Mission Editor MOD

Dedicated to the community, V1.7 of my Editor MOD is available here:

Lockon User Files and here: STP Forum

(please hit "Refresh" if you see the old image)

By installing this MOD the following features are added or changed in BS Mission Editor

Coalitions

• Now you can change coalitions at any time. Click on the new coalitions icon to open the coalitions dialog.
  

Trigger Editor

• Newly created trigger objects will be inserted into the trigger list behind the currently selected trigger item - not at the end anymore.
  
• In trigger dialog, there now are arrow buttons at the top of each listbox, so you can move the currently selected item one position up or down within the list.
  
• The new "CLONE" buttons below each of the lists create a deep copy of the currently selected trigger, rule or action and insert it behind the selected element.
  
• Changed the width of the two trigger edits "Name" and "Type" to enhance readability. If this proves to be helpful other edit box widths could be changed as well in future releases
  
• In trigger dialog, there now are two rule lists that are AND or OR combineable. The two modes ((OR) AND (OR)) and ((AND) OR (AND)) can be selected by pressing the new buttons "(A) AND (B)" and "(A) OR (B)" between the lists. It's up to you to leave one list empty. Existing missions created in older or unmodded installations are compatible and can be edited without limitations. Missions containing AND/OR triggers are runtime compatible with unmodded hosts.
  

Unit List

• The new button "CLONE" creates a deep copy of the currently selected unit group including waypoints, targets, target categories, units, their payloads and liveries.
  
• The new buttons "SHOW ALL", "HIDE ALL" and "TOGGLE" work like their counterparts in the trigger list dialog but only the visible list elements are affected. So, using the filters, you can selectively show or hide groups of elements or toggle between them.
  

Map View

• This MOD features <51>Case's "bearing bugfix"; Thank you Case!
  

Missions created and edited using ModdedME run on unmodded installations too. Missions created with an older or unmodded version can be edited without restrictions. Use ModMan to install.

For further details you can visit http://spare-time-pilots.de/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=543 or post your questions here.

Version history

V1.7

NEW: in trigger dialog every listbox now has arrow buttons to move list entries up or down within the list

NEW: in trigger dialog every listbox now has a button "CLONE" that inserts a copy of the selected item

NEW: in trigger dialog there now are 2 rule lists (A and B) and two buttons "(A) OR (B)" and "(A) AND (B)" that allow different logical combinations of rule items

NEW: contains <51>Case's bearing bugfix. Thank you Case!

FIX: Hammer (STP) and Pat01 (eagle.ru) found out, that liveries of aircraft are not copied for cloned items, what is now fixed. Thanks Pat and Hammer!

INFO: Cloning units moves the first waypoint a few hundred meters away from it's original position to prevent "ghost objects" in map editor, but this could change the waypoint task.

V1.6

NEW: coalitions can be edited at any time and for existing missions.

FIX: button "duplicate" in units list now (at least partially) visible at horizontal screen resolution of 1280px

V1.5

FIX: bug in trigger duplicate function caused groups of existing triggers to change their type when a clone's type was changed

FIX: airfield information was missing of cloned groups that start on ramp

V1.4

First public version.

Hi Blindspot. I'm sorry, that was my fault. I lost a few threads from the Announcements section when doing the move. Please repost any essential info here.

The "essential" information was the community feedback, ideas and suggestions. I'm very sorry but I'm not able to repost this.

For those not conversant in German as per the above link, herewith pertinent info:

BLINDSPOT's Modded ME V1.6

This MOD adds certain functionality to the DCS-BS/FC2 Mission Editor.

The MOD includes the following features/ changes:

General (V1.6)

* You can change coalitions at any time now (by clicking a more or less new button in the toolbar)

Trigger Editor

* Newly created trigger objects will be inserted into the trigger list behind the currently selected trigger item - not at the end anymore.

* The added buttons "+" and "-" move the currently selected trigger item one position up ("-") or down ("+") within the trigger list. Element positions are persisted during save/load cycles.

* The new button "DUPLICATE" creates a deep copy of the currently selected trigger and inserts it behind the selected element. (requires a screen width of more than 1280 pixels to see all buttons)

* Changed the width of the two trigger edits "Name" and "Type" to enhance readability. If this proves to be helpful other edit box widths could be changed as well in future releases

Unit List

* The new button "DUPLICATE" creates a deep copy of the currently selected unit group including waypoints, targets, target categories, units and their payloads.

* The new buttons "SHOW ALL", "HIDE ALL" and "TOGGLE" work like their counterparts in the trigger list dialog. Only the visible list elements are affected. So, using the filters, you can selectively show or hide groups of elements or toggle between them.

I can't see the download at that page, it comes up in german what looks like a login page.

Any chance of a link to the file?

Cheers

The mod is available on the ED file exchange as well: http://files.lockon.ru/en/106/

I will post (and repost) my upgrades suggestion, but I will be happy anyway with any upgrades you have in mind, Blindspot :) :

- Save mission situation in a .miz file anytime during the mission, at least removing dead units and objects and keeping ground units positions;

- Trigger waypoints also, for example allowing to trigger one flight plan instead of another without using two different groups;

maybe those two are impossibile...

