Compact Foothold-style mission for helo ops

[Floyd1212]

For anyone unaware of the two "Foothold" missions released by Dzsekeb, they are highly recommended.  They have been mentioned here on the forums before, and are both available in the User Files section.

There is a Caucasus version here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3319499/

And a much larger Syria version here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3324743/

Both are enjoyable, and have plenty of slots for the AH-64D, but I found some of the distances between capture zones on the Syria version to be a little extreme for our slower helicopters.  So, I set out to create a more compact version of my own, with shorter flight times between zones. I chose Cyprus for the setting, which works out to be a great size, and has plenty of terrain verity in a compact area.

You start in Paphos, and there are a total of 24 zones that need to be captured to win the mission.  There are a handful of friendly planes placed at some of the air bases, but feel free to swap them out for the planes you and your friends might like to fly.

EDIT:  I have updated the mission since the 2.9 patch broke some of the API calls used in older scripting.  This new ver. 2 should run without causing errors during runtime.

I also added FCR radars to some of the Apache slots at each of the airfields, since this can't be done through the rearm/refuel dialog yet.

Foothold_Cyprus_v2.miz

 

The mission requires the UH-60L mod and the SamSitesAsset Pack mod.

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/293813-uh-60l-black-hawk-mod-official-thread/

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/275571-sam-sites-asset-pack-a-3d-assets-mod-to-populate-you-sam-sites-farp-and-other-bases/

 

Also, like the originals, the mission writes to a persistence file once a minute, so you need to enable that capability by editing the MissionScripting.lua file by following these instructions:

In order for persistence to work you will need to edit the following file in your DCS install directory: \Scripts\MissionScripting.lua

Edit the following section:

do
    sanitizeModule('os')
    sanitizeModule('io')
    sanitizeModule('lfs')
    _G['require'] = nil
    _G['loadlib'] = nil
    _G['package'] = nil
end

to look like this:

do
    sanitizeModule('os')
    --sanitizeModule('io')
    --sanitizeModule('lfs')
    _G['require'] = nil
    _G['loadlib'] = nil
    _G['package'] = nil
end

by adding the "--" in front of the second and third sanitizeModule line to comment them out.

Enjoy!

Here is a map, that is also included in the kneeboard:

Edited December 28, 2023 by Floyd1212

[Dallas88B]

42 minutes ago, Floyd1212 said:

I found some of the distances between capture zones on the Syria version to be a little extreme for our slower helicopters.  So, I set out to create a more compact version of my own

Well damn, that's very good of you. Thank you.

[sirrah]

Awesome @Floyd1212!

I love these missions!

[sirrah]

A bit late, but I finally found some time to properly try this one.

Playing it SP and Apache only

 

So far I've managed to capture a few zones and I'm having a lot of fun. Thank you @Floyd1212 for limiting the amount of SA-19's on this one 

Question though:

One thing I like about the original missions from Dzsekeb, it that once you've captured a few zones, this mission really comes to life, as in multiple AI units start to spawn. Allied fighter CAP and helo CAS spawn from capture airbases, and of course the resupply choppers. So, the latter one I've seen spawn, but no CAP and CAS missions so far (apart from the ones I purchase via F10 menu). I did capture Akrotiri and kinda expected some more allied AI activity, but so far (about 2 hours after capturing Akrotiri) I haven't seen anything spawn other than a resupply helo.

I do admit, when checking the zone status info (again via F10), it doesn't say "spawns CAP" or anything, but then again, I've checked almost all zone status info and nowhere it says anything about allied AI spawns. Did you implement this feature, like Dzsekeb did in his missions? (I miss the extra AI activity a bit)

 

 

Small bit of (friendly meant) feedback:

I noticed that my purchased AI CAP flights get shot down a lot by SAM's. They tend to stray into enemy territory. Maybe because of their set waypoints, or because they just engage something, I'm not really sure. Resulting in them getting shot down really quickly, as they tend to fly very low and within reach of all the many SA-8's. I already killed many of the SA-8's surrounding the initial start zone, but the CAP flights just continue to fly inlands until they reach the next SAM and then get shot down.

Not sure how Dzsekeb managed it, perhaps because Syria is much larger, but his AI CAP flights tend to live a bit longer, making them more useful.

[Floyd1212]

Thanks for the feedback.

I did not add any friendly air patrols or attack helos that take off from friendly airfields.  I can see how that might be helpful if you are playing it solo, though.  I was mostly playing it with a small group of friends and we were often 2 Apaches and 1 Warthog.

Maybe I will go back and add some additional AI help.  Even if they aren't super effective, they also add the immersion, like you mentioned.

I think the friendly CAP that you call in with the comms menu are getting distracted and drawn into dangerous territory.  That being said, if you are just getting started, it is all dangerous territory.  

There is definitely some fine-tuning that could be done there, and I probably have them pushing too far the way they are setup right now, but I also think the smaller area has something to do with it.   When they get shot down, I just call in another patrol.

If I go back and make changes, I will be sure to post the new version here.

[sirrah]

21 minutes ago, Floyd1212 said:

Thanks for the feedback.

I did not add any friendly air patrols or attack helos that take off from friendly airfields.  I can see how that might be helpful if you are playing it solo, though.  I was mostly playing it with a small group of friends and we were often 2 Apaches and 1 Warthog.

Maybe I will go back and add some additional AI help.  Even if they aren't super effective, they also add the immersion, like you mentioned.

I think the friendly CAP that you call in with the comms menu are getting distracted and drawn into dangerous territory.  That being said, if you are just getting started, it is all dangerous territory.  

There is definitely some fine-tuning that could be done there, and I probably have them pushing too far the way they are setup right now, but I also think the smaller area has something to do with it.   When they get shot down, I just call in another patrol.

If I go back and make changes, I will be sure to post the new version here.

Thanks mate!

I'll follow this thread, to make sure I don't miss your update

 

[Wizard1393]

If possible can you make a no mods required version?

[Floyd1212]

It's relatively easy to modify the mission to remove the UH-60L player slots, or there is also a way to modify the .miz file so that the UH-60L is optional, and clients that don't have the mod will see some other model in its place. 

The SAM Site Asset Pack is a little more involved as I am using those assets for the barriers and statics at the Northern FOB.  You could go in and view the list of units and find all the assets that require that module and delete them, though.  Everything will still work, but the FOB will look a little bare.

[Wizard1393]

Thanks Floyd. I actually did replace the UH-60 slots with UH-1H slots. I'll leave the other stuff in, as you said, it looks good and increases immersion.
Love the Cyprus setting for this mission. Distances are much better for helicopters and the scenery of Cyprus is really nice.

[Hotdognz]

Does this mission have the Redfor trying to recapture the bases back or is all just one way ??

 

[Wizard1393]

1 hour ago, Hotdognz said:

Does this mission have the Redfor trying to recapture the bases back or is all just one way ??

 

Redfor tries to capture back control points.

[Floyd1212]

I wouldn't say Redfor is supper aggressive about it, but they do launch some strike missions against your zones, and if one does go neutral, they will send a HIP to capture it. 

This is more of an issue early-on, when you might only have a single blue group defending a zone you just captured; once you are further down the road with 3-4 groups defending a zone, they don't strike with enough firepower or coordination to really recapture an established zone.

[Spudgetical]

Does this still work? I'm getting a mission script error when trying to run it.

"C:\user\username\appdata\local\Temp\DCSV~mis0006C88.lua"]: 161: attempt to index global 'lfs' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
[C]: ?
[string
"C:\user\username\appdata\local\Temp\DCSV~mis0006C88.lua"]: 161: in main chunk

Anyone able to help me debug this?

[Floyd1212]

It should work.

That sounds like the error you get when the missionscripting.lua hasn’t been properly setup for persistence saves.

Did you follow the steps for modifying that file?

[Wizard1393]

Yes, its probably that he updated DCS and now has to redo the changes to missionscripting.lua.

[Spanker79]

@Floyd1212
Thank you for the mission. My SQN and i had a blast palying it. Very good job. One thing though.. SAM Assets Pack for some reason didn't work.
I put the file on our dedicated server but the FARPs were "naked" and had only the statics from DCS.

Any ideas on that?

[Floyd1212]

I think those assets need to be present on each client's machine, not the server

[Spanker79]

@Floyd1212
We have them on our dedicated server (host the mission) and each one of us in order to be able to join.
But still nothing happens.. Speaking 1st hand.

May they are visible if i for example host the mission and not the dedi server?

 

[Floyd1212]

Sorry, I just checked and I do have them on my dedicated server:

C:\Users\<username>\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta_server\\Mods\Tech\SAMSitesAssetPack

Is that where you have them on the server?

[Spanker79]

We have it as tech.
I will see if a T makes the difference

[Spanker79]

@Floyd1212
No joy unfortunatelly.
Installing the Asset pack on Dedi doesn't show on mission..

[Floyd1212]

Very strange.  It is working for us on my dedicated server.  Anyone else not seeing these assets at the Northern FOB, or have any suggestions?

[01G8R]

@Floyd1212Anyone having trouble with persistence?  Stock and modified Foothold persistence is working on my server, but not working with your Cyprus version.  I am running SLMod, but no issues on the other versions.  Thanks.

[Floyd1212]

Not that I am aware of.

Do you see a persistence file having been created?  It is placed in the C:\Users\<username>\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta_server folder, not in the "Saves" folder that some of the newer releases are putting in in.

[01G8R]

2 hours ago, Floyd1212 said:

Not that I am aware of.

Do you see a persistence file having been created?  It is placed in the C:\Users\<username>\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta_server folder, not in the "Saves" folder that some of the newer releases are putting in in.

 

Sorry, I missed that.  It is creating the file correctly.  I was just looking in the wrong spot.  Thanks for publishing this.  Four of us were flying it tonight and it is a blast!