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Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/14/2019 11:57:28 PM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		When conducting a "simulated cargo attack mission" using the tele-porting method, the teleported unit could be issued an attack mission and be placed on the other side of the world waiting to be tele-ported into the battle at the appropriate time. That seemed to work fine.

But, with the creation of the actual CARGO function, I believe that it is more realistic, therefore I am trying to use that as much as possible, rather than the tele-porting method. One thing that befuddles me is, how do I assign a mission for the AI to use in situations like I just described involving CARGO attack units? That don't have a name, or an ID number. They are merely CARGO until that are dropped, at which time they simply appear.

Does anyone know of a way to do it? I've looked at it from several different angles, but I can't seem to be able to do it. For example, using Gunner98's H-Hour Northern Fury scenario as an example (only because it is the best), he uses the tele-porting method to drop various Soviet units to attack the Norwegians. Since they were being tele-ported in, Gunner was able to assign missions to the Soviet troops BEFORE they were airdropped. What I would like to do is figure out a way to do the same thing for the AI using the new CARGO METHOD. Is that possible?

Doug
Post #: 1
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 12:26:33 AM   
fatgreta1066

 

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Status: offline 		I cannot hope to answer your question but am keen to hear itnwjen someone does. Until then can I ask, is the teleporting method something likenusing lua scrip to caise units to appear when certain conditions are met, similar to what’s been done in Desert Storm?

(in reply to DWReese)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 12:54:40 AM   
Gunner98

 

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From: The Great White North!
Status: offline 		Hay Doug

I am certain that there is a way to do what you're asking but I have not yet figured out how, but I'm not sure its needed.

There are three ways of transporting land units around around the battlefield:

1. Teleporting as in the scenario you're describing, H-hour which is the only way that it could be achieved originally. This has the disadvantage that the unit needs to exist on the map when the scenario is designed - although it can be hidden from plyers on a different side. The advantage is that it is easy to manipulate and assign to missions as you describe

2. Using Lua to 'spawn' the unit when triggered. This is cleaner and if I were to re-build H-hour I would probably change to this method. But it takes some trial and error in Lua.

3. Using the cargo method, which as you say is more realistic - sort of - but is it needed?

I think as a designer you need to ask yourself the question: What is it that I am trying to achieve?

-if the use of cargo is on the player side - no issue, it is more fun and arguably more realistic but since the player is manipulating the units there is no need to go further than provide the resources and the mission.

-if the cargo element is on an AI side; I need to ask, what is the point of the exercise? What impact will this have on the player? Is this the best way of spending your designing efforts?

I'm a firm believer that all three methods described above have their valid uses and purpose in designing scenarios. One solution does not fit all problems and you will need to mix and match as required. Keeping the end user (the player) in mind when your designing the solution is important.

Although there should be a way of doing what you are asking, it probably involves a lot of coding gymnastis which is beyond my skill. But from a player point of view, using teleport or lua, the assault comes in and the units go on the attack - eee-gad what do I do now? I think that's the trick (he says after several glasses of wine at dinner...)

B


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And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
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(in reply to DWReese)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 12:56:25 AM   
Gunner98

 

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quote:

Until then can I ask, is the teleporting method something likenusing lua scrip to caise units to appear when certain conditions are met, similar to what’s been done in Desert Storm?


Yes, either teleporting or Lua will be triggered by certain conditions and will be based on events created in the editor.

B


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Check out our novel, Northern Fury: H-Hour!: http://northernfury.us/
And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
Twitter: @NorthernFury94 or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/northernfury/

(in reply to fatgreta1066)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 12:58:16 AM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		I'm not certain what you are referring to, but the tele-porting can be done without having CoW. Obviously, I do own CoW.

Tele-porting is basically placing a unit somewhere on the globe, and under certain conditions, the unit is transported from its location (such as on the other side of the world) to a new location. Most use it to simulate airdrops, etc. So, you could have a transport plane fly to an area, and when it arrives, an infantry unit is tele-ported in to that location to simulate being airdropped in. That is just one example. With this, the unit could have been given an attack mission and as soon as it is on the ground, it proceeds on its attack mission.

The actual cargo mission, where CoW is needed, allows you to pick and choose what units are t be transported, but they aren't in the sane format as the units are listed in the database. They are usually represented by a counter called a Landed Detachment. Since the detachment can essentially be anything, it doesn't represent actual identified units with numbers relating to a specific unit in the database. Without a specific ID number, they can't be assigned missions like the tele-ported units can. Or, if they can, I don't know how to do it.

