Manual – How to Create / Convert Missions to Cooperative Mode and play with your friends

[LuftManu]

Hello everyone, dear friends!

In this little guide, I’m going to show you how you can convert any mission generated by the game into a cooperative mission!

If you want to learn the editor, I recommend starting by the guide made by Sketch. Here

The steps are very simple.

1. Start the Il-2 Korea as you normally would.

2. Start the Mission Editor while the simulator is running. 
(The editor is in bin/editor folder)

The editor will warn you that another instance of the simulator is already running and that this may cause problems.

Just tell it Yes. We’re feeling adventurous! 😄

3. Now comes the mission generation!

First, let’s understand how the system works:

Every time the simulator generates a mission, it creates it using a temporary file. Every time you generate a new mission, this file is replaced.

This temporary file is called _gen and can be found in:

data/missions

(Yes! A mission actually consists of several files, including localization, data, etc. But that’s a topic for another day.)

4. Now let’s generate a mission.

I recommend using the Task Editor, so you can choose whatever you want.

For this example, we’re going to generate a mission with some F-86s.

Click like you normally would to create it! And it will load.

5. Once the simulator has finished loading, the mission has been generated.

Switch to the Mission Editor and load the _gen.mission file located in:

data/missions

You can do this in the upper left corner of the editor File --> Load. Select the _gen.mission file

6. Once the mission is loaded in the editor, we need to change it to Cooperative mode.

Go to Mission Properties and select Cooperative from the mission type dropdown menu. This pop-up window will appear always on the left when you load any mission.

7. Now we need to choose which aircraft slots will be available to players.

Go to the aircraft in the mission (the aircraft icon) and double-click each aircraft you want players to be able to use.

Set it to:

Cooperative Start – Standard

If you don't want the AI to take control of the aircraft when no player occupies the slot, set it to:

Player Only

There is more to this as you can fine-tune every plane... but that's for another day! And as I mentioned above, I recommend Sketch tutorials.

8. That's it!

Now go back to File → Save As.

The destination folder must be:

multiplayer/cooperative

If you don't have a cooperative folder, simply create one.

9. Done!

You can now close the Mission Editor.

In the simulator, go to:

Multiplayer → Create

Then select Cooperative in the top-left corner.

Your newly converted mission should appear there, with the mission type properly localized in your language. 
That means it will show in the language you selected with the type of mission as name: Attack, Escort...

 

10. One last thing!

Remember to go to the Multiplayer options and select your PC's IP address if you are going to host!
If you double click on availbile IP, it will automatically will copy itself above.

And don't forget to open/forward the required ports on your router! You an also see or change your desired ports here.

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And that's it!

You can now take missions generated by the simulator and turn them into cooperative missions to play with your friends.

Have fun! ✈️

[Plev]

Excellent work man. Thank you! O7

[Jorri]

Wonderful! I wrote up something similar for Reddit and it's nowhere near as nice as your guide, but perhaps there's one snippet that could be useful about the Search and Select screen to easily find the aircraft in the busy layout:

Quote

Go to Search and Select -> Find Mission Objects

check 'select object', 'show properties', 'close dialog' and 'plane'. Click 'find'.

Now you can doubleclick any plane that says 'PLAYERSQUAD' in the description. In their property window, click the little arrow next to the name to open the advanced properties. Here, set 'cooperative start' to 'player only'.

Setting it to 'player only' makes sure that no AI flies the plane if a player doesn't occopy it. If you do want AI to join you on your flight, choose 'standard' instead.

Make sure you repeat this with all of them. Pay special attention to the plane that has no name: this is the original player plane. For this one, you have to change the 'AI' setting from 'Player' to anything else, or this will be the only plane that can be selected.

 

[Eddyimac]

Hi Luftmanu, great tutorial! However, the "Cooperative" option doesn't appear in step 6. In fact, the screenshot you attached only shows the mission name and the word "NEW." Your instructions state: "Go to Mission Properties and select Cooperative from the mission type dropdown menu. This pop-up window will always appear on the left when you load any mission." It would be really helpful for the community if you could make a short video tutorial on your channel simply explaining the steps involved. Those of us who have been with DCS for over a decade are used to an editor that is less complex and powerful, but has a more user-friendly interface. Thanks a lot in advance!

[LuftManu]

11 hours ago, Eddyimac said:

Hi Luftmanu, great tutorial! However, the "Cooperative" option doesn't appear in step 6. In fact, the screenshot you attached only shows the mission name and the word "NEW." Your instructions state: "Go to Mission Properties and select Cooperative from the mission type dropdown menu. This pop-up window will always appear on the left when you load any mission." It would be really helpful for the community if you could make a short video tutorial on your channel simply explaining the steps involved. Those of us who have been with DCS for over a decade are used to an editor that is less complex and powerful, but has a more user-friendly interface. Thanks a lot in advance!

Hello! Thanks for reading! 

The cooperative option should be the second one in the drop down menu. Or MissionType:1 if you edit the .mission via text. 

Ill prepare a video soon! 🙂

 

@Jorri That is also a good idea, to sort out via filter 🙂

 

 

[Eddyimac]

Thank You LuftManu your videos are Great!!!

[Eclipse4349]

I think this topic should be pinned.  And this capability should be communicated somehow in the game description, maybe even an official guide accessible from inside the game itself.  A way to easily generate coop missions without using a third-party tool, at least semi-basic missions, was something I was trying to find information on leading up to the game release.  The Task Editor seems really well designed and implemented in my brief time using it over a couple sessions. Using it to also create coop missions makes it even better and it checks a much needed box, even if it does require a little manual tinkering in the editor.  It's something I can only imagine would be a positive in terms of generating interest. 

Great work!