[SP/MP] Dynamic Whole Map ArmA3 Missions by SaOk

[SaOk 112]

Hi, :) if server admin have saved in shift+1 (or the custom autosave have saved), the mission should load old progress automatically when starting the server again on same computer (there is parameter enabled that as default via role selecting menu before the mission starts). But there have been some warning messages coming from profilefile, its possible the server refuse to write the save data even it seemed to work right for me when testing. Looking for that issue more soon but if its that, it could impossible to fix on mission side. I would need to learn to export/import data to sql, but dont want to use any 3rd party scripts for that.

The custom save dont save currently player locations or their gear. Only the progress in tasks and all the map locations (camps, posts, factories, owners, vehicles zones...).

[R1C0 10]

Thanks for your answer!

The custom save dont save currently player locations or their gear. Only the progress in tasks and all the map locations (camps, posts, factories, owners, vehicles zones...).

Thats the information I needed. Thanks!

I was testing the whole day, was in the believe that nothing is saved because my gear were reset, fumbled arround with Process Monitor to check where the savegame is stored (but arma3server.exe only writes rpt files) and now this info. :D

Now I tested it with a building and it works. :)

But there have been some warning messages coming from profilefile, its possible the server refuse to write the save data even it seemed to work right for me when testing.

No, no warning messages but on the other hand the server writes no file to the (TADST)profile... :confused:

Edited January 8, 2015 by R1C0

[turin 1]

Hello Soak,

I have a question, could you make the mission available on Namalsk?

[SaOk 112]

Hi, sure will try to add that soon. Looked it earlier but didnt yet download the map.

[AttentionHorse 2]

Hm, I don't get it. I wanted to use your map to play it on some extra maps I have installed, so I've changed the name etc. but when I start the mission I spawn out of the map area in the middle of nowhere and there is a ton of markers outside the playable zone (in the black outside of the map). I've tested it on Chernarus, Isla Duala and Takistan and it always works that way. I have the latest COOP08 version of your mission. Am I missing something?

[DBlack 10]

So.... you can't use the old respawn system anymore to keep your addons after you die, you disabled VAA, and the new menu doesn't easily let you select RHS and when you try to click on mods (at least for me), the button does nothing?

:(

Not gonna lie, I usually -try- to play as close to the mission you have structured and progress the way you'd like but sometimes it's nice being able to use all of my assets and playing in my own living, breathing world of a sandbox.

Edited January 10, 2015 by dblack850

[SaOk 112]

The COOP dont have yet all the map support from SP version, but adding soon. That fixes the outside map spawning. Currently coop only have takistan, chernarus, bornholm and staszow support I think.

The SP version should work the same as before. Not sure why it does that, have you checked game files (right click arma3 -> properties)? Also playing DEV-version could break things (havent tested the latest).

The concept idea is definitely freedom. Its hard to find the proper balanse in tasks and free stuff. Hope to add more tasks later with more possible paths to choose. Even the task locations are random, it certainly feels bit forced to do the exact task. E.g. killing the resistance leader could have more alternative ways. He already may try to flee, but it dosent work yet right. Else there would be chasing event randomly.

Edited January 10, 2015 by SaOk

[diehard124 10]

Hey SaOk,

thanks for your awesome work creating this mission. I really enjoy it!

Besides some minor bugs which are already covered in here i've got an issue with chopper platoons. Once ive created them and set a waypoint with shift+lmb they go were they should and flying circles or fight if an enemy is there. But if i set a new waypoint for them after while, they dont react anymore. The only thing happens is that the small x on the map disappers and the choppers keep flying circles... Am I missing smth or is it a bug?

[lovemotion 10]

I am playing the last version sp in altis with RHS ESCALATION. I have problem with performance, no matter if i play every in low or with my config that fps not go up from 35/8.

Like two months that i dont play arma 3... before, the performance was between 50 and 60 fps. I will try other map with and with out rhs.

Thank you.

[DBlack 10]

The COOP dont have yet all the map support from SP version, but adding soon. That fixes the outside map spawning. Currently coop only have takistan, chernarus, bornholm and staszow support I think.

