CO08 Escape Chernarus Ports for Altis and Stratis.

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Quick question...this release is still for MP only, right ?

Yes, it is. It is also for dedicated server use only. But I also isolated some bottleneck and script errors, preventing this mission from being played in SP/Solo/localhost.

[swiso 2]

Yes, it is. It is also for dedicated server use only. But I also isolated some bottleneck and script errors, preventing this mission from being played in SP/Solo/localhost.

That's good !

I like this mission a lot.

Do you know if the common lib. error is solved?

[NeoArmageddon 958]

That's good !

I like this mission a lot.

Do you know if the common lib. error is solved?

CommonLib is completly removed and replaced by my own functions and/or converted scripts.

[swiso 2]

CommonLib is completly removed and replaced by my own functions and/or converted scripts.

Great !

Keep up the good work!

Thanks

[alanford 27]

Hey, a quick question. If I want to use toadies AK weapon pack, I can understand that I enable it in the parameters. However how do I obtain the weapon in the game? Will the AI carry it?

I really don't have nearly enough skills, but I have traced Param_Waffelbox to AT_Waffelbox. So if I understand correctly, the weapons only appear in the weapon checkpoints? Are there any 3rd party mods that make CSAT or AAF carry toadies aks?

Thanks for your reply, and REALLY thanks for the artillery feature! You are so awesome!

Oh also, what about the chernarus config files? Do they work? Can I just rename the .altis to -chernarus and play?

Edited November 14, 2014 by iZver

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Hey, a quick question. If I want to use toadies AK weapon pack, I can understand that I enable it in the parameters. However how do I obtain the weapon in the game? Will the AI carry it?

I really don't have nearly enough skills, but I have traced Param_Waffelbox to AT_Waffelbox. So if I understand correctly, the weapons only appear in the weapon checkpoints?

The Param indeed place a special weaponbox named AT_Waffelbox at the depots. The addon required for this, is not released yet. Next update of the mission will have a different mechanic to include more addons/weapons "on demand".

Oh also, what about the chernarus config files? Do they work? Can I just rename the .altis to -chernarus and play?

Working config files will be released with next update, including a packed mission for all supported maps. Just renaming won't work right now.

[alanford 27]

Hey.

We've had a really hugely fun, action packed night with escape yesterday. It was running mostly fine, but there were some problems though.

The first, and biggest one was again the artillery. The biggest problem is that there is no way of knowing when or where it will hit, and it just instantly kills you. For example, we were walking up a hill, without having seen an enemy,or having fired a shot in easely over 15 minutes. When we made it to the top of the hill, artillery came out of nowhere. No enemies in sight, no drones, no helis. Nothing. Luckily I was lagging about 100m behind, and was able to revive my 2 teammates. but still...

I think that the artillery is based on a good idea, to force movement, however it is a bit shuddy in execution right now. I am talking from a small squad point of view. There are just 3 of us, and I can see how if there were 8 players artillery would not be the slightest problem. But for us, all of the players are inside of the artillery range at almost all times when it hits. I hope I am explaining this correctly.

--An artillery warning would be enough to mitigate this. Maybe add a whistling sound of bombs flying, giving us time to spread and jump to cover. Or just a text message.

The second problem was missing troops. There were no troops on either the weapon depos, or the communication bases. They were empty. We had set the enemy numbers to small (1-3 players), if that effects it. I don't know if that was a bug or intended. I do have videos I can send you, both regarding the random artillery, and the empty bases. This was not the case on previous versions. I think we played on dev18.

I don't know how flexible your scripts are, but could you maybe make the numbers of enemies more adjustable? (instead of 3 values, 10?) Again, if this does not include too much leg work for you.

The third thing I have noticed is that you removed the manual Ai difficulty settings. There used to be some a setting that enabled us to set our own difficulites. The reasoning being that we (me and my mates) aren't professionals, and we do need an easy AI. We have to set the accuracy to waay low, because I don't like the ai to snipe headshot me with a machinegun from 500meters away. I don't think it's even remotely real. And we want to turn the ai detection to low, since we love to sneak around. However we did like to set the general to a higher difficulty, since when we do get detected, we like the ai to do some smart moves. So basically, for us the preffered setting is a reallistically unskilled untrained soldiers who don't fight really well, but with a decently good leadership. Something you could expect in real life. It's a shame you have taken these settings away. Now we are stuck with playing on easy/cadet. And the ai is basically braindead.

The fourth thing we have noticed is that there were some items missing from the depots. Most importantly for me the nightstalker scope.

The last thing we noticed on our 5 four gamesession was that some of the Ai is wonky. Although I am assuming this is a BI issue, and not a usermission one. A chopper kept following us on a moderate distance. (about 500m) never comming closer, but never going further away. The same helicopter doing somersaults and weird flips and turns, and flying backwards. An attack helicopter killing 2 squad mates, but than ignoring me and just flying above for some minutes before flying away. An APC literally killing a squad-mate by driving over him, but than not shooting anyone and just driving away. An apc driving 10m away from us and ignoring us.

