SupportCall - "Cheat" module

[old_painless 182]

AFAIK, it should show all weapons, including ones from mods?

I wondered about the helicopters, too, that would be nice. Although I think it to be weird, your teleporting could then be covered, indirectly.

Dunno if Kronzky will find helicopters too much of a cheat. On the other hand you can get a tank so it's not like the balance of missions could not be changed as it is.

-OP

Edited June 27, 2012 by Old_Painless

[Kommiekat 11]

I've found out that the Delivery plane approached the players back, so at higher altitudes, anybody using this, will have to take that into consideration as not to have the plane crashing into trees and mountains.

Hope this helps anybody.

[kronzky 5]

Would it be possible to add more weapons to the list? I miss one of my favorite weapons, AS Val. Maybe you could give an option to show ALL weapons, even though it would make first time loading somewhat longer.

AFAIK, it should show all weapons, including ones from mods?

All weapons available to your side (or civilians) are shown in the list, but NOT weapons that are only used by the OPFOR side.

So, in order to use the AS Val, you'd have to play as an OPFOR (or steal it from one...)

Also, would it be possible to add helicopters to the vehicle list?

And maybe the ability to teleport to a chosen location on the map?

I wondered about the helicopters, too, that would be nice. Although I think it to be weird, your teleporting could then be covered, indirectly.

Dunno if Kronzky will find helicopters too much of a cheat. On the other hand you can get a tank so it's not like the balance of missions could not be changed as it is.

There won't be any aircraft, since missions that aren't set up for air strikes will not have AI that is equipped to deal with them, so you could just go in and mow everyone down. Whereas in pretty much every mission you'll have some AT soldiers that will make a quick end of your tanks if you're not careful. (That's why I feel that tanks are not as much of a balance-breaker as aircraft are.)

But anyway, the latest version (1.7.0) has some major changes that might make some tasks a bit harder, but also open up some other possibilities (e.g. to fly helicopters).

So, here's what's new:

• Destroyed vehicles can be recovered
  Even total wrecks (yours or the OPFOR's side) can be revived. So, if you shoot down some helicopter, you can now recover it. The recovered vehicle will only be partially fixed, but if you have a repair truck, you can use that for the "final work".
  
• Vehicles and weapons can only be requested once per type
  Since, with the option above, no vehicle will ever be totally lost anymore, I've restricted the drop options to one per vehicle/weapon type. So no endless spawning of the same vehicle over and over anymore.
  
• Flipped over vehicles can be uprighted
  If some tank felt like turning into a beach-ball again, you can now put its shiny side back up again.
  
• Option to heal player, if medic is unresponsive
  If the mission requires you to be healed by someone else, but everybody's ignoring you (and you cannot heal yourself, even next to an ambulance), this option will allow you patch yourself up.
  
• All vehicles in player group can be locked/unlocked
  Sometimes AI will exit their vehicles in the middle of a firefight, even if they only got minor damage (and once outside, they get killed right away). Locking group vehicles will allow you to prevent that (just don't forget to unlock'em if it gets really hairy, otherwise they'll burn to a crisp...)
  
• Player can use dropped vehicles, even if not group leader
  As mentioned earlier, if you drop vehicles and are not the team leader you didn't used to be able to utilize those vehicles. Now that should not be an issue anymore.
  
• Option to disable post-processing effects
  Any special video effect (blurriness, color filters, etc.) can be disabled (in case it hurts your eyes, or because it won't stop, due to some bug).
  
• Option to "complete" mission
  Missions that totally lost some crucial trigger requirements, and cannot be finished "properly" anymore, can be completed "successfully" with this option.
  
• ULBs can be re-launched at player location
  Since ULBs have the habit of sometimes circling around endlessly, this will allow you to re-launch them at your current position, avoiding the hassle of having to guide them through the map.
  
• Improved ULB flight behavior
  I found one method of dealing with circling ULBs, which is to give them more than one waypoint (via <Ctrl>-click), but if one is controlled from the SupportCall module, it will now also stop permanently, once it reaches its final waypoint, giving you a nice, steady view of the target area (details in the mod's readme).
  

[old_painless 182]

Hi Kronzky, gave this a spin yesterday. It is very nice to see that you can now use all the things even if you are not leader. I had a bit of trouble finding out how to patch myself up, I lay wounded for some time but there was no option in any of the lists to "heal player" or something like that.

Any hints as to where to locate this self-heal option, please? I used COSLX as well, I might add.

