Noob help please

[Tomoose]

I finally got SEOW installed and am fumbling my way through trying to create missions that two opposing players can play.
My intent, as administrator, is to task both sides in MP then (I thought) I could generate (build) a coop mission in DCS, host the mission(s) and our little group of online coop players would have the option of picking their aircraft from blue or red. As the "neutral" party and administrator I could run and control the campaign simply providing our little group with missions. We are currently using DCG but I'd like to take advantage of SEOW to bring a more detailed and interesting campaign to the group (NOTE: there is no way I can have them be commanders etc as just installing DCG itself was a very tough challenge for them so installing and understanding SEOW is a bridge too far.....I know....too much info, right?)

After some false starts I've got the MP up and running and am able to task missions for both sides. I'm using the Channel40 sector and a simplistic Battle of Britain scenario (i.e. a couple of RAF squadrons on one side of the Channel and a couple of Luftwaffe squadrons on the other).

My problem arises when I get DCS to build the mission. I get the following pop-up;
SEDCS::Mission 'SE-BOB1-194006151400' is ready to be hosted.
There are no flights for human pilots, but the mission must still be hosted to allow ground action to continue. Please use the "Bf-109Z" host aircraft provided.
(Overrun or cancelled flights: 0 Allied; 0 Axis)
When opening the .mis file created it turns out that NONE of the aircraft from the MP tasked missions are in the .mis file, only the 109 host and the radar aircraft.
I don't understand why there's no human flights as my template doesn't have any flights that are designated AI-only. I had thought that DCS would generate the mission based on the MP-tasked missions and once in IL2 a player could select a blue or red aircraft.

I did manage to get one mission with a flight of hurricanes intercept a 110 on a recce mission. I was able to 'observe' in the game as well as track using the radar.
I was only able to select the 109 host.

While the setup and the button-ology is very well documented I haven't found anything that explains why I can't get "human" flights into a 'built' mission so I'm posting here for help.

Thanks,

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

Hi Tomoose,

Welcome, glad to meet you. Here are some answers/comments to your message.

NOTE: there is no way I can have them be commanders etc as just installing DCG itself was a very tough challenge for them so installing and understanding SEOW is a bridge too far

Installing SEOW is not easy. But commanders do not need to install anything. All they need is an IE-compliant web browser in compatibility mode. I use IE11. The only person who needs an SEOW install is the admin. I suspect that once you run a few simple missions/short campaigns, you might find one or two individuals curious to know more.

... I haven't found anything that explains why I can't get "human" flights into a 'built' mission ...

That's weird. The whole idea of SEOW is to support what you want to do. Some things that you might want to check:

1. Turn on HSFX Mod Objects in the DCS Campaign Mode tab - things enables the use of all objects in the database

• What is your Supply model? If Supply Tracking is ON, then airbases without fuel will not allow flights to take off.

• Have a look at the Playability tab in DCS. Make sure the playability settings are not too low.

• Are your airframes AI only? Look at the Control field in the Object_Specifications table. Make sure your airframes are actually set as human flyable.

• Maybe you have plotted your flights for a mission timeslot later than 1400 hours?

Hopefully these ideas lead to a quick fix for you. If not, let's get together on TS and sort it out. Shouldn't be a big deal. Oh, make sure you are using the latest DCS, MP and DB versions.

Cheers,
4S

[Tomoose]

4shades,
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
- Yes, the HSFX mode is selected.
- Supply tracking is off.
- I'll check the playability settings, i haven't touched them so far.
- The airframes shouldn't be AI only as i did not select the AI-only option for any flights in the FMB template. Where do i find the Object-Specifications table?
- Flight times were all "immediate" on both sides i.e. 1400hr so i don't think that's an issue.

Thanks again. Ref helping via TS, what timezone are you in?
Cheers,
Tomoose

UPDATE: HSFX mode is 'on', Supply is off, Playability = min 20 each, found the Object-Specifications table... the planes I'm using are "Human".