--Now we assumed most of this was because of the cadet difficulty, but I thought maybe you'd want to know. :)

Oh, and could you elaborate what the spawn distance does? Does it just increase the radius where enemies spawn? So, does it make the density of enemies smaller? Or does it also increase the amount of enemies spawned? Also, how does it affect gameplay? I mean, when we get detected, and enemies start converging on us, how do they get spawned? Is it a cod style, where they just keep on comming, or is it more a predetermined amount of opponents in a radius, and they move to our location?

-And while I am asking that I just thought of something else that I was interested in. How much do enemies communicate? Because we have seen examples where we were in a gunfight with one patrol, and there was a different patrol, about 1km away, completely indifferent. Was this because of the cadet difficulty? Or do the Ai just not communicate?

If you are looking for ideas here's one: Could you add a script/feature that if you stole an enemy radio you'd be able to hear about large patrol movements. So, either by a written warning, saying: enemy APC patrol in area, or enemy reinforcements incoming. This could play nice with artillery. You could add artillery warning using this. Like, "dropping artillery"..

Next update of the mission will have a different mechanic to include more addons/weapons "on demand".

Oh, and about this, does't roy's branch already have the cas and hlc addons? We always return to your version because it's simpler. It doesn't have so many functions, but in our minds it means it does not have so much clutter. Less is more. Fewer scripts, fewer bugs, better gameplay, right?

It is really great to have you back! I am looking forward to more of your great releases!

Edited November 16, 2014 by iZver

[NeoArmageddon 958]

A lot to answer :D

The first: There will definitly be no onscreen warning about artillery in my mission. The whole point behind the arti is, that you should move/takecover/take out every possible spotter as fast as possible. If there is an arti strike, there is (or was) an enemy observer that had a LOS long enough to spot your group. An as already mentioned, I will implement a switch that increases the time an enemy needs to spot and report you. That will make arti strikes less likely.

The artillery system is NOT a scripted solution. The mortars are real and map-placed. That means you can hear them firing if you are close enough and you can also hear the rounds flying (approx 5-8 seconds between the first time you can hear them and the impact). When we play, that is always enough time to shout "Incomming arti! Take cover!".

Maybe you are using some soundsmods that make the mortar flying sound unhearable?

The second: Something messed with the spawning. Maybe an addon, mod or arma bug. Try again and see if this is reproducable.

The third: I removed it, because it was to complicated and, didn't work es intended. You can change the AI settings in your servers config or with any third party AI mod (Zeus AI for example).

The fourth: Nightstalker is removed, if you select the "No TWS/NVG" param at missionstart.

The last: BIS fault :D Probably because of poor serverperformance.

Spawndistance: Distance in which a patrol is activated/constructed. Has no effect on the density of patrols but on the total amount of units.

Communication: They communicate alot. Mostly about the "searchleader" that controls all patrols. If you are detected by an patrol, the search leader sends some troops as backup, but not all. If you eliminate a lot of patrols, the searchleader probably will send more troops your way. Troops guarding a city will not be send far away from the city (but are send to positions in their respective patrolling area if the players are sighted).

Radio: Somethign like this is already on my list, but will take some time.

Oh, and about this, does't roy's branch already have the cas and hlc addons?

Roy's mission has somewhat diverge from what I want "my" escape mission to be. For example I don't like the new spawning script in roys mission.

I always think, that the "simple" looking missions feel the most realistic. I assume that roys actual codebase is not much bigger than of the vanilla branch but we have a different style in writing missions.

But indeed I wan't to keep the missions looking sleek but with a lot of features that you won't see in only one playthrough.

[alanford 27]

Hey! Thanks for your reply! It's really awesome hearing back from you. About the missing guards at the outposts, and no nightstalker scope, I did try it again, and again there was no guards, and no nightstalker. I am completely sure that I have selected tws/nwg to all. If it helps, I installed bcombat ai, after you recommended using a 3rd party ai mod. (before I had tpwcas). So to reiterate: no guards on both bcombat and tpwcas. I used your dev18 version. What I also noticed is that there were no night vision goggles in the crates; I am not sure if they were supposed to be there. Some patrols have had nvg's though.

I know I am pushing it, but could I bother you with another suggestion? :) Right now the way we play is that we escape, kill 2 or 3 patrols to get some gear, and one titan, than loot an outpost to get high end gear and than go to the com base. And than we make our escape. -- What I am trying to say is that while the gameplay is very dynamic and random and new every time, the basic steps are always the same. Escape>kill patrol>loot outpost>com base>escape. What I'm getting at is that if you made the outpost inventory a bit more random than the procedure would change. Instead of having just one type of an outpost with all the gear, maybe make different outposts.

Oh and, I am not sure if that is BI arma controled, or controlled by your script/mission; but all AT and AA soldiers in the patrols always have titans. Never rpg's or pcmls. (I may have seen some, I am not 100% sure, but they are much rarer) It would seem more realistic if they had rpgs, would it not?

Okay, I'll stop spamming you now. Thanks for all your attention. :)

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Admin console is enabled. Next time you encounter a camp without AI, type this into the variable check "count allunits". Should be somewhat near 100-150.

The spawn of guards and patrols is linked. If there are no guards but patrols, they must have spawned but moved(?). Can bcombat take control of waypoints?

It works fine for me and my squad.

In next release, the ammodepots are more randomized. I am already working on that. I am also investigating different types of camps and depots.

