Porting a mission with its own script layer¶

Some missions do more than use the VEAF modules: they carry a script layer of their own, which drives the objectives, the menus, the persistence, the carriers… This page says how to plug such a layer into VMCT 6. The example followed is BFR's (Bullseye Francophone), whose campaigns ran on VMCT 5.103.3 with some twenty bfr-*.lua scripts and a veafPatches.lua file that replaced about fifteen VMCT functions at load.

The conversion itself is done with .\veaf-tools.exe convert v5: see the Migration Guide, which says what the converter carries on its own.

Isolate the layer behind a single interface¶

The rule that keeps a port short: one file talks to VEAF. At BFR it is bfr-veaf.lua: every call into VEAF is wrapped there in a function of the layer (F.initializeCombatZone(), F.namedPointsSet(points)…), and the other scripts call only those functions. When VEAF changes, you rewrite the inside of that file, not the twenty others.

What cannot sit behind the interface — the editor's triggers, which call veafCombatZone.ActivateZone or veafShortcuts.ExecuteBatchAliasesList — should stick to VEAF's stable functions.

Declare your scripts and your settings¶

The layer's scripts are declared in custom_scripts:, in their load order: data before engines, the VEAF interface before what calls it. They load after veaf-config.lua and mission-script.lua, so after the modules are configured.
A module setting written as a literal in a script (veafRadio.RadioMenuName = "BFR") goes to module_settings:.
A setting your script read from its data (mission name, export path) goes to mission.yaml: veaf-config.lua loads before all your scripts and cannot read them.

Modules the mission starts itself¶

A module declared active in modules: is started by the generated veaf-config.lua. If your layer starts it too, it is started twice: two Skynet networks, duplicate menus, the carrier loop running again. Declaring it false is no way out for SKYNET or CTLD: false also drops the community script.

The key initialized_by_mission: true keeps the script and applies the configuration, but leaves the initialize() call to your scripts:

modules:
  SHORTCUTS:
    enabled: true
    initialized_by_mission: true   # bfr-raccourcis.lua initializes it
  SKYNET:
    enabled: true
    initialized_by_mission: true   # bfr-iads.lua calls veafSkynet.initialize(...)
    last_line_of_defence: false    # settings still apply

It works for any module of modules:, and for SKYNET, CTLD and CSAR. For CTLD, your scripts must then call veaf.ctld_initialize(), not CTLD v1's ctld.initialize(): it is what starts CTLD 2 with its menu and the airbase logistics; convert v5 therefore never hands CTLD to the mission. veaf.initialize() skips such a module too, if your layer uses it.

Functions a layer of your own can use¶

need	v6
carriers without VEAF's 60 s loop	`CARRIER.init.operations_scheduler: false` — see veafCarrierOperations
no VEAF weather welcome when a slot is taken (the layer has its own)	`WEATHER.welcomeBrief: false` — see veafWeather
declare a batch of named points from a script	`veafNamedPoints.declarePoints(points)` — see veafNamedPoints
an F10 submenu reserved to some groups	`veafRadio.addSubMenuForGroups(title, parent, filter)` — see veafRadio
a submenu per pilot in multi-slot groups, answer to the clicking pilot only	`veafRadio.addSubMenuPerPilot(title, parent)` and `veaf.outTextForUnit(unitName, …)`
a password-free shortcut that admits a few options	`VeafAlias:setAllowedOptions{…}` — see veafShortcuts

Per-group F10 commands now follow the pilots present: when a pilot leaves his slot, his wingmen get the group's commands back. A layer that fixed this itself (BFR replaced veafRadio.refreshRadioSubmenu) can drop its fix.

What changed since v5¶

v5	v6
`veafNamedPoints.Points = {…}`	`veafNamedPoints.declarePoints(points)`, or `NAMEDPOINTS.custom_points` in `mission.yaml`
`veafCombatZone.HideZoneNameFromGroupNames`	`mission.hide_names_from_spawned_groups`
`veafWeatherAtis.getAtisString` returns a fallback sentence without an ATIS	returns `nil`: accept it
VEAF menu labels and messages as text	translation keys; a text that is not a key is shown as is
CTLD v1 (`ctld.initialize(callback)`, `ctld.addCallback`)	CTLD 2, configured by `ctld-config.yaml` (see below)
`WeatherMark`, `HoundElint`, `Hercules_Cargo` shipped	gone

The tables BFR reads directly still exist, with the fields it uses: veafCombatZone.zonesList, .rootPath, veafRadio.USAGE_ForGroup, .humanGroups, .radioMenu, veafQraManager.qras, .STATUS_DEAD, veafCarrierOperations.carriers, .continueCarrierOperations.

