Annihilation [NATO/DEVGRU]

[Ratcatcher722 0]

Look at the mission parameters (in the lobby, where you select slots). The first paramter sets the time of the day. ;)

Now who feels dumb??? lol. Thanks for pointing out the obvious...its my age!

I want to add UAVs in general to the mission at some point but I don't know exactly when that will be.

CBA, sthud, TMR are no problem. TPW is generally a SP mod as of now and I don't really recommend using it in a MP environment until tpw makes it completly MP compatible (some parts are already working in MP). This could cause some desync unfortunatly.

Regarding TPWCAS (the addon version) I recommend turning off the suppression in the mission parameters since I don't know how well the script version (included in my mission) plays with the addon version.

Thats great, many thanks for the advice, will check it out when I can.

:)

EDIT - Hopefully I'm not missing the obvious again... but could you add a weather variable into the parameters? We would also like to have some of the missions in the larger towns if possible?

Cheers

Edited October 24, 2013 by Ratcatcher722
adding ideas

[junglenz 10]

Hey cool mission, clan folks are enjoying it. Runs really smooth, like the parameter options. Look forward to updated mission numbers.

[lukrop 10]

boggler;2542146']Tested the new version and had an awesome time today. It seems you reduced the desync problem.

Glad to hear that. I noticed you edited it from "fixed" to "reduced". :) I don't think that there is that much more I can do about the desyncing anymore. I think the A3 engine is much more prone to desync right now than the A2 engine was. I hope that BIS is/will look(ing) into that issue too and improve their netcode. The current load the mission puts on the server isn't that much. If you still think that the mission compares bad to other mission (e.g. Domination/Invade & Annex) please don't hesitate to report that and I will try to do my best to improve/fix the issues. For now I'll be concentrating on adding more missions and locations to the scenario. ;)

EDIT - Hopefully I'm not missing the obvious again... but could you add a weather variable into the parameters? We would also like to have some of the missions in the larger towns if possible?

I'll add that in the next version' date=' it's an easy addition. :)

Hey cool mission, clan folks are enjoying it. Runs really smooth, like the parameter options. Look forward to updated mission numbers.

Glad to hear that! Thanks!

[lukrop 10]

Another update. This should be a stable base for the upcoming 0.4.0

Version 0.3.4

.pbo NATO Version

.pbo DEVGRU Version

Changes:

0.3.4
- performance optimizations to counter desync
- one new city location
- new reinforcement system (reinforcements spawn at closest active enemy outpost)
- fixed typo which crippled AFR rebel army
- new paramters:
   - overcast (rain)
   - enemy reinforcements
   - populate enemy outposts
   - enemy ambient patrols

Regarding the new reinforcements system: Enemy reinforcements spawn at the nearest Outpost (look at the map, currently there are three of them) and walk or drive (depending on distance) to the AO. I think it's a good concept but there are some caveats. They take pretty long to show up (which is kinda realistic IMO but maybe could be improved somehow, maybe just more outposts?). And sometimes the AI bricks their vehicle and don't really show up. You can disable a enemy outpost by destroying the radio tower at the OP (3 explosive charges suffice). The enemy won't be able to call in reinforcements from this OP anymore but will call in reinforcements from the next OP as long as there are any OPs on the map active. If you disable all of them there won't be any reinforcements anymore.

Regarding performance/load there are now between 80 and 100 units spawned/active. This is between 1.5 and 2x as many as in previous versions. If anyone is having problems with performance (especially if hosting on the own machine) you could disable "ambient patrols" or "populate enemy outposts". The amount of enemys at the AO itself didn't really change, it's just the outposts and patrols which increased the numbers. I'm still trying to find a good balance and maybe I'll be able to implement somekind of simple unit caching for outposts and patrols.

Now I'm off trying to make some more missions, finally. :)

Enjoy and please report any issues. ;)

Edited October 28, 2013 by lukrop

[junglenz 10]

Good update, mission runs well with one exception. Went to resue pilot in CSAR, found him and got rescue from menu, next thing him moulds himself into wall.

Mission FAIL!

[lukrop 10]

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunatly this looks like a "engine bug/limitation" to me or was the pilot already inside the wall before you rescued him? AI units just navigate extremly bad inside buildings and sometimes funny stuff like this is the outcome. The guy dies inside the walls, so yeah, the mission fails as a result of that.

But maybe I can do something about placing the pilot better inside the buildings.

I just uploaded a balancing testing version which you guys might want to try out and give me some feedback which version you like best. Featurewise it's exactly the same as 0.3.4.

Balancing test version 0.3.4-balance

.pbo NATO Version

.pbo DEVGRU Version

[Ratcatcher722 0]

Thanks for the updates, they sound excellent.

[ranger1979 10]

Love this mission, thanks for the update!