The SP version should work the same as before. Not sure why it does that, have you checked game files (right click arma3 -> properties)? Also playing DEV-version could break things (havent tested the latest).

The concept idea is definitely freedom. Its hard to find the proper balanse in tasks and free stuff. Hope to add more tasks later with more possible paths to choose. Even the task locations are random, it certainly feels bit forced to do the exact task. E.g. killing the resistance leader could have more alternative ways. He already may try to flee, but it dosent work yet right. Else there would be chasing event randomly.

@SaOk

The Problem I Had (As stated earlier):

It's hard to please people as a lone mission maker catering to an audience who desire a sandbox experience but, as human beings, also need a since of direction and enjoy a good cinematic experience. I definitely appreciate all of your work and I know it's especially hard to keep things structured yet free when ARMA offers so much customization through mods.

When I loaded up the latest version of the mission downloaded from Armaholic, or at least I -hope- I loaded up the latest version... I have several copies for different maps and I'm subscribed on Steam, it had a different menu than I had been used to seeing. There was no RHS/Vanilla drop-down box in the top-right, just a dial of options around the center graphic. Figuring I'd handle it through the WLA menu after the mission started, I pressed shift +1 but seen no "options" - so I didn't know how to switch to the "old respawn system" that allows you to keep mods like MCC and Zeus functionality running after you die. I usually use this for base-building, using my own equipment or gear, adding "side missions", or simply controlling my infantry.

In this new menu, I simply couldn't find the option to switch to the old repsawn system and it didn't seem as easy to just make both sides use RHS assets, which was a feature I loved that was added in. Maybe I'm dumb and chose the wrong version but I actually looked at my mission browser and compared version numbers and the latest revision (I think ended with 775? I'd have to check) just didn't have this accessibility.

Diversifying How I Enjoy your Work:

I love the way the mission is setup, don't get me wrong, and I understand that some people really like to unlock things and what-not but I typically use Zeus to build my base before setting out to do your missions instead of what's offered in the mission for several reasons - more freedom, more options, more user-friendly, I can save my composition, organize my troops and set up the base how I like it as far as ambience...like if I want a small base that was thrown together quickly or a huge base with an airfield that has multiple checkpoints with military police with designated uniforms and patches and undercover police cars...or maybe I'm playing on Altis and I want to progressively move in with the USS Nimitz, USS Iowa, and my naval fleet, build a base in a small area and eventually build up at an airfield after I progress or take over a military base on the map and fortify it with patrols, static weapons, guards, c-ram's, etc.

This can become addictive and open a huge creative outlet for the inner-kid in the adults that play this mission who grew up playing with action figures, army men, legos, base-building in Age of Empires/AoE 2, roleplaying, etc.

------

An admission, an apology, and a HUGE thank you!

I won't lie to you, I'm not an experienced mission-maker but I really get joy from learning, customizing, and appreciating other peoples' work. I've probably broken the cardinal rule of modding and mission-making but I've de-PBO'ed WLA and probably have 20-something copies on my computer for different maps and with different things changed. Sometimes I break things and I start over or try to fix it. Basically, rather it's allowed or not or rather it's intended or not, I want to sincerely say thank you for the countless hours of entertainment that I've got from playing your mission. I usually HATE singleplayer gamemodes but I'm in love with WLA. It's not just playing it that's entertained me, I'm not trying to sell you short.

I know that you created this and want people to play and experience it as you intended so most of the time I tried to stay very true to the environment and flow you've provided. For example, before I learned about the old respawn system I tried making areas in the place where I'd be making my base like some sort of command center, terminal, computer system, whatever you can think of to allow me to access Zeus, MCC, other mods, etc. I even tried to limit my use of VAA (Virtual Arsenal Anywhere) and the type of equipment, vehicles, etc. that I used depending on my progress made.

