[ALL MODULES][SP/CO-OP] Liberation Dynamic Campaign

My DCS isn't a steam install

If you ever installed DCS on a drive or even a directory other than the one you have it installed on now the registry is pointing to the wrong directory and the script will fail looking for it.

Search your registry for "DCS World" and when you see the key that points at the install directory, make sure it is pointing to the right one.

Khopa has released a new version that fixes a crash when starting a new campaign.

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/releases

After playing a bit a few questions:

Will there be precision strike missions generated? In the first few days all I see are CAP and CAS missions.

What do the two numbers before the runways on the base information screen mean? like "15/17"?

What is the best way to set up an AI CAP flight that I would want to go to the front lines?

I think I should be rearranging all the times for the flights myself after I put myself in one so that they all go out when I want them to?

Is there a way to tell what the waypoints for a mission are on the campaign map in the Liberation application's map? I turn on "flightplans" in the view settings, but if I make a CAP flight with a waypoint to the frontline, I don't see any flightplan lines for it. I only see friendly BARCAP flight lines

On the waypoints topic, when flying the F18 I don't get any waypoints when creating a custom flight and giving it waypoints. I've tried assigning the frontline as well as two different precision targets to custom flights I made and there were no waypoints when flying.

When I create my own flight it doesn't assign an appropriate loadout. I need to manually assign the loadout every time (being able to save custom loadouts to use in the future would be awesome).

what is the difference between a red mission and a blue mission? Is a red mission a defence mission or something?

A few more comments

Things can get extremely heavy in the mission after a few minutes. I start getting a ton of lost frames on my i7 7770 1070ti setup. It would be awesome if you could create lighter versions of the campaigns for people with mid range systems. Maybe the same scenario and campaign, but with half the units on the map. It gets really bad in VR and starts to make me a bit queasy when things start going off. It looks amazing though!

Also, when I'm playing the blue side in the first Caucasus campaign the patriot radar at the friendly southern airbase is constantly locking me throughout the mission. I'm not sure if that is just a DCS thing or maybe something is set weird with that SAM site.

Let me also say that this is seriously one of the best dynamic campaigns I've played to date. It is almost hitting the high mark of Falcon4/BMS. It's like you took the best parts of Falcon 4 and Comanche vs Havok and combined them into a dense, streamlined experience. This is kind of my dream game.

Between this and Snowfox I'm in heaven. Now if only both of them could have options for a less CPU intensive campaign.

Khopa did a great job improving this campaign for us. Thank you Khopa!

 

(From his post on discord)

 

Khopa

 

Hey guys,

 

I made a playable pre-release for my DCS Liberation fork/rewrite (QT UI branch.)

I believe I have fixed most obvious issues now, and it is now an enjoyable campaign system in my opinion. I managed to play and complete a campaign in SP.

 

Please let me know if you are able to run it, and enjoy the campaign

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/releases/tag/2.0RC4

 

I made a few basic tutorials to help get people started :

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/wiki/Getting-started

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/wiki/Tutorial-01-:-UI

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/wiki/Tutorial-02-:-First-turn

https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/wiki/Tutorial-03-:-First-operation

 

But the tutorials do not cover all the features yet.

 

And .... it's 6AM there and i am tired.

 

(Note : This does not support supercarrier yet;)

I really like the new interface.

Does anyone know if it is still moddable? Can we adjust which units are included in the different factions/scenarios?

I want to add the community A4 aircraft, but can no longer find the planes.py file.

Thanks,

Hi, thanks a lot for working on this project, the new interface is great !

However, I have a problem : I want to start a Strike mission on an enemy base, but on the window asking me which planes to take to the mission, the "Commit" button is too low on the screen and I can't click on it, because there are too many planes in the SEAD, Strike and Escort sections.

A suggestion : either add a scroll bar, or the possibility to expand/collapse those lists.

Thanks in advance.

Starting the sim on first liberation generated mission - 'Your flight is delayed to start' and all I can do is watch other airborne aircraft.

What does this mean? Any way of speeding up time? Or is the wait not that long?

That is ceverd by the tutorial.

Had the same problem the first time. You have to set your own flights start time to T +0 in order to start directly.