[junglenz 10]

Good update, mission runs well with one exception. Went to resue pilot in CSAR, found him and got rescue from menu, next thing him moulds himself into wall.

http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a581/jungleNZ/107410_2013-10-29_00001_zps2ab154b4.png

Mission FAIL!

The pilot was outside the building at the time. I selected rescue and he flew into the wall. Maybe have him placed to near buildings.

This was using the new version. Some nice extra features in that. Framerate drops when having stormy weather but otherwise runs smooth. Liked the enemy OP as they surprised us when we were attacking the main target.

Look forward to more and more missions being added. ie blow up radio tower etc... as said before we are enjoying the smoothness this mission offers and it is not overloaded.

One other thing we noticed prior to latest version is enemy ifrit or vehicle randomly floats/nose dives forward and spins 360degrees (rolls). Probably something on BI end. Quite funny at time, looked like a lunatic driving.

[ranger1979 10]

Hey bud,

Played the newest version, had some issues, pilot would not group with unit, he just ran off. The new JIP markers may be causing some desync issues. We will retest.

[MackaRoney94 10]

Great mission!

[lukrop 10]

Hey bud,

Played the newest version, had some issues, pilot would not group with unit, he just ran off. The new JIP markers may be causing some desync issues. We will retest.

Thanks man! I'll look into the issues with the pilot. Regarding the JIP markers you can always disable the "no good ones" in the parameters. This should minimize any desync. I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle those in the future..

[ranger1979 10]

Thanks man! I'll look into the issues with the pilot. Regarding the JIP markers you can always disable the "no good ones" in the parameters. This should minimize any desync. I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle those in the future..

Played much better today, turned off JIP markers. Do the vehicles still respawn in this newest version?

[lukrop 10]

Played much better today, turned off JIP markers. Do the vehicles still respawn in this newest version?

They do. But they only respawn if they are destroyed. I have to find a efficient way to check if they were deserted and then delete them.

[ranger1979 10]

Nice!

[BF2_Trooper 0]

Any chance you'll make a version with Ranger units?

[lukrop 10]

Any chance you'll make a version with Ranger units?

I could do a version with ranger units. It's not that much work. Maintaining more versions is just more time consuming. Currently I have many things to do IRL :-) That's the reason why I can't push the next update as fast as I wanted to. Probably around the weekend I'll be able to catch a break and do some mission scripting again.

If you can't wait you can always download the sources from github, fire up the editor, replace the units with the ones you like. If you also want to have the right units for recruitment you can have a look at the sources how they are defined (simple switch-case) and put in the class names. The mission is designed to be more or less anything you like so those changes can be made without that much of a hassle. ;)

[Andy230 10]

Great mission lukrop, thx for sharing btw :)

Would be better to add some more tasks to Annihilation then add another units, IMHO :)

[lukrop 10]

Guys, just to inform you. I had a eye surgery last week and everything went well but I currently don't have much time and can't really work on the PC at the moment. :) All that is not really a big deal but bear in mind that the mission won't be updated for a while. But be asured that the mission is NOT dead. I'll be working on it again as soon as I can. ;)

Regards!

[giorgygr 61]

My sincere wishes for a fast/trouble-free recovery man :)

Mission is in pretty nice shape as-is. ;)

[chains 11]

Hi, nice mission :) !

I had a problem with the pilot getting stuck with his hands behind his head... Everytime you picked the "Rescue" option on him he would rejoin the group but not follow orders. He still would have the hands behind his head.

Not sure why this is. Everything else seemed to work fine ;) !

[the.d 0]

Absolutely amazing, lukrop, thanks a lot for your efforts!

Are there any plans to incorporate headless client support? :->

[lukrop 10]

Hi, nice mission :) !

I had a problem with the pilot getting stuck with his hands behind his head... Everytime you picked the "Rescue" option on him he would rejoin the group but not follow orders. He still would have the hands behind his head.

Not sure why this is. Everything else seemed to work fine ;) !

Yeah, I noticed that sometimes too. I'm not really sure how to fix this. Sometimes it just wouldn't work and other times it did. The AI almost always acts weird inside buildings. Maybe I'll change how the pilot gets placed.

Absolutely amazing, lukrop, thanks a lot for your efforts!

Are there any plans to incorporate headless client support? :->

Thanks! Yeah, I could do that, actually I already played/tested with HC. I'll put that on the TODO list. :)

As of now I didn't really had time to play ArmA and need to get my modset up to date and fixed. After that I'll work on the mission again. Expect some updates in the new year. ;)

[BF2_Trooper 0]

I can't seem to get my AI medic to revive me. Is this something only a human player can do?

[lukrop 10]

I can't seem to get my AI medic to revive me. Is this something only a human player can do?

That's right. Only humans can revive.