DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[cfrag]

7 hours ago, Recluse said:

But I wonder why everything is being saved to the tempmission (data) folder:

That is how persistence works. Unless you change the defaults, it saves all data into a file of given name x: as a file named "X Data.txt", and that file is put into a (new) folder "x (data)", and x defaulting to the name of the mission file sans extension. Details are outlined in 5.3.31.2 and 6.9.1 of the "shock block".

7 hours ago, Recluse said:

It seemed like if I didn't supply a file name, the "mission data" went into tempMission (data)\tempMissionData.txt

If the mission is called "tempMission.miz" then yes. Note: the name "tempMission" sounds awfully close to the mission name that DCS's Mission Editor assigns to a mission by default should you 'fly again' or responded "no" to "Save Mission" after a change before entering it from ME

 

8 hours ago, Recluse said:

I created a brand new sparse mission and made sure to launch after saving from the Mission menu and it still saved in the tempMission (data) folder.

Please revisit the config zone for persistence and see if maybe there is a setting for saveDir that sets it to "tempMission".

[Nishiyandcs4]

Hello cfrag & everyone!
I noticed that CSAR in DML works in SP but not MP.
I have all CSAR-related modules up to date.

Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?
The comments in CSAR Manager mentioned something to do with persistance,
but are there sny special settings I need to make?

 

[cfrag]

41 minutes ago, Nishiyandcs4 said:

I noticed that CSAR in DML works in SP but not MP.

How did you notice that? In other words, how did you set up csarManager, what did it do in SP (single-player) that it did not do in multi-player? I'm sure that we can get to the bottom of this quickly. As a general rule, DML does not differentiate between SP and MP, and works the same for both.

[Panthir]

30 minutes ago, cfrag said:

How did you notice that? In other words, how did you set up csarManager, what did it do in SP (single-player) that it did not do in multi-player? I'm sure that we can get to the bottom of this quickly. As a general rule, DML does not differentiate between SP and MP, and works the same for both.

Tested yesterday and it works troubleless

[Recluse]

3 hours ago, cfrag said:

That is how persistence works. Unless you change the defaults, it saves all data into a file of given name x: as a file named "X Data.txt", and that file is put into a (new) folder "x (data)", and x defaulting to the name of the mission file sans extension. Details are outlined in 5.3.31.2 and 6.9.1 of the "shock block".

If the mission is called "tempMission.miz" then yes. Note: the name "tempMission" sounds awfully close to the mission name that DCS's Mission Editor assigns to a mission by default should you 'fly again' or responded "no" to "Save Mission" after a change before entering it from ME

 

Please revisit the config zone for persistence and see if maybe there is a setting for saveDir that sets it to "tempMission".

Thanks, you've confirmed my understanding of persistence.  I JUST KNOW I AM DOING SOMETHING OR MISSING SOMETHING STUPID!

This is what I cannot figure out. When I suspected that the tempMission was somehow coming from launching out of the mission editor, I created and saved a brand new mission, named it accordingly, and fired it up. I got the verbose output pasted above. The mission name was MarianasTestPersist.miz  NOT tempMission, and I launched it from the Mission menu (SP) not from the Mission Editor, yet that is the folder it went into.

 

Here is the persistenceConfig:  I gave it a unique FILE NAME because I didn't want it reading the tempMission.txt as happened with another mission I tried where I had attempted to leave the defaults:

nullMaybe someone can try it out and see what is going wrong, or if it is something weird on my end. Seems to happen with every new mission I try, but the Demo works fine.

Nothing going on except some Mirage2000's on the ground at Antonio Won Pat and an Su-25T on the ground at Anderson AFB.

 

P.S. Sorry I used Do Script File instead of lots of Copy/paste to save time, but I used all the newest files.

 

MarianasTestPersist.miz

Edited May 1 by Recluse

[DD_Friar]

@Recluse  - you do not happen to have the Herc mod installed do you? This may be a total red herring but a while back i too was getting the temp save message and it only seemed to happen when someone took the Herc? I looked into it but could not understand why so gave up looking!

[Recluse]

6 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

@Recluse  - you do not happen to have the Herc mod installed do you? This may be a total red herring but a while back i too was getting the temp save message and it only seemed to happen when someone took the Herc? I looked into it but could not understand why so gave up looking!

Indeed I do have the Herc mod installed!  It isn't in any of the missions that have been causing me this headache, but the mod is definitely installed.

 

Edit: I just retried the demo - being persistent.miz  and this time IT saved to tempMission (data)/tempMission.txt as well!!

