Tactical Battlefield - A PvP Modification

[Swedge 10]

Is it using code from Project Reality: ArmA? 2 It looks very similar. I enjoyed Project Reality: ArmA 2 quite a bit.

"Past Development:

Tactical Battlefield has been an accumulation of 7 years of development of a PvP mod on the Arma engine. It started with Coolbox[sBS] and [RGG]Wormeaten developing a mission-based A&S system for ARMA. They then moved this over to ARMA 2 as AASX (or AAS extended). AASX was then combined with another PvP mod called Devastation by Dr Eyeball and it came to be known as Project Reality ARMA 2 (PR:A2). The Arma 3 version of this mod is now being further developed by Dr Eyeball and Wormeaten (along with 3rd party contributions) and will be [is now!--Swedge] known as Tactical Battlefield for Arma 3 (TB:A3) (a.k.a. TacBF)." Source.

Warm regards,

Swedge

[IIIIPROTOCOLIIII 10]

Looks like a great mod.

[Nicholas 5]

"Past Development:

Tactical Battlefield has been an accumulation of 7 years of development of a PvP mod on the Arma engine. It started with Coolbox[sBS] and [RGG]Wormeaten developing a mission-based A&S system for ARMA. They then moved this over to ARMA 2 as AASX (or AAS extended). AASX was then combined with another PvP mod called Devastation by Dr Eyeball and it came to be known as Project Reality ARMA 2 (PR:A2). The Arma 3 version of this mod is now being further developed by Dr Eyeball and Wormeaten (along with 3rd party contributions) and will be [is now!--Swedge] known as Tactical Battlefield for Arma 3 (TB:A3) (a.k.a. TacBF)." Source.

Warm regards,

Swedge

Thanks, Swedge. I had not seen that thread.

[Swedge 10]

Thanks, Swedge. I had not seen that thread.

No worries mate. It's an old one. Catch you in-game :)

Cheers,

Swedge

[oktyabr 12]

Well I finally got to play on a populated server for awhile today! It was good fun and I can see liking this mod a lot.

A NOTE for my fellow North Americans: Don't worry about joining the EU servers! I played today with a ping that hovered right around 200 the whole time. The game play seemed very stable (better than some NA servers I've played on!), English was the only language I heard and best of all no one complained about my ping! Jump in, follow around someone until you get the hang of it and enjoy yourself. :) I know there are several others of us out there too but it seems like when the core group of guys (from the EU or Oz I think) pack up and leave they all leave too. I think we have a small core of NA players and we need to start getting organized so that we can play during our traditional hours too.

Which brings me to another point... But first a shout out! Swedge, kind sir, I think I played on the opposite team from you today... you must have been part of the major CSAT war machine that trounced us seemingly round after round after round! :raisebrow: ... I think there were about 40 players when I joined. It was hectic and still fun, even though I was still very much in the learning stage. BUT probably the most fun I had tonight (today, depending on where you live ;) ) was after most of the players quit for the "night" (it was still 1500 my time) and we ended up on a very tight mission called "Swamp" something with I think about four players per side, eight or ten players total. This was VERY tactical feeling... some of the confusion I felt on the larger versions disappeared and some of my carefully honed (and rather rusty, so it seems) PvP instincts came back like an old, well broken in leather jacket. Capture points (flags) so close together you could often be capturing one point and see the flag of the next one waving in the distance. NONE of that typical ARMA 3 "spawn... jog 1500 meters... get shot from who knows where... respawn... jog 1500... etc.) stuff. It was quick into the action and we had some pretty awesome firefights. The point that I am trying to make, especially for those that haven't tried this yet, is that you do NOT need a "full" server to have a great time in this mod, provided the right mission is selected for the player base. In fact I can easily imagine some organized groups actually preferring the smaller team sized missions. They definitely have a different feel to them than the much larger ones... and I wouldn't mind working on some mission ideas along those lines myself, once I learn a bit more about the game! :)

A few observations:

It is not very obvious what are the goals, methods or means to a brand new player (I just started today). There are no "hints" in this mod to guide you through the learning process. I know it's a lot of extra work but something along those lines might make it more accessible to the new players. For example I still find capturing a flag a bit confusing. You only need to be in the area of the flag to get to see the progress bar appear on the screen and for it to start changing, one direction. Then you have to touch the flag pole itself before the progress bar changes direction and begins to turn into a capture for your team? I'm also still not clear on the effect of other players in the same area. If both teams have an equal number of players in the same area does it not move? Does it help the flag to change faster if more of your teammates are in the area? I asked another player this and they weren't sure either. Perhaps a simple introductory document would be of help.