[Tomoose]

By the way, I also get this message every time I initialize a campaign. It doesn't stop the initialization and appears to be referring to Campaign objectives which I can't fill out until I get into the MP after the campaign is initialized so am not sure what it means.
SEDCS::modMissionAnalyzer.subLoadCampaignObjectives: 5 Argument 'Length' must be greater or equal to zero.
Error : 5
Description : Argument 'Length' must be greater or equal to zero.<p>

[Tomoose]

I tried again. I'm clearly missing something and it's probably a simple thing but I don't know where to look (i.e. I don't know, what I don't know).
Flushed the database using DCS. Re-initialized. Created two missions in MP as follows:
1 Flight of ME-109B/Emil and 1 Flight of Hurricanes. Both set to immediate takeoffs. Neither are AI only. Host 109 NOT selected.


And this is what I get when I build the mission:


Here's the top half of the 'built' .mis file. As you can see, no aircraft at all.

[MAIN]
MAP CAN_EnglishChannel/1940load.ini
TIME 15.0
CloudType 0
CloudHeight 1945.0
[SEASON]
Year 1940
Month 6
Day 15
[WEATHER]
WindDirection 67.0
WindSpeed 2.0
Gust 8
Turbulence 3
[Wing]
[Chiefs]
[NStationary]
0_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 193287.05 243839.45 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1
1_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 193287.05 243929.45 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1
2_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 193197.05 243749.45 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1
3_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 193467.05 243839.45 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1
4_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 173645.35 257415.21 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1
5_Static vehicles.artillery.Artillery$StBofors_40mm_UK 1 173645.35 257505.21 390.00 0.0 2864 0 1

This is the last two lines as I have the coop mod selected (whatever that means)...

[MODSLOT]
R =69.GIAP= IAF
B 22GCT 102nd

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

The coop Mod Slot is a very useful mod for HSFX that:

1. prevents users from joining a hosted coop unless their callsigns conform to those listed
2. prevent Allied pilots from seeing Axis planes in the in-game lobby, and vice versa

On the error about Campaign Objectives, they can be specified in the .properties file alongside the .mis file. The objectives can be even be entered via FMB if you are savvy enough. But I do not know why you are getting these errors.

Try flushing, turning Supply on, and re-initializing. See if you can get airframes in the mission file that way.

I am probably 12 hours ahead of you, timezone wise.

Cheers,
4S

[Tomoose]

Thanks again. Perhaps we can link up over the weekend.
I'll get rid of the Mod Slot as that functionality is not a priority at the moment.
I'll report back.
cheers,
Tomoose

[Tomoose]

Tried again. 4 flights. 1 x HE-111 with 109 escort. 2 x flights of Hurricanes (same type of aircraft from two different bases). MP showed the flights no problem.
Built the mission and the message once again said only 1 Allied flight available for human flight and zero Axis. The .mis file had one Hurricane flight and no other aircraft. I had the coop mod on but didn't adjust anything in the .mis.
I'm giving up until the weekend as I'm clearly getting nowhere.

[22GCT_Gross]

Hello Tomoose,
I would be glad to support you but I should take a look at your database.
(22gct.gross@gmail.com)

Diego

[Tomoose]

22GCT_Gross;
grazie ma penso l'ho fatto. Up until now I was Flushing the database using the SEDCS but I noticed that even after the 'flush' DCS was telling me I had 4 missions in progress. I clicked on "Remove in Progress" and flushed again but STILL got the 4 missions in progress.

So I went into my SQLYog and deleted the Channel40 database there and re-imported from the SimpleSQL folder. Essentially I started from the beginning.
I de-selected the "..append .ru..." option and de-selected the coop mod option (not sure if that made a difference).

I re-initialized then created a very simple mission of one flight of Hurricanes and one flight of HE-111s. When I built the mission....bingo!....one human flyable flight for Allied side and one human-flyable flight for AI side. I cranked up the mission in IL2 and there were positions for the Hurricanes and the Heinkels.
I ran the mission and noticed a couple of things which may indicate part of the previous problem (or not).
1. Despite giving the HE-111s proper take-off and flight waypoints from their airfield they were already at altitude when the mission started. I have to assume that it has something to do with the Temporary Airbases (I had those 'on' and 'force air starts at temp airbases' 'on'). The HE-111s spent the first part of the mission circling down to their 'start' altitude before heading out on their flight plan.
2. The Hurricanes took off normally (I selected the last Hurricane and simply observed).