Edited May 1 by Recluse

[Nishiyandcs4]

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

どうして気づいたのですか？つまり、csarManagerをどのように設定したのですか？シングルプレイヤー（SP）では実行できて、マルチプレイヤーでは実行できないことは何ですか？すぐに原因を突き止められると思います。原則として、DMLはシングルプレイヤーとマルチプレイヤーを区別せず、どちらも同じように動作します。

CSAR didn't work on the dedicated server, so I tested the MIZ file on SP and it worked,
i ran it again on the dedicated server, but in MP the M4 Soldier didn't appear.

However, the flag itself worked, and only the cooldown timer by RadioMenu was runnning.
The only difference between SP and MP is  whether or not persistance by desanitization is running.

Also, there was a post just now asking whether there was a persistance problem due to Herc Mod,
the Miz File I'm running where CSAR doesn't work on MP also uses Herc mod(and UH-60L mod)
this could also be one of problems.

I'll try removing those mods and testing it again on a dedicated server.

 

[cfrag]

CRAP!!!!

It seems that the kind (if not, as it seems, very talented) people at ED have f*(%ed up the Mission Scripting Environment with the last release. 

Yeah, as a result it has taken down DML's persistence. The only workaround at this point in time is to use both saveDir and saveFileName in your persistenceConfig, else it will always save (and overwrite) to this stupid "tempMission" folder/file. 

saveDir

A folder (allocated if it doesn’t exist) inside serverDir where persistence will save the mission data into a separate file. You can use this to pool multiple missions’ data into the same folder. Defaults to “<mission name> (Data)” (see note below) <-- NO LONGER WORKS, MUST BE SET IMPORTANT NOTE If you completely omit persistence’s config zone, it reverts to simplified save mode, and defaults saveDir to “” (empty string), saving the mission’s data file directly into the serverDir.

saveFileName

The name for the data (plain text in JSON format, can be edited with any text editor) file inside saveDir. Defaults to “<mission name> Data.txt” <-- NO LONGER WORKS, MUST BE SET

Thank you @Recluse for alerting me to this. And WFT ED????? 

Yes all missions that use DML's persistence now need an overhaul. This includes all my missions (Expansion, all Angels, and 20+ others that I have published).  

So, which bunch of clowns at ED thought it a good idea the screw with the internals so that  DCS.getMissionName( ) now always returns "tempMission()", and which band of jokers did not regression test this before releasing it to production? 

Franky, you know that I work in the industry, and where I work people are getting fired for less. I can take a lot amateurism from a game company, but I think you should draw the line somewhere before it reaches the clownishly absurd. Does DCS Mission Creation really have to be such a clown show? 

 

[Recluse]

On 4/29/2025 at 3:45 AM, DD_Friar said:

I agree with the sentiment of your request. I had a similar experience using valet on a multiplayer mission and then I took off in a helicopter and went over other slots and started getting their messages.

Could you not use a unitZone for detecting "in-air" movements? (provided we can lock valet to spawn-ins / ground only?

@DD_Friar Did you by any chance try the new groundOnly flag and see if it worked? As you have seen it didn't (quite) work for me, the way I expected, but now I don't trust my system at all!!!!

I have taken your idea to heart about unitZones. Only problem (and this might be something I am just doing wrong) is I miss Valet's ability to pass the <p>, <u> and <type> wildcards to messenger.  I could not make this happen with unitZones (as the zone isn't quite as aware of who is in it as valet., but it is very likely I am missing something)

2 minutes ago, cfrag said:

CRAP!!!!

It seems that the kind (if not, as it seems, very talented) people at ED have f*(%ed up the Mission Scripting Environment with the last release. 

Yeah, as a result it has taken down DML's persistence. The only workaround at this point in time is to use both saveDir and saveFileName in your persistenceConfig, else it will always save (and overwrite) to this stupid "tempMission" folder/file. 

saveDir

A folder (allocated if it doesn’t exist) inside serverDir where persistence will save the mission data into a separate file. You can use this to pool multiple missions’ data into the same folder. Defaults to “<mission name> (Data)” (see note below) <-- NO LONGER WORKS, MUST BE SET IMPORTANT NOTE If you completely omit persistence’s config zone, it reverts to simplified save mode, and defaults saveDir to “” (empty string), saving the mission’s data file directly into the serverDir.

saveFileName

The name for the data (plain text in JSON format, can be edited with any text editor) file inside saveDir. Defaults to “<mission name> Data.txt” <-- NO LONGER WORKS, MUST BE SET

Thank you @Recluse for alerting me to this. And WFT ED????? 

