[MP/TvT/CooP/CTI] New Huge All-in-one MP Mission Idea (Development Help Needed)

[teaboy 11]

Hi everyone.

I am in the process of designing a new Mutliplayer Mission, which i hope will rival that of popular User made warfare and domination based MP Missions. Now the Mission itself will be huge in terms of players and server requirements, with the likely minum players being 64 players, so this will defiently require dedicated servers to run, you maybe able to run it on your client pc if you have a very highend pc though or by limiting amoutn of players (will know more once testing begin's).

Basically i wasn't going to make any officially released statement about this mission until the spring, however as am new to scripting (and lets face it Arma 2 isnt newbie friendly for scripting when you never done it before), i have found myself spending lots of time just trying to get one thing to work the way id like it too, if you get my jest.

So am looking for people who would be interested in helping to create, design, develop and test this mission pre-release and who would be willing to provide help with continued develop after the official release. You don't have to be experts on mission design/scritping as am not myself, and as they say, "every little bit helps".

Mission Insight/infomation

Note: Nothing below has been officially decided and any inclusion in the official release will depend on various issues e.g. is it Possible and Can Servers Handle it, is it ready to include in release and... etc.

Ok, heres a bit more info on the mission and what i would like to achieve.

Firstly, the mission is based in chernarus (Takistan version may be in the works too but released at later date, but need to think about it due to lack maps being very different in terms of locations on map e.g less airports and no ocean) i hope to have Four sides US, RUS, IND and/or CDF, GUR (or factions relevant to Mission Map) to the mission (64 player games restricted to 2 sides US and RUS at start). First Official release will be restricted to just 64 players, unless i and those that help develop this can get everything we want in the mission before the End of Spring 2011 (Targeted Release Date).

This will be compatible with ACE2 and ACRE, as well as a version for Vanilla. The use of ARCE will be vital to communication between units and helps with immersion and Co-Ordination between Air/Armour/Support and Infantry Units.

In Chernarus Civil War has broken out and Russia, the surporters of the Gurillas have taken advantage of this and Invaded the country. The IND/CDF is currently holding onto the southeastern part of the Country only (actual area yet to be decided), but look like losing, if they do not receive immediate reinforcement/Military Support from the US. In Response to Russia's actions, and pleas for help from the CDF, the United States has sent an Counter Invasion force headed by the USS Kha Shan.

Russia and the Gurillas control all 3 Airfields, Air Unit players will only take off and spawn at airfields that are have not been captured. (At moment you can only spawn form one, but i intend to make all three locations available). Now Because OPFOR Control all the Airbases, the US Planes can only land and refuel on the khan shan at the start (anyone know a script for autopilot landing on Khan shan? to make it easier for people to land.) All US units will Spawn on or around the Khan Shan to utilize water landings and helicopter landings for infantry and certain armour. zone restriction will be enforce around US starting Spawn Point so that OpFor Players can not attack the Khan shan. As the OPFor PLayers will have 3 starting points (hopefully) then AA protection will be in place to make it more difficult for US planes to attack, but not to prevent such attacks, as one off the first main BLUEFOR objective's is to seize control of them (even if BLUEFOR gain control of All 3 OPFOR will still beable to regain them or that is my initial intention).

Now i hope for both sides to have random mission objectives that will range from taking town/location, rescue, seek and destroy plus more, and i hope for missions to be specfic to players unit type.

There will be an element of warfare in the mission, to start with this is between Gurillas and CDF/IND and players will not beable to control this. Although your overall objective is to support either the Gurillas or CDF/IND in their effort, so taking of towns and provision of air support and other surpport to aim your allied faction is vital to winning the game. I do intend to have a working warfare. Mission will end once a side has gained control of a certain number of towns, though to prevent BLUEFOR losing staight away a time limit (or something similar) will be in place to prevent the mission ending, this allow BLUEFOR the chance to gain some Towns.

Now the objective is simple - To gain complete control of the Island. To do this, both sides will be "given missions / and beable to" capture towns and locations, towns and locations captured will come under the control of that sides Warfare fraction(s).

Contact Me If You Can Help

So if you are interested in helping to design, develop, create and help with testing this. Then please PM me, stating what areas you'd be able to help with E.G Scripting, testing etc.