There should be all kinds of launchers in the game and with the patrols.

Edit:

While adding some new stuff I stumbled upon some very old code (still from A2 escape) that made me somewhat angry. I want to put the missions on a new script foundation. This will probably delay the 1.8 release. Hope you guys don't mind.

Edited November 17, 2014 by NeoArmageddon

[alanford 27]

Hey.

I don't know if this helps, but I'd just like to post a quick update on the no guards issue I am having. I did a quick solo test, to recheck the problems I have had. I have tried using a vanilla arma version and my modded one. Both had the same results: empty ammo depots, and no nightstalker. And it's not as if the units spawned there and than moved away, they simply are not there. And no nightstalker.

Here are some screenshots, maybe they will help you indentify the problem.

Vanilla:

this is where i spawned

http://i.imgur.com/eCnBLhZ.jpg (494 kB)

this is after I have spent a few minutes running to the outpost. Maybe it's important to note I did not get into conflict with the prison guards, I sneaked out.

http://i.imgur.com/aU54xzK.jpg (553 kB)

unitcount

http://i.imgur.com/aDr6z0M.jpg (125 kB)

Camp from air, just so you can see there are no troops or anything.

http://i.imgur.com/FX4TBCh.jpg (671 kB)

Modded (bcombat+agm)

running to the depot. I have been under heavy fire. I used allowdamage false

http://i.imgur.com/YPiwCSi.jpg (280 kB)

regardless of what the map is showing, there were no troops here.

http://i.imgur.com/xS3Wwxt.jpg (326 kB)

at the depot

http://i.imgur.com/qfCkmy1.jpg (301 kB)

unitcoutn

http://i.imgur.com/qS50W63.jpg (450 kB)

inventory of the scopes box

http://i.imgur.com/LP0Dwqk.jpg (439 kB)

I'm posting these bugs in good hopes that you want as much feedback as possible. If you want I can stop. :)

Oh, one last thing, can i somehow change the uniforms of the units? (aka. make one unit use a specific uniform. To be exact use stavrou's uniform/body)

[NeoArmageddon 958]

I made some tests and all units spawn as expected.

But as mentioned above, I am working on some new scripts (including spawning). That should solve this problem without us knowing why the units don't spawn for you ;)

But big thanks for the feedback.

Edit: Scruffy is working on some new base layouts.

Edited November 18, 2014 by NeoArmageddon

[alanford 27]

Hey.

I did spend a couple of hours figuring the dedicated server thing out. So now I am running a dedicated setup. And All the bugs I've listed are indeed resolved. The Ai guards are spawning, and nightstalker+nvg's are in the crates.

This maybe could be not due to the dedicated server, but me having increased the parameters from few(1-3) to (4-6) and spawn distance to medium from low. I can not be sure....

Oh, and since I lack the skills to reverse engineer your mission I need to ask you this:could I use Ai caching with your mission? http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?179777-ZBE_Cache-AI-amp-Vehicle-caching-script-addon/page6

What about the skin changing? Can i somehow change the skin(uniform) of a specific player?

Thanks for your hard work. :)

[NeoArmageddon 958]

I did spend a couple of hours figuring the dedicated server thing out. So now I am running a dedicated setup. And All the bugs I've listed are indeed resolved. The Ai guards are spawning, and nightstalker+nvg's are in the crates.

This maybe could be not due to the dedicated server, but me having increased the parameters from few(1-3) to (4-6) and spawn distance to medium from low. I can not be sure....

You indeed need a dedicated server to run the missions. Should be stated in the readme somewhere.

Oh, and since I lack the skills to reverse engineer your mission I need to ask you this:could I use Ai caching with your mission? http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?179777-ZBE_Cache-AI-amp-Vehicle-caching-script-addon/page6

There is no need to add such a script. Escape uses already a specialised caching system, that is more efficient for this type of mission than the script that you linked. Also using such a caching script will break the whole mission as the garbage collection can't remove old groups and spawn new ones.

What about the skin changing? Can i somehow change the skin(uniform) of a specific player?

Just open the mission in the editor and change the players. Make sure you don't delete and replace them, just change their class.

And maybe you should wait with editing the mission yourself. The next dev/release will probably be a major milestone in development of Escape.

[alanford 27]

Just open the mission in the editor and change the players. Make sure you don't delete and replace them, just change their class.

So in mission.sqm this code block defines the players?

	class Groups
{
	items=19;
	class Item0
	{
		side="WEST";
		class Vehicles
		{
			items=10;
			class Item0
			{
				position[]={12944.353,28.547741,18904.357};
				azimut=-7.9580002;
				id=0;
				side="WEST";
				vehicle="B_Soldier_TL_F";
				player="PLAYER COMMANDER";
				leader=1;
				rank="CAPTAIN";
				skill=0.60000002;
				text="p1";
				init="this setCaptive true;this setVariable [""drn_var_initializing"", true];this addeventhandler [""killed"",{ if ((_this select 1) in (call drn_fnc_Escape_GetPlayers) && (_this select 1) != (_this select 0)) then {[(_this select 1), -9] call drn_fnc_CL_AddScore;}; }];if(local this) then {this unassignItem ""ItemMap"";this removeItem ""ItemMap"";this unassignItem ""itemGPS"";this removeItem ""itemGPS"";this unassignitem ""B_UavTerminal""; this removeitem ""B_UavTerminal"";};";
			};

To change the skin of player 1 (team leader) do I change the vehicle=?

