DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[HungryCoyote]

Thank you. Appreciate all your hard work!

[bitboy]

cfrag,

 With your release of DML 2.0.3 I had a quick question.

Is there a recommended upgrade path with DML? For example, should I swap out DML modules in a mission under development with DML 2.0.2 to newer DML 2.0.3? (I understand that not all modules are necessarily updated when you do a release). I'm just curious if you have a "recommendation" or if the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rule applies here.

I know that anything that I've started working on since DML 2.0.3, has had that version (and associated modules) as part of the development cycle.

Thxs

[cfrag]

6 minutes ago, bitboy said:

should I swap out DML modules in a mission under development with DML 2.0.2 to newer DML 2.0.3?

If you have the time, that would be optimal. If a module that you are using is updated, I recommend that you update.

But if your mission does what you want, the old adage holds: if it ain't broke, don't fix it

DML is for you, and it shouldn't be a chore. The fact that I update roughly twice a month should not impose undue stress on you. Simply ignore me until something breaks   

[bitboy]

LOL, sage advice for sure, thanks.

[diego999]

I've just discovered DML and started to use it on my missions.

Thank you for your amazing work.

[HungryCoyote]

Really enjoying the Angels of Caucasus. Now trying to convert it to a combat, downed pilot version. I have a few questions. How to only have one spawn per zone? Eliminate dual vehicle crashes( see pic)? Have aircraft(not burned hummer), small black smoke and fire at all zones? csarFX would be a good candidate for a drop-in module.

Edited February 26 by HungryCoyote

[cfrag]

2 hours ago, HungryCoyote said:

csarFX would be a good candidate for a drop-in module.

csarFX is indeed the module that creates these decorations. It's still experimental, but since you've already identified the source, all you need to do is change the code to spawn other decorations. There's a chance that it creates a two-vehicle crash decoration per spawn, so you could change the code to spawn single dead aircraft instead. 

[vgilsoler]

bomb range 1.1.0 is requiring to configure smokeColor and not using the default parameter, getting this error after droping load

[cfrag]

4 minutes ago, vgilsoler said:

not using the default parameter, getting this error after droping load

I believe that bug was fixed in the last update.

Cheers,

-ch

 

bombRange.lua

[vgilsoler]

Using DML 2.0.1 - I'll try DML 2.0.3

 

 

[cfrag]

3 minutes ago, vgilsoler said:

Using DML 2.0.1

 I just checked - it was updated in 2.0.2 - you just missed it by a hair

Edited February 28 by cfrag

[bitboy]

Hey cfrag,

Happy Wednesday, running into a strange error when testing Persistence. 
Basically start the mission with Persistence set to autosave for every 5 minutes using the default path (so basically saving in the Missions folder). Running in verbose mode and all the indications in mission and in the folder are that Persistence is working fine. So I run it intially in the Mission Editor, let it roll so that there are a couple of saves. Then exit the ME and relaunch in just regular DCS using the "mission" menu option. It loads then I get the error message below, once I clear the error it continues to load and the "saved state" appears to be just fine, but no activity from any RED zones and no previous RED units have been saved. ??
Not sure what's happening here. I can send you the mission if you like.
Thxs

[cfrag]

I'm sorry, I can't really tell what might be going on (it looks as if it is happening from inside persistence callbacks) because you are using DOSCRIPTFILE instead of DOSCRIPT; and silly DCS obfuscates the file names of the script (instead of simply naming the table that is throwing the error). 

I'll be happy to have a look at the miz and try an reconstruct what may be wrong. 

Edited March 6 by cfrag

[bitboy]

Yeah no worries I think I may have the Loading order of scripts incorrect, let me do some additional testing/troubleshooting and if needed I'll shoot the message.

Thanks

[cfrag]

huh. You may have indeed traced a small bug in factoryZones, not ownedZones. I'm looking into this now...

Try this instead:

 

factoryZone.lua

[bitboy]

Ok interesting, I'll give this a shot. Thxs

[bitboy]

cfrag,

Still no joy, sent the "care package" over to via DM.   

