[Release] Deprecated: Simple 3rd party Mission Builder for BoS

[Lupson]

IMPORTANT!!! This mission builder has not been maintained for a number of years and does currently not function properly with the BoX series. Thanks to everyone that has used it over the years!

// Lupson

 

Hi all,

 

I've been spending some spare hours lately at a new mod/util for the game. This time I have created a Simple Mission Builder (SMB) for IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad. Similar to Bosparser, you download it, configure, start it and then use a web browser to access the user interface. It is a very early release, probably ridden with bugs and missing loads of useful features. The objective is to provide something more capable than the built-in Quick Mission generator but simpler and way less powerful than the upcoming Full Mission Builder. Hopefully, it will become superfluent after the real FMB is released!

 

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with 1C or 777 and I do NOT have beta access to the BoS FMB or any other non-public information. I have based the mission generation by looking at .Mission files generated by the simulator whenever a Track is recorded and by reading the Rise of Flight FMB manual. If missions don't work or if you are getting unexpected results from the simulator running missions generated by SMB, do not blame 1C-777 for that as the mission files generated very well may be flawed or structured in an unsupported way.

If I have broken some EULA by developing this utility, please let me know and I will remove the download link immediately.

 

Continue reading below the screenshot for all details, install instructions, known issues etc. There's a wall of text to behold...

 

Download link (50 mb zip file)

 

Source code (more screenshots there at the bottom of the page)

 

Sample screenshot:

 

Main features:

• Fully zoomable/pannable map of Stalingrad (extracted from BoS game resources)
• Specification of date, time and mission name/briefing.
• Allows placing of air, ground and static object groups anywhere on the map. Change location by selecting, then dragging.
• Editing of basic group properties (size, type, altitude, speed, heading...)
• Air and ground units can be given waypoints they follow. Includes altitude and speed changes.
• Each group can contain up to 24 units. Using large groups may result in really bad framerates if your system cannot handle it.
• Each waypoint may be given a Command to be executed. Supported commands are:
•    FLY - This is the default. Just move to the waypoint location (should rename it to MOVE) to arrive at the specified altitude and speed. If possible.
•    START - Start flight from ground. Should be first waypoint of air groups not starting in the air and placed very close to the starting position. Note: Will start outside of runway.
•    LAND - Land flight. Should be last waypoint. Note: Will land outside of runway.
•    ATTACK_AREA - Will search for targets in the designated area, includes "radius" property.
•    ATTACK_TARGET - Attack target specified from list of selectable groups. Note - make sure you select a target from the enemy side...
•    COVER - Escort the group specified from list of selectable groups.
• Includes city, airfield, train station and bridges loaded from BoS /data/Template/*.group files. Note that only cities within the mission area bounds are loaded. Loading all cities of BoS does work, but mission load times becomes very very long.
• Option to automatically generate some AAA assets on airfields having an adjacent LAND command on them.
• Briefing map will currently show waypoint path of own flight and enemy ground targets. Will add more fine-granular control of briefing map icons later.

• Exports .Mission and .eng files to %INSTALL_DIR%/data/Missions/webmissions folder

• Note: Due to some limitation in BoS, one MUST start BoS in Offline mode (just like Chir Front missions). This means unlocks cannot be used. It also seems as AI planes cannot be equipped with unlockable loadouts.

• Note: There's no absolute guarantee generated missions will work. If the BoS GUI just returns you directly to the Missions list after starting to show the Loading splash screen, something is invalid in the .Mission file. Also, if you for some reason edit the generated .eng file manually, it must be saved in UTF-16 Lower Endian encoding or the mission won't load.

Missions may take a long time to load, especially for the first mission of the day. The RoF FMB manual states that missions loaded from the textual .Mission format takes a lot longer to load. Expect 1-2 minutes for the first mission since BoS seems to do some kind of roads generation thing on first mission load. The mission generation performed by the SMB is based on looking at .Mission files generated by BoS tracks and the Rise of Flight FMB manual. There are many features missing from SMB that I assume the FMB will later support.

 

License: The SMB is Open Source software licensed under the MIT License. For full License details, please read here

 

Requirements:

* Java 8 Runtime Environment installed. Earlier versions of Java are NOT supported since SMB utilizes a lot of the new API's introduced in Java 8. Download from Oracle here

* SMB requires a copy of BoS to be installed on the users hard drive as it utilizes some of the files found under the /Template directory. SMB web GUI is only tested using recent versions of Google Chrome. No other browsers are currently supported.

 

Installation:

For those of you that have tried the Bosparser application, SMB installs in a more or less identical way. Java 8 is required. Download from Oracle.

If you think you have Java installed, open a command shell and type 'java -version' without ' to see Java runtime version.

