ATAG_Bliss has just uploaded A Collection of ATAG missions!

[ATAG_Bliss]

ATAG_Bliss has just uploaded A Collection of ATAG missions (http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/Downloads.php?do=download&downloadid=7)!

Hi fellas,

Here's a collection of missions from our server that we used back when we used AI. Hopefully these missions help those new to mission making in the art of scripting, using triggers, and g

[♣_Spiritus_♣]

EXCELLENT!

16 views? Lets go people, start learning and building. :D

[=FI=Murph]

Thanks so much for posting these, they are a gold mine.
I know it was probably not their intended use, but I'd like to try adopting these to use as dogfight "co-op style" missions to host for flying with a few friends. So far I have simply placed them in my dogfights folder and opened them in FMB to have a look. I have edited the battle area to cover the whole map, and am thinking about adding some AI fighter flights, since there will likely never be more than a few of us flying. What kind of things should I be looking for in terms of triggers and sub missions? Do some of the files actually need to be loaded elsewhere in the game? Will what I am trying to do work, or am I completely off base here?

EDIT: I do notice that when I open the missions in the FMB, there are a number of triggers and actions set up- I assume these specify what must happen before certain flights are spawned, etc.,? I do see that when I try test flying a mission, only a very limited number of enemy AI are spawned compared to the number and types placed in the FMB. Are these meant to correspond with the number of humans spawned?

Forgive me for being thick, but documentation for the programming language illiterate is still hard to come by. BTW, if you feel these questions belong in the mission building section feel free to move this post.

[ATAG_Bliss]

Thanks so much for posting these, they are a gold mine.
I know it was probably not their intended use, but I'd like to try adopting these to use as dogfight "co-op style" missions to host for flying with a few friends. So far I have simply placed them in my dogfights folder and opened them in FMB to have a look. I have edited the battle area to cover the whole map, and am thinking about adding some AI fighter flights, since there will likely never be more than a few of us flying. What kind of things should I be looking for in terms of triggers and sub missions? Do some of the files actually need to be loaded elsewhere in the game? Will what I am trying to do work, or am I completely off base here?

EDIT: I do notice that when I open the missions in the FMB, there are a number of triggers and actions set up- I assume these specify what must happen before certain flights are spawned, etc.,? I do see that when I try test flying a mission, only a very limited number of enemy AI are spawned compared to the number and types placed in the FMB. Are these meant to correspond with the number of humans spawned?

Forgive me for being thick, but documentation for the programming language illiterate is still hard to come by. BTW, if you feel these questions belong in the mission building section feel free to move this post.

Hi Murph,

Glad to see they are some help.

As far as the missions, all of those missions have 3 files to them. The .mis file (the main mission file), the .cs file (the scripts), and the briefing file (the mission briefing). So basically, all those files need to have the same prefix/name (radar5.mis/.cs/.briefing) for instance.

And yes, you will see the entire .mis file contents including AI flights etc., all in that one .mis file. There are some mission builders that will have a main mission file and add submissions (injecting different missions on top of missions), but I don't like doing it that way because I would rather see all the elements of the mission all in one spot. But the drawback is, you open up the mission file and it is indeed, very complex looking.

So what is happening in the AI flights, is those are placed on the map with the FMB, then under the flight properties (right click) on the 1st waypoint of that flight, you should see a little check box in the corner that says "script spwn" or similar. That basically means, those flights are going to be spawned via a script instead of simply spawning when the mission starts.

So if you go to the scripting screen in the FMB which is at the top under "edit/scripting", you'll see a window appear that has your triggers, actions, and scripts.

In the instance of one our AI missions, you'll see different types of triggers being used. Some could be area triggers (for bombing objectives), some could be triggers based off time (for spawning AI).

The names of these triggers and their corresponding actions are what you will see in the script file being used to spawn a plane, send a message to the server about an objective being hit, so forth and so on.

For instance, I would use simple names to spawn AI, something like "F1" to signify to myself that "flight" is the "1st" one to be spawned. It not only makes it easier to remember what flight you want to spawn 1st, but it's also a nice quick check to see if your script is in order. From there, since it's a Time based trigger/action, you'd set the amount of seconds before the trigger is fired, and as long as you've scripted it correctly, it will not only spawn the group of AI, but in our case, send different messages to red and blue players alike when it happens.

Once you start to see the correlation between the .mis file triggers/actions etc., and the script file, you'll see how it's pieced together with much of the same code being re-used, with only the sent messages and triggers and action messages being different.

Another thing to explain is all our scoring system (for winning scenario / map) is based upon a points system. At the top of the .cs file, you can see that point system defined. For easy math, if there are 5 objectives for red that need to be destroyed at 2 points a piece, that means once red has gotten 10 points, they have won the map. Same can be said for Blue etc. Or the same can be said for if the time limit of the mission is reached and it rotates to the next mission.

At the bottom of the script you'll notice this is where blue has won, red has won, or the map has ended in a tie. With the final piece of scripting in each one with a "processkill" command. Since our server commander is designed to keep the server up 24/7, it knows that when the dedicated server has been "processkill" (shut down), that it automatically starts up the server again on the next map.

So depending on how you want to host, if you are planning on using the ATAG server commander etc., you might not want the "processkill" command in your script at all. If you are loading your mission through the game, and not through the dedicated server screen (black DOS looking box) it will shut down your entire game when the mission ends :D

Something else to consider: I don't remember the reason why, but I always put scripts in order from the 1st spawn action to the last. So if you have a spawn happen at 1000s, then 2000s, then 3000s, write the script with the 1000s trigger/action being 1st, with the 2000s one being next, and so on.

One other neat thing about scripting when it comes to AI: If you want to continually spawn the same flight of AI, you can do it over and over again by simply adding another trigger/action to it, then scripting it in. So there's no need to create another flight of AI along with all the waypoints with it, if you already like what one flight of AI you've already made is doing. Simply assign a trigger/action to it, then spawn it again at a later time, at will :D

Another piece of advice with regards to AI: I would always test my missions and AI spawns by turning the TT (spawn time delay) WAAAAY down to something like 10 seconds apart. That way I could test and watch the entire mission's length of AI spawning all in a minute or so. That way you make sure all the triggers/actions work, and the only adjustment you need to do is put the TT time back to the time you actually want them to spawn at.

Hope this helps :salute:

[InvaderZim]

roflmao You are right on time! :) ties in nicely with my WHERE ARE YOU post. Thanks much for these. Between you and Freya I have hours of staring at files and fumbling around with the FMB basically wrecking your hard work. Good thing it will be on my computer and not the server.:) Thanks Bliss. :kiss: :dthumb: