Last Updated:  4 September 2009

Rules and conditions are subject to change, without warning, whenever it's deemed necessary to promote challenging and balanced play.

Please Read "The Code of Conduct" before applying to fly FS.

I. The Code of Conduct

Please read the following prior to registering with Forgotten Skies campaign. 

The goal of Forgotten Skies is to encourage and develop a tight-knit community of mature, like-minded pilots who want to enjoy a challenging, rewarding, and fun strategic aerial combat environment. In order to accomplish this, we adhere to a Code of Conduct with several important guiding principles.  These include an atmosphere of sportsmanship, respect, and fair play.  By registering with FS you are making a commitment to adhere these overall principles.  Individuals, squadrons, and teams should at all times strive for the following:

-          Respect for the FS rules and Administrators.

-          Respect for you opponents and teammates.

-          A commitment towards participation for all involved, including welcoming and helping new members.

-          Avoiding a poor attitude, such as “Win-at-all-cost”, or refusal to participate due to lagging team performance.

Rules and functionality are discussed and decided by representatives from both opposing teams.  These representatives are chosen as active, long standing FS members with a strong understanding of FS rules and functionality.  They are called “Commanding Officers, and provide leadership and guidance to their perspective teams.  While all FS members are encouraged to express their ideas about game play, FS has in place a “Chain-of-Command” within the team.  This is in place to avoid open arguments in the public forums, and as a means to solving problems without open bickering or disrespectful comments.  If a pilot has a problem with FS he can report it to his Squadrons leadership.  They can report it up to the Allied or Axis CO privately.  From there the CO can post on the Admin forum or contact Recon directly.   

We ask that every participant takes the time to read and understand the rules, and their part in their side’s overall mission effort.  The more you understand about what is happening in the campaign, the more you will most likely enjoy your time in FS.

Personal Behavior

All members of FS are expected to conduct themselves with maturity and decorum.  Differences of opinion are to be discussed in a calm, factual manner on the forums.  Insults and name-calling will not tolerated.  In the game, accusations of ‘cheating’, ‘warping’, etc, will not be tolerated.  If you have an issue, bring the matter up through your Chain of Command for review and resolution.

In-game tracks of your personal mission may be recorded for your review; however, you cannot use the tracks to review enemy positions or tactics! No intelligence may be gathered that you didn't witness with your own eyes from your own flight path.  Intelligence screenshots must be taken during the mission, simulating a photo being taken.  Intelligence gathered by a game track works against the “Fog of war” concept, and violates the spirit of the realism and immersion on which FS was founded.  You may use tracks only to evaluate your own performance only.  Obviously this rule must be entrusted to the honor system, but if there is any hint of violation, then swift consequences will follow. 

Flying off the map is prohibited.  Pilots must stay within the confines of the map which is the official 'playing field' of FS. This tactic is used to avoid enemy contact, and works against reasonable mission risk. Again, this rule must be entrusted to the honor system, but violations will be met with consequences. 

II. Pilot Rules

Registration
Any willing pilot may register with Forgotten Skies.  All pilots belonging to a registered squadron need only register with FS Main Page and the forums (both must be done separately) and request access to their perspective bunker in the forum.  If you are pilot that is not a member of a squadron, you are welcome to post on our General Discussion Forum applying for membership. Your application will be dealt with on an individual basis.

To register a squadron:
The squadron C.O. must post an application in General Discussion Forum. The post should contain the following information

1.                    Name of squad

2.                    Name of C.O.

3.                    Preferred time zone (please translate it to GMT, as GMT is the common standard for FS)

4.                    Team Affiliation (Axis or Allied)

Forum registration
Once a squad is registered, members of the squad wishing to participate should register on our forum using their full Hyperlobby name.  Immediately upon registration on the forum, pilots should join their perspective bunker (The specific secure Allied or Axis forums where strategy and mission planning are discussed).  To accomplish this, go to User Control Panel, then click on Usergroups.  Under 'Non-memberships' check the appropriate bunker for which you are applying. From the drop down menu on the lower right set it to 'Join selected' and then click on the 'Submit' button.  A bunker Admin will grant you access.  It's recommended that all pilots have access to the bunker so they have as much mission information as possible.

