[SP/Co/Vs [1-100+]] Fight extension

[Grimm 10]

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Fight Extension is actually in early alpha stage and

will be released by the end of the year 2010



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Commander's gameplay

Easy-to-use

Fight Extension creates short-time high intensity battles, to which 1 to 100+ players can participate in solo, coop or versus mode. Fight Extension is automatically detecting the game mode and the number of players while randomly selecting amid a range of scenarios, each procedurally generating daytime, weather conditions, starting locations and goals, all over the island, from a “strategic/operational†to a “tactical†level. Nevertheless, Fight Extension is built on a “download & play†frame, so no adjustment or setting is required.

Various action levels

Fight Extension proposes different points of view, each having their own prerogatives and being empowered accordingly: commander, team leader and trooper. The commander rank allows a strategic vision and the ability to call for operational support such as paratroopers’ support, artillery coverage or combat helicopters’ assistance. Team leaders and troopers will enter the battle from their own perspectives. Whatever the selected role, players will be immersed in a war field involving many combat groups and vehicles.

Different levels of AI

AI, allowing coop or solo play, will play non-human roles. The commander AI allows to calling for firing supports, aiming specific targets and participating to the battle with different states of mind such as “aggressiveâ€, “cautiousâ€, “trickyâ€, etc. The team leader AI will aim at completing his own goals among basic military tasks : attack / hold / support / meet with / …

A network centric warfare system

Fight Extension is designed on the network centric warfare principle, creating a multi-level communication network between commanders and units. However, if the mobile HQ is destroyed, this network no longer exists. Within the frame of communications that are secured, the commander can call for fire support and team leaders receive commands, while AI units get moral bonuses that influence their aptitudes and reactions such as their ability to resist or to flee, generating different behaviors (desertion / panic / dispersal).

Mods

Fight Extension is working on Arma 2 Vanilla and Arma 2 Combined Operations. It is 99% compatible with the community mods (including Ace). No Arrowhead standalone adaptation is foreseen at the moment. It can be also very easily moded. For testing purpose, it took me less than half an hour to put all the hexagon mod, including vehicles, in the game (just had to lightly modify some specific data sheets).

Islands

Tchernarus, Takistan, Duala and Panthera (IceBreakr's) are actually planned.

Release Date

Fight Extension will be released by the end of the year 2010.

Analysis : this man just died, he probably lost his group leader and his group suffered huge losses. This explains the low moral. The fact that, moreover, the remaining men may be outside the commanding network could easily explain why the survivors are 'fleeing in panic' ; in this state, even if they manage to go back in the network, the commander can not (temporarly) give orders to this formation.



My deployment begins. You can see that some units are out of my network and won't receive my orders anymore, except my Recon forces, west and north-west,

who have the special ability to go out of the network without being impacted.

Notice also the detected enemy artillery fire, red marker west from the main objective.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Grimm

[dale0404 5]

So, is this a mod of Warfare then? Where you have to build bases etc?

[Grimm 10]

No, it aims to be relatively realistic, so you don't have to build bases. Just to deploy from your starting location and to fullfill your objectives.

[dale0404 5]

In that case, COOL!!!

[Grimm 10]

Thanks, hope you'll enjoy it ;)

[Drumheller 18]

Well this certainly sounds interesting as hell. Look forward to seeing it in action.

[bobtom 10]

This looks really good! I can't wait!

[Grimm 10]

I've been thinking about FE concept for a year, and I'm coding it quite intensively since July, so your first feedbacks are quite important to me. Thanks to all for your support :)

[captain carnage 0]

I thought this was out now, was excitedly looking for the download link :(

:D :D

[Grimm 10]

Yeah, sorry about that, I made it clearer now, under the vid. FE is currently in alpha stage, and we have already good times playing it, but its shape isn't fitting my standards for an actual relase.

A soon as it's on beta, volunteers for testing will be more than welcome :) . I will update this topic regularly with gameplay vids, to show you some specificities and to share the fun.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Grimm

[nanucq 22]

Your mod is awesome and looks promising, keep up the good work :)

Edited October 22, 2010 by Nanucq

[nkenny 775]

This sounds very interesting. Will you give us a more indepth preview later?