Btw:

I have tried the Persian gulf (emirates) campaign and noticed, that the option "start from Runway" creates an airstart instead.

Can anyone confirm this?

Hello guys, finally got my ED forum account to work.

So, there is a lot of questions, i'll try to answer them.

Starting the sim on first liberation generated mission - 'Your flight is delayed to start' and all I can do is watch other airborne aircraft.

What does this mean? Any way of speeding up time? Or is the wait not that long?

It is because the flight you have selected is not supposed to start immediatly.

If you want to avoid this message, put Departure time at "T + 0 minutes" in the flight planner :

Otherwise you may indeed have to wait a while.

However, I have a problem : I want to start a Strike mission on an enemy base, but on the window asking me which planes to take to the mission, the "Commit" button is too low on the screen and I can't click on it, because there are too many planes in the SEAD, Strike and Escort sections.

 

A suggestion : either add a scroll bar, or the possibility to expand/collapse those lists.

Can you provide a screenshot ?

Are you sure you are not using the old version ? (It was a common issue in the old UI)

And there is now a scrollbar for the flight list on the new version :

Does anyone know if it is still moddable? Can we adjust which units are included in the different factions/scenarios?

Not yet, sorry.

But you can run from source and edit the "factions" files if you want. But it's bit more complicated, and i'm not sure the dev guide is up to date.

Be sure to check out QT_UI branch on github, the master is still on the old tkinter UI.

Github repo is there : https://github.com/shdwp/dcs_liberation/tree/qt_ui

For the A4,it's a plane i'd like to include, but it will have to be done in the "pydcs" library, which is the main dependency for this project that provide the airplane datase and such.

Let me also say that this is seriously one of the best dynamic campaigns I've played to date. It is almost hitting the high mark of Falcon4/BMS.

Thanks, it means a lot.

But let's not exagerate, it's nowhere close to the greatness of Falcon BMS campaign. :D

Between this and Snowfox I'm in heaven. Now if only both of them could have options for a less CPU intensive campaign.

I will eventually add performance settings, it is on my todo-list.

It can indeed get really busy, and this is why, the "recommended" maps are rather small.

what is the difference between a red mission and a blue mission? Is a red mission a defence mission or something?

In the old version, RED were defence mission iirc.

It is not done this way anymore in the new UI.

Will there be precision strike missions generated? In the first few days all I see are CAP and CAS missions.

Coming soon :)

But you can already set up your own, see : https://github.com/Khopa/dcs_liberation/wiki/Tutorial-04-:-Setting-up-a-custom-%22Strike%22-mission

What do the two numbers before the runways on the base information screen mean? like "15/17"?

The first number (15) is the number of aircraft on the base, the second one (17) is the number of frontline ground units.

I want to improve the base information screen in the future, it's far from perfect right now.

What is the best way to set up an AI CAP flight that I would want to go to the front lines?

I'd say add a CAP flight, departing a bit before yours, with it's waypoint on the frontline, then another on the nearby friendly airbase, then a new one to the frontline. And so on, so it loiter around for a while. There is not really a clean method yet, it needs improvement.

Or just trust the already planned AI CAP flights, most of them will take off, and loiter around for a while, engaging all ennemy targets in range.

Maybe i will add an Escort flight generator in the future, because i want it to be really simple for the user.

Is there a way to tell what the waypoints for a mission are on the campaign map in the Liberation application's map? I turn on "flightplans" in the view settings, but if I make a CAP flight with a waypoint to the frontline, I don't see any flightplan lines for it. I only see friendly BARCAP flight lines

Are you sure ?

You should be able to see them, can you provide a save file ?

When I create my own flight it doesn't assign an appropriate loadout. I need to manually assign the loadout every time (being able to save custom loadouts to use in the future would be awesome).

Do the AI planes spawns with inappropriate loadout as well ?

What was your flight "TASK", and what the payload you got if you did not check "use custom loadout" ?

Basically,an F/A-18 BARCAP should have a Spamraam config, CAS should have Mavericks, and STRIKE should have bombs.

You can see the default loadout files in "resources/customized_payloads" folder and modify them if required (but it can be really tedious, believe me ).

