cfrag Posted January 1 Author Posted January 1 (edited) Version 2.4.0 - 20250101 -- new feature smoke trails module "smoking" To all my friends, present and otherwise: I'll drink a cup of kindness dear, for the sake of auld lang syne. Happy new year, dad - I miss you. As we enter the fourth year of DML, I won't spend too much time reflecting. DML has progessed nicely, while I feel that DCS itself has perceptibly struggled. There have been a bewildering amount of missed opportunities, and I'm hoping that 2025 allows DCS to return to former brightness, that the sun was merely hiding behind some clouds - and isn't setting. DML starts 2025 with a new feature: smoke trails for any player plane. That feature is unfortunately (nearly terminally) marred by a long-standing (2 years) bug inside DCS, and I hope (but have no reason to believe) that it may be fixed by ED someday. Other than that, I spent some time between the years on DML code polishing, and a lot of time with my friends - sharing their love, and remembering those who have passed. Take care, all of you -- and let's make a great 2025! All Changes Documentation Main - Smoking (new module) - The Smoke is ON (demo) - Updated Bool attribute (new percentage option) - various corrections Quick Ref - various corrections - Smoking (new) Demos - The Smoke is ON (new) Modules - cfxZones 4.5.0 - corrected getBool edge case bug - better handling of linked objects in startMovingZones - improved random handling for getBool, new percentage option - new getSmokeColorNumberFromZoneProperty - dcsCommon 3.1.5 - some improved verbosity for edge case detection - fogger 1.1.0 - new "local" thickness option - smoking 1.0.0 - initial release Edited January 3 by cfrag 1 5
DD_Friar Posted January 2 Posted January 2 @cfrag Many thanks for this update and all your hard work and support for DML. I have an observation I would like to put forward regarding the heloTroops module. I use it in conjunction with the dropZone option. I use the dropzone as a place to bring the troops home to when they have completed their objective and have been recovered. I trigger a flag that goes to a messenger to report back that the tropps have been recovered to home base safe. I set a timer to 5 seconds so that after deploying them in the zone they are removed, to stop them wanting to travel off to the next nearest zone that needs capturing. However after doing this I still get the "Load" option in the heloTroops menu. Ideally, this option should only be visible after requesting them again. Is there anything you could build in for this scenario please? Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
DD_Friar Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Salute @cfrag I am looking to add the JTAC infantry unit unit to my current server mission within the heloTroops module and believe that this unit is still missing from the default set of "legalTroops". I can add it but it would help going forward with versions if it was included? Many thanks and kind regards Friar Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 13 hours ago, DD_Friar said: Is there anything you could build in for this scenario please? Well this is an edge case, and it conflicts with a scenario where you accidentally deployed troops and want to reload them - so it will be extra code for little return. Then again, let me see first how much effort I'm looking at.
DD_Friar Posted January 3 Posted January 3 1 hour ago, cfrag said: Then again, let me see first how much effort I'm looking at. It really is a "nice to have" - I am sure you will have more important things to be working on. Its no big deal really. Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 18 hours ago, DD_Friar said: Is there anything you could build in for this scenario please? It took me a while to figure this one out, and I think that I've come up with a workable solution. But first, 18 hours ago, DD_Friar said: I set a timer to 5 seconds so that after deploying them in the zone they are removed, to stop them wanting to travel off to the next nearest zone that needs capturing. Just to make sure - you are using dropZone's autoDespawn attribute for this, right? If so, you are compatible with the new solution for heloTroops, which uses a dropZone's "autoDespawn" attribute to determine if it should show units inside a drop zone as being loadable. If autoDespawn is active (i.e., > 0) in this zone, any transportable units inside the drop zone are ineligible to be picked up: autoDespawn Time interval in seconds after which disembarked troops despawn. Used primarily to clear the drop zone in extraction-based missions that would overcrowd otherwise. Set to a value less than 1 to turn off Note: If autoDespawn is 0 (zero) or greater, any otherwise embarkable troops inside that trigger zone will not appear on the ‘load’ menu and can’t be loaded. Defaults to -1 (no auto-despawn) So, all you need to do to make any troops not being able to pick up inside a drop zone is to set the autoDespawn attribute to a value greater than zero. I also updated demo "Inferno at sea" to reflect the changes (in the demo you need to fly over to the oil rig a mile off Batumi, pick up the guys and bring them home). heloTroops.lua demo - Inferno at Sea.miz
DD_Friar Posted January 3 Posted January 3 (edited) 7 hours ago, cfrag said: Just to make sure - you are using dropZone's autoDespawn attribute for this, right? Yes I am So I have the right version and using it in the right way. @cfrag, on another matter, and hopefully you will take this on, I am using the JTACGui modue, which I know you have said previously has not had your attention, however I have this evening had the below script error. Is there anything you are willing to do on this one please? null I should add I did have two JTAC's on the map at the same time, could that have caused the above issue. We have just run the mission again and only used one and it worked without issue, so I guess so? Edited January 3 by DD_Friar Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 13 hours ago, DD_Friar said: I am using the JTACGui modue Which version? I believe 3.1.0 is current.