 

1. Download the install zip from Dropbox:

2. Unzip somewhere on your hard drive

3. Open the config/application.properties file. Change the property bos.data.directory to point at your BoS installations /data folder. This property is used to load files from /Template as well as saving your missions directly into the /data/Missions/webmissions folder.

4. Start the application by executing bos-smb.bat file. Java may give you an alert about Network access, I think you can ignore it but otherwise click yes.

5. Open your Web Browser and type "localhost" in the address field. The SMB application should load, displaying the BoS map. Menu->Create Mission to get started.

 

Note: If you are using bosparser (or any other web server software using port 80) you will need to modify the http.port setting in config/application.properties to some other port number and then type http://localhost:[portnumber] in your browser instead.

 

Known issues:

-- Extremely limited set of loadouts. Since I do not actually know internal loadout IDs of BoS I have to look at generated .Mission files and try to figure out which "payloadId" for a given plane that matches a selectable payload in the GUI. Also - it seems as AI planes cannot use loadouts that needs to be unlocked.

-- The object selection/dragging is a bit clunky, especially when one wants to drag the map as well. Working on that...

-- START/LAND commands "works", but since I havn't been able to figure out how to extract landing/start coordinates from within BoS, AI planes will start/land outside of runways in weird directions. I strongly suggest letting AI flights start in the air.

-- COVER command seems to work. However, I havn't figured out how to let an AI flight stop covering and continuing following their waypoints.

-- ATTACK_AREA works quite fine for AI flights, just remember to set the Radius to something quite large. I've noticed that Stukas like to make a ~10-15 km approach before actually starting their bombing run. Non Dive-bombers have a much more direct attack approach.

-- ATTACK_AREA has a default timeout of 20? minutes after which planes will continue on their previous route.

-- ATTACK_TARGET seems to work OK. After target is destroyed, planes will currently NOT resume their route.

-- Vehicle groups told to use Formation ROAD_COLUMN doesn't actually follow any roads. Not sure why yet, I'm explicitly giving them the appropriate Formation command.

-- Artillery fire - I havn't been able to get either mobile artillery or stationary artillery to fire even when trying to set area or target attack commands. Not sure if its a limitation in BoS or if my generated commands are faulty. -- Line formations gets skewed if initial group heading is not 0, 90, 180, 270. (Working on that)

 

More stuff, not sure if it's bugs in BoS or in the mission generation.

-- Ground unit engagement AI seems a bit weird. Tanks never turn their turrets and as far as I have seen, they don't turn to engage enemies even when just a few degrees to either side. If directly in front of each other, tanks seem to fire on enemy tanks. -- However, I have seen a USSR heavy machine gun successfully engaging Pz III tanks driving by, turning with them and firing until the tank blows up (mostly after hitting the PZ III rear.

I will continue adding features when I have the time, but I would be very happy for any assistence offered by the community. Everything from feedback, payloadIds, coding help (GUI is HTML/javascript/jQuery, Backend is Java 8 / Spring) etc.

 

Usage

* Create a mission from the menu. Please set at least a name in the dialog. Click on "Select Country" in the menu top select either Germany (pre-selected) or USSR.

* You can zoom the map using mouse wheel or by pressing the right mouse button and moving up/down. Pan pressing left mouse button and drag around, just like google maps.

* Use the buttons on the left to add a flight, ground unit or static object. Click location on map where you want it created. Abort by pressing ESC if necessary.

* After adding a unit, you can select it by clicking on it which opens a draggable dialog with object properties.

* To add waypoints, select an object (not static) and press the Add Waypoint button. You can now add waypoints by just clicking the map until you are satisfied. Press ESC on your keyboard to finish placing waypoints. To select a waypoint, the parent Unit must be selected first. Same applies to moving waypoints.

* In the waypoint dialog shown when a waypoint has been selected, you can change altitude, speed and select Commands. Note that I have been very lazy and isn't contextually changing the form depending on which COMMAND that has been selected. Radius only applies to ATTACK_AREA, Object selection only applies to ATTACK_TARGET and COVER.

 

* When you have placed all your units, waypoints etc. (remember to do this for both sides if you want something to shoot at), make sure one single UnitGroup has AI level set to "Player".

* Finally, use Menu -> Export to Disk in order to write the mission to your BoS /Missions/webmissions folder.

* Start BoS in Offline Mode, find your Mission and try to load it. If you are returned to the Select Mission page, something is invalid in the generated .Mission file. Submit a bug report then by sending me a PM or writing in this thread.

Edited March 31, 2020 by Lupson
software not functional anymore

[No601_Prangster]

Wow! What a great surprise. Thanks Lupson 

[1./JG42Nephris]

A beer for the swedish comrade!