Is there a way to tell what the waypoints for a mission are on the campaign map in the Liberation application's map? I turn on "flightplans" in the view settings, but if I make a CAP flight with a waypoint to the frontline, I don't see any flightplan lines for it. I only see friendly BARCAP flight lines

Are you sure ?

You should be able to see them, can you provide a save file ?

My bad, there is an issue in RC5, the predefined frontline waypoint is not exactly where it's supposed to be, it's probably why you are unable to see it.

It will be fixed in next pre-release version.

Using an F18, no matter what mission I assign it, I always start with the same loadout (6 sidewinders, 2 aim7s).

I think the AI is appropriately outfitted to their tasks however.

Out of curiosity, why do I need to load into the mission editor instead of straight loading the mission?

Also, at what point do you remove destroyed assets? I might be misreading the mission editor map, but when I load up the latest mission in the editor, it looks like all the enemy SAM sites are still there... but when I play the mission they seem to be destroyed

My bad, there is an issue in RC5, the predefined frontline waypoint is not exactly where it's supposed to be, it's probably why you are unable to see it.

 

It will be fixed in next pre-release version.

Ok thanks.

Am I supposed to be seeing the waypoints I assigned my flight when I'm in an F18? I don't think I've ever seen them, when I cycle through them they are all empty

I was using the old version, indeed ! Thanks !

My bad, there is an issue in RC5, the predefined frontline waypoint is not exactly where it's supposed to be, it's probably why you are unable to see it.

 

It will be fixed in next pre-release version.

Hey Khopa, your work is amazing, congratulations!!! IMO this is the only real dynamic campaign, the others are just random missions generator.

How is the progress of WW2 implementation? DCS WW2 really needs this, we lack campaigns.

With the P47 release, it will be a most welcome addition.

BTW, do you have a patreon link so we can donate for this incredible work?

BTW, do you have a patreon link so we can donate for this incredible work?

+1

@Khopa this looks amazing, and I'm going to get it and play around with it today! Might I suggest either getting in touch with shdwp to incorporate this into the OP, or start a new thread? I'd hate to think people might miss this because it's on page 46 lol. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Another cool thing I noticed is I can command my ground troops because I have combined arms. I had a tank column assault a SAM site to clear the way for my A10 to get a infantry column behind it.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback and kind words.

Out of curiosity, why do I need to load into the mission editor instead of straight loading the mission?

In fact it is not needed for single player.

As this is a pre-release, and i'm doing all my test from launching from the ME, i prefer to advise people to do the same for now.

But it is needed for multiplayer. In fact, if you try to host the mission on a server, if you have not opened it and saved in the mission editor before, all the flights that are supposed to appear later will spawn immedialty. Which results in .. chaos, to say the least.

Also, at what point do you remove destroyed assets? I might be misreading the mission editor map, but when I load up the latest mission in the editor, it looks like all the enemy SAM sites are still there... but when I play the mission they seem to be destroyed

Destroyed SAM units should not appear in the generated mission that you see in the editor. (units are tracked individually, so for instance if you destroy the radars for a SAM site, the site will spawn without them, and will be almost useless)

For strike target buildings, they are also tracked individually, but they will still appear in the ME and in the mission as the destroyed version of the same Static object.

Make sure to close/reload the mission in the ME if it looks exactly like the previous mission. (When you close the mission, and the end game screen in DCS after laucnhing from the editor, it will reload the mission editor with the same mission that has been played, even if the mission file has changed on disk.)

Am I supposed to be seeing the waypoints I assigned my flight when I'm in an F18? I don't think I've ever seen them, when I cycle through them they are all empty

Yes, you should see them, that's weird. Do they appear in the Mission Editor ?

But i've also noticed a possible issue in the Mission Planning UI. When you add a new flight, it does not select it immediatly, so if you go the waypoint tab immediatly, you'll end up editing another flight waypoints. Maybe that's what happened ? I'll fix that so that the created flight is immedialty selected.

Using an F18, no matter what mission I assign it, I always start with the same loadout (6 sidewinders, 2 aim7s).

 

I think the AI is appropriately outfitted to their tasks however.

That's weird as well.

Have you created custom payloads in the ME in the past ?

