DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[mimamema]

10 hours ago, cfrag said:

Version 2.2.2 - 20240418 - Maintenance Update

A few days ago, the DCS community suffered a tremendous loss: mission designer and contributor @Dzsekeb decided to quit the DCS mission design community. For those who don't know him (you shall be pitied), Dzsekeb is the author of the wonderful "Foothold" and "Pretense" line of dynamic missions that are phenomenally popular: they are fun to play and very multiplayer friendly. I'm hopeful that Dzsekeb will find his way back to DCS mission authoring some sunny day.

Since that day I have received a number of questions/suggestions: could I perhaps chip in one way or the other to maintain Dzsekeb's legacy. There are multiple responses to this:

•  Heck No:
   I fully respect, and comply with, Dzsekeb explicit wish that people do not publish work derived from his Pretense and Foothold missions. So I will not mess with his code, nor will I create missions based on his code.
   
• Maybe:
  I'm currently exploring a dynamic mission inspired and based on the spirit of Foothold. The game concept that Foothold and Pretense pioneer is fun. It is with this game concept, and of course a deep, respectful bow to Dzsekeb, that I'm currently looking into creating a mission that builds on Foothold's premise, with similar elements, and some new ones. 

That is why this DML update may feel a bit strange: many modules have received tweaks, and those tweaks seem random. They are not - they are a result of my tinkering with big-scope scenarios and geared towards further integrating modules into a greater whole. There are a couple of new modules as well that are geared towards larger strategy components. It's very early in the game (huh, a double entendre!), so now is not the time to explain what they are for.

Maybe I have something to report in coming weeks or months. If I succeed, maybe there will be a new mission that can do justice to "Foothold" in spirit. But even if I don't, one thing is clear: the amount of work that Dzsekeb put into Foothold and Pretense is phenomenal, so let us be grateful for his contributions to our community and hope that he'll return to contributing great missions. Thanks, man!

 

 

 

As one of the main followers of his work, I can´t do anything else than agree with all that you have said about Dzsekeb and his work. Pretense is one the best free/public available PVE missions made for DCS and the closest one to a Dynamic Campaign we have ever had ( for the moment).

Mostly this is why months ago I asked you about the possibility of adding a logistic system into DML as I have always been looking forward to making a big mission "like" Pretense but with a little bit different mechanics and possibilities, and of course using DML as the main base of it as my coding skills are 0 to none . That´s why I´m always having a look at this topic as I think DML has a lot of potential for all the people that find themselves in the same situation as me with 0 knowledge in coding but with some kind of will to create a bit more complicated missions.  I think Dzsekeb, you and some others deserve a lot of recognition for the work you have done creating content and tools for all of us DCS enjoyers. 

Looking forward to seeing what you are cooking for us in the next months/weeks if it finally gets out of the kitchen and am happy to test it as soon as it is available. 

 

Thanks again for all your altruistic work.

[diego999]

2 hours ago, mimamema said:

possibility of adding a logistic system into DML as I have always been looking forward to making a big mission "like" Pretense but with a little bit different mechanics and possibilities, and of course using DML as the main base of it as my coding skills are 0 to none . That´s why I´m always having a look at this topic as I think DML has a lot of potential for all the people that find themselves in the same situation as me with 0 knowledge in coding but with some kind of will to create a bit more complicated missions. 

 

+1 to you good sir (or lady).

 

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag and all who love DML

I have been looking at the way troops move once they have been deployed from a helicopter. If they are given the "Guard" order and within range of enemy unit(s) they will head off in their direction to engage. They travel in a nice line one behind the other. This means that when they come to engage the enemy only the front man fires, thus reducing the odds of a successful attack, even if they are out numbering the defenders. Is there any way that they can be given a default formation of perhaps "echelon left" or "echelon right" by default? I have been looking at the modules for "Commander" and for "groundtroops" looking for a clue in the script (I suspect that I am on "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" ground) but in the code snip-it below would replacing "off road" with "EchelonL" or "EchelonR" work?

Regards

DD_Friar

Edited April 20, 2024 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

32 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

Is there any way that they can be given a default formation of perhaps "echelon left" or "echelon right" by default?

I can try and take a look at it. In all, the formation for ground troops (or any other) isn't well documented, and when I originally wrote the commander module I was not able to get infantry to do anything except head where I wanted them to. I'll see if I can improve that.

As you can see, 'off road' is a formation in DCS, a terrible way of going about that.

Edited April 20, 2024 by cfrag

[cfrag]

On 4/19/2024 at 12:17 AM, mimamema said:

the possibility of adding a logistic system into DML

Adding DCS Warehouses to DML has been on the table for some time, and I'm looking into this. Since it is new, I'm a bit hesitant to start working on in for the simple fact that many of DCS's additions to the scripting environment have a decidedly "low-ability/effort" feeling - they exhibit more of a spur-of-the-moment implementation vibe than an engineered approach. The current 'warehouse' API looks decidedly that way to me

• it differentiates items and liquids (why? why not treat everything inside the warehouse as a "thing" and provide a unified method to manage their inventory).
• Liquids aren't abstract, but already instanced with numbers. So in case that you want to manage water or other liquids of your own design, you are already SOL.
• it provides separate accessors to set and get items - but also provides accessor to add and remove. As an engineer, I'm immediately suspicious what the difference between 'adding' and 'setting' a quantity is.
• All warehouses are owned by airbases. Why? What if we want to set up a warehouse that simply owned by a faction (as a strategic target to be destroyed/captured)?

