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Vormulac

CO08 Escape Chernarus Ports for Altis and Stratis.

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So you play SP, Günter? In your code you simply chose the mission makers "Normal" preset.

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No I play coop on my gameserver with friends. And i edited all the parameters ahead of time in the params.hpp located here

Escape-Altis.altis\include\params.hpp

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Question, In the Params.hpp this code:

class VillageSpawnCount
{
	//paramsArray[6]
	title="Village Patrol Spawns";
	values[]={80000, 40000, 10000};
	texts[]={"Low (better performance)", "Medium", "High (Very demanding)"};
	default = 40000;

Whats do the numbers represent, distance?

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Hi Vormulac,

I've sunk many many hours into the A2 and A3 escape missions. I think your port is great btw, so full credit to you (and the original guys inc Engima) on one of the best scenarios available for Arma

While I don't profess to be an expert at scripting, I've made modifications to original missions for use with my lan group. Some key ideas implemented include:

> Randomising searchchopper, russianattackchopper and dropchopper from a WIDE variety of aircraft as per Iceman's A2 edit of Escape. In my current A2 escape build there's around 16 different aircraft (split across the three 'chopper' functions) including GNT's B52 'attackchopper', C130 for dropchopper, GNT's Cessna for searchchopper, plus a ton more. Obviously these are drawn from available aircraft mods. This really makes each run very different (the B52 is a blast...literally).

> Increasing the dropchopper drop number to ~36, reducing each drop spawn time so they are tightly clustered, changing the skins of the drop chop crew to be distinct, changing the skill level much higher than average.

> Adding the bus and other vehicles to the civilian and reinforcement surprises. The bus drops ~24 guys off, hilarious

> Reducing the cycle time for dynamic weather significantly (I haven't been able to get Tonic's fast day / night cycle working on dedicated server however...)

> Increasing the speed of pursuit units ie searchgroup from "Normal" to "Full". Makes foot chases more meaningful

> Edits to unitclass to increase weapon probabilities (given higher difficulty)

>I've built a A3 Chernarus build using A3MP and your Altis script. Great stuff

Plus much more stuff

Anyway, one issue with both editing the A2 build and your A3 Altis build (to incorporate the above) is although we host the game on a dedicated box (4.8ghz 3550k) late game performance is reduced, although still playable. The key issue appears to be 'residual' searchgroups in the map. I note most of the other functions like ambientinfantry and traffic have functions that delete groups if their distance to the party exceeds a certain point. Searchgroup doesn't appear to have this. Thus particularly on a map like Altis (or even Chernarus), if you 'flee' on area of the map quickly, there appears to be residual searchgroups in the area ie. you could be on one side of Altis or Chernarus and there could be 10-20 groups or 100+ units searching on the other side of the map with really no practical way of re-engaging the party thus are spending CPU cycles for no profitable reason. Removing redundant searchgroups, like the other functions do, would no doubt free up significant resources to add more units where they may be a factor. I was hoping you might consider this in your build. I'm attempting to transfer some code in from the other functions into searchgroup but so far haven't been able to get it working. Cheers and thanks again :)

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I second this sentiment. Awesome mission.

RoyWheels, hey it sounds pretty awesome if you have a working Escape Chernarus with the v1.6 code. My team plays Escape Altis v1.6 almost every week and it is still our go-to mission when our other weekly downloads are too bug-ridden, boring or downright silly. Perhaps you can join the development team and it can be released as an informal Alpha/Beta release on this forum to give us old Chernarus junkies the fix we so desperately crave. We would be happy to test it further and let you know of any bugs. It may also give Neo & Vorm the time they need to work their wizardry on the new code so that it can be more easily ported to the many islands they have planned.

My team and I are big fans of the work being done here as this is more than just a mission. It creates a fully-occupied enemy island that does not take kindly to the appearance of intruders and sends out an appropriately hostile and persistent reaction to deal with it. We believe the mission has enormous further potential as the basis for many other behind-enemy-lines scenarios.

---------- Post added at 10:48 ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 ----------

Hey man, if you have versions to share, I'm sure there would be many willing fans who would appreciate your fine work.

