DCS LSO Script

Flight Sims
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This might already have been posted, but it works so well I wanted to highlight it a bit more.

This is a DCS script where you get audio instructions from an AI LSO as you come in for recovery on the Stennis. It works pretty well and has really helped my Case 1. Nice in VR, as long as you have COM1 tuned to the carrier then the LSO speaks to you, allowing you to fly as per normal.

(Updated link)

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There’s a test mission to use, and the most fun bit is the grading. I’ve also found it has helped with getting the abeam distance for me a bit tighter, in that I had started to pretty much do a too wide ‘circle’ from the break, and that this script put a stop to that (the LSO waves me off even before the abeam turn (TCA) lol).

It is also fairly good for making sure you aren’t too long in the groove.

Anyone brave enough to post some grades? :slight_smile:

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Here’s how the grading terminology works:

5) Grading
Once you have successfully landed, the LSO will report your landing grade using the common LSO shorthand notations. The notations are as follows:

[ Overall Grade ][ Wire ] [ At the Start ][ In the Middle ][ In Close ][ At the Ramp ]

Overall Grade:
OK = OK Underline, OK = OK Pass, (OK) = Fair Pass, – = No Grade, C = Cut Pass

Positions:
X = At Start, IM = In the Middle, IC = In Close, AR = At the Ramp

Aircraft Flight:
LUL = Line up Left, DL = Drifted Left, LUR = Line up Right, DR = Drifted Right
H = High, LO = Low, / = Fly through Glideslope (up), \ = Fly through Glidesope (down)

Others:
NC = Nice Correction, () = Slightly off-course, B = Bolter, TCA = Too Close Abeam, TWA = Too Wide Abeam, INT = Incorrect Interval, WO = Wave-Off, WOP = Wave-Off Pattern, OWO = Own Wave-Off

For Example:
(OK) 4 (LUL)X (LO)IM LODRIC NCAR

Means fair pass, 4 wire, slightly lined up left at the start, slightly low in the middle, low and drifted right in close, nice correction at the ramp.

Here’s a video on how to add it to an existing mission:

I know @near_blind was fiddling with it for multiplayer, but it looks like the sourcecode is obfuscated, making it hard to track down integration issues with existing MP missions.

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I have a carrier training mission that I use for … well, training. I added it but I am not sure that I have the voice part working (as I did not want to add a ton of calls by hand). I will check it again tonight but it should be very cool.

Also, Tacview has a LSO view (1.7.x, select carrier as the source and your AC as the target, then click on the ‘cockpit’ view for the carrier).

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Errrr

PROS

  • Is sublimely nifty
  • Seems to work pretty good
  • Author is engaged and responsive

CONS

  • Is a bit of a pain to get set up (lots of audio files to input
  • Is restrictive with integration and configuration options
  • I’m dubious about the resiliency of some of the more critical elements in MP (Radio Menus)
Pedantic Mission/Script Maker Rant

I understand why he obfuscated it, he put a lot of work into it, he’s afraid other people will break it or redistribute it without his express written permission… buuuuut Everyone who has written a script for DCS has put a lot of work into it, that’s hardly special. I feel bad kicking a guy who made a very neat thing, and put it out there. But purposefully obfuscating your code is antithetical to the values that have made the DCS scripting community as successful and persisting as it has been.

As it is, I’ve decided not to mess with it. It’s a very neat piece of work, but I find integrating and debugging lua to be extremely frustrating. I’m not going to spend a second of my time debugging any integration issues that might arise if I can’t actually read the code. ED is going to have an LSO eventually. I know how to get on the boat until then.

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By default the voice is a little quiet as well, so it helps to have the volume for COMM1 right up. You also need to be tuned to the carrier frequency to hear them, which I sometimes forget. I just got into the habit of declaring ‘Inbound’ so the Stennis would put the lights on (Magoo VR) and that does the trick if I leave that as the active frequency.