I will post (and repost) my upgrades suggestion, but I will be happy anyway with any upgrades you have in mind, Blindspot :) :

 

- Save mission situation in a .miz file anytime during the mission, at least removing dead units and objects and keeping ground units positions;

- Trigger waypoints also, for example allowing to trigger one flight plan instead of another without using two different groups;

maybe those two are impossibile...

Thanks for your suggestions, Chromium. I put it onto the list, althought it's not an editor theme.

Small patch - info list panel

Update: v1.7.4 is attached to this post (September 19th). This fixes the last of the known issues around 'subtriggers' when deleting/cloning/reordering triggers, so they won't start pointing to random other triggers if you change things around.

Includes ground unit auto-namer and crazy subtrigger stuff (experimental).

Click on the thumbnail below for a screenshot, which probably explains it better than the following text does.

The intention of this patch is to make it easier to keep track of interactions between the various components of a mission: flags, zones, groups and units. It adds two lists to the bottom of the triggers dialog. On the left is a list of all flags/zones/groups/unit that are referenced by a trigger's conditions or actions. If you click on one of them in the list on the left, then a list of triggers referencing it is shown to the right. If you click on one of those triggers in the list on the right, then it will be selected in the trigger list at the top-left of the screen.

The buttons at the bottom let you select which kind of object you're interested in.

Bugs/caveats/misfeatures:

• only ever updates when the button is clicked. If you make any changes to your triggers, the information will become out of date. You can click on one of the info buttons to have it refreshed.
  
• it's received very limited testing, and may have bugs.
  
• no localisation.
  
• may go off the screen if your resolution is too low. You should be okay if you have at least 900 pixels vertical resolution.
  
• almost certainly it does everything the hard way and reinvents the wheel several times and in the wrong shape.
  

To install it, you first need to have Blindspot's ME mod installed (v1.7, see the first post in this thread for the download links). Then download InfoListv1.7.4.zip (attached below) into your ModMan addons directory, and install it using ModMan. It will then show "Info List patch" v1.7.4 as fully installed (green), and "BLINDSPOTs moddedME" v1.7 as partially installed (yellow).

To remove this patch, just re-install Blindspot's ME using ModMan, making sure you've selected "Force re-installing files...".

Danger, Will Robinson! ModMan is very likely to lose track of your original files with this process, so it's probably a good idea to manually back up your "...\BlackShark\modules" directory.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this for anything they want, subject to ED's own terms and conditions.

InfoListv1.7.4.zip

regarding the update - updating only when you open the trigger dialog - thats expected.

IMO "always updating after each change" is nice-to-have, but not a must.

It's easy enough to close and reopen the trigger-dialog.

Good work - looking forward to test it :)

small patch duplicated units liveries

I just noticed the duplicated units liveries were set to the default one.

So, I just addded a line of code to the me_mission.lua file to cure it.

Just after the "local uNew = insert_unit(groupNew, u.type, u.skill, a, check_unit_name(u.name), u.lat+0.00001, u.long+0.00001, u.heading)" line as below.

-- by Blindspot

-- Duplicates given group including units, waypoints, targets and the different payloads

function duplicate_group(group)

local groupNew = create_group(group.boss.name, group.type, check_group_name(group.name), group.start_time, group.lat+0.00001, group.long+0.00001)

-- update_group_map_objects(groupNew)

groupNew.hidden = group.hidden

groupNew.task = group.task

groupNew.taskSelected = group.taskSelected

groupNew.start_time = group.start_time

groupNew.task = group.task

groupNew.visible = group.visible

for a=1, #group.units do

local u = group.units[a]

local uNew = insert_unit(groupNew, u.type, u.skill, a, check_unit_name(u.name), u.lat+0.00001, u.long+0.00001, u.heading)

-- by Pat01

uNew.livery_id = u.livery_id

--

Tanks Pat! Please post other properties, that I did not know about and therefore did not duplicate here also.

Hey Blindspot !

Can you make/update a ME MOD which will allow to add static objects (templates) in groups - just like vehicle or ship group ?

Should be nice to add complex FARP+necessary objects+buildings+vehicles = > static templates ! :thumbup:

units liveries + first waypoint task fix

Blindspot, here's a piece of code that includes the previous liveries fix and another one that duplicates the group first waypoint task. The way you created and moved the group reset the first waypoint task to Turning point (for planes).

