Slmod- multiplayer server mod for new mission logic functionality

[chromium]

take this as a "stupid" try: write "-spawntask" instead of "spawntask".... I did not try (timeless), sorry :(

 

@Speed: have you tested SLmod 5.3 in DCS World? Otherwise.. do you need some reports about test? I'm going to download World and make tests to get used with the new editor features.

[Hamblue]

Thanks

I just found the answer in post 183 of this thread.

slmod_daemon.vbs was associated with notepad. When I followed the post 183 instructions it started working.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Hamblue

[Speed]

take this as a "stupid" try: write "-spawntask" instead of "spawntask".... I did not try (timeless), sorry :(

 

@Speed: have you tested SLmod 5.3 in DCS World? Otherwise.. do you need some reports about test? I'm going to download World and make tests to get used with the new editor features.

 

Slmod beta 5.3 will not work in DCS: World, but don't worry: I already I have a version of the WIP Slmod version 6.0 that appears to be working 100% in DCS: World. Considering most folks are just screwing around in the P-51 right now and not making any kinds of missions where Slmod might be needed, I wasn't really busting my butt to try to release it.

 

One possibility I may pursue is to release a "beta" version of the Slmod v6 this weekend, the primary goal of which would be just for people to report any bugs in pre-existing functions supported by Slmodbeta5.3. There have been some significant changes to the code base, and I need to make sure all the old stuff works. In the mean time, I can be applying some final changes, and writing the documentation for Slmodv6.

 

Or I may just hold off and release Slmodv6 in a few weeks, and beta test it internally within the 1st VFW.

 

Last major thing I need to do before I release anything is re-write the parallel tasking system under the new OO menu system. The options system has already been re-written, and appears to be working. It works pretty similar to how it works now, only "-sol" show commands (and the showing of the menu) and "-op" option selects are private- only the person who asked for the menu can see the chat message & the menu. There still is, of course, a "Speed selected option 2, "Spawn F-16 CAS" chat message that is sent to all players within the "scope" of that menu. I will probably make this privacy an optional setting.

 

Besides just private messaging to-and-from menus, what is cool is that under the new OO menu system, it is super-easy to create new menus, destroy old menus, and create menus that are only accessible for a specific client, unit, or coalition. I could create specialized "host only" menus, for example. So it's going to be a super-useful system... assuming, that is, that ED doesn't introduce an actual Lua GUI menu system that works with clients :D

[Speed]

Update:

 

Ok, I had to fix numerous bugs with the new menu system. But it looks like the parallel tasking system and parallel options system are now fully integrated into it. As the options list showing, task list showing, and task showing are now private text-to-group, the default output mode is now trigger text. This can be very easily changed, however, as the defaults are set in the SlmodConfig.lua file.

 

I'm now very close to being ready to release a beta version- if anyone is actually interested in a beta version. If not, the full version will be ready soon enough. This is a list of some of the things that have already been implemented:

 

Changes (those I can remember):

-DCS: World compatibility

 

-Fixed a problem with units_hitting that prevented filtering of the optional output message by coalition.

 

-Fixed a problem with units_hitting that would sometimes cause the function to detect hitting events that occurred before the function was invoked

 

-Fixed a bug with units exporting that could cause unit exporting and various slmod functions to not work with a mission with a very low unit count.

 

-Fixed a bug with the daemon where it wouldn’t open correctly if the .vbs file extension was not defaulted to open with wscript.exe.

 

-In addition to human flyable A-10Cs and Ka-50s, Slmod now supports a much larger list of human flyable aircraft (part of the DCS World compatibility).

 

-Implemented new function calling method- You can specify Slmod function variables the normal way, or put them in a table. An example:

 

 

-- The old way, shown below, still works:
Slmod.add_blue_task(132, 'msg_MGRS', 'Engage enemy tank platoon', 'Mike 66 has spotted enemy armor near %s.  Destroy these targets!', {'[g]Rus_tanks_1'}, 6)

--But now this works too!
function add_blue_task({id = 132, task_type = 'msg_MGRS', description = 'Engage enemy tank platoon', msg = 'Mike 66 has spotted enemy armor near %s.  Destroy these targets!', units = {'[g]Rus_tanks_1'}, precision = 6})

--[[And those table entries can be in any order, and constructed in any way a table is normally constructed.  
No need to specify optional variables you don't want to use anymore just to "get to" an optional variable you DO want to use.