 

Website Registration

On the FS main page, Register your callsign.  It's important that each pilot register with their exact Hyperlobby name.  FS uses a script that checks the names of the players joining the server against the Current Pilot List.  If a name doesn’t match, that player is kicked from the server.  When submitted, a password is auto-generated and will be sent by email.  After your account has been activated you will be placed on your team (ie. Allied or Axis).  Do not change your password until you have been assigned to a side. (there is an issue of players getting locked out if they change their PW before being assigned.)

The FS website and forum serve two different purposes, so you must register with both.  The website tracks the progress of the war and provides intelligence, status of troops, armor, supply, fuel, etc... Once assigned to a side, you will be able to see the destination of your side's units on the war map.

Callsigns

When flying an FS mission each pilot MUST fly under his squad callsign. Flying under any other callsign is simply not allowed.  All callsigns throughout a squad should be consistent.  Having a pilot called XXX_viper and another called =XXX=Acula in the same squad will not do, they should be named XXX_Viper and XXX_Acula OR =XXX=Viper and =XXX=Acula.  If for some reason your squads identification system varies, contact Recon to explain and be granted permission.  Pilots must ensure that their HyperLobby login matches their listed squad name exactly prior to mission launch.  Sometimes pilots have to join by IP, in which case the in-game pilot name will be used instead of the HyperLobby login. Each pilot must ensure their in-game pilot matches exactly with their listed callsign.

NOTE: It's very important that your pilot name not have any spaces in the name - it causes problems with the parser. If you have a space in your name, please update it for FS!

Upon registration
Upon registration of the squad, the CO of the squad should contact the Axis/Allied Commander and obtain all necessary info on comms, assignments, etc, and convey this to his squad members.  It is the responsibility of each pilot and that squadron’s CO to ensure that he is set up and ready for missions.

 

III. Organization Structure & Forums

Contacting Admin

As described in the Code of Contact, a “Chain of Command” is in place in Forgotten Skies for dispute resolution.  Use this means as your first resort.  If it becomes necessary to contact Recon directly, you may.  The lead Admin will accept any PM and respond, but will always ask if the Team Chain of Command has had a chance to resolve the problem prior to you contacting him. 

 

Forgotten Skies Staff

Website/Chief Admin: Recon

Dynamic Mission Generator: AKA_Scorp

Forum and Server Admin: Recon/RAF74_Bimmer (server is RAF74)

Campaign Builders: 3./JG51_Stecher

 

Allied Leadership

Overall Allied CO: 44th_Fehler

Admins: 44th_Fehler

Mission Planners: 44th_Fehler

 

Axis Leadership

Overall Axis CO: 3./JG51_Stecher

Admins: 3./JG51_Stecher, 4./JG53_Wotan

Mission Planners: 3./JG51_Stecher, 4./JG53_Wotan

 

Forum rules

The Code of Conduct applies to the forums, as well as the server.  All forums have the same rules and principles applied to them.  Any inappropriate posts, inappropriate images, disrespectful or insulting behavior, etc, will be deleted, and in some cases that user may be removed from the forum. 

 

Forgotten Skies Community Forums

These are the forums in which specific FS topics are discussed.  In the sub forums is where secure and open discussions happen pertaining to all FS related business, including improvement suggestions and ideas for our next campaign.  

Updated:  18 July 2008

How Forgotten Skies Works...

