non-coloured) icons at 2.25 km, showing range detail only. As before, all settings are subject to debate and agreement.

Gameplay

Each player assumes the role of a fictional historical pilot. Each pilot should have a unique name and call-sign appropriate for the period and national service. Pilots who are Captured or Killed are terminated, and the player will have to create a new identity for the next mission.

The acumulated points total for all active pilots will be tabulated during their game life. New pilots start with zero (0) points. Point totals are used for several gameplay reasons, and should be calculated with care. Points are accumulated from the official post-scenario report generated by the NTRK for the last mission.

A pilot who is Wounded during the current mission may return for the following mission. A pilot who is Heavily Wounded during the current mission may return after three subsequent missions. During any mission when a player's active pilot is unavailable to wounds, the player will operate a "generic" pilot (may not introduce a 'temporary' campaign pilot).

War Influence

Our rules employ a system of War Influence for the Campaign. The regiment receives points and penalties according to the outcome of any mission. This cumulative total of the regiment's progress uses the following points system:

3 points for each successful mission (Red Won; or, completing all Primaries)
1 point for each successful Secondary Objective completed

-5 points for each unsuccessful mission, PLUS
-2 points for each additional Primary Objective not completed (if more than one in the mission)

Each mission is represented by three versions, the first being the Historical version; the second is more difficult; the third is most difficult. The cumulative regimental score at the start of the mission determines what version we will fly.

More than zero  [ > 0 ], Historical Mission

Zero to minus ten  [ 0 to -10 ], Difficult Version

Less than minus ten  [ < -10 ], Hardest Version

At the beginning of any mission in which the regiment starts with TEN (+10) or more points, one pilot captured during the immediately preceding mission may be considered to "escape" and returns to service at the end of the current mission. The current Otryadnitsa (flight leader) decides which pilot is considered to escape.

The Bollocks Chit

The Il2 simulator sometimes throws up specific absurd behaviour which defies logic and defeats the immersion factor for players. As a result, players are granted one Bollocks Chit (BC) at the start of the campaign.

Players may elect to use their BC at any time when they feel that a situation has arisen which is absurd or unfair, but must also be reminded that it may be employed only once. The use the BC, the player announces the intention to do so immediately during, or just after (in the debrief), the current mission. When a BC is employed, any outcome results relating to the player's pilot during the current mission (e.g. is killed, captured, aircraft destroyed, kills obtained, etc) are ignored, and the pilot receives a score of zero (0) for the mission. The pilot (and personal skin, if applicable) is normally available for the start of the next campaign mission.

Aircraft Skins

All of the historically authentic skins made for the campaign should be installed by all players before starting the campaign. In the main, Default skins are not used in VPB campaigns and the historical skins generally employ a no-markings settings, so these are very important to have installed.

Individual, or personal, skins for each active pilot may be created by the player. These must be distributed to the other players BEFORE each flying session, or they may not be used (we don't want to kill our sessions with lag, after all). Pilot skins should be placed BOTH in the relevant aircraft folder, and also in the ./netcache folder.

Personal skins will be named with a number in sequential order, preceded by the name of the pilot (i.e. john1.bmp, andreas5.bmp, etc). Please use ONLY LOWER-CASE letters in the file name. Aircraft type is not required in the file name, and it is recommended only to use the mentioned format.

Personal skins used on aircraft lost during a previous mission may not be used again. Players are encouraged, however, to modify their current skins to reflect wear, weather conditions, or special markings. Skins for aircraft which crash-land in ‘reasonable order’ may continue to be used so long as, a) the machine was down in friendly territory, b) the aircraft was judged to be in repairable condition (by the Politruk).

Personal Score

In addition to the regimental score, all players record a personal score for their pilot. Personal points are awarded by the IL2 sim, as per the usual game mechanics. The NTRK serves as the official record of personal points.

Personal points are accumulated by each pilot (not player). When a pilot dies or is captured, their point total stops (record may be kept of their score, however, as it might still be a winning total at the end of the campaign). Any new pilot starts with 0 (zero) points.

Rank

All pilots in the campaign have an assigned military rank. Pilot rank is used in several procedures relating to game play.

At the start of any campaign, one player’s pilot will begin with the rank of Starshiy Leytenant (but still 0 points), and will act as the Otryadnitsa (flight leader). All other pilots start with the rank of Starshiy Serzhant. Thereafter, all rank will be assigned by the accumulation of personal points as follows:

0-500 Points = Starshiy Serzhant
501-1200 Points = Mladshiy Leytenant
1201-2000 Points = Leytenant
2001-3000 Points = Starshiy Leytenant
3001-5000 Points = Kapitan
6001+ Points = Maior

The player with the highest military rank will start the campaign in the #1 slot as the Otryadnitsa. This player will develop the strategy for all missions, and will make mission assignments where indicated (see below).

