DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[normre14232]

2 hours ago, cfrag said:

Apologies, the mission uses asset packs. I can't open it.

 

Ok...let me see if I can clean it up

 

[Hunter Joker]

Hi cfrag, sorry for the questions (if You think I'm asking too much pls tell me to stop, no offence I will understand  ) but the more I use DML the more I try to make things or ask  (like the BRA questions) if things are possible or not.
Forgive also my bad English but at school I studied french so I "learn" English reading English forums, books and newspapers 
Here is my question: I'm doing a training playground for my squadron, a WWII one based on The Channel map.
Normally I put on all airfield and cities some stuff, AAA, Flak batteries, Radar stations, V1 sites and so on. On Normandy there's not any problem even for the stuff that spawn at the start of the mission and even for the stuff that spawn by radio menù with DML modules.
But with The Channel things are not so good for not high end PC...The Channel is relatively more hevy on PC than Normandy so I was thinking if is possible with DLM to make things spawn when a player's plane come near a target zone (for example 20nm) and have the same objects despawn when there aren't any player's aircraft inside this zone...

Thx.

Bye.

 

[cfrag]

24 minutes ago, Hunter Joker said:

with The Channel things are not so good for not high end PC...The Channel is relatively more hevy on PC than Normandy so I was thinking if is possible with DLM to make things spawn when a player's plane come near a target zone (for example 20nm) and have the same objects despawn when there aren't any player's aircraft inside this zone...

There is the 'Impostors' module for exactly that - they turn AI units into static objects on command - and back again. 

Also, (if the toll on CPU is still to great for static objects), Cloners have spawn? and despawn? inputs which allow them to spawn and remove all objects when you generate the relevant flag events (e.g. all of group outside zone)

So in general, DML should have you covered  

 

[Hunter Joker]

Another Question, I implement a system to spawn V1 site and have the messenger to report that the recon have noted the position of a site ...bla bla bla...with the coords of the target.
I put this structure on Messenger zone (see picture).

The problem is that only the first message, the one on clone zone cva work, the others the spawn work but the messenger didn't.

Where's the mistake?

Thx.

 

null

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, Hunter Joker said:

Where's the mistake?

You can have only one messenger? per zone. So, copy the zone, paste it three more times, and in each zone remove all except one, and you are set.

[Badass1982]

Hi there , just stumbled across this today and It looks great however I'm being a little slow and I wonder if you can help me with a minor issue??. So I have the persistence setup pretty much HOWEVER , I have a non standard directory path on my saved games folder so I'm receiving the error in the onscreen verbose logs stating that the directory is incorrect:

My DCS directory (GAME) on my dedicated server is at :
E:\DCS  (locally) and (M:\DCS\ is the mapped drive when viewing from my gaming desktop

and my Save games path is :

E:\Dropbox\Saved Games\Instance_X (M:\Dropbox\Saved Games\Instance_X on the Gaming Desktop when viewing the server locally).... where X is the instance from 1-7 of my server instances

So on the persistenceConfig trigger in the mission I have the attribute : serverDir set to E:\Dropbox\Saved Games\INSTANCE_7 (in this case and I was setting the saveDir to : M:\Dropbox\Saved Games\Moose Stuff\Moose Project\MOOSE_MISSIONS-master\AAA - My Missions Which is where my Miz files are kept.

 

I'm sure I'm doing something completely stupid and any pointers would be much appreciated as I'd love to get this working,

 

Thanks

 

Martin

 

 

[cfrag]

8 hours ago, Badass1982 said:

I'm sure I'm doing something completely stupid and any pointers would be much appreciated as I'd love to get this working,

I've looked at the code for persistence, and (probably because of limited brain function) for some reason I did not foresee someone being as outlandish as wanting to use a different source directory - gasp! (in my defense, I was writing that with my hosted server in mind, and it does work there , but goldfish brain here forgot to pick it up again) 

So, I'm sure that we can work this out quickly; can I trouble you to PM me so I can give you an updated version of persistence to work out the kinks? I believe I only need a single new optional attribute 'root', and we re all set. 

 

[cfrag]

I've now added the new 'root' attribute, and beefed up the docs. Here's the short story (the new Doc will be more elaborate, and released with the next drop scheduled for Thursday). The updated (still beta) persistence module is below. @Badass1982 - please let me know if this works for you.

stupid null

persistence.lua

Edited October 8, 2022 by cfrag

[normre14232]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:00 PM, normre14232 said:

Ok...let me see if I can clean it up

 

Ok....this is a different mission.....I don't think it has any dependencies.....same xFlag warning. Of note tho, the xFlag module seems to be working as intended

 

ArmorBattle.miz

[Badass1982]

Damn I wish this would work with CTLD and CSAR. My missions would basically be complete if it did.

[cfrag]

10 hours ago, normre14232 said:

same xFlag warning. Of note tho, the xFlag module seems to be working as intended

Thanks - the warnings were caused by a QoL feature that was a bit too smart for it's own good. Please find the corrected script and mission below, the updated xFlags will also be part of the coming update.