Note this is not in testing stage yet (will update when ready for testing stage):

For those that want to test, then when we reach pre-beta (alpha) testing stage, testing will be limited to certain number of people, ideally Clans that have PRIVATE dedicated server and it will be on a first come first serve basis so keep an eye one for when i update the this thread with a pre-beta annoucement.

In Mission Screen Shots. (All Images Are below 100K)

Note: The below Screen Shots are from in the Actual Mission, but may not represent the Release Version or Units Contained within the Release Version.

On Board the USS Kha Shan

Above The USS Kha Shan

Russian Controled AirField (look closely or you'll miss it)

US M1A1 Tank In Action (1)

Suggestions and Ideas

If any of you have any suggestions or have something you would like to see in this mission, then please post your ideas and suggestions. I will look at them and try to implement them if possible and so long as they are within the initial mission idea. In other words no Futuristic Weapon Addons (this is arma 2 not Starship Troopers) or anything unrealistic.

I will post future Screen shots and videos (spring at the earliest for video) as things progress.

Please DO NOT PM with Suggestions, questions or ideas. Keep them in this thread only and i will try to respond to as many as i can.

Edited December 16, 2010 by teaboy

[teaboy 11]

UPDATE....

Well there has so far been no offer of help yet. I am very dissappointed, as i thought the community would be looking forward to a mission of this scale. Maybe your doubtfull it will happen or there is just simply no interest in this. Well if i don't see any interest in it, then i simply will not release it to the public. So if you want to see this released, then speak up.

That a side, i can confirm now that i have managed to set up a 4 sided warfare with RUS, USMC as OPFOR and BLUEFOR, and CDF and Guerillas as CIV and Indpendent respectively. The CDF and GUER factions will be taking part in warfare whilst US and RUS provide Air support and special operations surpport, as will as a few random mission. ALL factions will be playable. It is a bit buggy and needs some ironing out but its working so all thats needed now is to add more scripting and units and few other bits and bods, then it will be ready for beta. More people i have helping the sooner it will be ready for realise.

So is anyone interested in helping?

P.S this second post is where i will be posting my updates along with on in the thread, that those people do not have to read though the thread to see the latest news and updates etc. So keep an eye on this post.

[kremator 1065]

Hey teaboy. Although I can't script I would be more than willing to help test for you. Just let me know.

[teaboy 11]

Thanks kremator.

I will PM you when the mission is ready for testing.

[Minoza 11]

Now, I've read this the other day and couldn't reply sooner.

This is looking like something I always wanted, similar to Domi or Evo, but both of those had some huge drawbacks and weren't what I was looking for. Still haven't read whole post (but I will now) and I am more than willing to help. Not much of a scripting expert, usually (at best) I edit some script and that's all. Simple stuff... I'm familiar with editor, and although I'm not an expert there either I'm sure I could help in some way... Please, let me know if there is anything I can do, even testing, I'm down with that.

Also, do not give up on this one, it might be a good refresh in community, Xeno (afaik) doesn't work on Domi anymore, Evo is dead since A1, it died when "teleporter" was introduced since that mission was all about transport and coop, really, this could be a fresh breeze.

I am huge fan of ACE, I honestly can't play Arma without it, I also love Mando's work (missile mod), it is nice to hear thah this mission is/will be ACE compatible.

Edited December 20, 2010 by Minoza

[teaboy 11]

Hi Minoza

Thanks for your positive comments and offer to help, ill put you in my book of helpers.

I totally agree with you, teleporter is just a cheap way of travel and is something id expect in an SciFi FPS game not a military SIM. So its back to the old roots and time for a reboot, by giving ARMA 2 a Mission that ARMA 2 was made for that brings something new mixed with some of the old that people like (and of course bringing the USS Kha Shan to Warfare and Chernarus).

Having this mission compatible with ACE (plus i wouldn't have it any other way) and ACRE is vital, especially for comm's between players and pilots, instead of typing in a request on chat (chat will still be availabe though), just press a button (make sure your man has a radio though) and request airstike on so so coordinates or request evac/transport by chopper (watchout for planes on the flight deck while waiting though).

I still need to add the ace weapons etc, so a list of ace weapons/men/vehicle classes would be handy if anyone has one.