IMHO, it's plain bad code engineering, and therefore I'd want to wait a bit and hope that the Warehouse API settles a bit; maybe it receives an overhaul from someone with a greater understanding of code architecture.

I'll see if and how badly I need warehouse integration for my first "Foothold" step-sibling. IMHO, the Warehouse API screams 'stay away'.

Edited April 21, 2024 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag REF: Deployed Troops

I thought I would test my idea to see if it worked and am pleased to include the results below. For THIS test, all seems good. I may play now play around with some of the other formations to see if they would be better.

My golden solution would be for a parameter in the commander module or feeder module to be able to set the formation. 

Pictures below - Troops move out in formation. / They engage the enemy with all soldiers firing (down on one knee) / the code I changed

Edited April 21, 2024 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

8 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

For THIS test, all seems good.

And it will work well for that, and any other mission that requires ALL units (including air) controlled by commander to be in echelonR formation when not following a road. Now, since commander only controls ground units (that can include vehicles spawned by spawners) this may not be an obstacle for you. For a full DML implementation, I'll need to try and engineer a solution that can apply individually to ground units spawned by DML and that do not follow roads. I'll see what I can do.

Edited April 21, 2024 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

For a convoy created using the cloner that have way-points that are "onroad", they will still continue in a line, but if they move "off road" at a point in their journey they will go "echelon right"? Is that correct?

I did say that "a little knowledge was a dangerous thing"

Many thanks for your open approach to suggestions from the community.

[cfrag]

Just now, DD_Friar said:

For a convoy created using the cloner

If you use a cloner (instead of spawner) then commander is out of the picture and the clone uses the group/formation that you assigned when you created the clone template. what you have changed in commander only affects troops that are under commander's authority, and clones are not among them. So how can you tell? Look into a modules 'dependencies' section. If you see 'commander' listed, ground units from that module can be under the influence of commander, all others do not.

[UncleStains]

Started messing around with DML last week and I'm loving it! Thanks for building this awesome tool.

I built a 3v3 Huey PvP rugby game as an experiment. I'd love for anyone to check it out and provide feedback, especially on my implementation of DML.

Huey Rugby v1.miz

[bitboy]

Possible Issue with objectSpawner?

cfrag,

Happy Saturday, building out a new mission and using the objectSpawner to create bullseye rings. I've specified "Container red 1" as the type of marker for the spawn. However whenever I run the mission the the objects default to the "Mark Tyre White" ???

Currently working with DML 2.2.2b, I've tested with older versions of the objectSpawner LUA, in case there was something weird with the latest code, but it's not working. It might be something in dcsCommon? (Other missions where I have the objectSpawner running seem to work fine?)
 Let me know if you need me to send over the mission. Here are screenshots of the loaded DML libraries and objectSpawner zone config.
Thanks!

 

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, bitboy said:

whenever I run the mission the the objects default to the "Mark Tyre White" ???

Can I trouble you to try using the attribute "types" (ending in Sierra) instead of the understated "type"?

 

[bitboy]

All these years raised in the English language and I still don't get it.  Thanks for the second set of eyes, works like a charm now.

[Iceviper]

Quick question.  I'm using valet zones on a mission to play a sound when the player passes through them. The zones work fine for me but when I'm hosting to play with a couple of mates they don't get the sounds. Eg have a small zone in front of aircraft that play a 'squid 1,  rolling' sound. I get mine but they don't get theirs despite the zones being set for their units. Is this a multilayer thing, is valet only designed to play sounds to player aircraft rather than client? Is it something I've done wrong?  I have other zones and again working fine for me but not them. Any ideas?

[cfrag]

Just now, Iceviper said:

Is this a multilayer thing,

It's unfortunately a known DCS multiplayer bug. Some people receive the sound, others don't. One fine day this may get fixed by ED.

[Iceviper]

OK thanks for the quick reply. As always

[Sinclair_76]

I have a small request. Is it possible for the bombrange to show meters in stead of percentage? Would a clip distance of 100 translate % to meters directly? Or is is the size of the trigger zone?

and

I get this message when the gbu-38 hits the ground.

Edited May 5, 2024 by Sinclair_76

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, Sinclair_76 said:

I get this message when the gbu-38 hits the ground.

That's a rare one, thank you - bug fixed in the script below. It happens when the bomb range script is active, but you have no bomb range defined.

1 hour ago, Sinclair_76 said:

Is it possible for the bombrange to show meters in stead of percentage?

I think I can add that in the fututre, probably also with the option to show the distance in feet for those who drive on the wrong side of the road  

bombRange.lua

[Sinclair_76]

46 minutes ago, cfrag said:

That's a rare one, thank you - bug fixed in the script below. It happens when the bomb range script is active, but you have no bomb range defined.

