DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[cfrag]

2 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

I set the cloner where the LLH Toyota spawns to have a masterOwner of the factory (which could be wrong). It will respawn after being destroyed but it spawns at the cloner

That's pretty much how cloners work. You can move the cloner anywhere that you want to, the ownership works across the entire map, as does the trigger

2 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

Can I move that respawn to the factory itself?

Yes, but why would you? A cloner is so much nicer to work with

2 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

If I clone a group of vehicles and one is destroyed,

I think I understand the question to mean "If I clone a group of vehicles, and only one vehicle inside that group is destroyed"

2 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

am I able to just replace the one vehicle from the factory?

That's currently impossible in DCS - DCS thinks in groups, not individual vehicles/units, and even if I did something like that (nice idea, btw, I'll think about it, with the caveat I'm about to write), that single vehicle would be in its own group, and from that point on act completely independent from the group that it originally belonged to.

2 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

So far, it only works when every unit is destroyed.

Yup, that's currently how DCS rolls. 

[Bingo911]

Thanks Cfrag! I greatly appreciate the answers and your time. I want the vehicles to start on "the front" in this mission as I don't want them all moving when the missions starts. When the group is killed(single unit ), respawn at the factory and then move back to where they were. I'm looking to give a sense of Blue or Red reinforcing areas where units are destroyed.

Edited May 13 by Bingo911

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, Bingo911 said:

respawn at the factory and then move back to where they were. I'm looking to give a sense of Blue or Red reinforcing areas where units are destroyed.

Until I can build that feature into a cloner, you can always simulate that by using multiple cloners that each clone a single-unit group. That way, each gets instantly replaced with a fresh unit when its only unit is destroyed. 

[HanuXXL]

Just to be sure... Does noGap work for you as intended? Especially the exclusion Zone. I used it in the new Kola map as it should work better than stopGap in multi-plane flights. I noticed the normal problem with bunkers/shelters (not DML related) that static planes were sitting on top of the bunker, so I added noGap=false trigger zone on those areas, but the planes kept standing still there. Then I switched to stopGap and that stopGap=false exclusion zone worked as intended. For me the trigger config looks practically the same so for once I'm quite positive that I have not jacked it up myself.

[cfrag]

41 minutes ago, HanuXXL said:

so I added noGap=false trigger zone on those areas, but the planes kept standing still there.

It should work, but there are many opportunities for me to screw up. Can you PM that miz over to me so that I can have a look and correct any issues?

 

 

Edited May 14 by cfrag

[Bingo911]

Ok, I have to agree, the cloner is nicer than the factory. Basically only using the factory to spawn defenders. Still can't seem to get the cloners to spawn at the front and respawn at the factory when killed.

I was able to use the OwnAll to stop the cloners from spitting out replacements when the factory zone is taken. Really nice to see how it all works. Setting up a template so I can build missions off of what I need. Thanks cfrag.

[Panthir]

@cfrag A very very interesting CSAR feature could be to be able to extract with CSAR enemy downed pilots as well (prerequisite is the enemy downed pilot to be in green state otherwise will shoot the CSAR helo) and get either score points or it would be more  interesting to combine it with the RECON module and after a reasonable time period (could be customed via an attribute) to get information via F-10 marks for enemy ground units (not all but those that are in specified trigger zones that you will have to setup in mission editor). 

IMO, the aforementioned feature will promote realism in the highest level in PvPs and PvEs as well.

Cheers

Edited May 17 by Panthir

[cfrag]

18 minutes ago, Panthir said:

A very very interesting CSAR feature could be to be able to extract with CSAR enemy downed pilots as well

Hmmm... Don't many rescues rather depend on the fact that the evacuee wants to get on board? I'm not sure how this can play out without setting down a squad to capture the pilot, and the pilot not popping smoke and turning off the ELT, and probably taking a few shots at you while running for the trees. I don't think we have infantry units in DCS that can capture, I believe they currently all kill.

In DCS, as you said, trying to land next to an enemy infantry with an M4 is a bad idea indeed, as these guys' sniper abilities are legend - they can one-shot you from a mile away, not to mention 10 feet. So the evacuee will have to be in "weapons hold" - which isn't that thrilling, and makes extracting an enemy unit not different from a friendly: just land next to them. And if your chopper is armed, make sure to tell your gunners to hold fire as well.

So how would, in you mind such a capture mission work?

 

[Panthir]

You can keep it simple. The downed BLUE pilot will be in Green state. The RED CSAR Helos will get only bearing range for the BLUE downed pilots (no smoke or flare, no approaching message, no coordinates, no beacon). When they find a BLUE downed pilot and land close to him or hover above him then we simulate that he was captured by the RED (Bear in mind that the Ground Commander can move downed pilots to hide them eg in a forest so it wont be so easy). After landing in a CSARBASE you get score points and after the pass of time period from landing that you could specify, RECON module activates F-10 marks over enemy units that are in specified trigger zones.    

There is no need to simulate a capture force from CSAR HELO (they will have to be on Green State as well) but you can add it as an option as well. 

Edited May 17 by Panthir

[DD_Friar]

Salute oh wise people who know and use DML...

Question for our leader, @cfrag

Owned Zones and attacking troops.

