DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[Guest]

14 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

@Gunslinger52,

To be able to use a dynamically spawned vehicle, at the moment you have to use the Clone Zone module (although I believe cfrag is working on amending the Spawner module).

There are no vehicles specified as cargo at the moment (despite ED showing a Humvee inside a Hook' in the 2024 and Beyond video).

You could use the Cargo Receiver module to track a cargo unit being delivered, the object is deleted after landing and a flag triggered. That triggered flag could be watched by a cloner (or spawner - watch this space) to produce a player vehicle.

As far as I know, that would be the only way to do this.

Thanks @DD_Friar

I'll keep thinking, and watch for cfrag's update.  

'52

[Guest]

12 hours ago, cfrag said:

That rather depends what your goals are. You can configure heloTroops so that it can pick up some vehicles (simply include it into the allowed types), and heloTroops does not care if the vehicle is/was player-controlled. It's a vehicle, though, not cargo (DCS seems to differentiate strongly between those two), and the vehicle will be 'loaded' virtually, not sling-loaded. Cargo in DCS currently has no real API, and support from ED for this mission aspect is IMHO abysmal.

Thanks @cfrag

my goal is to try and make player controller vehicles and helicopters dependent upon each other, to achieve mission success.

At the moment, as zones can't be created in-game, I was looking at a player controlled ground vehicle, needing something that a player controlled helicopter had dropped off nearby.  But even this seems unlikely. 

I do like your idea about using heloTroops, have to think about it.  Do you know, if the transport heli 'picked up' a player controlled vehicle, then 'dropped it' elsewhere, it would again become drivable by a player?

Thanks again

'52

[DD_Friar]

@Gunslinger52

The "picked-up" and "dropped-off" vehicle could be player drivable. It will not be the SAME unit, instead it will be a fresh spawn of the same item, and only controlled by your logic.

So for example, you add the Humvee to the allowed list. A CH-47 lands nearby, you load cargo and the vehicle will disappear. When you then land in a designated area and unload the cargo, you trigger a flag to to clone (or spawn) a new vehicle, which the player could then occupy via a tactical commander slot and the F10 menu.

[cfrag]

25 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

When you then land in a designated area and unload the cargo, you trigger a flag to to clone (or spawn) a new vehicle

That's a good idea -- and I you use heloTroops to transport the controllable vehicle, it *should* also spawn as controllable because heloTroops saves what goes into the helo, and spawn whatever went into it (I'll have to verify this, though).

10 hours ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Do you know, if the transport heli 'picked up' a player controlled vehicle, then 'dropped it' elsewhere, it would again become drivable by a player?

It *should*. I'll need to verify, though.

[Guest]

@DD_Friar and @cfrag

appreciate the help, thanks for that.

Look forward to trying it.

Just to be clear, there is no such function as this, right? -- A zone linked to a unit at game start, can carry through to a spawned copy of that unit later on (in-game).  (Once the original had been destroyed.)

Cheers

'52

[cfrag]

19 minutes ago, Gunslinger52 said:

A zone linked to a unit at game start, can carry through to a spawned copy of that unit later on (in-game).  (Once the original had been destroyed.)

Yes, but only with DML and some naming shenanigans (use 'identical' when cloning the unit, and the zone will re-attach)

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Yes, but only with DML and some naming shenanigans (use 'identical' when cloning the unit, and the zone will re-attach)

Wow!   That's awesome.  My original plan needed this (I couldn't see how), now I can combine this with the heloTroops module idea for shifting vehicles, to make an even cooler mission.

Thanks cfrag!

Edited November 18, 2024 by Gunslinger52

[Drogon11]

Hello, 

I recently started to dive into DML for a MP mission with my squadron. Having some regular lag spikes when trying to use Owned Zones.

Is there a limit on how many Capturable zones we can put in a mission?

Please see attached .MIZ File. 

If anyone could help I would really appreciate. 

TEST_SOUTH ATLANTIC.miz

Edited November 19, 2024 by Drogon11

[cfrag]

11 minutes ago, Drogon11 said:

Please see attached .MIZ File. 

Unfortunately, the miz requires MODs (UH-60) and I can't open it.

12 minutes ago, Drogon11 said:

Is there a limit on how many Capturable zones we can put in a mission?

There is no limit, Just remember that for each capturable zone, the mission must regularly check against all units if the unit is inside the zone. If you jack up zones and units, you can quickly overwhelm the processor (especially since the entirety of Lua scripts run on a single processor). 

So, if you 100 units and 2 owned zones, there are 200 checks required per second. If you have 100 units and 10 zones, there are 1000 check per second. 400 units and 10 zones ring up 4000 checks per second, etc. A circular owned zone also requires slightly less performance than a quad based.

So, not being able to look into your miz, what is the expected average (ground) unit count, and how many owned zones does the miz contain?

 

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag A while back you kindly gave me a script that counts units in a mission. I think I have lost my version in upgrading your versions (I think I forget I had it in the folder and deleted the folder..)

Perhaps it might be useful for @Drogon11

This particular thread has made me think about mission I am currently working on when you mention the ownedZone and units.

I assume the check does not include units that are part of a clone which has not been activated yet?

My method is to only have ground units come onto the map when the action is getting near them. For example with ownedZones and troops protecting the zone, I only clone them in when the town up the road has been captured by enemy forces.

Edited November 19, 2024 by DD_Friar

[Drogon11]

33 minuti fa, cfrag ha scritto:

Unfortunately, the miz requires MODs (UH-60) and I can't open it.

