Placeable IR strobes

[Lace]

With the imminent arrival of the Chinook, it would be great if we had IR and visible strobes as placeable objects for marking troop positions etc.

[ShuRugal]

ooh, can we get the little IR reflector tabs on NATO uniforms added too?  that we we cans sweep the IR pointer and see the friendlies sparkling in the night!

[boomer92688]

I would really love this, as well as helmet strobes on troops.  With Afghanistan out, I've got some really solid mission ideas I want to build, but many of the night ones require strobes for friendly units moving through a city. 

[WARcrime]

There is a script floating around i used last month that will add a selected (named) group with random spawning ir strobes. I found this looking for it again. I was able to use it as intended by the creator. I then tried to use it to look for a prefix instead of set name and wasnt succesful. Would love for it to use the ctld names so i can drop currenthills us infantry from the oh6 and uh60 in afghandyland. Ill bring it back here when i find it.

 

Found it...

and...

 

Edited August 7, 2024 by WARcrime

[boomer92688]

On 8/7/2024 at 5:10 PM, WARcrime said:

There is a script floating around i used last month that will add a selected (named) group with random spawning ir strobes. I found this looking for it again. I was able to use it as intended by the creator. I then tried to use it to look for a prefix instead of set name and wasnt succesful. Would love for it to use the ctld names so i can drop currenthills us infantry from the oh6 and uh60 in afghandyland. Ill bring it back here when i find it.

 

Found it...

and...

 

 

Oh man I'm going to have to try this out.  This would be awesome.  Thanks!

[CoconutCockpit]

On 8/8/2024 at 1:10 AM, WARcrime said:

There is a script floating around i used last month that will add a selected (named) group with random spawning ir strobes. I found this looking for it again. I was able to use it as intended by the creator. I then tried to use it to look for a prefix instead of set name and wasnt succesful. Would love for it to use the ctld names so i can drop currenthills us infantry from the oh6 and uh60 in afghandyland. Ill bring it back here when i find it.

 

Found it...

and...

 

 

 

Ah yes, that’s me. For anyone wanting to use this, it’s based on MOOSE.

--
--
-- ### Author: **nielsvaes/coconutcockpit**
--
-- ===
-- @module StrobeUnit


STROBE_UNIT = {
    ClassName = "STROBE_UNIT",
}

-- Function to find a unit by name and initialize it with strobe properties
function STROBE_UNIT:FindByName(unit_name)
    -- Inherit properties from the UNIT class and assign to self
    local self = BASE:Inherit(self, UNIT:FindByName(unit_name))
    -- If the unit is not found, log an error message
    if self == nil then
        self:E("Couldn't find a unit with the name " .. unit_name)
    end
    -- Initialize strobe properties
    self.strobe_active = false
    self.on_time = 0.08 -- Duration the strobe is on
    self.burst_interval = 0.5 -- Interval between strobe bursts
    self.visible_chance = 85 -- Chance for the strobe to be visible
    return self
end

-- Function to start the strobe effect on the unit
function STROBE_UNIT:StartStrobe(bursts)
    self.strobe_active = true -- Activate the strobe
    bursts = bursts or 2 -- Default number of bursts if not specified

    -- Call the private __Strobe function to handle the strobe logic
    self:__Strobe(bursts)
end

-- Function to stop the strobe effect on the unit
function STROBE_UNIT:StopStrobe()
    self.strobe_active = false -- Deactivate the strobe
    self:LaseOff() -- Turn off the laser (strobe effect)
end

-- Private function to handle the strobe logic
function STROBE_UNIT:__Strobe(bursts)
    -- Check if the strobe is active before proceeding
    if self.strobe_active then
        self:LaseOff() -- Ensure the laser is off before starting
        -- Loop through the number of bursts
        for index = 1, bursts do
            -- Check if the strobe should be visible based on chance
            if UTILS.PercentageChance(self.visible_chance) then
                -- Schedule the laser (strobe) to turn on based on timing calculations
                BASE:ScheduleOnce((self.on_time + self.burst_interval) * index, function() self:LaseUnit(self, 1688, self.on_time) end )
            end
        end

        -- Calculate the total wait time before repeating the strobe effect
        local wait_time = 2 * bursts * (self.on_time + self.burst_interval)
        -- Schedule the next strobe effect after the wait time
        BASE:ScheduleOnce(wait_time, self.__Strobe, self, bursts)
    end
end

Use it like this:

for _, unit_name in pairs({"strobe_guy_01", "strobe_guy_01", "strobe_guy_01", "strobe_guy_01", }) do
    local su = STROBE_UNIT:FindByName(unit_name)
    su:StartStrobe(3)
end

 

[moggel]

Does this still work? I tried the script and I get no errors but I also don't see any strobe effect in my NVG when I test it.

[rob10]

3 hours ago, moggel said:

Does this still work? I tried the script and I get no errors but I also don't see any strobe effect in my NVG when I test it.

Test IR strobe 1.miz

Yep, just tested it in a simple mission I made when I was trying it out.  Note that it is now actually integrated into MOOSE, so as long as you're using a current version you can use:

local IRGROUP = GROUP:FindByName("Ground-1")

IRGROUP:NewIRMarker(true)

 

I haven't been able to get them to turn off yet though.

Mission is Syria and F-18.  Row of infantry and tanks before and across the runway at WP 1 (note elevation at WP 1 isn't set to ground so if you WPDSG it will put it in the air).

Edited November 3, 2024 by rob10

[moggel]

I eventually figured it out. Turns out I had just made a mistake, and in part hadn't adjusted the NVG properly to see the strobe at a longer distance. Works fine now. Thanks for taking the time.