DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[kotor633]

Hi,

I became aware of DML by chance. I downloaded the current version and 'skimmed' the documentation. I also watched a few video tutorials (https://forum.dcs.world/topic/308582-dml-video-tutorials/#comment-5046367). What you did there is simply incredible. I can't wait to delve deeper into it and create missions/campaigns for my two favorite modules. A very big compliment to you from me!

[cfrag]

Version 1.4.5 - Functional Update - 20231006

It's been a long time coming. I think the first request to also provide HeloTroops with an interface for clone zones came, uh, some seconds after I included clone zones into DML in version 0.9.7. I always knew that before I integrated clone zones by allowing them to be 'requestable' (the mechanics by which HeloTroops triggers spawners), I'd have to add some other capabilities to DML. Those all fell into place over time, with -- engineering-wise -- the "airfield" zones being the last of the puzzle pieces that were missing.

So I spent the last two weeks upgrading and adapting all related modules that made it possible to elegantly fit clone zones with requestable spawners. Many modules have received some minor additions, tweaks und (blush) bug-fixes, and now I'm happy to present full requestable cloners for HeloTroops 3.0, and a couple of modules that sport a more rounded set of attributes for even greater mission design fun.

All Changes

Manual
    Main
        - Send in the Clones demo documentation
        - Various module updates 
        
    Quick Reference 
        - Updates to various modules
        
Demos
    - Send in the clones (new)
    - Helo Trooper (update)
    
Modules
    - airfield 1.1.0
        - new 'fixed' attribute 
        - changed 'farps' logic to allow zone-local setting 
    
    - HeloTroops 3.0.0 
        - integration with cloners 
        - requestRange attribute (new)
        - dmlZones 
        
    - SpawnZones 2.0.0 
        - dmlZones
        - HeloTroops new requestable method 
        
    - cloneZones 1.9.0
        - requestable interface to HeloTroops
        - cooldown attribute (new)
        - groupScheme attribute (new)
    
    - raiseFlag 2.0.0
        - dmlZones 
        - DML method full support 
    
Enjoy,

-ch

[Faflynx-3RD-Fr]

Thank you Cfrag !!!

[cfrag]

Version 1.4.6 - Functional Update: new "ownAll" Zones -- 20231019

While working on a new mission for my group (the upcoming "Carpet Crawlers" combined helicopters / jets capture mission set in the beautiful mountains of Argentina, my first "real" SA map mission) I was again noticing that I'm using a design pattern that can be much easier (especially now that I have properly separated factories from owned zones) accomplished by its own module: evaluating which side owns how many zones, and to create simple win conditions like 'blue owns all'. 

So welcome the newest module "ownAll" to the DML experience - engineering-wise I'm not too shy to say that I'm really proud: ownAll can cascade ownership, and using that little feature makes it really easy to not only wrangle the ownership abilities of ownedZones, airfield, FARP and other ownership management modules, but it makes it really easy to group these zones into regions, making large-scale zone-capture missions much, much easier to create (if your have played some of the Integrated Warfare missions, you know what I mean).

While creating ownedZones, some other modules have received updates, many of them based on feedback from you (thank you!). Also, the mysterious "mxObjects" module (that still is too early in its design to talk about) has been expanded, as I needed some feature for the "Sinai Tourist Map", that was easy to do with a quick dip into DML.

Here are all changes in detail:

Manual
    Main
        - ownAll (new)
        - update to airfield 
        - misc updates to various modules 
        
    Quick Reference 
        - ownALl (new)
        - airfield updates 
        
Demos
    - All is what I own (ownAll) (new) 
    
Modules
    - airfield 1.1.2
        - show attribute 
        - line color 
        - fill color 
    
    - Owned Zones 2.1.0
        - supports multiple output flags 
        - support for output method 
        
    - Spawn Zones 2.0.1
        - verifySpawnOwnership now works correctly 
        
    - cfxZones 4.0.7
        - some clean-up 
        - QoL hash helper 
        - new drawZone() method 
    
    - limitedAirframes 1.6.0
        - clean-up 
        - dmlZones OOP 
        - hasUI attribute 
        - numRed and numBlue correctly set at stertup 

    - messenger 2.3.1
        - changed order of execution for guards in update()
        
    - mxObjects [...]
        - still experimental
    
    - ownAll 1.0.0
        - initial release 
        
Enjoy,
-ch

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag for this excellent utility.

