✅ Verified in-game — deeper pass: confirmed all functions/tables against source; cross-linked the 5 subtypes + Airstrike.EquipDesignator; documented the per-type field matrix (sDesignationType/sAATestLevel/validation/GetType) so the variants read as a family

MrxSupportDesignator

Module: mrxsupportdesignator.lua

Overview

MrxSupportDesignator is the base class for the five things a player throws/places to mark a strike target: a beacon, a flare, a laser painter, a satellite mini-game mark, or smoke. It owns the shared machinery — target coordinates, the completion-callback list, drop-zone/landing-zone validation, and equipping the physical designator weapon — while each subtype overrides Create/GetType and (some) Commence to add its own behavior. A MrxSupport strike holds one designator instance and fires its DesignationCallback when the designator completes.

The five subtypes at a glance

Every subclass just re-runs Create to stamp a fixed set of fields, then overrides GetType. The differences that matter:

Subtype	sDesignationType	sAATestLevel	fValidationFunction	Notable extra
Beacon	"Beacon Designator"	"jammer"	nil	bDesignateOnDeath = false
Flare	"Flare Designator"	"none"	ValidateWaterDropZone	spawns "Flare Projectile Stage 2" on complete
Laser	"Laser Designator"	"medium"	(inherited)	custom Commence + LaserFinished (fuel/recruit checks)
Satellite	"Satellite Designator"	(per-support)	(inherited)	PDA-map mini-game, cost, zoom
Smoke	"Smoke Designator"	"basic"	ValidateGroundDropZone	colored smoke emitter, 10s lifetime, net-synced

Inheritance

• Inherits from: none — base/utility module
• Imports: none (calls the Airstrike engine namespace for EquipDesignator)

Instance pattern

Not per-uGuid — same class-factory pattern as MrxSupport: Create(self, oNewDesignator) builds a new table via setmetatable/__index, no tInstance registry anywhere in source. This is the base class its 5 designator subtypes (Beacon/Flare/Laser/Satellite/Smoke) all inherit the pattern from. Key fields:

• uOwner: The GUID of the player or entity that owns the designator.
• bDesignationComplete: A boolean indicating whether the designation process is complete.
• sDesignationType: The type of designation being used.
• sAATestLevel: The AA test level for the designation.
• fValidationFunction: A function to validate the drop zone.
• tCallbackList: A list of callbacks to be called when designation is complete.
• tVOCues: A table for voice-over cues related to designation.
• nX, nY, nZ: The coordinates of the designated location.
• uGuid: The GUID of the designator object.
• oParentSupport: The parent support object that owns this designator.

Functions

GetTarget(self)

Returns the target coordinates and GUID once the designation is complete. Returns nil if the designation is not complete.

RemoveBeacon(self)

Removes a beacon associated with the designator if it exists.

Create(self, oNewDesignator)

Creates a new instance of the designator by copying properties from an existing one. If no new designator is provided, it creates a default instance.

SetOwner(self, uPlayerGuid)

Sets the owner of the designator to the specified player GUID.

AddCompleteCallback(self, fCallback, tCallbackData)

Adds a callback function to be called when the designation is complete. The callback data can be passed as an optional table.

RemoveCompleteCallback(self, fCallback)

Removes a previously added callback function from the list of callbacks.

SetCompleteCallback(self, fCallback, tCallbackData)

Sets a callback function and its associated data to be called when the designation is complete. The callback must be a function, and the data must be a table if provided.

CompleteDesignation(self)

Not documented above but this is what actually fires everything AddCompleteCallback/SetCompleteCallback registered. Sets bDesignationComplete = true, calls every function in tCallbackList with its stored data (fFunction(unpack(tData))), then posts an "Airstrike" event with sStage = "DesignationComplete", sType = "None" (subclasses override GetType to post a more specific sType). Nothing in this base class calls CompleteDesignation itself — it’s meant to be invoked by whatever confirms a valid target was reached, e.g. a designator subclass’s own drop-zone/landing-zone validation success.

SetDesignationType(self, sTemplateName)

Sets the type of designation template to use for the designator. The template name should be a string or nil.

SetValidationFunction(self, fFunction)

Sets the validation function to be used for validating the drop zone. The function must be a function or nil.

ValidateGroundDropZone(fCallback, nX, nY, nZ, oSupport, bWater) / ValidateWaterDropZone(fCallback, nX, nY, nZ, oSupport) / ValidateLandingZone(fCallback, nX, nY, nZ, oSupport)

Not previously documented on this page — the actual drop-zone/landing-zone validation logic the Overview refers to, and the shape of function SetValidationFunction expects (note: these three all take fCallback as their first argument, not self — plain functions, not methods, despite living in this module). All three wrap Ai.TestDropZone, looking up per-cargo/per-vehicle radius and height-tolerance data from two local tables (_cargoTemplateData, _heliTemplateData, keyed by template hash string, falling back to a .default entry) and calling fCallback themselves with (false, "nodrop") or (false, "noland") if Ai.TestDropZone couldn’t even register the test. ValidateWaterDropZone is just ValidateGroundDropZone with bWater forced to true.

SetTargetValidationRequired(self, bRequireValidation)

Sets whether target validation is required before completing the designation.

SetAATestLevel(self, sAATestLevel)

Sets the AA test level for the designation.

SetTargetLocation(self, nX, nY, nZ)

Sets the target location coordinates for the designator. The coordinates must be numbers.

SetDesignationParameters(self, nNewX, nNewY, nNewZ, uGuid, uTarget)

Not previously documented — this, not SetTargetLocation, is the setter that actually populates what GetTarget later returns, including the two fields SetTargetLocation doesn’t touch at all (uGuid, uTarget). Each argument is individually type-checked and falls back to keeping the existing value if the type doesn’t match ("number" for the coordinates, "userdata" for the two guids) rather than rejecting the whole call.

OnDeny(self, uGuid)

Called when the designation is denied. Currently does nothing.

SetParentSupport(self, oSupport)

Sets the parent support object that owns this designator.

GetParentSupport(self)

Returns the parent support object that owns this designator.

Configure(self, tOptions)

Configures the designator with options provided in a table. If an option is not present in the table, it retains its current value.

Commence(self, bFireImmediately)

Starts the designation process. Calls Airstrike.EquipDesignator(self.uOwner, self.sDesignationType, nil, nil, bFireImmediately) to give the player the physical designator item, then Weapon.SetReserveAmmo(self.uWeaponGuid, 1) so it’s a single-use throw. Returns the equipped weapon guid, or false if uOwner isn’t a userdata handle. The Laser and Satellite subtypes override this to pass their own completion callback into EquipDesignator instead of nil.

Airstrike.EquipDesignator is a real engine call used by every designator subtype but is not yet documented on the Airstrike namespace page (that page enumerates only SpawnOrdnance/SpawnTargettedOrdnance from grepped call sites). Confirmed signature from usage: uWeaponGuid = Airstrike.EquipDesignator(uOwner, sDesignationType, fCompleteCallback, tCallbackData, bFireImmediately).

GetType(self)

Returns the type of the designator, which is “none” in this base class.

Events

• Listens for custom events related to designation completion and validation.

Notes for modders

• Ensure that the designator’s owner is set correctly using SetOwner.
• Use AddCompleteCallback and RemoveCompleteCallback to manage callbacks for when the designation is complete.
• Customize the designator by setting various parameters such as type, validation function, and target location using the provided setter functions.
• Be aware that the designator’s behavior can be influenced by the parent support object set with SetParentSupport.
• The module uses predefined templates (_cargoTemplateData and _heliTemplateData) for validating drop zones. These templates can be extended or modified as needed.