[u]vehicle="B_Soldier_TL_F";[/u] to [u]vehicle="U_I_G_resistanceLeader_F";[/u]

This would than also change the default loadout. Which would than mean I could spawn with something unintended. Could this present an issue? Can this also be an issue with AI, or side allegiance?

So to make sure I don't create any new issues, should I rather add this to init?

this removeUniform; this adduniform "U_I_G_resistanceLeader_F";

In regards to waiting, we are eagerly waiting for the new version. However this is a small tweak, which takes next to no time. And we'll be playing again this saturday, so I wanted to do this before then. :)

Maybe you'd want to know... You mission got 5 more people to buy arma. So Now we'll be 8 instead of 3. This should be fun.

---

EDIT

I have tried both. Not working. Adding the lines to init makes no change to the uniform. Changing the vehicle= returns this error, when starting the mission:

mpmissions\_ _cur_mp.Stratis\mission.sqm/Mission/Groups/Item65/Vehicles/Item0.Vehicle:Vehicle class U_I_G_resistanceLeader_F no longer exists

edit2:

Okay, so I got it working partially:

I've set vehicle="I_G_resistanceLeader_F";

However this changes the entire player class. Can you just quickly gloss over this?

Team Leader class you set:

I've marked in red content which i think is just inventory. But the bold things concern me.

http://browser.six-projects.net/cfg_vehicles/1911869

Content

{"author"=>"Bohemia Interactive", "_generalmacro"=>"B_Soldier_TL_F", "scope"=>2, "displayname"=>"Team Leader", "uniformclass"=>"U_B_CombatUniform_mcam_vest", "weapons"=>["arifle_MX_GL_Hamr_pointer_F", "hgun_P07_F", "Throw", "Put"], "respawnweapons"=>["arifle_MX_GL_Hamr_pointer_F", "hgun_P07_F", "Throw", "Put"], "magazines"=>["30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "MiniGrenade", "MiniGrenade", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "SmokeShell", "SmokeShellGreen", "SmokeShellBlue", "SmokeShellOrange", "Chemlight_green", "Chemlight_green", "1Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeBlue_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeGreen_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeOrange_Grenade_shell"], "respawnmagazines"=>["30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer", "30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "16Rnd_9x21_Mag", "MiniGrenade", "MiniGrenade", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "SmokeShell", "SmokeShellGreen", "SmokeShellBlue", "SmokeShellOrange", "Chemlight_green", "Chemlight_green", "1Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeBlue_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeGreen_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeOrange_Grenade_shell"], "cost"=>450000, "camouflage"=>1.6, "sensitivity"=>3.3, "icon"=>"iconManLeader", "linkeditems"=>["V_PlateCarrierGL_rgr", "H_HelmetSpecB", "ItemGPS", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "NVGoggles"], "respawnlinkeditems"=>["V_PlateCarrierGL_rgr", "H_HelmetSpecB", "ItemGPS", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "NVGoggles"]}

Stavrou class:

http://browser.six-projects.net/cfg_vehicles/1914733

Content

{"author"=>"Bohemia Interactive", "_generalmacro"=>"I_G_resistanceLeader_F", "scope"=>2, "displayname"=>"Stavrou", "nakeduniform"=>"U_I_G_resistanceLeader_F", "uniformclass"=>"U_I_G_resistanceLeader_F", "facetype"=>"IG_Leader", "identitytypes"=>["IG_Leader"], "model"=>"\\A3\\Characters_F_EPB\\Guerrilla\\ig_guerrilla4_1.p3d", "hiddenselections"=>["Camo"], "hiddenselectionstextures"=>["\\A3\\Characters_F_EPB\\Guerrilla\\Data\\ig_guerrilla4_1_co.paa"], "linkeditems"=>["V_I_G_resistanceLeader_F", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio"], "respawnlinkeditems"=>["V_I_G_resistanceLeader_F", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio"]}

Stavrou has considerably less content. Will this be a problem?

Edited November 21, 2014 by iZver

[NeoArmageddon 958]

No, not in a text editor. Load the mission with the ingame editor, locate the playergroup on the map, doubleclick a unit und change their class. Should cause no problems if you don't touch the Init or the mission.sqm-file itself.

[alanford 27]

Thanks again for your fast reply. Your support is stellar!!!

I changed the class in the editor. And just a note if anyone will ever be reading this and wants to know; it's identical to changing vehicle="B_Soldier_TL_F"; to vehicle="I_G_resistanceLeader_F";. Which does in fact work.

Another thing I need to figure out before saturday would be editing the ammo depot items. If I understand correctly the items are defined in UnitClasses.sqf.