Hi Vormulac,

I've sunk many many hours into the A2 and A3 escape missions. I think your port is great btw, so full credit to you (and the original guys inc Engima) on one of the best scenarios available for Arma

While I don't profess to be an expert at scripting, I've made modifications to original missions for use with my lan group. Some key ideas implemented include:

> Randomising searchchopper, russianattackchopper and dropchopper from a WIDE variety of aircraft as per Iceman's A2 edit of Escape. In my current A2 escape build there's around 16 different aircraft (split across the three 'chopper' functions) including GNT's B52 'attackchopper', C130 for dropchopper, GNT's Cessna for searchchopper, plus a ton more. Obviously these are drawn from available aircraft mods. This really makes each run very different (the B52 is a blast...literally).

> Increasing the dropchopper drop number to ~36, reducing each drop spawn time so they are tightly clustered, changing the skins of the drop chop crew to be distinct, changing the skill level much higher than average.

> Adding the bus and other vehicles to the civilian and reinforcement surprises. The bus drops ~24 guys off, hilarious

> Reducing the cycle time for dynamic weather significantly (I haven't been able to get Tonic's fast day / night cycle working on dedicated server however...)

> Increasing the speed of pursuit units ie searchgroup from "Normal" to "Full". Makes foot chases more meaningful

> Edits to unitclass to increase weapon probabilities (given higher difficulty)

>I've built a A3 Chernarus build using A3MP and your Altis script. Great stuff

Plus much more stuff

Anyway, one issue with both editing the A2 build and your A3 Altis build (to incorporate the above) is although we host the game on a dedicated box (4.8ghz 3550k) late game performance is reduced, although still playable. The key issue appears to be 'residual' searchgroups in the map. I note most of the other functions like ambientinfantry and traffic have functions that delete groups if their distance to the party exceeds a certain point. Searchgroup doesn't appear to have this. Thus particularly on a map like Altis (or even Chernarus), if you 'flee' on area of the map quickly, there appears to be residual searchgroups in the area ie. you could be on one side of Altis or Chernarus and there could be 10-20 groups or 100+ units searching on the other side of the map with really no practical way of re-engaging the party thus are spending CPU cycles for no profitable reason. Removing redundant searchgroups, like the other functions do, would no doubt free up significant resources to add more units where they may be a factor. I was hoping you might consider this in your build. I'm attempting to transfer some code in from the other functions into searchgroup but so far haven't been able to get it working. Cheers and thanks again :)

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Hey Guys,

Fantastic mission. A group of us have been playing it every Monday night for the past six months.

We found with the current version (1.7 Dev 7) that we cannot hijack the communications box. The command just does not come up.

Is there another version we could try to see if it works?

Thanks again for porting and editing this misison. It's kept us far more interested than the standard coop arma missions.

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We found with the current version (1.7 Dev 7) that we cannot hijack the communications box. The command just does not come up.

I also noticed that some of the boxes can't be hacked. Looks like the action doesn't gets attached to the box if it's to far away from the initial spawn.

I will upload a fixed version at the end of the week (a fix for this is not trivial).

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We found with the current version (1.7 Dev 7)

1.7?! only version 1.6 is out, where are you getting 1.7 dev version? Nothing on the Escape website.

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thanks Neo! look forward to it :)

Gunter, there is a dropbox link somewhere in this thread to the 1.7 dev 7 version I think

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Heyho,

I finally got time to work on Escape 1.7 again.

Here is the develoment build co10 Escape 1.7 Dev10:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6q3oz7efb2qewte/co10_Escape.Altis.pbo

Changelog:

  • Added a new way of handling the "Hijack Terminal" action to counteract a bug where a action added to a non simulated object won't add the action.
  • Fixed a possible bug in the revive which could spawn the player in the ocean when FPS are low.
  • Removed the additional AI control in mission params.
  • Added a new param for additional ammoboxes at weaponcamps. I will post the supported addons later (Scruffy compiled them).
  • Added the possibility to hack enemy drone terminals and capture drones.
  • Reduced the amount of ComCenters on Altis.
  • More bugfixes I forgot.

Due to the change to vanilla AI I removed the advanced AI option until we find a better solution for the AI difficulty (but ASR AI 3 looks promising).

This should be quite stable... we played it on our server serveral times (but because of Murphy's law I was unable to capture a droneoperator).