I didn't have a chance to play with the new fix-vehicles stuff yet, but looking forward to that. Will post back later on

Thanks,

OP

[kronzky 5]

I had a bit of trouble finding out how to patch myself up, I lay wounded for some time but there was no option in any of the lists to "heal player" or something like that.

Any hints as to where to locate this self-heal option, please? I used COSLX as well, I might add.

This option is only available if the "First Aid Simulation" module is active in the mission.

In that case you'll be rolling around on the ground when injured, practically unable to move, you can't heal yourself (even if right next to a hospital tent), the screen is pulsing red, and after a while you will die, if nobody helps you. (It's active in the "Trial by Fire" intro mission, for example.)

If that is the case then the "Heal player" option should be available under "Other assistance".

If you're only "normally" injured (i.e. you can still crawl around, and you will never die from the injury, no matter how long it takes), the heal option is not available, as you can still heal yourself, if you're close to a hospital tent or ambulance vehicle.

BTW - I'd like to get some feedback regarding a feature I'm thinking about (from you, or anybody else using this module):

If an armored vehicle is dropped into a scenario, I'm considering equipping OPFORs with AT launchers (if they don't have any yet). That way it would balance things out a bit better, and perhaps if I'd take the same route with AA weapons, we could also add aircraft to scenarios without making it too "unfair".

[kiberkiller 10]

I personally don't think that there's any point to try to add "balance" to what basically is a cheat menu.

Ordering an RPG-18 drop when facing a tank as a non-AT character, is still cheating for people who care about "playing fair" but being restricted in choices and option will juts annoy people who don't care about "playing fair".

But hey, it's your mod, not mine. It's up to you to decide what to do with it, I'm just stating my opinion.

[old_painless 182]

I guess I'm a bit with kiberkiller, but with a twist: i use the mod to help me out when I am in mission and need a helping hand due to poor mission design or because most of my AI teammates have gotten themselves killed (or my bad leadership did it to them, LOL). Also, when in forested regions in Chernarus, when my unit calls out targets that I have no chance of ever spotting on the monitor through the blops that are foliage, I treat myself to a rifle with a better scope.

I can certainly see why you would want to throw in balance when an armored vehicle (or helicopter) is suddenly introduced.

The best of both worlds would be to have it optional/selectable if you want to give the OPFOR an advantage as well, such as AT launchers. Eg. "One-sided vehicle drop" vs. "Balanced vehicle drop"

That way, we can still "cheat" and try out various strategies (what if I had a tank, would I defend differently) and use the gaming world as a "live" mission editor. But we can also play missions as they were intended to be balanced, and just spice them up with more hardware available to the sides.

Cheers,

OP

Edited July 8, 2012 by Old_Painless

[taro8 806]

If possible could make a quick update that would allow for unlimited drops of boxes with ACE medicine stuff (ACE_BandageBoxWest)? My team is getting repeatedly butt raped by Hinds and stuff in my sandbox mission, I have revive script, but I run out of healing stuff very fast.

Also Im in favor of vehicles drop only allowing you to drop vehicles of your side.

In defense of this addon: this is a great tool for people like me, that make their own sandbox missions (SOM + ambient war). With this addon all I need to do is put some units and modules and I can enjoy mission with unlimited replayability.

Another thing: you may wish to consider using LDL UAV (and AC-130). Arma 2 UAV is pretty much useless, but one added by LDL is awesome, easy to use, not so jerky and simply better done.

[old_painless 182]

I didn't have a chance to play with the new fix-vehicles stuff yet, but looking forward to that. Will post back later on

OK, now I tried it - and utterly failed. I tried with two different downed helicopters (one still on fire, one which was crashed w/dead pilot inside) (thomsonb's SP Flashpoint mission Takistan) and went through all menus. But there was no option to "recover vehicle" that I could spot, is there some kind of trick that needs to be used?

[old_painless 182]

I was now able to recover a vehicle, a UAZ-30 (jeep with mounted gun) I think it was. But it seems that not all damaged ones are revivable. Is it only vehicles that have been damaged as part of the mission gameplay, not damaged ones that are handplaced beforehand? In Trial by Fire, the helicopter which lies there crashed from the start can not be revived.

[orcinus 121]

@Old_Painless: These are different models. A vehicle that gets damaged will change appearance/functionality according to the damage level (setDamage), but the wreck models are preset & unalterable; they never were intact or functional.

[brenfoot 1]

Thank you, I guess everyone can play and cheat how he want in SP at the end of the day its his own decision + fun. What about including something like "unstuck selected/all AI" option and something like "set selected/all AI vehicle(s) to nearest road/open area" option? :)

Also how do you airdrop helis planes and ships

[Kommiekat 11]

Also how do you airdrop helis planes and ships

Don't think you can and actually, glad you can't because if I'm correct, the MOD creator might have thought Air vehicles would be like using GOD mode. Over kill in other words.

