Understanding ME : victory conditions (scoring)

[CougarFFW04]

Hi everyone,

 

Just a basic question about victory conditions in relation to campaign management (something I have not experimented yet).

 

As far as I understand the campaign branching is based on scoring (<50, 50, >50). However I do not know how the scoring is computed... I saw that we can define scoring/conditions attached to objectives but :

 

- what is the scoring range (0-100) or more ?

- can we define negative scoring (for colateral damage for exemple) ?

- if there are multiple objectives how the final scoring is computed ?

- Is the "scoring variable" readable/writable by a Lua script and is it possible to change it with some internal rules (define in a Lua script) ? if yes what is the DCS engine function ?

 

 

 

Thanks

[Rudel_chw]

As far as I understand the campaign branching is based on scoring (<50, 50, >50).

 

Hi,

On DCS there are actually two concepts for this subject:

 

Score is a points value that DCS assigns to each unit that you destroy during a mission, and you have not much control over it, as the points value of each unit is defined by DCS and thus the mission's Score is just the sum of all the values of the units destroyed by the player.

 

What you refer as score, is actually called "Results" on the End of Mission report (yeahh, I know, on the Mission Editor its called "Score", but it is easy to confuse with the unit's score, so Results is a better term) and its a value that you can increase or decrease on the Goals Tab:

 

 

However I do not know how the scoring is computed... I saw that we can define scoring/conditions attached to objectives but :

 

- what is the scoring range (0-100) or more ?

The Results field goes from 0 to 100

 

- can we define negative scoring (for colateral damage for exemple) ?

Yes, you can have negative Goals, like I show on the picture for crashing the aircraft (-50), but in the end, the Results can never go below 0 or over 100.

 

- if there are multiple objectives how the final scoring is computed ?

The end result is the simple sum of all the Goals that you've defined.

 

- Is the "scoring variable" readable/writable by a Lua script and is it possible to change it with some internal rules (define in a Lua script) ? if yes what is the DCS engine function ?

 

I'm not versed in Lua, so this last question will have to be answered by a more experienced mission designer :)

 

Best regards

[CougarFFW04]

Hi Rudel_chw,

 

Thanks a lot for your answer.

 

A few more questions :

 

DCS score (as you clarify) :

 

- where do we get this scoring ? In the debrief (I must say that I never really paid attention to that till now) ?

- does this scoring (as it is computed by DCS engine) play any role in the campaign branching logic ?

 

DCS results :

- Unless I am wrong this is what is taken into account for the campaign branching. Right ?

- If yes there is something I do not understand with this :

 

The end result is the simple sum of all the Goals that you've defined.

Let's immagine that I have define 50 objectives with 10 points each (500 pts in total).

Let's immagine that I have achieved only 6. I will get 60 points.

As 60 > 50 the campaign engine will consider a "succesfull mission" although I have achieved only 6 among 50...

 

Can someone clarify the campaign engine branching logic in relation to DCS results or DCS scoring ?

 

Thanks

Edited November 28, 2018 by CougarFFW04

[Rudel_chw]

A few more questions :

 

DCS score (as you clarify) :

 

- where do we get this scoring ? In the debrief (I must say that I never really paid attention to that till now) ?

 

Yes, in the debrief and it gets recorded in your Logbook also, and is tallied in order to get Medals. On this example, I destroyed 4 vehicles and was awarded 26 points in total:

 

 

- does this scoring (as it is computed by DCS engine) play any role in the campaign branching logic ?

 

No, not at all. The Campaign uses the Results field to determine if you advance, repeat or go back one level. Most people hates when a Campaign forces you to refly a sucessful mission, so I usually awarded at least 50 points at the start of the mission, so if the player fails to attain any goal, he gets to repeat the mission, but doesnt go back one level.

 

DCS results :

- Unless I am wrong this is what is taken into account for the campaign branching. Right ?

 

Yes, that is correct.

 

- If yes there is something I do not understand with this :

 

Let's immagine that I have define 50 objectives with 10 points each (500 pts in total).

Let's immagine that I have achieved only 6. I will get 60 points.

As 60 > 50 the campaign engine will consider a "succesfull mission" although I have achieved only 6 among 50...

 

For Campaigns, you dont need to distinguish between 50 objectives .. you only need to distinguish between three branches:

 

1) Go back to the previous Stage of the Campaign, this represents a "defeat", but as I said, most people get very discouraged by it.

 

2) Repeat the current Stage, this represents a "Stalemate" on the Campaign.

 

3) Advance to the next Stage, this would be a "Victory" for the player's coalition.

 

On the Campaign you can setup several missions for each Stage, that will be randomly chosen .. this can diminish the repeating of the same mission over and over until the player wins, but is a great deal of work for the Mission Designer as he has to design many more missions.

 

I've made Sets of Missions, but never a proper Campaign since it is so much work, so I hope someone with more practical experience steps in on this thread and shares his experience with you.

 

Best regards

[CougarFFW04]

Hi Rudel_chw,

 

Thank you very much for your explanations. It's much more clear to me now :thumbup:

 

Hope someone else cans share his knowledge about the scripting question...

 

Thanks again :smilewink:

[CougarFFW04]

Hi everybody,

 

Comming back to the mission objective let's say that I would like to attribute x points for exemple when a bridge (but this might be factory or whatever) is destroyed...

 

The problem is that I cannot select bridge or whatever in the mission objective interface :joystick:

 

Did I miss something ?

Overwise how to do that ?

My only idea is to put a static object (like a flag) on the bridge (or wherever) and attache the victory condition to the flag on the bridge... Not very suitable...

 

 

Thanks

Edited December 2, 2018 by CougarFFW04

[Rudel_chw]

Comming back to the mission objective let's say that I would like to attribute x points for exemple when a bridge (but this might be factory or whatever) is destroyed...

 

The problem is that I cannot select bridge or whatever in the mission objective interface :joystick:

 

Did I miss something ?

Overwise how to do that ?

 

 

You can use a Trigger to set a Flag to ON when the Bridge is destroyed, for example, here i set Flag 3 to ON if a Rocket Target is Hit:

 

 

 

 

... and then you assign Results points at Mission's end if the Flag is ON, like this:

 

 

 

 

I'm assigning 50 results points for hitting that Rocket Target. You can use the condition UNIT DEAD if you want to award points only for total destruction of the target, rather than just hitting it :)

 

 

Best regards

[CougarFFW04]

You can use a Trigger to set a Flag to ON when the Bridge is destroyed, for example, here i set Flag 3 to ON if a Rocket Target is Hit:

 

OK but the problem is the following : how can I know that the bridge is destroyed as I cannot select it...

Should I clarify that I am speaking about structure (like bridge, houses,...) on the DCS map not about static object i woould have added myself to the map.

Edited December 2, 2018 by CougarFFW04

[Rudel_chw]

Should I clarify that I am speaking about structure (like bridge, houses,...) on the DCS map not about static object i woould have added myself to the map.

 

 

Ahh ... OK, sorry I misunderstood you. Probably your approach is the only solution: put a unit on top of the bridge.

[feefifofum]

Here ya go.

https://wiki.hoggitworld.com/view/MIST_Mapobjs_dead_zones

[Rudel_chw]

Here ya go.

https://wiki.hoggitworld.com/view/MIST_Mapobjs_dead_zones

 

 

Thanks you :) .. will add it to my DCS ME Favorites, as reference.

Best regards.