I would appreaciate some feedback and if anybody wants to help developing this gamemode, feel free to contact me.

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Heyho,

I finally got time to work on Escape 1.7 again.

Here is the develoment build co10 Escape 1.7 Dev10:

...

I would appreaciate some feedback and if anybody wants to help developing this gamemode, feel free to contact me.

Hey NeoArmageddon, thanks a lot for the new release. My team has just tested it on a our Windows dedicated server for two hours and played it through to a successful completion. Only a couple of issues arose:

1. On our first start none of us could get a weapon from the backpack and we each tried putting the backpack on and getting them from each other but no luck. We restarted the mission and it worked fine the second time, so no idea what was going on there.

2. We had one late player join-in-progress when the squad had moved 500m from the prison and he started in the prison instead of close to the team leader like we were used to (we had holed up in a house to allow him a safe spawn point). We had not gone far so it was not a big deal. Not sure if it was because we were so close to start point.

The rest of the mission played very well and gave us the usual mix of nervous caution, suspenseful anticipation and sudden surprises. Great fun as always.

Next we might try playing it on Chernarus.

Well done, I think we are close to a stable release here.

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Heyho and thanks for the feedback:

1. Usual ArmA hiccup when the server is under load. Maybe two people simultaneous picked up the backpack?

2. Also noticed that a hour ago. I will look into it.

We were just shot down while in the evac chopper... :(

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First off I have loved escape since Arma 2 and when I heard someone made a port for it to A3, I couldn't wait to play it. I installed 1.7 and played it with some friends last night, we ended up winning by repairing a gunship we shot down just as we ambushed a fuel truck (luckily), filled the chopper and flew to a radio station just as the fuel tank drained. though finding out our exfil point was 14 kms away on the other side of the island really slowed us down. XD

In response to AstoRetro:

1. My friends and I found the same thing, A work around is to take the gun from the bag and add it to your vest then to your pistol slot, for the last gun we put the backpack on and took it out of it.

2. We also had a player join in later on but we were well over 3km away from the spawn point. He ended up spawning next to the squad leader, so it might be something that makes them spawn in the camp if they are within a certain radius.

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1. My friends and I found the same thing, A work around is to take the gun from the bag and add it to your vest then to your pistol slot, for the last gun we put the backpack on and took it out of it.

Ah, you guys are not playing in Dev-branch. That is a bug that was fixed last week in Dev.

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Here is a new Build (12): https://www.dropbox.com/s/6q3oz7efb2qewte/co10_Escape.Altis.pbo

Changelog:

  • Made the start a little bit easier
  • Added random pistols to backpack
  • Added new weather and time handling in parameter (including dense fog at low altitude!)
  • Added 5 drone backpacks to ammodepots
  • Increased the chance to encounter enemy drone operators
  • Changed the default parameters (preset is now "Easy")

Known bugs:

  • JIP player sometimes spawn at the prison.
  • Pistols from backpack can't be taken directly. This is an engine bug. One player should pickup the backpack. Other players can then take weapons out of the backpack.

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Did a run-through last night with two others on build 10.

No issues at all, no noticeable bugs. we're able to complete missions for the first time in a while.

Will have another run-through tonight with about 7-8 so will try build 12 and come back with feedback tomorrow.

Thanks for the misison and update, we're getting a lot of fun out of it :)

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Just tried it with 8 people on a ds

Don't know if it's always been there but if you press escape and then respawn it spawns you with the standard kit of your unit - weapon, ammo, map, nvg, etc.

apart from that it worked well with no other bugs.

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Hey, confirming the respawn 'exploit' as per above. Spawn with weapons inc. map etc.

For what it's worth in terms of possible ideas, we add the following:

> Randomise 'search chopper', 'drop chopper' and 'attack chopper' with various vehicles available in Armaholic for A3. Adjust spawn points for each 'surprise' so jets can takeover with little probability of hindrance on the main runway (Altis). (C17 dropping is great)

> Set searchgroups to use 'FULL' speed most of the time. Ditto for reinforcement truck, civilian surprise and motor surprise group

> Increase drop chop group number to ~20-30 random.

Thanks for the hard work!

