Angels of Caucasus [Helicopter Rescue Sandbox] - Single and Multiplayer

[cfrag]

Version 2.01- 20250502

Helicopter Rescue and Fire Fighting Sandbox

Download: here

You are an "Angel", a member of the world's elite Air Rescue organization. Your task is to help fight fires and evacuate injured people from all over Batumi and the alpine regions around mount Elbrus. Once rescued, return them to the nearest Hospital. 

It's summertime. Batumi is big and as populous as it is popular, and the heat has turned the environment into a tinderbox. It also can take its toll on many, leading them to questionable decisions; also in summertime, adventurous souls heed the call of the mountains, making them climb where they should better not have treaded. In short, there will always be more people requiring your assistance than you can provide - so bring a friend or two if you can: this mission is fully multiplayer capable, and keeps track of your accomplishments, even between mission restarts. 

There are many slots available (hot and cold) for Hueys, Hips, Gazelles, Hinds, Chinooks and Kiowas), allowing pilots simultaneously in Batumi and the alpine operations center near Elbrus. 

[There's also one slot each for the Apache and Black Shark in Batumi, but those helicopters can't fight fires nor perform SAR]

SAR
You perform SARs by flying towards the evacuee (they all have locator devices for your ADF). Pearly Gates, your Command Authority can vector you towards your target. Once you get within 1km, help on the ground will mark the spot with smoke, and you'll be guided by your chief for the last 100m.

Land close enough to pick up the evacuee. If landing is not possible (rescue over open water, steep or inaccessible ground or forest in the mountains), you can attempt a winch rescue which requires you to hover within range and altitude for some 20 seconds. Once the evacuee is on board, you are to return them to the nearest hospital. Batumi Field Hospital is located at Batumi airfield, while the Elbrus alpine evacuation center is located in Elbrus, some 5 km northwest of the Alpine Flight Center. Both hospitals are marked with red smoke.

On approach to Batumi, please be mindful of other traffic, both fixed-wing and - possibly - other Angels. When operating in the mountains, keep and eye on your dials. Up there, the air is rare, and won't carry as much weight as you expect. At over 5600m (18000ft) height, the twin peaks of mount Elbrus are no laughing matter, so take only as much fuel as you think you need.

FIRE FIGHTING
Only the following helicopters are fitted with tanks to fight fires:
- Huey (1200kg)
- Hip (4000kg)
- Hind (2400kg)
- Hook (9000kg)
- Kiowa (500kg)

To fight fires, you first top off your tanks with flame retardant (from Batumi's tarmac, Batumi evac zone, marked with red smoke) or water (from a lake/river), and then drop it into the blaze.

Topping off your tanks:
When inside a refill zone, go to communications - Other - Firefighting and choose "Activate Intake" to fill up your flame-retardant tanks. Filling your tanks is instantaneous.

When hovering over open water (lake/river), and at 10m AGL or less: go to communications - Other - Firefighting and choose "Activate Intake" to fill up your flame-retardant tanks. You’ll hear your intake pumps activate, and your chief starts giving you live updates. Your pumps can acquire 100 liters (kg) of water per second, so keep this in mind while hovering. Filling up the Huey (1200l) takes 12 seconds, while topping off the Hook at that rate takes 90 seconds.
Once your tanks are topped off, your intake pumps disengage automatically

Dropping Flame Retardant / Water into fire:
Note: currently, there is no difference in efficacy between water and flame retardant (this may change in later versions)

Move towards a fire cell and prepare to drop water. You can choose between two different methods:

MANUAL: choose Comms - Other - Firefighting and sel ect "Manual Release". This empties the contents of your tanks at 1000kg/sec until they are empty. The impact point is derived fr om your current speed and direction. While the tanks are emptied, you can hear the turbo-pumps pushing out the liquids. I recommend that you bind the F2 key for manual release using some appropriate software for greater precision.
ALT-triggered: Go above 300 m AGL (900 ft), and then Comms-->Other-->Firefighting and choosing "Arm Autodrop Trigger". An aural soft tone blips once per second to remind you that the altitude trigger is armed. Once your altitude gets below 100m AGL (328ft), that triggers release.
Note: Altitude-triggered release is more difficult, and intended for advanced pilots who can judge their approach.

Once release has started, it ends after the entire contents has been emptied. The drop pumps are rated at 1000kg/sec, meaning that the Huey (1200l capacity) is empty after 1.2 seconds, while the Hook (9000l) has 9 seconds of water/retardant, and can therefore cover larger areas.

