Dynamic Campaign Engine

 

1. AI flights are generally horrible at Nap of the Earth flight. See for example here or here. Due to their inability to fly at very low level and stay there, AI flights are often detected and intercepted very early.

 

2. Even though the player can fly low, his AI wingman can't (see here) and often attract unwanted attention. Right now it is better to send your wingman home right after take off because they do more harm than good, which is a shame.

 

Is it possible to make flights with only one member, until this is fixed. For example, four flights that take off at the same time, and attack same target, with only one plane/flight. Of course you can´t order your wingman to do things and all are one its own, but is it possible?

They still cant fly low. AI is broken.

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I meanwhile had to opportunity to play test a couple of missions of the Viggen NTTR campaign. The most immediate problem currently is that loaded AI Viggens are unable to take off from many of the smaller airfields in Nevada, which of course will be one of the keystones of this campaign. But I am confident that this will be solved with the next patches.

 

There are some other problems which are worrying me though. Since this is a Viggen campaign, one of the central elements will of course be low level flight in order to avoid radar detection, which will lead to fighter interception. Unfortunately there are multiple issues which work directly against this core gameplay mechanic:

 

1. AI flights are generally horrible at Nap of the Earth flight. See for example here or here. Due to their inability to fly at very low level and stay there, AI flights are often detected and intercepted very early.

 

2. Even though the player can fly low, his AI wingman can't (see here) and often attract unwanted attention. Right now it is better to send your wingman home right after take off because they do more harm than good, which is a shame.

 

3. Once an intercept is initiated, the AI has omniscient knowledge about its target and tracks it regardless of any terrain, range or the capabilities of its own sensors. At this point it is impossible to hide or evade (see here). This is basically the equivalent of playing Thief or Splinter Cell without being able to shake off guards. This is going to be a major problem.

 

4. The MiG-21, which I have choose as the main antagonist currently seems to have a look-down capable radar (see here), further diminishing any advantage of low level flight.

 

 

With such issues present, I am worrying about the feasibility of this Viggen campaign and in fact any serious Viggen missions in general. Some of these issues could remain present for a long time to come, if they are even going to be fixed at all, considering the age of some of them.

That sucks, i was really looking forward to a Viggen dynamic campaign. :(

No more question

With Mbot agreement I made two mods for the original Desert Tiger 76 :

-Desert Warthog 06 : https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3093429&postcount=1

-Desert Mirage 86 : https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3063423&postcount=1

Please tell me if you find bugs...

I have some stupid plans to make a campaign using the scripts and stuff from Mbot(stupid because I have no idea what I´m doing, don´t expect it to success, but who knows.)

One question: how does the coordinates work, X&Y, and elevation, airdrome?

From the db_airbases.lua:

['Nellis AFB'] = {

x = -397971,

y = -17639.5,

elevation = 563,

airdromeId = 4,

ATC_frequency = "327.000",

How do I get the coordinates and the other data from the mission editor map?

The x,y coordinates you can get the following way: Create a new mission with an aircraft set to "take off from runway" at the base you wish to know the coordinates of. Save the mission. Then open the .miz mission file, and the 'mission' file within with a text editor. Search for the first waypoint of your aircraft and copy the coordinates from there.

The elevation (in meters) you can get from the mission editor map (this value does not have to be exact to the decimal).

Aerodrome ID and frequency can also be retrieved from the mission editor when you click on the airbase (info is at top right if I remember correctly).

Just before trying to go further in the same Christopher's way, few questions:

-to make a campaign with DCE on a new map (Caucase) do we "only" need to change files in the "ini" folder ?

- we have to make a mission templates with named targets (static planes, sams groups, ground groups).

- we have to list all the potential targets with their names when possible, their coordinates when structures targets (how can you know we destroyed them ?) and center points for Sweeps, Tankers, AWACS, and CAP.

- affect squadrons to air bases.

Is it a good beginning ?

Here is my Caucase db_airbases.lua file ;) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9is1fxmeovgdoe/db_airbases_caucase.zip?dl=0

Just before trying to go further in the same Christopher's way, few questions:

-to make a campaign with DCE on a new map (Caucase) do we "only" need to change files in the "ini" folder ?

- we have to make a mission templates with named targets (static planes, sams groups, ground groups).

- we have to list all the potential targets with their names when possible, their coordinates when structures targets (how can you know we destroyed them ?) and center points for Sweeps, Tankers, AWACS, and CAP.

- affect squadrons to air bases.

 

Is it a good beginning ?

Yes that is all correct. To define the structures in the targetlist, you need their exact x,y coordinates. Since structures have no object ID, their exact coordinates will be used to track their destruction during a mission. Structure coordinates can only be obtained via the script engine. I have written a little script that helps with this, I can share it this evening.

Yes that is all correct. To define the structures in the targetlist, you need their exact x,y coordinates. Since structures have no object ID, their exact coordinates will be used to track their destruction during a mission. Structure coordinates can only be obtained via the script engine. I have written a little script that helps with this, I can share it this evening.

That would be great:thumbup:

Here is the helper mission to get scenery coordinates. Put the trigger area over the scenery object(s) you want, then run the mission. A file called "SceneryFinder.lua" will be exported to your DCS folder with the x-y coordinates of all objects. The mission is for 2.0. For 1.5 you have to rebuild the mission with the script provided.

SceneryFinder.miz

This message appears when trying to use the script. I have tried both 2.0 and 1.5

You need to disable santizion in the MissionScripting.lua to enable file exports.

It works perfectly thks Mbot :)

Can DCE run without file export? I'm on a start of some Vietnam mission illusions and file export would be a game breaker for my server.