The name tag thing is handy I suppose for finding out who it is you are sharing a foxhole with but is too short ranged and hard to see. I wish it had optional colors, was useful at a slightly greater distance and stayed on longer as well. Regardless I found myself using that key so much that I ended up rebinding it to one of my higher priority "easy access" keys. I just wish it did more. I suspect that it isn't always on to make FOE assessment more "realistic". It certainly makes it much more difficult and I think I was shot by teammates more than I was by the opposing team. So I ask for a bit of assistance and I'm told "check your radar" thingy at the bottom of the screen because it only shows teammates. But it's apparently only good for 50m or so? So then I'm told "check the map. Your teammates will show up on there." How realistic is it to have a map that shows where your teammates are? I think I would prefer a map that did not do this and some sort of FOE popup when your crosshairs encounter a player. Or something. I don't know. I do know that it was very difficult to tell who I was shooting at and I spent more time looking at my map than I did my crosshairs.

The radar thing is useful and the SHIFT+LMB combo to put a way point on the map for yourself is worth more than half my ammo. I don't mind navigating with a map and a compass but in the heat of the battle it's nice to have an easy way to get your orientation! I DO wish it contained distance data though, without looking at the map. Perhaps not exact figures necessarily but maybe the chevron icon could become less or more visible depending on if you were 100m+, 300m+, 600m+ or 1KM+ away? Maybe it could scale size with distance instead? Just a suggestion.

I still haven't made it into a "squad" yet and I'm not sure exactly how that works either. Another chapter for a beginners guide and/or some optional hints on the screen?

Are vehicles just there for anybody? Public use? :D

I think I like the revive/medical system although this is an area I'm not clear on either. It's handy to slap on a field dressing and maybe take a shot of morphine but what happens if that isn't enough? Can it be too much, like too much morphine? What happens when a player is wounded and requests a medic? Can you drag and/or carry a wounded teammate to a safer location, whether you are a medic or not?

I don't want to write a full book here so I'll quit now. Good games tonight and I hope to have the opportunity to play with a lot of the same people again one day soon. :)

TL;DR VERSION: It's a good mod that while it's still got a ways to go before it's "perfect" and could use some aids, hints or a beginner's guide for new players, it still offers a twist on MP PVP that I find unique and refreshing. Don't worry about pinging high on EU servers. Don't worry about joining a server that has a dozen or fewer players on it! If it's got the right mission it should still promise an interesting time.

North American players: I want to play AFTER work! LOL! Is anyone organizing a group of NA players so we can play AFTER lunch time too? If so, count me in! :D

Edited January 10, 2014 by Oktyabr

[Alpha Whiskey Romeo 17]

Some of us played a few rounds. Really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the time-zone differences are the biggest obstacle to really getting into it.

[oktyabr 12]

PS Swedge, I sent you a friend request on Steam and also joined the TacBF group there. :)

---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 PM ----------

I've created a Steam group to help players in North America (this side of the planet anyway) find others to play TacBF with during those "other" time zones. I think part of helping this mod grow the fan base that it deserves (IMHO) we really need to get more Americans introduced to it and they need to start playing it during the more common times, for this side of the planet, rather than just when the Europeans are having a go at it! ALL are welcome though! :)

-=ARMA 3 TacBF North America Steam Group=-

[NeuroFunker 11]

where is everyone? Had such mood to play tacBF tonight, all the servers, about 8 were completly empty.

[Smurf 12]

Main problem right now with TacBF is Arma itself, can't stand such a bad performance when the player count increase and the game starts to get good.

Yep you can have good games with few squads but isn't the same thing.

[Swedge 10]

Well I finally got to play on a populated server for awhile today! It was good fun and I can see liking this mod a lot.

Cheers Oktyabr. I played different sides on different rounds so can't claim any credit there :) Thanks for posting your suggestions in the www.tacticalbattlefield.net forums. Some of them have already been discussed in the past but could benefit from additional perspectives, and some are entirely new and worth considering :)

In-game if you bring up your Map with M, there is pretty comprehensive TacBf help that explains flag-captures and lots of other things. Maybe have a read through them on a quiet LAN server some time :) I agree there are other opportunities to make the gameplay rules and features info even clearer though or better promoted, including online etc and Youtube etc and that is being looked. The community can help with that too.

See you on the battlefield :)

Warm regards,

Swedge

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 PM ----------

where is everyone? Had such mood to play tacBF tonight, all the servers, about 8 were completly empty.

Hi mate. Yeah there's a very specific peak time at the moment and some of us Down Under are kicking beautiful women out of beds and getting up at Zero Dark Thirty just to play with you guys :) Hopefully more players and communities take it on themselves to get organised and help seed servers in their local timezones etc. Players can often also vote themselves admin on servers too.

Main problem right now with TacBF is Arma itself, can't stand such a bad performance when the player count increase and the game starts to get good.

Yep you can have good games with few squads but isn't the same thing.

Cheers mate. It depends on the intended player count I suppose. This has been an issue in the past on some servers with some missions. At the moment though there is a new official server and updated missions and I haven't experienced performance issues in recent rounds with up to 45 players. Will be interesting to see how performance goes when this momentum likely increases in the coming weeks. And any vanilla A3 performance issues are out of anyone's hands unfortunately :)

Warm regards,

Swedge

[kremator 1065]

If you want even better performance then PM Dwarden to get the new dedi server executable. Very fast!

[Atkins.A 10]

If you want even better performance then PM Dwarden to get the new dedi server executable. Very fast!