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 @cfrag Salute and good morning I just wanted to relay what an excellent mission we had last night using the JTAC utilities. My squad mate used a Gazelle to insert a JTAC close to an enemy stronghold. Up above at 20,000 feet myself and another squad mate waited in F18 and F14 respectively armed with laser guided bombs. Once the JTAC started doing his job and highlighting targets we dropped our "gifts of freedom" right on the nail. Great fun and a very good collaborative mission. My only comment and wish for this module would be a tweak to the way the JTAC identifies targets. Some of our 500lb bombs were directed at single troops. I get it works on line of sight which is fine but I was wondering if you could change which targets it locks onto. I am not asking for it to have an hierarchy, that would be too much and fully understand the complications of this, but would it be possible for it to skip infantry? This would help to target the "heavy" (and potential most dangerous) targets. The description of the unit found is displayed so perhaps a test could be done on that to decide to skip it and not broadcast it as a target so it loops back for the next target. I can see the potential for a loop once all the non-infantry have been hit so some check method would be required, perhaps in the target search logic, if no heavy found in a pass it stops? I appreciate that this may be a little knowledge being dangerous thing? 1 minute ago, cfrag said: Which version? I believe 3.1.0 is current. taken from 2.39 modules set Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 4 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: the way the JTAC identifies targets Where you using the JTAC's nine line, or direct lasing abilities from the jtac module? The nine line standard JTAC interface is controlled by DCS, not the module. I think (will need to check back) that the jtacGUIL and GroundTroops tell you what they are lasing. I'll see if I can find a way to simply cycle the their targeting on request from jtacGUI. 9 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: taken from 2.39 modules set Please always be sure to use the most current version before reporting a bug.
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 (edited) I am using 3.10 of jtacGrpUI that is the version in the 2.39 set of modules. I am only using your technology / modules Edited January 4 by DD_Friar Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 2 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: I am using 3.10 of jtacGrpUI Thank you so much. That indeed puzzles me because I thought that I caught that one. I'll have a look. 1
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 16 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: I am using 3.10 of jtacGrpUI Here's an update that I wasn't able to fully regression test yet, but it should work. jtacGrpUI.lua
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 many 1 hour ago, cfrag said: Here's an update Many thanks. What does it fix, the fact that I had 2 JTACs at the same time or something else. If it is a fix for that, does it now mean I can have more than one or that I can only have one and If I try to have more it traps it? Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 (edited) 5 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: the fact that I had 2 JTACs at the same time That should not have created any issues, since you never give orders, merely ask the module to collate all active ground troops that are lasing targtes. Remember that the module has no knowledge of, and does not interface with, DCS' JTAC abilities (for the simple reason that DCS does not provide an API for that). The fix merely patches the error that appeared to you. That being said, is there a bug that you have seen relating to that and that I failed to remember? Edited January 4 by cfrag
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 29 minutes ago, cfrag said: That being said, is there a bug that you have seen relating to that and that I failed to remember? No, it was just the script error I logged that I thought may have been caused by me trying to have more than one JTAC. I get they will both be on the same code so must not be near each other. After looking through the code of the groundTroops lua I did see some reference to the 1688 and a config file. I tried to have groundTroopsConfig file with a parameter of laserCode set to 1788 but the JTAC did not see to want to work with that configuration. (I acknowledge in your notes it does say that JTAC only works on 1688, but