Legacy API¶

If you already have a mission built on CTLD v1, its DO SCRIPT triggers and helper scripts keep working under v2. CTLD ships thin compatibility wrappers that reproduce the v1 ctld.* global functions and forward each call to the matching v2 manager.

The compatibility promise¶

22 v1 functions are wrapped. Each one delegates internally to a v2 manager, so your existing calls behave as they did in v1.
Every call logs a deprecation warning to ctld.log (and DCS.log). The wrappers are supported in v2 but will be removed in v3 — plan to migrate before then.
ctld.addCallback is not wrapped. v1 callbacks have no drop-in replacement; use the v2 event system instead (see Callbacks below).

For new missions, prefer the v2 managers directly. The full mapping and migration steps live in the developer docs — this page only covers what a mission maker with a v1 script needs.

See the Migration v1 → v2 guide for the complete function-by-function migration path.

Troops and transport¶

v1 function	Delegates to
`ctld.spawnGroupAtTrigger(groupSide, number, triggerName, searchRadius)`	`CTLDTroopManager:spawnGroupAtTrigger()`
`ctld.spawnGroupAtPoint(groupSide, number, point, searchRadius)`	`CTLDTroopManager:spawnGroupAtPoint()`
`ctld.preLoadTransport(unitName, number, troops)`	`CTLDTroopManager:preLoadTransport()`
`ctld.loadTransport(unitName)`	`CTLDTroopManager:loadTransport()`
`ctld.unloadTransport(unitName)`	`CTLDTroopManager:unloadTransport()`
`ctld.unloadInProximityToEnemy(unitName, distance)`	`CTLDTroopManager:unloadInProximityToEnemy()`

Example — spawn troops from a DO SCRIPT:

ctld.spawnGroupAtTrigger(coalition.side.BLUE, 6, "LZ_NORTH", 1000)

Pickup, waypoint and extract zones¶

v1 function	Delegates to
`ctld.activatePickupZone(zoneName)`	`CTLDZoneManager:setTroopZoneActive(name, true)`
`ctld.deactivatePickupZone(zoneName)`	`CTLDZoneManager:setTroopZoneActive(name, false)`
`ctld.changeRemainingGroupsForPickupZone(zoneName, amount)`	`CTLDZoneManager:changeRemainingGroups()`
`ctld.activateWaypointZone(zoneName)`	`CTLDZoneManager:activateWaypointZone()`
`ctld.deactivateWaypointZone(zoneName)`	`CTLDZoneManager:deactivateWaypointZone()`
`ctld.createExtractZone(zone, flagNumber, smoke)`	`CTLDZoneManager:createExtractZone()`
`ctld.removeExtractZone(zone, flagNumber)`	`CTLDZoneManager:removeExtractZone()`
`ctld.countDroppedGroupsInZone(zone, blueFlag, redFlag)`	`CTLDTroopManager:startGroupCountWatcher()`
`ctld.countDroppedUnitsInZone(zone, blueFlag, redFlag)`	`CTLDTroopManager:startUnitCountWatcher()`

Example — activate a pickup zone at mission start:

ctld.activatePickupZone("TRZ_ALPHA")

See Zone setup for how these zones are defined in the Mission Editor.

Crates¶

v1 function	Delegates to
`ctld.spawnCrateAtZone(side, weight, zone)`	`CTLDCrateManager:spawnCrateAtZone()`
`ctld.spawnCrateAtPoint(side, weight, point, hdg)`	`CTLDCrateManager:spawnCrateAtPoint()`
`ctld.cratesInZone(zone, flagNumber)`	`CTLDCrateManager:startCrateCountWatcher()`

Example — spawn a crate at a trigger zone:

ctld.spawnCrateAtZone(coalition.side.BLUE, 800, "FARP_BRAVO")

The weight argument selects which crate is spawned. See the Crate catalogue for the available crate definitions.

Radio beacon¶

v1 function	Delegates to
`ctld.createRadioBeaconAtZone(zone, coalition, batteryLife, name)`	`CTLDBeaconManager:createAtZone()`

JTAC¶

v1 function	Delegates to
`ctld.JTACAutoLase(jtacGroupName, laserCode, smoke, lock, colour, radio)`	`CTLDJTACManager:autoLase()`
`ctld.JTACStart(jtacGroupName, laserCode, smoke, lock, colour, radio)`	`CTLDJTACManager:startLase()`
`ctld.JTACAutoLaseStop(jtacGroupName)`	`CTLDJTACManager:stopAutoLase()`

Example — auto-lase an enemy armour group, then stop:

ctld.JTACAutoLase("ENEMY_ARMOUR_1", 1688, true)
-- ... when the strike is complete:
ctld.JTACAutoLaseStop("ENEMY_ARMOUR_1")

Callbacks¶

In v1, external scripts registered a callback with ctld.addCallback(fn) to react to CTLD events. This function is not provided in v2 — there is no compatibility wrapper. Subscribe to the v2 event dispatcher instead:

EventDispatcher.getInstance():subscribe("OnCrateSpawned", function(event)
    -- react to the event
end)

Available events include OnCrateSpawned, OnCrateLoaded, OnCrateUnloaded, OnCrateUnpacked, OnVehiclePacked, OnTroopsBoarded, OnTroopsDeployed, OnTroopsExtracted, OnJTACSpawned, OnLaseStart, OnLaseStop, OnBeaconDropped and OnFOBDeployed. The Migration v1 → v2 guide lists the full event catalogue and the callback-to-event mapping.