DD_Friar

@ChuckIV unitZone with parameter of red (only looking for red units) enterZone! flag name to bang that the messenger is looking out for. messenger? same flag as enterZone! I would take time to look through the excellent user guide that cfrag has produced. It really will help.

@cfrag applause, applause, applause This will so much to the way we pick-up and deploy troops. You have obviously enjoyed this one since you turned it round so fast. P.S Do you think you will do a little widget for turning drawings on and off now we have the logic or it just as easy to use the standard ED triggers for this?

@cfrag .......... Having last night attended the theater in London to see the worlds longest running play "The Mousetrap", it has been running for 73 years and last nights performance was number 29796, I thought I would stay in that vein with this post. The scene, cfrag sitting at his desk, there is a knock at the door and in walks Friar. cfrag "Yes, now what Friar..." Friar "You know how you have just finished amending heloTroops to add yet another request from me..." cfrag "Yes..." Friar <pause> "Well please may I make one last request for this excellent module and I will completely understand if you say no" cfrag "Despite the fact that I have just had all the nuts and bolts for this module spread across my desk sorting out your issue, and have put them all back together again, you are going to ask me to take it apart again aren't you?"... Friar "Well..., when troops are deployed from the helicopter rather than have them go to circle out around the helicopter, how about using the logic you have that controls how units spawn in with the spawner for example grid, line or scattered or even just scattered instead and also have them spawn in offset 5 meters at 90 degrees from the center of the helicopter. The reason for this is that I think it will look more natural and also if a player has selected auto-deploy on touchdown, they may do what I am prone to do, is that if I still have forward movement I end up running over some of my brave soldiers and killing them right out the door. I thought, and we all know how dangerous that can be, is that you could perhaps add new parameters to the heloTroops module of deployFormation and even perhaps deployHeading. I would not have a problem with the formation defaulting to scattered but them all facing a chosen direction would be good, or would even be happy if they all faced zero degrees upon deployment, but at least they would be off to the side of the helicopter and out of harms way. This drop off would also look quite cool for troops being left in a dropZone with the new keep-wait option, rather than staying in a circle forcing the helicopter to go straight up to avoid killing troops. Anyway, see what you think." Having dropped this bombshell, Friar bows and backs away slowly out of the office leaving cfrag sitting with his head in his hands. End scene.

nope - all good now, many thanks once again for the quick fix.

Salute, I wonder if anyone has experienced this or can point me to a possible cause. The other night whilst flying a mission I had loaded up some cargo into the CH-47 using the Rearm window and standard ED cargo routines. My back door was down and the cargo appeared on the tarmac. I loaded it and it was showing in the hold. I closed my door and set off for my flight. Just after taking off I glanced over my left shoulder and could see the load still there. Off I went on my merry way. Mid flight I happened to glance over my shoulder again and the load was gone! I had not knowingly deployed it, my back door was never opened. I had been using the comms menu to do some special in mission stuff. I have looked through the control settings and can not see any commands (that does not mean they are not there of course) which might have a key binding conflict, or even a possible setting that would do the job of ejecting the cargo like that. When I arrived at my destination of course there was nothing to unload. I did a another flight in the same mission doing the same thing and this time never touched any comms menu button ('F' keys) and everything worked as it should. The cargo stayed for the whole journey and I was able to unload and update the warehouse stocks at the new location. What could have happened to my cargo on that first flight?

I was thinking it could be shown just as -1 perhaps, but I believe from those that know, this is to do with the way the data storage has been designed. And I do get that that it is a big enough number to mean that you are never going to run out of units. Also in the scheme of things there are bigger fish to fry in the Warehouse system.

Salute, Not a "bug" as such, but is there not a better way of showing an aircraft has unlimited stock at an airfield than what is seen below? null

@cfrag "been there done that" (a long time ago mind) On a positive note, ref my other issue of the aircraft stock numbers, it seems that when in the ME and using Dynamic Spawn you specify that some aircraft are unlimited and some are restricted, the number shown is what ED put in for unlimited. nullnull

@cfrag Please find attached two missions that show the issue. HeloTroops 2.43 has all the latest scripts (from 2.44) except the heloTroops from 2.43 HeloTroops 2.44 has all the latest scripts (from 2.44) and shows the change in logic. You do not have to fly these missions. The helicopter (huey ok for you?) is cold on the ground. Just request the troops (they spawn in in front of the trucks). Load them and then deploy them. In the 2.43 version they will kill the red soldier and set off for the zone. In the 2.44 version they stay in position around the helicopter. regards Friar HeloTroops 2.44 Test.miz HeloTroops 2.43 Test.miz

At the moment just the full campaign mission. I will knock up a smaller example that will be easier to test. Same goes for the WH issue.

@cfrag Version 2.44 Change of Module Function? Module: HeloTroops Good morning Sir, After updating my Syria Campaign with the new version as released yesterday, last night whilst running the campaign I experienced what I think is either a change in the logic or I have misunderstood the new "keep-wait" and "set-wait" functionality. I made no changes to my zones last night, just updated the script. Scenario I picked up a group of troops from the base as usual. They had orders of "wait-captureANDHold". I flew them towards a red held zone and dropped them off in a suitable location. "dropZone" was NOT used (as it can be totally down to what is required at the time as to where I deploy the troops) Previously after deployment they would head off towards the red zone to capture it. Last night after I deployed them they stayed put in a circle around the helicopter and I received a message that the "wait" attribute had been retained. From the updated document I assumed that the new functionality would apply to troops deployed within a dropZone only? Salute Friar (Threads merged by forum) Module Question Module: WHPersistence? Before I report this as a bug to ED, I just wanted to check that your warehouse persistence module would have nothing to do with the below screen shot? The units marked are configured in the ME to have unlimited stock at the airfield.