Also guys i need a hand figuring out how to have units spawn where i put them on the map and not at the HQ when warfare starts. I.e It spawns LAV25 MHQ in the sea next to the USS Kha shan, the LAV25 MHQ then travels to chernarus coast and on to land. Infantry/specop/armoured will have to land first to take the first town aided by choppers, while Planes provide aircover over the landing forces after that its a matter of capturing towns and random missions game generated or Player organized missions by ACRE Radio communication. Then once the LAV25 MHQ is on land it deploys HQ Building and initiates warfare. Problem is, when warfare is enabled everyone spawns near the MHQ (in the sea) and not where they are suppose to spawn. So if you have any scripts or ideas on how to solve this, post it here.

Other then that everything is going fine. Will take a while to implement 4 sided warfare but now i know its possible i can work on that once we get v1.0 released, or if all goes well we can include it in V1.0.

If you guys know any experienced scriptors/devs that have a bit of spare time, point them to this thread to help speed the development up a bit.

P.S only pilots will be able to fly choppers and planes (so no more stealing your ride), Aircraft factories will be limited to building small choppers and Chinooks (their too big to have on Flight Deck). Although i do hope to have Airports available for non pilots to buy planes and attack choppers (as no doubt some will moan if they can not buy fly them too), but the airports will not be easy to capture without a coordinated attack. Thats the plan anyway :p

Edited December 21, 2010 by teaboy
spelling correction

[Craig_VG 20]

Now, I've read this the other day and couldn't reply sooner.

This is looking like something I always wanted, similar to Domi or Evo, but both of those had some huge drawbacks and weren't what I was looking for. Still haven't read whole post (but I will now) and I am more than willing to help. Not much of a scripting expert, usually (at best) I edit some script and that's all. Simple stuff... I'm familiar with editor, and although I'm not an expert there either I'm sure I could help in some way... Please, let me know if there is anything I can do, even testing, I'm down with that.

Also, do not give up on this one, it might be a good refresh in community, Xeno (afaik) doesn't work on Domi anymore, Evo is dead since A1, it died when "teleporter" was introduced since that mission was all about transport and coop, really, this could be a fresh breeze.

I am huge fan of ACE, I honestly can't play Arma without it, I also love Mando's work (missile mod), it is nice to hear thah this mission is/will be ACE compatible.

Exactly my thoughts. Domi and evo are fun but this sounds like it will open up a whole new aspect of the game.

[neofit 65]

You know, nobody is forcing anyone to teleport in Domi nor Evo. You are free to walk/ride all the way from the airfield to the target. For a bit more realism Domi has an option of parachuting onto the target. YOU are weak and easily succomb to the alluring call of the teleport flag, don't blame the game for that ;). Besides, saying that teleporting is not realistic, but then praising RTS mode (sorry, "Warfare") and its instantaneous barracks creation that in turn instantly spawn trained and equipped regular units just does not make sense.

As for the mission, I have read the text but am still not sure what it is about. I suppose the design phase is done and you have a clear idea of what it is going to be, so a few concise bullet-points to describe the mission would do wonders IMO. From reading the current paragraphs it is not clear what has been thought about thoroughly, has been deemed feasible and is going to be in, and what parts are only being considered, and what is still in the wish department. As of now, I am not even sure whether this mission will be full coop, full pvp or a mix of both.

Also, since the target audience is familiar with Domi and Evo, a few more bullet-points explaining the differences and similarities with these two mods will help people get a clear picture of what is being planned. You won't attract investors (or contributors in this case) without a well-presented business plan :).

As for Domi and Evo, there is a reason why they have the limitations that they have. Both are built on an engine (Arma2) that does not allow full persistance. It does not have a real database backend like the ones that games like WW2OL have, so the state of the game is not persistent across server restarts. So the missions must be short (a few hours or tens), and of course winnable in this amount of time, e.g. the enemy must not be too hard so as not to have human players stuck on a single village or frontline for a week, which would be longer than a server's average uptime. And of course for a game to be relatively short you cannot have the player, every time he dies, waste half an hour to get back into a position from where he can act upon the objective again.

What I mean is that it would really suck to be in a complicated game, with complicated strategies involving 2+ player factions, a game that lasts days or weeks... and then the game server crashes, or the physical server crashes or has to be rebooted, and wham, everyone starts from scratch. The gameplay in Domi and Evo is simple and server crashes are just a minor inconvenience, we lose a few minutes and are back to capturing generic cities as if there was no crash.