Thanks

[cfrag]

Version 2.1.0 - Update 20240307 

In the end, it only took two lines. But the difference is major, and the potential has multiplied. It took me quite some time, and a lot of engineering to arrive at a solution that I feel up to the standards of DML: 

Shared persistence. 

What this means is that now, when you use DML, one mission can share data with other missions. This release only shows off that ability in one module: scribe. But you can see just how useful this is when you look at the trio (well, duo since I haven't yet released the third one) of 'Rescue Sandbox" missions "Angels". 

When you run these missions, all player achievements carry over between missions. Rescue eight people in Batumi, and when you then take the stick of your Hip in Cairo, your first successful mission completes your ninth rescue.

More importantly, adding this ability only adds a single, easy to understand attribute to scribe's config zone, and you decide which module should share data and with which other missions: it's easy to share different sets of data -- just by supplying a different name. Most importantly, this new ability is 100% backward compatible with all your missions that already use persistence, and you decide if and when you want to support this.

What's the bottom line? This feature allows you to create more and better cohesion between missions; it makes it easier to make separate missions feel being part of a bigger picture.

This update also contains a small but important update to a surprisingly popular script I wrote some time ago: stopGap. It's a small fix that mostly affects helicopters: there was a chance that if a player respawned in the same helicopter that they just crashed, that helicopter could crash as well (yeah, DCS can be strange). Well, no more. 

All changes in Detail:

Manual
    Main 
        - Persistence: shared persistence 
        - rvb RED and rvb BLUE demo documentation 
        - various small additions
        

    Quick Ref
        - various small corrections and updates 

Demos
    - rvb RED (new)
    - rvb BLUE (new)

 

Modules
    - cargoSuper 1.1.2
        - fixed a bug for resetting cargo weight 
        
    - csarManager 3.2.2 
        - commsRange attribute when mission times out 
        - reset helicopter weight on birth 
        - hardened communications for accidental multi-user player groups 
    
    - factoryZone 3.1.1
        - fixed a bug with persistence 
        
    - objectSpawnZones 2.1.0
        - added autoTurn option 
        
    - ownedZones 2.2.0
        - added excludeTypes option 
        
    - persistence 3.0.0 
        - now supports shared data save and restore 
        
    - scribe 1.1.0
        - now can share data via the new sharedData attribute 
        
    - stopGap 1.1.0 
        - fixed a rare issue with re-spawning player helicopters 
        
Enjoy,
-ch

Edited March 7 by cfrag

[bitboy]

Most excellent, some very interesting features/fixes! Keep up the great work. 

[Panthir]

Many thanks mate. Checking the new features!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cfrag]

11 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

The problem I am having is that I only want the troops to spawn if the helicopter has landed in the zone AND the command to come forward has been issued.

I'm sure that you have already thought of this, but I'd use the 'gated switch' ability of the 'changer' module. Use LZ to open/close the gate, and run the flag to spawn the troops through the gated switch. The switch only lets the signal to clone past if the player has landed onside the zone, and when they depart, the gate is reset and no more signals pass through.

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag - You must have seen my post before I deleted it. I found that I had screwed up some of the flag names in the left and right zones which is why it was probably not working.

I will check that module out. Thanks

Friar

[DD_Friar]

Is there any way I can set the order of Radio menus?

I now have 6 entries (with up to 4 entries per item) and would like to be able to set the natural order to reflect their function

[cfrag]

9 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

Is there any way I can set the order of Radio menus?

(I believe you mean the root menu after "Other...") Unfortunately no, you can sort-of control the initial order of menus (they are added in a first-come basis). But that can get reshuffled by any script that adds or changes menus, and you quickly have a random sort. It would be great if DCS's missionCommand API gave us tools to manage that.

Edited March 12 by cfrag

[crispy12]

Can I have suggestions for this mission and how I can approach building it?

 

I would like to have a helo troop insertion mission. 
2 helps drop off troops in a zone, which they then plan an ambush for convoy along that route. I want the troops to be in pre placed positions that seem reasonable for an ambush. 
 

I tried using landing zone but it seems to count twice if I bounce the landing. Another option I thought would be to use unitzone and trigger some late activation units. Does anyone have any good ideas?