[divydave]

Well Done and thank you,will try it out and let you know how I get on,

 

Just a question please if other users create missions,will there be a way that people can download these missions to try out??

[Jason_Williams]

Lupson,

 

This is great. I was speaking with another programmer about doing just such a thing. Awesome. Let's talk on PMs. I can get you access to the FMB easily.

 

Jason

[DD_Arthur]

Me fall off me chair !   D/Ling' now. 

 

 Lupson

[Jocko]

Now we're getting somewhere...

[Sokol1]

Did a test, easy to set (as BoSParser), and relative easy to use, but my "mission maker" skill are not able to set proper waypoints, so my flight dont find the enemy. 

 

upload pic

 

Curious this 109 flight, the #2, 3, 4 are not able to stay close to the leader.

 

imagen

 

 

Edited February 19, 2015 by Sokol1

[-=PHX=-Satch]

WOW!

[Primus_71]

Woohoo! Thank you for your work! 

[No601_Swallow]

 

Brilliant!

[Lupson]

Thanks all.

 

Sokol1: To create waypoints for a flight, first select the group by clicking on it. Then press the "Add waypoint" button on the left side and then add waypoints by clicking on the map. Finish by pressing the ESC key. Note: If you aren't using Google Chrome things may not work...

 

Not sure why #2, #3 and #4 would lag behind. If they are your wingmen, it is perhaps possible that they were generated with 100% fuel while your player plane has a lesser amount? Starting fuel, another thing to add to the unit create/edit dialog...

 

I'll try to make a youtube video within a few days describing how to use SMB.

 

divydave: Currently, you would need to make a zip archive containing the .Mission and .eng file written to your /Missions/webmission folder which then could be shared. Perhaps its possible to just post them as attachments on the forum? The .Mission files are pretty big (> 1 mb) but since they're just text a zip archive shouldn't be that big.

 

Regarding formations, they are not implemented for air units yet. Air units typically spawn in some line-like formation and then the AI immediately assumes the default wedge-like formation. Since planes spawn pretty close apart (50 meters I think) it's not unthinkable that planes may collide as they reform. I have also noticed that making an AI group start in the air on a very low altitude (< 200 meters) may result in a lot of crashes.

 

jason: Having access to the FMB would certainly make things easier, I'll send you a pm later. Thanks!

[KG200_Volker]

A great ~S~ to Lupson! And to Jason too for responding and giving whatever the man needs to improve this.

 

Make it posible for online missions, devs give us a basic user server and we are on!

[Comes]

Wow that's awesome. Will try it out

Thank's al lot!

[divydave]

Thanks for your reply ,I can see great things from this program of yours,

I tried it last night and had great fun learning how to use the program,I set up flight way points and objectives and got to grips with it fine,

 

But I had this problem and wondered if you could help me...

 

error saving mission to disk file c:\program files\steamapps\common\il -2 sturmovik battle of stalingrad\data\template\stalingrad_all_airfields.eng does not exist

 

What have i done wrong..

 

Thanks in advance

Edited February 19, 2015 by divydave

[Lupson]

Thanks for your reply Lupson,I can see great things from this program of yours,

I tried it last night and had great fun learning how to use the program,I set up flight way points and objectives and got to grips with it fine,

 

But I had this problem and wondered if you could help me...

 

error saving mission to disk file c:\program files\steamapps\common\il -2 sturmovik battle of stalingrad\data\template\stalingrad_all_airfields.eng does not exist

 

What have i done wrong..

 

Thanks in advance

 

It seems as the "bos.data.directory" property in the /config/application.properties file isn't pointing at your BoS /data directory.

 

Have you made sure you have entered the correct path? I see all letters in the error message above are lower-case. On windows that shouldn't matter I think. Can you try to find your BoS /data folder using windows file explorer and make really sure it is identical to the value entered in /config/application.properties? Make sure the path is entered with double backslashes as path separators, e.g. c:\\Program Files\\SteamApps\\ etc. (not sure if this forum engine will deescape backslashes)

 

Oh, if you change the value you need to restart SMB, it is only read during application startup.

[Reverend]

No Words but

  

[divydave]

Thank you for reply,

will check everything as you suggest and will reply later,

 

Thanks 

[SYN_Ricky]

Thanks very much for your effort sir!!

[Black-Hussar]

Awesome job Lupson! 

[=EXPEND=Tripwire]

Seriously impressive. Thank you for spending your own time creating this for the community.

[I./JG68_Sperber]

Its working !

Thx Lupson !

[SvAF/F19_Klunk]

väl jobbat!!

[SYN_Vander]

Very promising work Luson! Many people have been waiting for a tool like this.

I have experience with RoF/BoS FMB so if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to contact me.

