MCAR Engine released...

[.COMmunist 0]

I just noticed a problem with Sa-8. It can't be re-supplied. I tried BIS Ural ammo truck and Red Hammer's ammo Ural, but nothing is happening. Rather then that, this is the best Air deffence addon EVER in OFP. Question: why the missile launchers are different color then the rest of the vehicle?

[sa8gecko 0]

Quote[/b] ]Question: why the missile launchers are different color then the rest of the vehicle?

Answers:

1) because I suck at texturing

2) sometimes they've slightly different colors:

a czech SA-8B:

a captured iraqi SA-8B (first gulf war):

about resupplying it, frankly I've never tried to do it. The new version, I mean. The old one resupplied itself when needed if there was an ammo truck nearby. I don't plan to re-release it shortly if this is a bug. Rather, i'd wait till I have the SA-8A ready too (it's still on the 'planned' stage). In the meantime I'll see if I can make those textures a little better: very little, cause anyway I can't do much better than that.

And thank you for feedback and compliments.

[.COMmunist 0]

Nice pictures. If you don't want to fix the re-supply issue, tell me which part of the config should it be under. I figured out how to change addons properties in the config, but I always have a hard time with all those scripts in there I only know like armor, irscann, maxspeed, initspeed. Which one of those many words should be responsible for re-supplying?Perhaps you just missed one symbol, thats all. I hope it is not more complicated then that.

Also another question. Do you think that your Sa-8 chasis could be used to create the Spider (much improved Scud launcher, something that BIS should of used instead, especially for the 1985 conflict). It was the badass launcher that the west had no answer for. They had to deal with it in diplomatic way (one of those armed treaties that banned the use of SS-23 Spider). I was just wondering. I wanted to post a pic here, but can't figure out how.

About the different colors on the vehicle. I don't think it is such a big deal. It is very well shown on the pics that you provided that it CAN be in different color.

[sa8gecko 0]

To 'fix' the re-supply thing, open the config.cpp file, look under cfgAmmo->class mcar_9m33 and modify the 'cost' value to something substantially less than the current one of '5000000' (try 5000, for example).

I know the TELAR is used for other vehicles as well. If someone wants to make a SS-23, I think anyway he will prefer to re-make the chassis as well. Anyway the SA-8B model is free, and if you want to take parts of it for your own purposes, feel free to do it.

About the textures, I meant the entire vehicle textures. Re-reading my words it really seems I was talking only about the missile pod's ones, but I meant the whole model's, sorry.

[.COMmunist 0]

Thanks for your answers. You guys not only make the highest quality stuff, but you also have the best "cutomer service". Great combination for addonmakers. Thanks again.

[h - 169]

MCAR Engine 0.9 Released

A 'small' update. The old addons of course still work.

The AA code was optimized further. You should notice a little improvement in the missiles lethality and even a slight performance increase.

If you on the contrary notice worse performance than with MCAR engine 0.8 be sure to let us know.

MCAR_debug global variable is now more useful as it allows to debug the missile flight better, and this will help you more than before in customizing your missile's parameters.

A new variable is usable in stringtable.csv (AA units only):

_GMK

This works only for lead collision and proportional navigation guidance codes and if enabled (true) makes the missile loose lock if between the shooting vehicle and the target happens to be a hill.

Setting this variable to true will slightly worsen the performance (but very slightly).

A new global variable is present:

MCAR_engine_version

This one is useful if your addon needs a newer version of MCAR engine than the one currently installed in the user's addon directory. Examples how to use it proficiently will be given in a new version of the docs.

Since this version, as promised, don't interfere with older addons, users utilizing prevalently MCAR AA units should upgrade in view of the increased performance they should get.

Maybe they won't notice it, but stay sure the code is optimized better than in previous versions. Users using prevalently AT units can stick to the older version, as nothing has changed; anyway, in view of the small filesize (33 kB compressed .rar) it should not a big deal to upgrade.

Download:

MCAR Engine 0.9

[.kju 3241]

thanks

[ag_smith 0]

Incrased AA missiles lethality... lol... I'm strongly under impression that you missiles are way more effective than the ones using built-in game guidance code... at least judging from how many time I was shot down by the damn Gaskins.

Oh well, the life of helicopter pilot is very brutal. Well done, guys!

[Gedis 0]

yup, those gaskins takes even planes out of sky with 95-99% accuracy...

only thing that saved me from being downed was 15-30m height flight and manuevers when at high altitude... (i were flying different jets)

still haven't tryed it against helicopters, because it's enough to be downed when flying a jet

[snoops_213 74]

A new variable is usable in stringtable.csv (AA units only):

_GMK

This works only for lead collision and proportional navigation guidance codes and if enabled (true) makes the missile loose lock if between the shooting vehicle and the target happens to be a hill.

Setting this variable to true will slightly worsen the performance (but very slightly).

stupid question but how to set? unpack pbo? if so what should the code be? (Total dumb ass )

[sa8gecko 0]

Quote[/b] ]Incrased AA missiles lethality... lol... I'm strongly under impression that you missiles are way more effective than the ones using built-in game guidance code...

