'Heli-4-Hire' SimCopter Revival Dynamic Sandbox (WIP)

[moach_mayhem 10]

cargo not spawning on the base site - or the tower, for that matter - is due to a bug caused by Rearmed not being able to draw in ArmA2 stuff...

some of the cargo loads were inadvertently chosen from the ArmA2 'stockpile', and then will fail to appear for anyone who doesn't have the full version (and possibly operation arrowhead as well)

anyways, last night i got that fixed, removing the non-ToH entries from the cargo definitions should now make it so such "ghost loads" no longer appear....

the case there being, that once the load count is determined and an item fails to appear, the mission becomes pretty well -stuck-

when that happens, you can always abort it (radio 0-0-2)... the crew won't be all smiles about it, but you get to carry on and do something else, maybe try again....

or, you can get the new version, coming up right about... now

[nosecone 1]

Hi Moach

Really appreciate you taken the time to sort this out. Downloaded the latest update and got this message

" You can not play/edit this mission;it is dependent on downloaded content that has been deleted.Moach_hw basics"

----------------------------------==========--------------------------------------------------------------

Ok always pays to look at the file before posting, silly me

Cheers Moach once I placed the pdo file in the addons folder no more messsages

Cheers

Rhys

Edited January 17, 2013 by nosecone

[mjr.hassle 13]

You can find these in the zip file in the folder 'Addon (install pbo file as mod)'.

For anyone whos not sure, what you need to do is:

Make a new folder in your main ToH directory. I called it @Moach. Inside this folder you need to make another folder and call it addons. Inside the addons folder you need to place the moach_hw_basics.pbo. from the folder mentioned above.

When you next run ToH, click the expansions tab in the main menu and enable the @Moach mod (Or whatever you named it.) restart the game and you should be good to go.

Thanks again Moach, this is a great mission! :)

[delta9857 10]

Thanks Moach, downloading now!

[moach_mayhem 10]

the moach_hw_basics dependency is not anything meaningful now, but it will be more and more as advanced features get added...

this is needed in order to include specially-designed objects (better cargo loads, bambi buckets, etc...) and a whole lot of other things that cannot be config'ed via the description.ext file

as of now, the only feature brought in there, is a slightly revised Light helicopter (now, the "Wright LD-500") variant....

other then the name, (i never really cared for calling it "Light", so i went ahead and named it according to the 'tradition' of not using real trademarks lest we run into legal troubles) the only change made to this helicopter is that the starter time was adjusted so it feels more like the real thing (was 5 seconds, now it's 10) - according to what one may learn about starting an MD500 on youtube (there are tutorials!)

but then again... I wanted to clear off the PBO hurdle early on, so when need comes about, it will be there ready for us to put new things into the game ;)

speaking of addons - it struck me... it'd be terribly near-sighted of me if i didn't consider possible future addons for ToH and how they could be added to the Simcopter Experience....

it dawned on me that such scenarios would involve me doing a lot of work to include stuff made by others - assuming they agree to it, that is... then i thought of a better way!

the highly complex hangar system, that will allow you to change parts, do maintenance and whatnot (coming soon) would promptly stump on encountering any aircraft it doesn't know in deepest detail... but then, it could be engineered in a way that the interaction between helicopter and game are defined externally....

what da? what does that mean? -- i can hear you thinking already....

it means the mission will be ready for new addon helicopters, when they come!

special-purpose interactions are defined in a equally named class to the respective helicopter (or one of its base definitions) inside a CfgSimCopterFleet class...

that allows specific logic and settings (i.e. can it use a winch? how much it costs? etc...) to be 'assigned' to a class of helicopter, rather than 'inferred' by the mission itself which would be a LOT less flexible an approach

this would pave the way so addon makers putting out new birds would simply add a new config to the fleet, effectivelly 'teaching' the mission how to handle the peculiarities of this previously unknown type of rotorcraft

since config entries can override and complement each other even when defined in separate packages, this would make our game-inside-a-game very much moddable in its own right!

ok, all this may not mean a lot to most sane individuals.... but an über-geek who somehow understands my 'Programmerish' would be mighty excited about it!

cheers!