Yes all missions that use DML's persistence now need an overhaul. This includes all my missions (Expansion, all Angels, and 20+ others that I have published).  

So, which bunch of clowns at ED thought it a good idea the screw with the internals so that  DCS.getMissionName( ) now always returns "tempMission()", and which band of jokers did not regression test this before releasing it to production? 

Franky, you know that I work in the industry, and where I work people are getting fired for less. I can take a lot amateurism from a game company, but I think you should draw the line somewhere before it reaches the clownishly absurd. Does DCS Mission Creation really have to be such a clown show? 

 

@cfrag Wow!!! THAT SUCKS.... At least I am not CRAZY (well, in this particular instance, anyway) 

Edited May 1 by Recluse

[Nishiyandcs4]

@cfrag
The issue of CSAR not working in MP also seems to be caused by the persistence module.
After removing this module, CSAR started working in MP on dedicated servers.

 

Edited May 1 by Nishiyandcs4

[cfrag]

8 minutes ago, Nishiyandcs4 said:

CSAR started working in MP on dedicated servers.

Thank you. Can you elaborate what "working" means? Put differently: what does "does not work in MP" mean specifically? Can you describe a situation in detail as it happens correctly in SP, and how that happens incorrectly (and how that seems incorrect) in MP?

 

[Nishiyandcs4]

9 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Thank you. Can you elaborate what "working" means? Put differently: what does "does not work in MP" mean specifically? Can you describe a situation in detail as it happens correctly in SP, and how that happens incorrectly (and how that seems incorrect) in MP?

 

"working" - just as explained by the DML, when the FLAG is turned ON, M4 soldier appear, smoke is released, the enemies approaches,
they ( M4 Soldier)  are rescued by Helicopter and returned to the CSAR BASE, just this TASKs complete.

"doesn't work in MP" means that even when the FLAG is ON, no M4 soldier and enemies appear, nothing appears,
and the CSAR info only displays a message like "NO One needs rescue, everyone is safe".
However, behind the scenes, only the cooldown timer  (from RadioMenu Module) that occurs when FLAG is ON running.

...my English may be a little bit strange and it may be difficult to convey my meaning, but that's about it.

[cfrag]

I'm having difficulties re-producing the issue. Can I trouble you to do the following:

• download the demo mission from DML (updated for current DML), see attached
• Run as SP, go to communication->Other and choose the option to spawn the CSAR via flag 100. The CSAR mission should spawn.
• Do the same in MP. Is there any difference for you? Note that - unless you configured DCS differently - when you run local server, the mission starts paused, so in order to be able to spawn the CSAR, you must un-pause the mission first.

Do SP and MP give different results on your DCS? They seem to work the same on my DCS (which may mean nothing )

demo - CSAR of Georgia.miz

Edited May 1 by cfrag

[Recluse]

@cfrag Hate to pile more on your already overflowing plate... but if you have some spare cycles, could you look at Reaper.lua?

I am having very variable results, where it seems that it should be lasing but weapons don't guide.  I know it is possible for them to lose lock, but I don't get that message.

I have locked an AGM-65E onto a spot and it plummets right into the ground.  Likewise I have dropped a GBU-12 and it falls ballistically without guiding.  If I turn on my own laser, they guide fine, so I know the code is right and all the fuzing etc. is good.  Odd thing is sometimes they guide perfectly. Maybe just a case of momentary target loss, but my LST shows a lock on the spot throughout the engagement.

[cfrag]

6 minutes ago, Nishiyandcs4 said:

From this, I think that the DML Persistence problem may also be affecting the CSAR module, 

Ah. Thank you for the additional information. Please try the following: look for, and delete the folder "tempMission (data)" in your Missions/ folder. 

Restart the Mission. Does it work now? If so, remember that you now (until ED fix the bug that causes this) must supply a saveDir and saveFileName attribute with some nice names in the persistenceConfig zone.

 

[Nishiyandcs4]

On 5/1/2025 at 11:11 PM, cfrag said:

I'm having difficulties re-producing the issue. Can I trouble you to do the following:

• download the demo mission from DML (updated for current DML), see attached
• Run as SP, go to communication->Other and choose the option to spawn the CSAR via flag 100. The CSAR mission should spawn.
• Do the same in MP. Is there any difference for you? Note that - unless you configured DCS differently - when you run local server, the mission starts paused, so in order to be able to spawn the CSAR, you must un-pause the mission first.

Do SP and MP give different results on your DCS? They seem to work the same on my DCS (which may mean nothing )

demo - CSAR of Georgia.miz 209.7 kB · 1 download

@cfrag
I tried the attached Demo file in SP and MP on dedicated server.
The results were that both worked exactly the same and could be used without any problems.