I thought I would try) null Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 (edited) 27 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: I tried to have groundTroopsConfig file with a parameter of laserCode set to 1788 but the JTAC did not see to want to work with that configuration Hmmmm. That's strange - the group that you put on the ground should lase with the code that you put into the configZone. That's a module-wide setting. Please don't confuse the lase code that you entered into the config zone with the lase code that a true (DCS-controlled) JTAC unit may use. There is a reason why I separate those in DML - DML can't set the lase code JTAC units use, so DML simulates JTAC using it's own laser pointer and code and avoids that type of units. Use the M4 soldier type to avoid confusion. Edited January 4 by cfrag
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 21 minutes ago, cfrag said: Please don't confuse the lase code that you entered into the config zone with the lase code that a true (DCS-controlled) JTAC unit may use I only use your JTAC as I like to be able to deploy them by helicopter where ever I want. Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 Just now, DD_Friar said: I only use your JTAC as I like to be able to deploy them by helicopter where ever I want. In that case I'll be off to look at groundTroops again. Just to be sure: you are using spawners to spawn troops with "lase" orders, and there are no units of type "JTAC" inside your spawned groups, right? (I'm only asking because I seem to remember that you would like to include those types as legal troops to carry, so there may be room for confusion) If you carry those spawned troops (using heloTroops) off to some place and drop them to lase enemy units, they should use the laser code that you specified in the groundTroopsConfig zone. You are seeing different results, right? Dang. We'll into the code I shall dive
DD_Friar Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Your summary is correct, however let me do another more structured test to make sure I am not the cause (again!) Any thoughts on the JTAC only looking for ground vehicles (of any description/attack capabilities) and not infantry? 25 minutes ago, cfrag said: and there are no units of type "JTAC" inside your spawned groups, right? erm, yes? I use the JTAC infantry unit as the spawner item with orders to wait-lase for the helicopter pick-up. I have added it to the legalTroops list. Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 Just now, DD_Friar said: Any thoughts on the JTAC only looking for ground vehicles (of any description/attack capabilities) and not infantry I have looked at the code. To the API, they both are ground units. Using some of the DCS-supplied attributes is shaky at best (the DCS-inbuilt attribute system is buggy), but if I have the time, I could try and add a system to exclude Infantry as lase targets. Seeing that I'm inside the module anyway ( ), I'll see what I can do. 1
cfrag Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 32 minutes ago, DD_Friar said: erm, yes? I use the JTAC infantry unit as the spawner item with orders to wait-lase for the helicopter pick-up. I have added it to the legalTroops list. To simply avoid confusion, please use below miz and report back which laser codes are being used in your DCS install with that mission. It should be 1588, as defined in the config zone. lazie troops.miz
DD_fruitbat Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Hi @cfrag, just wanted to say a thank you for all your work, as a main beneficiary of yours and @DD_Friar creations, using your work. Often (as with the recent jtac questions) Friars questions are a result of me saying, do you think we could add....... 1
nicelife Posted January 5 Posted January 5 @cfrag thanks for this library! This is pretty awesome to get something more complex together in the ME. I ran into an issue though and I am not sure if this is a bug or if I am using it wrong. I get following error if I use the damage! attribute on a cloner which uses a template source. Any idea why this is happening? Cheers GroundTargetPratice_Syria_bug.miz
DD_Friar Posted January 5 Posted January 5 17 hours ago, cfrag said: t should be 1588, as defined in the config zone. Salute @cfrag Yep, your mission works as expected, the JTAC lases on 1588. I will go back to my mission and have a look. Once again many thanks for your assistance in getting to the bottom of any issues we, the unworthy, throw at you. Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
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