Slmod- multiplayer server mod for new mission logic functionality

[Speed]

Thanks for the responses.

 

My main reason for changing the MOTD is the number of lines in chat, I would advise all to encourage SLMod advertising as it is an amazing FREE tool given to us, there is no doubt it should get the according credit!

 

My aspect is this, our server mainly runs large scale training missions, clients tend to change airplanes pretty frequently which could make the MOTD message quite annoying, therefore I'm considering shuting it down and adding the SLMod commands list to the costum MOTD i have running with triggers which appears every 30 minutes, if there was a way to decide when the MOTD will be shown then i would gladly keep it working instead of making triggered message for each mission.

 

BTW, regarding the mission restart & also mission rotation, i've just noticed that it is possible to do so with the in game triggers -

ONCE - TIME MORE (required time) - LOAD MISSION (mission name).

I guess that answers all my requirments at the moment untill SLMod 7.1 is out with this option and maybe map rotation? :)

 

Well, here is one really easy option you could also try:

 

on line 457 of SlmodCallbacks.lua, you should see:

 

if slmod.clients[id] and (not slmod.clients[id].motdTime or net.get_real_time() - slmod.clients[id].motdTime > 5) then

 

Change this to:

if slmod.clients[id] and (not slmod.clients[id].motdTime or net.get_real_time() - slmod.clients[id].motdTime > 1800) then

 

And this will prevent the MOTD from being delivered any more often than once every 1800 seconds (30 mins).

 

But yes, you can rotate missions solely using trigger logic.

 

A think a definite improvement to the MOTD would be to increase this time to be a lot less often. It was at 10 minutes, but I changed it to (I thought 10 seconds- but it looks like 5 seconds) when I added the "default keystroke for chat in your module is <>" line.

 

I think an optimal solution would be this:

 

1) Change the time back to like, 30 minutes or something.

2) Remove the "the default keystroke for chat in your module is <>" message from the MOTD and make it part of a different message entirely. Maybe make the chat keystroke message appear every time you are physically inside a new aircraft that has a different keystroke for chat than the one you were in before.

 

Part 2) will take a fair amount of extra logic, but is doable.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Speed

[Speed]

Hi Speed,

 

Yeah we are running a customised version of Servman at the moment, took abit of work but its mainly working how we need it too now, its just a pain having to keep updating it all the time ;)

 

Re the motd, I am not advocating it one way or the other, but anyone that has enough knowledge to deploy and utilise slmod will soon come to realise that it is removable, I dont think if I ran a normal combat server I would remove it mind.

 

For our use if I was to use slmod on it I would remove some of it as things like stat tracking on a strict non combat server is something most of our pilots would not be worried about tbh as aside from flying hours there is nothing to track :p

 

As there is no "objective" in our mission it has to be able to restart on a timer as its pretty much impossible to fly formation at night in a Mustang ;) so for us at least its a necessity, but in general no I dont think another version of Servman is needed now things like motd are in slmod, but as I said we need a mission restart timer for our server to work

 

All the best

 

Pman

There is an option that (mostly) disables SlmodStats (unless a server admin turns it back on). To go to this mostly-off mode, you, set enable_slmod_stats = false in the config.lua file. I think another config.lua option that disables the stats menu as well might be good. No need for it if you never track any stats.

 

The problem with making a "no-SlmodStats" mode was it put so many roots into other components that I had a hard time thinking of a good way to make Slmod run without at least some SlmodStats code running. It wouldn't be easy to entirely remove it, but it could be done.

 

As xcom mentions though, you can always build a restart timer into the mission trigger logic itself. Once -> Time More (<some number>) -> Load Mission (mission)

Edited May 31, 2013 by Speed

[Wrecking Crew]

Folks -

To load a mission, I like to set a countdown flag first - anywhere from 3-15 minutes ...

Say, turn on Flag 50, and pop out a message that says, "Mission <name> starting in x minutes." Follow that with a couple of few Time Since Flag (50) events with 1-5 minute intervals, depending upon how often you want to make folks aware that this mission is going to end and another will start.

 

You can load any mission - the same one or another. In my testing, the path is not saved, so the missions need to all be in the same folder as the one that you started with. In fact, I can edit missions on my home machine, including the Load Mission triggers, and can upload the missions to my server (Hollo Pointe) and do not need to open the mission on the server to reset the path.

