AI Task at Engine Start?

Is it possible to check the state of an engine (on / off) and make a trigger based off that check?

What I want to do is simply have a troop in front of my ka-50 simulating the ground crew. Once I have my engine started with no fire I want him to move off the FARP.

I'm not a programmer and don't understand the SSE or MIST yet, so I'm not sure if this is possible. Thanks for any help ~

If the answer to this is obvious I'd appreciate someone telling me so. The manual doesn't really explain half of what's wrapped up in the ME since all the updates.

Clear skies ~

I dont know if it can be done as you wanted,

I would try a much more simple way, Just estimate the time it takes to startup, Make the Troops "Late activation" and set the time you estimated.

Ex.. If its 12 pm... and you take 4 minutes to get ready, ser the time at 12:4.00

And you can also send a message as "CLeared for takeoff" or something

Remember to set the troops also "Visible before start"

You can do this by using cockpit triggers in the ME to check the status of the engine RPM gauges, for example. It can be a little daunting at first if you're completely unfamiliar with the cockpit trigger system, but not that complicated once you understand the basic principles.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81376

I dont know if it can be done as you wanted,

I would try a much more simple way, Just estimate the time it takes to startup, Make the Troops "Late activation" and set the time you estimated.

 

Ex.. If its 12 pm... and you take 4 minutes to get ready, ser the time at 12:4.00

 

And you can also send a message as "CLeared for takeoff" or something

 

Remember to set the troops also "Visible before start"

That's actually what I'm doing now but it just annoys me that it's not as precise. Helps the immersion a lot if it can trigger at different times based on what's actually happening.

You can do this by using cockpit triggers in the ME to check the status of the engine RPM gauges, for example. It can be a little daunting at first if you're completely unfamiliar with the cockpit trigger system, but not that complicated once you understand the basic principles.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81376

Great! I'll read up on it.

Thanks guys...much appreciated!

You can also use fuelflow as an indicator of engine operation. With 1.2.3 it's possible to get the amount of fuel of any unit with a script and with that you can calculate fuel flow by taking two samples of fuel amount and calculating the difference and dividing it with the time interval between samples.

You can also use fuelflow as an indicator of engine operation. With 1.2.3 it's possible to get the amount of fuel of any unit with a script and with that you can calculate fuel flow by taking two samples of fuel amount and calculating the difference and dividing it with the time interval between samples.

:doh: Great thinking! I was going to say the cockpit argument trigger method, but of course, 1.2.3. adds the Unit.getFuel Lua function.

I haven't tested Unit.getFuel on multiplayer clients though. I wonder if it works for them?

Regardless, cockpit argument triggers will not work on multiplayer clients either, so Unit.getFuel remains the best, and easiest method to do this. Unfortunately, you cannot do this with just one time sample, and you cannot tell the difference between deliberate defueling and actual engine operation, unless you want watch a few samples of fuel flow to determine if it is normal fuel flow or ground crew removing fuel, and that increases the complexity of the script and requires you to determine what the normal fuel flow actually is.

Anyway, building on Bushmanni's idea, I think this script will work (though, like I said, I don't know if it operates correctly on MP clients):

Run this script on mission start:

function getEngineStartedFunc(unitName)
local unit = Unit.getByName(unitName)
if unit then
	local startingFuel = unit:getFuel()
	return function()
		if unit:isExist()
			if unit:getFuel() < startingFuel then
				return true
			end
		end
	end
end
end

This makes the global function, "getEngineStartedFunc".

Now, every time a unit whose engine start you want to detect is spawned, do this script:

Hawg11Started = getEngineStartedFunc('Hawg11')

Where in this case, the unit's name is "Hawg11".

Now, in a Lua expression trigger condition, do this script:

return Hawg11Started()

Your Lua Expression trigger condition should go true when the unit named "Hawg11" starts its engines.

Awesome! Thanks gents...I thought I was hosed when I realized the cockpit arguments wouldn't work for MP.

