DCG 3.48 Open Beta Test

[sniperton]

Hi Riksen, thanks for the testing and the feedback. I had offline campaigns in mind, but you’re completely right. Online or coop missions might be more problematic.

 

Anyway, as to the delay between flights (2 to 3 minutes), this shouldn’t be a problem for humans: the 1st flight could simply wait off (e.g. circling) until the rest gets airborne (as in RL). For the AI, perhaps the AttackRandezvous feature can also do the trick. Target waypoint calculation should be done according to the spawn and take-off time of the LAST flight.

 

As to the next flight spawning into the previous (and causing total destruction), this cannot be avoided unless we have more spawn zones, one for each flight (or a corresponding number of stationaries to spawn from). This would require more recoding, the latter much, much more. But apart from that, simultaneous spawning would result in a take-off order different from the flight order. Just imagine how difficult it would be to regroup after a take-off sequence of, say, #5-1-6-2-7-3-8-4, particularly if you have HUD icons off.

 

Maybe a better solution would be to have 4 spawn zones, the closest to the runway (in terms of taxi path) for the 1st, the second closest for the 2nd, etc., where each flight would spawn 1 minute after the previous, thus enabling flight members to taxi and to take off together, one flight after the other.

 

OK, test #2, four spawn zones, 1 minute intervals. Safe for heavies, but flights get mixed occasionally. Flawless for fighters and medium bombers.

 

[MAIN]

MAP Normandy/load.ini

TIME 12.0

CloudType 0

CloudHeight 1000.0

player r0102

army 1

playerNum 3

[sEASON]

Year 1940

Month 6

Day 15

[WEATHER]

WindDirection 0.0

WindSpeed 0.0

Gust 0

Turbulence 0

[Wing]

r0100

r0101

r0102

r0103

[r0100]

Planes 4

Skill 1

Class air.HE_111H2

Fuel 100

weapons default

[r0100_Way]

TAKEOFF_004 106116.68 16055.83 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 45 0

TAKEOFF_004 106202.27 16002.89 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 45 0

TAKEOFF_004 106271.83 15957.33 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106386.01 16130.07 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106397.04 16139.66 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106410.94 16143.01 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106424.85 16139.18 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106451.22 16120.96 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106449.78 16100.82 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106409.98 16041.84 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF 105515.91 14766.09 0 0 &0

NORMFLY 104541.11 13788.12 500.00 150.00 &0

[r0101]

Planes 4

Skill 1

Class air.HE_111H2

Fuel 100

weapons default

[r0101_Way]

TAKEOFF_004 105991.98 15864.79 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 1 45 0

TAKEOFF_004 106067.29 15816.84 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106134.41 15771.16 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106386.01 16130.07 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106397.04 16139.66 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106410.94 16143.01 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106424.85 16139.18 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106451.22 16120.96 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106449.78 16100.82 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106409.98 16041.84 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF 105515.91 14766.09 0 0 &0

NORMFLY 104541.11 13788.12 500.00 150.00 &0

[r0102]

Planes 4

Skill 1

Class air.HE_111H2

Fuel 100

weapons default

[r0102_Way]

TAKEOFF_004 105848.00 15671.16 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 2 45 0

TAKEOFF_004 105934.60 15612.58 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106002.96 15574.31 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106386.01 16130.07 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106397.04 16139.66 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106410.94 16143.01 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106424.85 16139.18 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106451.22 16120.96 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106449.78 16100.82 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106409.98 16041.84 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF 105515.91 14766.09 0 0 &0

NORMFLY 104541.11 13788.12 500.00 150.00 &0

[r0103]

Planes 4

Skill 1

Class air.HE_111H2

Fuel 100

weapons default

[r0103_Way]

TAKEOFF_004 105721.77 15507.97 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 3 45 0

TAKEOFF_004 105797.09 15460.72 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 105878.66 15404.70 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106386.01 16130.07 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106397.04 16139.66 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106410.94 16143.01 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106424.85 16139.18 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106451.22 16120.96 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106449.78 16100.82 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF_004 106409.98 16041.84 0 0 &0

TRIGGERS 0 0 20 0

TAKEOFF 105515.91 14766.09 0 0 &0

NORMFLY 104541.11 13788.12 500.00 150.00 &0

[NStationary]

[buildings]

0_bld Plate$Pac_GrParkingLarge 1 106023.84 15640.74 395.00

1_bld Plate$Pac_GrParkingLarge 1 105892.41 15455.36 395.00

2_bld Plate$Pac_GrParkingLarge 1 105759.28 15279.95 395.00

3_bld Plate$Pac_GrParkingLarge 1 106155.49 15824.10 395.00

[staticCamera]

106489 16200 100 0

106163 15629 100 0

[bridge]

[House]

[Lowengrin]

Have made the nationality code more intuitive. It should now set the nationality of the squadron depending on it's position within the squadids.dcg file. For example, if it falls after the "g01" entry but before the "r01" entry, it will be German.

