NightCAP for GSC's Hornet Korea,  by Rob Hight 8/98 
  
INTRODUCTION: 

This mission is an effort to "simulate" a possible real world situation. 
I am not a pilot, and so used Robert Shaw's "Fighter Combat" as a reference. 
If you have the book, refer to the sections on "Point/Area Defense" pg 323-335, 
and "Reception Escort" pg 337. You are to fly a CAP as part of the reception 
escort for a penetration strike by a group of F117s. 

To quote Shaw (pg324), "The penetration strike involves one or more attacking 
aircraft which normally fly singly or in small formations and attempt to penetrate 
the defense network undetected, strike the target, and depart from hostile airspace
before they can be caught. Quite often many penetrators will follow individual 
tracks to the same target, maintaining very rigid time schedules so as to arrive 
on target nearly simultaneously from different directions to saturate the defenses, 
and then retire again by separate routes. Normally the penetrating aircraft are small 
fighter-bombers, which fly at very high speeds at low altitudes to avoid radar detection."  

Support for your role can be found in the following passages: on pg 327, "Two fighters 
on the opposite sides of a race-track shaped pattern, oriented as shown in Figure 9-1, 
can provide almost continuous radar coverage of any threat axis.", and on pg. 337, 
"The reception escort is intended to provide defensive reinforcements at a time when 
they are likely to be needed badly." and, "A reception escort can also furnish protection 
for penetration bombers on their withdrawal, often by conducting a sweep of the egress 
corridors. Even though the strike mission is essentially complete at this point, the 
enemy may still achieve his objective if he can inflict severe enough casualties during 
this vulnerable period to prevent further strikes. The reception escort provides a fresh 
defense, added protection for damaged and straggling aircraft, and discouragement for 
enemy intruders that may be shadowing the returning strike force." 

Of course, some compromises were made to compensate for limited scripting options and 
weaknesses in the AI, and for the sake of more exciting gameplay. For instance,  the 
Target and F117 Base were chosen because of the Nighthawks' short legs; even undisturbed 
they will hear "Bingo" by the time they return to the landing pattern. Other bases were 
selected to avoid complications due to the Flight-line Order "bug". Also, the SEAD strike 
was meant to occur after the F117 attack, following the premise that such a strike would 
tip the hand that an attack was imminent.  Due to AI detection range constraints, the need 
for a credible threat to the F117s and a dual role F16 (only 16 planes, darn), the SEAD 
strike was made concurrent with the attack. The parallel CAPs flown by the four Hornets 
are not situated as they might be in a real situation, which was done to present more 
challenging strategic choices. Otherwise, it's fairly straight up, and once it gets rolling, 
plenty of action. Hope you find it fun and challenging.

DIFFICULTY SETTINGS:

This mission was developed on a difficulty setting of 5. From what I can tell, the 
Difficulty settings on the Kneepad affect some of the same behavioral factors as the 
Aggressiveness settings in Mission Editor. One of the factors influenced is the distance 
at which an opponent is detected. Due to certain design constraints, the tolerances on 
time and distance are extremely tight. The primary constraint is that Enemy AI will not 
detect a F117 until it is within 5 nm. And so, because the tolerances are so tight, 
increasing the Difficulty setting will lead to unintended interactions between planes 
that will unpredictably alter gameplay. Ironically, increasing the Difficulty setting 
may make the mission easier to succeed at (I have a definite reason for saying this).  
Give the mission a try at 5 or lower to start, and if it's too easy, increase incrementally 
(with no guarantees).     

Knowing all this, my challenge was to create a mission which was sufficiently difficult 
at AI=5 to keep the more accomplished players interested. My own skill level  could be 
characterized as competent, I'm no Topgun, but not a slouch either. It took me five times 
to complete successfully, and that was on a fairly easy draw (random factors). I don't 
want to apologize for an honest, though difficult mission, as there is no "trick" for 
completing it. Hopefully, it will be the kind to draw you back periodically to try again. 
Since your mission is to Protect 2 of 3 F117s, I had to present enough threats to the 
Nighthawks to make having an unsuccessful mission possible. As it happens, six of eight 
Enemy planes has a chance to get within range, and given the right circumstances, maybe 
eight of eight (in that case, your ass is probably grass anyways).  Random factors change 
the dynamic in fairly significant ways, so successful completion may not always be achieved 
using the same defensive strategy and tactics. Strategy is a significant element of success, 
as is metering your meager A/A resources. 

Originally, the start time was 1810 (in keeping with the title), which makes the mission 
quite difficult. The dogfighting became a matter of luck, as dusk faded into night. 
Darkness can be damn disorienting! If you find the 0530 start time too easy, feel free 
to reset it in to 1810 in the Mission Editor. 

BUGS:

The F117 scripting is fairly robust, but occasionally, without explaination, they goof up. 
It is almost as if they miss a line in the script. Sometimes F117-00 will designate a 
target other than his usual, fly slightly off course and get hit by AAA. The F117-00 goof 
can be seen with .dbg, but is very rare (let's say 10% of the time.)  In this case you 
won't be able to afford another loss, sorry guys.

It is possible to get a launch warning, with a flashing RWR spike, when in fact no missle 
has been fired at you (can be seen on the replay), this can be quite confusing, and may 
be considered a technical malfunction!

INCLUDED FILES:

BRIEFING.TXT   self explanitory
TRAINING.TXT   a short note explaining the two "Training" missions
RACE_CAP.MSN   a short, start in the air, training mission on flying a race-track CAP 
2_V_2.MSN   a short, start in the air, practice mission on dodging A/A missles, fun
NIGHTCAP.MSN   the main event
F117.RPL   since you may never actually see them during the course of the mission, a 
replay of their role in the mission flown in daylight is included. Flown in dbg: mode 
inside F117-02. 
NIGHTCAP.RPL    a replay of a successful mission flown at the 1810 start time. There 
was some skill in the missle dodging, but also alot of luck, especially with the last 
Sidewinder hit on a Flanker. An "errant" patrol took out Hornet2 and the F16 early. I 
was still working a few bugs out, especially with the Mission Success criteria.
2_VS_2.RPL   Put it all together on this one for a couple of quick kills.
CHUTE_BLOOP.RPL   A replay from 2_V_2.MSN in which a parachute opens up in my face, 
has only happened once in a couple years of flying Hornet.