So here is another equivalent way of doing this:]]
do
local task = {}
task['task_type'] = 'msg_MGRS'
task['units'] = {'[g]Rus_tanks_1'}
task['precision'] = 6
task['msg'] = 'Mike 66 has spotted enemy armor near %s.  Destroy these targets!'
task['id'] = 132
task['description'] = 'Engage enemy tank platoon'

Slmod.add_blue_task(task)
end

--Or this:
do
local task = {
	description = 'Engage enemy tank platoon',
	id = 132,
	msg = 'Mike 66 has spotted enemy armor near %s.  Destroy these targets!',
	task_type = 'msg_MGRS',
	precision = 6,
	units = {'[g]Rus_tanks_1'},
}
Slmod.add_blue_task(task)
end
--[[so hopefully you can see how this ends up being a superior method for those that are more well-versed in Lua.  
Again, the old way still works and will continue to be supported.]]

 

 

 

-Implemented new units table short cuts. Instead of having to specify like hundreds of units in some unit tables, you can now just use the following short cuts:

 

 

 

--[[
Prefixes:
"[-u]<unit name>" - subtract this unit if its in the table
"[g]<group name>" - add this group to the table
"[-g]<group name>" - subtract this group from the table
"[c]<country name>"  - add this country's units
"[-c]<country name>" - subtract this country's units if any are in the table

Stand-alone identifiers
"[blue]" - add all blue coalition units
"[red]" - add all red coalition units
"[all]" - all units

COUNTRIES:
"Turkey" 
"Norway"
"The Netherlands"
"Spain"
"UK"
"Denmark"
"USA"
"Georgia"
"Germany"
"Belgium"
"Canada"
"France"
"Israel"
"Ukraine"
"Russia"
"South Osetia"
"Abkhazia"
]]

Unit tables are evaluated in order, so, for example:

{'[blue]', '[-g]Chevy 1', '[-u]Hawg 11', '[-c]Georgia'}

This will evaluate to all units on blue coaltion EXCEPT for all the units in the group named "Chevy 1", the unit named "Hawg 11", and units belonging to the country named "Georgia".

 

However, this:

{'[-g]Chevy 1', '[-u]Hawg 11', '[-c]Georgia', '[blue]'}

Will evaluate to simply all the units on the blue coalition, because the unit tables are evaluated in order, and the last group of units to be added was all the units on the blue coalition.

 

 

 

-Implemented the "Slmod debugger"- see previous posts on this. Basically, any Lua syntax errors in triggered actions (waypoint actions not supported at this time) will trigger a pop-up text message at the beginning of the multiplayer mission, plus an error report will be output to Saved Game\whatever\Logs. Configurable with SlmodConfig.lua configuration file.

 

-Implemented the coordinate conversion utility. See previous posts on this. Basically, it's a chat-based and text-based coordinate conversion utility that allows you to rapidly convert coordinates between L/L, MGRS, Bullseye, and bearing/range coordinate systems. Type "-conv" in chat to see the help menu for the coordinate conversion utility, and "-conv help" to get even more detailed help.

 

The coordinate conversion utility was intended mainly to help non-A-10 aircraft interpret coordinates easier. This has some significant applications for cooperative game play between the different DCS modules. For example, a Lat/Long coordinate given by a mission trigger/Slmod function/multiplayer client can be quickly converted into a bearing and range by someone flying an FC3 Su-25. Or a Ka-50 can convert some lat/long coordinates into MGRS for the benefit of A-10s or a battle commander who are using MGRS.

 

-Parallel Options System (POS) and Parallel Tasking System (PTS) re-written from scratch in the new OO menu system format. This has implications in that the POS and PTS are now almost instantly responsive (In fact, the response was so fast, I had to deliberately slow it down). Additionally, requests and responses to/from the PTS and POS are now private (except for a "Player selected option X" message in the POS).