After trying this, I receive this error:

[string "return Shark1Started()":]:1:attempt to call global 'Shark1Started' (a nil value)

My triggers in this test mission:

MissionStart > time more 1 > doscript

Once > Group Alive > doscript

time more 5

Once > Expression > sound to all

time more 6

Change it to

Mission Start>Time LESS 1> Do Script.

The mission start trigger type simply checks if the conditions are true at time index "0". A trigger using the condition "time more" with mission start will simply never work.

Change it to

Mission Start>Time LESS 1> Do Script.

 

The mission start trigger type simply checks if the conditions are true at time index "0". A trigger using the condition "time more" with mission start will simply never work.

I receive a different error where lua is expecting a "then" near the "if". Doesn't make sense to me because those statements are in the code. Also, the other error about a nil value doesn't make sense to me because I DID assign the function to the string "Shark1Started".

If you could take a peek at my .miz I'd appreciate it. I bought a lua programming book on my kindle just now! lol

I receive a different error where lua is expecting a "then" near the "if". Doesn't make sense to me because those statements are in the code. Also, the other error about a nil value doesn't make sense to me because I DID assign the function to the string "Shark1Started".

It makes perfect sense if you drop the assumption that I write perfect code.

I wrote that code at work and never had a chance to test it, so it was easy for me to miss a mistake.

function getEngineStartedFunc(unitName)
local unit = Unit.getByName(unitName)
if unit then
	local startingFuel = unit:getFuel()
	return function()
		if unit:isExist() then
			if unit:getFuel() < startingFuel then
				return true
			end
		end
	end
end
end

Try the above code- I had forgotten a "then" after one of the "if"s.

Ok, just tested the fixed code, it does in fact work- at least for the single player/host. (I am kinda doubtful of it working in multiplayer, but at least there's a chance.)

However, it works so well that it detects what must be some infinitesimal amount of fuel used when I switch on the fuel pumps :doh:

So I might suggest the following modification:

function getEngineStartedFunc(unitName)
   local unit = Unit.getByName(unitName)
   if unit then
       local startingFuel = unit:getFuel()
       return function()
           if unit:isExist() then
               if unit:getFuel() < startingFuel - 0.005 then
                   return true
               end
           end
       end
   end
end

By adjusting that 0.005 to be a smaller number, you can make the engine started condition come true earlier in the startup sequence. However, in the attached test mission, it seems just about perfectly timed- when I tested it, the "engines started" message popped up right as the 2nd engine of my Ka-50 finished spooling up.

Engine started test.miz

Awesome, I'll check it out when I get home today.

On a side note, one last question. I thought in an if then statement there has to be an "else." Am I correct in assuming if no "else" exists then it's assumed the "else" is to do nothing? Just asking cause I want to make sure I'm not missing something in the way DCS lua works.

Thanks for the help ~

Awesome, I'll check it out when I get home today.

 

On a side note, one last question. I thought in an if then statement there has to be an "else." Am I correct in assuming if no "else" exists then it's assumed the "else" is to do nothing? Just asking cause I want to make sure I'm not missing something in the way DCS lua works.

 

Thanks for the help ~

There is an else and and elseif in Lua, but they are not necessary. They are frequently used, but in this case, I gave you just about as simple of a script as I could think of.

Tested this tonight hosting a server.

Works for host but not clients. Bummer.

Oh yeah. Unit.getFuel() doesn't work on clients in 1.2.3.

It might be fixed on the tester version, but I haven't checked lately.

No real surprise there.

Clients must be in charge of all the computations involving their own aircraft. What are you supposed to do- expect the host to run like 8 or more realistic flight models simultaneously? Clients would have to wait 150 milliseconds after they apply an input for the server to tell them how much they are allowed to roll? You'd need to be connected over a local network to a Cray supercomputer to make that work.

So anyway, in order to optimize the network code, clients just don't send the server data that is unnecessary for the server to know. Since the amount of fuel a client has does not affect anything in the outside world (at least, by default), then it is simply not sent over the network.

We'll need ED to make it so client fuel is sent over the network for Unit.getFuel to work on clients. I can't say whether or not this will happen.