[W. I. P] Survival Plugin Script - Add survival features to any mission with ease

[Blueberry 10]

Hello,

Survival Plugin Script is an attempt at creating a simple to install (into any mission) package that adds survival functionality (hunger, thirst, fatigue, gathering wood, making campfires, hunting, cooking food, looting cars and people for items to suffice your needs). Though after the work has been under way for a little while now, we've realised the package won't be as easy to install as we first thought.

There will be several options available to possibly choose from, from bare script packages usable in other projects to the light package to go for a 3 click install, and some mid way that requires a bit more editing but will have great results. The reason for this is that the scripting language used in ArmA2 has limitations in the places just where we don't want them, and that's really just too bad.

Though expect results soon! The script is well over 70% done so it won't be long before you can get your survival on. Have a look at the features:

* Hunger

- Hunger HUD bar.

- Hunger increases over time.

- Hunger can be satisfied with eating food.

- Increased hunger will cause the player to suffer from certain effects depending on how hungry he is.

* Thirst

- Thirst HUD bar

- Thirst increases over time.

- Thirst can be satisfied with eating food.

- Increased thirst will cause the player to suffer from certain effects depending on how thirsty he is.

* Fatigue

- Fatigue HUD bar.

- Fatigue increases over time.

- Fatigue can be satisfied with sleeping.

- Increased fatigue will cause the player to suffer from certain effects depending on how tired he is.

* Gathering Food

- Ability to attempt obtaining meat from human or animal carcasses.

- Water & prepared and edible foods can be randomly looted from vehicles & human corpses.

- Ability to attempt finding fire wood (anywhere).

- Ability to create a camp fire from fire wood (burns for 10 minutes).

- Raw meat can be cooked on camp fires to become edible and satisfy hunger.

- Cooking even works on camp fires that were not player-created using the mod.

* Other

- Sound effects for all actions.

- Store items (food, water and wood) in vehicles.

* For editors/hosts/mappers/modders

- Detailed commenting on the scripts.

- Extensive and easy to use configuration variables.

- Select which parts of the script you want to use and which you don't, on Mission parameters menu.

- Discriminate between eating human and animal flesh with some purely cinematic effects ("Oh god, i'm eating human flesh right now!").

- Amount of items carried influences the player's speed.

* Gathering Food

- Ability to attempt obtaining water from natural water sources.

* Other

- Ability to change clothes with a corpse, making you disguised to the side the victim was on, and its allies.

- Hide bodies in any mission.

And there will probably be more to it, keep an eye on the thread to stay updated.

Once it's finished it will be released for usage and also for players to make their own changes to it ( As long as you give us a bit of credit ;-) ). Imagine adding this to a mission like Escape Chernarus, or using the script as a base for the mod you've always wanted to create! Since i have some webspace at my disposal and like hosting websites i am also thinking of creating a little website where people can upload their mutations of the script, or versions of missions that have the survival script built into it one way or another, but we'll have to see about that. Never say never though!

Hope y'all are as thrilled as we are making it! Cheerios!

Edited May 4, 2012 by Blueberry

[Feint 137]

This is great. I was actually working on a "thirst" module that you could sync to a player. There are timers to increase the level of dehydration in the body. And I figured out a way to get water from both the ocean and from lakes, and making that water undrinkable until you clean it with iodine tablets, which you can also run out of.

These ideas definitely add something to any mission. Getting injured and needing more water or a decrease in stamina adding a multiplier to the rate of water loss would be nice additions. I wonder how players would feel about "urgency", I.e. having to go to the bathroom.

---------- Post added at 12:02 ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 ----------

Also, take a look at the DayZ zombie mod. It has food, water, alcohol, hunger, thirst, etc. And they implemented cans and bottles that you keep in your inventory including firemaking materials, knives for gutting kills, etc.

[Blueberry 10]

This is great. I was actually working on a "thirst" module that you could sync to a player. There are timers to increase the level of dehydration in the body. And I figured out a way to get water from both the ocean and from lakes, and making that water undrinkable until you clean it with iodine tablets, which you can also run out of.

These ideas definitely add something to any mission. Getting injured and needing more water or a decrease in stamina adding a multiplier to the rate of water loss would be nice additions. I wonder how players would feel about "urgency", I.e. having to go to the bathroom.

---------- Post added at 12:02 ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 ----------

Also, take a look at the DayZ zombie mod. It has food, water, alcohol, hunger, thirst, etc. And they implemented cans and bottles that you keep in your inventory including firemaking materials, knives for gutting kills, etc.

Wow that sounds incredible! Perhaps it's an idea to implement that feature too. Feel like having a chat on steam or IRC? I'll send you a forum pm.

