DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[cfrag]

Version 2.3.7 -- 20241121 - maintenance update 

The past few weeks have gone by in a blur. Accordingly, this updates contains some QoL additions, and the "shock block" received some linguistic polish. 

 

All Changes in Detail
Documentation
    Main
        - Worked on many small unclear passages in the hopes that they become more clear
        - some module updates 
        
    Quickref 
        - Updates in line with module updates 
        
Demos
    (no changes)
    
Modules
    - cfxZones 4.4.4
        - Support for "drivable" spawns 
        
    - countDown 2.0.1
        - deconflict "count?" attribute: removed 
        
    - messenger 3.2.1
        - removed typo in verbose mode 
        
    - smokeZones 2.0.1
        - deprecated attribute "f?"

    - spawnZones 2.2.0
        - new "drivable" attribute 
        
Enjoy,

-ch

 

Edited November 21, 2024 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

2 hours ago, cfrag said:

Hmmmm. Methinks the standard cloner clone? and declone? stuff applies. At least I did not encounter any difficulties:

All sorted, I had linked the zone to the carrier as well as the static units. When I removed that it all works. Thanks for idea as well I have also added in the option to put them back on.

[Chad Vader]

HI CFrag thanks for the updates.

Can I ask, does the recon module support ship detection?  That would be amazing for a Sea Power mission im creating for some carrier on carrier action.

[cfrag]

50 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

does the recon module support ship detection?

Not yet. I don't think that it will be hard to add, though, so if you are interested, I think I can come up with something in the next few days. Watch this space  

 

 

[Chad Vader]

8 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Not yet. I don't think that it will be hard to add, though, so if you are interested, I think I can come up with something in the next few days. Watch this space  

 

 

Yea that would be amazing! I was going to use it to replicate some of the carrier strike group missions inn the new Sea Power game.

[cfrag]

19 hours ago, Chad Vader said:

does the recon module support ship detection?

As promised, it now does. You need to enable it via the config zone:

ground	If set to true, scouts detect ground units Defaults to true (ground units are detected)
naval	If set to true scounts detect naval units Defaults to false (naval units are ignored)

No detection of weapons (missiles etc.) at this point as that would completely blow the scope of the module.

Here's the new module, and demo miz. Please test and provide feedback so I can be lazy  

 

demo - recon mode - reloaded.miz reconMode.lua

[Chad Vader]

12 minutes ago, cfrag said:

As promised, it now does. You need to enable it via the config zone:

ground	If set to true, scouts detect ground units Defaults to true (ground units are detected)
naval	If set to true scounts detect naval units Defaults to false (naval units are ignored)

No detection of weapons (missiles etc.) at this point as that would completely blow the scope of the module.

Here's the new module, and demo miz. Please test and provide feedback so I can be lazy  

 

demo - recon mode - reloaded.miz 243.03 kB · 0 downloads reconMode.lua 41.54 kB · 0 downloads

wow you are amazing thank you I will put this in now.

[Blackjack_UK]

This looks awesome. But I think I must be stupid - can't work out how to download from Gitlab...

Am I doing something daft?

[cfrag]

26 minutes ago, Blackjack_UK said:

Am I doing something daft?

You tell us. 

[Chad Vader]

59 minutes ago, cfrag said:

As promised, it now does. You need to enable it via the config zone:

ground	If set to true, scouts detect ground units Defaults to true (ground units are detected)
naval	If set to true scounts detect naval units Defaults to false (naval units are ignored)

No detection of weapons (missiles etc.) at this point as that would completely blow the scope of the module.

Here's the new module, and demo miz. Please test and provide feedback so I can be lazy  

 

demo - recon mode - reloaded.miz 243.03 kB · 0 downloads reconMode.lua 41.54 kB · 1 download

Its all kicking off

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chad Vader

[Chad Vader]

Hey CFrag, whats RECONGUI.lua?  Is it required?

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

May I be so bold as to ask that you consider a new module, perhaps called "Gate"

Although I have used "Changer" I am struggling with how to use it for my scenario of controlling spawns based on ownership of an airfield (or any other 2 level conditions)

This is perhaps a selfish request but I would hope others could see the potential of its use.