Doing without MiST¶

MiST is no longer shipped by default: the build injects it again when one of your scripts writes mist., which works but adds 336 KB to the .miz. VMCT 6 has the equivalents:

MiST	v6
`mist.scheduleFunction`	`veaf.scheduleFunction`
`mist.DBs.humansByName`	`veafMissionDb.getAllHumanRecords()` (dynamic slots included)
`mist.DBs.unitsByName`	`veafMissionDb.getAllUnitRecords()`
`mist.DBs.groupsByName`	`veafMissionDb.getAllGroupRecords()`, `veaf.getGroupRecord(name)`
`mist.DBs.groupsById`	`veafMissionDb.getGroupRecordById(id)` (`coalition` stays `"red"` / `"blue"`)
`mist.getGroupRoute(name, "task")`, `mist.goRoute`	`veafDcsSpawner.getGroupRoute(name)`, `veafDcsSpawner.goRoute`
`mist.getHeading(unit, true)`	`veafGeo.getHeading`
`mist.vec.mag`, `mist.utils.round`, `mist.utils.toDegree`	`veafMath.vecMag`, `veaf.round`, `math.deg`

The trap: a call guarded by if mist and mist.xxx then goes quiet without an error once MiST is gone. After replacing, a search for mist in src/scripts must return nothing, and the build log must no longer say that MiST is injected.

CTLD 2: what replaces the CTLD v1 reads¶

CTLD 2 is no longer configured from a script: its configuration is the mission's ctld-config.yaml, edited with ctld-tools.exe. A layer that read CTLD v1's internals goes through its events and its managers:

CTLD v1 read	CTLD 2
`ctld.builtFOBS`, `buildTimeFOB`	events `OnFOBDeployed`, `OnFOBDestroyed`; `CTLDFOBManager.getInstance():getFOBsForCoalition(coalition)`; the build delay is in `ctld-config.yaml`
`ctld.pickupZones`	`CTLDZoneManager.getInstance():getTroopZonesForCoalition(coalition)`, `getTroopZoneAtPoint(point, coalition)`; event `OnTroopZoneUpdated`
`ctld.logisticUnits`	`CTLDZoneManager.getInstance():getLogisticZonesForCoalition(coalition)`, `getLogisticZoneAtPoint(point, coalition)`; event `OnLogisticZoneUpdated`
`ctld.completeAASystems`	events `OnAASystemDeployed`, `OnAASystemRepaired`, `OnAASystemRearmed`
`ctld.addCallback` (player actions)	`EventDispatcher.getInstance():subscribe(name, callback)` on `OnTroopsDeployed`, `OnCrateLoaded`, `OnCrateUnpacked`, `OnVehicleLoaded`, `OnVehicleUnloaded`, `OnJTACSpawned`…

CTLD 2.0.0-rc13 publishes 47 events; their list is in CTLD.lua (EventDispatcher:publish). Each subscriber receives a table describing the action (carrierUnitName, player, fob.name…). VMCT adds no interface of its own until a BFR need is not covered by those events.

v6 defaults worth knowing¶

change	effect	getting the old behaviour back
Skynet "last line of defence": each SAM site detects on its own at 10-15 km	flying under the radar cover no longer protects	`SKYNET.last_line_of_defence: false`
zone groups that have a route: alarm state AUTO instead of red	convoys and reinforcements start driving	`module_settings: veafCombatZone.DefaultAlarmStateMobile: 2`
VEAF weather welcome each time a slot is taken	two welcomes if the layer has its own	`WEATHER.welcomeBrief: false`
every airfield becomes a CTLD logistic zone	crates and troops on any field held	`CTLD.manage_airbase_logistics: false`
menus paginated beyond 10 entries	long menus split in pages	`veafRadio.doNotPaginate(menu)`
VEAF messages in the language of the machine that builds		an explicit `mission.language`

What to test in game¶

With at least two players in one group:

the per-pilot F10 menus, then after the group's first pilot leaves;
a reserved submenu, invisible to the groups it does not admit;
a full carrier cycle, without a duplicate loop;
a single welcome when a slot is taken;
the password-free shortcuts (-jtac, laser 1511, -smoke, color red), and the refusal of an option they do not admit, on a server;
the modules declared initialized_by_mission: one Skynet network, one menu per module;
the CTLD actions: FOB, troops, JTAC.