Briefings & Handbooks

Pilot Briefings

As a pilot in a Targetware sim, you will be one of a number of pilots flying online missions. For some missions, you may know exactly what you need to do (shoot down bad guys) without any mission briefing at all. But for other missions, it may be critical for the success of your team for everyone to know exactly where they are supposed to go, and what they are supposed to do when they get there. Knowing that information can also save you a lot of time wandering around a large terrain, wondering where everyone is. That is where briefings come in.

There are four levels of briefings available to scenario designers:

  • Scenario Briefing
  • Team Briefing
  • Mission Briefing
  • Unit Briefing

Briefings can be textual, graphical, or both. What briefings are actually available for a scenario depends entirely on the scenario designer. If one or more type of briefing is not available, selecting it will show only a blank window.

Briefings are displayed in two ways: When a player selects a team, mission, or unit, a text briefing is automatically displayed to provide the player with instant information about the team, mission, or unit they selected. Visual briefings are not displayed when selecting a unit.

Briefing for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Milne Bay Invasion scenario:

The second method of viewing a briefing is to select "Scenario Briefing", "Team Briefing", "Mission Briefing", or "Unit Briefing" from the in-game menu, either before or during flight.

Visual Briefings could be almost anything: a historical recon photo as above, a map of the area, a checklist of targets, close up images of the main target, oblique shots taken in-game that show the target area, etc. Here are a couple examples of visual briefings used in the Target Rabaul Mod:

The Scenario Briefing visual for the IJN in the Milne Bay Invasion scenario:

A contemporary reconnaissance photo of Gavutu Island:
Recon Photo Briefing

Example: Map Showing Mission Area

Example: Oblique Overhead with Targets Marked

Pilot Handbooks

This is a typical situation: you log onto a new server, select a mission, and find yourself in an unfamiliar aircraft. What kind of guns does it have? What is the best climb speed? How fast will it go in a pinch? The answer to these type of questions can be found in the Pilot's Handbook, available from the In-Game Menu.

Pilots Handbook Example

Depending on the aircraft and mod, a visual component to the handbook may also be available, perhaps showing the instrument layout, armor positions, gun locations, etc.

 

Instrument Panel for Mitsubishi A6M2 'Zero':