Slmod- multiplayer server mod for new mission logic functionality

[Stuka]

Everything I've tested so far with Slmod works in 1.2.1, this is no surprise. ;)

 

After doing an auto-update, you will notice that Slmod, and any other mods, are uninstalled after the update completes. Do not worry, it is very easy to reinstall them. Look in your main DCS directory, there will be an _backup folder. Find the most recent _backup folder, copy everything in this folder, and paste it back into your main DCS directory. Say "yes" to any folder mergers, and chose to "copy and replace" (overwrite) all duplicate files. There- you've just re-installed all your mods :)

 

Slmod version 6.2 should be coming soon- main obstacle is finishing the documentation.

 

I've begun work on stats-keeping code I hope to include in Slmod version 6.3.

 

Is this method not going to undo some updates that came with the updater?

[Speed]

Is this method not going to undo some updates that came with the updater?

Only if the actual files that Slmod replaces (server.lua, MissionScripting.lua) are changed in the update. They haven't been changed for quite a while.

[Stuka]

OK, thanks for the feedback.

[Quax456]

@Speed

 

I have figured out whats causes the server to crash. When I use missions without any slmod trigger functions it wont crash. If I use one of my missions which I have created with lots of slmod triggers it will crash on restart or loading a new mission.

Does not crash if the server is empty, only crashes min. 1 Client is connected.

 

Have attached one.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Quax456

[SGT Coyle]

Is this mod still MP dependent?

[cichlidfan]

Is this mod still MP dependent?

 

It is an MP Server mod.

[Speed]

@Speed

 

I have figured out whats causes the server to crash. When I use missions without any slmod trigger funtions it wont crash. If I use one of my missions which I have created with lots of slmod triggers it will crash on restart or loading a new mission.

 

Have attached one.

I cannot reproduce your crash. I can restart the mission you gave me as many times as I want and I won't get a crash.

 

Please give me dcs.log. A crash log might also be useful- it might at least tell me what .dll was responsible for the crash (Lua cannot cause crashes itself). Also, exact steps to reproduce would be appreciated, as well as info such as server settings (is "pause_on_load" true or false), are clients connected, operating system, DCS version (1.2.1.6120, for example), etc. Basically, any or all of the info I requested in post #325 ( http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1567918&postcount=325 ).

 

Are you absolutely sure it is ONLY Slmod missions that crash? The game has no way of knowing if a mission uses Slmod or not until a trigger action that causes an Slmod function to run goes off.

 

I do notice that you are using Slmod functions on mission start. Slmod functions are not supposed to be used "Mission Start" type triggers. That you are using them on "Mission Start" is probably my fault- I need to clearly state this more often. Slmod may not function correctly when used with a "Mission Start" trigger.

 

Instead, use Once->Time More. I recommend Time More (5), but I've never seen any problems caused by Time More (1).

 

While it's nearly impossible for Lua to directly cause the game to crash, it is possible for it to indirectly cause it. Perhaps, for example, there is some kind of Lua error being thrown up by the game at mission start for some reason, and it could be that the game's C++ code is currently not handling Lua errors at mission start correctly, causing a CTD.

 

After you duplicate the crash and upload dcs.log and a crash log, convert your Mission Start Slmod triggers to Time More. See if that solves your CTDs. But first, since I can't reproduce this crash myself, I want to see your dcs.log and a crash log so that at least, I can see if I can identify what went wrong and prevent it in the future.

 

If converting the Mission Start triggers to Time More triggers does not fix the problem, then load a bunch of other, non-Slmod missions. It should CTD on one of them too. Basically, if the problem isn't related to some kind of Lua error at mission start that the game cannot handle correctly, I cannot imagine how it is possible for Slmod to be responsible for these crashes, either directly or indirectly.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Speed

[Quax456]

Hi Speed, will try to give you your wishlist :smartass:

 

Just to be patient, I never said it have to be your Mod. I'm shure the solution is for shure on my side. Will give you instand feedback....

[Quax456]

@Speed

 

have done some test last night with =STP=Scorpi.

We have started my mission on his server with installed SLMOD and made some restarts even with connected clients.

 

RESULT = No crash

 

Will test it soon with my server maybe the new updates have fixed it. Will report feedback ASAP.

 

Regards

[Quax456]

Have tried the whole evening to figure it out why my server crashes and under which circumstances. Only if I try to load or restart one of my Mission with SLMOD functionality the server crashes...........damn :D

 

Will give it a try with changing the mission start trigger......