 

-FEATURE REMOVAL: Support for Slmod functions in config, server, export, and net environments removed (Slmod remains usable in the mission scripting and mission Lua environments, where is all anyone uses it from anyway). This was done to help clean up the global namespaces. Also support in the "config" and "net" environments was really a pretty silly feature in the first place, and support in the "export" and "server" (aka "main simulation") environments was a pretty useless feature no one was using. Anyway, if anyone actually was using it in any of the removed environments (and I very highly doubt it), I will add it back.

 

-Enhancement: functions that formerly had "prefacemsg" variables, such as msg_MGRS, msg_LL, msg_lead, add_task, etc.- the "prefacemsg" variable can now have a %s character sequence in it. If this character sequence is present, then the coordinates are inserted in its place.

 

-Changed lat/long messages with tasks/msgs to output leading zeros, as some people don't realize that 41 2.7'E should be entered as 041027 (or 04102.7) in the CDU.

 

-Improved response time and efficiency of msg_MGRS, msg_LL, msg_leading functions

 

-Improved efficiency of units_LOS code

 

-Improved code efficiency overall

 

-Numerous other improvements to code.

 

-When calling functions, Slmod. now works in addition to slmod.

 

New functions:

-Slmod.units_killed_by(dead_units, killer_units, flag, stopflag, last_to_hit, time_limit)

-Slmod.pilots_dead(units, flag, stopflag)

-Slmod.units_crashed(units, flag, stopflag)

-Slmod.units_ejected(units, flag, stopflag)

 

Known problems:

-Only Caucuses theater supported. Some Slmod functions, specifically those dealing with coordinates, and also the Coordinate Conversion Utility, are likely to malfunction in say, Nevada. I will have a small nightmare on my hands making everything compatible once Nevada is actually released.

-Coordinate converter does not correct for North axis error in BR and BULL formats.

 

Still to do

Slmod.units_in_moving_zones function is mostly complete.

Slmod.units_ejected_in_zone? I might do this one. It's useful for determining of someone ejected in friendly or enemy teritory.

 

Weapons in zones functions: I am beginning to code these. I am reasonably certain I can make these work well. I would guess when detecting gun fire from rapid fire systems, they will be the most computationally exspensive functions in Slmod. So intelligent usage by the mission maker is a must. For example, monitoring weapon impacts from Mk-82s or rockets from four aircraft should almost certainly not slow down the computer; however, if you're trying to monitor cannon fire from a bunch of units, and several of them open up with long bursts of extremely rapid fire weapons (like the GAU-8 or M61 Vulcan) you could end up reducing the host to single digit frame rates. Also, intelligent use of the stopflag variable to stop function evaluation when no longer needed is important. It's all dependent on how much I can maximize the efficiency of code evaluation for these functions.

 

I expect weapons impacting in/weapons inside zones to be useful in certain situations, such as:

Weapons impacting in zones:

-CAS

-Runway bombing ("you must hit each segment of the runway with a Mk-84 to knock it out")

-Simulating bombing a "suspected truck park" (watch Flight of the Intruder if you want to get this one ;))

-Simulating "suppressing fire"

-Giving shift fire directives

 

Weapons in zones funcitons (impacting or not) will be slightly less useful, but still have some cool capabilities:

-Firing "shots off the bow" of enemies- for example, make a TU-95 return to base after you fire some guns near it.

-Making pilots scream "SAM! ENGAGED DEFENSIVE!!!" when a SAM passes within a certain zone of them (especially useful once we get the radio message on unit that is included with DCS world)

 

Anyway, does anyone have any feedback on the following functions? Now is the chance. It looks like I can do them, but they will be moderately challenging and could delay Slmodv6 release by an extra week or more.

 

 

Conceptual weapons in zones functions:

Slmod.weapons_impacting_in_zones(zones, init_units, weapon_types, flag, stopflag)

**sets a flag if weapons impact inside one or more stationary ME zones**

zones can either a single string, a single zone name, or a table of zone names

init_units - table of required intitator units, weapon must be launched by one of these.

weapon_types - table of weapon types to be detected. Probably some generic names - such as "guns" or "explosives", or specific weapon type names like "mk-84".

flag - flag that gets set when weapons impact in zone

stopflag - setting this flag true stops the function from operating

 

 

Slmod.weapons_impacting_in_moving_zones(zoneunits, zoneradius, init_units, weapon_types, flag, stopflag)