And let's say I wanted to add the items to the big box I edit this block of code:

// Weapons and ammo in the vehicle box (the big one)
// Some high volumes (mostly for immersion)
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle = [];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["HandGrenade", "MiniGrenade", "HandGrenade_Stone"], 50]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["SmokeShell", "SmokeShellYellow", "SmokeShellRed", "SmokeShellGreen", "SmokeShellPurple", "SmokeShellBlue", "SmokeShellOrange"], 50]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["Chemlight_blue", "Chemlight_green", "Chemlight_red", "Chemlight_yellow"], 50]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["1Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeBlue_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeGreen_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeOrange_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokePurple_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeRed_Grenade_shell", "1Rnd_SmokeYellow_Grenade_shell"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["3Rnd_Smoke_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokeBlue_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokeGreen_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokeOrange_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokePurple_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokeRed_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_SmokeYellow_Grenade_shell"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["FlareWhite_F", "FlareGreen_F", "FlareRed_F", "FlareYellow_F"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["UGL_FlareWhite_F", "UGL_FlareGreen_F", "UGL_FlareRed_F", "UGL_FlareYellow_F", "UGL_FlareCIR_F"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["3Rnd_UGL_FlareWhite_F", "3Rnd_UGL_FlareGreen_F", "3Rnd_UGL_FlareRed_F", "3Rnd_UGL_FlareYellow_F", "3Rnd_UGL_FlareCIR_F"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, [objNull, 100, 1, 1, ["1Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell", "3Rnd_HE_Grenade_shell"], 25]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["ToolKit", 100, 10, 10, [], 0]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["Medikit", 100, 10, 10, [], 0]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["FirstAidKit", 100, 50, 50, [], 0]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["Binocular", 100, 25, 25, [], 0]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["Binocular", 100, 25, 25, [], 0]];
a3e_arr_AmmoDepotVehicleBackpacks = ["O_UAV_01_backpack_F"];
// Items

is that correct? There is no documentation on what the numbers do. So can I just insert this block of text? Would that work? ((I do try these things by myself... the reason why I am asking you because tinkering with someone's code can involve changes in other parts of the mission I am not aware of. So I am asking you because I might break something without knowing it. :) )

drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer_Dim", 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_SD, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_AP, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_green_mag_Tracer_Dim, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_green_mag_SD, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_green_mag_AP, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_556x45_Stanag_Tracer_Dim, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_556x45_Stanag_SD, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_556x45_Stanag_AP, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_20Rnd_762x51_Mag_Tracer, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_20Rnd_762x51_Mag_Tracer_Dim, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_20Rnd_762x51_Mag_SD, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_20Rnd_762x51_Mag_AP, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_20Rnd_762x51_Mag_LR, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_muzzle_mzls_H, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_muzzle_mzls_B, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_muzzle_mzls_smg_01, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_muzzle_mzls_L, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_muzzle_mzls_smg_02, 100, 10, 10]];
drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["B_IR_Grenade, 100, 10, 10]];

Also, is there a limit to how much a box can carry?

EDIT:

Adding the lines broke the mission. No ai spawning, and no depot crates.

I've tried adding only one line. Both

drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["AGM_30Rnd_65x39_caseless_mag_Tracer_Dim", 100, 1, 1];

and

drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotVehicle, ["B_IR_Grenade, 100, 10, 10]];

Both broke the mission. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Edit2:

So I figured out that if i add the ir grenade to ammodepotitems the mission does not break. Although it does seem to take considerably longer for the ammo depots to spawn.

drn_arr_AmmoDepotItems set [count drn_arr_AmmoDepotItems, ["B_IR_Grenade", 100, 10, 10]];

Edited November 21, 2014 by iZver

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Have a look at the createAmmodepot file. There should be some lines explaining ne numbers in the unitclasses.sqf. I also recommend enabling the -showscripterrors commandline param for your arma as ypu will be able to see errors onscreen. No AI means in most cases, the mission encountered a scripterror on start.

P.S. My replies are a little bit slow and unprecise as I am currently traveling by bus and don't have a computer.

EDIT:

Developing of new branch is coming along nicely.

I already accomplished this:

• New server/client backend (should work in LAN/SP too).
  
• New world initialisation (for better porting).
  
• New patrol spawning system (completly new, faster, better but plays like the old one).
  
• Merged the better ambient infantry system from one of my other missions (faster, cleaner and overall better).
  
• Unified zones and patrols (old escape used "villages" and "guardedPositions", new system has only "patrols" but they can be specialized (bases, villages, prison, etc).
  

And here are some features that are planned/not complete yet:

• New bases: There will be AirBases, TankBases and MortarCamps.
  
• Finding a map will not reveal all enemy bases. Instead you have to collect more intel/maps. Some bases can be of "unknown" type. All bases can be "discovered" by getting them in viewdistance.
  
• Housepatrols: Enemy guards will spawn in houses and towers.
  
• New startoption (different scenario, no prisoncamp but a crashsite).
  
• Loadout at ammodepot will be randomized (included installed addons).
  

This will probably takes two more weeks. I could post regularly updates in twitter if you guys want to.

Edited November 23, 2014 by NeoArmageddon

[alanford 27]

Hey. Thanks for the updates.

Since you are redoing the loadouts at ammodepots you will be looking at unitclasses.sqf, right? Could you somehow add an easely editable variable for adding our addon gear/items into the ammodepts. So, for example make a new text file, into which we can paste classnames. It would be a massive life improvement, and also would enable the mission to be compatible with things like, addon medical systems, and expanded repairing systems. (for example agm), which require additional items.