 

ArmorBattle-fixed.miz xFlags.lua

[cfrag]

Version 1.1.7

Feature Update: williePete, autoCSAR

This one is big: two new modules, and a major improvement to ssbClient. So let's go through these changes one by one:

autoCSAR is a new module that works alongside CSARManager - while the latter handles CSAR missions, the new autoCSAR module creates these missions automatically from any aircraft where their pilots eject (AI and players). The new fully documented demo 'Feats and autoCSAR' showcases this and the new "feats" player score ability.

williePete is new drop-in module that creates artillery FAC missions for you: pilots mark targets with WP rockets inside target zone, report in their target's location, and a short while later shells rain from the sky. And of course, there's "Willie Nillie", a fully documented demo mission.

And finally, ssbClient has received a major upgrade with two important changes: a long-standing, uh, "feature" where players were erroneously kicked when their side lost the airfield that their aircraft originated from has been removed. More importantly, though, ssbClient's ability to open and close airfields has been made accessible to DML-style Zones'n'Flags design. Here too, a fully documented demo "Slot Blocking and You" is available.

 

Changes in Detail

Documentation    
    Main
        - autoCSAR (new)
        - williePete (new)
        - ssbClient update
        - (demo) Feats and autoCSAR (new)
        - (demo) Willie Nillie (new)
        - (demo) Slot Blocking and you (new)
        - persistence 'root' attribute 

    Quick Ref
        - autoCSAR
        - williePete
        - ssbClient 
        - resistence root attribute 
        
Demos
    - Feats and autoCSAR
    - Willie Nillie 
    - Slot Blocking and You
    
Modules
    - autoCSAR 1.0.0
        - initial version 
      
    - Smoke Zones 1.1.1
        - stopSmoke? attribute 
    
    - ssbClient 3.0.0
        - Pilots not longer kicked when originating airfield is lost
        - New ssbClient Zones that bind to airfields/FARPS
        - open? attribute 
        - close? attribute 
    
    - dcsCommon 2.7.6
        - new API method 
    
    - persistence 1.0.4
        - new optional 'root' path for storage access 
    
    - williePete 1.0.0
        - initial version 
        
    - xFlags 1.3.1
        - small verbosity bug fixed
 
Enjoy,

-ch

 

[DishDoggie]

What fun it is to be lost in the fog of WTF is wrong with you DishDoggie? I can't figure out WHAT to click on to download this. The get hub page it sends you to as far as I can see gives me no Clear (Here It Is) Download Link. ???? wow do I feel stupid.

[cfrag]

 

4 hours ago, DishDoggie said:

I can see gives me no Clear (Here It Is) Download Link. ????

Try this:

[DishDoggie]

Wow Thank you. Lol I know I'm so OMG so I am Thankful lol

[Mistermann]

Thanks for all this work, cfrag.  I tried your "demo-player score" demo mission yesterday and it crashed DCS (latest OB).  I will pull together the logs and messages and get them over to you after testing again with this latest version.

[Hunter Joker]

The more I use it  the more I love it!
Two question, first one when You update a "brick", apart that i need to redownload it I need also to substitute it in the mission, right?

The second, when You load a module, it become part of the mission, so I can redistribute it or I can change the folder where DML was stored on my hard drive but without affecting the mission I just done, correct?

I'm asking without trying myself cause I will be away from home for several days and at the moment I haven't access to a computer with DCS but my "mission maker brain" is costantly working

 

 

null

[cfrag]

18 hours ago, Mistermann said:

I will pull together the logs and messages and get them over to you after testing again with this latest version.

Thank you, that will be very helpful. If possible, a screenshot if there is an errer would also be great.

Edited October 14, 2022 by cfrag

[cfrag]

17 hours ago, Hunter Joker said:

when You update a "brick", apart that i need to redownload it I need also to substitute it in the mission, right?

Yes. Unfortunately, there is no "real" development environment for DML that would automate this (updating the newly downloaded scripts automatically in your mission). There are some clever script-based automations for this, but they require that you understand Lua to a higher degree than DML's rock-bottom "include this, bam!", so you are asked to update the modules (bricks - I like that  ) manually. As a general rule, though: don't update unless you want experience a bug, or add a new module.

17 hours ago, Hunter Joker said:

when You load a module, it become part of the mission, so I can redistribute it

Yes. If you include them via DOSCRIPT of DOSCRIPTFILE actions, they become part of the mission (which is why the above manual overwrite is neccessary in the first place). 

 

17 hours ago, Hunter Joker said:

I can change the folder where DML was stored on my hard drive but without affecting the mission I just done, correct?

Yes, once they are included, DCS doesn't give a hoot what happns to the source files you used. If you, for example, post that mission on ED's servers for the community, anyone can download it, and even if they don't have DML (poor sod), they can run the mission without problems.

[Badass1982]

Quick question is there any reason why the verbose = true for persistence would only show log messages (on screen during the game) whilst in single player. If you are running a mission on a server is there a reason this command doesn't seem to show messages such as "persistence is configured" like it does when running from the mission editor??

