Fight Plans

Where do we post flight/mission plans?

Spectre Tactical Inc. wrote:

Where do we post flight/mission plans?

You might need to join a faction for that. I know GPEO has its own official mission area in its forum (we put some time into it), but that is primarily for GPEO operations, or GPEO lead operations. You must be new.

Faction leaders or high ranking staff usually work together to form plans. they would then brief their pilots and then execute the operation. Once the operate is complete, there would be a debrief. Not all factions do this. Some leaders have their own ways of doing things in their groups. Every group is different in many ways. Different causes and political alignments. Some Communist, Capitalist, Resource Based, Anarchist, Republic, Democratic, Dictatorship, Fascist, etc. In the VR-Worlds history, I have personally seen Communist, Dictatorships, Democracies, Empires, and Rebel Anarchist groups rise and fall, form nothing to everything back to nothing. Today, the VR-World has an active Corpratocracy, Capitalist, and Resource Based Systems currently operating.

Welcome to the forum. If you have questions, just ask.

Okay, so then how do we let other factions know that we're performing missions in their areas? Or is that not necessary? I'm asking because I've started my own faction. I only have 3 people including myself. But I figured factions were supposed to interact when flying missions around one anothers airspace. Is it not necessary to let them know?

Hello Spectres Tactical Inc.

I am Mike Sharkey, president of Omni Core Unltd. (OCU). We are a technology firm that operates in the Virtual World (VW). I'd like to take a moment to answer your question, and then offer some advice as you are new to the VW.

First, there is no official method of announcing flight or mission plans. From what we've experienced thus far (and we have not been around very long ourselves), is that you have to find ways of letting people know you are going to fly in or around their airspace. There are several methods of doing this. If the group of subject has their own website, you can attempt to contact them there. You will most likely have to register with their site in order to leave them a message, but this does not obligate you to join their faction. You can also contact them via Skype or Team Speak. Different groups have different methods of contacting each other so your best bet is to investigate how. It is my personal opinion that the International Telecommunications Transmission Network should have a forum specifically for flight plans as it is a very high traffic site. Just about every active member (and even some old ghosts hanging around) come to this site regularly to see updates and events. You can see who and when they last logged on by clicking on "members" at the top of the page. Guests can also view the posts without logging in (as can be seen by looking at the "Who is online" box to the right), so the odds of your flight plan being seen by the subject faction are very good. From there, the group will most likely respond and give you the terms of their airspace. For instance, GPEO is usually pretty good about letting people fly through their airspace as long as no aggressive actions are made by the flight. They may give further stipulations. Task Force Crimson on the other hand, has completely closed their airspace and promises to engage any aircraft that should penetrate. Again, this is something that varies according to group and it is best to contact each one to find out how.

Also, I'd like to make you aware that the two groups I just referenced are pretty much the only active groups right now. You say you have three people including yourself, they have roughly the same. This is why I personally advise you NOT to join any other faction. By viewing the MAP, you can see which groups are listed as active or inactive. Although this information is not current, what can be considered reliable is the territories illustrated. As an independent group, you would have to find an area that does not have an active or inactive government. Attempting to use an area that is classified as "inactive" may only lead to problems. Just because a group has been done for months or even years, does not mean that they won't suddenly reappear tomorrow once they get wind that you've moved it. "Innactive" pretty much means "got bored". Also, there are no diplomatic sanctions preventing or even referencing this type of thing. If a group has been gone and totally inactive for months or years, there's no rule saying they can't come back and instantly regain full authority of the area they've pretty much abandoned. So in that regard, you're better off finding your own space. As of now, the VW is a rather boring and restricted place. Judging by the name of your group, I assume you are a private tactical corporation. Should your group join a faction, you will be left with only one or two rivals at the most. By remaining independent, you will not be forced to chose sides and your mission options can be done according to your will, not at the convenience and will of somebody else. If your ally isn't doing anything, neither are you. Really, what's the point of being a VM if you're noting going to do anything militaristic? For years, Virtual Militaries (VMs) have been restricted to "training missions" due to the fact that they don't have anybody to fight or interact with. This is the sad truth. OCU tried to come in and shake things up, give people something to do, but things got personal and even we lost sight of the objective. To have fun and promote the spirit of competition. So this is why I advise you not to make allies or enemies. Just make yourselves "available". There aren't a lot of groups now and nobody is really doing anything. Also, groups make elaborate political plans and may ask for you involvement as an ally, then change their minds almost as quickly as they've made them up. This causes alliances to crumble very quickly. Ally today, enemy tomorrow. You're better off just find work as you can get it, and honestly you may not find very much work right now. If there were more active groups I'd tell you to go for it. But as there are only really two that I know of, by choosing to ally with one you'll be forced to cut all ties with the other.

