Custom Mission with problem after 4.005 Update.

[FreiraKilleira]

Hello guys, i've been doing some Custom Mission using ME and learning it for the past two weeks, but when i updated the game yesterday the mission i've worked now don't even wanna start, they show in Menu i can select all the parameters but in the last screen when i press start the game go all black and then closes to desktop, they are working just fine before this new patch,i did a search on the forum and google and can't find any similar problem to this, anyone who has more experience on ME can help me?
I already did a clean install of IL-2, Reboot System, Create a New Mission with only a player plane (it worked), Imported the mission parameters into a new fresh map/mission (don't worked for me), loaded vanilla missions(work fine). 
I think its something related to the MCU's, but the thing is everything was working before.

I will attach the mission files for you to have a look.

RS - Bomber Intercept Missions.rar

[Deacon352nd]

Did you try opening the mission in the ME and then re-saving it?  You may have to do that with any missions you made before the update.  There is a drop down menu within the ME, I believe it is "Tools" which allows you to select "save all missions in folder".

[SCU_Server]

I'm having the same issue, none of my Dogfight missions on my Dedicated server are running since the 4.005 update, I have opened them in the ME and re saved them and it still crashes the Dserver

The sample dogfight mission supplied runs fine though, so its an issue with complex missions.

[FreiraKilleira]

55 minutes ago, Deacon352nd said:

Did you try opening the mission in the ME and then re-saving it?  You may have to do that with any missions you made before the update.  There is a drop down menu within the ME, I believe it is "Tools" which allows you to select "save all missions in folder".

I did it but still the same issue.

[SCU_Server]

It seems to me that Dogfight missions with very limited AI work fine, any mission with complex AI routines don't work anymore and crash my server even after re-saving.

[FreiraKilleira]

14 minutes ago, SCU_Server said:

It seems to me that Dogfight missions with very limited AI work fine, any mission with complex AI routines don't work anymore and crash my server even after re-saving.

what complex AI routines do you mean? even a simple attack area comand of follow a waypoint? 

[SCU_Server]

The missions I run are very heavily populated with random AI flights that overload my server at times, these missions have run after every Il2 update over the last 2 years, this update they refuse to run, I have put on a simpler map with less AI and the missions run fine, I did not even have to run these through the mission editor again.

My conclusion was that the heavily scripted missions with AI are causing my missions not to run under 4.005, im no mission editor guru and only do the basic stuff, my complex missions were built for me by others.

[Sketch]

15 hours ago, FreiraKilleira said:

Hello guys, i've been doing some Custom Mission using ME and learning it for the past two weeks, but when i updated the game yesterday the mission i've worked now don't even wanna start, they show in Menu i can select all the parameters but in the last screen when i press start the game go all black and then closes to desktop, they are working just fine before this new patch,i did a search on the forum and google and can't find any similar problem to this, anyone who has more experience on ME can help me?
I already did a clean install of IL-2, Reboot System, Create a New Mission with only a player plane (it worked), Imported the mission parameters into a new fresh map/mission (don't worked for me), loaded vanilla missions(work fine). 
I think its something related to the MCU's, but the thing is everything was working before.

I will attach the mission files for you to have a look.

RS - Bomber Intercept Missions.rar 12.81 kB · 3 downloads

 

So I've tried just about everything I could think of to get your mission to work, and unfortunately I wasn't able to fix it. Like you, the mission loads fine until I attempt to get into the plane. Then it crashes to the desktop.

[Jaegermeister]

I'm not having that problem with Single player missions. It sounds like a server related issue.

[jollyjack]

I had a few older missions that wouldn't load and crashed the FMB on loading attempt. Even the .msbin file wouldn't load.

But IMO the FMB runs stable from a fresh 4.005b installation.

[IckyATLAS]

On 4/9/2020 at 9:54 PM, FreiraKilleira said:

Hello guys, i've been doing some Custom Mission using ME and learning it for the past two weeks, but when i updated the game yesterday the mission i've worked now don't even wanna start, they show in Menu i can select all the parameters but in the last screen when i press start the game go all black and then closes to desktop, they are working just fine before this new patch,i did a search on the forum and google and can't find any similar problem to this, anyone who has more experience on ME can help me?
I already did a clean install of IL-2, Reboot System, Create a New Mission with only a player plane (it worked), Imported the mission parameters into a new fresh map/mission (don't worked for me), loaded vanilla missions(work fine). 
I think its something related to the MCU's, but the thing is everything was working before.

I will attach the mission files for you to have a look.

RS - Bomber Intercept Missions.rar 12.81 kB · 6 downloads

 

I have looked at your mission and there are two fatal errors that crash the game. The two errors lie in the Flak group.

 

1) The first one is typical of the copy and paste creating rotten links. You have probably copied and pasted your flak group from another mission. Inside you have multiple Flak 37 and Flak 36 vehicles that are connected to a leader vehicle of the same type.

The fatal error lies in the Flak 36 Leader vehicle. If you look at the formation list of this unit (advanced properties) you can see all the flak vehicles that are target connected to it. You will see that there is a vehicle number that does not exist. You probably forgot to select it from the place where you did copy. This link from a non existent object will crash the game. This is poor editor design because it should not crash the game but so it is, and as we will never get a new improved version we have to make the best out of it.

