MIST - Respawned Group - Not activating trigger zone

[MeerCaT]

DCS v1.5.?.?

MIST v4.3.74

 

Possibly it's just me doing something silly, but maybe someone knows whether this is 'correct':

 

An AI ground unit (group) respawned, using MIST, no longer activates any (switched) triggers when entering the corresponding trigger zones again.

(Triggers that do successfully activate, multiple times, prior to the group being respawned)

 

My first thought was that possibly the MIST 'respawnGroup()' function might be assigning a new, dynamically generated, name to the respawned group (thus the trigger no longer 'matching' on group name).

But a brief glance through the LUA script suggests that it probably is preserving the original group name.

 

So what else might be breaking the trigger condition?

 

Thanks.

[dolfo]

In my experience (not much to speak of) after the first spawn all groups get dynamically generated names. Some mission attributes are preserved, as general task, some detailed parameters are lost (ROE, for example).

 

Might be wrong though.

 

Good luck with your quest.

 

-edit: actually I think clonegroup was preserving the original task, with respawngroup I had to push a new task? Away from the computer for a few days, can not check.

Edited March 8, 2017 by dolfo

[EasyEB]

Yeah, check the groups name first. After their spawn, has their name changed?

[MeerCaT]

DEACTIVATED to death

 

Ok thanks all.

I've confirmed that MIST is indeed preserving group names during respawn (teleport). That's good news.

 

Even better news (I think) is that I've discovered what I believe to be the cause of the issue: GROUP DEACTIVATE

 

Don't do it!

Not if you want to ever do anything with that group again...ever. (Like respawn and have it interact with triggers, just as a random example off the top of my head).

 

This is probably a well known fact within the 'building' community, but very not well known to me :)

(That is until the last day and a half of 'education' on the subject)

 

While I'm happy to have (apparently) found the cause of the problem I'm also a little sad that 'ACTIVATE-DEACTIVATE' appears to be a 'linear' one-time sequence rather than a 'circular' life-cycle process.

(But in time I think I'll recover eventually)

 

Just for fun (cause that's what I choose to call a day and a half of educational frustration) and your viewing pleasure, I've attached a very simple demonstration mission showing two identical trucks (you can see there's nothing up my sleeve, and I never use stooges), 'involved' in two identical sets of triggers, except one gets DEACTIVATED and the other does not.

(Now if that's not what you consider to be worthwhile entertainment of an evening then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to help you)

 

(Note: it expects the MIST script file to be simply called 'mist.lua')

 

Thanks again, and remember: never point a GROUP DEACTIVATE at anything unless you mean to kill it, to death.

RespawnTest.miz

[shagrat]

You can use hold triggers and set Invisible to AI to "park" groups, but you will still save them.

[MeerCaT]

Yes the 'hold' and 'invisible' (to enemy AI) should be good for certain scenarios.

 

But when it is desirable to have the group/unit disappear completely (until required later again), would it be frowned upon to teleport (banish!:)) them away to a remote corner of the map for 'safe keeping'?

(And also switching on AI invisibility and invulnerability, for extra safety)

 

Are there any potential issues with this I've not thought about?

 

If DEACTIVATE-(RE)ACTIVATE is not a valid lifecycle then this 'hidden banishment' could be the next best alternative for achieving 'disappearing-reappearing' units?

 

What I'm specifically considering here are groups/units that have a configured route to follow and potential interactions with triggers and trigger zones.

 

Or would it be better to get into the murky depths of spawning shiny brand new groups/units using MIST.

Wouldn't that then require manually coded route configuration/scripting?

 

I'm trying to keep my fingers out of MIST where possible and use vanilla Mission Editor features. (Who's that laughing at the back there?)

[MasterZelgadis]

Well....

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=183951

 

Despite some people's opinion, I still think it's a bug that came in with the december update

[Pikey]

Hi Meercat, I did like how you put your experiences and I experienced many discoveries like that the more I played with DCS and mission editing. You will find lots more and take time excursions in finding them, not all with as bouyant a spirit too!

 

It's true, you can acheive a lot with vanilla editor, a lot more with MIST and then it goes on to other paths where your glass ceiling is moved ever higher, but it's always there with DCS and I hope you stick with it and try the route upwards because you can do things in ME that it was never designed to do. But always remember, that glass ceiling is real :) and it hurts!