@[ACPL] Jon_Gra_TTV
steam workshop subscribed missions are stored in pbo format in \Steam\userdata\<your_user_id>\ugc\referenced

find the workshop subscription ID for the mission you want or search through the folders for it. the pbo is already in an exportable format that can be copied directly to a server's mpmissions folder.

this is somewhat of a hold over from when steam workshop was first integrated with arma 3 and isn't the permanent location for the mission files, but at the moment of download, this is where it is stored.

as for fixing locations, yes, i do this for some of the DRO WW2 maps that lack location data. it's just a bit tedious is all.

With DB repo you also wouldn't have to keep a changelog (which I assume would be needed for say, a GitHub repo), it'd just be a shortcut for server admins so they don't have to do what's listed below to be able to host the mission.

And thanks for trying with Farabad.

If it still lacks location data, can it be mitigated in any way?

You could possibly just set Dropbox repo to "published folder" and it would solve the prob? As in you'd most likely just have to hit "update" once in a while and that's it.

DB offers 2 GB's for free.

Right now to get these missions on our Dedicated Server I have to:
1 - start a lan server
2 - start every single mission I want to download
3 - go to the "saved" directory and find the correct folder
4 - copy and properly rename the "mission.pbo" inside
5 - copy that mission.pbo to the dedicated server's MPmission folder

That times say 30 missions times every update... rather time consuming.

Pls tell me if there's a simplier way.

@[ACPL] Jon_Gra_TTV sure i can make a port to Farabad, i think when i last looked at the map a year ago it was unfinished and lacked any location data i could use for generating an AO.

as for zipping and uploading to google drive, it would be annoying to manage another repo more than the current ones (steam, archive folder, published folder, and indev folder) given they would probably need to be updated in sync with the steam versions, or if versioning is enabled i would need to include better versioning metadata or have enough online storage for several GB worth of data.

I also just realized there's no ACE DRO for Farabad, could you make one?

Farabad is a part of Global Ops Terrain Pack, it also has Isla Pera and Fjord.

Oh, and merry xmas Chaz and thank you for your work so far.

Any chance you could provide these missions in a single or several 7zip files hosted on say, Google Drive or Dropbox? If a few, then let's say: DRO_vanilla_maps, DRO_cup_maps, DRO_custom_a2maps, DRO_custom_a3maps, etc.

Beautiful! Thanks!

@SpaceGhost
here you go: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3236325600

@SpaceGhost
it's possible to port it like any other DRO mission, however some maps require additional work. i some time after lunch today, so i'll add Yulakia in a couple hours.

hey chaz, are we able to port your version ourselves or would it require some special voodoo magic to do? I want to port to the new Yulakia map.

@Rockfish00
the RPT is a report file generated if logging is enabled that shows what the game is doing and is a helpful tool to figure out problems.

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Crash_Files

the what?

@Rockfish00
can you also link me to the RPT for that mission?

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2952196925 Here is a screenshot of the glitch

@Rockfish00
i think i would need to see a couple screenshots of that and the RPT for that mission so i can examine it. that sounds really weird unless you're trying to fight another BLUFOR faction, in which case team switch happens after the map markers are generated, so that's an oversight on my part.

That seemed to fix it. Also I noticed that some opfor positions are given away on the map and show up as a blufor unit. No idea what is causing that.

@Rockfish00
usually the "cannot move" issue is caused by conflicting settings between ACE3 and the ones selected during the mission. if ACE3 Advanced Medical is being used, then Revive must be disabled, and if ACE Fatigue is being used, then Stamina must be enabled.

I noticed an issue recently where the player is unable to move. I went into zeus to see if I could remote control an AI and that seemed to work perfectly fine. I then teleported my character into a quad bike and I could move that too, but I couldn't leave the vehicle. This might be an issue with ace movement, but this seems to happen only on these missions so I thought I'd let you know.