Edited January 18, 2013 by Moach_Mayhem

[delta9857 10]

Hey Moach, your modifications to the Light heli have seriously interested me as I am determined to make it as similar to the MD500 as possible! I was wondering if you would tell me how to go about switching a few of the engine sounds for my own custom ones? I unpacked sounds_h.pbo in the Addons folder and found sound files relating to the Light heli but when I tried to replace them with my own (I converted them to .WSS etc) there was no change in the sim. I'm not very experienced with making addons for ArmA/TOH so any insight you could provide would be appreciated :)

Also, regarding the sling loading missions, I am still having trouble getting them to work correctly. As I said above, the missions sometimes work correctly, but it is the missions where I am told to do a fly-by of the cargo base and the cargo tower that things go wrong. Basically I get told to do a flyby and my waypoint is set to the cargo base. I fly there and nothing happens, the waypoint doesn't change and the cargo doesn't spawn. If I get out and attach a cable I get a message saying something along the lines of "ok let's go over this again... you need to attach your sling to the cargo.. blah blah blah." Sorry to keep bothering you about this haha :) Keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Oli

[nosecone 1]

Thanks moach for the update

I am sure this has been covered before but when I start in the hanger I walk to the helicopter, get in start it up but I can't seem to get any further.

I click on the map but what next. I dont seem to get any tasks appear in the top menu. Press the 0 key for radio comms but nothing happens. I assume the blue H's on the map are the tasks.

Cheers

Rhys

[delta9857 10]

Thanks moach for the update

I am sure this has been covered before but when I start in the hanger I walk to the helicopter, get in start it up but I can't seem to get any further.

I click on the map but what next. I dont seem to get any tasks appear in the top menu. Press the 0 key for radio comms but nothing happens. I assume the blue H's on the map are the tasks.

Cheers

Rhys

In order to get missions you must get into your chopper and turn the ATC (radio) on and then go to your map and click on the radio that appears. Then select "Check in" (or something similar). Then base will periodically update your tasks section of your journal that you can accept. Hope this helps :)

[nosecone 1]

Thanks delta got that

Just tried a couple of missions, is there any other indication apart from the map that tells you where you need to go or do you have to keep checking the map.

Rhys

[moach_mayhem 10]

after you accept the mission, you should briefly have a -CURRENT ASSIGNMENT- task popping up... if you select that and make it your current task, you'll get the HSI needle leading you in....

anyways, the whole thing is very unclear at the moment - in know! - that's what WIP implies most of the time....

i'll write a proper manual when all the features are in... anything sooner and it will be mayhem - so please be patient in the time being

TIP: check your radio options - most actions are performed by radio calls

[nosecone 1]

Thanks Moach

Its great that I can now enjoy your hard work. Really looking forward to future updates as they come along, great concept and awesome work

Rhys

[moach_mayhem 10]

...Also, regarding the sling loading missions...

about those - there are two way to attach a rope to a helicopter - you can connect it from the aircraft to another object, or you can leave the loose end hanging underneath

this is determined by where you attach the rope... do it at the helicopter, and you'll get it with a free end -- do it at the cargo, and you'll connect the rope to that...

...in hindsight, i reckon the action titles in both cases being the same can be quite counter-intuitive... well, this is easy to fix

*opens notepad*

there! I fixed it! -- action titles will be marked "(free)" when attaching to the helicopter itself

there are still a load of bugs i'm going about fixing.... and as development progresses, we get free new ones!

well then, back to that... i just about managed to the the hangar screen to identify a matching definition for a given helicopter class -- it worked! -- and now work is on getting the components to actually do something useful when installed/removed....

and then they may cost you money! (luckily for you, not real money)

cheers!

[LeftSkidLow 1]

Hi Moach,

I'm trying this for the first time, is there a way to remove doors? I don't see it in the customize list.