I think I can add that in the fututre, probably also with the option to show the distance in feet for those who drive on the wrong side of the road  

bombRange.lua 24.33 kB · 0 downloads

And if the bombrange trigger zone is 100m in radius. Does i.e. 95% quality mean 5m off center of the bombrange trigger zone?

[cfrag]

13 minutes ago, Sinclair_76 said:

if the bombrange trigger zone is 100m in radius. Does i.e. 95% quality mean 5m off center of the bombrange trigger zone?

Yes, but only if the bomb range trigger zone is a circle, not a polygon. 

[cfrag]

Version 2.2.3 - 20240509

The past weeks went by in a blur. As I alluded to, I'm putting DML to good use to develop something along the lines of the fabled 'Foothold' series. This time, I do have something to report, and feedback from the community so far has been encouraging (thank you!): Expansion.

To put Expansion into reality, many modules in DML were tweaked slightly, and a couple of new modules have seen the light of day that allow some nifty tricks. I've so far not had the time to document them, and they aren't yet up to my standards, but I'm already sure that you'll enjoy the newest addition to the DML family once they re done: 'camp' allows you to pull together owned zones, cloners and farps to create a system that can be reinforced and repaired just like in 'Expansion'. 'milHelo' and 'milWings' allow you to create randomized cas, cap or sead flights to targets, and the 'beanCounter' module has received not one, but two siblings of similar repute: 'bank' and 'income'.

I'm still fully commited to bringing Expansion to a worthy 'Foothold' successor, so my work on DML is limited to beefing up, adding and testing modules, but there's too little time (yet) to create demos or document the new additions. So this release contains a lot of undocumented coolness, and some of your requests (mostly documented). 

Changes in detail:
    Documentation
        Main 
            - many small changes and corrections 
        
        Quickref 
            - some corrections and additions 
    
    Demos    
        No changes 
        
    Modules 
        - asw 1.0.2 
            - optional 'useSmoke' attribute 
            
        - autoCSAR 
            - supports persistence
        
        - bank 1.0.0 
            - still undocumented
        
        - bombRange 1.1.2 
            - fixes typo when no bomb range is detected
        
        - camp 1.0.2
            - still undocumented, oozes power 
            
        - cfxZones 4.3.2 
            - new getListFromZoneProperty() QoL for code heads 
        
        - cloneZone 2.2.1
            - QoL: if cloned template is late activation, this is turned off
        
        - csarManager 3.4.0 
            - supports persistence (!)
            - global timeLimit option to have csar missions time out 
            
        - dcsCommon 3.0.6 
            - more QoL for code heads 
        
        - FARPZones 2.1.0
            - automatic integration with camp 
            
        - milGround 
            - stub for later 
            
        - milHelo 1.0.0
            - undocumented, very powerful 
        
        - milWings 1.0.0
            - undocumented, sierra hotel module 
            
        - ownedZones 2.3.1 
            - restored some ability that was erroneously removed 
        
        - PlayerScore 3.2.0
            - more integration with bank 
            
        - radioMenus 2.3.0
            - new ability to support wildcard "*" for group selection 
            
        - SSBClient 4.0 
            - OOP upgrade 
            - now uses cfxMX instead of groups 
        
        - sweeper 1.0.0 
            - undocumented 
        
        - tacan 1.2.2 
            - new 'desc' attribute 
            - actionSound attribute 
            - sound with output 
        
        - wingTaskHelper
            - ugly. undocumented. You don't want know how the sausage is made.
        
        
Enjoy,
-ch

[bitboy]

Outstanding, thanks for the continued development. 

Intrigued and curious, looking forward to poking around the new undocumented stuff.

Laughing nervously and slightly scared after your comment here:

 - wingTaskHelper
            - ugly. undocumented. You don't want know how the sausage is made.

[crispy12]

Found a small typo - 

Under DML Quick Reference - resetSeq instead of resetSeq?

I know, this might be obvious. But I'm quite noob and couldn't get my sequence loop until I figured this out myself. Thank you!

[cfrag]

6 minutes ago, crispy12 said:

resetSeq instead of resetSeq?

Thank you! Confirmed and corrected, will be part of the next update.

[Bingo911]

Good morning! I have a few questions.

In the image attached I have the Gali Army Barracks at the top as my factory. I have a LLH Toyota near the bottom of the map. When that toyota is destroyed,  my intent is to have it drive from the Gali Army Barracks back to it's waypoint or area it spawned.

I set the cloner where the LLH Toyota spawns to have a masterOwner of the factory (which could be wrong). It will respawn after being destroyed but it spawns at the cloner. Can I move that respawn to the factory itself?

So that leads me to my second question. If I clone a group of vehicles and one is destroyed, am I able to just replace the one vehicle from the factory? I had intended to populate the front line from one factory but I have not figured out if I can do this. So far, it only works when every unit is destroyed.

Thanks in advance and I hope that wasn't to confusing.

**I fixed some errors. I have my cloner set to empty? on some of the areas and they didnt work correctly.

Edited May 13, 2024 by Bingo911