 

I. Explanation Summary

The goal in Forgotten Skies is to use a combined strike force to destroy enemy assets in order to score points and win the campaign after a designated amount of missions.  FS missions are run three times a week, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at 9:30pm ET for up to 45 pilots per side in the Forgotten Skies room in Hyperlobby.  FS is a dynamic online campaign that is run on a Dogfight server, vice a Coop server like so many others.  This means no A.I. aircraft can affect the outcome of the campaign, and more importantly, pilots can fly multiple sorties, taking off and landing as many times as they deem necessary.  FS runs on a state-of-the-art mission generation system that works in concert with battle reporting software.  Mission planners for both sides have complete control of how their resources are moved and utilized, and all pilots have the ability to see how the campaign is progressing from a real-time war map.  Squadrons and pilots work together in joint operations that are aimed towards completing overall mission goals.  An individual pilot builds a ‘persona’ that grows with time and mission accomplishment.  The longer a pilot stays alive, the more he is worth to the overall team effort. 

Each pilot has only one virtual life per mission.  “Dead/Captured is Dead”.  If you are captured or die during a 90 minute mission you cannot fly again for the rest of that mission, and your persona is reset to zero for the next mission.  The following information will outline in detail how a mission works, and how the campaign is organized and run.  Just remember, the most important mission objective:  Have fun!

 

II. The Mission

Missions are to be downloaded and put into your Il2 cache folder prior to joining the server.  This is very important.  Never join the server prior to having these files downloaded and put in your cache folder.   The 'Status' page contains a section called 'Mission Hosting Status'.  After a mission has been generated, a link will be posted there to a zip file containing the encrypted mission files.  Typically pilots are advised prior to launching that the mission files are ready for download.  However, if you join late, don't get the message, etc... you should goto the status page, see if the mission link is there, and download that zip file.  The contents of that file should be unzipped/uncompressed/copied to your IL2 directory under Missions\Net\Cache folder.  This is critical as the file downloads rates are severely capped to provide bandwidth to the pilots in the game.  You'll have substantial quicker load times if you follow this process.

 

Missions are launched 10 minutes before takeoff are allowed.  This gives pilots a chance to get in the game, taxi to the runway, etc.  A countdown is displayed reporting when pilots can take off.   If you try to take off prior to this you will be kicked.   Forgotten Skies uses a dedicated dogfight server for each mission.  You can join at any time during the 90-minute match.   

 

To enter the server from Hyperlobby after the mission has been launched, enter the following information into the General Chat bar at the bottom of your Hyperlobby application window:

 

//join FS_War_Server     Then hit ‘Enter’ and the game should launch.

 

Pilot

 

Mission Information

- Each pilot will have one life available.  If you are killed or get captured then you are out for that mission and your persona is reset.  (See Persona specifics below)

- There are no longer any limits to the amounts of specific types of aircraft a side can take (except for Transport aircraft); however, load-outs for some aircraft are limited.  You will be warned if the load-out is not allowed and kicked if you attempt to fly with an unauthorized load out.  Specific load-out restrictions can be found on the War Status page under the ‘Other’ tab.

- Commands in dogfight mission: 

<status    lists the time left till a pilot may rejoin if you have landed/bailed, and most important, your accumulated flight time.

<home    A pilot can toggle his wingtip smoke on and off then type the home command.  It will give distance and heading to the base you took off from.  (Note: A message will appear from the server to ALL announcing your location)

<timeleft   time till end of mission (if one pilot types it in, it will display for all pilots)

<aircraft    lists the available aircraft - (This is no longer needed)

 

The recommended way to prompt these commands is by communicating with the server directly.  This has two benefits:

 

 

1)     It doesn’t flood the “ALL” chat bar with dozens of <status requests

2)     It doesn’t alert the enemy that you, the scourge of the sky, is currently sitting out waiting to get back in.

In order to prompt the server directly, do the following: Open the chat bar as usual, type in the command as usual and hit enter only once; You will see the following list of selections to send the text you entered:  (2. Server is where you will be sending it)

0.  ALL
1.  MY_ARMY

2.  Server

To add the Server selection, arrow down twice so that the #2 area is highlighted, then type in the following: Server

it IS case sensitive.  Hit enter again and the command will be sent directly to the server and you should receive your answer.  Only you will be able to see the answer, except when using the <home command.  No matter where you send the <home command (to Server, All, or My_Army) the server will announce to everyone your location.