[Alpha-Kilo 36]

Kronzky,

I really like this addon and I hardly ever play any SP-mission without enabling it. I am a little reluctant to use some of the features but it is very nice to have the option. My favourite features are "time-shift" because it allows you to see your favourite missions in a different light and "heal player" which may save a lot of time. Thank you for sharing this addon!

If i may, i'd like to make one suggestion: The heal player thing is normally used in an emergency situation. Depending on the wound you can bleed out and die very quickly. Therefore this feature should be available instantaneously without having to click through the menues. Could you place this feature on the SupportCall opening screen or even make it available directly from the game with a special key combination?

[SolidSnake 1]

Everything seems to work except for airdrops. I have tried everything I can think of. I mark the position on my map and click request support, but nothing happens. I try shift clicking for the smoke marker but no smoke appears and nothing happens. I've tried requesting ammo, weapons, and vehicles and none of them work. I disabled all my mods aside from my mission mods, my island mods, and all my weapon mods aside from my RH416, RHm4m16, and RHmk18 mods. I am pretty desperate to get this to work because it will definitely revive my arma2 experience which has gotten stale lately.

[Kommiekat 11]

Everything seems to work except for airdrops. I have tried everything I can think of.

Make sure that you are in a low level open area, and not mountainous.

If you are anywhere near trees or too high of an elevation, the supply plane will crash into trees and mountains, way before it reaches your drop point.

Do you hear a loud "ka boom!" ??

[Alpha-Kilo 36]

SolidSnake,

you don't have to mark your position on the map. All you have to do is open Supportcall and choose what you neeed, ammo, weapons, etc. You should see a short confirmation message if i remember correctly. In game you hear a "whoosh" and from out of nowhere a parachute appears which delivers your vehicle or a drum with the requested item. The item will be deleted from the list of available objects, so you can choose everything only once per mission.

[PiratePimp 1]

OK so I've read the post where you mentioned that you restricted the weapon and armor drop to 1, is there a way, or an older version of this where I can make it unlimited?

Edited October 24, 2012 by PiratePimp

[DeadZomb1e 1]

I can't get this to work. I have tried almost everything. I am running the newest beta patch 98220 from the website. I am also running arma 2 combined ops. The button does not appear where it is supposed to be or anywhere for that matter. Anyone having this issue and got it to work?

[TG_bigboss 10]

I love this mod! really helpful. I would love to see a ability to make a list of supply's you need before calling for the weapons drop. Saves time since it takes a while to load all those weapons if you have mods. Would love to see an artillery support too! ;)

[old_painless 182]

Yeah arty would be great. Don't think Kronzky is in favor, though, due to mission balance. Next best thing is mortars, you just need to be in range, approx. 500m

[LoneWolf6155 1]

I was wondering you plan to release a version compatable with the ACE mod? The ACE menu does not support SupportCall.

By the way, I think your mod is great. One of my biggest complaints about ARMA 2 was there was almost no variation on the loadouts. I was always stuck doing most of the missions as a rifleman and I could never play as a designated marksman or a machinegunner. Also, I love how I can finally play with mod added weapons without hassle.

Edited December 16, 2012 by LoneWolf6155
punctuation

[Tusc 1]

I played Arma2 up to the Dogs of War in the original campaign before looking for AddOns. Have since made some very fun missions on my own. Of course, I thoroughly enjoy the Support Call you've made here too.

On a lark, I tried using it when I started the DoW mission. I am able to do everything BUT call in air drops. I tried the conventional wisdom of finding open, flat and low lying land... to no avail. I don't hear a crash noise or explosion as suggested above.

I went to the editor and tried calling support from the same location. Worked like a charm without hesitation.

Can anyone offer ideas? Yes, I can go build an army in the mission. Not a problem, and I will play through legit for the challenge. But for giggles I thought it would be fun as heck to lead my mechanized troops from a Tusk.

[kronzky 5]

Addon has been updated for Arma3 compatibility.

Please use the dedicated thread for discussions specific to Arma3.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Kronzky

[frankfranconi 24]

Thanks for releasing it for the Alpha!

I've just installed it in my ArmA3 directory and it's displayed under the addons in the options menu. But how do I open it? There's no such option in the pause menu.

Edit:

Works in singleplayer only, my fault.

Edited March 8, 2013 by frankfranconi