[delta9857 10]

Hi Moach,

I'm trying this for the first time, is there a way to remove doors? I don't see it in the customize list.

You have to do it in the editor screen before launching the mission by using this animate ["addDoors", 0]; in the helicopter's init box. Hopefully Moach will add removable doors at some point down the line as it would be a nice feature to have, but for now, that is the workaround :)

[LeftSkidLow 1]

Got it, thanks.

[moach_mayhem 10]

there is a way now!

but its a work in progress... anyways, the hangar is going at full pace through developement - and last night i got it working down to allow adding doors and bells and whistles and whatnot!

of course, none of that takes any time, or cost any money, so it's kinda unfair from a capitalist standpoint :rolleyes: -- but well, it allows you to customize your bird by using the hangar!

and that's already pretty cool :D

this was all done in a novel way, that instead of wrapping the mission around the existing helicopters and their fixed set of features, allows nigh-unlimited expansion by using a set of config classes to assign such features to the helicopters themselves!

so then, if some time ahead somebody pulls out, say, a bell jetranger addon...

the jetranger uses the Rolls Royce M250 engine, same as the MD500 -- keep this in mind, now...

this addon would not need alterations done to the mission to have it included - actually, the integration itself can be done from a separate PBO!

the mission will know what to do when it can locate a class (in the cfgSimCopterFlees class) that has the same name as that of the helicopter (found in cfgVehicles)

technically, this is referred to as the 'airframe' - just a convention for nomenclature clarity

the hangar allows you to purchase engines, among a myriad other things, (there's only so much you can "repair") and install/remove/swap them to your fleet -- these "items" are bought from the office dialog, where upon arrival of your order, you get to "unpack" them (see HarvesteR's post up above)...

unpacking an item adds it to the hangar inventory -- a pool for all your spare parts and bits where they undergo maintenance meanwhile you fly about your business...

now, these items are all representative of real helicopter features, as in: engines are bound to the engine hitpoint - so repairing/replacing such items is you do maintenance to your chopper!

remember our M250 engine? - since the MD500 and the Jetranger both use that same part, there's no reason why you should not able to swap the same part between the two, should you own them both... and so, that is now possible!

in a way much like that in which ArmA2 weaponry can share magazine classes - generic items like 12V batteries, FLIR units and alike are all interchangeable between aircraft!

you don't need to buy a FLIR for your lite chopper, then another for the medium (if you don't mind switching it back and forth) -- the items are defined as independent classes, then the helicopter cfg BINDS them into components while defining how their installation affects animations and all

so even if the jetranger has a different set of names given to its model parts ('selections' they are called) - that same M250 engine will trigger the proper effect - still being done in a completely different manner on the MD500

how?

it's really kinda simple... well, it's simple now - it wasn't so much before i spent 2 weeks trying to figure it out...

items define the presentation of a piece of hardware, give them a name, a pretty picture and put a price tag on it - this is done independently of any airframe (see above) in a cfgSimCopterHardware class

each airframe defines an internal 'components' class -- featuring a set of entries that link TO the item definitions (rather than FROM them, which would throttle addon-readyness quite badly) -- and these linkage-classes are those that hold a small set of script properties that will execute on events such as install, remove, damage and repair

the possibilities given by this are almost endless!

it hit me after creating the monster, that i could create an item that when installed would attach a winch to the lite helicopter using the attachTo command -- even though the lite has no modeled animations for it (nor supports it, to begin with) -- it then struck me, the massive versatility of this system -- it would be the same "winch item" that if installed on the medium heli, would simply trigger the corresponding "addWinch" animation

it soon became evident that this device will allow our mission to apply the ingame analogue of duct-tape to anything you can wrap your mod-making head around!

and best of all -- you don't even need to ask ME to do it! -- it's all addon power to the people - and by the people! :cool:

cheers!