A couple of un-related (I think) points.
1. I find I have to re-enter my log in and password a lot in the MP if I change Sectors or go to HQ etc
2. I had radar 'on' in DCS (it has worked before) but the radar page wouldn't refresh in this particular mission.

One last point: I'm using SQLYog (trial) for the database importing. The full version is $69 (CAD). Is there another (cheaper) db app I could use. I originally tried Heidi but it was horrrrrrrendously slow (a day and a half estimate to do the sedb74_reference).

thanks again for the help (and patience).
Tomoose

[Tomoose]

UPDATE:
OK I managed to successfully build a second mission after some further trials and it seems to be the Temporary Airfield setting combined with the 2D map providing some incorrect info.
I had the HE-111s at one of the bases marked as a dark circle on the Channel map (i.e. a heavy bomber base) but that particular one must not be for heavies as it forced an air start (as noted in my previous post). I moved the bombers to another heavy bomber base.

So it appeared to be a combination of me having the Temp airbase function switched on and having the appropriate aircraft assigned to the appropriate base.
I'm a bit disappointed in the temp airbase aspect on this particular map as it seems to assign the gray metal strips to arbitrary English airfields (not the French for some strange reason from what I could see). The gray metal strips are partially in and out of the map texture and totally out of place in the scenario so visually it's an immersion killer however they seem to be away from the action so to speak.

My successful mission had a flight of 111s takeoff from France and a flight of Hurricanes takeoff from England. All planes were human selectable. The only issue was the Loadout for the HE-111s was only fuel, no ordnance but I assume I have to put that into the campaign template as a baseline loadout. The Hurricanes intercepted and attacked the 111s (I didn't have CAP or Ground Attack for either flight).

So far so good. I think I hit on the problem and will see if I can repeat the success.

[22GCT_Gross]

That's good.
About sql editor, I would strongly recommend to use SqlYog if you plan to often use seow envinroment.
About radar, please refer to http://seowhq.net/seowwiki-en/index.php ... egic_Radar ;
About temporary airbases, in the Channel40 database you find a lot of nr. 1475 Airbase_Type having a default Steel Runway.
The man who built this database must have had a valid reason to set it up, but in order to remove the steel rwy you can try to change the Airbases.Airbase_Type value to another valid one or to remove the "ships.Ship$RwySteelLow" record in the airbase_layouts table where airbase_Type = 1475;
About ordnance, let me now if you will not solve the issue.

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

Thanks guys, good to see progress.

On the He-111 ordnance issue. I wonder if the Supply OFF setting is interacting with the minimum fuel requirement for each loadout, as defined in the AircraftLoadouts table. Easiest way to check is to look in the MP and make sure your airbases have fuel supply. I suspect they do.

I am not sure why so many Temporary Airbases are used in this map. Dore will know! But note that this map is only rated as "fair" in terms of SEOW quality (see your Mission Planner Scripts/MP-Maps.php page). This is normally assessed in terms of the airbase, road, rail and bridge quality in the IL2 map.

Cheers,
4S

[Tomoose]

Well I've given up on the Channel map. First it works, then it doesn't. I'm almost positive that it's got to do with the Temp airfield aspect but I have no viz on which airfields are Temp on the map itself so it makes it extremely difficult to assign the proper aircraft to the proper airfield. Frustrating.

BTW I have not been prompted for a start date on any of my Initializing efforts, is that normal?

I've tried a couple of the pre-made templates and created missions but I'm confused as to why it always seems to give only one flight for humans and usually not the one I want. I don't understand why the flights simply disappear when the mission is built (i.e. they are completed and assigned in MP but when the mission is built they are apparently not even considered).

[22GCT_Gross]

Ive hosted hundreds of missions and yes something can happen but mainly due to dB mismatches or settings.
I could luckily understand your problems in minutes if I could get your database.
I will be back home on the 11th July