I believe it should not, but maybe your custom payloads are conflicting with the one provided in DCS Liberation. I'll try to reproduce.

I have tried the Persian gulf (emirates) campaign and noticed, that the option "start from Runway" creates an airstart instead.

Can anyone confirm this?

Right now, to avoid issues with taxi/atc all the AI units will start in the air. This is current limitation.

However your flight should start as you decided.

Which airbase was it ?

How is the progress of WW2 implementation? DCS WW2 really needs this, we lack campaigns.

With the P47 release, it will be a most welcome addition.

You can try the Normandy map with US (1944) vs Germany (1944), it is kind of working, and will generate FLAK site and use the WW2 units. But i have not heavily tested it, i'm not really proficient in WW2 aircrafts.

However the support is not the best right now, and there is a bug where Shilka will appear near enemy objective in RC5.

It is also missing the latest units that were added in WW2 asset pack.

BTW, do you have a patreon link so we can donate for this incredible work?

It is very kind of you, but I would not be confortable taking donations.

The code is still based on the work shdwp did before. I did rewrite a lot of things, and the philosophy behind the mission generator is now really different from the original vision, but it is still shdwp orignal project.

And it also rely heavily on the pydcs library, and also a bit on the Lua MIST framework.

So, really it would not have been possible without these libraries, and the work of shdwp on the original DCS Liberation.

Hey Khopa,

When I try to start a mission using WW2 units and click on Take Off, the mission is not generated and I see this error on the command prompt.

I can provide you some screenshots if needed.

<class 'dcs.countries.USA'>

2,USA,[]

['USA']

['Third Reich']

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "qt_ui\windows\mission\QMissionPlanning.py", line 132, in on_start

File "game\game.py", line 163, in initiate_event

File "game\event\event.py", line 125, in generate

File "game\operation\frontlineattack.py", line 77, in generate

File "game\operation\operation.py", line 123, in generate

File "gen\airsupportgen.py", line 56, in generate

IndexError: list index out of range

@Khopa, Just wanted to add my appreciation for this piece of art you've created / developed!

@Khopa, Just wanted to add my appreciation for this piece of art you've created / developed!

Thanks !

Hey Khopa,

When I try to start a mission using WW2 units and click on Take Off, the mission is not generated and I see this error on the command prompt.

 

I can provide you some screenshots if needed.

I managed to reproduce the issue.

I hadn't tested in a while and it's due to recent modifs i made to awacs generation. Since the third reich had no AWACS in 1944 it's causing a crash.

I will fix for next version. There is no way to workaround it in the current build... :/

@Khopa this looks amazing, and I'm going to get it and play around with it today! Might I suggest either getting in touch with shdwp to incorporate this into the OP, or start a new thread? I'd hate to think people might miss this because it's on page 46 lol. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Thanks,

I'll think about it, maybe it'll make more sense to make a new thread, since it's quite different from the original DCS liberation.

I don't know.

Hi Khopa, i played your build for some time now and i must say that i'm quite impressed by the changes over original build.

I do have few observations/suggestions however that would IMHO make it even better:

- ability to add new factions and change existing factions and assign liveries would be welcome. For instance i'd like to use Ka-50 vs insurgents but it is not possible right now. No need for UI just a plain easily accessible text file.

- there is way too much activity over a small area, if we could change it via multiplier to suit our preference/hardware that would be ideal. This multiplier could also affect income so that campaign doesn't become too easy on low activity levels.

For example i can't take off from starting airfield without being locked on by enemy aircraft and after i get up everything turns into air quake fast with 15 planes destroyed per mission. I'd like some breathing room between taking off and being engaged if possible, maybe have big map with half the airfields used to add some spacing?

- also this much activity makes it almost unplayable in VR on small maps and unplayable on big maps due to low FPS and too much stutter. Maybe add late activation triggers for units that are far from action as option to make it more performance friendly.

- i get error sometimes when pressing Take Off that prevents me from starting a mission, it reports "UnboundLocalError: local variable 'time_range' referenced before assignment" in dos box. I think it only happens with 'No night missions setting' enabled.

Anyways thank you for great work, your campaign truly feels alive. :thumbup: