SHK_pos

[shuko 59]

This is a random position generator/selector. It can choose a position from a marker area or by based on direction and distance from a position/object.

SHK_pos.rar

Marker Based Selection

Required Parameters:
 0 String   Area marker's name.

Optional Parameters:
 1 Boolean           Allow water positions? Default is false.
 2 Array or String   One or multiple blacklist area markers which are excluded from the main marker area.

Position Based Selection

Required Parameters:
 0 Object or Position  Anchor point from where the relative position is calculated from.
 1 Array or Number     Distance from anchor.

Optional Parameters:
 2 Array of Number     Direction from anchor. Default is random between 0 and 360.
 3 Boolean             Water position allowed? Default is false.
                         false    Allow water positions.
                         true     Find closest land. Search outwards 360 degrees (20 degree steps) and 20m steps.
 4 Array               Road positions.
                         0  Number  Road position forcing. Default is 0.
                              0    Do not search for road positions.
                              1    Find closest road position. Return the generated random position if none found.
                              2    Find closest road position. Return empty array if none found.
                         1  Number   Road search range. Default is 200m.

Usage

Preprocess the file in init.sqf:
 call compile preprocessfile "SHK_pos\shk_pos_init.sqf";

Actually getting the position:
 pos = [parameters] call SHK_pos;

Old version:

Here's the latest version of the script

Distance and direction are wrong way around in the examples!

Few screenshots of the function called 500 times with different parameters

Edited February 27, 2015 by Shuko

[jw custom 56]

Very nice, thanks for sharing :cool:

[dmarkwick 261]

Nice script :)

[Muzza 0]

I am using this script to create a few positions around a user-made flare position. using onshotsfired.sqf by toasted duckie i have made a marker by firing a flare. I am trying to make others around it using your script. the

 SHK_pos = compile preprocessfile "SHK_pos.sqf";
   for "_i" from 0 to 500 do {
     _p = [getpos player,random 360,random 1000] call SHK_pos;
     if (count _p > 0) then {
       call compile format ["
       _m%1 = createMarker[""mySpot%1"",[_p select 0,_p select 1]];
       _m%1 setMarkerShape ""ICON"";
       _m%1 setMarkerType ""DOT"";
       _m%1 setmarkercolor ""colorred"";
     ",_i];
     };
   };

doesnt seem to work. I have tried

; ****************************************************************
; Script file for Armed Assault
; Created by: Toasted Duckie
; ****************************************************************


_ammotype = _this select 4;

// identify if the shot that was fired was a flare, if not exit the script, if it was, go find out the location and set a marker there


? _ammotype iskindof "F_40mm_Green" OR _ammotype iskindof "F_40mm_RED" OR _ammotype iskindof "F_40mm_White" OR _ammotype iskindof "F_40mm_Yellow" : goto "flare";


exit;


#flare

_flare = nearestObject [player, _ammotype];

~4

_marker = createMarker ["markm203", (getpos _flare)];
_markers setMarkerShape "ICON";
"markm203" setMarkerType "DOT";

~4

pos1 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
pos2 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
pos3 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
pos4 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
pos5 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
pos6 = [getmarkerpos "markm203",random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
_strike1 = createMarker ["strikeloc1", (getpos pos1)];
"strikeloc1" setMarkerShape "ICON";
"strikeloc1" setMarkerType "DOT";
[] exec "airstrike2.sqf";

exit

All of this. The flare creates a red marker, but nothin i can do will make any more markers. Can anyone see the problem here?

[TRexian 0]

At first blush, it looks like a mix of sqs and sqf? I don't think ~ works as sleep in sqf?

Also, you make _marker = createmarker, but in the next line, you use _markers (plural). Also, after the positions, instead of using "strikeLoc1", I think you need to use _strike1....

Just some quick suggestions, though.

[shuko 59]

Yep, first thing people starting with scripting should be making the difference between SQS/SQF and exec/execvm clear to themselves.