Indeed they are, if your PC can keep up: the usual problem with scripted addons. BIS missiles seem to follow a lead collision course, so, given the right maneuvrability parameter in config.cpp, they should be much more effective, because hard coded into the game. Their main 'problem' is that they don't have a proximity fuse, so that very often they miss by a few meters, whereas MCAR missiles, still being not able to be as precise (cause the scripts aren't executed at every frame), having proximity fuse can at least damage the target.

Then there's the fact that the current released Gaskin's and Gecko's missiles can stay in the air much longer than 'normal' ones.

Quote[/b] ]still haven't tryed it against helicopters, because it's enough to be downed when flying a jet

If you can fly nap of the earth with a chopper, you should be able to easily evade the missiles, so flying an helicopter you actually should have more survival chances.

Quote[/b] ]stupid question but how to set? unpack pbo? if so what should the code be?

Not a stupid question: anyway yes, you have to unpack the ADDON pbo, not the MCAR engine one. For example, if you want to give the Gecko this capability (or better, to negate the Gecko the capability to shot down targets hiding behind hills), de-pbo the Sa-8.pbo file, go in the just created Sa-8 directory and open up the stringtable.csv file with notepad. Now add this line at the end of the file:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">mcar_Sa8_GMK,"true"

save and pack again, and now, if you hide behind a hill from the launcher view while the missile is following you, the missile itself should loose lock. 'Should' because, not to make the scripts really heavy, the presence of an obstacle between the launcher and the target it's checked only when the target direction as seen from the launcher changes of at least 4.87 degrees. When this happens the scripts check if the line of sight between target and launcher passes inside ground, and the checking direction is set to the new value. At 2000 meters this means the target has to move trasversally by at least 170 meters before being checked. At 5000 meters this space becomes 425. I know this may seem much (and indeed it is), but I've to keep the scripts from becoming too heavy. Unfortunately just testing with knowsabout doesn't work. Maybe in a future upgrade I'll normalize that space to 150 meters for distances beyond 1500 meters, while retaining the 5 degrees angle for lower distances. This because at 300 meters a trasverse of 170 meters conrespond to about 35 degrees, and anyway the shorter the distance between launcher and target the less CPU time it takes to check it.

[snoops_213 74]

cheers for the reply. Now one more question for you. With the AT missiles, is there a way to make them a bit more accurate? Me nor the AI can hit shit with them most of the time, or is it just me?

[h - 169]

MCAR Engine 0.91 Released

Some minor updates:

- Vertical launch of an AA missile using PROPNAVG guidance code kept going on to the zenith instead of turning towards the target -FIXED

- Multiple launch positions for AT missiles using the 'tiltable missile' code (AddOns with the _PATH parameter set to "\MCAR_engine\psy_mcar_scripts\at\MCAR_getAmmo_3b.sqs")

You can check out the multiple launch position feature on a AT-3 Sagger BRDM-2 released by MechaStalin

Download:

MCAR Engine 0.91

Quote[/b] ]Now one more question for you. With the AT missiles, is there a way to make them a bit more accurate? Me nor the AI can hit shit with them most of the time, or is it just me?

Sorry, we seem to have missed this totally..

Anyway, I would say it's just you

[h - 169]

MCAR Engine 0.931 Released

Quote[/b] ]debugging (MCAR_debug = true) :

- the output max speed for SAM missiles is the max effective one the missile will have, and no more the one in vacuum

- when the missile is destroyed the time, distance from shooter and missile's speed are printed on screen

new features:

- _MEXH parameter (only for SAMs) can be a function or an expression. This will allow, for example, to simulate boosters with different propellant than the main rocket engine's. Or to simulate booster effects having _MKGS constant (example: ..._MEXH,"if(_tDiff<2)then{2500}else{1700}" )

- it's also possible for _MKGS to be an expression too, instead of only a function: for example, _MKGS,"if(_tDiff<4)then{8.5}else{4.1}" . In this case, _MINT must be set to "auto". This allows easy implementation of dual thrust engine, without recurring to the automatically generated function: the main advantage is the simplicity of the calculations involved (no arc tangent and logarithm to be evaluated, just plain algebra).

differences from previous versions:

- regarding SAMs missiles, the max turning rate is effectively the one specified in stringtable.csv, rather than being higher, cause before it was calculated using max missile speed in vacuum. To compensate for this, at lower speed (<50% max speed) the missiles are more maneuvrable than before.

MCAR Engine 0.931 (.rar file)

Updated documentation (.rar file, documents in .pdf format)

[MehMan 0]

Is there any way to make the planes launch flares when a missile is flying towards it and also that the missile might miss the plane? It says in the readme that in a certain version of the SA-9 that the plane will launch flares, but I haven't seen that happen, nothing, and if you've got a plane like an A-10 that's needed, because it's not exactly the most manuvarble plane ever so it's hard to dodge the missiles while flying 20ms above the ground and still fly towards the target.

[sa8gecko 0]

Quote[/b] ]Is there any way to make the planes launch flares when a missile is flying towards it and also that the missile might miss the plane?

