dmatsch

I would like to see at least some statics at each airport to make it feel less empty and more like an active airport/airbase. Ideally we would have built-in RAT for a populated airspace. Rudel_Chw created a bunch of static templates a few years ago, but most aren't working anymore and corrupt missions. It would be nice if ED had something like that for each map and timeframe.

ED should have talked to you before releasing this thing.

the main problem is the lack of working pre-made static templates. One for each time period. It would be nice if the users didn't have to create all that content manually. It would be really nice if it just had a ton of vanilla game (no mods) pre-made templates for armor groups, infantry, CAG groups, sams, airports (with RAT!!), etc. That way DCS would be more modular out of the box. Or even several pre-made maps from each era. But they have to come from vanilla DCS so that they continue to work. Downloaded static templates work for a while (thank you Rudel_Chw!), but eventually crap out with DCS updates. And when they crap out, they corrupt the entire mission so that it's not loadable, editable, or playable. Start from scratch again. In this day and age, I should be able to create a full mission with just a dozen or so clicks. Click - map. Click - era. Click - add template(s) for entire map. Click - mission choice (any type of mission). Click - player aircraft and loadout. Click - start mission. Maybe a few more for weather and such. You get the idea. The technology already exists for DCS, but third party stuff is barely maintained. I've never completed a campaign in Liberation since inception without it crashing on me. I shouldn't literally have to take half a day trying to make even a simple multi-plane mission perform the way it should. Even then, I've created the mission. I know where everything is and when it's going to happen.

we didn't need a QAG. Quick and dirty missions can be done faster and better in the ME. We needed a FULL mission generator like the 3rd party ones that have existed for more than 5 years now. And a dynamic campaign generator like the ones that have existed for more than 5 years now. But all of this is a moot point if they can't fix the AI.

But we got cows several years ago!

I have a plan to make 3.2 million dollars in the next three months. I'll start actively working on it when I receive that last 3.2 million that I planned to make.

Fix the AI. This is the biggest complaint. And the one persisting year after year*. *Please buy our new latest early-access module that will be early-access for years until enough people complain, even then it won't be "complete".

it's extremely simplistic. Like test missions only. And only against THIER pre-defined assets, not statics, or custom templates. Between the horrendous load times vs. it's capability, you can create a miz in 1/10th the time. I would have expected something like DCC or the other mission generator (name escapes me -- both stopped working).

title says it all. we have a ground pounder mission, but no infrastructure. I tried to create an anti-ship mission with only two cargo boats, and it created the two cargo boats and a frigate! This thing is so simplistic that with the load times, it's easier to just create a quick and dirty ME mission. Doubly-so using templates. This way at least you can load the scripts that make DCS halfway playable in a COMBAT role.

^^this. I'm not really sure what's going on at ED, but a good deal of core-level bugs make any kind of mission design either impossible or such a chore that it's unfeasible. 60%-80% of mods, scripts and static templates are broken, which makes this software mostly unplayable as a Combat flight simulator.

how about being able to populate any airport with statics and RATs without spending hours on each airport on each map? DCS, to this day, remains a big, empty sim unless you spend hours in the ME.

please fix this, ED. This is a stupid game-breaker bug that affects ALL carrier-based missions with any incoming traffic. End users shouldn't have to find all these hacks for ancient bugs just to design/play a mission.

this bug is waaaay older than 2024. ED is "working on it".

and it's a very, very old issue.

lifetime software engineer here. Had to learn many many (many) new technologies and languages in little time. 1. A core knowledge of how your chosen language operates is essential. Looping, object creation, syntax. This case, LUA. Docs and tutorials are everywhere. write a basic "hello world" outside of DCS. 2. take existing DCS scripts that work and modify them. As long as you make backups of the original, you're fine. Use Notepad ++ 3. I started with the MOOSE RAT module. There's plenty of LUA in there for you to experiment and learn, and it's fairly straightforward with plenty of working examples. 4. this forum. keep asking questions, only a jerk would berate you for being a newbie and tell you to RTFM. DML is a code-free module that's pretty powerful. It's modules are also a great place to play around and modify. TLDR: There's no "easy way" to learn a new coding language. It's literally the same road as the one to Carnegie Hall.

it's been a decade, not years. I know many people who aren't buying any new modules until the core is fixed and updated to 2025 standards.

you can't.

anyone else getting this error any time a red unit is destroyed by AI? It doesn't kill the current mission, however it's quite bothersome:

no. the instant action missions are part of the core DCS. You can, however open them in the mission editor, make your changes and save them to a different file location. **if you re-save the core mission, it will break integrity checks and will get overwritten

the P-51 Merlin engine develops such huge horsepower, then delivering that HP into the prop as torque. Takeoff becomes a lesson in rudder management. From anecdotal experience watching firsthand a P-51 takeoff -- from memory from the pilot's words through the radio on takeoff: "...[this beast has so much power]...[I have to maintain full left rudder on takeoff to compensate for torque]..."

terrain masking, ECM, Countermeasures, notching and missile avoidance are all skills needed for successful SAM evasion.

good for you. good luck with this. I wish you the best of coding. I hope MANY DCS players download your mission, once complete, tested and fully bug-free. You realize DCS isn't Ace Combat or Arma, right?

I'm sorry this happened to you. Believe me, it's happened to us all. The only advice I can give you is the advice as a 20+year software engineer: make many backups and often. Make backups of backups. IE: You make a "master" mission file, then copy it to one, or multiple "editing" files. Make a "archive" of the LAST working version of your "editing" file, JUSTIN CASE! Make MINOR changes to your mission, saving it as your "editing" mission. Then, when it all works and tested, overwrite the "master", which is ONLY the LAST working copy of your mission. Overwrite your "archive" file as needed with ONLY an absolutely positively working version of your mission. If everything goes wrong, THIS file is your lifeline. Never, ever edit the "master" mission file directly. ----or, preferably, use GitHub to track version history, but that's another worm can if you think you can handle it---- EDIT: I believe that the mission editor has this function under the "file" menu, but I haven't tested it out. No time, re: software engineer. As far as your template issue, I believe that saving units as a template will ONLY save the units themselves, and not any triggers or waypoint actions or scripts. my guess is that a combination of group settings and actions or ONE actions field left unintentionally blank borked the template save. Then, when you loaded the template into the mission, it borked the whole mission.

what about with a mod? I seem to remember one a while back...

agreed, but careful. DCS moderators are very protective and will sting you.