Hopefully, I've answered your questions about tele-porting, and someone will have some info for me.

Doug

(in reply to fatgreta1066)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 1:55:17 AM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		Bart,

I see your point, and I do agree with you that all three methods are useful in their own way, and in their own manner. As you said, if the active player is trying to perform the function, then perform the function. Plus, if it is the AI, use the most simple method possible and have at it. (Lua, however, is beyond my skill set, so that isn't going to happen.)

I am not trying to actively program any actual scenario. I was merely asking because I have recently become become fascinated with the cargo aspect of the game, due largely to H-Hour, and your book, of course. (How many hours did you work on that scenario, anyway?) It is one of the best ever. I have never seen an assault like that, and I can truly see why you used the tele-porting aspect (aside from it being the only one available at the time) because it is simple and it "gets the job done."

Really, I hadn't realized until yesterday, that the new cargo method doesn't 'seem' to allow me to set my cargo-combatants off on a mission because they don't have any identifying ID numbers before being air-dropped. Perhaps in the future......

Thanks for commenting, and I LOVE the book.

Doug

(in reply to Gunner98)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 3:21:38 AM   
RoryAndersonCDT

 

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Status: offline 		Any thoughts on how to assigned dropped cargo to a mission?

< Message edited by RoryAndersonWS -- 5/15/2019 3:38:47 AM >

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(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 7
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/15/2019 4:07:25 AM   
Whicker

 

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Status: offline 		I think you can do it with a trigger of unit remains in area, and then assign them to the mission using lua. So I put ref points around the drop zone and that is the trigger area. I think the drop zone is not always inside its ref points so I think i had to make another zone outside of that one little bit. Would have been a little nicer if the same ref points worked for both but I was seeing units get left just outside the cargo mission area.

I did it a while back and it worked fairly well. Biggest problem is ground units are useless when they run out of ammo, and they don't have the concept of a home base so you can't rtb them. Would be nice if you could control them with a home base - so they rtb when out of ammo or when you want them to leave.

(in reply to RoryAndersonCDT)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 1:45:19 AM   
hasler

 

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Status: offline 		Even with the unit remains, how do you make a lua action pointing to the dropped units to assign them to the mission? You will still be missing the unit name or guid to input.

The only way I found to set this up is to fake a cargo mission and have units created for each transport plane that enters an area, and then set them to a mission. It is a PITA because it gets very repetitive but you can do a realistic paradrop to include simulated lapes for heavy equipment (I’m looking at you missing m551).

(in reply to Whicker)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 2:10:49 AM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		The only way that I can see to do it for the AI side is by using the tele-porting method.

There isn't anything wrong with the tele-porting method, but the actual cargo method is more realistic (in my opinion) because you are dealing with the size of actual units. With the tele-porting method, you could essentially fly a 4-seat Cessna (or no plane at all for that matter) to a location and then tele-port an Abrams tank platoon to it.

The actual cargo option is much better, but it apparently doesn't work like that for the AI side at this time.

Doug

(in reply to hasler)
Post #: 10
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 4:45:21 AM   
Whicker

 

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Status: offline 		the unit triggering the action is unitX so the action part of the event is:

local u = ScenEdit_UnitX()
ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission (u.name, "your mission name")


any unit that cause a trigger to be activated is unitX, then you can do whatever you want with that unit. I used a trigger of `unit remains in area` (10 minutes).

< Message edited by Whicker -- 5/18/2019 6:51:09 AM >

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 11
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 12:08:59 PM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		I'm not very experienced with Lua at all, but I'm real good at being able to adapt something that I see and then use that as a blueprint for use with my own scenario. Is there any possibility that you could post a scenario (even if it is just a portion thereof) that actually shows how this is done?

Thanks

Doug

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 12
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 2:25:09 PM   
rmunie0613

 

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Status: offline 		The LUA wrapper actually shown in LUA Legion section, shows how to get the guid of cargo. I have used it to order cargo to "deploy" from barracks when a unit is detected nearby...had some unrelated issues with assigning to the mission, but that was just answered over there also. With a lot of cargo- ie. a landing force, it can get long, as each individual unit- platoon, gun, vehicle...will have its GUID but it will work.

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 13
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 4:06:08 PM   
DWReese

 

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Joined: 3/21/2014
From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		Thanks for the info.

Do you happen to have a scenario that you could post that depicts how to do that? It would make a great visual representation and learning tool.

