A few persistence questions

  1. 8 years ago

    Hi guys,

    Sorry for the vague title; I have recently been modifying the Operation Landlord template and have almost everything working properly with war room. Group is CFED and my player name is somply the letter "j". The operation is called "Altis conflict co-op". Im running a local dedicated server with tadst. Im posting from mobile so i apologize for spelling mistakes :)

    Here are my issues:

    1. AI squadmates do not persist - they are removed from my group upon server restart even though vehucles, player position etc are saved and loaded correctly. The AI team members are from a ussocom addon - I suspect this is where the problem lies but i was hoping you could tell me what to look for in the server RPT for more info.

    2. one of the CAS Transport sub modules fails to init sometimes. I have 4 transport cas sub modules set up at an airbase and the other three init correctly every time. The Transport vehicle is a UH60 from cup (i think).

    Reviewing the rpt after several starts/stops, I sometimes see all 4 transports init and sometimes only 3. When only 3 init, all 4 vehicles spawn with crew loaded but the UH60 will not appear in the tablet, nor do i see the "talk to pilot" add action when boarding the uh60.

    Again, what can I look for here? I have tried replacing the vehicle with the vanilla equivalent (uh80 I believe?) And i see the same behaviour. I have also deleted and recreated the sub module and the problem still occurs.

    3. Tasks do not persist. I have verified that they are set to persist in the module settings. Almost everything else persists correctly.

    I have downloaded the latest ALiVE server module from war room and am currently using it. I will generate some log files for you to look through later when i am home. In the mean time i wanted to get this topic started and maybe see if there is anything occuring in the database for my server.

    Thanks you guys. ALiVE is hands down the best thing to happen to Arma since the original dayz mod.

  2. Edited 8 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    Sorry. I think I can only help with the first one.

    AI players are typically selected during the player selection screen before the mission is started and "continued." This would be the easiest way to do it, IMO. Go into the editor and make sure the AI are grouped to your player (click on the groups tab. Hover over your player, left click, drag over the AI player, and release). On mission start or continue, you should then have the option to select which ones you want to start and continue the mission with you. If you want to disable the AI for that particular session, login in as admin at the player selection screen and click "disable AI." You can also just select a handful to take with you if you want.

    Make sure you have disabledAI = 0; in your description.ext if you set the AI units to "playable" in the editor.

    Now, with persistence, AI will never spawn at your saved location. They will spawn where your respawn_west marker is. You have two choices at this point. Either go into the commander tablet/Admin Actions and teleport units or do what I do, and use this script in this thread:

    http://alivemod.com/forum/1613-ai-teammates-location-persistence

    This is a script that does a one time check at mission start the teleport the AI to your persisted location. Also in the thread is an amendment to have them teleport to the respawn location with you when you die.

  3. Regarding persistent tasks, are you talking about C2ISTAR tasks?

  4. Thanks for the reply, i really appreciate you taking the time.

    Im using a squad spawning script to add AI squad members during the mission - im guessing that this could be the problem then.

    I will try spawning some vanilla soldiers later and see if they persist correctly.

  5. Edited 8 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    They won't persist that way. Not without a script I'm not talented enough to write.

    If you don't feel like manually committing to AI units in the editor, you can add a recruit spawner to the mission from SpyderAddons: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=579263829

    But that still won't help you if you want your player location to persist. The only way to have AI spawn with you on mission continue is using the method I described above with the script in the link. That or turn persistent location for your player off and always continue the mission at your original spawn point where the AI will always spawn.

  6. Okay then - i'll just have players respawn at base on connect so that squads can be reformed easily.

    As to the Task qurstion - yes these are the auto generated C2ISTAR tasks which do not persist.

  7. Ok. Thanks for clearing up the C2ISTAR part up. I haven't tried testing the persistent part of that yet. It was just unclear based on your first post what you meant by tasks. Hopefully someone more knowledgable will pop in and clarify that for you.

  8. Edited 8 years ago by Kraz123

    I just took a look at spyder's addons - very cool. Im using a similar recruitment script to fill the squad wth AI although i will likely ditch it in favor of spyders. The loadout manager sounds fantastic.

    I think if I can just get the auto generated tasks to persist then I'll be happy.

    On another note, i see you have been mission making recently also. If you ever want someone to check out your missions let me know!

  9. Of course I'd love for someone to check out my mission! I thought no one was ever going to. :)

    In the mission I do have the C2ISTAR module placed, so I can request a task if I'm feeling like spicing things up, but it's primarily a patrol mission. Objectives are revealed by interrogating civilians and picking up Intel off dead bodies. If you have any questions or need me to list the mods (they are included in a readme but you need to unpack the PBO to see it) I can. Also if you try it, if you notice any bugs or have any suggestions for improving it I'd love to get some feedback.