I have only just discovered this little gem and am busy building my squads multiplayer server mission with it.

Having upgraded to 2.9 yesterday I am now finding that the WIPER feature is not working for me in multiplayer. When I test in single player (launching the mission from within the editor)  the logic works (i have a populated line of planes, I pick a plane and spawn in, I am surrounded by ground crew. I taxi out and they are removed), when I run it on a multiplayer server it does not.

I am using the gap filler to place planes in empty slots.

I am using a clone template to place a set of ground crew around the plane when a player spawns in.

When the player taxis out of the spawn in area the wiper should remove the ground crew objects (just to save on the clutter). This means that only spawned in players will get ground crew for their plane.

I started work on this mission in 2.8 and it was fine?

Not moaning or anything just raising the issue (unless of course the problem is me!)

 

[cfrag]

8 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

When the player taxis out of the spawn in area the wiper should remove the ground crew objects (just to save on the clutter). This means that only spawned in players will get ground crew for their plane.

Thank you for the heads-up, I'll try and see if I can get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, as a work-around you may try to use the cloner's "wipe?" input to perform the same effect

Cheers,

-ch

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag

Supporting Screen Shots (pic 1 shown at bottom of list after posting)

Wiper Issue Pic 1 - (single player) I am using GameMaster to sit in HumVee showing no ground crew and slots taken.

Wiper Issue Pic 2 - (single player) I change slots and spawn in F14 - ground crew appear

Wiper Issue Pic 3 - (single player) I taxi forward crew are not wiped

Wiper Issue Pic 4 - (single player) I re-start mission and take F14. Taxi forward and crew are removed.

Wiper Issue Pic 5 - (multiplayer) take f14 slot, taxi forward crew are not removed.

I have attached my mission for your information (and for anyone else who wants to use the logic) to see if the problem is the keyboard interface ....

(p.s I know if you look at the mission the slot say hornet but it is an F14 i used that plane in the slot just to test, as its big planes i can look at the space around it - plus I do not own F18 but squad mates do.)

Persian Gulf - MSL.zip

Edited October 20, 2023 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, DD_Friar said:

I know if you look at the mission the slot say hornet but it is an F14 i used that plane in the slot just to test

While I'm looking into possible issues with the Wiper module, please note that you can significantly reduce your mission's complexity by using the cloner's own wipe ability and remove the wipe zone by using the 'despawn?' attribute (do NOT use the 'wipe?' synonym on a cloner if you are also using a the wiper module).

stupid null

If you do that, you can delete the wipe zone "Remove Hornet-1 GC". This can save one zone per aircraft. Please see attached mission based on yours.

 

 

Persian Gulf - MSL.miz

Edited October 20, 2023 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

Many thanks for the suggestion.

I have just tried using the option you suggested and have the same issue in multiplayer mode.

I have also removed the load of the wiper script at the start as well.

[cfrag]

18 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I have just tried using the option you suggested and have the same issue in multiplayer mode.

Ah. I found the issue. Let's walk through this one, as it's as sneaky as it is interesting:

• In multiplayer mode, the mission is running while you are not inside the plane
• you created a ONCE trigger with the condition "UNIT <Hornet 1> OUTSIDE ZONE" and Action "set flag 2011" 
• When the mission starts, it looks at the zone, finds no <Hornet 1> inside the zone, and fires (sets flag 2011), and then goes to rest. It won't ever again react to this should you eventually spawn in.  

This happens to ALL these remove ground troops triggers, by the way: they all fire at mission start since the unit that they are looking for isn't there, and then go to sleep. So none of this will work.

At the top of my head, I think that the 'valet' module can help you, let me see if I can come up with a good replacement (that probably can also save you tons of mission triggers). Let's see what I can come up with, and if you likewise inclined, let's see what you come up with  (and the obvious repeating trigger solution is too simple)

 

[cfrag]

51 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

the same issue in multiplayer mode.