Edited by Vindaboner

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No need to confirm... the bug is quite easy to reproduce :D

After altering the revive I never tested the respawn button because I was never in the need of using it.

The complete revive button will be disabled in the next release... just don't click on it until then ... that is cheating :P

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No need to confirm... the bug is quite easy to reproduce :D

After altering the revive I never tested the respawn button because I was never in the need of using it.

Although I'm currently trying to work that a bit with a script that's creating respawn markers for every player at their current location every 120 secs and with a gear-saving script (so it's made sure that the players have their gear on respawn and not the regular gear). It's not like it's necessary but just in case it'd be better to have something like that. Of course it won't work if all the players are dead at the same time - but beside that, can you think of anything that would make this idea break the mission?

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Although I'm currently trying to work that a bit with a script that's creating respawn markers for every player at their current location every 120 secs and with a gear-saving script (so it's made sure that the players have their gear on respawn and not the regular gear). It's not like it's necessary but just in case it'd be better to have something like that. Of course it won't work if all the players are dead at the same time - but beside that, can you think of anything that would make this idea break the mission?

That's exact the reason we moved away from the old respawn script... in fact the new system is not a respawn script but a revive-script only... you don't die, you get unconscious... this removes all the need to capture the gear, move the player to his old position, restore gear etc.

There were a few problems you will also encounter with your attempt. There a a few bugs in BIS inventory commands... you pobably won't be able to restore the backpacks correctly. Also the players can get stuck at position [0,0,0] if the server/client FPS is to low to update all variables in time.

The best solution is to just disable the revive button in the menu, as the player is not intended to die/respawn. There is now need to have a dedicated respawn button or a script that captures the death of a player to just restore his position/hear. Dev 13 will probably be ready this evening but I don't consider this bug a mission breaking problem.

Also I am always wondering why people are constantly pressing the respawn button. Inpatience? Bad mission design? Bad behaviour from other missions/games?

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That's exact the reason we moved away from the old respawn script... in fact the new system is not a respawn script but a revive-script only... you don't die, you get unconscious... this removes all the need to capture the gear, move the player to his old position, restore gear etc.

There were a few problems you will also encounter with your attempt. There a a few bugs in BIS inventory commands... you pobably won't be able to restore the backpacks correctly. Also the players can get stuck at position [0,0,0] if the server/client FPS is to low to update all variables in time.

The gearsaving- and respawn-marker-scripts work perfectly fine in other missions. The get-/set-loadout-script I'm using is pretty foolproof and even covers the problems with backpacks and ammunition.

The problem with it though is that the escape mission with revive-only is fine as long as you can play with at least three players. With two players or less you either have to edit the amount and composition of enemy vehicles (removing the artillery is paramount anyways and working with the mission params further just doesn't cut it) or find a way to make respawn work, if you don't want to start over again and again and again (especially if you're playing with people who aren't all that experienced in arma at all - and for those people the escape missions are great to find a way into the game).

Respawn is a necessary evil, if you want, for playing in very small groups - finding a way to make it work if it's necessary would just further improve the mission. If it's consent of the players not to use the respawn-function, it can either be deactivated again, or not used at all. But if the players want to use the respawn, it'd better work.

Edited by Pergor

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or find a way to make respawn work, if you don't want to start over again and again and again

And that is exactly why I and most people I talked to like escape... you pobably won't make it in the first try, and the second, and the third... but you want to beat the mission.

For now I disabled the respawn-button but added a mission param for reenabling. Respawn will thread the player like a JIP player in Escape. You are respawned at the squad with no gear... think of it as a new life.

Will post the Dev13 when the QA says it's working.

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For now I disabled the respawn-button but added a mission param for reenabling. Respawn will thread the player like a JIP player in Escape. You are respawned at the squad with no gear... think of it as a new life.

That's another viable solution. Although the rearming could become significantly more complicated.

It would be great, if upon dying a new prison in the vicinity of the place where the players have been killed could be created where the dead players are being respawned (like them being caught when they were unconcious and put back into prison). The surviving players would then have to free them to regroup.

For that of course the mission would have to be reworked quite a bit - to reduce server load. A caching system and whatnot.

But whith these options, you could have one escape mission to run almost infinitely - until the players escape.

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