Module: Gate

openGate? -  flag to watch for to test the lock

key? - flag to watch for that has the code to open the gate

keyTriggerMethod - code (flag value) that will open the gate

passThrough! - flag to bang for a successful test

Scenario

UNIT ZONE

plane flies into unitZone 1

enterZone!              planeInZone1

GATE

openGate?              planeInZone1

key?                         ownerAleppo

keyTriggerMethod  =2

passThrough!          gocloneMig21-1

 

CLONER

clone?                     gocloneMig21-1

 

If the key code (flag value) is not 2 the gate stays closed and no clone takes place.

I await your due consideration?

regards

Friar

Edited November 22, 2024 by DD_Friar

[Blackjack_UK]

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

You tell us. 

(Blush)

Not doing something daft. But also not doing something really frickin' obvious...

Thanks

[Chad Vader]

2 hours ago, Chad Vader said:

3 hours ago, cfrag said:

As promised, it now does. You need to enable it via the config zone:

ground	If set to true, scouts detect ground units Defaults to true (ground units are detected)
naval	If set to true scounts detect naval units Defaults to false (naval units are ignored)

No detection of weapons (missiles etc.) at this point as that would completely blow the scope of the module.

Here's the new module, and demo miz. Please test and provide feedback so I can be lazy  

 

demo - recon mode - reloaded.miz 243.03 kB · 2 downloads reconMode.lua 41.54 kB · 1 download

 

Hmmm, i've added the recon files to the zone and the verbose logging is telling me that player scouts are active but my scout planes are not detecting ships.

Ive set a player controlled plane to immortal and flying it directly over them and nothing.

Here is my config zone: ( i set the max range to a ridiculous number and my recon plane is above the max ceiling of 27000 ft..

Here is my recon zone that sits over an enemy carrier group

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chad Vader

[cfrag]

16 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

Hmmm, i've added the recon files to the zone and the verbose logging is telling me that player scouts are active but my scout planes are not detecting ships.

Let's try this step by step:

- make sure that the units to spot are from the other faction (silly, I know. Gets me every time, though)

- place ground units and ensure that the module's base functions work

- Add the naval group and 'naval = yes" config. See if it still works

- now place the cloner, and see if recon still works after cloning.

The step that fails is the one we'll focus on.

1 hour ago, Chad Vader said:

Hey CFrag, whats RECONGUI.lua?

A GUI (well, in DCS terms. It's a comms->Other... menu for recon planes controlled by players

1 hour ago, Chad Vader said:

Is it required?

No

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, DD_Friar said:

Module: Gate

openGate? -  flag to watch for to test the lock

key? - flag to watch for that has the code to open the gate

keyTriggerMethod - code (flag value) that will open the gate

passThrough! - flag to bang for a successful test

Hmmm. That looks very close to some of changer's functionality, except that for your proposed module you have not yet described how to close it, and what that means. Also, it's unclear what the output passThrough! should pass through. I suspect that once we define all that we will re-invent changer  

 

[Chad Vader]

10 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Let's try this step by step:

- make sure that the units to spot are from the other faction (silly, I know. Gets me every time, though)

- place ground units and ensure that the module's base functions work

- Add the naval group and 'naval = yes" config. See if it still works

- now place the cloner, and see if recon still works after cloning.

The step that fails is the one we'll focus on.

A GUI (well, in DCS terms. It's a comms->Other... menu for recon planes controlled by players

No

Ok, ground units are being detected normally.  Naval groups are not.

Hang on, they are! I just have to fly really close...

I have set the max range to 78km so could you advise on how to increase the spotting distance please?

[cfrag]

2 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

Ok, ground units are being detected normally.  Naval groups are not.

So some progress - please try without the entire recon zone (no cloner, no recon). 

Then let's see if it's player-related (i.e. AI flights do detect the plane), Faction-related (only works for the wrong faction) or some other reason.

If the miz remains stubborn, please remove all mods and PM it to me so I can beat recon into submission

[Chad Vader]

This was the detection range at 27000 ft

Quite small, I need to increase it

null

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chad Vader

[cfrag]

16 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

have set the max range to 78km so could you advise on how to increase the spotting distance please?

Um, up detectionMinRange? The actual is calculated as a value between the two, depending on height, limited by maxAlt (where planes achieve detectionMaxRange). 

