Jackal's Hunt is a multiplayer PvE mission based on the concept of the Foothold missions. Your goal is to destroy enemy units inside the zones and transport forces to them in order to capture them. Once you capture all zones, the mission is over. There are no AI units transfering troops, everything has to be done by your team. The enemy in some cases will counter attack in order to take back the zones. Kills and destruction of side targets award credits to your team upon your landing. You can use the credits to spawn CAP flights and AWACS flights (for 30 minutes). Expect high enemy presence in the air. This is not a mission you can fly on your own, it is meant to be played by at least 4 people.
Scripts used: DML, MOOSE, EWRS, SPGG. Note that some of the scripts (i.e DMLs SSB Client) will only work in multiplayer.
Mods used: Hercules, A-4 - You can't open/join the mission without the mods. Air dropping (cargo, paratroopers) with the Hercules is enabled.
Hercules: https://forum.dcs.world/topic/252075-dcs-super-hercules-mod-by-anubis/
A-4: https://github.com/Community-A-4E/community-a4e-c
The mission is persistent through DML and SPGG. The reason for this combination is that DML's persistence saves the zones' status, your available balance, flags history etc but in terms of units it only saves units placed in the Mission Editor initially, thus not saving any units you might have spawned via CTLD or DML. SPGG saves all the units. Follow their instructions in order to installl them to your server. SPGG saves its file in your \Scripts folder while DML in your \Missions folder.
SPGG: https://github.com/AGluttonForPunishment/SPGG
DML: https://github.com/csofranz/DML
EWRS: https://github.com/FlightControl-Master/Moose_Community_Scripts/blob/main/Scripts/EWRS.lua
To enable persistence you need to de-sanitize the DCS scripting environment.
Edit your \Scripts\MissionScripting.lua inside your DCS installation folder:
Change the following section:
do
sanitizeModule('os')
sanitizeModule('io')
sanitizeModule('lfs')
_G['require'] = nil
_G['loadlib'] = nil
_G['package'] = nil
end
To this:
do
sanitizeModule('os')
--sanitizeModule('io')
--sanitizeModule('lfs')
_G['require'] = nil
_G['loadlib'] = nil
_G['package'] = nil
end
The mission is automatically saved every 30 minutes. You can also manually save your progress and/or restart the mission via the Utilities menu.
Friendly aircraft: F-4, F14A, Mirage F1, F-5, AJS37, Mig 21, A-4C-E, Su-25, Mi-24, Mi-8, UH-1H, CH-47F, SA342M
Enemy aircraft: MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-31.
Enemy SAMs: SA-2, SA-6, SA-8, SA-9, SA-19.
If you want to add more aircraft types for your team or additional slots for the existing aircraft, you can do so through the Mission Editor. Aircraft start hot, except for the Su-25s which start cold.
If you want to reduce enemy presence in the air you have to edit the red_cap.lua file included in the mission. If you don't know how to do it, contact me and I will help you. The enemy operates from: Abu al Duhur, Sanliurfa, Shayrat, Palmyra, Tabqa and Deir ez Zor. Whenever you capture an airbase that the enemy operates from, enemy operations from this airbase will stop.
If you want to change the enemy aircraft and you don't know how to edit the red_cap.lua, open the mission in the Mission Editor and REPLACE WITHOUT DELETING the templates you want, named CAP1, CAP2, CAP3, CAP4, which can be found on the right.
If you want to remove one of the templates and you don't know how to edit the red_cap.lua, DO NOT DELETE the template, replace it with an already existing type. For example, if you do not want the enemy to have MiG-31s, replace the MiG-31 with one of the other enemy aircraft types already in the mission.
If you want to replace or remove some of the SAMs, be careful not to delete the group they belong to, in order to avoid breaking some triggers.
TIPS
Work as a team, have people to take care of the air threats while you strike the enemy zones. SEAD should be your first priority every time you attack a new zone. Unlike in the Foothold missions, the enemy will not repair destroyed groups.
When you capture a zone, take the time to reinforce it with units in order to protect it. The enemy will counter-attack in many occasions.
Some zones (FARPs and some Airbases) that allow slots, will be activated only after some conditions are met.
Deploy radars in order to increase your coverage and get EWRS messages.
If you need to destroy a unit for any reason (bug, unit got stuck somewhere etc) place an F10 mark on it and type explode inside it.
Zones with the $ sign award you some credits over time. If you run out of credits, place an F10 marker anywhere on the map and type showmethemoney in it to receive 250 credits.
IMPORTANT: Zones work a bit differently here, compared to the Foothold missions. A zone can be neutral either if it has no units inside (i.e. the FARPS in the start of the mission) or if it is contested by both coalitions at the same time. A neutral zone DOES NOT mean that you have destroyed all the units inside it. If a red zone loses all its units it will NOT turn gray, it will remain red until you move units inside it.
Need help? https://discord.gg/e9fzMe9erA