DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[MirageEnjoyer]

Silly question here. DML has become my go-to mission editing tool and has been a huge help in driving my group’s rotor-focused campaign. When using HeloTroops, it’s been a blast being able to transport and interact with Olympus-spawned groups.

Is there a way to edit the "landing" parameters to allow for troop insertion from a hover or specific altitude? I’m trying to recreate fast-roping without having to spawn units manually with triggers.

Thank you, everyone!

[cfrag]

3 hours ago, MirageEnjoyer said:

Is there a way to edit the "landing" parameters to allow for troop insertion from a hover or specific altitude?

Not right now, and I can certainly have a look at adding this to helo troops. If you think of roof-top deployments, be advised that DCS won't give you that altitude so you'll have to add that to drop alt manually. I'll also look into (and research) max v during drops, and see what is a reasonable maximum speed, and if DCS's resolution is fine enough to return accurate information. The implementation would be rudimentary: DCS has no rappelling animations, and dropping troops would be instantaneous in heloTroops.

[Penfold-88]

how could i make this happen ...... 

basicly if a user leaves this zone they get a message saying they left the arena and if they enter the zone they get a message saying they are in the arena 

[DD_Friar]

@Penfold-88

use the unitZone module, if you check out the guide it has these notes. You may need two zone on top of each other, one for blue and one for red.

null

Edited March 24 by DD_Friar

[Penfold-88]

thank you ill give it a try

 

[Penfold-88]

not getting the message 

[DD_Friar]

@Penfold-88

You logic for the messenger is incorrect.

1. You have the parameters wrong
2. You can not have two messages in the same zone. I would suggest using 2 separate message zones

it should be

Messenger Zone 1

messenger?   AR1GO

message         A unit as entered the zone

Messenger Zone 2

messenger?  AR1STOP

message     A unit has left the zone

 

The messenger module also allows wildcards in the message so you can identify units and headings etc

Hope this helps

 

Friar

[cfrag]

57 minutes ago, Penfold-88 said:

basicly if a user leaves this zone they get a message saying they left the arena and if they enter the zone they get a message saying they are in the arena 

You may also want to take a look at the 'valet' module. 

[Penfold-88]

5 minutes ago, cfrag said:

You may also want to take a look at the 'valet' module. 

i like this idea seems easier but can it repeat if the player exits the area and re enters

 

[cfrag]

3 minutes ago, Penfold-88 said:

i like this idea seems easier but can it repeat if the player exits the area and re enters

Why don't you just try it?  But yes, it should, even with different messages for the first time, and support for audio.

Edited March 24 by cfrag

[MirageEnjoyer]

17 hours ago, cfrag said:

Not right now, and I can certainly have a look at adding this to helo troops. If you think of roof-top deployments, be advised that DCS won't give you that altitude so you'll have to add that to drop alt manually. I'll also look into (and research) max v during drops, and see what is a reasonable maximum speed, and if DCS's resolution is fine enough to return accurate information. The implementation would be rudimentary: DCS has no rappelling animations, and dropping troops would be instantaneous in heloTroops.

I appreciate the response! I figured it must not be straightforward, or it would have been done before. I was just curious if there might be a better way than my crude, unit in zone+parameters with a later activation or template call unit spawn. Thank you!

[ChuckIV]

cfrag,

I hope my post finds you happy and healthy!  I read WAY BACK in a post you made in November, 2021 that stated that .miz files that have .lua files at MISSION START are "read" by ALL client machines... and, if you are a using a dedicated server, it would be much better if placed/read from the /HOOKS folder of the dedicated server itself.

I've taken your advice and placed all 111 .lua (that's one-hundred eleven) files you've created over the years and put them ALL in my dedicated server's /HOOKS folder.  My question now is this...  In my .miz files that I've created for my server, how do I properly access your modules now?  Instead of using MISSION START and DO SCRIPT, do I now use DO SCRIPT FILE and point them to the /HOOKS folder? I'm wanting to lessen the "load" on clients' computers as much as possible.  Can you please advise me with how to properly use our dedicated server's /HOOKS folder?  I, along with MANY others thank you very, very much with all the hard work you've done for the DCS community, and I await your humble reply.  ChuckIV

[ChuckIV]

Here is the post from above...  See my replies in BLUE....

