Hide units from F-10 map?

Hello,

after some years with casual mission building in dcs, i still wonder how to best deal with the F10 map for SP and cooperative MP.

I like the F-10 map to offer a very simple briefing in cooperative MP with enemy units visible. Of course this can be considered "cheating", but in the heat of the battle it does not change that much much, if you got a glimpse of a units position before you take-off.

Even more important for me is the possibility to switch through enemy units with the F keys. Both for briefing my wingman (who might not know every enemy unit type), to enjoy the eye candy of the high fidelity AI models and most importantly to have an interesting debriefing, where you can have a "live" look at the destruction you have caused and the units that may have gotten away.

The biggest downside for me is, that there is no way to hide enemy units from the map. I would like to have some manpads and flak spawn randomly in the AO, not to be a super high threat, but to force pilots attention without saturating the airspace with missiles.

However with those random AA units, it's really hard to not notice their approximate position when having a look at the map.

So my question would be, if there is a way to hide specific units from the f-10 map while having others show up?

Alternatively, do you have other suggestions for getting the best of both worlds?

I was thinking of working with fog-of-war settings for enemy units and place a friendly infantry team as spotters near units i want to appear on the map, but this comes with its own problems.

Ideally i would like the ability to place neutral "camera" objects that would allow players to switch through units in its vicinity or similar.

Any ideas and suggestions?

Thanks!

If you click on the group or individual unit you want to hide, in the panel on the right, just under the Heading box, is a Box that says "HIDDEN ON MAP" Just check that box.

Alternatively, if you go to your unit list, find the desired unit, and just double click on it. In the field labeled "STATUS" will appear "HIDDEN" This also indicates that the unit is now hidden on the map.

If anyone in the ED development team is reading this, what I would like to see is a "HIDE ALL RED/BLUE" option. When you have hundreds/thousands of units on the map, it would save a lot of clicking

If you click on the group or individual unit you want to hide, in the panel on the right, just under the Heading box, is a Box that says "HIDDEN ON MAP" Just check that box.

:thumbup: oh. thanks for the information. weirdly enough i knew of that button, but i thought that would only be for the editor to make the UI less cluttered. i guess i never really tried it! :music_whistling:

i thought that would only be for the editor to make the UI less cluttered.

NOTE: Checking that box will hide it from the editor as well. Once you check that box, and close the panel, the only way to have those units show again is through the "View Unit List" button on the left.

NOTE that hiding works for Mission editor placed units

If you spawn a unit that has the hidden flag ticked .... it will not be hidden on F10

NOTE that hiding works for Mission editor placed units

If you spawn a unit that has the hidden flag ticked .... it will not be hidden on F10

If I'm understanding correctly, what you are saying is if a unit is script activated it will be visible on the F10 map? I'm assuming this rule does not apply if you have limited map views on (Allies Only, or Map Only). Correct??

Correct Baaz; the HIDDEN option will hide the unit in the mission planner and summary of forces in the briefing window.

Units will still be visible dependent on the server's F10 map settings; a "hidden" unit visible on the F10 map will have an opaque icon.

My personal preference is a combination of hiding all enemy positions and the "fog of war" F10 map settings, which will only show enemy units detected by a friendly.

thanks for all the replys so far.

i really feel that we would need a dedicated "show on map" options, to have certain units visible on the map (and viewable with F7) even when "fog of war" is selected.

the only workaround i can think of is having a friendly "spotter" unit hiding near the enemy units you want visible.

alternatively is there a simple way to change server f-10 map settings during the mission?

f.e. having "fog of war" on during the mission, but switching it off after landing for debrief etc.

Negative, no way to change that option in real-time.

Once the mission starts, you get what you set during ME. There's no changing it.

Now, if what you're wanting is something to look at, and even show the guys, in terms of a debrief, i'd recommend this: https://www.tacview.net/product/about/en/

It's an excellent product, one that I wish was part of DCS altogether.

@feefifofum, baaz:

thanks again for the replies. very much appreciated.

i really hope we will get at least some more ME options concerning map visibility, as well as simple briefing and debriefing tools. maybe i'll do a post in the wishlist section then...

 

If anyone in the ED development team is reading this, what I would like to see is a "HIDE ALL RED/BLUE" option. When you have hundreds/thousands of units on the map, it would save a lot of clicking

+1 Agreed

What I do is hide everything when I add it, except for one unit, depending on Intel.

This way approximate locations/areas are mapped but otherwise unknown.