I hope I've answered your question and have given you some bit of insight into the VW. I hope you don't become discouraged. You just have to be patient and try things out. My advise would be to take this time to recruit and do a little media to put yourselves out there on the market if you haven't already. Don't get into a rush looking for action because honestly, there isn't any. Get settled in, contact everybody you can find, and get a feel for them. Take your time and don't bite off more than you can chew. Other than that, welcome to the VW and good luck!

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

OCU/Sharkey

Thanks. I guess we'll just investigate then. I'm sure there's got to be more than just two active groups. My heart kind of sunk when I read your message. I checked the mebers page and I saw there are tons of registered members. Then again, not many have logged on since last year. Well I get that GPEO and Crimson are active. What about you? Wouldn't that make three active groups? Or is your group considered not active since you're a manufacturer? Speaking of which, what kind of stuff do you manufactur? I'd be interested in taking a look. My group still hasn't fade final dicesions in regard to what aircraft we want to use. Right now we're thinking F-15 and F-16 for our fighters and AH-64s for our helicopters. As far as our own space. We'd like to use the US. I haven't seen this map yet so I don't know if there are any factions that claim it. I'm sure somebody owns it though. Do you know who?

Hello again Spectre,

I'll take some time to answer your questions. There are no truly simple answers to your question so please prepare to spend some time reading this message.

Firstly, the Map can be viewed here:
https://ittn.rpg-board.net/t431-vr-world-map-12-18-11

This has all the groups, that are, and once were active the VW. Like I said, don't concern yourself with what the legend says as far as active and inactive. That holds no weight. Even though this was posted in December of last year, it is not current. Just find a place that doesn't have a government. Pretty much a place without color. I don't know where in the US you want to start, but as you can see you have choices. There are several factions with territorial claim there, but almost the entire central US is open. I don't know if you like desert or mountains, but you have quite a bit of space to chose from. Also, and I don't know how you'd feel about this, but if the US looks a little crowded there's always Mexico.

As far as the status of our group; to answer your question we were actively participating in combat actions, but it is my opinion that conducting an honest game is out of the question and there for not worth the time. Although a game can be hosted only on one server, 14 different players may enter the same session and will tell 14 different stories about what happened. This is not entirely due to malicious lying or people cheating. Although my group favors stability of VatSim networks, most people prefer Gamespay. As we all know, Gamespy is very unreliable and has constant connection issues. One player might be banking to evade the attack of another, and if the Gamespy connection is shaky it may appear that the aircraft he is pursuing may be slewing or exceeding any possible g load. The pursuing player is more likely to claim the other is cheating before considering the more likely and very common possibility. Recently, a rival was expressing his distaste for my methods and session planning, at one point saying I he could have killed me even though I was paused. I purposely disable the ability to pause because many players like to use the pause as a means of breaking in effort to force a pursuer into an overshoot. For whatever reason, he saw me just floating in one spot although I disable that ability. I can only blame this on Gamespay. Also, the conclusions and events of the dogfight that were give by participating sides was very different. One player had connection troubles and dropped out several times. So when we was giving his side of what he saw, I could only conclude that connection issues were a factor. In fact, the session dropped out completely toward the end of the fight. The only advise I can offer you is to record your entire mission from take off to landing. This will give you ability to dispute claims of false spawning, and air to air actions. Sometimes, the other guy might not be lying about what he saw. Justly, there can be such great session lag that while one person is chasing his target, that very target might be chasing him on his end. Again, this is why I prefer VatSim.

As far as manufacturing goes, let me start by telling you some escentuals you'll always need to keep in mind. No matter what type of aircraft you want, your group will only be able to operate what it can afford. There is a currency system in the VW and it will ultimately determine the amount of any aircraft, ship, or tank you have in the inventory. When an aircraft is lost in combat, it is LOST. You can replace destroyed craft, but the price will determine how quickly. Currency can be acquired by mission success rate, or collection of resources. As you are not an VW government, I'd say resourcing is not an option. Mission success rate is where you'll make your money. And as there isn't a lot of action going on these days, you're not going to make a lot of money.