The player who designed the Campaign will operate a pilot in the special role as Politruk (Political Officer-- it is not fair if said person leads the missions which they created!). The Politruk is responsible to record the events of each mission (NTRK), and to keep a Regimental Diary. The Politruk will also issue the various awards earned by pilots, and create the necessary artwork. The Politruk may never operate as the Otryadnitsa.

Flight Command

The Otryadnitsa (flight leader) is the pilot who has been assigned command of the flight represented in campaign game play. The position of Otryadnitsa was quite important to the conduct of operations, reporting only to the Regimental Commander with regards to the execution of the mission and flight parameters.

Normally, the pilot with the highest military rank becomes the Otryadnitsa. A pilot may replace (but need not, and may elect not to do so) the current Otryadnitsa only by achieving a superior rank; attaining the same rank as the incumbent does not cause a change in assignment. Changes in flight command may take place as often as changes in the relevant rank require.

At the start of any mission, the Otryadnitsa formulates a plan of action and assigns pilots to the flight (e.g. their position in the flight and role). The Otryadnitsa is free to discuss the mission and/or to accept input from other pilots regarding the plan to any extent they choose (e.g. 'a lot', 'a bit' or even none at all). The Otryadnitsa may assign the various load-outs for any or all aircraft in the flight if they wish, or leave such details to the individual pilots. The Otryadnitsa establishes the flight path, routes and navigation for the mission. Lastly, the Otryadnitsa conducts all post-flight briefings.

Should an Otryadnitsa be killed or captured in the course of action, a new Otryadnitsa is determined at the end of the current mission. The new flight leader is the pilot of highest rank. In case of a tie (same rank), the assignment is resolved firstly by the number of Personal Confirmed victories; then, by total Confirmed victories (personal + shared); then, by personal score.

A pilot of lesser rank may become an Otryadnitsa. The VVS operated to a remarkable degree as a meritocracy (for a military service), so that high personal scores and awards were regarded as legitimate grounds for command. A pilot who has ten more (+10) Personal Confirmed victories than the current Otryadnitsa may consider themselves to have a "command equivalent" equal to two grades (+2) higher than their current rank. Any pilot who has been awarded the Order of Lenin also earns a "command equivalent" equal to one grade (+1) higher than their current rank, and similarly three grades higher (total, not cumulative with Ord. Lenin) for the award Hero of the Soviet Union (HSU, +3).

A pilot who has a superior command equivalent  may elect to replace the current Otryadnitsa at the start of any mission in the same manner as with military rank.

[Ex: Pilot A is the current Otryadnitsa with the rank of Starshiy Leytenant and 3 Personal Confirmed kills. Pilot B is a Mladshiy Leytenant with 14 kills. Pilot B could not replace A on the grounds of his superior score alone; a two grade increase makes him equal to a Starshiy Leytenant (not superior) and thus is not eligible. However, were B to be awarded the Order of Lenin, he would be eligible to do so having the rank equivalent then of Kapitan (+3 equivalent rank). If awarded the HSU, pilot B could elect to replace a Maior.]

Claims and Awards

For the purposes of assigning ‘kills’ to pilots, we use an authentic VVS scoring system. This system is quite strict, and it usually happens that some victories go unattributed, or are recoreded as 'shared' kills.


At the end of each mission, all active players (e.g. those who survived the mission) discuss the outcome of events. Inactive players take no part in post mission debriefings. Any pilot with a claim for an aerial victory will bring that claim into the discussion (players may make a claim for a damaged aircraft if they wish, by the same rules, but these have no bearing on the campaign nor scoring).

Players, in turn, put their claim for a 'kill' to the Otryadnitsa. Players should relate as much detail about the claim as possible. To award a claim, the Otryadnitsa must be satisfied with the details of any report to the following minimum standards:

-The Otryadnitsa is convinced that the enemy aircraft was destroyed (shot down)
-The claim is confirmed by an eye-witness (an active pilot, not a spectator) with sufficient matching detail so as to be credible
-OR, that the claim was confirmed by the in-game notice "Aircraft Destroyed" (equivalent to the recovery of the wreckage or report via a ground observer)

Having estabished that the claim is valid, the Otryadnitsa then determines the nature of the claim-- e.g. Shared or Personal. A Personal Confirmed Claim is awarded when the Otryadnitsa is satisfied that the claimant was soley responsible for damaging the enemy beyond recovery. A Shared Personal Claim is awarded to two or more pilots if the Otryadnitsa judges that all of the claimants were involved in the destruction of the enemy.