Like I said, rather or not I've broken rules, you've really helped me in a tough time where ARMA's been all I've had to take my mind off of things and as someone who's been studying/getting certified in the IT/InfoSec field, I've learned so much from the inspiration of your mission. If it's any condolences for breaking any rules or encroaching on your creative work, I'll tell you that before I switched my majors to Information Security and IT, I was studying software engineering and had absolutely no interest in programming. I took a year of C++ at university and didn't retain any of it, wasn't motivated, was bored, only got by in classes because I asked people online to do my programming for me...your mission has inspired me to learn. I'll probably do a hundred searches a day and sit and try to figure out how you did certain things or what'll happen if I do _____. Sometimes I break your mission, sometimes it's playable and has the features I want but isn't as smooth as you've made it, but regardless - you've given me another game to play which is highly important for any person, you've helped me to educate myself and really given me a hobby inside of my hobby that's applicable in the outside world.

In the end:

As for how this pertains to my problem, maybe I got so caught up in customizing, learning, admiring the work and detail, and testing my own additions that I missed a couple of revisions and was simply saddened by the loss of freedom or at least my lack of knowledge on how to pertain it. It's worth noting that I originally de-PBO'ed your mission not to steal things, not even to learn, I de-PBO'ed the mission because I was frustrated that I couldn't keep my addons after I died and wanted to see if there was something I could do to get around it. It wasn't until about a month or a month and a half of me spending 90% of my time editing, learning, coding, and looking over your work that I finally found one of your posts in an MCC thread about switching to the old respawn system to fix it.

That still didn't stop me from continuing to try and play around with the sandbox that you've created for me in more ways than you'd planned until I made my previous post. I made my previous post because I intended to load up the latest vanilla WLA downloaded from Armaholic and simply just play the mission the way you intended after switching to the old respawn system. I know this is kind of a plain way to figure things out but it'll perfectly identify rather I'm right or wrong - is the new menu grey with white text in frames that are around the boarder of a graphic rather than the old orange-colored menu? If so, the grey-schemed menu is the one I've been having issues with. No RHS dropdown at the beginning, no old respawn option, couldn't open VAA from the start of the mission or even "Begin With Arsenal", and the "Mods" button was unclickable - ironically possibly due to mods :P

I went back and found the first version of WLA that I got from Steam and copied it to a new folder so that I could play the old version without doing any editing to the mission but it froze as soon as the camera panned over a street with civilians and ARMA crashed. That was only one try though, I'm about to try again.

tl;dr: There's no tl;dr because I truly hope you read this but I'd like to say thank you, I apologize, and I'll be patiently awaiting any changes, fixes, or help that you could provide! Like I said, as much research as I've put into editing, coding, scripting, modding, etc. because of you and your motivation - it took me almost all of that time to figure out I could've fixed the problem by going into the options from the get-go but I guess it's a good thing I didn't find the answer because looking for it has inadvertently made you a great motivation and teacher. Thank you!

[EDIT]: Sorry that I type long responses and I also wanted to note that I play the singleplayer version. Like I said, I typically get bored of SP or can't play it for long. I'm in C4G, I spent almost all of my beginnings in ARMA on Wasteland and then played Breaking Point excessively before getting bored. Your mission has brought me to a new spectrum of educating myself and exploring my creativity and I appreciate it 100%.

Problematic Version: 1.9950

Edited January 11, 2015 by dblack850

[SaOk 112]

Thanks for much feedback. :) But seems like have been playing very old version. You can get the latest from dropbox link or workshop (first post). I will sent new version to armaholic very soon.

But going through the feedback if there is still some aspects to look into.

Edit: Very nice to hear, that the mission have inspired. You can of course freely unpack and edit it, no problem. :) It can be quite messy inside, many years of work in there. Much have been updated in clumsy ways, there could be much less those separate scripts and put instead in shared funcs. Constantly learning new tricks so would make many things differently in many functions. Have been updating much, but there is endlessly stuff to tweak.

Edited January 11, 2015 by SaOk

[lovemotion 10]

After i save the rebel leader, and i have to kill fox, the game started to stuttering like 2 second. Its unplayable. Chernarus, rhs mod and last sp version.

Before that, the performance was great.