Thanks,

Doug

(in reply to rmunie0613)
Post #: 14
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 5:10:29 PM   
Whicker

 

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Status: offline 		I'll post something later tonight. It is kind of funny watching the AI land and then attack.

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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/17/2019 8:37:15 PM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		Thank you so much. That's exactly what I would like to see. It doesn't have to be elaborate. They might want to include something like this with the tutorials. It seems like it would be very worthwhile.

Thanks again.

Doug

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 16
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/18/2019 6:50:24 AM   
Whicker

 

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Joined: 6/20/2018
Status: offline 		my code above has an end statement in it for no reason so that was bad. I'll edit it.

If you have sams as cargo and the mission is a strike mission, the sams won't go anywhere unless you assign them as escorts so my actual code in the action is:

local u = ScenEdit_UnitX()
print("class: "..u.name)
if string.match(u.name, "SAM") then
ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission (u.name, "LZ 1 Strike", true)
else
ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission (u.name, "LZ 1 Strike")
end

Semi playable example - kind of funny - you are blue, red is about to invade:

Attachment (1)

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 17
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/18/2019 2:01:19 PM   
DWReese

 

Posts: 1824
Joined: 3/21/2014
From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		Thank you so much.

I'm going to try it out right now.

Doug

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Post #: 18
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/18/2019 4:15:18 PM   
DWReese

 

Posts: 1824
Joined: 3/21/2014
From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		I am watching it play out right now. The landed units have just started shooting, so IT WORKS.

I have a couple of questions which I will mention now, so that I don't forget them later:

1.) One of the missions has a specific target, but the other two do not. In fact, the other two have no Reference Points listed either. So, how do they know where to go? They are heading inland, and have begun firing, so they are doing what they should, but how?

2.) Your code mentions "SAM", and there is a SAM unit in LZ1 and LZ3, but not one for LZ2. Yet, the code doesn't REALLY seem to care about the SA< inits anyway since all of the units are ultimately assigned to the various missions. I don't not much about Lua, so can you break down the code and explain it (like you are speaking to a novice) so that I understand these things? "Print"--we're not "printing" anything; "class"--; "..u.name"; "string.match"; etc. And, of course, "SAM"

Thanks, I'm heading back to the battle.

(BTW, you had two helos named #1, so I renamed one of them #5, since you were going to make a revision.)

Added Portion:

The battle worked fine, but at some point all of the ground units stopped moving or firing. It appears that all of the targets had been destroyed, other than the helo pad which was severely damaged. I believe that that has something to do with it. I'm not sure, however. The ship kept sending reinforcements, but they would never leave the area where they were dropped off. Thus, I never got to see any extraction or rescue.

After expending ALL their ordinance, the attacking forces either stopped moving, or continued moving toward nothing in particular. I'm not sure what was designed here.

The defenders were rarely got to identify any of the attackers, this the only damage to the attackers came from friendly fire.

Overall, this was a very informative scenario. It proves that it can be done.

Thanks again. I'd be really interested in hearing your answers.

Doug

< Message edited by DWReese -- 5/18/2019 7:29:07 PM >

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 19
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/18/2019 7:49:29 PM   
Whicker

 

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Status: offline 		1) correct, 2 are on a generic strike mission with no targets selected so it is anything that is the enemy that they can attack. The 3rd one I made another strike mission, but set it to the air base minus the runways and stuff they couldn't really attack - otherwise they may waste all their ammo on the runway or something. Not 100% sure about that but seems possible. The ones that insert via helicopter are the ones attacking the air base. They only have ATG weapons, and not very many so they run out of ammo and then wander off.

2a) If you have manpads, they won't go anywhere if they get assigned to a land strike mission, so if you don't treat them differently they just land and then sit there. I think this is because they don't have land attack weapons, and the mission was land strike. I want them to move with the other units to protect them so I assigned them to the same mission but as escorts, and then they tag along and can help defend against air attack.