Btw, I am really inclined to buy you ein Wurst und Bier, if you are into that. Either way, is there a way I can send transfer you funds as an appreciation for your hard work?

And, in case you are interested, here's some more feedback from this saturday. (there was only 4 of us, since the 4 new guys had some technical problems)

Number one: The parameters are still not fully working. The Save parameters feature does not work at all. The NVG spawning is still glitchy. I am 100% sure I have selected the correct parameter for nvg and tws, but neither tws scopes or nvg goggles were in the loot crates. --Granted, I have been messing with the unitclasses.sqf, however i had not removed any items.

Number two: The drones were targeting enemy AI. And this was not a one off occurrence. The drone was flying over our heads every once in a while, and it attacked an enemy patrol 2 sperate times.Maybe it had something to do with me changing my player's vehicle=" from NATO to (stavrou's faction)?

Number three: Could you change the boats? There were 2 times where getting a boat would have been a major help. But killing the AI on the patrol boat without actually destroying the patrol boat was a major pain. After a lot of trying and failing we did actually manage to get a boat. And than this happened. Granted, he -was- trying to hit the patrol boat in the background. But still. Was extremely funny though. :D

Maybe placing some dinghies in various places that make sense (like harbours, if that's possible). And maybe possibly reduce the numbers of attack patrol boats, so that using a dinghy wont mean instant death.

Number four: There was a complete clusterfuck at the main airport. When we got close the server FPS dropped from steady 40 to 15. And when we entered there were about 4 attack heli's hovering in the distance. There were about 5 destroyed drones. There were several hovering transport helis. And a looot of fires and explosions. The upshot being that I don't think it effected any performance before we got close to the actual airport. I have video if you are interested.

Number five: Could you make it possible to hijack helicopters somehow? Maybe add stationary helicopters at some airports? Heavily fortified and stuff? Or is flying not a part of the mission design? It's up to you what direction you want to take the mission. :)

Number six: The lack of MX rifles is a shame. I know they are nato guns, but maybe you could fit them into the whole opfor mission story by only making them spawn on helicopter bases or someting like that? Reason being that these bases were left behind by nato? Maybe also only include the titans in these high value bases? I don't know, but there is a lot of options, since you have said you are expanding bases.

Thanks for reading!

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Hey. Thanks for the updates.

And thanks for your valuable feedback!

Since you are redoing the loadouts at ammodepots you will be looking at unitclasses.sqf, right? Could you somehow add an easely editable variable for adding our addon gear/items into the ammodepts. So, for example make a new text file, into which we can paste classnames. It would be a massive life improvement, and also would enable the mission to be compatible with things like, addon medical systems, and expanded repairing systems. (for example agm), which require additional items.

There will be no UnitClasses.sqf in die future. The ammoDepot loadouts will be read from the A3-Config files. Vanilla weapons/ammo/items and addon items will be randomly included in the depot (maybe you don't find what you need and have to raid another depot).

Btw, I am really inclined to buy you ein Wurst und Bier, if you are into that. Either way, is there a way I can send transfer you funds as an appreciation for your hard work?

Thanks for the offer. I prefer mead instead of beer :D But ask again, when the next version is out ;P

Number one: The parameters are still not fully working. The Save parameters feature does not work at all. The NVG spawning is still glitchy. I am 100% sure I have selected the correct parameter for nvg and tws, but neither tws scopes or nvg goggles were in the loot crates. --Granted, I have been messing with the unitclasses.sqf, however i had not removed any items.

Param saving works like a charm for us. Have you checked the briefing? There should be a list of active params. The stored variables are lost on server restart (only persistent between sessions).

Number two: The drones were targeting enemy AI. And this was not a one off occurrence. The drone was flying over our heads every once in a while, and it attacked an enemy patrol 2 sperate times.Maybe it had something to do with me changing my player's vehicle=" from NATO to (stavrou's faction)?

Drone works great for us. Probably because you changed factions. Have you encountered this in the unmodified version aswell?

Number three: Could you change the boats? There were 2 times where getting a boat would have been a major help. But killing the AI on the patrol boat without actually destroying the patrol boat was a major pain. After a lot of trying and failing we did actually manage to get a boat. And than this happened. Granted, he -was- trying to hit the patrol boat in the background. But still. Was extremely funny though. :D

Boats will be redone with my new ambient infantry script. There will be less and more realistic patrols.

Maybe placing some dinghies in various places that make sense (like harbours, if that's possible). And maybe possibly reduce the numbers of attack patrol boats, so that using a dinghy wont mean instant death.

Already done.

Number four: There was a complete clusterfuck at the main airport. When we got close the server FPS dropped from steady 40 to 15. And when we entered there were about 4 attack heli's hovering in the distance. There were about 5 destroyed drones. There were several hovering transport helis. And a looot of fires and explosions. The upshot being that I don't think it effected any performance before we got close to the actual airport. I have video if you are interested.

You are playing ona dedicated right? Sounds like your Ai is broken somehow. Never saw that before.

Number five: Could you make it possible to hijack helicopters somehow? Maybe add stationary helicopters at some airports? Heavily fortified and stuff? Or is flying not a part of the mission design? It's up to you what direction you want to take the mission. :)

You already can Hijack a helicopter. Shoot the tail rotor of a searchchopper. The engineer can repair vehicles if he has a toolkit.