[teaboy 11]

You know, nobody is forcing anyone to teleport in Domi nor Evo. You are free to walk/ride all the way from the airfield to the target. For a bit more realism Domi has an option of parachuting onto the target. YOU are weak and easily succomb to the alluring call of the teleport flag, don't blame the game for that ;). Besides, saying that teleporting is not realistic, but then praising RTS mode (sorry, "Warfare") and its instantaneous barracks creation that in turn instantly spawn trained and equipped regular units just does not make sense.

True, but teleport belongs to the realms of Sci Fi not Military Sim's. You do not see teleport in warfare missions, such as benny's or in many other user made missions (unless scripted where by you have no choice). This is not going to be DOMINATION OR EVOLUTION, It will be MIXTURE or everything centred around warfare and cooperation, and teleport does not fit within my mission idea. In my view it is nothing more than something that could be exploited in game to gain an unfair advantage. As for the "instantaneous barracks creation", well thats a game engine limitation (teleportation is not) that nothing can be done about, if the option was there to choose between instantanous or visually progressive build over a period of time, then id go for the latter. Also critising another member of the community for expressing his/her opinion that he/she is entitled to express, is not on.

As for the mission, I have read the text but am still not sure what it is about. I suppose the design phase is done and you have a clear idea of what it is going to be, so a few concise bullet-points to describe the mission would do wonders IMO. From reading the current paragraphs it is not clear what has been thought about thoroughly, has been deemed feasible and is going to be in, and what parts are only being considered, and what is still in the wish department. As of now, I am not even sure whether this mission will be full coop, full pvp or a mix of both.

As i stated in Post 1, i am fairly new to scripting, therefore the ideas i have (which is whats in the First Post) and would like to put in place in the mission may or maynot be possible in Arma 2, though its looking good so far.

The First Post was nothing more then brief statement of the background of the mission idea, back story and what i hope to achieve. So as nothing is final as yet and as i have only just began actual development - then i see no need to post up the mission/development plan giving concise details of the mission. I also believe that if i were to do so, i would run the risk of having my idea stolen by someone else more experienced in scripting and mission design. Do you see food chains handing out their reciepes to their products? No you dont, so i wont be either. Of course, once the mission is well into development and i know exactly what is going to be in, then i will release concise details. And as others who have posted here clearly like the mission idea stated in POST 1, then i see no reason to publish a full concise/detailed statment about the mission. Also, the reason why i will be using Post 2 to post updates is not only to inform on progress but also to provide mission details as development progresses.

Also, since the target audience is familiar with Domi and Evo, a few more bullet-points explaining the differences and similarities with these two mods will help people get a clear picture of what is being planned. You won't attract investors (or contributors in this case) without a well-presented business plan :).

The target audience is not those that are familiar with Domi and evo, i never stated it was nor has anyone else. My intention is for the mission to rival Domi, Evo and Bennys warfare in popularity not in competition as to which is the best or to replace any of them. It's also my intention to bring something new and refreashing, as this is neither your usual warfare nor is it Domi or Evo. Therefore the Target Audience is the whole game community and everyone outside the community (BISForums/Clans) that play this game

Also, and i suspect that it wasnt your intention to do so, but don't patronize me. Apart from my bad grammer, spelling and being dyslexic , I happen to be a very successful businessman in my own right with my own very successful company, so i know all about investors and presentations of business plans. Comparing this to business planning is simply a poor comparison, as the simple fact is, if they like the idea of the mission, then great, if they offer to help, even better. Either way, unlike many people trying to start a business of their own and failing to even get the business started due to lack of investors willing to provide funding, this mission will be completed and released at some point. Even if it means i have to develop it all by myself, as unlike those trying to start a business, i and this mission do not have to soley rely on others to complete the mission. Help from others will speed up the mission development enabling me to release it sooner, but lack of such help (funding in the business sense) will not prevent this mission from being completed and released.

As for Domi and Evo, there is a reason why they have the limitations that they have. Both are built on an engine (Arma2) that does not allow full persistance. It does not have a real database backend like the ones that games like WW2OL have, so the state of the game is not persistent across server restarts. So the missions must be short (a few hours or tens), and of course winnable in this amount of time, e.g. the enemy must not be too hard so as not to have human players stuck on a single village or frontline for a week, which would be longer than a server's average uptime. And of course for a game to be relatively short you cannot have the player, every time he dies, waste half an hour to get back into a position from where he can act upon the objective again.