So, as I posted before, I added the DML persistance module to the Demo File and tried it in SP & MP...

SP - No problem, worked fine!
But on the MP on Dedicated server, the message"Help! some trigger killed my chopper!" was displayed, but the M4 soldier didn't appear,
and nothig happened when I went to the place where he was supposed to appear.

This makes me think that the persistence problem may be affecting the CSAR module after all 

On 5/2/2025 at 12:46 AM, cfrag said:

Ah. Thank you for the additional information. Please try the following: look for, and delete the folder "tempMission (data)" in your Missions/ folder. 

Restart the Mission. Does it work now? If so, remember that you now (until ED fix the bug that causes this) must supply a saveDir and saveFileName attribute with some nice names in the persistenceConfig zone.

 

OK, I'll try it & see how it goes!

Edited May 3 by Nishiyandcs4

[Panthir]

demo - CSAR of Georgia with Enemy Capture.miz
For those that they are interested in, here is a modified DML DEMO CSAR mission with capturing enemy pilots function enabled as well. When you approach in shooting range, the Pilot shoots you. The captureRadius in csarEnemyCaptureExtension.lua is setup at 1000 meters. So, If you land at 1000meters from the pilot you get a message that you captured him. And then you can evacuate him to the closer CSARBASE. You can carry both enemy and friendly pilots. You can setup a specific score for teh POW pilots. The only issue up to know is that I want to modify the messages in order to know the pilot's coalition.

-- CONFIGURATION
local captureRadius = 1000 -- meters
local captureCategory = "Captives"
local captureScore = 10 -- Optional score to award when delivered

Edited May 2 by Panthir

[Panthir]

Fixed it!!!!!!!

csarManager2 plus enemy capture.lua demo - CSAR of Georgia.miz

csarEnemyCaptureExtension.lua

Edited May 2 by Panthir

[Recluse]

@cfrag  Don't you just hate it when I try modules I haven't tried before and bother you with questions?? 

 

Yup I'm at it again.

Running persistence/scribe.  Scribe stats get saved and I see them as initial greeting. All good.

But I don't understand why I have 2 Mission Logbooks

 

And under one of them I see 2 Statistics entries, but NO statistics are shown from either one. Basically nothing happens when I click.

 

Under the OTHER one, there is nothing

 

I checked for double loads of scribe module, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have only flown as one pilot, but have flown different aircraft, and in some cases, the aircraft were in a group of 2 (clients) and I may have flown each one at some point.

scribeConfig shown at bottom

 

 

 

Edited May 2 by Recluse

[cfrag]

46 minutes ago, Recluse said:

But I don't understand why I have 2 Mission Logbooks

Just to be sure that you are not as stupid as I was a few weeks ago when I encountered something similar, please try the following

- remove the action that loads scribe

Create a new DO SCRIPT action, and paste the scribe source inside

I accidentally pasted another module twice (to make it worse, I managed to do it across different actions). Maybe that is the issue?

[Recluse]

Just now, cfrag said:

Just to be sure that you are not as stupid as I was a few weeks ago when I encountered something similar, please try the following

- remove the action that loads scribe

Create a new DO SCRIPT action, and paste the scribe source inside

I accidentally pasted another module twice (to make it worse, I managed to do it across different actions). Maybe that is the issue?

I will try, but being a lazy guy, I used do script file instead of copy/paste, but maybe I messed up the file initially.. Will try and report back!

[Recluse]

No joy    Did a proper Do Script/copy/paste and same thing.  I even checked the .lua to make sure it wasn't doubled but it didn't seem to be.

 

Interesting, though, in the VERY SAME mission, I started in MP mode with a Dynamic Spawn and everything was fine.

Single Player with a manually placed aircraft gave me the doubler.

On a related note, should Valet work with a Dynamic spawn?

Edit:  It does if you remember to set greetSpawns 

Edited May 2 by Recluse

[cfrag]

13 minutes ago, Recluse said:

No joy

Well, I can always take a look at the miz - if you send me a (mods stripped) version of the miz.

[Recluse]

11 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Well, I can always take a look at the miz - if you send me a (mods stripped) version of the miz.

I think I figured it out.  When I spawn in a SINGLE aircraft everything is fine whether it is manually placed in SP  or Dynamic in MP.

IF, however the client aircraft are in a group (in this case 2 aircraft), the doubling happens, as I guess the stats are seeing 2 aircraft at once?

Maybe I missed this caveat in the documentation.

Edited May 2 by Recluse