After you successfully drop water/flame retardant into a cell, the amount of fuel left in that cell is reduced. Once all fuel in the cell is consumed, that fire cell dies out, and can't re-ignite. Dropping water around a burning cell can prevent the fire from spreading in that direction. If you succeed in extinguishing all fire cells in a blaze, all pilots that have successfully contributed to fighting that fire are awarded an number of points based on the size of the conflagration.

You can always query your status from HighPerch. Initially, your Rank is "Probie", and that rank increases with the number and size of fires that you help to put out.

Note: Refueling
Keep in mind that in order to carry more flame retardant, your helicopter is only fueled to 50%. Keep an eye on your fuel gauge, and when you return to the airfield to refuel, do not top off your gas tanks. Fill them to 50% to avoid falling out of the sky.
 

Other notes:

• On Servers (and only on servers), install stopGapGUI (a tiny script) into /Hooks to avoid people crashing their helicopters on slotting. StopGap is here: StopGap - visible, populated player slots [all player aircraft, single/multiplayer] (digitalcombatsimulator.com)
• If run on a server, this mission auto-restarts every 8 hours. It's an endless SAR sandbox mission
• If you also have some of the other "Angels" missions (e.g. "Angels of the Levant") and persistence is enabled, the missions share all player's accomplishments.
• This mission can persist all your accomplishments (landings, time, rescues) per airframe if you have persistence enabled (this requires that your DCS is 'de-sanitized').

Acknowledgements
PearlyGates and HighPerch performed by ElevenLabs
Created with DML

Features

• 20+ Players, supporting the Hind, Huey, Hip, Hook, Kiowa and Gazelle
• rescue missions inside Batumi city proper, forest, over water (Batumi Harbor and bay)
• rescue missions in the Mount Elbrus alpine regions
• Fire-Fighting missions on the outskirts of Batumi
• Dynamic Airfield Scenery (provided by stopGap)
• Persistent accomplishments
• "St. Peter's" Choir - persistent list of most heroic angels
• "Book of Ambers" recalls the most exalted fire fighters
• Civilian air traffic (fixed and rotary wing)
• Endless sandbox
• Shares accomplishments with other "Angels" missions
• "dynamic scenery" for evacuees
• Fog on demand (player controlled)

 

Edited May 2 by cfrag

[Rudel_chw]

Thanks a lot for sharing this .. I will try it with the Mi8  

best regards,

 

Eduardo

[sirrah]

Yay, more helo content! Thanks @cfrag!

I hope life will soon grant me some DCS time, so I can try this one out.

 

One question though; you say "civilian traffic". Does that mean any mods are needed for this mission?

[cfrag]

1 hour ago, sirrah said:

"civilian traffic". Does that mean any mods are needed for this mission?

No, it merely means that those planes don't shoot.

[cfrag]

Version 1.1 - added AI helicopter traffic in Batumi

"So", I asked my fried as he took off the HMD, "what do you think?" 

"Well..." - he was stalling, and he knew I knew it. I patiently refilled our glasses and we re-settled to the study.

"It feels sorta lonely", he allowed after a generous sip from his glass.

And so it does - "it" being my first attempt at a rescue server mission, "Angels of Caucasus". One of the reasons that I value our friendship so much is that he has a keen sense of observation, and - given enough good wine - doesn't sugarcoat his opinion.

"Well, this will go away when other players join the server", I interposed.

Another deep sip. "They didn't a few minutes ago." 

And so I spent the past two weeks designing and implementing another module for the mission: civilian AI helicopter traffic. To be honest, although it adds nothing in terms of mission difficulty or fidelity, this little extra bit of polish makes the mission simply more enjoyable. So it is with deep gratitude to my friend and some pride that I can announce version 1.1 of "Angels of Caucasus". Nothing much has changed, but it feels much better.

Oh, and to the DML enthusiasts among you - yes, that civilian helicopter module will soon become part of DML. 

Enjoy,

-ch

 

Edited February 17, 2024 by cfrag

[sirrah]

Just rescued a bunch of folks. Wow, there's a lot going on in Batumi 

 

Any chance on a Sinai and/or Syria version? 

Those maps with all the large cities, nicely detailed scenery and many helipads (including proper hospitals with rooftop helipads) will do excellent with this scenario I think.

 

[cfrag]

Just now, sirrah said:

Any chance on a Sinai and/or Syria version?

Yes. "Angels of Caucasus" is merely a test case for a working SAR sandbox sever. "Angels of the Levant" will be the real deal - be it Sinai or Syria. And for that I'm currently developing a method to spawn missions in those densely populated warrens without the units ending up inside buildings. Once I can reliably do that, we are a looking at terrifyingly difficult missions into built-up areas - just as you are hoping for .

