Autonomous CAP and GCI AI fighter script

[Shadow KT]

Thank you for the answer, Stonehouse.

 

Only one thing, My question about the CGI is on what circumstance do they launch ? When you get too close to their base or radar ? And I still have to look into the CGI spawning 2 groups of 1 plane instead of 1 group with a dynamic number ( could it be, because it was 3 of us not 2 or 4 ?)

[LFCChameleon_Silk]

I think that behavior stonehouse is that its failing to get a proper path if it just keeps flying on. verify that the path is being created/assigned.

 

are you

 

   local con = grp:getController()
   con:setOption(AI.Option.Air.id.RTB_ON_BINGO, false)
   con:setOption(AI.Option.Air.id.RADAR_USING, AI.Option.Air.val.RADAR_USING.FOR_CONTINUOUS_SEARCH)
   con:setOption(AI.Option.Air.id.ROE, AI.Option.Air.val.ROE.OPEN_FIRE_WEAPON_FREE)
   con:setOption(AI.Option.Air.id.FLARE_USING, AI.Option.Air.val.FLARE_USING.AGAINST_FIRED_MISSILE)
   con:setOption(AI.Option.Air.id.REACTION_ON_THREAT, AI.Option.Air.val.REACTION_ON_THREAT.EVADE_FIRE)

the RTB on bingo, maybe?

 

                   id = "ComboTask",
                   params = {
                       tasks = {
                           [1] = {
               number = 1,
               auto = true,
               id = "EngageTargets",
               enabled = true,
               key = "CAP",
               params = {
                 targetTypes = {
                   [1] = "All",
                 }, -- end of targetTypes
                 priority = 0,
               }, -- end of params
             }, -- end of [1]
             [2] = {
               number = 2,
               auto = false,
               id = "Orbit",
               enabled = true,
               params = {
                 altitudeEdited = false,
                 pattern = "Race-Track",
                 speed = wpSpeed,
                 altitude = wpAlt,
                 speedEdited = true,
               }, -- end of params
             }, -- end of [2]
             [3] = {
               enabled = true,
               auto = false,
               id = "WrappedAction",
               number = 1,
               params = {
                 action = {
                   id = "Option",
                   params = {
                     value = false,
                     name = 6,
                   }, -- end of params
                 }, -- end of action
               }, -- end of params
             }, -- end of [3]
           }, -- end of tasks
         } -- end of params
       }

maybe a way to add change waypoint on waypoint creation if you add the advanced waypoint action.

 

dunno if any of this is helpful to you or not.

[Shadow KT]

Oh, also I noticed that a new group spawns as soon as u destroy one of the already in flight CAP planes but at the same point, the CAP planes from the nearby CAP zone also get redirected towards you. Can get a bit overwhelming :D

 

Also noticed after some time fighting all the planes turn into Buildings :D

Edited September 22, 2015 by Shadow KT

[Stonehouse]

@Shadow, I don't think it is immediate but perhaps I am wrong. Which version are you using? the Jan 2015 one or the Sept 2015 one? Yes to overwhelming at times, although the script should only assign one bunch of interceptors to each group you should recall that each player is a group so potentially you may find up to 4 planes on each player depending on your script setup and DCS internal logic for aircraft in a CAP role with free to engage ROE also plays a part particularly with modern aircraft with search radar as this will override things if the CAP/GCI aircraft has already killed it's target and is waiting about for the script to give it a new target or RTB it. If it's gets too much you should tone it down using the script settings (also helps your server performance) as the script is definitely built to kill intruders and does so pretty well.

 

@Silk, so perhaps a invalid waypoint description? Ok definitely a possibility and thanks for the info I will try to see if I can get the waypoint data out during script execution and check it/cut and paste it into a stand alone mission to see what happens. Strange it only happens sometimes. It definitely stuffs things up though as I can see things working fine and then a CAP flight will just head over the border for no reason (I can see they haven't been given an intercept and there are no intruders) and trigger a war or a flight will just RTB even though the script hasn't told them to and they have only been airborne for 15 mins on full tanks and trigger a new flight once they despawn. The only culprits really thinking logically can be the flight plan created at the time the group spawns and it's interaction with DCS or a obscure bug in DCS itself. Doesn't seem to matter what type of aircraft or whether it's red or blue. Saw your PM by the way and sounds good. Will reply with the info you wanted when I get two secs coinciding with me remembering to do so, lol life is a bit hectic at present.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Stonehouse

[Shadow KT]

okey, so now as I am implementing another script... this started occurring. Planes start to wonder off outside their CAP zones and some times engage planes way outside of the EWR radar range. Also even tho I have CGI groups max number to 1 and even implemented the solutions from the manual for fixing such a situation, still CGI groups spawn like up to 3. Like I had 3 CGI groups just cercling around the their airfield and doing nothing. At least the ones which work go RTB if you go out of the border/EWR detection. If you want I could share you my mission so you can see yourself what's up

[Stonehouse]

Attaching the mission to a post here (pretty sure you can) is definitely the best way if you're stuck. It may take me a little while to go through it as it has to fit in around other things but I will look at it for you.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Stonehouse

[dwpenney]

Has anyone tried this script in DCS World 1.5?