 

Thanks

 

Also despite my persistenceConfig file being set as displayed below , for some reason DML seems to be looking for the path in my Dropbox folder which makes no sense because its not even configured for that folder.

 

See pics below.

EDIT: Like an idiot I was using the original persistence module, hadn't updated it. WORKING as intended now.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Badass1982

[Sinclair_76]

I am getting the following message with Guardian Angel and and not so friendly SA-8.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Sinclair_76

[cfrag]

37 minutes ago, Sinclair_76 said:

I am getting the following message with Guardian Angel

Hm. An insufficient guard. Sorry. Please find a corrected version that should not misbehave the same way.

Will also be packaged with the next release slated for Thursday.

guardianAngel.lua

[cfrag]

Version 1.1.8 (20221027)

Feature Update: 'useHeading' for moving zones, cloner

The change may appear minor, yet it brings a lot more ability to DML's moving zones - AND it further establishes cloneZone as one of the must-have modules for mission design. But let's start at the beginning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One shortcoming of DML's moving zones (which any zone can be turned into by using the 'linkedUnit' attribute) was that it always simply moved with the unit, at the same N/S and E/W offset. If the zone was set up to be 500m East and 100m South of its master unit, it remains at that map offset, no matter which direction the master unit turns.
 
 

The big new feature implemented with this update allows a new 'use heading' direction-relative offset! This allows you to place a zone say, 300m away on its master unit's 4 o'cklock. Such a zone will now rotate with the linkedUnit - and always remain 300m away, at 4 o'clock as seen from the master unit. The zone now rotates, or 'orbits' around the master clock, in synch with the master's turn. 

This comes to DML via the new 'useHeading' attribute that allows you to place a zone say, 300m away on its master unit's 4 o'cklock. Such a zone will now rotate with the linkedUnit - and always remain 300m away, at 4 o'clock as seen from the master unit. The zone now rotates, or 'orbits' around the master clock, in synch with the master's turn. So, if you placed a zone 10m aft and 5m to the right of an aircraft, and have it follow that aircraft with useHeading, you have an instant formation flight trainer (change zone size to adjust difficulty) 

And now the good stuff - what this does for clone zones is obvious: it allows a clone zone that is linked to a unit (i.e. that moves with a unit) to remain relative in position and heading of the unit it follows. So if clones are set up to spawn 500 feet and 100 feet in front left to 'Leader' who is on course 000, and Leader now changes course to 090, they still spawn 500 feet left and 100 feet in front on the new heading (meaning: the clone zone rotates in place with the master unit). 

So I put this on steroids: a clone zone can now apply the same transformation to the spawned unit's heading and route, making the clone's entire route rotate in lockstep with the master unit.

What does this mean? Setting up scenarios where you spawn units that are positioned relative to a master unit's heading, and have their heading adjusted relative to that master now is trivial. The included "BFM Combat Trainer" demo shows this: Enter the cockpit, fly any heading, and choose "Spawn on their Six". Boom! In front of you, with your heading, an enemy plane appears, ready to be engaged and train your BFM. Same with "Spawn head-on". So if you need a tanker close by, an escort, want to create a combat trainer - it's all become trivial. Just place the units, set 'useHeading' to true and you are done. Other obvious uses are spawning ground troops from a vehicle to simulate 'dismount' when the vehicle is attacked, spawn ground targets anywhere relative to a player's current heading for ground training, dropping ground troops ('paratroopers') behind a Hercules to simulate airdrops etc.

Under the hood, this "small" change required small updates to dcsCommon and cfxZones (all backwards compatible of course) which is why it took so long. An undocumented DCS "feature" in DCS took four full days to discover, analyse, re-produce, work around and fully regression test added to the effort required, and you'll soon agree that this was worth the effort. 

Change Details

Documentation
    - Main Documentation
        - Linked/Moving Zones useHeading update 
        - Cloner use Heading update
        - BFM Combat Trainer Demo
    - Quick Ref 
        - Updates 
        
Demos
    - BFM Combat Trainer Demo (new)

Modules 
    - cfxZones 2.9.0 
        - Linked Zones useHeading 
        - getOrigin()
        - Late-linking 
    
    - CloneZones 1.6.0
        - useHeading 
        
    - dcsCommon 2.7.7
        - meta table report for dumpVar2Str
        - handling for unit psi value in group rotate 
        
    - Guardian Angel 3.0.3
        - better guard in monitorItems
        

Enjoy,

-ch

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by cfrag

[Badass1982]

Hi man , quick question is there any way I can control or change the message that is displayed when saving persistence??

[cfrag]

6 minutes ago, Badass1982 said:

is there any way I can control or change the message that is displayed when saving persistence

In what way? Turning it off entirely should be possible by setting verbose to false in the config zone. If not, that would be entirely on me, an oversight. Or do you need statistics/diagnostics what is being saved? That should be module-individual. In any event, it would be easy to work something out