Which brings me to answer your next question. My corporation engineers mainly 4.5 and 5 Gen technology. F-16E, Su-35, F-22, F-35, Aurora. Honestly, as you're brand new you won't have the finances to acquire our technology. At best, we would be able to upgrade whichever 4th Gen aircraft you select for your inventory. I'm not sure how much your group would enter the VW with. You'd have to contact Dragnoxz for this information. In the mean time we offer training in tactics and maneuvers. Our best instructor pilot goes by the name Kenshi, and he's not cheap. I'm not trying to insult your flying abilities, but I'm just putting it out there as you are a new group. We offer many services aside from manufacturing and instruction. We also offer network construction and support. Please visit our website and the affiliated links for more information. http://www.fsxocu.webs.com/ and http://fsxast.webs.com/ to see our concepts.

Again, I hope this has been helpful. Should you have anymore questions just ask.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

Thanks a lot for all your help. I looked on the map and I see a looooooooooooot of blue. GPEO is obviously the largest faction. However it seems we're in luck. The area we wanted to use in the US are free. Well I guess its not acutlaly considered the US. I didn't see OCU son there anywhere? Are you guys considered inactive then? Most of the groups say "innactive" or disbanded. The VW looks like a lonely place. I see that this VW is very g different from the real one in terms of countries and borders. That's pretty cool. I kind of like the fact that factions have the option of being original with politics. I checked out your sties. You have some pretty cool conepts there. Are any of these finished? I see you're pretty good with gmax too. Some of my favorite FSX planes like the F-2A were made by gmax. I also see there is quite a bit of player hating going there. Isn't that the same guy you told me to ask about currency? What is he in relationship to this site? Why are you two beefing? Anyway I like how you handled his remarks. My favorite plane is the F-22. Your concept of a twoseater is intersting but I'd really like to get my hands on the A model. In one your comments you said they were just betas and are further developed now. Can you post pics of their present stage? Do you have any shots of the A model cockpit? I had that Su-30 you were talking about. If you guys have one with a VC I'd like to get my hands on it. I know you said we won't be able to afford them now but I'd like to at least put together my Christmas list. And what's the deal with the weapons back? I'm pretty good at making xml guages/panels. If you need any helps perhap we can work out a deal. I also see you make websites. This is something I find frustrating so I'd like to gain your services in this area. Your sites are pretty nice and it would be cool if you could put that kind of effort into ours. I'm not really sure how I would pay you or what you would even charge. I see some of your stuff is payware so I get the feeling some of your deals are worked out in real world money. Does that go for websites too? Also I checked out vatsim and I see the registration process is pretty rigorous. I also see that they provide ATC and even log your flight hours. I'm still not sure I want to register though but if there's a better alternative to gamespy I think it might be worth it.

Neutral/Unclaimed by factions should not be counted as having nothing there. Some form of defense would be there, unless it is Amish area, lol. There is always rebels in major areas. nothing is just open for grabs. Some factions will see the uncolored areas as open for them to take, and may try to claim it all. A single airport to be captures could take a full day of fighting to take, and if the invader fails, they don't get it. We have begun talks and have been developing ideas for other factions to play the role of rebel forces, but leaders need to meet for times that sessions will be hosted, or find one to use that includes real time and weather updates, as well as full realism, blackouts, stress and crash. Do you have FSX ?

Speaking of the devil! lol Yes. We use FSX Gold. So what are the currency rules and ROE? Also if you are fighting for an airbase and they only have three or four people and you shoot them all down does is still take a full day? I don't understand.

Spectre,

Honestly, I don't know the answer. I'm guessing they would respawn until they are out of inventory? I don't know. You have to understand that much of the combat that goes on in the VW is hypothetical. Air Defense Artillery and early warning networks are for the most part hypothetical. Only a few groups rely on actual radar and tracking software. And by few I mean pretty much no one but us. Imaginary naval fleets and SAM sites do have an effect on your mission and from what I'm told, can actually kill you. I just don't have the slightest idea how. In this regard I'm not sure how this works. I've asked but to no avail other than, "one must use one's imagination" pretty much. As you are ultimately looking to procure F-22s, I would also ask about the rules regarding stealth. As we all know, any aircraft can be seen in FSX multiplayer sessions by RADAR so I think having an F-22 would be strictly for the its overall performance and nestalgia.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

Hypothetical? Really? I've seen SAMs available for download. Iris makes some I think. I see you make some too. Why can't we just use those? I've hard of the five second rule and my group has been using this during our training. But I don't understand how SAMs could have any effect if they couldn't really hit you. Same goes for the ships. You can load AI ships into the session. Why not just use those instead of imaginary ones? And yeah the stealth thing would be an issue I guess. I also want some B-2s eventually. Speaking of wich, why don't you let me make you some guages. I don't have much I can offer you, especially in the terms of money because I don't have any kind of credit card or paypal but I'll make you some guages if it'll help me get some aircraft from you.

