dynamic tankers

[jtoppins]

DCS does a poor job of implementing tankers. They can only do fixed tracks at assigned altitudes and speeds. Given the varied number of aircraft in DCS this means having a single tanker becomes impossible not only for physical connection reasons but because of aircraft performance reasons.

With the new GOAP API being developed in lua-libs[1] implement an interactive action that submits a request to a smart tanker DCT Asset which will replan its tanker track based on the receiver's request.

Elements the tanker should take into account when planning the track:

• receiver's aircraft type, aircraft have known tanking envelopes
• weather, attempt to tank in VMC conditions
• deny receiver requests if there is not enough fuel remaining in the tanker

Weather

Weather can be found in the mission at mission.weather.clouds with the preset selection found at mission.weather.clouds.preset. And the presets can be found in <install-dir>/Config/Effects/clouds.lua, example:

cloudsTechnique = 0 -- 0 - volumteric, 1 - via OParticleSystem, 2 - old-school 3- old-school EDGE-style

clouds = 
{
	presets = 
	{				
...
		Preset1 =
		{
			visibleInGUI = true,
			readableName = '01 ##'.. _('Few Scattered Clouds \nMETAR:FEW/SCT 7/8'),
			readableNameShort = _('Light Scattered 1'),
			thumbnailName = 'Bazar/Effects/Clouds/Thumbnails/cloud_1.png',
			levelMap = 'bazar/effects/clouds/cloudsMap01.png',
			detailNoiseMapSize = 8500.00,
			precipitationPower = -1.00,
			presetAltMin = 840.00,
			presetAltMax = 4200.00,
			layers = {
				{
					altitudeMin = 2520,
					altitudeMax = 3780,
					tile = 9.024,
					shapeFactor = 0.015,
					density = 0.396,
					densityGrad = 0.622,
					coverage = 0.359,
					noiseFreq = 0.384,
					noiseBlur = 1.125,
					coverageMapFactor = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetX = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetY = 0.00,
				},
				{
					altitudeMin = 5040,
					altitudeMax = 6300,
					tile = 5.104,
					shapeFactor = 0.132,
					density = 0.410,
					densityGrad = 1.032,
					coverage = 0.308,
					noiseFreq = 0.813,
					noiseBlur = 1.500,
					coverageMapFactor = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetX = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetY = 0.00,
				},
				{
					altitudeMin = 10500,
					altitudeMax = 12180,
					tile = 0.880,
					shapeFactor = 0.201,
					density = 0.000,
					densityGrad = 2.000,
					coverage = 0.000,
					noiseFreq = 3.000,
					noiseBlur = 1.500,
					coverageMapFactor = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetX = 0.00,
					coverageMapUVOffsetY = 0.00,
				},
			}
		},
...
	},
}

[1] jtoppins/lua-libs#3