There is no limit, Just remember that for each capturable zone, the mission must regularly check against all units if the unit is inside the zone. If you jack up zones and units, you can quickly overwhelm the processor (especially since the entirety of Lua scripts run on a single processor). 

So, if you 100 units and 2 owned zones, there are 200 checks required per second. If you have 100 units and 10 zones, there are 1000 check per second. 400 units and 10 zones ring up 4000 checks per second, etc. A circular owned zone also requires slightly less performance than a quad based.

So, not being able to look into your miz, what is the expected average (ground) unit count, and how many owned zones does the miz contain?

 

Thanks for your quick reply. I have removed the UH-60 mod and attached .miz file.

According to your explanation I will need to decrease the number of OwnedZones. So far I made around 80 zones for testing but I was expecting around 200 OwnedZones in total for the whole map. 

 

Thanks again 

TEST_SOUTH ATLANTIC.miz

[cfrag]

35 minutes ago, Drogon11 said:

I will need to decrease the number of OwnedZones

I agree: there are some 150 units at mission start, plus Mist, plus Moose, plus a number of other scripts. 80 owned zones will add to this toll, and is likely to decrease the experience as the mission progresses. 

[cfrag]

59 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I think I have lost my version in upgrading

Please try this bare-bones script:

stats = {}
stats.verbose = true 
function stats.update()
	timer.scheduleFunction(stats.update, {}, timer.getTime() + 120)
	local coas = {0, 1, 2}
	local gCount, uCount = 0, 0
	for idx, coa in pairs (coas) do 
		local all = coalition.getGroups(coa)
		for idy, aGroup in pairs (all) do 
			gCount = gCount + 1 
			uCount = uCount + aGroup:getSize()
		end
	end 
	trigger.action.outText("::: stats: <" .. gCount .. "> groups, <" .. uCount .. "> units in mission.", 30)
	
end
if stats.verbose then 
	timer.scheduleFunction(stats.update, {}, timer.getTime() + 5)
end 
 

 

1 hour ago, DD_Friar said:

I assume the check does not include units that are part of a clone which has not been activated yet?

It only counts cloned clones that are still alive, and not the templates for cloners (those are deallocated at miz start). It may count late activation groups/units, though, how DCS handles those groups is regrettably under-documented.

1 hour ago, DD_Friar said:

My method is to only have ground units come onto the map when the action is getting near them.

Methinks that is a clever and wise choice. A while back I think I saw a miz where a similar approach was used with the 'impostor' module.

 

[Sinclair_76]

Updated a whole bunch of scripts since there was an error regarding destroyed units popping up. Now, instead, I have these errors regarding the radiomenu and bomb range prior finishing loading the miz and another after slot selection and prior jumping in cockpit. What am I doing wrong?

 

Edited November 20, 2024 by Sinclair_76

[DD_Friar]

@Sinclair_76

Salute, a couple of "first thoughts" type questions, apologies if they seem obvious, but lets get them out of the way first before we start digging deeper.

Which version of scripts are you using? Are all scripts from the same version?

Some scripts have dependencies, are they all loaded in the correct order?

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, Sinclair_76 said:

What am I doing wrong?

Please also update cfxMX to its newest version.

Edited November 20, 2024 by cfrag

[Sinclair_76]

4 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Please also update cfxMX to its newest version.

It is

null

[cfrag]

Just now, Sinclair_76 said:

3 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Please also update cfxMX to its newest version.

It is

Please ensure that you are not re-loading an older version of cfxMX with another action. If isDynamicPlayer is nil, that method in cfxMX was overwritten, maybe by an older version. That can happen if, for example, you mix the standalone version of theDebugger into a DML-based mission.

 

[Sinclair_76]

5 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Please ensure that you are not re-loading an older version of cfxMX with another action. If isDynamicPlayer is nil, that method in cfxMX was overwritten, maybe by an older version. That can happen if, for example, you mix the standalone version of theDebugger into a DML-based mission.

 

Got it. Wrongly put the standalone version of stopgap in the mix. Since SA it would probably override the original cfxMX. Now no more errors.

[DD_Friar]

Assistance Please

Topic: Removing Static Items From A Carrier

Salute

Could anyone advise please, I am trying to remove static objects from a moving carrier. I have placed a number of static aircraft for eye-candy on the carrier. Some of them are on the landing area.

I have added a radio menu command to remove them when a pilot is coming into land (will only need to be done once.)

I have tried using both wiper and declone but neither seem to work?

Should this logic work? wiper or clone/declone

[Guest]

Hi all,

I see a Yeller can have multiple commands as its output (separated by commas).

Can we also have a Lisener, that only reacts after more than one condition has been met?  (Like, it needs to wait for two or more different Yellers, each yelling a different value.)

Thanks again

'52

[cfrag]

2 hours ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Can we also have a Lisener, that only reacts after more than one condition has been met?

Certainly. That's where the xFlags module comes in.

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Certainly. That's where the xFlags module comes in.

Outstanding!  Thank you sir.

'52

 

[cfrag]

12 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

Could anyone advise please, I am trying to remove static objects from a moving carrier. I have placed a number of static aircraft for eye-candy on the carrier. Some of them are on the landing area.

Hmmmm. Methinks the standard cloner clone? and declone? stuff applies. At least I did not encounter any difficulties:

 

carrier eye candy.miz

[DD_Friar]

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

Hmmmm. Methinks the standard cloner clone? and declone? stuff applies. At least I did not encounter any difficulties:

Oh. Ok, I will take a look at your mission. Thanks again for your support on all our questions.