2b) code explanation:

local u = ScenEdit_UnitX() --get unit that activated the trigger and set it to the variable u. Then I can use 'u' to do various things like get its name - u.name. Might be able to do just UnitX.name but not sure. ScenEdit_UnitX() is a game function that gets the unit that activates the trigger. I have seen it used sometimes as just UnitX I think. Not sure though, and you probably should use the full function. If you had some random lua that was not part of an event - ie no trigger, I don't think ScenEdit_UnitX() would do anything - or would cause an error.

print("class: "..u.name) -- whoops. This is just to trouble shoot, not needed. At one point it wasn't working and I needed to check what it was doing. Without this you don't really see what it thinks u.name is. Originally I was checking if it was a SAM by checking its classname - so the print statement is prepending the u.name part with 'class' just so it is more clear that I was checking the class... then of course I changed it to u.name which totally defeats this and is now saying 'class: unit name' which is not right - but it is just for trouble shooting so it doesn't hurt anything. When you combine a string (always in quotes) with a variable you have to put two periods in-between so Lua understands what you are doing. Other languages use a plus sign I think. 'print' means to print the values to the log - which is usually available in the lua console, or is in the luahistory log if you want to use that.

if string.match(u.name, "SAM") then -- this is the only advanced part of the code, string.match is a Lua function that takes in 2 things - a string to look at, and a thing to check and see if it is inside the first thing. So basically in english it is - "does the unit name contain the sequence 'SAM' in it anywhere?" if it does, then the result is true, and the code will execute the next line. If it is false - the name does not include SAM then it goes to the else part below. Again strings are in quotes, so SAM is in quotes, u.name is not cause it is a variable. The unit name and the SAM part are separated by a comma and are inside parens cause string.match is a function and when you have a function it always has the arguments inside parenthesis - this function has 2 arguments - the string to check (unit name) and the thing to check for (SAM). Even if a function has no arguments, there are still open and close parens after the function name. Keep in mind string.match is checking to see if SAM is part of a unit name is probably not foolproof - not sure if it is case sensitive or not, probably not, so if there was a unit named 'George Sampson' or something like that (sorry not a great example) it would pass the check cause it contains the sequence SAM we checked for (assuming it is not case sensitive).

ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission (u.name, "LZ 1 Strike", true) -- if the unit name has SAM in it, hopefully it is a SAM unit so assign it to the LZ 1 Strike mission, but as an escort. To set a unit to a mission as an escort you pass in 'true' as a 3rd argument to the ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission function.

else -- if the unit name doesn't include SAM in it then do something else

ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission (u.name, "LZ 1 Strike") -- assign the unit to the normal strike mission

end -- we have an if statement, you have to close it with end

(in reply to DWReese)
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RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/18/2019 7:58:27 PM   
Whicker

 

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quote:

at some point all of the ground units stopped moving or firing

I noticed this too, I think it is cause all possible targets are gone. It is a strike mission not a patrol mission so I think this is correct. It did feel a little weird though. The cargo mission is separate from the strike mission, so the ship keep unloading, then they just stay there since there is nothing to attack. You could drop in another blue unit and see if they all go after it, I think they would.

There is no extraction, and when they run out of ammo they tend to wander around and are just cannon fodder - if there is any enemy left to shoot them.

I am not sure the AI can extract them, I have been thinking about that. Only thing I can think of is to have them go back to the lz and then after a bit have them disappear via lua? not sure how they could be picked up, eventually I will see if I can sort it out, it would be cool if they could be.

When they run out of ammo I think I could have an event running that would loop thru all the cargo units that landed and check to see if they have any ammo and if not have them leave the mission and then assign them to a course to go back to the LZ. Or somehow group with an ammo truck or something back at the LZ.

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 21
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/19/2019 12:16:26 AM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		Whicker,

You did great. I', going to provide some info just in case you want to make this into an actual tutorial--which I think that you should.

Here are just a few more questions/observations:

1.) There were OTHER enemy targets to shoot at, and the helo pad was crippled but not dead when they stopped shooting.

2.) I understand the lua definition concept, but singling out the SAM units obviously involve all of the landed units, and I was wondering how ther other units are being called into play since they aren't mentioned by name.

3.) The battle, as you know, is pretty one-sided (I know it's not a real scenario), so I gave the enemy a much more liberal approach of being able to shoot at anything "not friendly." The defending units were able to wipe out the attackers, so don't do that. <lol>

4.) I see SAR Special Event code contained in the scenario, along with lots of planes. I assume that these were probably not involved in this at all, and were just left over from a previous scenario.

5.) If you desire to have the defenders fire at you, it's best to give them a Land Strike Mission. They wouldn't really fire for me, even though the attackers were sighted, until I gave them an actual Land Strike mission.

6.) After dropping off the second batch of Javelins, I sent the helos to a location where I had sent the first group of Javelins after they had fired their missiles (hence they were no longer armed). I manually picked up the first batch of Javelins and then RTB. Everything worked perfect. Perhaps some kind of Lua code could be created that would instruct the helos to pick up units at a holding spot after they have expended their ammo?