-- by Blindspot

-- Duplicates given group including units, waypoints, targets and the different payloads

function duplicate_group(group)

local groupNew = create_group(group.boss.name, group.type, check_group_name(group.name), group.start_time, group.lat+0.00001, group.long+0.00001)

-- update_group_map_objects(groupNew)

groupNew.hidden = group.hidden

groupNew.task = group.task

groupNew.taskSelected = group.taskSelected

groupNew.start_time = group.start_time

groupNew.task = group.task

groupNew.visible = group.visible

for a=1, #group.units do

local u = group.units[a]

-- by Blindspot

--local uNew = insert_unit(groupNew, u.type, u.skill, a, check_unit_name(u.name), u.lat+0.00001, u.long+0.00001, u.heading)

-- by Pat01

local uNew = insert_unit(groupNew, u.type, u.skill, a, check_unit_name(u.name), u.lat, u.long, u.heading)

-- by Pat01

uNew.livery_id = u.livery_id

--

if u.payload then

uNew.payload = {}

U.copyTable(uNew.payload, u.payload)

end

end;

if group.route then

if group.route.points then

for a=1, #group.route.points do

local wp = group.route.points[a]

local wpNew = insert_waypoint(groupNew, a, wp.type, wp.lat, wp.long, wp.alt, wp.speed, wp.name)

wpNew.action = wp.action

if wp.airdromeId then

wpNew.airdromeId = wp.airdromeId

end

if wp.targets then

for b=1, #wp.targets do

local tgt = wp.targets

local tgtNew = insert_target(wpNew, b, tgt.lat, tgt.long, tgt.radius, tgt.name)

if tgt.categories then

tgtNew.categories = {}

U.copyTable(tgtNew.categories, tgt.categories)

end

end

end

end

end

end

if groupNew.route and groupNew.route.points and #groupNew.route.points > 0 then

local wpt = groupNew.route.points[1]

-- by Blindspot

--MapWindow.move_waypoint(wpt.boss, wpt.index, wpt.lat+0.00001, wpt.long+0.00001)

-- by Pat01

MapWindow.move_waypoint(wpt.boss, wpt.index, wpt.lat, wpt.long)

--

end

Yo, is it possible to add duplicate button not only to triggers but to that what is inside trigger? I mean duplicate rules, actions.

yes that's a good one, i have been most appreciative of that duplicate button for creating routes etc for multiple clients, would be good to have that option in the conditions and actions columns also if possible and also the + and - functions would also be handy in those other columns too.

sorry to hear your thread got lost, it's at great mod you have created :thumbup:

very good apps / mods very usefull

thanks

The clone buttons should be no problem.... maybe like this? (see attachment)

Looking good.

A few questions.

1. Is the and/or relationship strictly one or the other? In other words can we have conditions set as "(Flag 1 and Unit inside zone) Or (Flag 2 and Unit Inside Zone)"

2. Is it possible to add comparison conditions for the score. "Red team score is x points (greater/less than) Blue Team score"

3. This one is a little crazy sounding... It possible to add an action that writes the current status of selected flags to a text file and another one that reads said text file and sets specific flags accordingly. Such feature could be used to create a "persistent" condition between multiple missions.

Hi Grimes,

(1) Two logic combinations within the lists A and B and between them are possible, and I believe in most cases this should be enough (except if you need an exclusive-or-condition, but... I didn't find this in LUA so far).

Either it is ((a1 AND a2 AND ..) OR (b1 AND b2 AND ..)) or ((a1 OR a2 OR ..) AND (b1 OR b2 OR ..)). This MOD will be editor-compatible with older missions and runtime-compatible with un-modded installations and, as I've seen so far, it could be compatible with A-10.

(2) I'm sorry, no. New conditions (rules) involve changing the runtime. This is not what I want because of the different implications and problems (compatibility, integrity check ...). The editor mod does only change/enhance editing functionality.

(3) Like (2), no. But.. yes, but not with a MOD like this alone. Current state of the runtime can only be tracked by catching up informations within exports.lua (like it's done by TacView or the G940Leds script). This also means you can only track what is exported at runtime. I dont know if flags are included.

Again at least you have the integrity problem again. Ask me, I have an edited exports.lua because I want to use the button LEDs on my G940. So I stay outside of half of the online missions because of failed integrity.

Looking very good!

It looks cool... I have another question. Is it possible to modify click area for Combos?

In Windows you can click for whole combo to make it slide down. Look for example:

You click within yellow area and combo slides down.

In BS\LO it is not possible - you have to click on arrow. It is not comfortable because you have to precisely click on arrow...

I know it may be not big issue, however if you knew how to fix that I could do it by myself. ;]

Hi Boberro,

UI controls (widgets) are compiled components within binary libraries. You find them within \KA50\bin\x86\stable\lua-gui5.dll. To change their behaviour you need to have (and change) the source code and to recompile it.

The LUA part simply extends what is designed to be extensible and opens the overall approach to the community. But what is possible beyond what you can spot in existing LUA scripts is a secret until it's documented.

@Pat01:

I put the livieries fix into my next release. Thank you for posting that!!

The second one (first way point fix) is a bit more difficult. I had to move the first waypoint of the cloned object away from it's original position because otherwise there will be "ghost waypoints" in the editor map from time to time. I spent days to find out why this happens and finally this was the only solution to this. Ok, because those "gosts" on the map are really annoying, I did not include your "first waypoint fix" at this time. Maybe one find's out why those ghosts appear or even better: where to get the documentation of the map control.

This is exactly what I have been needing for so long!!!! It could save me so much time and make my triggers so much easier to understand (I desperately need to move some up and down). But.. how the heck do you install it? There are no instructions in the readme file. I would assume I might drag and drop those files in my BS directory, but I don't wanna screw anything up...