Number six: The lack of MX rifles is a shame. I know they are nato guns, but maybe you could fit them into the whole opfor mission story by only making them spawn on helicopter bases or someting like that? Reason being that these bases were left behind by nato? Maybe also only include the titans in these high value bases? I don't know, but there is a lot of options, since you have said you are expanding bases.

There will be NATO rifles in the next release. But I don't tell you were ;)

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for writing.

[alanford 27]

Oh btw, while you are still in the process of making new bases. Here's another idea we've had. Each house has it's own classname, right? So you could make one of the bases spawn inside a house. And if you chose a house which only exists in a city, than that would make for some really nice CQB combat. Right now, we just flank around cities, this way, risking it would be worth it. Which, incidentally would also fit nicely with your new in-building guards. I can already imagine some exicting city raids, where you clear each house individually.

The flip side being that this would only work on vanilla arma 3 buildings, since older maps use different houses.

Cheers!

EDIT: Some more ideas, if you feel like doing more stuff :)

I feel that none of these things i'll list are 'bloating' the missions. They are intuitive, behind-the-scenes stuff. Stuff which is actually completely reasonable and are things you'd actually expect in real life.

1 Another type of base that you could include/improve are the already existing military bases. (with the big towers). Right now you have artillery there, but you could also make loot spawn there (randomly? maybe randomly select 2 of the bases each game or something) and than also beef up the security. Capturing these bases would mean a significant risk, but would also yield great results, since they could be strong points, and a good fall-back spot. Because from what i can tell, 2 good players can hold a military base against practically anything. (if the ai aimbot is turned down a bit)

2 This is a long one, but I think it's well worth the read.

Right now the troops spawning is very CoD like. I mean, it works perfectly fine and does it's job just good. But at the moment it's just random patrols in a full circle, and when you are, lets say at comm station, some patrol reinforcements will come at random times.

If I understand correctly the way the script currently works is that it just spawns X-amount of units/patrols in r-radius around player and gives than a random patrol. Than when an AI detects a player it gives the ai units new waypoint on top of the player. And when a player kills one unit/patrol, a new unit will spawn in t-time and than that unit will also be sent to the player. Which works fine for the most part, right, but it's like infinite spawn cod ai. Right now I believe you are confused, but there's a point to this, so please keep reading. ;)

This results in random tanks just roaming around not doing anything. I mean, I've had tanks drive past a firefight and just ignoring everything. And for example, we captures a big military base, killed the patrols that came, and than after 10-20 minutes there were new random patrols about 700m away, completely oblivious to what has happened.

Wouldn't it make more sense if you had x-patrols in an area, and then when the number of units drops to x, new ones are spawned from one direction. AKA a small army...

--In theory this would more closely resemble what a real-life scenario would be. A general would notice his units are getting killed after some time, and than after delegating just the units in the area there send more reinforcements from base. (first patrols in area, than actual task force from hq)

--In practice I think this would result in some reasonable progression of difficulty. What I mean to say it at first you would fend off just the random patrols which happened to be there, and than after a while a stronger force would come. Which falls in nicely with the way you want the players to keep moving. On the other side players again could use this for some tactical gameplay. For example: find a strongpoint>camp there, reinforce with mines and stuff>bait the enemy force there>hold them off. While a smaller group does an objective.

This would not change the current difficulty if the player keeps moving. So when a player keeps changing location, new random patrols keep spawning, and everything is as it is now.

This again would synergise nicely with the new bases you are building. I am assuming some will be more heavily guarded than others. So this new Ai mechanic could be put to good use. I much prefer fending off larger units from a commanding position on a hill, than fighting random patrols where I can't prepare or see them comming. (not to say that should not happen, like i said at first things would be completely the same, but after killing x-patrols the changes start to happen...)

It would make the gameplay more predictable. You could make the random patrols just have light vehicles, and than the tanks spawn in the second wave of a bigger taskforce. Which, again fits nicely in the canon of the story. Rebels that have taken over the island. They don't have the resources to use tanks to patrol, right?

The last thing I have to say about this is: Right now the mission is all run run run. You run to a depot, you run to a comm base (or drive...) and than you run to the escape. Which is what you envisioned and is really fun. However me and my team, we find that we just stumble from one shitstorm into another. There is no structure. We just fight our way chaotically from one objective to another. There's only limited strategy. And no big-picture stuff. And I mean, with these changes I have said before, there's no change to how the mission plays now. You could play it like always and not notice a single thing has been changed. However if a team does want to organise a bit and make some proper strategy, make use of fall-back points etc than this is a really good improvement and change.

It could result in a scenario like: "okay we got this big base. You 4 guys hold it against enemy AI, and keep them busy and blind. While the other 4 come with me and lets sneak into the comm depot which is no completely defenseless

It's a thing which isn't intrusive, but adds massively to the variety. I mean, this mission is already infinitely replayable, but this adds even more. :D

3 Small realism improvement: right now the turrets at ammodepots are not manned. Can you make the AI actually use them?

4 Let's say you implemented my first idea. You could make the AI more life-like and make they want to take back a bit objective. So lets say that a user raids a big base with mortars and ammo and guns and whatnot you could make more ai go there to retake that. So for example when a user manages to take out a big objective, like a base with mortars, the Ai commander (aka script) sends troops there to retake that base. As far as I can tell, this already happens, to some degree. Right now, if I uderstand correctly the script just sends units to last known location (which just happens to be the base). But if you actually made it so that if there is no Ai units in the base the AI is actively sending units there untill the base is retaken. A base would be retaken when there is no players nearby, and an Ai unit is inside the base.

