VTS 4.0 - Live Multiplayer Mission Creating Tool for A3

[kremator 1065]

Adding 'clever' AI will always be a real benefit L'Etranger ! Good work mate . You know where I am if you need a tester :)

[l etranger 5]

btw your inbox is full, you can't receive new message :(

[kremator 1065]

Wow ... PMs fill up fast. Have made room now mate :)

[l etranger 5]

Beta 03 current changelog :

-Fixed, sometime respawning was not teleporting you correctly to your base.

-Fixed, sometime GM could have the computer multiplied.

-Added a player killed log, for GM.

-Improved class change function.

-Now when you spawn a static group on a building they will be auto positioned on building position.

-Added a filter in the Load & Save panel (All, Shop & unlocks only, Spawn only, Building Only).

-Added an AI micromanagement parameter (Default On).

-New feature AI micromanagement (AI will share your position to nearby group, patrolling groups nearby will come investigate while static groups nearby will take defensive position). If a group has 30% of its units in a building, they will use the building to fight.

-Added an AI aim shake param (setup how much the AI can miss you).

-New Feature : Taxi system "vts_istransportvehicle". Work on Land / Ship / Helicorpter vehicles. Allow players to be transported acrosse the island before returning to base. Squad leader can change RTB position of each taxi. AI is still AI... But a lot of guardrail has been implemented to make the transport reliable.

-Improved Weaponize functions (it now adds a vest to the target, if it doesn't have one).

-Improved overall interface reactivity (This should reduce a lot the "click not working" effect).

-Improved Headless support.

-Clone function is now also cloning Weapons & Loadout.

-Fixed task Fail / Succeed not working.

-Fixed change class on GM would lose the open computer action.

-Added a marker on placable sounds to help deleting them.

-Improved Revive system : Drag action added. Life is now lost when shot down. Heal time increased to 20 seconds.

-Improved populate with civilian : Cars should now have a correct orientation on roads.

-Improved fill roads : Vehicles should patrol on longer distance and start with a better orientation.

-Added a new mission parameter : AI aiming efficiency (adjusting the ai shaking skill).

-Improved computer map interface : alt + 2xClick to teleport, shift + 2xClick to go in camera mode, 2xClick to apply current order, Del to erase objects under the current brush.

-Fixed Hostage behavior being stuck on dedicated server.

-Improved 3D placement & 3D move : Objects should not move further the camera angle now.

-New feature : Unit data, as mouse over on the mini map.

-Improved : Spawned units now have an unique varname (which can be used to manipulate them with the command line & scripts).

AI micro management comparison :

Moving to test session and some other fix adjustments, then it'll be out :)

The way the AI micro management is scripted should not be CPU intensive. And It improves the combat immersion by over eight thousands.

Edited April 11, 2013 by L etranger

[kremator 1065]

Awesome mate ... sounds great !

Been thinking about other features. It would be cool to be able to set a frontline and then have vehicles ready to ferry troops back and forward to that frontline. So it is almost the same as patrolAtoB but this time the vehicle waits at a certain point to pick up troops, then ferries them up before returning to the pickup point.

Thinking about some of the goodies that Mando put into hos scripts would also be good .... but I need to think more about it.

The AI micromanagement sounds great!

Two final things ... is it possible to mute the 'falling through the air' sound (and avoid people seeing the parachuting player)? Ressources loaded should be Resources loaded.

Cheers!

Krem

Edited April 3, 2013 by Kremator

[l etranger 5]

A test version for the beta 03 is available : http://neobot.fr/arma3/missions/co151_vts40_A3_beta03_test.Stratis.pbo

If anyone want to try it on dedicated before pushing it out.

Some risky change has been done to : Improve Interface reactivity, Improve HC compatiblity.

Also a new feature has been added : Taxi system.

[kremator 1065]

Woohoo ... been waiting for this .... testing now mate! Although I can't do the dedi testing yet (until the exe gets released)

Comments so far.... GOOD !

Things seem snappier (they happen faster)

Combat seems more determined (maybe a placebo effect! but I like it!)

Perhaps we could do with a deadbody removal button as well as Del All (in area). Would also be great to have some kind of automedic ability to get these medics to actually do their jobs :)

One final thing that WOULD be very useful is, when you click on a dot (person, vehicle etc) it gives you a hint as to it's current order/status/ready etc - possible ?

In terms of bugs I have seen previously (and in this version) some lines being shown when in camera view from troops (dead or alive) that I assume to be waypoint directions. Very odd. The line disappear when you look away from them, but reappear when you get close again. It's not a GFX artifact.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Kremator

[l etranger 5]

The information bouton is something I would like to add since a long time yeah. But What about something shorter and easier, like alt + mapclick or double click. So It doesn't mess up with the clicks , asked by the computer for other functions.