Also i heard a bunch about Dayz though i want this script to remain non-mod and functional on arma 2 and CO, will do my best to get that happening.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Blueberry

[ck-claw 1]

This does indeed sound great!

[Nike619 1]

Oh lord, I hope this will be able to be added to a big mod such as ACE. Imagine the long missions. Having to get water and eat. And being a SF operator with stealing of clothes!

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Oh lord, I hope this will be able to be added to a big mod such as ACE. Imagine the long missions. Having to get water and eat. And being a SF operator with stealing of clothes!

SSSSSHHHHhhhhhhhh! Don't poke the hornets nest filled with all the anti-ACE kids, then there will be endless posts of their complaints and thread derailments as people who love and people who hate ACE fight for supremacy and the final say. :D j/k

It would be kinda funny to see after this project is done to see sort of a ACE plugin of some sort where it adds use-able water bottles/canteens and MRE's, haha. Although I might be then prone to shooting my own team mates if they open the MRE's and find a cookie or rice crispy treat. :D :p

[Blueberry 10]

Updated the first post a bit with some recent developments :)

[Brain 12]

Anything new?

[Fox '09 14]

Looking forward to this project! My friend modeled me an SDU-5E, if you need any older style strobes drop me a PM and maybe you could include it in your project :)

[Blueberry 10]

Glad to get so many positive reactions :)

The waiting is currently for the Hud guy, when he's done creating it we can start dishing out test versions.

[Brain 12]

Yes! Can't wait for it! Awesome!

[krycek 349]

I was playing Dayz and I really missed those survival options(eating,making fire,hunting) in my regular missions.This plugin sounds simply awesome and I can't wait to put it to work in my own scenarios.

[Brain 12]

Okay, whats the status blueberry? any news? if you need help, tell me :)

[Blueberry 10]

We're stuck! The guy that was goign to take care of the HUD is having problems finding time to do it and so i'm looking for somone else who's willing to help out! If you're interested send me a forum PM please!

[Crazy_Ivan123 0]

Oh lordy, thinking about playing markb50's lost mod with this.....would be EPIC

[Feint 137]

We're stuck! The guy that was goign to take care of the HUD is having problems finding time to do it and so i'm looking for somone else who's willing to help out! If you're interested send me a forum PM please!

You could just use a formatted hintSilent for now. Then you could at least test the values that are being created in terms of hunger level, thirst level, amount of water being carried, etc. That's what I did for my underwater diving module until I created the display to replace it.

By the way, have you found how to get water from ponds and the ocean yet? Because if you haven't, I could probably send you what I was working on with my "Thirst" module that I discontinued.

[Blueberry 10]

hey Feint, Testing the actual functionality on the go isnt the issue, when i say testing i mean "seeing how it goes with the 'shipped package' ending up with players, and then using it the way they feel like" then gathering results of that. I guess that's called beta testing?

ocean yes, ponds no, if you would send me what you could then i'd absolutely love that and likely use it in the mod.

[Feint 137]

No problem. I've sent you a PM with the download link to my THIRST scripts. I hope they come in handy. I was able to consistently get water from ponds using some hocus pocus. :)

[Z0MBiE 5]

No problem. I've sent you a PM with the download link to my THIRST scripts. I hope they come in handy. I was able to consistently get water from ponds using some hocus pocus. :)

Is there a chance I could get a look at them Thirst scripts too? I'm trying to learn to script and hopefully make a survival mod, seeing examples would help immensely.

[Steva 1]

Is there anything new ? blueberry ? anybody ?

[maruhwahnuh 10]

I wish there was something like this out there, I'm trying to add the survival aspect to my modified version of Dynamic Sandbox!

[vrakpant 11]

Is this project dead, or what?

[Unster 10]

Using my necroposting powers here.

Unfortunately, it seems that way (the topic is dead). I just tried contact with the author of the post, Blueberry, and Feint, the guy who figured out how to get water from ponds lakes and the ocean.

I know of at least one way of implementing that, via triggers on the bodies of water (you get close enough to them, it will provide you with an AddAction menu to get water). "Nah, but I would have to do that for every mission?" of course not. If you did the triggers via Editor, just merge them into your new mission. If you do like me, and prefer to do triggers via scripting, it's even easier. Just copy and paste your scripts to the new mission.

Using triggers on the bodies of water It's probably the way Feint did it, but if he found out a more clever way of doing it, I would love to hear from him. Also curious to see how far Blueberry went on his script (did he manage to solve those problems too? how?).

I think people should be more open on regards with the math/logic problems involved, and how they solved them (and iF they solved).