You cannot delete the link in the formation list because the object it should come from (and that you need to select to disconnect the target link) does not exist. The only solution is to delete the Flak 36 Leader vehicle, (doing this will clear all the links valid or rotten) create a new one, and then connect each existing individual Flak 36 unit to it, to have a fresh new clean setup.

 

2) The second error lies in the definition of the train carriages. In this Flak group there is a Train. It should not be in this group but probably was selected and copied by error from another mission. Anyway if you open the Carriages list (properties panel) you will see that the first carriage is a locomotive of the type e. This is a repetition, because your train is made of a locomotive of type e. Two locomotives are not possible on a same train so the system has crashed. The first element of the carriage list is either the tender of the locomotive here et, This type of crash did not exist before 4.005, and the game would just ignore it, but now it crashes, and this means that train code has been touched. 

 

If you correct these two errors the mission will not crash anymore, I have tested it.

 

A few advice on mission design. Try to have groups created and nested as logically as possible and also in a way that they reflect the dependencies and hierarchies between them.

Try to be explicit in the naming of the objects, MCUs etc. so that they best reflect what it is for. Example the Trigger Timer, MCU. Put the duration of the Timer in its name. It is very straightforward then to debug graphs instead of having to open and look into the MCU properties.

Define your naming convention for waypoints and other MCUs and then keep with it all over the mission, or across various missions. This will again help you when things become complex.

Good luck and have fun with the editor.

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by IckyATLAS

[Sketch]

Good work @IckyATLAS! I did not go into that much dept of his mission. 

[JimTM]

Very nice sleuthing IckyATLAS!  

[FreiraKilleira]

8 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

 

I have looked at your mission and there are two fatal errors that crash the game. The two errors lie in the Flak group.

 

1) The first one is typical of the copy and paste creating rotten links. You have probably copied and pasted your flak group from another mission. Inside you have multiple Flak 37 and Flak 36 vehicles that are connected to a leader vehicle of the same type.

The fatal error lies in the Flak 36 Leader vehicle. If you look at the formation list of this unit (advanced properties) you can see all the flak vehicles that are target connected to it. You will see that there is a vehicle number that does not exist. You probably forgot to select it from the place where you did copy. This link from a non existent object will crash the game. This is poor editor design because it should not crash the game but so it is, and as we will never get a new improved version we have to make the best out of it.

You cannot delete the link in the formation list because the object it should come from (and that you need to select to disconnect the target link) does not exist. The only solution is to delete the Flak 37 Leader vehicle, (doing this will clear all the links valid or rotten) create a new one, and then connect each existing individual Flak 36 unit to it, to have a fresh new clean setup.

 

2) The second error lies in the definition of the train carriages. In this Flak group there is a Train. It should not be in this group but probably was selected and copied by error from another mission. Anyway if you open the Carriages list (properties panel) you will see that the first carriage is a locomotive of the type e. This is a repetition, because your train is made of a locomotive of type e. Two locomotives are not possible on a same train so the system has crashed. The first element of the carriage list is either the tender of the locomotive here et, This type of crash did not exist before 4.005, and the game would just ignore it, but now it crashes, and this means that train code has been touched. 

 

If you correct these two errors the mission will not crash anymore, I have tested it.

 

A few advice on mission design. Try to have groups created and nested as logically as possible and also in a way that they reflect the dependencies and hierarchies between them.

Try to be explicit in the naming of the objects, MCUs etc. so that they best reflect what it is for. Example the Trigger Timer, MCU. Put the duration of the Timer in its name. It is very straightforward then to debug graphs instead of having to open and look into the MCU properties.

Define your naming convention for waypoints and other MCUs and then keep with it all over the mission, or across various missions. This will again help you when things become complex.

Good luck and have fun with the editor.

 

Thank you IckyATLAS, i had partially fixed simply by removing the train earlier, i'm learning about the editor, thanks for the carefull look into the mission, will fix the flak group. 

You guys are very helpfull thanks o7

[IckyATLAS]

15 hours ago, Sketch said:

Good work @IckyATLAS! I did not go into that much dept of his mission. 

One big advantage of having a carefully laid out mission tree with groups well nested, is that when you have a game crash direct to the desktop where you have no clue, then you can debug by group elimination until you single out the culprit.

If your mission group tree is well made then it is pretty quick to focus on the right spot, then you have to check the details, but at least you know it is the right spot.

First I do an Integrity check just to be sure we have no issues with MCUs that lack object links like for Waypoints, Land and Takeoff etc. If yes then you get the list of where the errors are and you can very quickly correct.

Second, I already knew in this case that this mission was created by some copies and paste were done, so I focused on the Flak group because I knew from experience this issue of rotten links with Flak leaders. In other cases you just delete the top groups one by one until it works. So I just deleted the Flak group and run the mission and Bingo it was ok. Then I checked the Leaders and their listings. Here the work can be a little tedious to check the numbers and the corresponding objects one by one.

Then I noticed that there was a strange spurious object inside the Flak group a Train, that was not positioned on tracks but in the middle of buildings. I checked it, and to be sure he was creating a problem first tested the mission with the train deleted, and then fixed the carriage list.

So finally all in all it was pretty quick to solve. This is also because it was a very small quantity of objects in this one. 

But If you have hundreds or thousands of objects and links and your mission tree is a mess it can be an impossible task to find the needle in the haystack, and you may have to give up your  mission and start all over again from scratch.

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by IckyATLAS