Anyway, here's a sqf version:

_ammotype = _this select 4;

if (_ammotype in ["F_40mm_Green","F_40mm_Red","F_40mm_White","F_40mm_Yellow"]) then {
 if (isnil "SHK_pos") then { SHK_pos = compile preprocessfile "SHK_pos.sqf" };

 _flare = nearestObject [player, _ammotype];
 sleep 4;

 _marker = createMarker ["markm203", (getpos _flare)];
 _marker setMarkerShape "ICON";
 _marker setMarkerType "DOT";
 sleep 1;

 for "_i" from 1 to 6 do {
   _p = [getmarkerpos _marker,random 360,random 25,false,3] call SHK_pos;
   if (count _p > 0) then {
     call compile format ["
     _m%1 = createMarker[""strikeloc%1"",_p];
     _m%1 setMarkerShape ""ICON"";
     _m%1 setMarkerType ""DOT"";
     _m%1 setmarkercolor ""colorred"";
   ",_i];
   };
 };
 [] exec "airstrike2.sqf"; // exec is for sqs files not sqf, however I have feeling the code used in it is actually sqs
};

Tested with a unit which had this in init field:

this addEventHandler ["fired",{_this execvm "onshotsfired.sqf"}];

[shuko 59]

Working on a new, completely rewritten, version.

Just finished relearning some trigonometry.

500 random positions (green dots) picked from blue marker area. Red areas are blacklist markers.

Same as above, but the water parameter was changed so that it doesn't allow positions where surface is water.

[demonized 20]

very nice Shuko.

[shuko 59]

More math lessons. Position selection from an ellipse avoiding Gimbal lock (uneven distribution).

With a blacklist and water filter.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Shuko

[shuko 59]

Circle markers this time. :)

[mosh 0]

Awesome, nice job... something else I can use. Thanks yet again! :)

[shuko 59]

Version 0.2

Let the bug reports flow. :)

[Lonestar 11]

How can I use this script to generate random positions for a specific faction?

[shuko 59]

It's just a function to pick a random position. It doesn't depend on side, unit or faction etc. It's up to you how you use it in scripts.

Example, move all marines to random positions within a marker:

{
 if (faction _x == "USMC") then {
   _p = "markerName" call SHK_pos;
   _x setpos _p;
 };
} foreach allunits;

[Lonestar 11]

Thanks Shuko. :smile:

[Antigoon 10]

This seems to be really helpfull script, however I'm unsure how to set it up.

Suppose I have some enemy groups inside houses in zargabad...when a trigger fires I want them to spread out in the city (marker covering entire city), but not always in the same exact position.

Your script seems like the perfect solution to randomise their destinations and positions in the city. My thinking is to execute a script when the trigger fires and inside that have all the groups move to their random positions using your script.

How could I get this working?

[shuko 59]

Something like this I guess.

{
   _p = "CityMarker" call SHK_pos;
   _x move _p;
} foreach [grp1,grp2,grp3];

Edited March 24, 2011 by Shuko

[Antigoon 10]

I tried it and the units always move to the southwest corner of the map!

I'm not using a marker that's used by another script (I read somewhere that UPSMON moves it's markers).

Don't know what's going on there...

[shuko 59]

I changed the code a bit, instead of units it takes the groups straight away.

[Antigoon 10]

No luck, units still always move to the bottom SW corner of the map. It's as if the marker was moved there....

[shuko 59]

http://derfel.org/arma2/_antigoon_shk_pos.utes.rar

The code above and the script both work. I don't have a crystal ball to tell you what's wrong with your marker.

[Guest]

No units move at all for me:confused:

I have this code in randomized.sqf

{

_p = "randomusmkr1" call SHK_pos;

_x move _p;

} foreach [unit1,unit2];

which gets called by a trigger like this: null=[] execVM "randomized.sqf";

When the trigger activates, nobody gets put inside the marker, they just stay in the same position. I am using upsmon script so dunno if that has anything to do with it?

EDIT: I'll try out that test mission above.

EDIT2: I'm an idiot, I forgot about the call compile preprocessfile "SHK_pos\shk_pos_init.sqf";

Edited March 24, 2011 by Guest

[Antigoon 10]

The code above and the script both work. I don't have a crystal ball to tell you what's wrong with your marker.

No worries, Shuko. Thx for taking the time to help me, it's much appreciated.

I'll twiddle around with it some more to get it to work. Your example will be helpfull, thx!

EDIT: I got it working with the code from your example, thx again

Edited March 24, 2011 by Antigoon

[Guest]

How would one go about randomizing objects? I would like some crates to be placed randomly within a marker area.

[shuko 59]

We already had a few examples, crates would work exactly same way:

{ _x setpos ("marker" call SHK_pos) } foreach [create1,create2];