What I mean is that it would really suck to be in a complicated game, with complicated strategies involving 2+ player factions, a game that lasts days or weeks... and then the game server crashes, or the physical server crashes or has to be rebooted, and wham, everyone starts from scratch. The gameplay in Domi and Evo is simple and server crashes are just a minor inconvenience, we lose a few minutes and are back to capturing generic cities as if there was no crash.

And i agree with you there and i have already considered that. The mission will include Optional Parameters that will enable the Server admin/Host to have a role in deciding approximately how long the game will last and how difficult the game will be. What i mean is, they will beable to limit the amount of the capturable towns on the map, set difficulty settings, and change victory conditions so that the game will not last forever. Their will be a 2 sided version as well as the 4 sided version (probably released at a later date), obiviously the 4 sided version will last longer due to Human Player Skill being better than AI skill level, but then it could also end within an hour depending on what parameters where selected and how poor the other teams players are, hence why co-operation will be the key to winning.

With regards to a player getting back to where he was when he died, well in my mission this is where cooperation with your player chopper pilots also comes in, or you could just simply buy a car from Base and drive there in under 3 mins.

Yes Domi and Evo is simple, as its basically spawn, get ammo/gear, teleport (pray your chute opens), land, run to city, shoot, get killed, and repeat the whole process over again, with no choice as to what town to attack other then the one forced on you. In other words, only 1 or 2 towns are your targets at any one time, where as in warfare all towns are a target at any time whether tasked or not. As you get more points and your rank improves, sure, you get to use vehicles, but thats about it. Now am not critising either mission as i like to play them and alot of people like them, but not everyone likes everything in those missions, such as the teleport. But then alot of them that play those missions also like other mission types including CTI.

Now sure theres things that youd like to see in a mission, but theres always going to be things about a mission that a player isn't keen on, and the same will apply to my mission. Theres nothing i can do about that, as its a matter of individaul preference, opinion and the mission designers vision for the mission.

P.S dont take what i have said in response to your post personal, as i have no intention of offending you or anyone else. I just happen, through necessity in my line of business, say it as it is and straight to the point, which is great for business. Unfortunately it can sometimes be taken the wrong way by people.

Edited December 21, 2010 by teaboy

[xeno 234]

i am fairly new to scripting

I don't want to take your motivation...

But without knowledge in scripting and specially no knowledge about how the MP thingie works in the ArmA series it'll take you

a long long time to get where you want to (and I'm not talking about months).

Try to start with something smaller first to get used to how MP works, how you have to handle it, how to handle JIP,

and most important, what locality in MP means and what problems it can cause.

Learn the differences between editor/hosted/dedicated environments.

Once you've mastered this plus better knowledge in scripting (such projects can't be done with just basic scripting

knowledge, editor is probably just 1%), and you still have motivation, then it's time to move on.

I'm writing this because there were already some people who had nice and cool ideas but they never succeeded

(and don't expect much help, you'll be on your own, no idea why, but missions are mostly done by individuals).

Xeno

[teaboy 11]

Thanks for the advice and input Xeno. I am a quick learner and i will see this through the end.

[neofit 65]

True, but teleport belongs to the realms of Sci Fi not Military Sim's. You do not see teleport in warfare missions, such as benny's or in many other user made missions (unless scripted where by you have no choice). This is not going to be DOMINATION OR EVOLUTION, It will be MIXTURE or everything centred around warfare and cooperation, and teleport does not fit within my mission idea. In my view it is nothing more than something that could be exploited in game to gain an unfair advantage. As for the "instantaneous barracks creation", well thats a game engine limitation (teleportation is not) that nothing can be done about, if the option was there to choose between instantanous or visually progressive build over a period of time, then id go for the latter. Also critising another member of the community for expressing his/her opinion that he/she is entitled to express, is not on.

Wow, you've just criticized my opinion, so I suppose this feature has just been patched in. Re-read what you just wrote. Oh, the "weak" thingy? Did I forget the emoticon? No I didn't.

Anyway, so teleport is sci-fi, but nobody seems to have a problem with respawning? Like that is not from the realm of the paranormal. Sure you need it for gameplay reasons, but it's the same with teleporting.