Edited April 6, 2013 by L etranger

[kremator 1065]

I think a single mapclick would be good .... if the GM wants to place something they would already have the hints.

Or perhaps even a different cursor? SO you press INFO button, cursor changes and you can then query the troops state (either by clicking on them OR just mouseover (oooh mouseover would be awesome thinking about it!). Is that too complicated or outlandish mate ?

[coma73 0]

i cant seem to set tasks completed, i get a no object (or something like) that error. other than that i like it alot, and have since arma2

[kremator 1065]

Not seeing that error at all coma73. Seems to work fine for me on stable branch. I can set tasks for any side, make them succeed or make them fail without a problem. Make sure you are running the latest beta test version.

Will test it on DEV branch too tomorrow, but it is late here.

[l etranger 5]

i cant seem to set tasks completed, i get a no object (or something like) that error. other than that i like it alot, and have since arma2

Yeah, there is a task complete / fail bug. In one version, I don't remember in which one its fixed... Maybe beta 03 wich is not out yet.

[kremator 1065]

It must be fixed as I'm not seeing it in the latest _test version.

[l etranger 5]

ok so I fixed it in the beta 03 work ^^.

[l etranger 5]

It must be fixed as I'm not seeing it in the latest _test version.

I think you gonna love the next test version ;)

[kremator 1065]

Gimme gimme gimme :)

---------- Post added at 22:36 ---------- Previous post was at 21:03 ----------

Guys here's a question that has been bugging me for ages. IS it possible to have VTS scan the mods/RT/scripts folder and automatically add them to the dialog? This would make adding other amazing scripts in MUCH more easily than having to manually add them each new version. Possible ?

Looking forward to the next version.

[Kilroymyboy 1]

Hey, I really support this, my girlfriend and friends love to set up our own missions and play them out. Is there any way you accept donations to push the development further? please let me know

[kremator 1065]

Aye L'Etranger and Gonza are doing some amazing stuff. I wish that I could code to help them, but all I can do is to tinker and come up with ideas that I think would work.

I do believe that having the ability to add other scripts onthefly by dropping them into a folder would be awesome. But I don't know how the game can query the contents of a folder. I'm thinking about things like the Virtual Ammobox System, or PUSH-Kill, or whatever people come up with. I just don't know if it is possible.

[l etranger 5]

Here we go, after a long gestation Beta 03 is out :)

[kremator 1065]

WOOHOO !!!! Excellent ... trying this NOW !

Just one thing you may not have noticed. TaskHint is being replaced with Notification (it is already in the DEV version).

OMG this is awesome ... LOVING the new circle with info !! ABSOLUTELY LOVING the new double click to select and change orders !

Group member data is a little screwy presently. If you hover over one troop and he reads 59% but then go to another it changes his percentage. Hover over him again and he is still at 59%. I think what it is doing is populating the rest of the group with the same percentage.

Ideas: New orders AMBUSH. Troops will lay an ambush at a point, laying mines, kill zones etc until enemies pass a certain point they hold fire

Ideas: As the GM being able to see the server FPS (to check that it isn't being overloaded with AI actions

Ideas: For the AI micromanagement it would be great to be able to see the AI change their waypoint (and behaviour) to get into the battle

I spawned Civs in a 1200m radius and it slowed the computer down to a crawl (perhaps obvious) but when I tried to remove them with Del1200 I got VTS Zone deleted however some Civs disappeared only to appear again. Had to restart the mission.

Still testing to find new features !

Edited April 11, 2013 by Kremator

[l etranger 5]

Nice find about the group health. I reuploaded the mission with this fixed.

About population with civilians, it can take a long time. So I'm guessing that you deleted the area while it was not done populating. Actually it populate to 25% the numbers of building. So be carefull with this one, maybe I should use the radius size instead of the number of buildings.

[kremator 1065]

Is there a way to stop the shifting of the group members in the group list ?

[l etranger 5]

What do you mean by shifting ?

[kremator 1065]

When I mouse over a group and go to person to person, the order changes in the grouplist. Surely the only thing that should change is the info of the moused-over person at the top?

Another IDEA: When you are in Computer mode instead of having to press 2D each time you want to place a unit you just CTRL DoubleClick the map (or is that too dangerous ?)

[l etranger 5]

When I mouse over a group and go to person to person, the order changes in the grouplist. Surely the only thing that should change is the info of the moused-over person at the top?

Another IDEA: When you are in Computer mode instead of having to press 2D each time you want to place a unit you just CTRL DoubleClick the map (or is that too dangerous ?)

I still wonder what to do about the ctrl key (other than mousewheel combo). Spawning 2D unit could be good yes, Not sure yet If adding "mission modifier" on quick shortcut like this is safe.

About the group info, it's display the group minus the current selected unit, that's why it changes. I think having the same unit displayed again in the group could be redundant ?

Edited April 11, 2013 by L etranger