So then you could use a base as a distraction. Some players could stay in the military base, luring Ai there, while a group would go take a commbase, with fewer chances of reinforcements.

But also, building on that you could add a conditional triger that when a base has been marked as re-captured the artillery ai would respawn. This would make destroying the mortars necessary. It's just a small thing, but it seems like a thing you'd actually do when fighting asymmetric warfare.

Edited December 1, 2014 by iZver

[mythlawlbear 10]

My 1.7 Dev18 Build: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hg5m8m82fn9ui21/co10_Escape.Altis.pbo?dl=0

Not perfect yet for a full 1.7 release... but we are getting there...

I will start on a "Reduced Artillery"-option now.

Thank you so much for keeping this Game Mode alive, still my favorite mission. =]

[NeoArmageddon 958]

@mythlawlbear

You are welcome!

@iZver Thanks again for your feedback:

1: Fortifying existing strcutures is planned (and I investigated some techniques) but it is not as easy as it sounds. When spawning units like this, the performance could drop incredibly. Or the AI is stuck in houses or stuff. (BTW: One result from my investigations was an oldschool insurgency map we want to play on our annual Squadmeeting this weekend... maybe I release it too).

2: The idea of the circle is, that enemy forces are always comming from the far. You never see them and if you were detected and they are coming it looks like they were sent from far. For the simplicity of the spawning script I want to keep it this way. Also it still feels much more realistic than other spawning scripts do this. But I like the idea of adaptive force strength. Maybe I will look into this. Also I want to improve vehicle patrols in general.

3: Unfixed bug from removing UPS. Sorry.

4: That's a heavy one and will probably render the mission unplayable (in terms if performance and computation, also this needs more trigger on the map). It's a nice idea but probably not in the scope of the mission. Sorry. But still: I will keep it in mind and maybe find a better approach.

[mythlawlbear 10]

On a side note.

2: The idea of the circle is, that enemy forces are always coming from the far. You never see them and if you were detected and they are coming it looks like they were sent from far. For the simplicity of the spawning script I want to keep it this way. Also it still feels much more realistic than other spawning scripts do this. But I like the idea of adaptive force strength. Maybe I will look into this. Also I want to improve vehicle patrols in general.

I do very much agree with your views on the game mode Neo but I've always had some issues with the spawn system.

I don't think the inf spawns is the problem but the rate at which they respawn and the units that attack. The issue is, that all the units in the vicinity come for you, regardless of their faction. What if you could make the squad that comes to attack you also be part of the squad that was just engaged. So AFF only respond to AAF reinforcement request and CSAT to CSAT.

With one exception:

If AAF is targeted and no other AAF units are in the area CSAT would respond, vise versa.

Finally vehicle spawns should be excluded from the initial spawn point. Since currently starting off takes a bit of luck, when you come out of a cage with pistols and a Armored Vehicle comes around the corner guns blazing.

And quick question, I see you added a parameter saving feature, how do you save the parameters? I'm using TADST.

Edited January 16, 2015 by mythlawlbear

[alanford 27]

Okay, so we've been playing this mission for quite a while now, and there are few new things that come to my attention:

1. As @mythlawlbear mentioned, the start of the game is pretty much depending on luck. His idea to delay spawning of vehicles is really good.

2. The helicopters and drones are a real pain in the ass when playing with a small group. Since a single AA titan has basically 0 chance of downing the heli/drone we'd need to carry 2 aa titans to reliably take out an airborne unit. Which turns out is really an issue when there's just 2-4 players. Could you maybe add parameter to disable airborne attack units? The scount helicopters are not an issue, however drones do fire big rockets which 1 shot anything, and can result in an instant-death scenario. And it's not like we can use the .50 cal on the back of a truck to figh the drone, since it kill the truck before we can down it.

3. The boats are extremely glitchy, as said before. They will get stuck on the shore a lot, resulting in quite a few waster AI units.

4. The main battle tanks don't do anything. There have been cases where we were in a huge firefight for a few minutes, when a tank rolled by a road. And it just kept on going. It didn't care that there was gunfire not 10m away from it. Also, we experimented and shot bullets into the tank, it didn't care. So again, some wasted AI units.

5. Now, I need to while about the AI again. :D I am sure you are annoyed at this point. But here I go: We were in a big firefight, and quite a few different patrols came, and we took out some APC's and a truck full of soliders. 5 minutes later, there was a patrol about 500m away from us completely oblivious to the whole thing. They were on a patrol as if nothing had happened. So, i assume the script spawned new units when the old ones died, but it doesn't tell the units to be on alert. And to search for us. Can this even be done via a script?

6. You'll probably work on this with the new bases, but still: the comm stations and even the ammo depots are very poorly defended. Only 4-6 soliders. And no tanks. Do you think you could make them more defended?

cheers! Looking forward for the new release. :)