 

Point Values

Air to Air kill – No matter what you are flying, if you shoot down a:
Fighter  = 90
Attack = 95
Bomber = 100

Destroying ground units:

If you are flying a:  Fighter / Attacker / Bomber:

And destroy a: - it’s worth

Ship – 60 / 72 / 90
Tank – 24 / 48 / 60
All other Ground – 6 / 12 / 18

Bail successfully (not captured):  -5
Bail, but captured:  -10
Killed:  -15

For flying a successful mission you will receive a landing bonus of +40 points (base mission points).  A successful mission is defined below.

Persona

In order to help promote a 'dead is dead' environment where each pilot values his/her life, as well as a team-based environment where pilots/squadrons need to work together, we use a combination of 'persona points' and 'team points'.  How you do as an individual is applied to your team.  A ‘persona’ is a point system that is affected by a pilot’s individual performance, and in turn affects how much that pilot contributes to the overall mission point totals.  The status of the war isn’t measured just by the position of the front line, but also how many points are earned by each side during a mission.  Each mission, the points accumulated are divided by the number of pilots (this offsets differing amounts of pilots on either side) to create an 'average points per mission' total.  This total is added to your overall points.   This war status point total reflects on how your side is doing during a campaign, and ultimately who wins the campaign.

 

Explanation of Persona Points

As explained, a pilot gets Persona points for every successful mission he completes.  The more consecutive missions a pilot successfully completes, the higher the bonus he receives.

 

'Successful mission bonus’ (aka landing bonus)

A successful mission can be accomplished in two ways:

One

Destroying at least one ground object

or

Scoring at least one air kill

or

Damaging* an enemy aircraft

…and then returning back to an occupied friendly base, landing, and surviving the rest of the mission.  Remember you can fly multiple sorties during a 90-minute mission, so to earn this bonus you must have at least one sortie where you destroy a ground unit or make an air kill (or cause enough damage) and return to an Occupied friendly base and successfully land.  If you do not land, you will not receive the bonus.

*Explanation of Damage:
Damages = number of times you caused someone to be damaged, which could be reflected in a kill stat.  If you cause enough damage to an enemy aircraft, and complete a successful mission, it will increment your persona.   Unfortunately, the campaign software decides what is ‘enough’ damage, and you as a pilot won’t know it in the game, only after the mission is posted.

Note:  Damaging an enemy aircraft can trigger a successful mission bonus, but the pilot/team receives no additional points for the damage, as they would a kill.

Two

Complete a 'valid flight’.  The ‘valid flight rule’ is defined by your total flight time.  If your in-flight time exceeds 45 minutes and you return to an Occupied friendly base and successfully land, then your persona will advance.  The in-flight time is your cumulative time in the air for all your sorties in that mission.  You must land at a friendly occupied airbase after you exceed the valid flight time and before the mission ends. 

 

If you do not earn the ‘completed mission bonus’, your persona will not be updated; however, any points earned during the mission will be applied to your team average points.  If you are in a streak, and are not killed or captured but do not advance your persona, it merely rolls over to the next mission with the same value.  Persona resets if you are killed or captured.

 

For each mission you complete you increase your persona bonus by 10%. Your first successful mission in a streak will earn +10% of your score for that mission. Your second mission earns +20%, and so on.  Once you reach 10 missions you max out at +100%.

Example:  You fly a fighter, bomb 1 tank, and successfully land at an occupied friendly base.  You will earn 24 points for the tank you killed and +40 points for successfully completing your mission for 64 total points.  Suppose this is the first mission in your persona streak.  You would get an additional +10% of 64, which equals to 70 points total for that mission. (The system rounds down decimals) This is then averaged with the rest of the scores from your side.