Can DCE run without file export? I'm on a start of some Vietnam mission illusions and file export would be a game breaker for my server.

No, DCE is for the most part a program that exists outside of DCS.

I have some questions about the lua files:

In targetlist

["Nellis Intercept"] = {

task = "Intercept",

priority = 10,

attributes = {},

firepower = {

min = 10,

max = 20,

},

base = "Nellis AFB",

radius = 50000,

What does priority, firepower and attributes mean?

In loadouts:

stores = {

["pylons"] =

{

[1] =

{

["CLSID"] = "{9BFD8C90-F7AE-4e90-833B-BFD0CED0E536}",

}, -- end of [1]

[7] =

{

["CLSID"] = "{9BFD8C90-F7AE-4e90-833B-BFD0CED0E536}",

}, -- end of [7]

The numbers/letters? Is it a code for a specific loadout? Where do I obtain these?

In camp triggers:

["Campaign End Victory"] = {

active = true,

once = true,

condition = 'GroundTarget["blue"].percent < 14',

action = {

From where is the condition obtained? Is it all groundtargets on the init mission?

I have some questions about the lua files:

 

In targetlist

 

["Nellis Intercept"] = {

task = "Intercept",

priority = 10,

attributes = {},

firepower = {

min = 10,

max = 20,

},

base = "Nellis AFB",

radius = 50000,

 

What does priority, firepower and attributes mean?

Priority: Higher number = higher priority. The ATO keeps assigning aircraft to targets/objectives, starting with highest priority targets, until all available aircraft are tasked. Priority is modified by the threat level of a mission. Of two possible missions with the same priority, the lower threat mission gets aircraft first for example.

Firepower: Determines the amount aircraft that the ATO should assign to this target. Aircraft firepower is defined in the loadouts. So lets say we have a loadout with a firepower rating of 5, the ATO would try to assign 4 aircraft to the intercept target above, it would also assign 2 aircraft if only 2 are available, but it would not assign one aircraft if only one is available. You can define your own scale of firepower ratings and requirements as you wish.

Attributes: Loadouts can have attributes. The target can have an attribute requirement. So lets say the target has 'attributes = {"bunker-buster", "bubble-gum"}', then the ATO will only assign aircraft with loadouts that at least have the attributes "bunker-buster" and "bubble-gum". The above target has no attribute requirement.

In loadouts:

 

stores = {

["pylons"] =

{

[1] =

{

["CLSID"] = "{9BFD8C90-F7AE-4e90-833B-BFD0CED0E536}",

}, -- end of [1]

[7] =

{

["CLSID"] = "{9BFD8C90-F7AE-4e90-833B-BFD0CED0E536}",

}, -- end of [7]

 

The numbers/letters? Is it a code for a specific loadout? Where do I obtain these?

This is the DCS internal code for weapons. Make a mission with the weapons you want, then open the .miz file and check how the code looks like.

In camp triggers:

 

["Campaign End Victory"] = {

active = true,

once = true,

condition = 'GroundTarget["blue"].percent < 14',

action = {

 

From where is the condition obtained? Is it all groundtargets on the init mission?

This is the percentage of undestroyed ground targets from the targetlist (it ignores objectives in the targetlist such as CAP, Intercept or AWACS stations).

Today I updated damage tracking for aircraft a bit. Up to now an aircraft only counted as destroyed if it crashed. This worked fine for airborne aircraft but not so much for aircraft on the ground. Since parked aircraft never crash, even if they lose a wing, it was extremely hard to kill them. Unless you completely blew up a parked aircraft, it would simply count as damaged and be repaired later.

I added a check on how much an aircraft is damaged. If the damage is excessive, the air frame is considered written off and counts as a loss. In that case also a ground kill is awarded to the one that did the damage. Bombing and strafing airbases now becomes very effective.

I noticed this problem with parked aircrafts : good job Mbot (as usual ;) )

I added support for helicopters. It wasn't a bit deal after all. Do not get your hopes up though, this is not sophisticated enough for playable helicopter campaigns. But it will provide the opportunity to fill in the world with transport helicopters and some simplistic CAS helo sorties. Moreover, helicopter bases will serve as nice ground targets.

I added support for helicopters. It wasn't a bit deal after all. Do not get your hopes up though, this is not sophisticated enough for playable helicopter campaigns. But it will provide the opportunity to fill in the world with transport helicopters and some simplistic CAS helo sorties. Moreover, helicopter bases will serve as nice ground targets.

Great Addition!

You need to disable santizion in the MissionScripting.lua to enable file exports.

Thanks alot, it works perfectly.

The helicopter add and other updates: is there a download for this?

Is it possible to use ships (non moving)?

My first steps with DCE in Caucasus are rather good :)

I made a small template to the East side of the map with Vaziani- Tbilissi and Soganlug being blue and the 4 bases to the north in Russia being red. I used mainly the Screaming Eagle (with M2000C) order of battle, scripts and triggers in 1996.

My first try was a fail because (I suppose) I made a red SAM defense without any holes on the frontline. I had a waypoint error ! I regrouped SAMS to allow blue planes to go around them.

Then I noticed that F-4 SEAD flights were in the briefing but not in the mission ! I found why : they were USAF Agressors and I don't think it's possible in Caucasus map. I changed to USA nationality but then I had a strange issue with Viggen being in the mission with weapons of F-4. So finally I changed for F-18C with Shrikes SEAD weapons...

All this seems to work !!! :thumbup:

I need to change briefings, newspapers news, had more targets, red CAP and maybe Red air-to ground missions and I hope I will be able to propose my first Caucasus map, dynamic campaign with the great Mbot's DCE... :)