[tomeye]

Very nice server and mission to fly, well done!

When the high priority announcement I am not sure what needs to be done as the list of missions looks the same.

[tomeye]

one more idea, whenever a new patient loads can you automatically show the new patients number and weight?

[cfrag]

2 hours ago, tomeye said:

When the high priority announcement I am not sure what needs to be done as the list of missions looks the same.

That message merely means that there are new missions available, and you should check the available missions board. 

2 hours ago, tomeye said:

whenever a new patient loads can you automatically show the new patients number and weight?

They currently all weigh the same, so it does not make any difference. There are patients, though, who are on a timer. You can see their status deteriorating and should prioritize them if you want to pick them up. Once they are on board, they stabilize.

 

[cfrag]

Version 1.3 - 20240229

This update adds shared accomplishments with the other "Angels" missions (e.g. "Angels of the Levant", so you always have a total of rescues across all Angels maps.

 

[cfrag]

Version 1.4 - 20240302

This update fixes a rare bug where weight can accumulate when you crash a helicopter after picking up evacuees. So if you are a good pilot, you don't need that update  .

[cfrag]

Version 1.45 - 20240309

Some of you may remember when we first through we knew the Huey, and went on the "Mount Elbrus" mission that came with it. Yeah, good times. Now the Angels have a base near Elbrus, and are standing by to rescue all those hikers and mountaineers that get themselves in trouble during summertime. Only come here when you have a couple of rescues complete - flying in mountains and unfamiliar altitudes is different, and will test your abilities. 

So: new feature: alpine rescues. Check your service ceiling, pilot!

[OpticFlow]

My favorite mission to practice hovering in the Mi-8 and the Gazelle. Thank you!

 

 

[cfrag]

Version 1.50 - Maintenance update - 20250526

Changes:

• updated code / hardening for new DCS May 2024 release 
• Added two new static objects (from @Massun92's great additions to DCS core)

Enjoy,

-ch

[cfrag]

Version 1.60 - Kiowa - 20240605

Changes:

• Added the Kiowa as player-controlled unit 

Enjoy,

-ch

[kitten40]

Thank you !!!!!!

[cfrag]

BUG NOTIFICATION: DCS 2.9.6.57650 and 2.9.6.57656

Please be advised that DCS 2.9.6.57650 and 2.9.6.57656 (update from July 11 and 22) completely breaks this mission. A 'fix' for a previously reported bug has rendered central functionality of this mission inert: the mission can no longer detect if a helicopter has landed. Until this is fixed by ED this mission is unplayable.

Hopefully a fix in the future can restore this mission back to working condition.

Edited July 22, 2024 by cfrag

[cfrag]

Update 2024-08-11 -- Version 1.70: Chinook and Post-patch fixes

This update 'resurrects' the Angels of Caucasus mission post DCS-patches and adds the Chinook as flyable player helicopter.

"I said Hey, St. Peter, before you ring your bell, ..."

Enjoy,

-ch

 

[TFS]

The update is on user files or in the first post? Also same for the Syria version?

[cfrag]

8 hours ago, TFS said:

The update is on user files or in the first post?

Yes  

[cfrag]

Update 20240816 -- Version 1.71 

Small bug fix - I overlooked adding a fix that I already corrected (there were so many, apologies) 

 

[cfrag]

Update 20240921 -- Version 1.72 

Changes

• added 1 more csarFX vehicle
• some more scenery at hospital drop-off Batumi
• improved logging via "Scribe" 
• hardened persistence

Enjoy,

-ch

[TFS]

Everytime there's an update, one must re-download and replace the file correct? It never auto recognizes the mission is outdated?

 

Is stopgap needed to be readied everytime too or once added it's always active? 

[cfrag]

15 minutes ago, TFS said:

Everytime there's an update, one must re-download and replace the file correct?

Which file? The miz (mission) file iteself? Yes, it is fully self-contained, replace the miz and you are done.

16 minutes ago, TFS said:

Is stopgap needed to be readied everytime too or once added it's always active? 

If you are talking about the server side stopGapGUI, you install it once and then forget about it. It does not need any updating (hasn't for over a year now).

18 minutes ago, TFS said:

It never auto recognizes the mission is outdated?

I wish it did. It would make DCS so much better if shared missions would be integrated, like Steam does with Workshop. Made it a wish-list item to Eagle Dynamics: integrate publishing of missions into Mission Editor and discovering/downloading of missions into the main game. Even made some Interface mock-ups. Never heard a word from them back, so there's that.