Sir, Would it be possible in some way to prevent troops having bravely fought their way in and captured a zone from automatically go marching on to the next zone.

I have a brave group having been dropped off by helicopter near an enemy camp (spawner has "wait-attackOwnedZone" orders parameter), attack and capture it, then rather than waiting to be picked up again they decide to march multiple KM to the next Owned Zone.

Could the range parameter used in the spawner not be used in someway so that they will go onto the next zone but only if it is within the "range" value? This way I can make sure the zones are far enough apart to prevent them going after zone after zone (and probably taking losses as they go)

Regards

Friar

Edited May 21 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

8 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I have a brave group having been dropped off by helicopter near an enemy camp (spawner has "wait-attackOwnedZone" orders parameter), attack and capture it, then rather than waiting to be picked up again they decide to march multiple KM to the next Owned Zone.

Well, that is a result of the very limited order capabilities that is built into DCS. One of the reasons that I implemented this is because Commander (the module that monitors all units with orders) can then dynamically re-target all units that are enroute to an owned zone should that zone be captured. I could experiment with a 'one-shot' version "captureOwnedZone" variant that only targets the closest zone, and then changes orders to "guard" once they arrive and capture, and never re-target a new zone. The entire 'orders' mechanic feels clunky to me, and that's probably why I never expanded on it. Let me see what I can come up with.

 

[DD_Friar]

Salute Sir, that would be excellent and I feel sure others would find it useful as well.

[DD_Friar]

I would also like to add that in my testing this action of going on to the next zone also meant them turning round and coming back.

My parameters for the owned zone was 3 to capture and 2 to hold.

They advance and take the zone. It goes blue. They then all head off to the next zone. the old zone goes neutral. It then becomes the nearest zone so they turn round and come back and re-capture it. They then set off to the next zone, the old zone goes neutral and......

Cheers

Friar

[cfrag]

1 minute ago, DD_Friar said:

It then becomes the nearest zone so they turn round and come back and re-capture it. They then set off to the next zone, the old zone goes neutral and......

EVERYBODY:

We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance
And if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine

(yeah, now you won't get "the safety dance" out of your head either - not for the next few hours at least   )

[bitboy]

LOL Men without Hats. I would call them a "one hit wonder" but they actually had another hit as well. The video for this was so goofy! 

[cfrag]

12 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

that would be excellent and I feel sure others would find it useful as well.

So I burned the midnight oil (not another pop reference!) and made some changes to groundTroops and heloTroops. If you now set a spawner's "orders" to "captureAndHold" the units should go towards the nearest blue owned zone, and, once there, remain there.

If you have the time, please try the changes and perhaps give some feedback if it works for you. 

 

heloTroops.lua

groundTroops.lua

Edited May 22 by cfrag

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag - Many thanks once again for the prompt reply. I will test this afternoon.

Can I just confirm your text and I have understood correctly.

If I set my orders to "captureAndHold" my troops will advance to the nearest owned zone that is either in a contested / neutral state or owned by the enemy. Once they have gained control they will then stay within that zone.

Is that correct?

Edited May 22 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

9 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

If I set my orders to "captureAndHold" my troops will advance to the nearest owned zone that is either in a contested / neutral state or owned by the enemy. Once they have gained control they will then stay within that zone. [strikethrough by cfrag]

Almost - they will not head for a zone that is contested, merely owned by neutral or the other faction. Once arrived, they stop and defend. If you pick them up with a helicopter, this resets and when you set them down again, they will head for the nearest neutral/enemy owned zone.

Edited May 22 by cfrag

[bitboy]

Hmmm I like where the heloTroops amd groundTroops are headed for, (sorry bad pun Wednesday I guess). The new functionality sounds cool. 

[DD_Friar]

Salute @cfrag,

I have just completed my test and have to say its a thumbs up from me. I have attached a story board below showing my test and the results

nullnull

[bitboy]

Nice!!! 

[cfrag]

22 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I have attached a story board below showing my test and the results

Thank you for the helpful notes. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and rework the groundTroops and commander modules. Unfortunately, DCS's formation controls are a bit wonky, so the commander module's support for that is weak. The 'formation' that you specify for a spawner is is how troops deploy from the spawner, how they 'assemble', not how they move from A to B. I'll see if I can change that to support DCS's formations (or at least a subset)

[DD_Friar]

my change for the in movement formation works just fine, unless you wanted to make it a parameter in either a config zone or the spawner?

If you were able to change the "at rest" formation once they have captured a zone, that would be outstanding, but it is not a deal breaker, the function (for me at least) is now spot on within the current bounds of DML.

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

I am just updating one of my missions to add the Phantom and have also added a few owned zones for the first time to this mission for some capture fun.

When I try and run the mission I am getting the error below;

Any immediate thoughts? Mission is on Persian Gulf.

EDIT / UPDATE The problem is being caused by the "title" parameter on the actual zone. I had added this element for the first time using Owned zones. I have just taken them ok and the mission loads ok.

Edited May 23 by DD_Friar

[cfrag]

21 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

EDIT / UPDATE The problem is being caused by the "title" parameter on the actual zone.

Indeed, thank you for quickly tracking this down. The 'title' attribute is still undocumented. I have added some sanity checks so it will work even if still not documented - with the upcoming DML version, scheduled to be published two minutes ago