7.) Lastly, the SAM units moved right along with the attacking units and were listed as escorts in the Mission Editor, so that seems to be working as you had hoped.

Extraction would be cool, but could be really involved. It is probably beyond the scope of what the game is supposed to be about.

Thanks again. I'm going to play around with it some more. I will defintely be keeping this scenario as an example reference.

Doug

< Message edited by DWReese -- 5/19/2019 2:44:47 AM >

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 22
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/19/2019 3:02:51 AM   
Whicker

 

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Status: offline 		The other targets I think were part of the runway/tarmac and they couldn't attack them? not exactly sure why they stop even though it seems like they could keep trying to attack the airfield stuff.

All units go thru a check to see if they are sams or not - if they are not a sam then they get assigned to the normal strike mission, if they are a sam then they are assigned as an escort to the strike mission. It may look like I am only checking for sams - but it is an if/else thing - so if it is a sam do this, else (all other units) do that.

The scen is using my starter scen - so it has lots of stuff pre loaded. There were ac on the blue side, so if you played as blue you could defend against the incoming invasion. The SAR stuff is not active, just part of the starter scen.

I sort of have a way now to check units to see if they are out of ammo, and if so return them somewhere so they get out of the fight. Extraction is not possible as far as I can tell, there is a way to manually tell an AC to pickup a unit, but it doesn't work for LCACs/ships. I doubt there is lua to support doing it for the AI other than doing it very manually. There is also a 'Tents' facility that can hold cargo, I thought about returning the out of ammo units to that and then add them to that facility as cargo - then there could probably be a cargo mission to return them. Course I don't think you can have a cargo mission go to another cargo facility? ahhhh, maybe they just rtb with the cargo, and then the cargo transfers. I could fake it by putting the LCAC at the dock, and then a cargo mission to take them near the mothership, then lua to RTB to the mothership which would unload the cargo, then reassign them to the cargo mission and they return to the pier/tents. Yuck.

I'd also like to be able to rearm them once they get back to their LZ or where ever I send them when they are out of ammo. But once they have ammo again I'm not sure what I would do with them - could send them out again, or have them just hang out as a defensive unit.

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 23
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/19/2019 4:05:00 AM   
DWReese

 

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Status: offline 		I'd also like to be able to rearm them once they get back to their LZ or where ever I send them when they are out of ammo. But once they have ammo again I'm not sure what I would do with them - could send them out again, or have them just hang out as a defensive unit.

FYI......As I said, I did MANUALLY pick up the Javelin teams with the helos that I used to drop off OTHER Javelin teams, and then they RTB to the ship. The Javelin teams (all with ZERO weapons) were added back to the cargo total, so I went from 65 to 71. I realize that this is weapons, but it didn't seem to matter as they appeared to be used on subsequent missions.

Perhaps, until they get it sorted out, it might be better to simply fly/sail the pick up platform, and then just use Lua to remove the cargo/attack detail from the map. They wouldn't be used any longer, but they wouldn't be killed because they had no more ammo.

Just a thought.

Doug

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 24
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 5/19/2019 2:50:02 PM   
DWReese

 

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From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		One of the most confusing things about the cargo function is the lack of precise knowledge as to what is being carried.

For example, your helos are all carrying 3-man Javelin teams. The cargo loaded is a 3-man Javelin, and if you check the helo while in flight, you will only see a 3-Man Javelin team.

When the helo lands, however, you will see a Landed Detachment unit. If you look at the Landed Detachment unit you will see the weapons associated with a 3-Man Javelin team.

Everything seems fine until you see that the unit is represented by a truck-looking counter, and that the unit travels at 26 kts per hour.

So, what else is in this unit? If it gets killed, it only lists the 3-man Javelin team as being lost, yet it was definitely traveling at 26 kts toward its target.

It can be puzzling sometimes.

Doug

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 25
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 7/18/2019 12:57:31 AM   
DWReese

 

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quote:


  Post #: 1


Whicker,

I have been using your Lua Script and replaying your scenario, with some modifications here or there. It works as it should.

Then, I used your Lua Script for a completely different scenario, but with the same concept, and I receive the message that the Event Action did fire. The first unit takes off, as expected. But, when it fires again, no more units ever start moving. They just stay there. Is there something else in your scenario that governs the actions of my combat cargo units? Any ideas as to why the second units would just sit there?