This one works in multi-player, with multiple re-spawns -- and yes, using "Valet" zones did indeed resolve the issue; plus we no longer need Triggers for this, the modules/zones talk to each other.

Please see the example below. I only resolved it for that "Hornet" Tomcat, and while at it, turned on verbosity for those zones, and added a messenger to the cloner so that you get informed what happens. In your final version you would remove the messenger? and verbose attributes.

 

Persian Gulf - MSL.miz

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

Salute Sir, many thanks for taking the time out to assist debugging my logic.

Is there any way I can buy you a coffee?

P.s Do you think that I am creating too much of a performance overhead for just a little bit of eye-candy?

[cfrag]

27 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

Do you think that I am creating too much of a performance overhead for just a little bit of eye-candy?

That rather depends on your GPU, and anyway, as soon as you are not close to the eye candy, ther performance picks up. So IMHO, no.

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

I have made the changes you suggested (although tweaked by removing the "verbose" and messaging elements, works a charm.

Now to start building this with other features.

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag

I have been working hard over the last few days looking at the features in your fantastic utility.

For anyone who wants to take their mission building a bit further I highly recommend it.

 

Sir, I just wanted to highlight a minor error I found in the excellent user guide reference the really neat feature of being able to re-start a server / mission from in-game communications menu.

The user guide describes the flag as "SimpleMissionRestart" (notice the capital "S" at the start). The script however is looking for "simpleMissionRestart" (lower case "s").

I have now successfully added this to our squad server mission so if anyone joins on their own and wants to re-set the mission, they now can. (currently it only re-cycles after about 6 hours) 

 

[cfrag]

4 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

The user guide describes the flag as "SimpleMissionRestart" (notice the capital "S" at the start). The script however is looking for "simpleMissionRestart" (lower case "s").

Thank you for the heads-up, @DD_Friar, ! I corrected the Quick-Ref (the Manual a.k.a. "Shock-Block" luckily spells it correctly), will be part of the next update.

[DD_Friar]

Salute Sir, @cfrag

Bit of an odd question this but yesterday I published the mission I sent you to our server. Four of the guys could access it no problem but two of our players kept having DCS crash when they tried to join the server.

It was nothing to do with mod aircraft, I took then out of the equation.

I even sent him the mission and he tried opening it on his own machine but still got the same issue.

Have you ever encountered anything similar with any of your guys not being able to play a mission with your utility applied. On previous server maps they can access no problem. I even changed the loaded the mission and they got straight in.

Any advice / pointers of what to check would be gratefully received as I am a bit stumped.

[cfrag]

2 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

Any advice / pointers of what to check would be gratefully received as I am a bit stumped.

I have seen some reports that the Mudhen can act up with StopGap or NoGap. If your players are driving them and they experience crashes, maybe fence those aircraft out of stopGap/noGap by adding the appropriate keywords to the trigger zones that detect their spawn-in. They will not show up until they slot in, but maybe that can resolve the issue until Raz comes up with a fix.

Otherwise it would be interesting to know what modules are affected, if you have the noGapGUI/stopGapGUI module running on your server, and if your server is shared or stand-alone - so we can try and further narrow down the issue.

[DD_Friar]

Thanks, we will give that a go. I will let you know how we get on.

regards

Friar

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag

I wonder if I may ask for a small nudge with a learning mission I am currently working on. I am using it to get a solid understanding of what I think you describe as the 3 most useful modules, the flag pulse, the random flag and the cloner.

My objective in the attached mission is to generate a constant stream of helicopters from 3 types, Apache, Gazelle and Huey. One of the 3 types should spawn in every 15 seconds. They fly the length of the runway and are deleted, (they get deleted fine).

The problem I am having is that I am only getting each type once.

Is there any chance you could take a quick look and point out the error of my ways please?

On another note -

ref the issue of other squad mates not being able to get into the mission with the Gap module. I have removed the gap module from my current server version and he can get in to 2.9 Beta no problem.

He loaded the mission into the standard version and it worked, he was able to get in no problem. He also has a full backup of 2.8 beta, he loaded that up and was able to run the mission no problem as well. So it is pointing to something in 2.9 beta causing the issue (for him and another squad mate, as if you recall other squad members COULD get in no problem.)