 

Should help with squadrons with non-standard IDs.

 

http://members.shaw.ca/lowengrin/il2dcg384beta3.zip

[ColHut]

Thanks Lo

 

Fast work. Will test it tonight

 

regards

 

Wol

[sniperton]

Thank you very much!

[ColHut]

Works fine

 

much appreciated

 

Wol

[Lowengrin]

Added some code to recognize MDS Scout tags in mission file headers. Added _ru.properties to help editing in the FMB.

 

http://members.shaw.ca/lowengrin/il2dcg384beta4.zip

 

 

[ColHut]

Outstanding - Downloaded already!

 

regards

[WindWeapon]

Added _ru.properties to help editing in the FMB.

 

I believe this update may conflict with 4.12.2. When attempting to start a DCG campaign with the latest update, I receive an incorrect file name error from DCG. 4.12.2 appears to function without the language extensions (or english is default with no extension) thus the _ru is not found.

 

I rolled back to the earlier beta and all works well.

 

Will try some more tests to see if manually following campaign creation, the _ru can be removed and the mission generator will function.

 

~S~

wind

[Lowengrin]

If it's just the _ru.prop file, the quick test would be to delete it and then run the mission generator.

[WindWeapon]

If it's just the _ru.prop file' date=' the quick test would be to delete it and then run the mission generator. [/quote']

 

Tried it, but no joy. Still regenerates the _ru file when running the mission generator and the "file not found" alert pops up. Roll back to beta 3 and it works ok.

 

~S~

wind

[Lowengrin]

I just gave it a try myself and it worked fine. Are you sure it's the _ru.prop file that's causing you grief?

[sniperton]

I just gave it a try myself and it worked fine. Are you sure it's the _ru.prop file that's causing you grief?

 

I can replicate it with 3.48 beta 4, stock 4.12.2, and 3rd party campaign folder. DCG correctly generates the files, including the _ru, but all this makes il2fb.exe freeze, and DCG quits with a message "invalid file". Manually deleting the _ru.prop file doesn't help, the mission files are there, but the campaign cannot be resumed after restarting Il-2.

[sniperton]

Dear Paul, Lonestar wrote elsewhere that ships are considered destroyers when they are not positively identified as something else, either individually (like the Tirpitz, the Kirov, or Tral) or by means of an ID-tag in their designation (like CV, CA, BB, etc). Can you confirm, please? Or is it only true in relation to the "Ships remain sunk" option?

 

(That is, if DCG finds an "unknown" naval unit called "boat1" or "carrier1", what happens: will it regard it as a destroyer or something else? All this is related, again, to mod contents; see if you wish http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,20774.0.html)

 

Thank you again

[sniperton]

Two small wishes, in case you have time for such vanities:

 

1) When carrier is sunk, and squads on board are transferred to a land-based airfield, ActivePlanes = 0.

2) Custom Mission Selection, if Day/Night is set to "day", the earliest hour should be 6 instead of 5. At 5 it's bloody dark on most maps at most dates.

[Lowengrin]

Dear Paul' date=' Lonestar wrote elsewhere that ships are considered destroyers when they are not positively identified as something else, either individually (like the Tirpitz, the Kirov, or Tral) or by means of an ID-tag in their designation (like CV, CA, BB, etc). Can you confirm, please? Or is it only true in relation to the "Ships remain sunk" option.[/quote']

 

This is another one of those, it's been so long I'll have to check the code.

 

Edit: yes, capital ships are hard coded. Looks like it's time to create a new data file.

[Lowengrin]

Two small wishes' date=' in case you have time for such vanities:

1) When carrier is sunk, and squads on board are transferred to a land-based airfield, ActivePlanes = 0.[/quote']

 

Funny, I thought it already did....

 

2) Custom Mission Selection' date=' if Day/Night is set to "day", the earliest hour should be 6 instead of 5. At 5 it's bloody dark on most maps at most dates.[/quote']

I'll look into it.

 

 

[Lowengrin]

I've added some code to set the ship class in the shipnames.dcg file. Right now it only works for capital ships (CV, CVE, BB, CA, CL, DD). If it works, I'll probably expand it so users can also add transports and other types to the lists.

 

http://members.shaw.ca/lowengrin/il2dcg384beta5.zip

 

 

 

 

[sniperton]

Many, many thanks, Paul, for the upgrade!