[Speed]

Have tried the whole evening to figure it out why my server crashes and under which circumstances. Only if I try to load or restart one of my Mission with SLMOD functionality the server crashes...........damn :D

 

Will give it a try with changing the mission start trigger......

Nothing unusual in dcs.log.

Try the attached mission, see if it crashes too.

DS KBM v1_1 for DCSW.miz

[Speed]

Good news- I've been able to get the crash on reloading now. Looks like the mission needs to run for some time before reloading in order to get a crash. I'll try to keep you guys updated, but I will also be out of town for a while starting soon, so I might not get a chance to investigate fully.

[Speed]

What I can't understand is how this crash didn't start happening to me until now. Literally, yesterday, I was fine. Now I can't reload certain missions without the game crashing.

 

Ok, good news for me- this crash is not related to Slmod, or Lua in any way.

 

This crash is somehow related to mission size, I think, but it could even be a specific trigger. Still investigating...

Edited October 6, 2012 by Speed

[Speed]

Alrighty- Quax, I haven't a clue why I didn't get this crash yesterday when you were, but here is the crash I get:

 

1) Load a mission

2) Let that mission run a few seconds

3) Load a sufficiently complex mission

4) When the mission is finished loading, unpause the game. It will crash immediately.

 

What exactly is a "sufficiently complex" mission? No idea where exactly boundary lies between not complex enough and sufficiently complex, but Slmod has nothing to do with it. If you take an Slmod mission that is crashing, uninstall Slmod from your computer, and remove all Slmod components from the mission, you will still crash. The thing is, generally, most of the commonly used Slmod missions fall within the "sufficiently complex" boundary, which is why you sensed the false correlation, Quax.

 

Anyway, the bug has been forwarded to ED so all we can do now is wait.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Speed

[Quax456]

Dear Speed,

 

for my opinion are sufficient complex missions that are not as linear as the mostly I have seen. I don't wont to degrade the work of any mission designer. I prefer missions with mostly randomized actions. For that I'm often useing the switched condition triggers espacially we both have done to call out "SAM LAUNCH" via slmod.unit_firing.

Maybe I can try to reduce the mission size by deleting some sound actions and the related files. If this will work I go on feeding you with the results. But I don't think it depends on size cause I have created a little training mission which is only 262kb large. This mission crashes although.

In DCSW 1.2.0 this missions never crashed even on reload/restart.

 

To make it clear -> You have made a great job to create this mod, cant imagine how to design any further missions without it :D

 

BTW: Is it possible to rework the add_task logic by adding a task not only by coallition but by country???? That would be a great hit......

 

Best regards

Edited October 6, 2012 by Quax456

[july865]

speed

any idea when you'll have those "stats" added into this? we here at the 689th use the stats that servman generates for our pilot reports and see who has been logging actual flight hours its not just hours on the server.

we also use those stats to track kills and pilot deaths.

any thing that this can generate will be greatly appreciated.

[Speed]

speed

any idea when you'll have those "stats" added into this? we here at the 689th use the stats that servman generates for our pilot reports and see who has been logging actual flight hours its not just hours on the server.

we also use those stats to track kills and pilot deaths.

any thing that this can generate will be greatly appreciated.

 

Assuming that this goes off without a hitch, it will be a while. Sometime after 6.2 release. Stats will slowly improve over time- perhaps the first version will record flight time, deaths, kills, ejects, etc, then the next version will add weapons fired, hits, friendly fire, etc. Something like that.

 

We're also confronted with a major bug I found- UCIDs are not dependable- they can change randomly. If that is not fixed soon, it will inhibit development of stats, as it will be impossible to distinguish between clients. This is already causing problems with the server administration tools.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Speed

[july865]

ah yes, we came across the same thing. we are more reliant upon player name than the id. have a look at what we extract from the servman data as it stands now. and we use version 2.5

checksixonline stats

speaking of servman, we are wanting to move from servman and add SLMod to our server, as we are interested in your server admin integration.

we had installed SLMod ver 6.0 and followed these install directions you had posted here the server will not unpause when someone enters. we are able to use the [-admin pause] feature as a temp solution.

any thoughts?

and yes, i have checked the config file but all seems ok.

.

EDIT

i think i have found my problem, but would like for you to confirm which one i need.

in my "DCSworld/Scrips/Net" folder. i have the "SLModv6_1" folder, and the "SLModv042" folder. which one of these do i keep?