**sets a flag if weapons impact inside a moving zone around one or more units**

zonesunits- table of zone center unts

zoneradius - the radius around these units

init_units - table of required intitator units, weapon must be launched by one of these.

weapon_types - table of weapon types to be detected. Probably some generic names - such as "guns" or "explosives", or specific weapon type names like "mk-84".

flag - flag that gets set when weapons impact in zone

stopflag - setting this flag true stops the function from operating

 

Slmod.weapons_inside_zones(zones, zonetype, init_units, weapon_types, flag, stopflag)

**sets a flag if weapons come inside one or more stationary ME zones**

zones can either a single string, a single zone name, or a table of zone names

zonetype - 'cylinder' or 'sphere'

init_units - table of required intitator units, weapon must be launched by one of these.

weapon_types - table of weapon types to be detected. Probably some generic names - such as "guns" or "explosives", or specific weapon type names like "mk-84".

flag - flag that gets set when weapons impact in zone

stopflag - setting this flag true stops the function from operating

 

Slmod.weapons_impacting_in_moving_zones(zoneunits, zoneradius, zonetype, init_units, weapon_types, flag, stopflag)

**sets a flag if weapons are come inside one more more moving zones around a unit**

zonesunits- table of zone center unts

zoneradius - the radius around these units

zonetype - 'cylinder' or 'sphere'

init_units - table of required intitator units, weapon must be launched by one of these.

weapon_types - table of weapon types to be detected. Probably some generic names - such as "guns" or "explosives", or specific weapon type names like "mk-84".

flag - flag that gets set when weapons impact in zone

stopflag - setting this flag true stops the function from operating

 

 

Notably absent:

The AFAC and SAR function set to control AI aircraft. While this remains one of my top desires, I am waiting for something before I continue to work on them. Sorry but I cannot be more specific.

 

Anyway, I thought with all my broken promises about when I'd release the next version I'd just give this update. Also, much of this update was already written or needed for the documentation I am beginning to prepare.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Speed

[chromium]

if anyone is actually interested in a beta version

 

Guess who could be the "anyone" here :D:D:D:D

 

But since now I simply need POS, PTS and LOS function in DCS world to survive until full version is out :).

[daribouca]

All this sounds really amazing ! Thank you so much for all the time you spent working on this, it is much appreciated ! :beer:

 

Perhaps we could donate a little via a Paypal account ? I'd gladly do so !

 

I am waiting for something before I continue to work on them.

 

Now you got me waiting too, even if I don't know what I'm waiting for (yet) =)

[Speed]

Guess who could be the "anyone" here :D:D:D:D

 

But since now I simply need POS, PTS and LOS function in DCS world to survive until full version is out :).

 

Ok, but I haven't yet tested the units_LOS function in DCS: World, so let me know if it works for you. In fact, just about any function could be broken, as almost everything was modified to some degree or another.

 

Slmodv6 WIP/Beta for non-Servman DCS:W 1.1.2.1 and DCS:BS/WH 1.1.1.1 (does Servman even work for DCS: World?):

0) Download and extract this file:

http://forums.eagle.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=65732&stc=1&d=1336692828

Inside the "Slmod v6 WIP" folder you should have two folders, one contains the files for DCS: World, 1.1.2.1, the other contains the files for DCS: BS/WH 1.1.1.1. Select the appropriate one. Inside each of these, there are two files and a folder:

"MissionScripting.lua" - lua file

"server.lua" - lua file

"Slmodv035" -folder

 

1) In <DCS directory>/Scripts, rename "MissionScripting.lua" to "MissionScripting_original.lua". Paste the appropriate "MissionScripting.lua" file you just downloaded and extracted here.

 

2) In <DCS directory>/Scripts/net, rename "server.lua" to "server_original.lua". Paste in the appropriate "server.lua" file you just downloaded and extracted here.

 

3) Paste the "Slmodv035" folder into <DCS directory>/Scripts/net as well.

 

Let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. I have yet to go through the full testing cycle so many features are only partially tested, even in DCS 1.1.1.1.

Slmod v6 WIP.zip

Edited May 10, 2012 by Speed

[chromium]

I will test ASAP, where ASAP means at least 2 weeks starting now :).

