Help with BUILDING A PRISON for a prison escape scenario...

[kyfohatl 10]

At the begining of my mission, I want the player to begin as a prisoner. He will get beaten up, and then dragged to a convoy which is supposed to transport him to another location (the convoy will get ambushed by allies). For that, I need to create a prison. What I've managed to get done is a small barracks enclosed by H-barriers, and the player's cell is also made up of H-barriers as well. This means that the ground is grassy, there is no roof, too much light and the hole thing feels like anything but a prison (and I'm using a farm/patty gate for the door, which makes the whole cell look like a stable!). As I was looking through the editor objects, I couldn't find anything that I could use to make the player cell (is there some sort of an enterable house [preferebly large] that fits the shape of a prison perhaps?). So I'm just looking for advice on making the prison.

Oh, and about the animations. At the moment I'm thinking of the player getting beaten up and dreagged. But I have never played around with animations before (I've just downloaded a good tool that lets me look at animations). So any advice on wether or not it is possible, or if it is a good idea would be most appreciated from you animation vetrans out there. As I said; I haven't made solid decision on this part of the mission, so it can be subject to change. At the moment it is: Player starts at prison ==> goes through a sequence of events (e.g. gets interrogated, beaten up, talks to other prisoners or possibly even attempt to escape with other prisoners) ==> Gets into a convoy and is transported to the enemie's main base ==> on the way, the convoy is ambushed by allies ==> player escapes ==> rest of the mission.

So feel free to give me advice on this mission plan, or post your own ideas :).

Thanks

Edited October 12, 2010 by kyfohatl

[AZCoder 921]

All of the building objects are found here http://www.armatechsquad.com/ArmA2Class/indexOA.php

I recommend finding them as a player on the map first, to make sure they have doors. I think that link is OA only, there's another with A2 buildings. One of the military base buildings has a bunch of working doors down a hall, it might be a good one. You can use createvehicle on any of these to put it in game, setdir, and force the doors to close at start. Also might recommend trench wire, for added POW effect.

[ryguy 10]

Place wire. It's under Empty->Fortifications. Barbed wire should give it more of a prison feel.

[katdogfizzow 13]

like the idea. I made a POW camp for Chenarus if you want to use:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=7866

Also made a pow camp in an open field with Land_Fort_Watchtower_EP1/Wire/Land_fortified_nest_big_EP1 and light towers /port-a-potties/burning barrels/hbarriers that worked well

Edited October 12, 2010 by katdogfizzow

[callihn 10]

Are buildings not in the editor?

[AZCoder 921]

Some constructions are in the editor, like tents and fortifications. Houses and large buildings are not in the editor, but they can be popped in with createVehicle. In some cases, certain items can be spawned in with a BIS function like this:

[_base, 0, "mediumtentcamp3_ru"] spawn BIS_fnc_ObjectsMapper;

There are a few threads on that topic.

---------- Post added at 09:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 PM ----------

katdogfizzow: I remember looking at the POW camp you made a few months ago. Very detailed :)

[kyfohatl 10]

made a POW camp for Chenarus if you want to use

Thanks mate. That prison is a very detailed and well made. I'm making a new one (becuase mine needs to be smaller, and is at a different location), but youre prison served as an excellent prison making tutorial (it showed me where to look for the objects, and what types of stuff could be used to make a prison). Just one thing: apparently your missing "searchlight.sqf", because the download only comes with "mission.sqm". Or maybe my download was bad? Anyway if I release this mission (which is what I'm intending to do), I'll deffinately credit you for making the prison ;).

A couple of questions: 1. I found a "getting dragged" animation. Now I need a "getting beaten up animation". Does ARMA2 have it (by the way I don't have OA). Then I guess I could implement a few camera sways to "stimulate your head getting punched" (I guess I finally have to start learning camera scripting).

2. I need a little more light for my prison (outside). I've put a few campfires, and I noticed katdogfizzow uses interesting "light cones" to lighten up the road (though they don't emit much light, their more like reflective signs). Anything else I could use?