-k

[Grimm 10]

Hi guys, thanks again for the nice feedback. :)

I will update this post probably tomorrow with a 'step by step' gameplay sequence, playing the commander role and including unshown new features, as some MP testing session is scheduled this evening with a friend. Some vids will follow later, with gameplay on group leader and trooper's sides.

Edited October 23, 2010 by Grimm

[killjoe_R3F 50]

and what is exactly the difference with Warfare mod ?

[KeyCat 126]

Looks very interesting, will keep an eye on this for sure.

Keep up the good work Grimm!

/KC

[Grimm 10]

Hi guys,

First post updated with a video showing some commander's gameplay.

KeyCat => Thank you!

killjoer3f => Fight Extension is a kind of "combat missions generator" more than a "warfare" :

- You have no economy : you don't have to build bases or to buy units.

- You have some huge amount of "missions layers", meaning :

* All the strategic objectives (commander role) are procedurally generated (random with complex generation rules), leading to 3 main types :

1. You and your enemy have the same objectives, all shown on the map, or shown step by step, each time you reach one (but types Hold/ Secure, etc. can be different)

2. You have different secondary objectives, and a same main objective

3. You or you enemy don't have any objective, and you must stop your opponent advance (while your opponent must fullfill its own objectives).

* Group leaders and troopers have a different layer when the AI is commanding. They're told to secure some location, to wait for another allied unit to combine forces for assault, to support another unit's advance, etc...

All these dynamically generated layers are producing a quite cool 'real life' combat effect.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Grimm

[CharveL 0]

This looks like the perfect combination of random, objective driven action without the tiresome micromanagement and predictability of other systems.

Hope it lives up to it's potential, I'm looking forward to it...soonish would be nice. ;)

[5133p39 0]

Sounds very interesting. I am very curious about the result, hope to see some downloads soon :)

[Grimm 10]

Thanks guys.

Still a long way to go, a lot of minor bugs and some enhancements to do, but as you can see in the second vid the game is now quite playable, even if a lot of features are still missing.

[5133p39 0]

Well, in case you'd feel the need of little help, you can allways PM me, i would be happy to have a look at the scripts, even if only to test it or maybe give some suggestions (not saying i understand ArmA2 scripting any better than you or the next guy over there, but i am willing to try :)

[Grimm 10]

Thanks 5133 :) I will definitely need beta testers when the closed beta's out, so if you are interested, you'll be welcome on board (I won't release a 'public' beta, as I like things to be the cleaner as possible when going out).

I'm actually working on the core engine, I would like to release the beta on the end of november (fingers crossed ^^).

Edited October 29, 2010 by Grimm

[zapat 52]

Is progress going as planned?

Would be great to hear some news about this project, since this is one of the most interesting stuff going on recently.

I would even dare to ask for an ETA, though I know it is not a polite question... :)

[Grimm 10]

Hi Zapat,

thanks for your support.

I'm actually coding the commander AI.

Actually, the commander AI is quite simple : it aims the center of the battlefield with some very simple rules, and orders player units and AI units to go overthere. I programed it for debug and testing purposes, while I was coding the main engine.

Now I'm working on it : how it perceives the battlefield, the surrounding fights, how it reacts in real time to known threats (it doesn't cheat), how it uses fire support, what kind of orders will it give to subordonate AIs and players (if you play as trooper or group leader, you certainly don't want to guard a point until the end of the game, ie : orders given to players must be entertaining and realistic at the same time... a difficult task, but not an impossible one).

FE is actually playable as commander, versus a "stupid" AI, or as human commander vs human commander, or as group leader/trooper, but this last part is not really interesting atm.

I will release a first close beta as soon I've made consistent progress in commander AI. I'm aiming at the middle of the upcoming month, but I don't want to put on myself unnecessary pressure ;)

Edited November 27, 2010 by Grimm

[Mac_Spliff=ISK= 10]

Hmmmmmm, this could be fun :) sleeplessssss nites again playing the thing :)

[cool=azroul13 12]

Awesome !! I wait for this

What's the impact on the FPS ??

and What's the size of the OPFOR ( section vs section, company vs company...) ?

You use the high command module of Arma 2, do you make some improvement on the module ( fix the problem when you want transport a squad in a vehicule) ??

Thanks ;)