The Otryadnitsa may elect to delay the award of any claim. In this case, the Otryadnitsa may ask to the Politruk to consult the official NTRK to confirm a specific detail or observation submitted by a claimant regarding any of these parameters:

-the appearance of an enemy aircraft  (ex: "my kill had a red nose and wing stripes")
-the geographical details of a specific area  (ex: "I shot it down near the edge of a lake into a forest")

No other information may be obtained by such a query (including, obviously, the factual fate of the victim!).

A campaign pilot's personal score consists only of those claims officially recognised by the Army (awarded by an Otryadnitsa). Unconfirmed claims are not recognised in any way and have no bearing on the issue of awards or other criteria. Pilot scores are recorded using the Personal + Shared  formula.

Awards

Historically accurate awards will be given to any pilot according to the following criteria:

Order of the Red Banner

-for attaining the FIRST five Confirmed Claims (of any type, Personal or Shared)  OR
-for any single mission in which a player attained three or more Claims (of any type)
** The recipient of the Order of the Red Banner is entitled to decorate their aircraft with this emblem.

Order of the Red Star

-for each ten confirmed Claims (of any type)  OR
-for any single mission in which a player attained three or more Personal Claims  OR
-for various actions seen to show valour

These and all other Soviet awards could be given multiple times. The following two higher medals required an act of heroism to be given.

Order of Lenin

-given for an act of heroism, usually defeating the enemy under unfavourable conditions
-usually given for completing each two successful Taran (ramming) attacks
-can be given for exceptional leadership, and leadership qualities
-sometimes awarded for downing a famous enemy ‘ace’
-bestows command equivalent of +1
-seen to be quite a high distinction
** The recipient of the Order of Lenin is entitled to decorate their aircraft with this emblem, and receives in addition 500 points to their personal score.


Gold Star, Hero of the Soviet Union

-this was not only an award, but a title in society; it was viewed with great reverence as a result
-like the Victoria Cross, about half were given posthumously (so it is not easy to get!!)
-given for acts of extreme heroism, those seen to set an example to Society at large, and the Army specifically
-Pilots with more than twenty Personal Confirmed claims were likely to be awarded the title, as they were seen to be setting an example, but then ONLY after some kind of heroic episode
-bestows command equivalent of +3
** The recipient of the HSU is entitled to decorate their aircraft with this emblem, and receives in addition 1000 points to their personal score.

The Red Star was the sort-of 'default' award for heroic actions which did not meet the 'monumental' requirements of Ord. Lenin, or Gold Star. For example, nursing home a crippled machine after a successful combat (in which the pilot did well), and landing successfully, might be rewarded with the Red Star. That kind of thing.

Medal awards which are based upon subjective factors, such as "heroism" and "valour" are determined by popular consensus after input from all players. The award of the Order of Lenin or HSU are always given in this way. A single dissenting 'vote' may be over-ridden by the Otryadnitsa, but if two or more players are not in agreement then no consensus is obtained.

Awards will be created by the Politruk, and may be in either English or Russian language.

Immersion

The Coop Campaign experience is tremendously enhanced by game immersion. Immersion is maintained in various ways during gameplay. During missions, players should always make reference to themselves, and all other pilots, using the appropriate call-sign. During pre- and post-flight discussion players should refer to themselves and all other pilots by their character name(s). Bases and areas of operation should be referred to using the assigned code phrase, when applicable.

Respect for the External View prohibition is critical. Players must never employ External Views during active flight. Players in “observation mode” must never speak—any comment is a possible clue, and must be strictly avoided (players in Observation Mode are highly encouraged to mute their mic). Information obtained while in observation mode may NOT be used for any post-mission discussion, resolution of events, etc.

Misconduct

Penalties may be applied for misconduct. Historically, a Flight Leader or Squadron Leader (essentially the same position) would not have any significant role in awarding punishment for misconduct. The role of the Flight Leader was to report on the conduct of the operation and the participants to the Regimental Commander, who would then decide what action, if any, was required.

Minor offences were usually dealt with by the Politruk. These would include such things as lapses in ‘security discipline’ (referring to an airfield by geographical name, for example, or a pilot by their name over the radio), ‘defeatist chatter’, trivial insubordination, and so on.

Possible penalties (subject to discussion):
Breaking Immersion (using non-char name, comments)  -30 points / event
Breaking Security Discipline  -30 points / event
Violation of Observation Mode  -100 points / event
Other ???