 

 

Landing & Bailing

The only way a successful sortie will be counted is if a pilot lands on an occupied friendly airfield.  These bases are found on the in-game map marked with your teams color.  When you successfully land on one of these bases, you must wait 5 minutes after hitting refly for your plane to be refueled and rearmed. 

NOTE:  If you remain in the game during your waiting period, use the <status command to monitor how much time you have left till you can hit refly.  If you hit refly before you are allowed, the server will immediately kick you.

If you land at a Neutral airfield in friendly territory, marked in white on your in-game map, that is considered a ‘ditch’, and will cause you to have to wait 13 minutes before you can refly.  Since you didn’t land at an occupied friendly airfield, this will not be considered a successful mission.  Any points you earn will be applied to your team score, but your persona will not be advanced.  If you land your aircraft at a Neutral airfield in enemy territory, your pilot will be captured.

Landing the aircraft anywhere outside a friendly occupied airfield will count as a ditch.  For example, if you land wheels up in a field, or use a road.

 

Bailing out in friendly territory will keep you alive, but you will still need to successfully complete a mission to update your persona.  Bailing out over enemy territories captures your pilot.

 

Death or capture
If you die or are captured you will be kicked from the server and will not be able to fly again until the next mission.  In addition, any points gained during the mission will be lost, and a negative score will apply. (See point values, above) Your persona stats are removed, and you must start again from scratch the next mission.  Needless to say, you are worth more alive than dead.

 

 

Leaving the mission following a Pilot Kill/Bailing
Following a bailout, a pilot can hit refly or leave the game once his aircraft has hit the ground or exploded.  This will prompt the message that you have been shot down.  You do not need to wait until the pilot touches the ground.  In fact, that should be avoided considering a bug that occasionally kills the pilot on landing regardless of terrain.  If the pilot bailed out over friendly territory, there is a 20 minute wait before he can fly his next sortie.

If your pilot was killed, you can immediately leave the server, as the server will instantly record your death.

 

Kills

All air kills, with two exceptions, are acknowledged in Forgotten Skies.  If a pilot is killed before take-off, he will not be counted as dead.  This is to account for taxi crashes.  The other exception is being killed in the chute by another player after bailing out.  If a pilot has bailed out over friendly territory and is then shot by another player while floating down waiting for his aircraft to crash, the server won’t count that as a death, and the player who bailed out can still refly after their 20 minute wait time.  If the chute kill happens over enemy territory, then normal ‘capture’ consequences apply.  If the player is killed in his chute by any other means, such as getting shot by AA, by your own exploding aircraft, by landing in trees, or by bailing out too low, then that player is ‘dead’ and will be done for that mission.

 

Abnormal termination of the mission

Dead is dead no matter what the reason.  If for some reason your game crashes/freezes/stutters causing you to lose control, crash, and die, you are dead.

If your connection to the host is lost you may reconnect and refly.  The time you spent in the air up to that point still counts.  If you are able to destroy an enemy object or aircraft, or you complete the full 45 minutes of flight time and successfully land at an occupied friendly base, then your persona will be advanced. 

Intentionally disconnecting from the server to save your own life will not be tolerated.  Harsh consequences will result if such behavior is discovered.

Server crashes are rare.  If one happens, a decision will be made at that time about that particular mission.

 

Use of Smoke, Navigation lights, and Landing lights

Smoke is only to be used in short bursts, simulating the use of flares in real life. So do not fly for an extended period of time trailing smoke.

Landing lights are only to be used when actually taxiing, taking off or landing.

You can 'flash' your lights while in formation flying to find your friend, but it's inappropriate to be using lights while in combat. At best, a quick flash, NEVER leave your lights on in combat...

 

III. Mission Intelligence : The War Map

 

Forgotten Skies has a first class mission generation system.  The War Map shows the status of the war by location.  Mission planners have at their disposal mechanized tank, artillery, fuel/supply, and Engineering columns, as well as trains and ships, to move around the map to attack the enemy.  The air war, which you are flying, supports these attacks, defending friendly units and destroying enemy units.  The object is to take and hold territory, and to score the maximum amount of points you can.  A campaign is won after a set amount of missions are flown (which varies by campaign) and a team’s total points are tallied.