On 3/18/2025 at 11:54 AM, ChuckIV said:

1. If a player dies, I would like their playerScore to be reset to zero regardless of what side of the front line they are on (you die - lose all points)

Huh. Full wipe on die, that's harsh. Certainly not difficult to implement. As @DD_Friar already asked, you want this ON TOP of deferred scoring, right?  Yes, correct.  I want ALL points earned to be set to ZERO if someone DIES regardless of how/where they die.  Death means death.  You don't even get negative points - you start all over.

  On 3/18/2025 at 11:54 AM, ChuckIV said:

2. If a player lands in ENEMY territory across the front line, I would like there to be a 50% chance that they would either...  Get "captured" and lose all player points, OR they "escape" back across the front line (back to safety) and lose no player points.

Although interesting as a concept, there are multiple questions that we need to resolve first:

- How do we handle Helicopters that land in "enemy territory" to rescue someone or to insert troops? We only do WW2 scenarios; we don't use helicopters.  This option or parameter would not be used in helicopter-based sorties.

- What is enemy territory, and how would silly me discern that from neutral and friendly territory?  "Enemy territory" is defined as any land across a front line.  I have our front line defined by smoke columns across the countryside.  In WW2, you had an advancing army that defined the "front line".  I can create poly zones that define the "front line".  

So, I need a way to delete all playerScore points (multiply by zero) if someone dies, or by a 50% probability.  Could this be done using DML, or by code and tapping into the playerScore somehow??? (multiply by zero)  ChuckIV

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, ChuckIV said:

if you are a using a dedicated server, it would be much better if placed/read from the /HOOKS folder of the dedicated server itself.

If I wrote that I was sorely mistaken. One server scripts are put into /Hooks, and mission scripts do not run in server space, they run in client/mission space. Putting mission script files into /Hooks won't accomplish anything except filling that folder with scripts that do not work. 

1 hour ago, ChuckIV said:

Huh. Full wipe on die, that's harsh. Certainly not difficult to implement.

Turns out, it is more difficult to implement than I expected: there is no way in DCS to find out if a player died. Their plane - sure. But not a player. 

 

1 hour ago, ChuckIV said:

 "Enemy territory" is defined as any land across a front line.

That, unfortunately, does not define the term. What is "across", and what is a "front line" from a mathematical point of view (scripts need a mathematical expression like "less than 50 meters from a point"). 

1 hour ago, ChuckIV said:

I can create poly zones that define the "front line".  

 That could be a first step. but unfortunately won't be enough: what would 'across' mean in this context? And that line must run across the entire map, and there must not be multiple isolated areas for one side. DCS (strangely enough) does not have the concept of a territory/front line, and it may get it with dynamic campaign. Until then, I think I better let that problem rest.

1 hour ago, ChuckIV said:

I need a way to delete all playerScore points (multiply by zero) if someone dies, or by a 50% probability.  Could this be done using DML

At this point this appears to be foiled by a script's (or my) inability to reliably determine if and when a player dies in DCS.

[=GR= Cypher]

@cfrag Hello. I tried yesterday an old mission I created using the CSAR etc. I used a jet and ejected and when the pilot reached the ground showed the message regarding the extraction details etc. When I saved the mission, the downed pilot is shown as an M4 soldier named vehicle1. I tried to run the mission and the downed pilot as I imagined is not available for extraction. Do you have any plans of adding something to use with the new save feature?

 

Thank you!

[cfrag]

Just now, =GR= Cypher said:

Do you have any plans of adding something to use with the new save feature?

Yes. As soon as there is something worth our time. DCS's current 'Save State' IMHO is an embarrassment to ED.