You don't teleport anywhere on these maps, this is not an "Enterprise, one to beam up" thingy. First you must deploy a Mobile HQ, fragile and in need of protection, and spawn from there. Teleport is in fact just a simulation of rapid deployment of reserves that are gathered at the MHQ, that any sensible commander would bring to the target. This makes much more sense in military terms than having a band of giggling kamikazes going back and forth between the main base and the kill zone.

Also, in both Domi and Evo people have the option not to respawn but to travel, yet everyone chooses to teleport instead, unless the target is right next to the base. Now that people know that they don't have to waste valuable play time moving to a target, that this is at all possible in the Arma world, you won't have much success advocating a non-teleport approach. It's like some old EQ1 players longing about the good old times that they had sitting on their asses chatting while regenerating mana and health. It's gone.

If teleport must go then at least the current option to parachute over the target must be kept. But waiting at the base for the pilot to be killed so he can chopper us again to the target? Not on my game time. Maybe you mean a mission should have dedicated pilots, that do nothing but wait for people to be killed, then ferry them again, etc., without actually taking part in the fighting? I don't see many such altruists around.

But apparently the Warfare approach is militarily sound now. My beef is not with the instantaneous build up, it's the actual buildup itself. How to best explain this? OK, does the US army have barracks in Iraq or Afghanistan, that they can magically get any troop or equipment from? Do officers get say $10 per taliban that they shoot, $10 that they can spend at a replicator to get at once a medic to replace the one that just got shot? What is this even trying to simulate? Yeah, stupid GIs asking their government for more protection on their Bradleys, don't they know they could just kill more insurgents, get more money and buy a whole Abrams each? Or that "they could just simply buy a car from Base and drive there in under 3 mins"? Oh yeah, this makes a LOT more sense than spawning as a reserve at the MHQ ;).

As for the rest, the "I got a successful business" thingy, I won't bother and I don't care. Glad you do. (the business plan in post 1 is still crap though ;) ) Really, there was no need to get that defensive, nobody was attacking nor patronizing anyone. I really only have a very vague idea of what the mission is supposed to be about.

[Tankbuster 1746]

I don't want to take your motivation...

But without knowledge in scripting and specially no knowledge about how the MP thingie works in the ArmA series it'll take you

a long long time to get where you want to (and I'm not talking about months).

Try to start with something smaller first to get used to how MP works, how you have to handle it, how to handle JIP,

and most important, what locality in MP means and what problems it can cause.

Learn the differences between editor/hosted/dedicated environments.

Once you've mastered this plus better knowledge in scripting (such projects can't be done with just basic scripting

knowledge, editor is probably just 1%), and you still have motivation, then it's time to move on.

I'm writing this because there were already some people who had nice and cool ideas but they never succeeded

(and don't expect much help, you'll be on your own, no idea why, but missions are mostly done by individuals).

Xeno

Ignore this at your peril, teaboi.

[teaboy 11]

Wow, you've just criticized my opinion, so I suppose this feature has just been patched in. Re-read what you just wrote. Oh, the "weak" thingy? Did I forget the emoticon? No I didn't.

And what part of the use of the word "True" did you not understand? I'll think you find that i was not critising your opinion at all, as in fact, i had agreed with what you had said, hence the word "TRUE" at the start of my statement. But that doesnt change my view (opinion) on teleportation being a thing for sci fi and not miltary sims. As for "I suppose this feature has just been patched in". Well no, in fact alot games have this feature hidden in them. its used in testing by the dev's in most cases. Its also possible that a member of the community created the script for it. I also simply pointed out your critism of another posters opinion. Infact think about it, did you really need to word your opinion the way you did, or wasnt a simple "i disagree id like to see teleportion in the mission as an other transportion option", enough. So basically my statement you refer too was nothing more then agreement but also an expression of my thoughts on the teleportion issue.

Anyway, so teleport is sci-fi, but nobody seems to have a problem with respawning? Like that is not from the realm of the paranormal. Sure you need it for gameplay reasons, but it's the same with teleporting.