Many thanks for your time once again.

 

RandomTest.miz

Edited October 26, 2023 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

4 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

The problem I am having is that I am only getting each type once.

I've looked into the mission, and if you don't mind, here a some recommendations:

• I strongly recommend that you use speaking flag names (e.g. 'spawnGazelle') instead of number-named flags (e.g. "101"). Since DML allows method arithmetic, numbered flags can cause a lot of confusion. It may be flashy and newfangled, and doing stuff oldschool has its place - but not here  
• take advantage of zone-local verbosity: add a 'verbose = true' to the zone that interests you instead of global via the config zone. You'll get less swamped with diagnostics
• use 'inc' as method instead of 'flip', although both work well. 'inc' has the advantage that you can always see how often it was changed by the value the flag carries
• never use 'late activation' in a cloner's unit
• don't refer to a cloner to itself with the source attribute. Either a cloner has a source attribute, or it uses the units inside the zone as source.
• when in doubt, use the debugger module to hunt down elusive flag issues (if a simple zone's verbosity will not help)

I've included a modified version of your mission to show off a bit. 

As to why you are only getting each group once and they appear one after the other:

• You are still using the activate triggers after a few seconds. I removed them in the miz below
• ROOT CAUSE OF ISSUE: You also need to include the 'clone' module for clone zones to work. Yeah, happens to me too  
  I added cloner and cfxmx modules
• removed the self-referencing source attribute from all cloners
• I also deleted the 'delete' triggers that delete the helicopters once they reach the zones.
• I added the debugger and have it monitor flags 100, 101, 102 (via the debug zone)

You'll see that your setup has become significantly simpler. 

All that remains now is for you to add a way to delete the helicopters when they reach the delete zone. It'll be a challenge that I hope you find fun and worth investigating  

 

RandomTest cfr.miz

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag, Many many thanks for your reply. I will take my work and go and sit in the corner.

Salute

Friar

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

I am having a real problem with getting the rndFlag to work and I just can not get my head around your examples.

1. Should the rndFlag only fire once if onStart is set to true? or does it loop every couple of seconds until all the flags listed have been hit? 

I am trying to build a simple test where I have 3 templates of different ground units (a single Bradley "Zone-1", 2 Bradleys "Zone-2" and 3 Bradleys "Zone-3" and then generate a rnd to activate one of them but I am either getting nothing or 2 of the 3 (with a view to be doing something like having different types of SAM's at a target area so the players will not know what type to expect each time the mission is flown.)

Any nudge would be appreciated.

Regards

Friar

 

[cfrag]

14 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

1. Should the rndFlag only fire once if onStart is set to true?

My apologies if the docs aren't clear on that. Basic functionality is that a randomizer runs through a random cycle to pick a random flag once every time that it receives a signal on the rndPoll? input.

Additionally, if 'onstart' is true, there is an initial sequence initiated once when the mission starts up, even if there is no signal on the rndPoll? input. This was introduced because many 'randomized' missions are set up to activate just one out of many possible groups, and then never again (during the mission) to fire. That 'onStart = true' saves importing the 'raiseFlag' module for that simple task.

14 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

it loop every couple of seconds

No, rndFlag will wait for signals in rndPoll?. If you need a repeating signal, hire a pulser.

 

14 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I am trying to build a simple test where I have 3 templates of different ground units (a single Bradley "Zone-1", 2 Bradleys "Zone-2" and 3 Bradleys "Zone-3" and then generate a rnd to activate one of them but I am either getting nothing or 2 of the 3

Be mindful of numbered flags, and synonyms (i.e. do not use 'f?' and use 'rndPoll?' to make sure that you do not inadvertendly trigger two stacked modules in the same zone. What you are trying to do sounds a lot like one of the main use cases, so that should work without a problem. Make sure that there is no 'f?' attribute on the randomizer's trigger zone.

Edited October 28, 2023 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag

Please see below my mission configuration. I have modified the version you kindly adjusted for me that had the pulse in generating the flights of helicopters.

I have removed the pulse and would expect just to see one pair of random selected helicopters, but as you can see from the attached screen shot I am getting two?

Many thanks once again for getting me on the path to truth and enlightenment.