3. I'm interested to know about your opinion and ideas on the story/mission:

The mission is divided into two parts. The first part is escaping the prison and returning to the friendly Russian base (a long distance away). At the same time, the russians are fighting the CDF and the Americans, and thanks to the help of people on the forums, I've managed to produce a working (mostly :o) battle script, which allows factions to capture and control locations and then further advance (using DAC). So whilst the player is playing the escape mission, towns and places change hands between the friendly and enemy units (which is good, because it will prevent the player from knowing the safest escape path once he relpays the mission). Of course to make the game challenging, I've made the friendly Russians as the weakest faction, and if the player takes too long on his escape, they are likely to be completely overcome.

The second part is about the player helping the Russians restore their control. An optional part (which I'm working on) would be a series of mission via which the player allies the Independents to the Russians, thus making the fight against USMC and CDF a bit easier (though I haven't decided what these missions should be about; saving the guerilla boss maybe?).

This mission is intended to be very dynamic, hence most of the units encountered will be DAC generated. Oh, and I want to (try) make the scape part pretty dramatic (e.g. choppers come after you, etc.), but then I though, "why the hell would the CDF and USA waste so much resources to eliminate a few escaping prisoners, whilst they could spend the resources in beating the Russians. It just doesn't make sense." So my solution to that is that you are a very important scientist (or one of his guards that was captured with him, to explain your good combat skills, and you'd be escorting him the the Russian base). What do you think?

Thanks for the help fellas :).

[kyfohatl 10]

2. I need a little more light for my prison (outside). I've put a few campfires, and I noticed katdogfizzow uses interesting "light cones" to lighten up the road (though they don't emit much light, their more like reflective signs). Anything else I could use?

Nevermind, found out how to do it myself. If anyone else is interested, here it is:

_object = _this select 0;
_light = "#lightpoint" createVehicle position _object;
_light setLightColor [0, 0, 8];
_light setLightAmbient [0.9, 0.9, 0.9];
_light setLightBrightness (0.1 / 0.1);

I got it from Mr-Murrays guide. Execute it using:

MyProcedure = <ObjectName> execVM "<script name>.sqf"

[katdogfizzow 13]

missing "searchlight.sqf"

Here is Taurs's code: (highly recommend) just exec the code and place down 3 markers and the light will "scan"

Seachlightscan.sqf

private ["_object","_markers","_pauseTime"];
/*Author: Taurus 2009-07-25
nil = [object,["marker1","marker2",..],seconds] execVM "SearchlightScan.sqf";
*/
_object = _this select 0;
_markers = _this select 1;
_pauseTime = _this select 2;
while{(getDammage _object > 0) || (alive _object)} do{
   {
       _object doWatch (getMarkerPos _x);
       sleep _pauseTime;
   }forEach _markers;
};

2. I need a little more light for my prison (outside). I've put a few campfires, and I noticed katdogfizzow uses interesting "light cones" to lighten up the road (though they don't emit much light, their more like reflective signs). Anything else I could use?

Put this code in a Game Logic and you can play with parameters to get the color, height and brightness you want to add light: (works well for lighting small gaurd shacks etc... the last number is the height.)

light = "#lightpoint" createVehicleLocal position this; light setLightBrightness 0.1; light setLightAmbient[0.0, 0.0, 0.0]; light setLightColor[1.0, 1.0, 1.0]; light lightAttachObject [this, [0,0,1]]

Edited October 13, 2010 by katdogfizzow

[callihn 10]

Here is a searchlight script you can use, it will scan the area and stop on any enemies that are detected, it can also be synced to a gunner:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1745883&postcount=45

As for other lights, sadly most of the lights and signs in game require the use of a third party addon to enable their use. One of the smallest is:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12076

[kyfohatl 10]

@katdogfizzow: Thanks for your help mate. I'm just playing around with the "sreachlight" script right now.

@Callihn:

it can also be synced to a gunner

Ooh, I like that. Might use it.

One of the smallest is:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12076

That's just what I needed. I can put it in my prison to lighten it up a bit, especially the guard's and officers' rooms.

Cheers

[katdogfizzow 13]

Have you seen this Berlin Wall pack? Haven't tried it yet, but looks interesting:

http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?cat=news&id=4642&game=1

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=94823

[kyfohatl 10]

Have you seen this Berlin Wall pack? Haven't tried it yet, but looks interesting

Yeah it looks good. The walls are really good for a prison. Will deffinately check it out.