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veafUnits — The group database and ground placement

Module ID: UNITS | File: veafUnits.lua

Purpose

Two roles, both serving veafSpawn:

  1. The VEAF group and unit database — this is what makes -sa6 mean a complete SA-6 battery, with its launchers, radar and resupply, rather than a single vehicle.
  2. Ground placement — when a group spawns, this module decides where each vehicle lands, in a grid around the requested point.

This page is for developers. A mission maker goes through the aliases, documented in veafShortcuts, and a pilot through markers.

Finding a group or a unit

veafUnits.findGroup(alias) and veafUnits.findUnit(alias) search both databases by alias, case insensitively. A group carries several aliases; that is what lets -sa6, -SA6 and its synonyms mean the same thing.

An alias that is not found returns nil, and the caller decides what to say — this module does not talk to the player.

Grid placement

veafUnits.placeGroup(group, spawnPoint, spacing, hdg, hasDest) lays the units out around the spawn point.

  • With no declared disposition the default shape is a square: the side is ceil(sqrt(unit count)). A 10-vehicle group therefore fills a partially populated 4×4 grid.
  • With no heading given the group faces north (hdg = 0).
  • spacing separates the units from each other; it is expressed in multiples of the unit's size, not in metres.

veafUnits.checkPositionForUnit refuses a position that does not suit the unit — that is what stops a tank from spawning in water. Since FEAT-SCENERY-AWARE-SPAWN, the search for a valid point goes through veaf.findSpawnPoint, which also knows how to avoid villages and forests.

For an aircraft the rule is about altitude: a position under the terrain is refused, and the command reports that it found no suitable spot. A position sitting on the ground is still accepted, which is the case of an aircraft created as a static object. If an aircraft spawn fails where it used to work, the requested altitude is the thing to look at.

The pathfinding fix

veafUnits.removePathfindingFixUnit(groupName) removes a unit added artificially to a group to unblock DCS's route computation. A group spawning with a destination gets that fix, and the unit is removed after a delay.

Counting what a group holds

veafUnits.countInfantryAndVehicles(groupname) returns a group's infantry and vehicle counts. It is what feeds the status reports, notably the combat zones'.

mission.yaml configuration

None. The module is infrastructure: it always loads.

See also