[Speed]

Excellent news on weapons impacting in zone! Instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing tonight, I instead wrote some dirty, inefficient code as a quick test of the weapons impacting in zone concept. I had before tested individual concepts but never had put them together into something that works. Well... it is indeed quite possible detect weapons impacting in zone! In fact, it's not even as hard as I thought. Even with very dirty, unoptimized code, while simultaneously tracking 1130 GAU-8 rounds, each round being checked ten times a second (where the check involves getting the round's positional and orientational data and doing some basic trig calculations), the computer didn't even noticeably slow down!

 

So I reloaded with FRAPS to benchmark it, and did comparisons of 1100 GAU-8 projectiles airborne with and without the weapons impacting in zone code (I went to external views on a distant ground object).

 

With the code:

110 FPS

Without the code:

135 FPS

 

That's a difference of 1.7 ms. That's like a drop of 1.5 FPS at more typical frame rate of 30 FPS. So with unoptimized code under a near worst-case scenario, we're talking about 1.5 FPS drop (with one zone- tracking weapons impacting into two zones will probably increase the calculation time by a few percent). Conclusion: once this code is optimized, when invoked by a mission creator, there will be no detectable frame rate loss or at most, a barely detectable frame rate loss, for the host under almost all practical uses and conditions.

 

Start practicing with smoke rockets... you're going to need to be able to use them to direct AI aircraft very soon :)

[_Heater_]

Fantastic Job Speed ;)

[sorcer3r]

 

Start practicing with smoke rockets... you're going to need to be able to use them to direct AI aircraft very soon :)

 

Nice! so we only need the A10C/BS2 patch.

Btw is also AI JDAM still wip?

[Speed]

Nice! so we only need the A10C/BS2 patch.

Btw is also AI JDAM still wip?

Yes, sorry, I should have been more clear about this:

Start practicing with smoke rockets... you're going to need to be able to use them to direct AI aircraft very soon :)

What I mean by this is that once weapons_impacting_in_zone and its related functions are complete, it should be very easy to use it and mission editor triggers to create logic like this:

 

IF weapons_impacting_in_moving_zone( weapons = smoke rockets, launcher aircraft = human clients, zone units = ground unit group, zone radius = 1000) THEN

 

OUTPUT MESSAGE("Player: Mark is on the deck")

 

WAIT 15 SECONDS THEN

 

OUTPUT MESSAGE ("AI aircraft group: Contact the mark, engaging enemy")

AI TASK(AI aircraft group attack ground unit group)

END

Edited May 11, 2012 by Speed

[chromium]

@Speed, as said in pm, in this post is attached the excel file used for LOS and TASK script building.

SLmod_script_builder.zip

[Speed]

@Speed, as said in pm, in this post is attached the excel file used for LOS and TASK script building.

 

Thank you! That looks awesome. I had no idea how to do what you did with Excel. Well, maybe I did at one time. But then, along came MS Office 2007, and I had to get help from someone else just to save a file. Five years later, I still struggle with MS office 2007. Anyway, maybe I can use your file as a "programming example", and eventually make an Excel file that will assemble any Slmod function call.

 

ANYWAY...

I spent a lot of time working on the weapons impacting in zones functions this weekend. I now have slmod.weapons_impacting_in_zones and slmod.weapons_impacting_in_moving_zones working. The functions slmod.weapons_in_zones and slmod.weapons_in_moving_zones are almost complete too (the difference is that the "weapons_in_zones" functions detect the presence of weapons in zones, regardless of whether those weapons impact, or just fly through).

 

Anyway, I had some good fun laying down smoke and having the AI run in on the targets I marked with smoke this evening. Maybe I'll set up a human Ka-50, AI Su-25 co-op mission and upload a youtube of it tomorrow or the next day.

 

The problem is, I really suck at naming things. If I ever have a kid, the wife will definitely have to name him/her, otherwise they'll just end up being named "Human Child" or something like that. So right now, the problem is that these function names are ridiculously long:

slmod.weapons_impacting_in_zones

slmod.weapons_impacting_in_moving_zones

slmod.weapons_in_zones not so bad

slmod.weapons_in_moving_zones

 

I've been trying to think of a shorter name for them that still encapsulates what they do, and that follows the naming conventions I've used for other functions, but I can't think of one. I suppose I could abbreviate weapons with like wpns, but that doesn't really help all that much... maybe they will just have to keep these ridiculously long names.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Speed

[chromium]

First:

POS system tested in DCS-World and it’s working to me (red and blue coalition tested, SO Win7-64bit).

