✅ Updates Lua scripts in .miz files without opening DCS Mission Editor
✅ Automatically increments version numbers in mission filenames (e.g., 1.2.3 → 1.2.4)
✅ Preserves original missions - creates new versioned files instead of overwriting
✅ Supports single or batch processing of multiple missions
✅ Can output to a different directory
✅ Handles both new script insertion and existing script replacement
✅ Pipeline support for processing multiple missions
✅ Smart version detection (supports X.Y.Z, X.Y, and X formats)

Version Increment Examples

Input Filename	Output Filename
`Mission-1.2.3.miz`	`Mission-1.2.4.miz`
`Operation Black Gold 2.8.miz`	`Operation Black Gold 2.9.miz`
`F99th-Battle of Gori 1.3.miz`	`F99th-Battle of Gori 1.4.miz`
`MyMission-5.miz`	`MyMission-6.miz`
`Test.miz`	`Test-1.0.1.miz`

Usage

Basic Usage

Update a mission with automatic version increment:

.\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -MissionPath "MyMission-1.2.3.miz" -LuaScriptPath "Moose_.lua"
# Original: MyMission-1.2.3.miz (untouched)
# Creates: MyMission-1.2.4.miz

Batch Processing

Update all .miz files in a directory:

Get-ChildItem "C:\DCS_Missions\*.miz" | .\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -LuaScriptPath "C:\Scripts\Moose_.lua"
# Each mission gets a new version

Output to Different Directory

Patch missions and save versioned outputs to a different folder:

.\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -MissionPath "Mission-1.5.miz" -LuaScriptPath "Moose_.lua" -OutputPath "C:\PatchedMissions"
# Creates: C:\PatchedMissions\Mission-1.6.miz

Disable Version Increment (CAUTION!)

⚠️ Overwrite the original mission file without creating a new version:

.\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -MissionPath "Mission-1.2.3.miz" -LuaScriptPath "Moose_.lua" -NoVersionIncrement
# WARNING: Overwrites Mission-1.2.3.miz (original is lost!)

Custom Script Name

Insert a script with a different name than the source file:

.\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -MissionPath "Mission.miz" -LuaScriptPath "MyScript.lua" -ScriptName "CustomName.lua"

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`-MissionPath`	Yes	Path to .miz mission file(s) to patch
`-LuaScriptPath`	Yes	Path to the Lua script to insert/replace
`-ScriptName`	No	Name for the script inside the mission (defaults to source filename)
`-OutputPath`	No	Directory for patched missions (defaults to source directory)
`-NoVersionIncrement`	No	CAUTION: Overwrites original instead of creating new version

Examples

Example 1: Update All Caucasus Missions with Version Increment

Get-ChildItem "C:\DCS_MissionDev\DCS_Caucasus\*.miz" | .\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -LuaScriptPath "C:\Moose\Moose_.lua"
# Each mission gets a new version: 1.2.miz -> 1.3.miz
# Originals remain untouched

Example 2: Update Specific Missions to Output Folder

$missions = @(
    "F99th-Operation Black Gold 2.8.miz",
    "F99th-Operation Ronin 1.4.miz",
    "F99th-Battle of Gori 1.3.miz"
)

$missions | .\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -LuaScriptPath "Moose_.lua" -OutputPath "C:\UpdatedMissions"
# Creates: Operation Black Gold 2.9.miz, Operation Ronin 1.5.miz, Battle of Gori 1.4.miz in C:\UpdatedMissions

Example 3: Overwrite Original (Use with Caution)

.\Patch-MooseMissions.ps1 -MissionPath "TestMission-1.0.miz" -LuaScriptPath "Moose_.lua" -NoVersionIncrement
# WARNING: Overwrites TestMission-1.0.miz (original is lost)

How It Works

Extraction: The script treats .miz files as ZIP archives and extracts them to a temporary directory
Script Replacement: Locates the Lua script in l10n/DEFAULT/ folder and replaces/adds it
Version Increment: Automatically detects version pattern and increments the patch number
Repackaging: Compresses the modified mission into a new .miz file with incremented version
Cleanup: Removes temporary files

Version Detection Logic

The script intelligently detects and increments version numbers:

X.Y.Z format (e.g., Mission-1.2.3.miz) → Increments Z: Mission-1.2.4.miz
X.Y format (e.g., Mission-2.8.miz) → Increments Y: Mission-2.9.miz
X format (e.g., Mission-5.miz) → Increments X: Mission-6.miz
No version (e.g., Mission.miz) → Adds version: Mission-1.0.1.miz

Supports various separators: -, _, or space

Mission File Structure

DCS mission files (.miz) are ZIP archives with this structure:

Mission.miz
├── mission
├── options
├── warehouses
├── l10n/
│   └── DEFAULT/
│       ├── dictionary
│       ├── mapResource
│       └── *.lua           ← Scripts are stored here

Important Notes

⚠️ Always test patched missions before using them in production or multiplayer!

⚠️ Originals are safe: By default, the script creates NEW versioned files and never modifies originals

⚠️ Script order matters: If your mission has script load order dependencies, this tool only replaces the file content, not the trigger order

⚠️ Version increment default: By default, versions are incremented. Use -NoVersionIncrement to overwrite originals (NOT recommended)

✅ Safe for: Updating framework files like Moose_.lua, mist.lua, or any embedded Lua script

✅ Preserves originals: Original missions remain untouched (new versioned files are created)

✅ No backups needed: Since originals aren't modified, you always have your previous version

Troubleshooting

"File is not a .miz mission file"

Ensure you're pointing to a valid .miz file, not a .lua or other file type

"Lua script not found"

Verify the path to your Lua script is correct and the file exists

Mission doesn't work after patching

Restore from backup
Verify the Lua script is valid
Check DCS.log for script errors
Ensure you updated the correct script name

Permission errors

Run PowerShell as Administrator if modifying files in protected directories
Ensure mission files are not read-only

Requirements

Windows PowerShell 5.1 or later (or PowerShell Core 7+)
Write permissions to mission file locations
Valid .miz mission files
Valid Lua script to insert

Author

F99th-TracerFacer

Discord: https://discord.gg/7wBVWKK3

License

Free to use and modify for the DCS community.