 

EDIT: Just tried it in the mission editor and it didn't seem to work. Both test groups flew straight and level with no CAP or GCI launching.

Edited October 2, 2015 by dwpenney

[Stonehouse]

I've been hoping to find time to try it out over this weekend along with (assuming it works lol) continue on with trying to fix the version I just released. I will check the January 2015 version first though as that was the last "good" version.

[Justificus]

I've been finding that most of the missions I've downloaded and edited with various scripts here don't work any more. :( I'm sure there's room for improvement in many of them but I would prefer to do improvements to them at my leisure and not having them all need it at once. :D

[Stonehouse]

Ok I felt obliged to look at it now so I copied one of the January demo missions over to my beta install and via the M-E updated the version of Mist to be 4.0.55 which I think is Grimes's latest for 1.5 beta. Anyway generally the January version of the script does work but even this short test showed me that the GCI alert messages is broken (which is expected due to the changes in messaging) and that there is either a taxiway problem at Kutaisi or the script has an issue as some planes seemed to get stuck in the HAS there. I guess that also means that the stuck planes logic has a problem too as they should have despawned. The spawning and intercept logic seems to be ok from what I could see in a short test.

 

For me I think the best way forward will be to leave the January 2015 version as the 1.2.16 version of the script even though it has some warts and to try to bring the new September version up to scratch for DCS 1.5 and that will be the proverbial fork in the path for the script. Hopefully I can get it sorted out by the time 1.5 is out of beta.

[Pikey]

Hi Stonehouse, I wasn't sure, but to clarify, is your September script + Grimes latest MIST working on DCS 1.5 OB with some bugs or is it completely stopped pending rewrite? If you know the issues I'd be interested as a workaround is of interest to us.

[Stonehouse]

The released September script had some problems people had noticed just prior to 1.5 coming out and I was already trying to fix.

 

The January script + updated Mist does kind of work but there seems to be some problems there too. I do not know at this point whether it is entirely due to 1.5 bugs or script bugs. Things I have noticed are no GCI alert messages (probably not that important unless it is causing a function call to end in error), aircraft sitting in HAS and not taxiing and also not hitting the stuck time limit and despawning. There may be other issues I have not seen.

 

Realistically though I have limited time and resources so feel at this point that spending time fixing the January script is not very efficient use of time and so I am presently trying to get the September script issues corrected and also 1.5 compliant. Can't really offer an ETA as how much time I can spend on it is subject to a real life happenings as well as sometimes you get lucky with an issue and sometimes it's a bear you spend ages wrestling with until the light pops on and you go "Hey wonder if I did this..........". So pretty much I should retract the September release back in and make it WIP and just keep on working on trying to get it going under 1.5 as that is where things are going to.

 

I did have most of the September issues sorted just prior to 1.5 except for CAPs wandering off at random. Chameleon_Silk suggested it might be badly formed waypoint definitions and there does seem to be differences between spawning airborne and on the ground so the suggestion seems to have merit. That is pretty much where I was up to and then 1.5 came out so making it compliant to 1.5 is on top of that. I can say that my first attempt today resulted in no aircraft being spawned so not so good so far and a bit depressing.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Stonehouse

[Justificus]

Stonehouse, thanks for updating this! Looking forward to the latest version.

[LFCChameleon_Silk]

you and me are both in the same boat Stonehouse ;)

 

we will get em fixed up eventually, I too have been busy with real life commitments and I have a new child in a months time.

 

so very busy coming up for some time.

[Pikey]

Thanks Stonehouse, your scriipt has found a way into most of my misisons, so i wish you luck if you have any time.

[ZlinMan]

Whether it works with the alibi-1.5-for-it-is-not-2.0-BETA or not ...

Thank you a lot for your excellent work - your script gives DCS-world life. I use it sooo much.

Nevertheless - the time will come...