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

Ref my campaign saved with Persistence. We tried running it last night having removed all mods from both our machines and the server. It ran for a while but then we had the server come up as "Not Responding".

I thought you may want to have a look at the files to see what impact the new release is having on your scripts?

The saved data is from the end of week 2. Convoys which should be waiting on triggers are starting and there are lots of AI planes which seem to have spawned in too early?

Regards

Friar

 

backup-Syria Campaign V9 Phase 1 (data).zip Syria Campaign V9 Phase 1.miz

[cfrag]

Just now, DD_Friar said:

there are lots of AI planes which seem to have spawned in too early?

I'll have a look. Which of the AI planes seem early (group names, so I can try myself)?

 

[cfrag]

18 hours ago, MirageEnjoyer said:

I was just curious if there might be a better way than my crude, unit in zone+parameters with a later activation or template call unit spawn.

"Fast-Roping" will be part of the upcoming release (scheduled for Thursday). It's not great, and all troops appear on the ground, but it's there  

[DD_Friar]

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

I'll have a look. Which of the AI planes seem early (group names, so I can try myself)?

If you take the red side and then use F2, you can see planes littered all over the map.

I am not sure if these are actual left overs from the last mission, or they have all cloned in without waiting for a trigger.

AI planes (red side) start automatically after a short delay at mission start then use a pulse to be randomly selected.

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, DD_Friar said:

AI planes (red side) start automatically after a short delay at mission start then use a pulse to be randomly selected

… and that is good or bad? What is the expected behavior?

[MirageEnjoyer]

6 hours ago, cfrag said:

"Fast-Roping" will be part of the upcoming release (scheduled for Thursday). It's not great, and all troops appear on the ground, but it's there  

This is awesome! Much appreciated, sir!

[DD_Friar]

13 hours ago, cfrag said:

What is the expected behaviour?

Hi @cfrag, sorry, I should have explained the scenario a bit better.

The mission is the same one I sent you previously to look at (where you commented on the good naming convention).

Blue forces start from either Incirlik for planes and Hatay for helicopters (although some planes have been ferried to Hatay to be available.)

In week 1 of this mission the enemy AI are started by a radio menu option within the "Mission Commands"

From week 2 onwards they start at mission start after a small, random delay and then are triggered via the pulse to a random selection from a random start point.

When you look at the mission in week 1 there are no red aircraft on the ground (none have been cloned yet).

I must admit I am not sure what happens to a enemy flight during week 1 that does not get killed. I think they may find an airfield and land? Is that what all the aircraft dotted around in week 2 are? cloned aircraft that have landed. It does seem to be too many. Our guys are pretty good at taking out virtually all the AI they encounter.

Also there is a convoy that is triggered when Harim turns from the default coalition of red to blue. The second group should not clone in until the first group have been killed, however, when running the mission now both clone in from the start. The map has remembered that Harim is now blue.

After running for a while performance grinds to a halt. Looking through the log we can see errors relating to damage models for the mig21 and 23 (but I do not know if this normal?)

 

[ChuckIV]

cfrag,

Thank you for getting back to me on the "front line" idea and resetting the playerScore to zero.  Right now, I'm working on a way to get points for shooting enemy fuel tanks (DCS name is "Tank 1")  

I can place these "Tank 1" static objects on the map with the ME and get points for shooting them in playerScore.  I can also make them "delicate".  I can also have them catch on fire using fireFX.  Placing STATICS using the ME works great!!! 

However, I'm trying to SPAWN them in using a cloner template first.  When I do this, spawning them in adds numbers to their names, and so I can't seem to add them to the playerScoreTable.  Can you help me figure out a way to get points for shooting/bombing SPAWNED "Tank 1" static objects?

ChuckIV

[DD_Friar]

@ChuckIV

You will have to use real units (not static) but you can give them the ROE attribute of "hold" for hold fire.

You use the unit type, not its name. To get the type we used to have to go to a database extraction but now the easy way is just click on the question mark in the top right corner of the unit details screen in the ME. Put that name into the table with the value you want to give it.