@chazbotic It still happens. Altought I noticed that it doesn't happen when I don't use the advanced factions, https://pastebin.com/S2GCZSQw

@janpieterkes
can you try unsubscribing and then re-subscribing to the mission? i just tried on a laptop with the latest version and i really can't duplicate the problem. also in my dedicated test server (in case you're not local hosting but going to remote host) also works as expected. i would be curious if the issue follows you to different profiles or something or if you have an old version of the mission or something.

typically this issue is a failure to find a valid class in the array that is populated during faction extraction. for example if a class has no equipment or a weird name. it shouldn't happen ever with vanilla factions or with factions that have a vanilla compliant configuration - so some units from ORBAT or 3CB or whatever can break if they use a script or some other function to randomize gear or equip the units.

the RPT specifes that a variable in a script is null and so the function exits as invalid, so the fallback is to spawn a CSAT unit instead.

@chazbotic Yep still happens. https://pastebin.com/XEHJymYf (Thanks for going trough the pain of helping me)

@janpieterkes
while i still haven't been able to duplicate the issue (using your addons, although with normal ace rather than the "no medical" one you use) the advanced factions seem to work as expected.

i did find a couple issues to fix that aren't related, and because the default CSAT unit is kinda meh, i'll add some code to replace it with some bandits/looters instead so it's at least somewhat relevant.

does the issue appear when you use the normal ACE addon?

@chazbotic https://pastebin.com/F1HpLgAg (I used ACE without medical the issue occured when using normal ACE too though).

@janpieterkes
the additional factions menu option tries to evaluate the gear of that faction and add it to the available pool of gear (including uniforms) of the player or enemy side. if that unit or gear is coded strangely or a mod is interfering with that process, then the fall-back is the default unit of that side (NATO, AAF, CSAT). another way it can happen is if the unit for whatever reason has a weird classname or description that it can't parse (pilot, officer, et c) so spawning that particular unit can create a default CSAT unit as well.

i cannot duplicate this issue in my test environment even with RHS or 3CB factions.

with only CBA and ACE loaded, and testing on Tanoa, the additional factions also work as intended (i picked AAF and FIA as enemies, player as CTRG, civs were Tanoans).

are you able to share with me your RPT for a mission that had that behavior? like pastebin or something.

@chazbotic It also happens with vanilla factions. Is it possible that the advanced factions feature causes the issue?

@janpieterkes
that can sometimes happen if the faction uses a script or some other weird thing to randomly determine loadouts, especially if it's inconsistent. what factions did you use? does it happen using just vanilla factions?

the missions spwans the faction I select like normal, but it also spawns CSAT troops on both sides?

@whitetailly IIRC the original creator of DRO/DCO ceased to work on DCO and added some of the DCO features to the DRO. But also worth mentioning that the original creator seems to some time after that have also stopped working on even the DRO missions.

No DCO version?

yeah, I think adding StrongpointArea for initAO and menuFunctions should do the trick.

And detecting the worldName and from there determinating the location class array seems like it could be a solution for compatibility with more modded maps.
But it should need to create a location class array for each map + add each individual worldName to the detection script.

@LuizBarros99
yeah probably. menuFunctions is simply to toggle on/off an AO location selection with the opened map dialog. so adding StrongpointArea will be done here for the next update assuming my texting goes well. i will also add StrongpointArea for the initAO script. generate AO i will add StrongpointArea to the primary location array, and then leave out the other types. it boils down to testing.

maybe a solution is just detecting the map name and determining the valid locations based on worldName...

I did not think this would be that complex, but I have a feeling that hopefully just simply fixing the "StrongpointArea" on the "menuFunctions.sqf" could hopefully fix it for SOG PF. (At least would be the best shot)

I will specifically verify the SOGPF maps though for the military areas and see what type of location it is and add that to the player-selectable array and cross check with a few other maps to make sure it will not bug out. maybe i was too cautious in removing it entirely.

menuFunctions will be the AO locations available to the player, generate AO will select from the same list as the primary location, but will have a slightly expanded list for the secondary locations only (to prevent the issue of bad array return mentioned), then initAO will do the actual generation. i did miss the StrongpointArea location in the initAO.sqf though, so i will add that, thank you for finding it.

@LuizBarros99
the problem is that primary AO locations cannot contain certain location types, or else it will bug out on some maps that do not properly define the Strategic or StrongpointArea locations especially where the location has no name and will not spawn anything at that location and too few elements are returned. FlatArea, et c has this issue for places in Chernarus and Beketov for defining fields but these are good spots for a bunker or AA position.

the compromise is to allow these locations for extended AO, which has no return requirement for all elements, but not having them in the primary AO, which must always return all elements or the mission will fail to generate.