During the campaign, if a unit is destroyed they sit out for one mission and then are eligible to respawn. (explained in more detail below)

Each side has control over how their forces move.  Decisions are made in the Bunker forums on how and where to attack, retreat, and reposition.  If a Mission Commander doesn’t make the decision for the unit, they are 'smart' units, and will make decisions on their own.  Factors such as supply, fuel, and obstacles such as downed bridges also influence movement.  Needless to say, there is much happening on the War Map! 

To see what you are looking at on the War Map, mouse over units to see the specific information such as supply and fuel levels.

 

The following detailed information explains the specific of mission planning and execution.  It greatly enhances immersion and mission focus and accomplishment when all members of a team understand what is going on, and what they are flying for.

 

Territory

Territories decide what control a side has over the map.  A significant point bonus is given (each location has a value - it can be seen when you mouse over the territory on the war map) for captured territory, and loss of territory subtracts value from the total points.  This happens when a territory is brought under contention, or outright taken by the other side.  The overview of what has happened with territories can be seen on the 'War Status' page. 

  Allied Territory
  Axis Territory
  Contested Territory

Territories contain 'Troops', 'Supply' and 'Fuel'. 

Territories can be contested or captured by moving units in to them.  Each object, like a column, or even an AA gun, carries with it a certain amount of troop value.  Simply put: if there is an object alive at a location, there is a troop presence.  If both teams have a troop presence at a location, it is contested.  The team which lost exclusive ownership of that location loses a certain amount of points.  Different location types can be worth different amounts, depending on if it's a simple town, or an airfield. In order to fully capture a location, a team must eradicate all enemy troops in the location and maintain some presence of their own.  This results in the capturing team being rewarded with the appropriate amount of points.

 

Factories

Factories exist to assist in the dispersion and advancement of units during the campaign.  They act as auxiliary spawn points.  Each factory can spawn a maximum of 2 units per mission, assuming they are eligible for respawn.  Each factory complex has 2 factory buildings.  Factories will respawn eligible units based on a configurable probability.  See the Unit Respawn section below for specifics about respawning.

 

Trains

Trains can bring supplies, fuel, and columns to a location with a train station.  Trains use steam locomotives, so do not require petroleum fuel.

Tanks (Mechanized Columns)

Used as part of a Mechanized Column, tanks are the main offensive weapon in Forgotten Skies.  Each Mechanized column requires 2 fuel points per column to move from one location to another during a single mission.  

 

Columns

Columns bring supplies and/or fuel to locations.  Supplies can cause stationary objects such as flak to 'respawn' the next mission if damaged.  If not needed to repair AAA, supplies are stored in warehouses and fuel is stored in fuel tanks at a location.   There are several different types of columns.  If you mouse over the icon on the map the information will tell you what type of column is there.  The Convoy.dcg file gives specific information about column types.  Columns require 2 fuel points per column to move from one location to another during a single mission.

 

Ships

Ships can carry units, fuel, and supply, and drop them off at harbor locations along the water routes.  Convoys consist of 4 cargo ships plus 2 defensive warships.

 

Destruction of moving units:  Trains, Columns, and Ships

A team must destroy at least 80% of a moving unit for it to be considered dead.  This will cause them to be out for one mission.  That unit will then be eligible for respawn at an available factory complex or the main spawn location in the next mission.  The chances of respawn are controlled by a configurable probability.  If less than 80% of a moving unit is destroyed, the entire unit will be considered alive and will have reached its destination. 

Trains = 10 cars

Columns = 10 vehicles (tanks/trucks)

Ships = 6 vessels (4 cargo + 2 warships)

 

The Convoy.dcg file contains the coded information about moving units, such as trains, columns, and ships.  In this file you can find specific information about what units carry what amounts of supply and fuel, their troop representation, plus the capacity of ships and trains to carry columns.

 

Transport Aircraft

Transport aircraft are used to resupply airfields.  They are especially useful for resupplying suppressed airfields.  Specific transport aircraft are designated every campaign and can be found on the in the War Status page under the Aircraft Availability tab.  Each side has only one airfield in which they fly from, and that is the airfield closest to each main spawn.  Transports must fly with an ‘empty’ load-out.  This means no ordnance and no ammunition for the gunners.  If a pilot tries to take-off in a Transport aircraft with any other load-out, they will be auto-kicked by the server. 

Transports can fly to any occupied friendly airfield to deliver fuel and supplies.  Once a successful landing is made, and the pilot has hit ‘refly’, 5 supply points and 5 fuel points are delivered to that location.  Only 1 Transport aircraft can be in the air at any one time.  If another pilot tries to take off while one is already flying, the pilot taking off will be auto-kicked by the server. 

Each side can fly as many transport sorties as possible within the 90-minute mission. 

 

Downed Bridges

In some campaigns, bridges can be taken down, limiting movement.  If a bridge is down it will be displayed on the war map.  When a bridge is destroyed it prevents columns from crossing during the mission it was destroyed.  This applies to any bridge which lies along the route segment that they are attempting to travel upon.  If units are in the act of moving on a route segment, and in that mission a bridge gets destroyed on that segment, the units will be unable to complete their journey, and will return where they started. It does not matter if they are physically placed past the bridge in the mission file, which is only a randomized representation. They are simply considered to be on the route segment.  The only thing which can repair a destroyed bridge, is an engineer column.  If their movement is in progress during the mission in which the bridge is destroyed, they will repair it along the way, and allow everything they are moving with to complete their journey to the next location.  Check to find out if bridges are a strategic target for the campaign you are flying before you take one down.  

Fuel, Supply and Troops

Fuel

•  Is delivered by trains, car columns and ships.
  
• Is stored in fuel tanks at a location.
  
• If a fuel tank is destroyed a location loses the fuel stored in the tank.
  
• Used by any ground column to advance from a location
• If a location has no fuel, ground columns at that location cannot advance.
• Fuel is physically represented at locations by fuel tanks.  A location's fuel level cannot exceed its total fuel tank capacity.  Fuel tanks will spawn representing full intervals of their accorded fuel amount.  Any remaining fuel will spawn a fuel tank only if it is at least half way to the next full interval.  There can be different types of fuel tanks that hold different amounts of fuel. 
• Destroying a fuel tank (or more precisely, the truck inside it) will only decrease the location's fuel amount by what that tank was holding. 

12/29/09:  ie. Lets say the supply columns are worth 8 fuel and supply. Each vehicle still "theoretically" represents 1 fuel and supply. So when a supply column arrives it gives the location 8 supply and fuel if at full strength, S=8. Since it's still setup as a 1:1 ratio with the strength, it's easy to see what partial strength columns distribute to the location.

It does however immediately take 2 fuel from the location for it's next move, even if it is going to be sitting stationary. The fuel amount you see on the warmap for a location already calculates the fuel distributed to units at that location, for them to use in the next mission. So you may see units at a location which shows 0 fuel. Depending on the amount it had at the end of the last mission, it may have simply given its last fuel to those units. So the location may show 0 fuel, but if those units have already taken on fuel, then they will be able to move.

The location does not resupply the columns. The columns distribute their fuel and supply amount to each location they end up at in each mission. This includes sitting stationary. The columns simply do not get depleted. They always have what they have.

Supply

• Is delivered by trains, car columns and ships.
  
• Is stored in warehouses at a location.
  
• If a warehouse is destroyed a location loses the supply stored in that building.
  
• Used to regenerate any static object at a location and repair factories
  
• If a location has no supply, no static objects can be repaired/replaced.
  