[Stonehouse]

Brief update. Generally the conversion to a 1.5 version of the script is going well but I have two issues causing grief; A CAP flight will at times head off in a random direction. While not 100% sure I don't believe this is being caused by the waypoints being generated by the script but something else happening. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen and it doesn't seem to happen at a predictable time when it does - which makes it hard to track down. The other one is the GCI messages, again while not sure I think this is a Mist issue or some quirk of this script and how it interacts with Mist. I *think* Grimes is investigating this so I am currently hoping he comes up with a change to Mist that makes it go away. If not I will have to look into it more. There have been some other things introduced along the way like configurable formations for the CAP and GCI groups, fixing the start airborne issue so that only the first cap flights start airborne not all of them. It also is now possible to have it set for each faction. ie blue 1st CAPs starts airborne, red doesn't.

 

Dynamic airbase handling has been introduced as well so capturing an airbase makes it available to the capturing faction - at the moment its a bit like magic in that if it has been set up with a trigger zone so it is usable by GCI and CAP, groups of planes will launch from there as soon as it's captured. I hope to change this in the future to make it driven by an event or at least build in a delay. There are a few other things as well.

 

Will have to go through and update the manual again anyway. Quite a bit of tiding up still to do in the script as there is masses of debug floating about at present and quite a bit more testing to do so it will still be awhile before I make it available and I would hope to at least get the insubordinate CAP group problem fixed before you see it.

 

Cheers,

Stonehouse

[dooom]

rock and roll stoney.... looking forward to testing it out.

[71st_AH Rob]

Good news, looking forward to converting my missions to 1.5 when you release this.

[Quax456]

So do I dear friends.. :-)

[Justificus]

Sweet, Stonehouse! I really like this script of yours and have used it in many of my edited/downloaded missions and in some of my crudely created own missions. Here's hoping you don't run into too many issues. Thanks for updating this and sharing it with us!

[SNAFU]

Brief update. Generally the conversion to a 1.5 version of the script is going well but I have two issues causing grief; A CAP flight will at times head off in a random direction. While not 100% sure I don't believe this is being caused by the waypoints being generated by the script but something else happening. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen and it doesn't seem to happen at a predictable time when it does - which makes it hard to track down. The other one is the GCI messages, again while not sure I think this is a Mist issue or some quirk of this script and how it interacts with Mist. I *think* Grimes is investigating this so I am currently hoping he comes up with a change to Mist that makes it go away. If not I will have to look into it more. There have been some other things introduced along the way like configurable formations for the CAP and GCI groups, fixing the start airborne issue so that only the first cap flights start airborne not all of them. It also is now possible to have it set for each faction. ie blue 1st CAPs starts airborne, red doesn't.

 

 

Hey Stonehouse, your endurance is amazing. :thumbup: Great you keep this going.

 

Concerning the groups just heading off into infinity, I also experience this with ground units at some point, even with not rdynamically generated ground groups, (just default ground groups put into the mission directly via ME, not directly related to any scripts. I do use MIST, IADS, MEDEVAC, CTLD etc but they are not linked to the groups, which just move to a random point in the corner of the map) so I don´t think it is directly related to the CAP/GCI script, but a side effect of something else. This has been an issue since the very beginning.

Edited October 14, 2015 by SNAFU

[Stonehouse]

Ok thanks Pikey & Snafu for the feedback on the wayward groups. I am going to use the debug utilities to dump the table being used by the coalition.addGroup to a file and that should prove it once and for all. I will post up the file when I've had time to generate it and hope some people like yourselves and Grimes and other lua fluent people can look it over for possible problems. If nothing comes out of it then I'll switch to cleaning it all up ready to publish it. I have a few more things for the near future but I might leave those until after 1.5 leaves beta. lol I mean I would actually like to fly the P40 when it comes out rather than script/test/script :smilewink:

 

 

Files here http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2518314#post2518314

Edited October 14, 2015 by Stonehouse

[Stonehouse]

Another update for you. I hope that all the major issues have been resolved. The insubordinate CAP flights now use a racetrack orbit and so far seem to be behaving. The GCI messages work fine for players in the cockpit but still spam people in Gamemaster and observer slots. Plus quite a few new features and old things reworked a bit. Not sure if the recent hotfix for mist changes anything but will check during testing. Which is were it is up to now. I have something I hope is a suitable release version and going through the testing process to try to ensure no issues or at least no major ones. Manual has been redrafted and is parked while testing is going on in case there needs to be revisions and final proof reading to try ensure it makes sense and also is clear in it's instruction on how to do things..........So new version should be out soon unless the tests show up problems.

 

Cheers,

Stonehouse

[Rivvern]

Can do some endurance server testing if you like.