This issue can be clearly seen on both of the S.O.G. Prairie Fire Maps, since many of the military locations can not be selected. (And also a couple of settlements)

I would suggest to either use the arrays from the menuFunctions.sqf (both arrays from this file are identical), or use the second array from the generateAO.sqf file (line 55, since this is the most complete one)

In short these are the arrays currently used in "nearestLocations" of each file


1st (line 356)
["NameLocal", "NameVillage", "NameCity", "NameCityCapital", "Airport", "Strategic", "StrongpointArea"]

2nd (line 436)
["NameLocal", "NameVillage", "NameCity", "NameCityCapital", "Airport", "Strategic", "StrongpointArea"]


1st (line 24)
["NameLocal","NameVillage","NameCity","NameCityCapital","Airport","Strategic"]


2nd (line 55)
["NameLocal", "NameVillage", "NameCity", "NameCityCapital", "Airport", "Strategic", "StrongpointArea", "FlatArea", "FlatAreaCity", "FlatAreaCitySmall"]


only 1 (line 3)
["NameLocal","NameVillage","NameCity","NameCityCapital","Airport","Strategic"]

Hey, think that I have just spotted a mistake on the "nearestLocations" function used on the "menuFunctions.sqf", "generateAO.sqf", and "initAO.sqf" files.

Basically each of them has a different array of classes that can be accepted, and this makes it impossible to select certain locations on the menu (but these "un-selectable" locations can even end up being randomly selected as the random "Additional extended AO")

that sounds perfect

@LuizBarros99
i've modified the Extended AO option to provide up to five additional AO locations on mission generation and you can select a random number of objectives or up to five guaranteed objectives. these are additive, so it's possible to "roll high" and get something like 1+5+5 and each objective has a small chance to spawn intel, reinforcements, or secondary objectives (extract, destroy, et c). this is probably enough for 8 players without being super crazy. additionally i've increased the search area so the AO is a bit more spread out.

i'll push out this update in the next day.

Thanks!

@LuizBarro99
yeah that's true. i'll toy around with it and put something together, certainly.

Yeah, I wonder if the enemy force size slider could also help with that.
But also the Extended AO should help a bit, since the enemy forces would be spread over a larger area. (Not to mention that it gives more chances of each of the "Extended AOs" having objectives)

@LuizBarros99
it's certainly possible, however the spawning scripts and reinforcement functions could easily get very overwhelming with less than 8 playrs. i'll experiment with some ideas though, probably a linear conversion for reinforcements based on the number of connected human players.

Another suggestion would be to increase the number limit of objectives for the mission. For example, it currently lets me select 1, 2, 3, and a "Random" number of objectives.

I think a decent maximum number of objectives would be around 6 or 8 objectives, specially when using the "Extended AO" option.

But IDK if this change would be easy to make, like in the "AO Types" suggestion.

@LuizBarros99
it was one of reasons i opted to maintain the BIS Arsenal for the Team Planning Menu, as the BIS_fnc_arsenal_cam is being used to pause the arsenal script for the lobby, and cursory attempts at rewriting this for an eventhandler or creating a temporary object gave some pretty weird results. at some point i'll probably revisit it, but i lack the time to go through it right now due to holidays.

@LuizBarros99
sounds like a good idea for the additional AO types. i'll implement that in the next version.

as for the menu button, the limitation there is the camera control being used to determine when planning and lobby actions are completed for all players as well as breaking proceeding to the mission itself. many things would need to change to implement that and keeping it as it is also has some flexibility for players that prefer the BIS arsenal when hosted in multiplayer.

Also one final suggestion would be to change the "Team Planning Menu" menu button that opens the "standard BIS Virtual Arsenal" to make it open the "ACE Arsenal" instead.
(This would be useful for messing around with AI unit loadouts with the ACE Arsenal)

I have a suggestion to add these 3 location types to the "nearestLocations" functions that are found on the "menuFunctions.sqf", "generateAO.sqf", and "initAO.sqf" files:

"Airport","Strategic","StrongpointArea"

That should make military bases selectable for AO. Also the "Airport" type of location would make sure that airports are possible to be selected (specially in Tanoa)