 

Ladder:

Suggestion for SLmod future feature (read as a wish-list item ;) ):

 

The ability to do not set a particular flag only, but to execute a particular triggered action of the group triggered action index.

 

Fake examples:

 

For flags:

Slmod.add_red_option(1001,”Adding option one”, {“[g]Group1”}, [f]4)

 

For triggered actions:

Slmod.add_red_option(1001,”Adding option one”, {“[g]Group1”}, [t]4)

 

The layout could be:

Slmod.add_red_option(option ID number, description, tableunits, action)

 

The [t] means “triggered actions index ID” (works like the switch actions command, in my mind)

The [f] means “flag” and work as it is working now.

 

Why all this mess? Cause of this :p

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1459782#post1459782

[Speed]

First:

POS system tested in DCS-World and it’s working to me (red and blue coalition tested, SO Win7-64bit).

Thanks for the test. I'm busy enough testing other things that any assistance testing Slmod is greatly appreciated! (Slmod has now slipped to a secondary priority for me- thankfully, due to my last-second push to finish it over the previous few weeks, even as a secondary priority, it will still be done very soon).

 

Ladder:

Suggestion for SLmod future feature (read as a wish-list item ;) ):

 

The ability to do not set a particular flag only, but to execute a particular triggered action of the group triggered action index.

 

Fake examples:

 

For flags:

Slmod.add_red_option(1001,”Adding option one”, {“[g]Group1”}, [f]4)

 

For triggered actions:

Slmod.add_red_option(1001,”Adding option one”, {“[g]Group1”}, [t]4)

 

The layout could be:

Slmod.add_red_option(option ID number, description, tableunits, action)

 

The [t] means “triggered actions index ID” (works like the switch actions command, in my mind)

The [f] means “flag” and work as it is working now.

 

Why all this mess? Cause of this :p

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1459782#post1459782

 

That's a good idea. Perhaps the flag variable could be overloaded to also accept a table that contains group name and triggered action id number. I'll think about it. I can think of one technical challenge right off the bat, but that should be solvable. If I decide I can implement this, I can't promise when it might be ready. Just about every function that has a flag output would need to be changed... and that's a lot of functions. Slmodv6 is kinda on "feature freeze" while I finish off the last tidbits (fixing a small bug in weapons detection logic, finishing the reference manual, finish testing a few functions, final implementations of a few functions).

Edited May 18, 2012 by Speed

[Snoopy]

Thanks for all your hard work Speed!

[JaBoG32_Herby]

Hi Speed,

 

I´ve been using and enjoying your great mod for a good while now and I´ve also been trying out the latest version that you´ve kindly "prereleased".

 

May I ask, if there already is a documentation (or part of it) available to better understand the changes and new functionalities that were introduced since V5.3?

 

Best regards

 

Herby

[MadTommy]

Thanks again Speed for all your hard work, I have been out of the loop for some time, it looks like i have quite a lot of reading to get back up to speed.

[Speed]

Hi Speed,

 

I´ve been using and enjoying your great mod for a good while now and I´ve also been trying out the latest version that you´ve kindly "prereleased".

 

May I ask, if there already is a documentation (or part of it) available to better understand the changes and new functionalities that were introduced since V5.3?

 

Best regards

 

Herby

 

I was working on the documentation before I left for vacation in early June. I'll get back to it now that I am back.

[JaBoG32_Herby]

Speed,

 

thank you for your reply and for your time invested in this great tool.

 

Best regards

 

Herby

[Mt5_Roie]

Thanks for all your help Speed. Will work on updating our missions tonight and report back.

[Mechanist]

Tested the slmod v6 beta with DCS:W 1.2.0.0 and I can't get it to work. Anyone else having the same or I just misplaced something?

 

Looks like the ED have changed something in the process...

[Mt5_Roie]

I got the error:

 

[string "SLmod.add_option(103, "range name"];1: attempt to index_global 'slmod' (a nil value)

[Mechanist]

Yes you got this when you not install the mod and try to open a mission with lua slmod lua scripts in it.