Spectre,

Give a minute to talk this over with some of my guys. I see you're looking to hit the ground running. I admire your enthusiasm.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

Are you talking to them now? I'll standby.

Still standing by.

Um, you were already told of why the imagination is important in this world. One with a good imagination will thrive in this VR-World. Those who live with a lack of an imagination will not succeed.

And yes, until you are out of inventory, I guess, or have lost the number of aircraft to members, at least if they die form battle or something. Also, land area could even be counted. Wither way, no one really is gone for good, or completely defeated. There are several forms of defeat. One could declare war, take the only airport a faction has, and claim victory. the faction may not surrender, but would go under ground to the drawing board and figure out a way to form up in a different area, or cause an uprising from scratch. OCU/IDN may have to do something like that in order to return to being recognized as some form of power. TFC craft would have found their ARC, GPEO Troops would be marching all over the borders of Mexico and Cali, so all of their areas would be flooded by the end of today. UIA has already predicted further things, and is monitoring, gathering data.

Spectre,

Sorry for the delay. I got wrapped up in some bullshit, quite literally. You'll find that the conspiracies of the VW are the most humorous thing going on. Well, I talked to two of my members and they agree that you should be given a fair chance to work out some kind of a deal. We'll help you with your site but you will owe us a small favor in the near future in the form of transporting some goods. As for now I'll send you a Su-33 beta. I've already removed the 2D and VC panels from the CGF so your job is to replace everything and show me what you've got. I'll send you a link to the download site through a Private Message (PM). I don't mind you if you share the aircraft with others as its pretty much going to be the most common fighter in the VW anyway. In time, you'll understand. Many things are happening behind close doors. Send it back and if I like what I see I'll think about making an F-22 available. Just ONE. And you cannot distribute these as they are encoded as a one time install. One the file has been downloaded to your computer it cannot be redistributed or even altered. Show me what you can do. Congratulations on your first official business transaction. I'm proud to be your first time...no homo.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President.

And Dragoxz,

The whole purpose of OCU is to (read the logo) be the bridge between dream and reality. Imagination is used when there is not other means of accomplishing such things. Your imaginary inventory is similar to our interactive one. Who would win a naval battle? Imaginary ships and missiles, or real ones? This is the advantage OCU offers, for a price of course.

Thanks OCU! I'll give it my best shot. I do admit I see a huge advantage in actual destructive capability over hypothetical. If the ADA and Early Warning is hypothetical then how could the movements of the enemy be monitored. I see this an opportinity to make false claims if anything. Anybody can claim that they shot somebody down with a hypthecial SAM unless there are some petty specific ROE (which I still have yet to be given). And anybody can claim to have and advanced early warning system and even embelish its size and capability. But if an enemy successfully bombs their target all that goes out the window I guess. Also, how does one obtain and early warning system and of what tyep? HOw much do they cost (regarding the currency system I've still yet to be given as well)?

OCU

I'd also like to add that client confedentiality is one of our highest priorities. As you've given access to your flanker on good faith I will honor you with my own. I will not distribute it anyone regardless. If we are given enough starting money to afford it I will even pay you for the aircraft (in virtual currency of course). It is my full intention to honor the privacy and obligations we hold with you and all our future clients and business partners.

Spectre,

I am very pleased to hear that. Again, keep them as clients and business partners. Not allies. And please tell me, what kind of contracting are you looking to do exactly? Tactical is a very broad statement and can mean just about anything in the form of combat. Do you have any specialties?

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

Your advice will be taken. Thanks. And to answer your question our skill and mission type is as broad as the term itself. If you have a job that needs to get done we can do it.

Spectre,

Forgive me being so blunt but talk is worth its weight in gold...none. Let me know when your group is available and I have some scenarios I'd like to run you through in order to truly judge your mission role capability. And please, only when all three of you are available and at least for two hours. Have your team register through VatSim so we can host a session free of connection issues. If you impress me I might have a little bit of work for you.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President

Okay, I'll contact my team and then will contact you with a date and time. I'll make sure we're all registed by tonight. Thanks again for everything.

Spectre,

Don't thank me yet. You have a very difficult test ahead of you. I suggest you and your team practice. I promise you these scenarios won't be easy. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have real world matters to attend to.

Mike Sharkey,
OCU Founder and President.

Noted.