Multiplayer bug allowing user to bypass "mission/multiplayer roles" setting

[Relent]

I started one of my multiplayer missions where humans can only control BLUE (i.e. US, allies) planes or units (via ground force commander), flying with a buddy from my squad. After a few minutes one person joined, followed by two others, then two out of the three left. I didn't think anything of it (maybe they didn't like the mission), until I noticed some strange behavior in the mission.

 

In summary, somehow many of the RED (i.e. Russian) columns - all hidden, some of which had no waypoints, i.e. static - were sent to locations they would never have been in unless someone was acting as a RED ground force commander. However, in the mission editor, I only allowed 4 BLUE ground force commanders and no RED ground force commanders (i.e. next to GROUND FORCE CM there was a 4 to the right - i.e. BLUE - and a 0 to the left - i.e. RED).

 

Thus, someone was able to join the mission as BLUE, then bypass the in-game settings and act as a RED ground force commander and move RED units around. IMO this is a pretty significant bug. In my case, it totally threw off the entire objective of the mission since the RED units had very specific locations/waypoints that when changed "illegally" (i.e. bypassing the mission settings) messed the mission up.

 

I have saved the track file of the mission, plus the log files in the Saved Games\DCS\Logs directory in case anyone from ED/DCS wants to take a look to see if they can spot any tell tale events. Just let me know who I should email them too.

 

Thanks.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Relent

[Grimes]

Hmmm, I have seen something similar to this occur recently. But I couldn't figure out the exact cause. In my circumstance I wasn't sure if a player had bypassed the mission or if there was some really strange bug occurring where AI would do their own thing without player input.

 

Which mission did this occur in? Can you post it here?

Can you post the track?

Did you notice any other strange behavior of AI within the mission?

[Relent]

Hmmm, I have seen something similar to this occur recently. But I couldn't figure out the exact cause. In my circumstance I wasn't sure if a player had bypassed the mission or if there was some really strange bug occurring where AI would do their own thing without player input.

 

This was most definitely a player bypassing the mission parameters, not a bug where the AI would down their own thing without player input. I have been tweaking this mission a lot lately, and playing it in multiplayer (just me hosting, no one joining) to test it out, re-tweak, re-host, over and over again. This sort of thing has never happened - only when I tried it without a password and people joined tonight did these events happen.

 

Which mission did this occur in? Can you post it here?

 

It's called "Seige of Ochamchira"

 

Can you post the track?

 

I've put the track and mission in the attached zip file. I'll send you a private message with the password for the zip file.

 

Did you notice any other strange behavior of AI within the mission?

 

Just that most of the RED units/columns were moving to areas they weren't supposed to go to, including columns that were meant to be static for the entire mission (i.e. no waypoints) and moving away from their initial locations.

 

Thanks for looking into it.

Relent

CABugStuff.zip

[Relent]

Grimes, since I can't seem to attach screen shots in private messages I'll do so here to explain what to look for in the track with two items. You can see this occurring within the first 10 minutes so you don't need to look at the track for very long. You'll just have to hit the F7 key a few times (quite a few!) to get to the RED units in question to observe their behavior, then you can check out the mission file to see what they SHOULD be doing.

 

Basically the two items I'm showing are Recon Group 2 (4 vehicles), which are moving off-road near a bridge, when they should be on the road for most of their movement until the very end of their waypoints. The second is Recon Group 3 (4 vehicles), which is supposed to be static at a T in the road, and they have been commanded to move. As stated, in the ME there should be no RED ground commanders, just BLUE.

 

The first image shows Recon Group 2 in the ME, showing the waypoints ON THE ROAD for the first 15 minutes of the mission until they get to their destination near Recon Group 3, when they go off-road slightly and stop.

 

The second image shows Recon Group 2 doing some off-roading, clearly commanded by a RED human commander.

 

The third image shows Recon Group 3 in the ME, showing that there are NO waypoints - i.e. they should be at the T in the road as static units.

 

The fourth image shows Recon Group 3 moving north away from the T in the road, where they are supposed to be static for the entire mission (or until destroyed :) ).

 

I hope this helps clarify part of what you should be looking for in the track/mission file I provided.

 

Thanks!

Relent

Edited August 10, 2012 by Relent

[Grimes]

Ok, myself and another tester are looking into it.

[Relent]

Ok, myself and another tester are looking into it.

 

Thanks, I appreciate it guys - let me know if you need an explanation regarding any aspects of the mission.

 

Relent