 

Nevertheless, I'm still having the problem described by WindWeapon in #33 and confirmed by me in #37. I don't understand why You and Wol (if still around) don't have it. I'm not at all sure that it's related to the _ru file, but both stock 4.12.2 and HSFX 7.1 hangs and DCG quits with an "invalid file" message when I try to use a version past 3.48 beta 3. Prior versions are OK. An X-file, it is.

 

Other: I see that naval units are identified now by a tag in the shipnames file. Provided a ship is both there and in gobject and gunits, should it also work for those placed via a timetable command? Or is it a trial version?

 

As mentioned, files are generated fine, but I can't test them other than in the FMB.

[Lowengrin]

Provided the ship is in the names file, it should work.

 

If I could replicate the problems you're having, I could (maybe) address them. I'll see about adding a toggle for the _ru file so that you can turn it off.

[Lowengrin]

So I added the toggle for the ru.prop file only to find that I wasn't get some missions to load in the FMB with or without it. Turns out the map name was the problem - my code was generating it with lowercase ("murmanskS") when it should have been ("MurmanskS"). Funny that the game isn't case sensitive but the mission builder is.

 

Sniperton, any chance you're having a similar problem?

[Lowengrin]

Added a toggle under "Languages" for having or not having a "_ru.properties" file in the same language as activated above it. Fixed Murmansk so it will load in the FMB.

 

http://members.shaw.ca/lowengrin/il2dcg348beta6.zip

[sniperton]

Thanks for the fix! Now seems to work fine both in the stock game and HSFX, both with and without the _ru prop file. Dunno whether it was related to the LCase/UCase issue, though. I had the problem with a 3rd party campaign with all lcase filenames except for the physical map (MTO) and the master files.

 

As to the new feature, I tested it in HSFX, but no joy. All files in a 3rd party folder.

gobjects:

Ships.HMSIllustriousCV 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 None

Ships.HMSEagle 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 None

gunits:

Ships.HMSIllustriousCV 1

Ships.HMSEagle 1

shipnames:

[HMSIllustriousCV] CV

HMS Eagle

[HMSEagle] CV

HMS Eagle

timetable:

19401013 NewColumn 31_Chief Ships.HMSEagle 1 @P2_Sea $HMS Eagle ~A

19401013 AddSquad 801sq0

19401013 NewPlane 801sq0 Fulmar1

19401013 MoveSquad 801sq0 HMS Eagle

 

Didn't work, Fulmars deployed on land. It did work when I changed Ships.HMSEagle to Ships.HMSIllustriousCV. Same results when I delete the NewColumn line and place 31_Chief via the master file. That is, DCG doesn't recognize HMSEagle as a carrier despite the code in shipnames.

 

As you don't have HSFX, you'd see the result of a successful tweak only if a Fulmar or Swordfish tried to deploy (and banged) on a non-carrier. Already happened with Wol's CV tankette...

 

[Lowengrin]

Okay, I may have missed a bit of the code when it comes to using the shipnames file. I'll have a look at it tomorrow. Too bad the Eagle hadn't been ID'd as Ships.HMSEagleCV....

[sniperton]

Too bad the Eagle hadn't been ID'd as Ships.HMSEagleCV....

 

Yep' date=' this has been discussed here: http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,20774.0.html (with a list of problematic warship designations)

 

Some of them follow a pattern like "carrier", "destroyer" or "corvette", but the rest is pretty chaotic. The same applies to the other ships (not listed here): there's a "tankerX" and a "transportX" type, but the rest doesn't follow any clear pattern.

 

Edit:

Just an idea. Now you generously spend time to add some code to the routine for processing shipnames. What if you added this code to either gunits or gobjects instead? I mean an added column with a classification code for EACH unit. Something like you have in the class file for planes, but this time for all naval and ground units. You know it much better than me how DCG handles unit types, but it seems that it has a DUKW type, a Tral type, a ZIS-fuel type, a spawn column type, a Carrier-type, etc, each with special 'functionalities'. Now if you could 'read' and assign these types from an external file, all this naming convention nightmare would be gone.

 

Perhaps the last column in gobjects could be used for such functional 'aliases'? Just an idea, don't shoot me...

[Lowengrin]

I actually considered adding it to one of the other files but I was thinking only in terms of ships. However, you're right that if I expanded it to all ground units, special abilities (like transporting, carriers, capital ships, etc,) could all be defined through this file. More than that, multiple special abilities could be defined to one type.

 

But, that would require a hell of a lot of code rewrite.

 

Edit: BTW, I just noticed that I've got some hard coding when it comes to ship's nationalities. For example, for US carriers, the ID must include "USS", British must have "HMS" and Japanese "IJN" so that the proper squadrons get put on them. It will override even assignments through the timetable.

 

Edit 2: Stationary objects do not have unique names in DCG, only IDs so this new code won't work for them. Not that any stock campaign uses stationary ships, but someone somewhere might.