Edited January 20, 2013 by Moach_Mayhem

[LeftSkidLow 1]

Moach, you're on to something with this. We're lucky that you picked this game to play around with. Once I figured out how to use the mission system I was able to play for a couple hours last night. I hope that someone does make that JetRanger addon eventually but it's really hard to dive into modding this game without Arma/Arma2 experience. I started on a Bell 407 a long time ago but I don't really finish anything I start and the game seemed to be kind of floundering, maybe this will help.

[delta9857 10]

Awesome update Moach! This is easily the most in-depth modification for TOH and I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with next :). Keep it up!

EDIT: So I have had a chance to play around with the latest version of the mod and it is looking pretty sweet. I also have a few suggestions:

- Would you be able to set a permanent waypoint on the heliport so that when we complete a mission we can quickly set it as our current waypoint and follow it back to base? This isn't really a biggy since it isn't that hard to navigate back using the map, but it would be a nice option to have anyway :)

- With the addition of the hanger screen, we really need some sort of basic saving system so that we don't have to keep customizing our choppers each time we go to fly. I have no idea how easy/hard this would be to implement but it would certainly be a welcome addition (I know it is already planned)

That's about it for now. Oh yeah before I forget, today I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the cargo missions! I always assumed that when you picked up the logistics crew you had to fly to the cargo tower and pick up the load there and then take it to the cargo base; I never thought that in some missions you had to pick up the cargo at the cargo base lol.

Edited January 21, 2013 by delta9857

[moach_mayhem 10]

yes, a lot of what goes on in each mission is kinda unpredictable to some extent... the FSM system with the visual tool makes this kinda thing very clear to work with (this would be outright madness without that) - so you gotta be ready for some things you wouldn't expect as you go along :rolleyes:

good thinking on the return-to-base waypoint - i'll leave a permanent task directing you back there...

i forget not everyone knows the area by memory, it's easy to miss that after you spend hours on end picking through it in search of fun landing locations :p

still amazes me how big that map is... every now and then i still catch myself thinking "hey, i had never flown through here before!" - kudos to BIS!

as for saving configs and stuff... that's on the other side of a massive wall of features that need doing still... i'll keep that in mind - it sure seems handy

cheers!

[Bloomster 10]

when I try to load this mission in the editor i get the following: -

you cannot play /edit this mission it is dependent on downloadable content that has been deleted.camsic3, CAbuildings, Ind_tank, hsim_misc_h_dlc1_objects_wooden_shed.

wonder where I get this from?

Any help would be appreicated. Thanks.

[nosecone 1]

when I try to load this mission in the editor i get the following: -

you cannot play /edit this mission it is dependent on downloadable content that has been deleted.camsic3, CAbuildings, Ind_tank, hsim_misc_h_dlc1_objects_wooden_shed.

wonder where I get this from?

Any help would be appreicated. Thanks.

Hi

If you have not done so download the latest update. I had the same problem and Moach has spent a lot of time getting it sorted.

On that note Great update loving the in hanger menu to customize the helo. All round this mod is just fantastic keep up the great work

Rhys

[zentaos 10]

very cool. Great work so far!

[Bloomster 10]

Nope latest 1.06 still get the error? I will do some editing of the .sqm file and see if i can get it working by removing the offending items. I don't have Hinds btw so i assume that content is in there, I will post a list of what I have to remove to get it to work.

Thanks.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Bloomster

[nosecone 1]

Hi just to clarify I don't mean the update for take on helicopters. Moach has updated his mod which can be download at the beginning of this post. You don't need hinds, I have a dvd copy of toh and the mod works

[moach_mayhem 10]

there's a new update pretty much every other day - you should make sure to get the latest version if you wanna keep up with the work in progress ;)

today's fun - there are a few new 'unpredictables' that may (or not) happen during a 'routine' passenger flight.... hehe - i'm not telling any more, that'd spoil it...

it's not on the master branch yet - as the whole thing is still under heavy testing.... but soon enough it'll get updated, don't worry

cheers!