Great mission.. keep working on it!!! :D

[LSD_Timewarp82 21]

I mentioned it to SaOk a while ago, it was exactly the same stutter at exactly the same time (kill fox Crow) and i even send him my results how my Graphicscard gone up and down permanentley when this issue occurs. Its strange but last time i had this issue i simply deleted the units around fox crow with MCC and the issue was gone.

[SaOk 112]

That kill fox task shouldnt have any special stuff going, but I try to see if there still something. Location searching causes the most stutter, but it should calm down after sometime. I made earlier bit lighter search function, will replace possible forgotten old ones with the new function.

Edited January 11, 2015 by SaOk

[lovemotion 10]

I mentioned it to SaOk a while ago, it was exactly the same stutter at exactly the same time (kill fox Crow) and i even send him my results how my Graphicscard gone up and down permanentley when this issue occurs. Its strange but last time i had this issue i simply deleted the units around fox crow with MCC and the issue was gone.

I will try this!

[Pope 10]

I was wondering if there is a way to cheat a little and change the prestige value? ;)

[SaOk 112]

Yes, just write this in esc-menu and press exec:

pisteet = 10000;

[Pope 10]

Yes, just write this in esc-menu and press exec:

pisteet = 10000;

Thank you!

And since you are replying I have to thank you for this wonderful mission. I like singleplayer and and this is almost the only mission I play.

[Surfrider67 1]

Hei. Thanks for the fine mission,have been playing it now for a while. Started for about 20+ times,only because i have been trying to find balance for mods i just want to use. Ex. AGM.mod is game breaker,because i use SP control module ,i wanna try different weathers and day options,and AGM disabled that when i respawn, or sometimes when i save the game,and try to load that.That it sad because Burnes Challenger tanks needs AGM.And of course Virtual arsenal to play with different guns :).

One thing i want to ask. When i'm in tank commander,and suddenly civilian asking something,then i'm outside tank,and when the script is over,tank driver is rallying somewhere,and you know Arma engine,its very hard to get inside again without that tank kills you. I must order disembark to them,there is no stop command in menu. Is that possible when that scipt starts,i don't had to come out of tank?

[SaOk 112]

Thanks/Kiitti, :)

I will try to think if there would some tweaks for those cutscenes. Would be nice to have player talking from the vehicle, but it might get very tricky to script (to work with all mod vehicles too). But tweaking soon the cutscenes more, still randomly the actor's head cut out of camera. There is some camera poking issue too, somehow the obstacles sometimes force it to have strange laggy movement.

Mods get disabled less, if using old respawn setting in shift+1 options. All mod weapons can be found in shift+1 gear weapon shop too. :)

[LSD_Timewarp82 21]

Still hope for supported map "Napf" in upcoming update. How tor remove the Waterponds i already told i think. Also i managed to remove the ponds for the huge 655km² map "Sauerland", the map runs fine without pond bug, only the markers are outside the area, but thats normal cause its not in your supported list

[DBlack 10]

@Saok

Excuse me for my ignorance, especially with my last long post about how you inspired me to learn and mess around with your mission a bit but is there an easy way (either through my own doing in a de-PBO'ed version of WLA or in the menu to switch from Blufor to Opfor? Don't get me wrong, I love it the way it is but as an American it's becoming a little boring playing as the US military in every mission (or any NATO force for that matter) and I'd like to play around as a Russian (RHS) or Chinese for once.

[SaOk 112]

Will add the Napf for next update if I get it work, just downloaded. Also fallujah is included. Testing some big changes, but new update in few days hopefully.

I am afraid that changing side isnt possible in easy way. I try to add support for it later, but it requires quite much work. Playing RHS in russian side would be definitely nice. I always take AK74 for US soldiers already. :)

[lovemotion 10]

Sometimes when i start a new game, the ai spawn with russian weapons(rhs mod)

by the way, the problem with fox didn´t happen again, but i dont know why my fps fall to 35-38 after like 2 or 3 hours playing.

[LSD_Timewarp82 21]

Cool, check my message from last week i´ve send to you, there is a description how to delete the Waterline Pond Bug. Only 1 folder needs to be deleted with PboManager. Then it´s done :)