It’s also spooky, in that if on the rare occasion things go well, the LSO doesn’t really say much at all and that always makes me worry :slight_smile:

EDIT: I should also say, I just rebuilt my carrier training mission I used (I think we all have one :slight_smile:) by taking his example mission and then editing it to my taste as a starting point. The deck looks really busy and nice, but too much for my 1070 in VR unfortunately, so a lot of statics got culled etc.

EDIT2: My edited mission all set to go, with an empty deck, starting way before the break, if it helps anyone. Stennis TACAN 25X, CILS: 13. COMM1: 254.00AM: VR_LSO_AI_v1.9_Release.miz (1.6 MB)

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Does this mean you should adjust the thread tag to include missions? :stuck_out_tongue:

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You can do it if you like :cat:. If it just ends up as @BeachAV8R, @Troll and @Fridge doing them all then we’ll probably ditch it as too much effort.

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Well I wouldn’t want to be overstep my boundaries and put a finger in another person’s pudding, so to speak.

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I think with assigning the existing tags that are there like #mission then anyone can’t do much wrong, otherwise the tags are just wrong. When it comes to creating new tags later, if we see ‘#big-juicy-fart’ or something put against 7000 existing topics etc then it’s more a case of just feeling a bit sad and turning it off. Community in → Community out etc :slight_smile:

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As I was asking for grades, seems only fair.

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To decode: I suck :astonished: :slight_smile:

The landing I did do (it is funny to be more nervous when being judged) was going fine until I dropped too quickly at the ramp, the ‘C’ is a cut-pass (as in, terrible, but not dead), the ‘1’ is the first wire (not good, could have hit the stern) and the ‘\AR’ is saying that I fell through the glidescope downwards (the ’ \ ') at the ramp (the ‘AR’). The rest of the approach was good though. So what I need to do better is watch the ball all the way down at the ramp and not do a quick ‘plummet’…

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Ok, last one, as I couldn’t leave it as a Cut-Pass before:

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Pass #1: Let’s agree not to talk about that one, all sorts of chaos. LOIC is bad and people shouted at me to Wave Off while running for cover.

(OK) 2 LULX (LUL)(/)IM NCIC (\)AR

Decode: Fair Pass, 2 Wire, Line Up Left At Start, Slighty Line Up Left flying Up Through Glidescope In the Middle, Nice Correction In Close, Slightly Down through Glidescope At Ramp.

Pass #2: (OK) is a Fair Pass, so less lethal but no green dot on the board. A 2 wire this time with my line up a little to the left (came in a little sharp), but a good correction In Close, and still a bit of a ‘drop from sky’ at the ramp to spoil my grade.

The Hornet has the best minigames! :slight_smile:

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I hope there will be a DCS native LSO, some day.
But this is too cool to pass up. Must install!

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They (ED) hired a former F/A-18 pilot to voice the LSO and recorded all the lines last week.

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I can’t wait for the Naval ATC update in DCS.

Although a lot of Bothans died to get these grades with this wee script already, I am finding it really useful as a training aid. I hope the ED built one includes some sort of grading system as well.

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And I hope it is compatible with a certain SFM plane
Hint: it’s tiny, it’s cute, I wouldn’t fit in it IRL, it is a great dogfighter but was mostly used for ground attack and its nickame is the same as the one for the Cessna 172

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As it’s written currently, this script would not. If I understood the jibberish correctly, it checks unit type and only works for the Hornet.

No idea bout ED.

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LIG WOP

(Long In Groove, Wave Off Pattern) Basically I tried to cheat a bit and was more than 15 seconds or so in the groove.

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(posted in wrong place, as still in shock from the heavy petting in the F-14 topic…)

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Yeah, that thread is a danger zone.

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That’s why we should all be hooked up to some sort of voltage regulator that zaps us when we crash…LOL…

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Hold my beer.

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Instead of calling it the Butt Kicker…we’ll call it the…

NIPPLE ZAPPER

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