• Supply is physically represented at locations by warehouses.  A location's supply level cannot exceed its total warehouse capacity.  Warehouses will spawn representing full intervals of their accorded supply amount.  Any remaining supply will spawn a warehouse only if it is at least half way to the next full interval.  There can be different types of warehouses that hold different amounts of supply.
• Destroying a warehouse (or more precisely, the truck inside it) will only decrease the location's fuel amount by what that tank was holding.

 

Fuel/Supply Summary

Each location can only hold a set amount of fuel and supply.  Once full, no more can be held.  Units that move through the location use up the fuel that is there.  Fuel and supplies are deposited at each location by the columns that move through them.  Columns cannot pick up fuel or supplies from one location and move them to another.  Columns are assigned varying amounts of fuel and supply, based on their type, and these amounts are never depleted.  They continually deposit their assigned amount at every location they arrive.

 

Troops

The troop level is a count of ground units at each location. It gives an indication of the strength each side has at that location.

Vehicle Column = 10 Troops
AA Gun or Static Artillery Piece = 5 Troops
Other Objects = 1 Troop

If a location has 1 or more Allied troops and 0 Axis troops it belongs to the Allies.
If a location has 1 or more Axis troops and 0 Allied it belongs to the Axis.
If a location has 1 or more Allied troops and 1 or more Axis troops it is contested.
If a side has 0 Allied troops and 0 Axis troops it keeps the side it had when it last had troops.

 

Unit Respawn

Units sit out for one mission after their destruction.  They are then eligible to respawn.  Each side has one main spawn location, and a few factory complexes.  Trains, ships and vehicle columns at factories have a 75% chance of respawning when eligible.  Each factory can spawn a maximum of 2 units per mission.  Vehicle columns at the main spawn location have a 25% chance of respawning when eligible.  Main spawn locations are not limited in the number of units they can spawn in one mission.

 

Static Respawn

Static objects at locations are hard coded to require one supply point to repair.  Static objects with artillery in the name requires 5 supply points, and static ships require 10 supply points.  Warehouses and factories are soft coded and may change in different campaigns.  To learn the current repair values of the different objects, refer to the structures.dcg file list located here.

                                                                                           

How Units Move
Vehicle columns move along a designated road network. This road network is highlighted by dark red lines on the website map.  When a column arrives at a territory, its ability to move is based on the fuel available at that territory.  Each column will be allotted 2 fuel points to make its next move. Assuming the path is clear and there is sufficient fuel, the units will advance one location every mission by default, along the designated road network.  Trains move along available rail lines between station locations.  Ships move between sea, beachhead, or harbor locations.

The way units are physically represented in the game is by randomly placing them as a group, somewhere along the route segment that they are traveling.  Those players with Commander Status can choose to manually override movement orders and send them to another location, hold them in position, or even pull them back one location.

 

Transporting Units

Vehicle columns can be transported via ships or trains.  Transport units will pick up columns when they occupy the corresponding territory in the same mission, assuming there is room to take them on, and assuming they have not just spawned in that mission.

Ship convoys are capable of transporting 8 columns to the forward most location with a harbor or beachhead.  Offloading these units from ships takes a full mission to complete.

Trains are capable of transporting 2 columns to the forward most location with a station.  Offloading these units from trains is done without delay.

 

Weather

Weather severity and Time of Day are random within the limits that the campaign designer sets.  These settings are soft coded so may change for different campaigns.

 

Skins and Markings

Forgotten Skies uses default skins and markings - skins downloads are turned off.  Additionally we use markings based on the theatre and campaign created.  By default the following markings should be used (note: in special campaigns this can changed if it fits):

Western Front Campaigns:

British Planes - British Markings (ie. Spitfire, Tempist, Hurricane - Tomahawk)

US Planes - US Markings (ie. p40, p51, p47, p39)

German Planes - German markings

Italian Planes - Italian markings

Eastern Front Campaigns:

All Allied Planes - Russian markings

German Planes - German markings