@cfrag Thank YOU for the quick fix... Just updated and tested - all now good. Cheers Friar

@cfrag BUG REPORT VERSION 2.44 MODULE: SMOKEZONE Sir, I have just updated my campaign mission with the new scripts and run a test on my machine and upon loading received the following error: null Edit: Should have mentioned, in my test there is an existing persistence saved data folder that should have been loaded. Edit 2: Just updated another mission that DOES NOT have persistence and it loaded all ok.

@JuiceBox Salute Sir, I have actually just built a mission for this exact area. At the moment it is only for Ch-47, Apace and Kiowa flying out of Khost Helicopter base. It uses the excellent DML Mission Tool box (not a mod-no extra installs required) (if you are a mission builder I strongly suggest you check it out) I have a number of random missions that get generated when you request a task, they range from troop transport to convoys requiring air cover to attacks on weapon stores and safe houses. I have only played it once with a squad mate which un-earthed a few tweaks being needed but will happily post it here when completed, or if you want to drop me a PM I will send it to you. It can be played as single player if you want. PS I like the photos. The Apache is my main ride in DCS and I have never seen a loadout like that before, rockets one side Hellfire the other. Interesting.

ok, so yes thinking about it I just set the spawner with the attribute of "paused" to true at the advanced base and dropping troops off in the local dropZone bangs the "activate" flag. Yep, that would work for me. I would still need to remove them? as the dropZone can not overlap the spawn zone (as I found out earlier!) EDIT: sorry did not see the post above before I posted.

@cfrag Something I have been meaning to ask whilst thinking about heloTroops, its too late for my current campaign but would be useful going forward if you found time for some development in the future. The excellent module allows me to move troops to a new location and once deployed they will set off and find the nearest enemy base and attack it and either stay there or move on to the next one. What I would like to be able to do is to pick up troops from a base and move them forward, ready for another hop perhaps in the next mission. I was half way through typing out my scenario request when I realised that what I was describing would not work for the second hop, so my idea is as follows, I take troops from a base, suppose they have orders to captureAndHold (does not matter really). I transport them to a forward location and drop them off in a "dropZone". After a few seconds they are removed, but that action then turns on the spawner for the next time, so that spawner is not active until troops have been brought to it? What do you think? Salute Friar

@CidTheViking HeloTroops enbale you to spec a group of troops (for example I have a section which is 6 times M4 soldier or a platoon which is x24) but the make up of what is legal to be transported is down to you. I have in fact also made a humvee a "legal" troop for "loading" into the Ch47. (although to be fair there is nothing stopping you putting on a Huey as well but I use the common sense approach with my squad) Once it is deployed it can then be driven by a player with CA. Using groundTroops and commander as well you can assign the transported troops orders. For example you can give them a "captureAndHold" order. With this the deployed troops will head towards the nearest enemy ownedZone. They will attack it and once secured will stay there. The beauty of heloTroops is that, unlike the default DCS option for troop movement, you can go back in and pick them up from wherever they are, no specific waypoints needed. There is also a cargo management module where you can off load a "crate" which can trigger a flag, once fired that flag can spawn a fuel tanker for example or an ammo truck for re-arm and re-fuel.

Now we have the excellent updated Afgan map, when as a keen mission builder, am I going to be able to add troops that look like they belong in the environment please? null

@mech79 They can only take 1 load at a time, so if you limit the numbers available then I believe that is the only way. For example in one of my missions I have a spawned group called "platoon" (troops x 24) and a spawned group called "section" (troops x 6). Players can use either the CH-47 or the Huey. I also have a single JTAC unit which people tend to use the Gazelle for but they could use either of the other helicopters if they wanted. If you only place the "section" group within range of the Huey only then they could not take the platoon. That is about all you can do I am afraid. In my example if the Huey was to land near the Platoon loading point, there is nothing stopping him loading up 24 soldiers. My squad know this and act responsibly when it comes to what they put into their helicopters. Could your guys not do the same or is it for a public server?

@ChuckIV Check out page 338 and beyond of the full DML user guide... null

@rmakowsky "A picture speaks a thousand words" I have just knocked up this little demo for you, hope it gives you some ideas. Here is a video of the mission so you can see what it does first. Ambush Demo.miz

@rmakowsky Hi, glad you are finding DML so useful. I have done something similar before, here is what you do; Create a clone zone template that contains the soldiers you want to appear when the convoy is attacked. It can be placed anywhere on the map. they do not appear when the mission is run. Create a clone zone that references the template as its source and link the clone zone to the convoy vehicle. This will make it move with the convoy. Create a unit Zone flag that fires a trigger when the convoy enters. Use this flag/trigger to bang the "clone?" If you know the direction of the attack on the convoy you can also set the heading for the troops so that when they appear they are facing the attack. If they are in range they will then fire back. Hope this helps, if you need anything else please do not hesitate to post back. Friar.

Wow ! thanks for the quick update!

@cfrag I updated my campaign mission today to 2.43 and have just tried running it on our server and received the following error! null

@Recluse ref your AI helo issue. What about having it land outside the zone and once landed deploy troops (using the DCS standard method) that then make their way into the zone to fight what ever is left to capture it?