  10. @Kraz123 Hi guys,

    Sorry for the vague title; I have recently been modifying the Operation Landlord template and have almost everything working properly with war room. Group is CFED and my player name is somply the letter "j". The operation is called "Altis conflict co-op". Im running a local dedicated server with tadst. Im posting from mobile so i apologize for spelling mistakes :)

    Here are my issues:

    2. one of the CAS Transport sub modules fails to init sometimes. I have 4 transport cas sub modules set up at an airbase and the other three init correctly every time. The Transport vehicle is a UH60 from cup (i think).

    Reviewing the rpt after several starts/stops, I sometimes see all 4 transports init and sometimes only 3. When only 3 init, all 4 vehicles spawn with crew loaded but the UH60 will not appear in the tablet, nor do i see the "talk to pilot" add action when boarding the uh60.

    3. Tasks do not persist. I have verified that they are set to persist in the module settings. Almost everything else persists correctly.

    I've actually come across number 2 before, but haven't been able to recreate it since. No idea why it occurred or what I did to solve it unfortunately as it was back in my earlier mission making days (as in, December!). It was on Altis too if I remember correctly, but with vanilla vehicles. Haven't had it since, but then I also haven't had as many helos in my most recent missions. I suspect, somewhere in the deep dark recesses of Alive's code, there may be a bug. If you can find a way to reproduce this then definitely report it.

    As for 3, I'm not sure C2ISTAR tasking is actually all that useful at this stage. According to the latest on the ALiVE thread on the BI Forums, it was created to give testers something to do and isn't a fully fledged feature just yet. The tasks too can be a bit funky, and are mostly spawned on top of the battlefield, rather than as a part of it. I think what a lot of people would like is being tasked by OPCOM to do something useful for the fight, but at the moment it's just creating little side missions that have little bearing on the actual battle bar increasing reinforcement numbers or civilian goodwill. At least that's my understanding.

    What I would do instead, is use the ALiVE Tablet, accessed in the Commander Actions menu
    -> Intel / Operations, and either command friendly forces to attack objectives at your request (Operations - you can edit friendly profiled units' waypoints), or see what your friendly OPCOM is currently attacking and defending (Intel -> OPCOM objectives - you can see what OPCOM is trying to attack / defend), and join in the fight that way. If you want to cut your own detail, set the intel in the C2ISTAR module to medium or high, go and recce targets yourself, then call support using the Operations part of the ALiVE Tablet. You won't get HVT missions or satisfying tickboxes or anything, but you'll be doing something productive and everything will persist. Use markers too, and you can pretty much manage your own operations in a more dynamic way (mark out enemy movements, troops amassing, strengths, then use that to predict where the enemy will go next - works surprisingly well!). Took me a while to adjust, but I found this way of playing ALiVE much more satisfying.

    Take this example: BLUFOR was invading Altis from the SE corner using conventional ground tactics, so I took a small squad of AT specialists and went behind enemy lines, mounting hit and run attacks on enemy armour. I made the mission with Armour-weighted military placements, so there was plenty of armour lying around, but also restricted the logistics modules of OPFOR and BLUFOR to non-armoured units. This meant that by using stealth, avoiding infantry and using drones to locate enemy tanks, then destroying them using hit and run tactics, I could turn the tide of a battle that BLUFOR would definitely have lost through inferior firepower otherwise. I could also attack a high priority objective quite viciously for a couple of minutes, withdraw, and then divert enemy forces away from the current BLUFOR operations, allowing BLUFOR to make quicker progress in the ground assault. In another example, I made the logistics modules static on the main airfield (so no falling back to weaker objectives) for both BLUFOR and OPFOR, then mounted a combined assault using the Operations tablet on that airfield and cut off the enemy resupply, then all I had to do was mop up while the enemy OPCOM tried to retake the airfield with dwindling forces. All these things happened dynamically with nobody saying what I had to do, and plenty of times I got compromised and had to bug out with most of my men dead, but because enemy profiles persisted, I knew that my intel was good on server restarts etc.

    When you build missions like this, it can be really easy to create cool scenarios where your actions can alter the course of a battle in really interesting ways. Use drones, markers, and set profile speed to 25% in the Virtual AI System module. Also use the player logistics module if you want to reinforce your own guys, then control the reinforcements using the Operations tab.

    There's so much cool stuff you can do with ALiVE. In my opinion, C2ISTAR doesn't do it any justice whatsoever!

  11. Also, Spyder's Civilian Interaction module can help you locate enemy units. Just set "Insurgent Faction" to your enemy faction and civilians will sometimes tell you where the nearest enemy is, if you are popular enough with them.

  12. 7 years ago
    Edited 7 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    Sorry to bump this. I figured the title would be suitable for the question.

