Version 1.0December, 1998
Note:
Before you proceed with this tutorial, you must install patch 1.05 for WWII Fighters. Although the tool is accessible in the unpatched version, the interface has changed. This documentation will refer specifically to the interface in the patched version.
Also, since the Dynamic Mission Editor is not an officially supported feature of WWII Fighters, no customer support is available for this component of the game.
What is the Dynamic Mission Editor?
The Dynamic Mission Editor is a tool available for use during single-player mode. You can use it to add planes, vehicles and structures to a mission while the simulation is paused. The main advantage of adding and
manipulating objects while in the game is that you can see where the objects are placed in relation to the terrain.
For instance, if you wish to set up a small formation of tanks approaching a town, you may find it
easier to set the formation up in the 3-D world of the sim rather than the 2-D map in the game's Mission Builder. By using the Dynamic Mission Editor, you will be able to place the tanks precisely in formation, and
assign a movement vector to them.
Entering, Exiting and General Navigation in the Dynamic Mission Editor
The Dynamic Mission Editor is accessible only from the simulation; you cannot access it from the
Mission Builder or Museum. Just press CTRL+ALT +Y simultaneously to activate the tool. To exit, either press ESC or select the Return to Sim option from the Exit
menu. To restart the sim, press the zero key.
All documented WWII Fighters keys will work in the Dynamic Mission Editor, except the numpad keys. The numpad keys are used to manipulate objects in the Editor. See the
'Basic Object Manipulation' section below for details.
The view in the Dynamic Mission Editor is always set to the exterior of the aircraft, even if you were flying your plane in the cockpit view during the
simulation.
Selecting Objects
Once the tool is activated, a blue bubble will appear in the middle of the screen, designating the selected object. If there are multiple entities on the screen, you can use the
mouse to select a different entity. Notice that it is possible to select an entity even if it is not the focus of the camera. (To determine if an object is the focus of the camera, use Shift with the arrow keys. The
camera will rotate around the focused object).
You can also select multiple entities simultaneously by holding down the CONTROL key while left clicking on the entity. As you select more entities, they should have a
translucent bubble around them. Any movement or rotation will be applied to all entities that are highlighted.
If you wish to change the focus of the camera to a specific object within view, you can double click on
that object. You can verify that the focus of the camera has changed to the desired object by rotating the camera.
Basic Object Manipulation
You can use +/- keys to zoom the camera in and out, or you can use
the 'N' key to cycle through the planes in the game. Please refer the manual or the keychart for a complete list of camera keys. Note: If you use the 'N' key to cycle through the planes while the game is
running, you will only be able to view planes within visible range of your plane. This restriction is removed while you are in the Dynamic Mission Editor.
Once you have selected an object, you can change its position
and its orientation. To change its position, you can either drag it with the mouse or use the numeric keypad. To change a plane's altitude, you must use the numeric keypad, as the mouse will only affect its horizontal
position. Below is a summary of the keypad commands.
8 Move entity into the screen
2 Move entity away from the screen
4 Move entity to the left
6 Move entity to the right
9 Increase altitude (Planes only. Ground objects stay on the terrain).
3 Decrease altitude (Planes only. Ground objects stay on the terrain).
If you hold down the control key while using the numeric keypad, the entities will move faster.
To rotate an object, use the Shift key in conjunction with the numeric keypad. You will be able to rotate a plane on any
of its three axes, but you will only be able to affect the yaw of a ground-based object. You can not change the pitch or roll of a ground object because they are fitted to the normal of the terrain. Below is a summary
of the rotation key commands (all numbers are numeric keypad numbers).
Shift+8, Shift+2 Rotate object's pitch (Planes only)
Shift+4, Shift+6 Rotate object's yaw
Shift+9, Shift+3 Rotate object's roll (Planes only)
Advanced Object Manipulation
In addition to basic translation and rotation, you can perform many advanced operations on an object by accessing the
right-click menus. Planes, vehicles and vehicle waypoints all have right click menus.
If you right click on a plane, you will see a menu to change its weapon loadout. Any change that you make to the plane loadout will
take effect immediately.
If you right-click on a vehicle, you will see a menu used to assign waypoints to that vehicle. The menu options include Select Wayset, Create Wayset and Add Waypoint. The
Select Wayset option will allow you to choose a wayset from any of the vehicle waysets in the world. If there are no available waysets, nothing will appear to the right of this option. If you select
Create Wayset, a new wayset will be created, and the first waypoint will appear next to the vehicle. The vehicle will automatically be assigned to that wayset. Selecting Add Waypoint
will add a new waypoint to the vehicle's wayset. If you have not assigned a wayset to the vehicle, this option will do nothing.
Tip: If you wish to create a new wayset, and assign it to many vehicles, you can select
multiple vehicles simultaneously using Control + Left Click, and create a wayset for any one of the selected vehicles. All vehicles will be assigned this wayset.