Doug

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 26
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 7/18/2019 3:12:47 AM   
Whicker

 

Posts: 664
Joined: 6/20/2018
Status: offline 		are you saying a cargo unit arrives as its destination but then the mission does not get assigned to them? if so I have noticed that the drop location is not always within the cargo mission area, sometimes it is a bit outside so the trigger area has to be a little larger than the cargo area.

Also, if it is a sam and the mission is a strike mission it won't move as it won't have any strike weapons, that why I was checking to see if it was a sam and assigning it as an escort.

If you have them assigned to a strike mission change it to a patrol mission as strike missions can be more picky.

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 27
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 7/18/2019 11:52:33 AM   
DWReese

 

Posts: 1824
Joined: 3/21/2014
From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		The cargo units (there are three simple infantry units) arrive at their destination, and is definitely assigned within a much larger area, so that isn't the problem.

There is no SAM unit at all. I didn't believe that they needed one to make it work, so none is included.

The first unit gets an assignment and proceeds toward it an enemy target.

The Event fires again, but no more units ever get assigned. The Event continues to fire, and no other units are ever assigned or ever leave their original location.

I did have them assigned to Strike Missions and there were Auto-Detectable enemy units nearby.

I will re-assign them to a Patrol Mission and see if that works. In the example that you provided to me, you had them assigned to a Strike Mission and had enemy targets listed in the box, so I figured that that was the way to go. I'll test it out and let you know.

Thanks.

Doug




(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 28
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 7/18/2019 3:23:24 PM   
DWReese

 

Posts: 1824
Joined: 3/21/2014
From: Miami, Florida
Status: offline 		I changed it to a Patrol Mission.

The three helos dropped off their infantry units.

After 8 minutes, the first infantry unit takes off after the enemy.

After another 8 minutes, the Event is fired again, but additional units are assigned to the mission, so the other two just sit there.

The LCACs are arriving, but they have nothing to do with the example. The never get assigned to the mission either.

There has to be a simple explanation that I am overlooking.

Thanks.

EDIT: In subsequent action, some additional units would, on occasion, eventually be assigned to the mission. They would sit through about 10 Event firings and then move. There was no pattern to it. Let the sample run and you should be able to see what I am talking about.

Doug

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by DWReese -- 7/18/2019 9:28:47 PM >

(in reply to Whicker)
Post #: 29
RE: Assigning Cargo Elements to a Mission - 7/19/2019 1:42:49 AM   
Whicker

 

Posts: 664
Joined: 6/20/2018
Status: offline 		few things:

- the trigger area needs to be a lot larger than the cargo mission area. I have noticed that the cargo mission area is not really an exact location, it is an initial way point - then if the LCAC doesn't like the terrain it tries another spot nearby that may be outside the cargo mission area, and then it may be outside the trigger area so they never get assigned. That looks like part of the problem. I only think this is an issue with boats/lcacs -i don't think helos have this issue. If you look at some of the terrain where the lcacs go initially it appears to be very steep - they then go to something that looks more like a beach. I have also seen them rtb and say there was no suitable location I think.

- Strike missions seem to be a little weird - if the mission is a ground strike and the unit does not have ground attack weapons (SAMs were the example that I was aware of) then they won't go anywhere unless you assign them as an escort. Looks like unarmed recon units don't have ground attack weapons so they act the same.

- the Unit Remains in Area seems to fixate on a particular unit - in this example one of the units it got to was an unarmed recon unit, that unit was assigned to the strike mission but did not have ground weapons so it did not leave the trigger area. Next time thru it is still there and is still the Unit that Remains in the Area so the script is still assigning that same unit to the strike mission which it won't go on so it gets stuck in a loop. Delete any unit without weapons and I think it would, or use a patrol instead of strike - though I am not actually sure they would go on that either. I think in a later version of that script I figured out that some units got stuck and caused the action to keep assigning the same unit to the same mission and never got to any other units so I added a path to each unit at the same time as I assigned them to the mission, this took them out of the trigger area no matter what.

In playing with this I also learned something else - with WRA ground = tight, if the ground units came across an unidentified contact they just sat down next to it even if there were other hostile units right next to it. I would have thought they would have gone closer and tried to investigate it more and then move on the the next hostile. I may report that as a bug as it could really screw up an AI side if they could not be WRA free for some reason. I wonder if AC would do the same thing? follow an unidentified contact even though there were hostile ones nearby?

I posted a scen after this that was inspired by this thread - King of Alcedo I think? that has all kinds of crazy AI cargo drops with missions. I got a little carried away with it but it ended up pretty neat I think.

(in reply to DWReese)
Post #: 30
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