It depends if it was specified in the stringtable.csv file of the addon: the SA-9 Gaskin we released alongside the 0.8 version of the engine has this feature. The SA-8B Gecko has not, because flares in real life work with IR missiles and the Gecko's ones are not, so I set the conresponding entry in stringtable.csv as false.

Anyway here's an extract of the relative part of the docs where the parameters are explained:

Quote[/b] ](vehicle class name)_FL

The flare type, as it appears in the addon's config.cpp file. If not set a default (MCAR standard)

type will be used.

(vehicle class name)_FP

The probability the missile has to be deviated by a flare in case _FLR is set to true. Please note

that, being the presence of a flare checked many times during missile flight time, this may result

in a higher value than expected. If so, lower it. Default is 20 (means 20%).

(vehicle class name)_FLR

Flares on(true)/off(false). Flares will deviate MCAR missiles, acting as in-built countermeasures.

The probability this happens is regulated by _FP. Default is false .

So for your addon to make the attacked planes shooting flares you should set _FLR to true: if the missile still hits too many times, raise _FP to 40 or more.

[MehMan 0]

Strangely enough, with the SA-9 it doesn't work at all, I depboed it and looked in the stringable and it's all set as it should be, no plane will launch it's flares when fired upon. The plane launches it's flares with no problem with regular launchers but with these, it doesn't, even though the readme states that SA-9 Gaskin (Prop. Nav., Ballistic) will make the plane launch flares. Does the plane have to be AI or not? As with AI, that would suck, as that means I have no countermeasure.

[sa8gecko 0]

Quote[/b] ]Strangely enough, with the SA-9 it doesn't work at all

Strange indeed. The attacked plane or chopper should launch a set of six flares when the missile is less than 400 meters to it. The operation isn't repeated (for another missile) until some seconds the last flare has been launched. The flares work with both AI and 'humans'.

Please can you specify:

- the MCAR engine version you're using

- the SA-9 Gaskin version you're using, as SA-9 Gaskin (Prop. Nav., Ballistic) is an older version

- if it's only a particular plane giving you problems, or every one you tried.

You can download the latest files here.

test if using these works. Delete or rename as .bak the old MCAR pbo files.

[MehMan 0]

I have the latest version of the engine and SA-9, but the SA-9 still needs some psy files that make it actually work, I think it's where the art and all the scripts are. The artwork is not there with this version, strangely.

[sa8gecko 0]

The SA-9 shouldn't need any psy tagged file: perhaps you have an older version, download the one you can find at the link I've posted above, delete or better rename as .bak every psy_ tagged pbo you have in your addon directory and let me know. It's important to remove or rename any psy_ tagged 'ante' MCAR engine files as they may cause conflicts and malfunctions with the newer ones. We have tested the MCAR engine files in a clear OFP intallation before releasing them to check they worked correctly: the fact that you have this kind of malfunctioning seems to indicate you have something conflicting with MCAR engine. If it's one of the case about which I posted above, that is older MCAR beta files present in your addon directory or the wrong Gaskin version, the situation should resolve itself doing what I suggested you to do. If it doesn't resolve, I think you have some other addon conflict, in which case I cannot help: anyway let us know about it, cause maybe Hater_Kint knows the answer.

EDIT>

the MCAR engine compatible SA-9 pbo is named 'MCAR_gaskin.pbo': if you don't have it, download it from the link above.

[MehMan 0]

Just tried it with these two files alone, the Sa-9 I downloaded from your site and the mcar engine alone, and it doesn't work.

[sa8gecko 0]

Let's try another way: download

this video: (divx 5.2.1)

these are the effects you should see. In this particular situation, the first missile is aimed at my wingman: look it impacting one flare and causing the pilot to eject because of the damage the plane suffered since the explosion was very near it. The subsequent missiles are aimed at me, and they all miss. The probability for the missile to miss, cause of flares, is higher when the missile attacks from the rear.

If you don't see these effects, then there's something wrong: if you can (and wish), post here a readable screenshot of your addon directory (or post a link to it), so that I can see if the files are the right ones. Another thing: what's your Flashpoint version ? 1.96 or earlier ?

[MehMan 0]

This is how my addon folder looks:

I've also tried it just in the res addons and it also didn't work.

When running it just with those two addons I get this error upon running flashpoint:

And this error when I put the Sa-9 on the map in the editor and trying to test it:

Also, I can't download that vid for some reason .

[sa8gecko 0]

Ok, you're right: the 'no entry config.bin' etc is given by an entry not defined in mcar_gaskin, but defined in another mcar vehicle file. Don't know how it ended there cause it's not used. Anyway when I'll get the fix done, I'll post a link. Thank you for pointing out the bug.

EDIT>

should be fixed now, the correct version of the Gaskin is available at the site pointed out previously. You don't need to download MCAR engine again, just the Gaskin.

For the video: now it should not have importance, but did you try 'right click> save as' ? Also, sometimes my bandwith gets exhausted, maybe retrying later could work.

Let me know if it works now: if not, please post your flashpoint.cfg file.

[MehMan 0]

Ah now it works perfectly, flares get launched, missiles get dodged and I am happy!