[DD_Arthur]

Nope, can't get it to work.  Have set path to my non-steam version data folder but the bat file gives me some sort of dialogue box which appears so briefly I can't read it.

 

Localhost gives me nothing but a search.............

[Veteran66]

Wauu nice make

[SvAF/F19_Klunk]

Question: Would it be possible (with the help and/or permission from developer) to create an application that does not necessarily require a BoS installation? 

 

Would be fantastic to be able to work on mission files on a computer anywhere

[SYN_Bandy]

Give this man a 'Founders' badge for his efforts.  Thank you Lupson.

[Saurer]

Nope, can't get it to work.  Have set path to my non-steam version data folder but the bat file gives me some sort of dialogue box which appears so briefly I can't read it.

 

Localhost gives me nothing but a search.............

 

You have to start the application via the .bat file. When the application is started it will write somthing like "application started" something like that in the last line of the dialogue box. 

 

Than you can access it via 127.0.0.1 in the adress field. 

[xedoc]

Cool! 

 

Translated and shared on Russian forum: 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.ru/topic/2665-polzovatelskij-prostoj-redaktor-missij-ot-lupson/

[Lupson]

Nope, can't get it to work.  Have set path to my non-steam version data folder but the bat file gives me some sort of dialogue box which appears so briefly I can't read it.

 

Localhost gives me nothing but a search.............

 

Try running the .bat file from a command shell. E.g. go to the SMB install folder and execute the .bat file from there. Then the dialouge box (actually a command shell window itself) will not disappear.

 

Also, if it disappears directly I would suspect your Java installation isn't on your PATH. An invalid bos.data.directory property doesn't stop SMB from starting, but will typically break any attempts to export a mission into the BoS .Mission format when it can't read .group files from the /data/Template directory.

[PA-Sniv]

Great!!!!! Thank you Lupson!!!!

[Lupson]

Question: Would it be possible (with the help and/or permission from developer) to create an application that does not necessarily require a BoS installation? 

 

Would be fantastic to be able to work on mission files on a computer anywhere

 

Yes, it is indeed possible. If 1C/777 allows me to bundle the /Template/*.group files into the SMB installation it can be used without a BoS installation.

 

Please note that there currently is no way to import a .Mission file into SMB. Neither does a way to export/import the intermediate format to a text file exist, though that should be extremely easy to fix. The intermediate format is just a JSON text document that's currently stored in the NoSQL database encapsulated inside the SMB server-side application. Should be easy to add an option to allow extraction or import of such documents through the GUI.

 

A problem could be if I need to change or update the format later on which then could break existing missions. Hmm, need to think about how to handle that.

[Sokol1]

error saving mission to disk file c:\program files\steamapps\common\il -2 sturmovik battle of stalingrad\data\template\stalingrad_all_airfields.eng does not exist

 

 

 

This error happen here in the first use. I just close the program and try again, and then the mission are saved correct. 

 

BTW - Since my game are no in STEAM folder, I have edited the Config files according. 

 

 

Sokol1: To create waypoints for a flight, first select the group by clicking on it. Then press the "Add waypoint" button on the left side and then add waypoints by clicking on the map. Finish by pressing the ESC key. Note: If you aren't using Google Chrome things may not work...

 

Not sure why #2, #3 and #4 would lag behind. If they are your wingmen, it is perhaps possible that they were generated with 100% fuel while your player plane has a lesser amount? Starting fuel, another thing to add to the unit create/edit dialog...

 

Luppus,

 

No problem in place waypoints, set  5 for He 111 flight - the problem was in make planes meeting, I think because I dont zoom the map much, the planes end far away. 

 

This Bf 109 formation (4) planes are all IA.

 

My flight are a lone YAK-1. 

 

The only "difficult" I find initially was how set plane for player, what is simple, just select in Skill list.

[DD_Arthur]

Nope, still can't get it to work.  Don't worry though.  I'll sit this one out and keep watching.  This thing has obviously got a bright future, well done Lupson.

[303_Kwiatek]

I wonder if it is possible or will be possible in BOS to make similar missions scripts for online virtual fronts or something like old ADW server like it was in old il2? 

[Zak]

Lupson, you've made a wonderful piece of software, thanks a lot for your enthusiasm and skill. Please let me know if you need any assistance from the devs via a PM - I'll pass the info and find out what we can do for you.

[LLv24_Zami]

Great work Lupson!

[Bearcat]

Wow this is fantastic! This is the kind of stuff that will give strength to the legs of BoS.

 

Options+UserMadeContent=Success

[SYN_Mike77]

Give this man a 'Founders' badge for his efforts.  Thank you Lupson.

Or even better:  a 'Contributors' badge reserved for people who have positively added content to the game.