    While waiting for all the 1.60 issues to get resolved, I started reworking one of my persistent conventional battles into a persistent conventional battle, with 4 manually created tasks the players can choose to tackle, or not. The tasks are created with the task state modules, which are synced to another task state module (complete. Which is "succeeded" via a trigger).

    The tasks involve assassinating non-virtualized units and destroying manually placed objects from the editor, which are checked with triggers looking for !alive objectname.

    Are task state, non-virtualized units and manually placed objects persistent? Does the database check for any of these when saving? Does it remember trigger states at all either?

    I'm assuming not but figured it would be worth asking. I know I could try it, but with the mystery thing of where my Workshop mods are now stored, and their names being all messed up with numbers rather than words, I'm planning on switching back to manual downloads before trying persistence again.

  13. Sorry to bump this also, after 6 months, but as HaVOS says: it's a suitable title and my question is sorta an extention of the one above regarding non-virtualized units. In my misson I have put eight editor placed AAF officers which need to be eliminated within a full-scale conflict on altis. All officers have a trigger which fires a hint “target X eliminated". when all officers are dead it triggers the mission ending.

    Question 1: how do I get the officers to NOT reappear when server restarts. All other stuff persists accordingly.
    Question 2: not ALiVE-related but the ending trigger works when the mission is hosted localy, but not on the dedi server. Anyone who have experienced this? Again sorry to bump this. I've tried searching for q1 but not as much q2 tbh.. Thanks for bearing with me.

  14. Edited 7 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    For number 1: @Tupolov could probably explain if it's currently possible. He briefly mentioned on Reddit yesterday that the database is capable of saving mission data beyond the scope of what it does by default, so hopefully when he has a sec and he can elaborate on that.

    For number 2: It may be useful if you share how you're calling the end state (if it's a code, share the code. If it's related to modules or game settings, explain how you set it up, etc).

  15. Ok, each commander has a name: target1, target2 up to target 8. They each have a trigger with the condition "!alive targetx" On activation: hint "Target X eliminated"

    In addition to those triggers there's a trigger with this condition: !(alive target1) && !(alive target2) && !(alive target3) and so on. This will trigger the end mission/mission complete screen.

    They work great when hosting on my own computer through the editor, but on the dedi it does not work. Actually, I did just get the feeling of this being related to reappearing targets after server save and exit -->restart. The hints trigger when I take out the officers after restart, but maybe something strange happens to the ending trigger which relyes on every target's trigger.. Dunno, I think I must try to eliminate everyone quickly in one sitting using Zeus or something, maybe that's what's causing this issue. I'm a novice at this but learning gradually.

    Vaguely explained but hopefully descriptive enough. I can post the mission if you want to take a look.

  16. Edited 7 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    I mean, I use the same triggers to end some of my own missions but I've never tried on a server because I'm a loser and play alone. :(

    My best guess is this is related to number 1 (with the officers regenerating every time the mission starts).

    Here's an idea. Enter the mission on a dedicated server and just use ALiVE Admin Actions to teleport to the officers and kill them. Go into ghosting mode (enabled in the same place) so you can't die and see if it fires when all the dudes are dead.

  17. Tupolov

    3 Jan 2017 Administrator

    From the wiki - http://alivemod.com/wiki/index.php/Database#Editor_Notes

    0.9.9 Release includes the ability to save and retrieve custom values to the ALiVE database using the following funcs:

    These functions need to be run SERVER side and @AliveServer needs to be installed and running.

    ["My Custom Variable", _value] call ALiVE_fnc_setData
    _value = ["My Custom Variable"] call ALiVE_fnc_getData

    We recommend that you save no more than 10KB worth of data in TOTAL for your custom variables. If you have extensive persistence needs, then please let us know.

  18. Edited 7 years ago by gaZthme

    Bhaha, you and me both then :) I just rent a server because my Internet sucks (just in case if anybody want to ArmA) and better performance when playing.

    It worked when eliminating everyone without saving/restarting server though. Good to know. And when using the "player exit" and jumping back in the officers are still gone and the triggers worked. The backside of this though is that the server keeps running, but with autopause on the server live it's own life 'til I get back I hope. :) Thanks

    Edit: Seems you just posted while I was typing Tupolov. I need to get a grasp on what this means though... Thanks!

  19. Edited 7 years ago by HeroesandvillainsOS

    Thanks for the code, Tupolov. I see the set and get, but could someone put an example on the wiki for how that would look in practice for let's say, a non-virtualized unit or trigger state?

    I'm assuming it's not as simple as just putting object/trigger init names into the custom variable array.

    Sorry if it's out of the scope of the wiki. I'm sure you guys don't have the time on your hands to teach people like me how to write and format code but an example would be nice.

  20. Tupolov

    3 Jan 2017 Administrator

    If you have a trigger, then maybe that trigger relies on a variable. You can store the state of the variable using the code above.

    The feature isn't really there to store object/unit/trigger state.

 

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