Your forgetting something, this is a game, people want it to be realistic but at the same time playable. respawning is vital to playability, without that theres no playability and no playability would mean "Good night Arma 2 it was short but fun while it lasted, and certainly worth the £40 i paid just to get killed once". Respawning is not the same as teleporting, although the process behind it is very similar. Teleporting though is not vital to gameplay and playability where as the ability to respawn is. Your making a big deal out of something thats nothing. Yes i want this mission to be as realistic as possible but without ruining gameplay, playability and replayability. But hey its my mission and teleportation does not fit in with my mission idea, so end off.

You don't teleport anywhere on these maps, this is not an "Enterprise, one to beam up" thingy. First you must deploy a Mobile HQ, fragile and in need of protection, and spawn from there. Teleport is in fact just a simulation of rapid deployment of reserves that are gathered at the MHQ, that any sensible commander would bring to the target. This makes much more sense in military terms than having a band of giggling kamikazes going back and forth between the main base and the kill zone.

So all those guys in real warzones all gather on the teleport pad at their HQ and just teleport to the firefight do they? no they dont they climb aboard helicopter transport for rapid deployment while armour and light armour head in by road. So how is teleportation a simulation of rapid deployment when nothing about rapid deployment is being simulated? Well its not because all thats being simulated by teleportation is Captain kirk and the enterprise crew beaming in.

Also, in both Domi and Evo people have the option not to respawn but to travel, yet everyone chooses to teleport instead, unless the target is right next to the base. Now that people know that they don't have to waste valuable play time moving to a target, that this is at all possible in the Arma world, you won't have much success advocating a non-teleport approach. It's like some old EQ1 players longing about the good old times that they had sitting on their asses chatting while regenerating mana and health. It's gone.

Yes thats true, but only because its there and they are too lazy to travel by any other means. As for "you wont have much success advocating a non teleportation approach". Well that clearly shows your lack of knowledge off of the MP games for arma 2, hmmmm heres an example "Benny's warfare" no teleportation ability there. Its always near the top of the usermade mission forum and i doubt BIS share that opinion either, there's no Teleport in their MP missions. As for "It's like some old EQ1 Players longing about the good old times that they had sitting on their arsses chatting while regenerating mana and health". Well 1 - i never played the game. 2 like you said, no one forces you to use teleport, but likewise, no one is going to force anyone to play this mission.

If teleport must go then at least the current option to parachute over the target must be kept. But waiting at the base for the pilot to be killed so he can chopper us again to the target? Not on my game time. Maybe you mean a mission should have dedicated pilots, that do nothing but wait for people to be killed, then ferry them again, etc., without actually taking part in the fighting? I don't see many such altruists around.

Parachuting over the target (or any town you plan to capture) will be available, but you'll have to call a chopper or chinock and climb in and wait while it flys you to the drop zone. you wont be waiting at a base for a pilot to be killed, all you have to do is either use chat to call a human pilot or call one over ARCE to request they come pick you up. You will beable to buy chinocks at base to fly yourselfs as well if you prefer too. What pilots do in mission time is upto them, they will have missions to do as well as transport other players and provide air support to them, so no they wont just be flying around waiting for people to be killed.

But apparently the Warfare approach is militarily sound now. My beef is not with the instantaneous build up, it's the actual buildup itself. How to best explain this? OK, does the US army have barracks in Iraq or Afghanistan, that they can magically get any troop or equipment from? Do officers get say $10 per taliban that they shoot, $10 that they can spend at a replicator to get at once a medic to replace the one that just got shot? What is this even trying to simulate? Yeah, stupid GIs asking their government for more protection on their Bradleys, don't they know they could just kill more insurgents, get more money and buy a whole Abrams each? Or that "they could just simply buy a car from Base and drive there in under 3 mins"? Oh yeah, this makes a LOT more sense than spawning as a reserve at the MHQ ;).

I understand what your saying but thats not something i or any other modder or mission maker can change, sure we can change prices for purchasing units and game play elements and features, but little else without ruining gameplay and playability. Besides i like getting paid to kill "happy days" lol

As for the rest, the "I got a successful business" thingy, I won't bother and I don't care. Glad you do. (the business plan in post 1 is still crap though ;) ) Really, there was no need to get that defensive, nobody was attacking nor patronizing anyone. I really only have a very vague idea of what the mission is supposed to be about.

I wasn't getting defensive i simply said it how it was, after the way you worded your post was patronizing to me, especially when the the original post was not ment to be a precise or even concise presentation of the mission plan or details. And i did say "I suspect that it wasn't your intention to do so", so i was not accusing you of being intentionally patronises but unintentionally so.