Edited October 7, 2012 by july865

[OpusTheFowl]

Total noob to Slmod so this might be obvious to most...

 

Does 6_1 work with 1.2.1?

 

I tried making a simple test and then tried the "weapons impacting in zones" mission from page 24(?) and no go.

 

So I am assuming that I either installed Slmod incorrectly or it's not compatible.

 

Thanks for your time....great work BTW...wow...

[Speed]

ah yes, we came across the same thing. we are more reliant upon player name than the id. have a look at what we extract from the servman data as it stands now. and we use version 2.5

checksixonline stats

speaking of servman, we are wanting to move from servman and add SLMod to our server, as we are interested in your server admin integration.

we had installed SLMod ver 6.0 and followed these install directions you had posted here the server will not unpause when someone enters. we are able to use the [-admin pause] feature as a temp solution.

any thoughts?

and yes, i have checked the config file but all seems ok.

.

EDIT

i think i have found my problem, but would like for you to confirm which one i need.

in my "DCSworld/Scrips/Net" folder. i have the "SLModv6_1" folder, and the "SLModv042" folder. which one of these do i keep?

The version with the admin tools is version v042. The presence of the older v6.1 files will not cause any problems. The reason for the different version numbering mechanisms is I use one numbering system for the "official" releases, and another numbering system for my "internal" versions (which I sometimes release a little early).

 

Slmod does not change the server pause/unpause status when a client enters. I have yet to start work on the public server administration tools- unpause on client join will be one of those features.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Now that the simulator scripting engine is officially released, I can begin work on the AFAC functionality! That is where you can order AI aircraft to do tasks via chat messages. Previously, I was hesitant to release any mod that used Lua to order AI aircraft around, as I was not aware of the Lua functionality (the "Mission" AI task) that most efficiently allows one to do this until I accessed the unreleased scripting engine documentation. So it wouldn't have been right for me to make a mod out of it.

[OpusTheFowl]

Any word for anyone on their 1.2.1 experienced? Is it me or is it 6_1?

 

Haven't had time to play with it since my last post but I did verify installation.

 

Oh, the error code refers to [string "do..."] etc...the first trigger I believe.

 

Thanks! Dying to use this.

[Speed]

Any word for anyone on their 1.2.1 experienced? Is it me or is it 6_1?

 

Sorry. 6_1 is also for 1.2.1- I should update all the posts.

 

Oh, the error code refers to [string "do..."] etc...the first trigger I believe.

 

I don't know what that is (I've seen it before though) but it has nothing to do with Slmod.

[OpusTheFowl]

Ok thanks Speed. Most likely it is something on my end like UAC or directories. I'll keep digging.

 

:(

[Speed]

Ok thanks Speed. Most likely it is something on my end like UAC or directories. I'll keep digging.

 

:(

 

Wait, so you're having a problem?

 

If you give me more info on the problem, I'll try to help. As always- dcs.log (after an attempted use of Slmod) is the most valuable piece of info you can possibly provide- indeed, one of the most valuable pieces of info you can provide for any 3D world/multiplayer DCS problem. If the problem is limited to a mission, then I need the mission. Right now, I do not have access to DCS, but I can still unzip the mission file and read it/edit it manually.

 

And WTF... why does it provide a link to the weapons_impacting_in_zones demo mission when I quote you? Odd.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Speed

[OpusTheFowl]

Ah thanks Speed. I really appreciate this especially as it's such a basic problem.

 

Attached is the log file and the mission file. Note that the log has .txt added to it to bypass the forum file filters. Also, I'm doing a basic msg test now copied right from the SLmod manual but the results still fail when they shouldn't.

 

I've checked again that the files are all in the right places and directories. I also verified that I have wscrit.exe (and files are pointing to it) as I saw that was a problem for somebody else.

 

Running the EXE as an admin and this was a maual install of the NON Servman version.

 

This appears to be the key problem:

00069.798 ERROR Actions: [string "slmod.msg_out('Hawg1 destroy enemy bunker',..."]:1: attempt to index global 'slmod' (a nil value)

 

I shortened the string as I thought maybe the "," was causing issues.

 

I did some reading over at LUA and it seems that either I'm outputting nothing or the expected return is nothing...hence the nil. But that's as far as I've gotten.

 

Again, thanks...I've tried to do as much investigation on my own but I'm either missing the obvious (most likely) or there is something odd here with my set-up.

test.miz

dcs.log.txt