 

detectionMinRange	The detection range of a recon plane under worst conditions (low-level flying). Default is 3000 (3 km)
detectionMaxRange	The detection range of a recon plane under best conditions (high-altitude). Default is 12000 (12 km)
maxAlt	The altitude at which a plane achieves maxDetectionRange. Default is 9000 (9 km, 27’000 ft)

And remember: meters, not feet

Edited November 22, 2024 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

9 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Hmmm. That looks very close to some of changer's functionality, except that for your proposed module you have not yet described how to close it, and what that means. Also, it's unclear what the output passThrough! should pass through. I suspect that once we define all that we will re-invent changer  

Not sure what you mean by how to close it. It may be that because I have not fully got changer I can not see how to configure it as you suggest.

In my "Gate" module I am proposing that it is listening for the request to open the gate, this will be a banged/triggered flag from any other module.

The test to decide if the gate should be opened will be determined by the module listening for a second flag from any other module and it passing a "TriggerMethod" test (any of the standard tests would be valid)

The module completes by triggering the output flag (passThrough! in my example)

With changer I do not understand how I can test for a value that is not either 1 or 0. In my scenario I am wanting to test for coalition as the key to unlock the gate so need to check either 0,1 or 2 (neutral, red or blue).

This may be where my understanding of changer is falling down with which option to use e.g bool, not, direct etc.

 

 

 

[Chad Vader]

3 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Um, up detectionMinRange? The actual is calculated as a value between the two, depending on height, limited by maxAlt (where planes achieve detectionMaxRange). 

 

detectionMinRange	The detection range of a recon plane under worst conditions (low-level flying). Default is 3000 (3 km)
detectionMaxRange	The detection range of a recon plane under best conditions (high-altitude). Default is 12000 (12 km)
maxAlt	The altitude at which a plane achieves maxDetectionRange. Default is 9000 (9 km, 27’000 ft)

And remember: meters, not feet

THe way I understand it is, if I am above the maxAlt, I can see units at detectionMaxRange?  Is that correct?

Thats isnt happening...

I just tried upping detectionMinRange to 20000 and no change.

Edited November 22, 2024 by Chad Vader

[cfrag]

12 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

Thats isnt happening...

That's entirely possible, let me check the math... no, math checks out.

12 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

if I am above the maxAlt, I can see units at detectionMaxRange

Not exactly - at or above maxAlt, you have maxrange for GROUPS to be considered being spotted.

And here may be the rub: Recon assumes that groups are bunched up close together (remember, recon mode did not cover naval units before).

To check if a group is being spotted, the first unit of a group is picked, the distance measured, and if that unit's distance is greater than your current maxView, THE ENTIRE GROUP is discarded. So if your naval units are far apart in that group, it's very likely that recon won't spot a far-away unit yet you are close to one. Makes sense since a widely dispersed naval fleet still only gets one circle on the map.

Lets say you are close enough to the first unit. Then, recon mode performs an LOS check if you can see the unit. I have no idea if DCS performs a curved earth LOS or flat earth LOS over water.

If you arrange single-unit naval groups (just for testing), does it work? I'll see if I can change the code to iterate all units in a naval group. Will still only plot the first naval unit it sees, but maybe that's better?

 

[cfrag]

Here's an updated version that does not short-circuit detection calculation of naval groups. Can you see any improvement?

 

reconMode.lua

Edited November 22, 2024 by cfrag

[Chad Vader]

52 minutes ago, cfrag said:

That's entirely possible, let me check the math... no, math checks out.

Not exactly - at or above maxAlt, you have maxrange for GROUPS to be considered being spotted.

And here may be the rub: Recon assumes that groups are bunched up close together (remember, recon mode did not cover naval units before).

To check if a group is being spotted, the first unit of a group is picked, the distance measured, and if that unit's distance is greater than your current maxView, THE ENTIRE GROUP is discarded. So if your naval units are far apart in that group, it's very likely that recon won't spot a far-away unit yet you are close to one. Makes sense since a widely dispersed naval fleet still only gets one circle on the map.

Lets say you are close enough to the first unit. Then, recon mode performs an LOS check if you can see the unit. I have no idea if DCS performs a curved earth LOS or flat earth LOS over water.

If you arrange single-unit naval groups (just for testing), does it work? I'll see if I can change the code to iterate all units in a naval group. Will still only plot the first naval unit it sees, but maybe that's better?

 

Funny you should say that, the task force is made up of single unit groups.. THey are detected under 5km no matter what numbers I use for min and max.  Can you replicate the issue?

45 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Here's an updated version that does not short-circuit detection calculation of naval groups. Can you see any improvement?

 

reconMode.lua 41.73 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks!

No improvement.

Im using a harrier for detection.. dont suppose the module in use makes a difference?