 

---

 

Speed - I am rebuilding my server this weekend with a new SSD and will install Slmod 7.0. Thanks!

 

 

WC

[Pman]

There is an option that (mostly) disables SlmodStats (unless a server admin turns it back on). To go to this mostly-off mode, you, set enable_slmod_stats = false in the config.lua file. I think another config.lua option that disables the stats menu as well might be good. No need for it if you never track any stats.

 

The problem with making a "no-SlmodStats" mode was it put so many roots into other components that I had a hard time thinking of a good way to make Slmod run without at least some SlmodStats code running. It wouldn't be easy to entirely remove it, but it could be done.

 

As xcom mentions though, you can always build a restart timer into the mission trigger logic itself. Once -> Time More (<some number>) -> Load Mission (mission)

 

Thats a reasonable workaround however tbh its not worth me looking at the possibility of a change until the timer restart is implimented without me having to edit my missions etc. Adding additional code to them is needless.

 

Will look again at 7.1 then maybe I'll do a test on the Virtual Aerobatics Server

 

Pman

[Wrecking Crew]

Slmod v7.0 installed fine on Hollo Pointe - no issues, everything is working using the previous Ban and Admin lists.

 

Thanks for switching the install location, Speed.

 

WC

[St3v3f]

Lua-Error Handling

 

Hi Speed,

 

Apparently version 7.0 makes changes to the way script errors are handled.

Typically, if the sim encounters an error it show a messagebox with something like this:

 

00762.067 UNKNOWN MissionScripting::initialize: mist.scheduleFunction, error in scheduled function: [string "C:\Users\St3v3f\AppData\Local\Temp\DCS\/~mi..."]:96: attempt to index field 'DBS' (a nil value)

 

and the same message appears in dcs.log

 

Now, with Slmod 7.0, only this appears:

 

00051.637 ERROR DCS: Mission script error: : error in error handling

 

I find the original messages very helpful for debugging, is there any chance to get them back?

[Speed]

Hi Speed,

 

Apparently version 7.0 makes changes to the way script errors are handled.

Typically, if the sim encounters an error it show a messagebox with something like this:

 

00762.067 UNKNOWN MissionScripting::initialize: mist.scheduleFunction, error in scheduled function: [string "C:\Users\St3v3f\AppData\Local\Temp\DCS\/~mi..."]:96: attempt to index field 'DBS' (a nil value)

 

and the same message appears in dcs.log

 

Now, with Slmod 7.0, only this appears:

 

00051.637 ERROR DCS: Mission script error: : error in error handling

 

I find the original messages very helpful for debugging, is there any chance to get them back?

 

I've seen the "error in error handling" message myself. I didn't associate the change with Slmod though... I thought it was a peculiar error in the scripting system. I think I got it when running a scheduled function. Are you positive Slmod is associated with this, and it's not some bug with 1.2.4? I will certainly grant it's possible Slmod is causing it, or at least triggering it, as it modifies MissionScripting.lua, but I don't see how or where a problem like this could creep in.

 

Anyway, thanks for the report, I'll check it out and let you know what I find.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Speed

[St3v3f]

Yes, I thought at first it was something DCS-internal as well. I was about to create a thread in the bug section, but then I wanted to find out which version exactly brought the change. So I used the updater to go through 5 1.2.4 builds and when I reached the current build, the message still came up as it did before.

 

Then I installed Slmod and the new message came up.

[Xillinx]

Hello All,

 

First time post! So I have already spoke with Speed about the add_task function but wanted to share with everyone else the "bug" that was found. I wanted to use the add_task function to show that there were "X" amount of tanks in an area and when the user destroyed a tank, I wanted the current task to update the remaining tanks. What we figured out is with a trigger set to refresh the task, the task number would continue to increase.

 

Now the mission is more complex that I'm building but tried given Speed a general idea of what I wanted to do. Many thanks to Speed for taking the time to help me out with the scripts :)

 

v/r

 

Fernando

[Paganus]

Great job on 7.

 

In our group we've been waiting a long time for real stats keeping without having to parse the DCS logs.