Since you have only a vague idea, heres some details:

Back Story:

The CDF and Guerillas are in the middle of a civilwar, the russian are supporting the Guerillas and use the civilwar to their advantage and invade the country. With the Russian military might behind them Russia and the Guerillas push the CDF back. The CDF appeals for Military assistance, and in responce to the CDF's call for miliary aid Russia's actions, the United States, sends a counter invasion force headed by the USS Kha Shan. By the time the US counter invasion force arrives, the CDF are struggling to hold onto a small area in the south east of the country.

Mission (as i hope to have it)

Starts where the US launches it invasion force supported by air support (Human and AI piloted planse and choppers from the USS Kha Shan) and AA (Scripted AA), infantry units and armour units perform a water landing on the beach and take the nearest town, then the MHQ will reach the beach and head to a waypoint where it will spawn the US HQ, then warfare starts. The russian have control of all 3 airbases in the country, and will attempt to stop the invasion, though it will be hard for them (so not to have the mission won before it really gets started) The Russian will not beable to attack the USS Kha shan either at the start (purely for gameplay reasons). Once the Us base is set up its warfare as normal for those on the ground, but with additional random mission as well as capturing towns along the ability to call in air support from human pilots and the same for the Russian side.

Now when i impletment 4 sided warfare then it will be out with the usually warfare, as the US side will only have a limited warfare ability. Instead the US role will change too supporting the CDF and the same for the Russians who will be supporting the CDF. But those that want full warfare can play as CDF or Guerillas, but it will still be a four sided war and each side will have 2 enemy sides. So you will have COOP between teammates on your side and with allied side players, so CDF can call in US airs, infantry and armoured support, players that like spec op style mission can attack in town they like at any time and can use human piloted Choppers for transportion behind enemy lines etc. Same for Russian and Guerilla side players. So you have your COOP Mission, TVT/PVP Mission and CTI mission all in one. Thats just the a brief idea as to want to expect. :D

Obiviously the 2 sided version will be pretty basic but will give you all an idea of whats to come in the 4 sided version.

Now i will say that in the MP game lobby, the CDF will be under the Civilian side and the Guerillas as indepentents. Unfortunately the game lobby appearance is not something that i can change unless BIS redisigns its.

Ignore this at your peril, teaboi.

Don't worry TankBuster i have no intention of ignoring xeno's advice. I've already done a fair bit of research. My main problem is with learning the script once i have that sorted i can look at the other aspects as and when. Obivioulsy i will not release the mission till am happy it works fine on both hosted and dedicated servers. As for amount of time it may take, well benefit of being my own boss is i get as much time off as i need. Hell am lucky to work more then 4 hours a week anyway.

So plenty of time for me to learn about all aspects of Mp mission design. Besides, i could do with a new hobby to keep me busy and since i love arma 2, then what could be better. :p

Edited December 21, 2010 by teaboy

[Minoza 11]

I'm not gonna go into discussion, I'm glad to help, as far as class lists, which you requested, you can find them all here:

http://ace.dev-heaven.net/wagn/Classlists

Is that what you were looking for?

[teaboy 11]

Hi Minoza

Thanks for the link to the class list's.

[Tankbuster 1746]

Did you get my reply to your reply via PM the other week, Teaboy?

[teaboy 11]

Yes i did, and i did send you an email too. But i just checked, turns out by clicking the Hyperlinked email address in order to send the email, it sent it to BIS Forums insteads. Was wondering why i hadn't had a response :rolleyes:

Anyway i shall forward the email too you now.

[Tankbuster 1746]

Got it and replied, fella.

[zonekiller 175]

i did see a backend database for a arma2 server , so games like this can be played. it was in one of the forums , couldnt say where .

as long as your willing to learn and can drink enough to think out of the box then anything is posible

Best of luck with this , i would like to play with it,

so leave me a PM and i will give you a hand when i can

ZoneKiller

[teaboy 11]

Hi Zonekiller

Thanks for your support, ill send you pm shortly. If you are able to remeber where you saw the Backend Database for Arma 2 server, let me know as id sure like to have a look at that.

[lNTRUDER 26]

How's the development work going? Any progress since last update?