Amoeba Games Helicopter Transport Missions or AGHTM is a mission building framework by Amoeba Games, meant to help facilitate
rapid building of helicopter transport missions that follow a basic premise. Because everything is handled through a configuration
file, even those individuals who are not mission builders or who have never written a single line of code, can quickly build their
own custom transport missions, with all of the wiring, messaging, voiceovers, navigation radio beacons, etc. already working, and with very little effort.
The idea is simple. As the player, you take off from a location, travel to several pickup locations in
order, announcing your arrival and passenger pickup using the radio menu, and
arrive at a destination with your passengers. If you want to think of it in basic
terms, you are essentially a bus driver, making stops to pick up people to bring to a common location.
The framework provides all of the audio files (voiceovers, Morse Code for NAV
beacons, etc.), and templates for each map, as well as any necessary scripts, so
users can easily create their own missions by simply dragging things around in
the Mission Editor. The framework also contains a fully configurable settings
file so you can override any of the settings to fit your mission needs. This
includes audio files, NAV radio frequencies and several other options. You can
use your own audio clips. You can rename the pickup locations if ALPHA, BRAVO,
CHARLIE, etc do not meet your needs. You can customize or disable (by omitting)
NAV radio frequencies to force users to use different methods of navigation, and
much more. The messaging will automatically update accordingly to reflect your
changes. Additionally, since the framework only handles the flow logic for the
transport aspect of the mission, you can easily use it in conjunction with other
mission building techniques or libraries like MIST, MOOSE, CTLD, etc.
AGHTM Mission Bundles
Free AGHTM Premade Mission Bundles
Here you can find bundles of premade missions built on top of AGHTM. These helicopter transport missions will take you through some of the most scenic parts of all of the maps, while providing a rich, interactive, and immersive experience. They are of varying levels of difficulty with regard to landing locations, time of day and weather conditions. We have tried to create a diverse selection of missions you can download and fly right now. Whether you want a laid back flight at dawn, or want to fly a mission in a snow storm at night, you will find this and everything in between. The mission bundles are available for Mi-8MT, Mi-24P, UH-1H and the free Community UH-60L mod.
Table of Contents
Script Functionality
This section walks you through the high-level features of AGHTM. Here you can see exactly what the script is handling during each stage of the mission.
AGHTM Library Contents
Here, you can view all of the assets included with the library. This includes all script files, audio files, images, supporting text files containing briefing information templates, etc. This section also lists all of the text for the default voiceover lines and message text. This content is freely distributable and is intended for you to use when creating your own missions.
AGHTM Scripting Reference
This section goes into the agHTM.lua script and its available functions in great detail. See what each function does, and see which functions you can use from your own code, as well as which are reserved for internal use by AGHTM.
Getting Started
This section covers getting started with AGHTM to get you you up and running, building your own missions, either from scratch, or using the premade mission templates, in no time. Additionally, it details the different ways AGHTM can be used for mission building and helps you decide which method is best for your needs.
Using AGHTM Mission Templates
This section covers creating a mission from one of the pre-made mission templates. There are templates for each map which are actually fully-functional, playable missions you can modify by simply dragging a few items to new locations on the map to create a totally new mission experience with all the wiring, messaging and voiceovers already in place. If you are not a mission builder, or do not want to be bothered with LUA scripting, this section is for you. Here you will also find the individual template downloads for each aircraft, containing templates for all of the maps.
Using AGHTM in a New or Existing Mission
In this section, you will learn the entire process of how to add AGHTM to a new or existing mission from scratch, including adding required audio files, all necessary scripts, trigger zones, and triggers.
Customizing Your Mission with agHTMConfig.lua
Here you will find an in-depth look at the agHTMConfig.lua file and its contents. You will learn how you can fully customize the experience by modifying NAV frequencies, swapping out voiceover audio clips for your own, modifying location names, changing trigger zone names and numerous other metadata that can be changed and which will automatically be picked up by AGHTM.
Mission.lua and Structuring Your Code
This section goes into a detailed explanation of the role of this file and to help lay some groundwork for those new to scripting in DCS. This section will give you some good perspective on how LUA code is executed inside DCS, how to structure and isolate your code for reuse, and a host of other things learned over 25+ years of professional software development and training large developer groups.
Debugging Your AGHTM Missions
This section will walk you through how to use the agLogger script from the agScript for DCS library, to add debugging and logging to your mission files so you can get a clear idea of what is going on inside your code, especially when it fails unexpectedly. The section also contains some additional tips and tricks for code trapping, so you can see more information than simple chains of text messages dumped out to the DCS logs with all of the other DCS log messages, and which are difficult to sort through.
Translating Your AGHTM Mission to Other Aircraft
This section shows you how you can take an AGHTM mission you built, and make it available for other aircraft. This is the exact same process we used to build the missions in our free mission bundles. All of the missions were first built for the UH-60L using the mission templates, and were then copied. Each mission was then opened up, and a predefined set of steps was followed for each of the other supported aircraft.