Tasking - A task object governs the main engine to administer human taskings.

Features:

• A base class for other task classes filling in the details and making a concrete task process.
• Manage the overall task execution, following-up the progression made by the pilots and actors.
• Provide a mechanism to set a task status, depending on the progress made within the task.
• Manage a task briefing.
• Manage the players executing the task.
• Manage the task menu system.
• Manage the task goal and scoring.

1) Tasking from a player perspective.

Tasking can be controlled by using the "other" menu in the radio menu of the player group.

1.1) Command Centers govern multiple Missions.

Depending on the tactical situation, your coalition may have one (or multiple) command center(s). These command centers govern one (or multiple) mission(s).

For each command center, there will be a separate Command Center Menu that focuses on the missions governed by that command center.

In the above example menu structure, there is one command center with the name [Lima]. The command center has one Tasking.Mission, named "Overlord" with High priority.

1.2) Missions govern multiple Tasks.

A mission has a mission goal to be achieved by the players within the coalition. The mission goal is actually dependent on the tactical situation of the overall battlefield and the conditions set to achieve the goal. So a mission can be much more than just shoot stuff ... It can be a combination of different conditions or events to complete a mission goal.

A mission can be in a specific state during the simulation run. For more information about these states, please check the Tasking.Mission section.

To achieve the mission goal, a mission administers #TASKs that are set to achieve the mission goal by the human players. Each of these tasks can be dynamically created using a task dispatcher, or coded by the mission designer. Each mission has a separate Mission Menu, that focuses on the administration of these tasks.

On top, a mission has a mission briefing, can help to allocate specific points of interest on the map, and provides various reports.

The above shows a mission menu in detail of "Overlord".

The two other menus are related to task assignment. Which will be detailed later.

1.2.1) Mission briefing.

The task briefing will show a message containing a description of the mission goal, and other tactical information.

1.2.2) Mission Map Locations.

Various points of interest as part of the mission can be indicated on the map using the Mark Task Locations on Map menu. As a result, the map will contain various points of interest for the player (group).

1.2.3) Mission Task Reports.

Various reports can be generated on the status of each task governed within the mission.

The Task Overview Report will show each task, with its task status and a short coordinate information.

The other Task Menus will show for each task more details, for example here the planned tasks report. Note that the order of the tasks are shortest distance first to the unit position seated by the player.

1.2.4) Mission Statistics.

Various statistics can be displayed regarding the mission.

A statistic report on the progress of the mission. Each task achievement will increase the % to 100% as a goal to complete the task.

1.3) Join a Task.

The mission menu contains a very important option, that is to join a task governed within the mission. In order to join a task, select the Join Planned Task menu, and a new menu will be given.

A mission governs multiple tasks, as explained earlier. Each task is of a certain task type. This task type was introduced to have some sort of task classification system in place for the player. A short acronym is shown that indicates the task type. The meaning of each acronym can be found in the task types explanation.

When the player selects a task type, a list of the available tasks of that type are listed... In this case the SEAD task type was selected and a list of available SEAD tasks can be selected.

A new list of menu options are now displayed that allow to join the task selected, but also to obtain first some more information on the task.

1.3.1) Report Task Details.

When selected, a message is displayed that shows detailed information on the task, like the coordinate, enemy target information, threat level etc.

1.3.2) Mark Task Location on Map.

When selected, the target location on the map is indicated with specific information on the task.

1.3.3) Join Task.

By joining a task, the player will indicate that the task is assigned to him, and the task is started. The Command Center will communicate several task details to the player and the coalition of the player.

1.4) Task Control and Actions.

When a player has joined a task, a Task Action Menu is available to be used by the player.

The task action menu contains now menu items specific to the task, but also one generic menu item, which is to control the task. This Task Control Menu allows to display again the task details and the task map location information. But it also allows to abort a task!

Depending on the task type, the task action menu can contain more menu items which are specific to the task. For example, cargo transportation tasks will contain various additional menu items to select relevant cargo coordinates, or to load/unload cargo.

1.5) Automatic task assignment.

When we take back the command center menu, you see two additional Assign Task menu items. The menu Assign Task On will automatically allocate a task to the player. After the selection of this menu, the menu will change into Assign Task Off, and will need to be selected again by the player to switch of the automatic task assignment.

The other option is to select Assign Task, which will assign a new random task to the player.

When a task is automatically assigned to a player, the task needs to be confirmed as accepted within 30 seconds. If this is not the case, the task will be cancelled automatically, and a new random task will be assigned to the player. This will continue to happen until the player accepts the task or switches off the automatic task assignment process.

The player can accept the task using the menu Confirm Task Acceptance ...

1.6) Task states.

A task has a state, reflecting the progress or completion status of the task:

• Planned: Expresses that the task is created, but not yet in execution and is not assigned yet to a pilot.
• Assigned: Expresses that the task is assigned to a group of pilots, and that the task is in execution mode.
• Success: Expresses the successful execution and finalization of the task.
• Failed: Expresses the failure of a task.
• Abort: Expresses that the task is aborted by by the player using the abort menu.
• Cancelled: Expresses that the task is cancelled by HQ or through a logical situation where a cancellation of the task is required.

1.6.1) Task progress.

The task governor takes care of the progress and completion of the task goal(s). Tasks are executed by human pilots and actors within a DCS simulation. Pilots can use a menu system to engage or abort a task, and provides means to understand the task briefing and goals, and the relevant task locations on the map and obtain various reports related to the task.

1.6.2) Task completion.

As the task progresses, the task status will change over time, from Planned state to Completed state. Multiple pilots can execute the same task, as such, the tasking system provides a co-operative model for joint task execution. Depending on the task progress, a scoring can be allocated to award pilots of the achievements made. The scoring is fully flexible, and different levels of awarding can be provided depending on the task type and complexity.

A normal flow of task status would evolve from the Planned state, to the Assigned state ending either in a Success or a Failed state.

 Planned -> Assigned -> Success
                     -> Failed
                     -> Cancelled

The state completion is by default set to Success, if the goals of the task have been reached, but can be overruled by a goal method.

Depending on the tactical situation, a task can be Cancelled by the mission governor. It is actually the mission designer who has the flexibility to decide at which conditions a task would be set to Success, Failed or Cancelled. This decision all depends on the task goals, and the phase/evolution of the task conditions that would accomplish the goals.

For example, if the task goal is to merely destroy a target, and the target is mid-mission destroyed by another event than the pilot destroying the target, the task goal could be set to Failed, or .. Cancelled ... However, it could very well be also acceptable that the task would be flagged as Success.

The tasking mechanism governs beside the progress also a scoring mechanism, and in case of goal completion without any active pilot involved in the execution of the task, could result in a Success task completion status, but no score would be awarded, as there were no players involved.

These different completion states are important for the mission designer to reflect scoring to a player. A success could mean a positive score to be given, while a failure could mean a negative score or penalties to be awarded.

Developer Note

Note while this class still works, it is no longer supported as the original author stopped active development of MOOSE Therefore, this class is considered to be deprecated

Author(s): FlightControl

Contribution(s):