 

The Slmod -stats works great in the sim but we're having some trouble utilizing the files generated after we exit the sim. Your manual says you can load the file in a LUa interpreter using dofile. I've played around with this but being a LUA novice I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if the files are still WIP.

 

Any enlightenment you could give me for using these stat files would be much appreciated.

[Midnight]

@ Speed

 

2 Questions

 

1. Is it possible to use SLMOD to output a file and then use that file to export data to a website. I was thinking of updating my flight hours to my website.

 

2. I am working on a training mission where I want to give a score for bombs hitting in specific zones around a target and want the score to be displayed on screen similar to "-stats me". Any idea how I can do this.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[St3v3f]

1.2.5 incompatibility?

 

Since the 1.2.5 update, I'm having some problems.

slmod.units_hitting doesn't seem to work anymore.

slmod.units_ejected does work though

 

Can anyone confirm that?

[NBEagle]

+ slmod.units_firing ... in my case

[Interceptor]

Speed, please add the automatic missions rotation feature which would automatically change missions.

 

http://www.spare-time-pilots.de/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=2507

[PreyofWar]

Hello, Speed. First off, I want to thank you for taking your time to make this amazing server tool :) However, the reason I am posting this today is because I'm getting an error:

 

[string "slmod.sendData()"]:1: attempt to index global 'slmod' (a nil

value)

stack traceback:

[C]: ?

[string "slmod.sendData()"]:1 in main chunk

 

 

Please help! Thanks! :D

[St3v3f]

Your Slmod is not correctly installed and the Scripting Engine can't find it

 

First, doublecheck you've correctly followed the installation

 

However, I've seen something similar happen before, caused by DCS not having enough permissions.

Try this:

In Windows Explorer, go to C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics

right click DCS World and go to properties, security, modify, add, <your windows username>, allow all, ok, ok, ok

Edited July 28, 2013 by St3v3f

[PreyofWar]

Your Slmod is not correctly installed and the Scripting Engine can't find it

 

First, doublecheck you've correctly followed the installation

 

However, I've seen something similar happen before, caused by DCS not having enough permissions.

Try this:

In Windows Explorer, go to C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics

right click DCS World and got properties, security, modify, add, <your windows username>, allow all, ok, ok, ok

 

YES! Thank you so much! I had to give the DCS World files all of the permissions :) Thank you so much! :D

[PreyofWar]

One more problem, though... After I shutdown the server and check the config file, it has like automatically reset itself back to its default, unedited state. Any suggestions?

[St3v3f]

Do not edit the config, ban or admin list while the sim is running, or you could have made changes to it that aren't valid lua code

[PreyofWar]

Do not edit the config, ban or admin list while the sim is running, or you could have made changes to it that aren't valid lua code

 

I haven't edited the code or anything while the game was running.

[Speed]

Ok, I am back from vacation now. I'll be getting to work on Slmod and Mist and testing and other things.

 

I suspect that the reason that many of the Slmod events-based things are no longer working is that the internal event code that Slmod was exploiting has changed. Slmod has been using two closely related simulator events systems/formats, partly for backwards compatibility and partly because it USED to be necessary. It may no longer be. I may have to finally re-write all the internal Slmod events code to use just one events system. The downside is that weapons names in functions like units_firing may change, but maybe I could make a names/aliases database.

[NBEagle]

Ok, I am back from vacation now. I'll be getting to work on Slmod and Mist and testing and other things.

 

I suspect that the reason that many of the Slmod events-based things are no longer working is that the internal event code that Slmod was exploiting has changed. Slmod has been using two closely related simulator events systems/formats, partly for backwards compatibility and partly because it USED to be necessary. It may no longer be. I may have to finally re-write all the internal Slmod events code to use just one events system. The downside is that weapons names in functions like units_firing may change, but maybe I could make a names/aliases database.

 

Thanks for the information and your tenacity!

[MB2_Svejk]

Slmod I do not count toward killing only death and ejection? My English is poor sorry for the google translator. My server is a "Český server" thank you for your help

config.lua

Edited August 13, 2013 by MB2_Svejk

[St3v3f]

It's likely that the Tracking System has been affected by the changes that 1.2.5 brought just as much as other Slmod Functions. Looking for ejections in these functions works, but hitting targets does not.

[MB2_Svejk]

Ok I'll wait to see where the error Thank you