Remove objects

How do I remove already placed objects in a DCS map? Example, at an airfield on the Caucasus map I do not want the helicopters already there.

@jsr9597

AFAIK, only objects placed by the user can be removed via ME triggers.

If you want to remove objects within an airbase template, that'll probably require messing around with DCS files (if it can be done at all).

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=211468

See here 4th video down at post #1.

here is an example on how to remove already placed helos at an airbase

Scenery.miz

@SUNTSAG

@Quadrafarian

Nice, I stand corrected then.

Time to figure out what's going on "under the hood".

Anyone knows how to do this with Moose? Is there a handy "ZONE:RemoveScenery" function?

Anyone knows how to do this with Moose? Is there a handy "ZONE:RemoveScenery" function?

I've been at it for several hours and I'm starting to think that those helicopter objects can't be targeted by scripts atm (they seem to be "out of reach", just like cockpit arguments).

They don't seem to belong to any of the main DCS object categories (UNIT / WEAPON / STATIC / SCENERY / BASE / CARGO), so world.searchObjects() doesn't work on them (which means that I'm out of ideas :cry:).

Oddly enough, static Sea Shelf Objects can't be targeted either, since they no longer seem to use category 0, like they did last month (perhaps EDevs changed this in a recent update).

I've attached a modified version of Quadrafarian's demo mission (+script), which uses a standard DCS script to detect all objects within the zone (based on their DCS category).

As I said, the Mi-8s aren't detected (the crates and barrels aren't detected either), but the AAV7 and the nearby airbase truck are detected...

Here's the script I used:

I've checked and tested several MOOSE classes and it does look like the standard world.searchObjects() DCS method is the best way to go.

Zone Object Detection by Category.miz

Object Detection in Zone Test.lua

Yeah there are a lot of world objects that simply aren't returned at all via world.searchObjects. Usually smaller stuff and trees, but for instance on Persian Gulf a lot of the boats aren't returned. I filed a bug report on it. I think it might just be a master list of object types that it can or cannot return and that list is incomplete. Wonder if an event handler can see them if you damage the object. If so its runtime Id should be static so it might be possible to remove them.

Sea shelf objects should be seen as static objects, however they suffer from a bug that for some stupid reason FARP related objects aren't accessible to the scripting engine. StaticObject.getByName() on a FARP just returns nil. (Also reported)

Hi Grimes, I was just thinking about you! :D

I noticed something odd in the Hoggit documentation and some clarification would be appreciated.

Is this table discrepancy accurate or is it some sort of typo?

Shouldn't both Objects and StaticObjects use the same Category table?

Wonder if an event handler can see them if you damage the object. If so its runtime Id should be static so it might be possible to remove them.

Hey, you might be onto something here!

Last month I got the categories from those sea shelf objects by using an event handler for a DEAD event!

I'll add an event handler to the script, see if I get lucky!

Thanks!

Typo.

Typo.

Nice, thanks!

I'm assuming that this is the correct one, right?:

As for the event handler idea, I think it will work.

I made an AI Su-24 bomb those Mi-8s earlier this afternoon and the mission report did return their DEAD event initiator names (I believe they were using "monument" as name, isn't that weird?).

If I do the following with Moose:

local zone = ZONE:New("TestZone")
env.info("zone data " .. zone:GetName() .. "," .. zone:GetVec2().x .. "," .. zone:GetVec2().y .. "," .. zone:GetRadius())
zone:Scan(Object.Category.SCENERY)
for scenType, scenObjects in pairs(zone:GetScannedScenery()) do
  for k,scenObject in pairs(scenObjects) do
      env.info("destroying scenery object")
      scenObject:GetDCSObject():destroy()
  end
end 

Then the log shows "destroying scenery object" several times, but it is not clear that any objects are actually removed. If I set the zone around a unit, like this:

local zone = ZONE_RADIUS:New("temp", unit:GetVec2(), 1000)

then nothing is removed (the unit is near some trees and a village) and the text "destroying scenery object" is not called. It is completely unclear to me what GetScannedScenery actually returns.

It is completely unclear to me what GetScannedScenery actually returns.

According to the declaration, I think it returns a subtable called 'Scenery' (which is located inside the table 'ScanData') :

return self.ScanData.Scenery

Now, if I have to guess, 'Scenery' subtable might contain information about the SCENERY objects found in the zone radius.

For instance, if you do :GetScannedSceneryType(), this seems to return the object type by reading from the 'Scenery' subtable.

Here's the declaration of this method:

ZONE_RADIUS:GetScannedSceneryType( SceneryType )
 return self.ScanData.Scenery[sceneryType]
end

Anyway, it really bugs me that some static and scenery objects don't have a DCS category assigned. This makes Object.Category.x virtually useless :cry:

If objects are removed by the mission maker, how come they are still seen by clients in multiplayer? This has been reported numerous times and still is not fixed. Can you ask them, Grimes, since the developers seem to be ignoring us on this point.

Anyway, it really bugs me that some static and scenery objects don't have a DCS category assigned. This makes Object.Category.x virtually useless :cry:

I hear you. Do you know what Object.Category a tree would be? I'm just trying to clear the trees around group spawned within a zone (sometimes I have rocket artillery in the middle of a forest, doesn't stop them from firing, but it looks rather silly and it is hard to spot them).

Trees are not accessible to the scripting engine.

Trees are not accessible to the scripting engine.

Too bad ... thanks for pointing it out though.

Ok , guys!

After many hours of trial and error, I've had some minor success in getting a few values from those elusive objects!

So far, I've been able to access their description tables in order to get displayName, typeName, category and life (initial life, that is).

However, I can only work with these elusive DCS objects when their DEAD events happen :cry:

Here's the script I've used (demo mission + script file attached):

Any ideas on why the methods marked in red target the runway craters instead of the elusive objects?

There's another interesting thing, you'll see the following errors in dcs.log when you run the mission:

2019-02-03 23:08:09.686 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[MI-8] table
2019-02-03 23:08:09.694 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[bARREL] table
2019-02-03 23:08:09.695 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[WOOD_BOX_01] table
2019-02-03 23:08:09.697 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[WOOD_BOX_02] table
2019-02-03 23:08:09.872 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[uRAL_ATZ_P1] table
2019-02-03 23:09:01.032 ERROR   wInfo: can't open Objects[AN-2M] table

Elusive Objects Test.miz

Elusive objects.lua