They (official TacBF servers) are using it already:

http://www.tacticalbattlefield.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=676

I haven't noticed any major difference, but that is just my opinion.

[Andy230 10]

I have translated and created manual for slovak and czech speaking players. Maybe someone help.

TacBF CZ|SK manual

[dale 11]

Nice work andy ! thankyou :)

If you want to translate the manual from the one im creating that would be great also, I'll send it to you when its ready :)

[giorgygr 61]

They (official TacBF servers) are using it already:

http://www.tacticalbattlefield.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=676

I haven't noticed any major difference, but that is just my opinion.

I m afraid you are right.

I dunno..maybe it was Placebo effect-but i had the feeling of a slight performance boost ..until people on server got over 20-26

and one of my friends (with an i7 Fuckin NASA PC) told me he had 15 FPS :////

I m convinced Dwarden will eventually find the culprit(s) draining performance in the end though..

We all must have *liiiill' more patience..

Edited January 11, 2014 by GiorgyGR

[mad rabbit 0]

i have translated and created manual for slovak and czech speaking players. Maybe someone help.

tacbf cz|sk manual

l e g e n d!

:notworthy:

[wormeaten 0]

We are planing to start tournament based on TB.

This will be opportunity to show to the public full potential TB have and how should be played.

As this is still Beta need to do some changes we planed and which will affecting on improving gameplay first then we will go public with more details about.

Meanwhile enjoy in public fights and remember TB is mod with high learning curve and how much you invest in it that much you get back.

Here is the video with live stream gameplay show how one player learn from minute to minute and you can see progress of his gameplay and teamwork and in the end how better they are they have more fun.

[mordeaniischaos 3]

Is there a way to get the features that are listed on the main forum post at the top as bullet points and remove some of the "features" like class restrictions, infantry radar, etc? I have no real issue with those (other than class restrictions playing poorly with addons) beyond them just not fitting my group's needs. I've love to have all of the medical and ballistic features and all that, but I'd like to take out a few features. Is there way to configure this myself without too much work?

[wormeaten 0]

Is there a way to get the features that are listed on the main forum post at the top as bullet points and remove some of the "features" like class restrictions, infantry radar, etc? I have no real issue with those (other than class restrictions playing poorly with addons) beyond them just not fitting my group's needs. I've love to have all of the medical and ballistic features and all that, but I'd like to take out a few features. Is there way to configure this myself without too much work?

Yes. Balistic is community made mod and is server side and you can download it with play with six or on armaholic usual way.

Restriction is here to balance the game for PvP but it was possible arrange it out of the mod and use it in mission files. Not sure is it still possible but was previously.

Squad radar you can turn off true interaction rosse. I know you will like to use ShackTac HUD. Ye we was in the past want to use ShackHUD but our requirement force us to made our own.

Even have same purpose and look the same it is different code with some technical differences suitable for our needs. So just turn it off.

Edited January 16, 2014 by wormeaten

[giorgygr 61]

I m thinking a different approach must be made regarding all soldiers weapon optics.

I believe only Reflex sights must be the default -and only choice- for all classes except marksman-sniper.

Maybe Squad leader (role) can have the 4x sight as extra advantage but gamemode as is only encourages long range firefights-something which is bad imo

Please consider _this..

[Dawks 10]

in the past want to use ShackHUD but our requirement force us to made our own.

Can you tell us about that, Worm?

STHud for me is just "normal". So I was both surprised / disappointed to see that TacBF had replaced it. Disappointed because I really like the way STH works, with its systems and features, and surprised since programming the (very nice) rose in TBF ... well, that must have been a lot of work!

Wouldn't it have been easier to add waypoint bearings to STH?

---------- Post added at 12:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------

I believe only Reflex sights must be the default -and only choice- for all classes except marksman-sniper.

Boy, that would really shift the dynamics. You're right.

I'd hate it, but maybe you're right ;-p

[gmjaken 10]

Hey, guys. I've been playing TacBF all week and I have to say the system is excellent. One thing that blew me away was your medic system. I found playing a medic a real treat. I want that experience for my co-op unit, however the rest of what TacBF provides doesn't really fit our style for our private sessions.

I was wondering if there was a way to just use the medic system. Can you just pick a choose which pbos you want, or will they not function on their own? If they are modular, which pbos do I need to be able to work the medic system? I'm sure this has been asked already, so sorry for being lazy and not reading back.

Thanks - this mod is a blast.

[mazza 1]

TactBF is groovy :)

Thanks guys!!

Edited January 16, 2014 by mazza

[Dawks 10]

Main problem right now with TacBF is Arma itself, can't stand such a bad performance when the player count increase and the game starts to get good. Yep you can have good games with few squads but isn't the same thing.

I'd like to hear what you mean with that last sentence; not sure what you mean.

But this: I found that on TacBF servers recently even though my mediocre box doesn't give great FPS (never seen over 32 in ArmA2 MP) even when it drops dramatically (13 should be unplayable, right?) things have been fine. I suspect good server / high server FPS is basic to this.

---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 AM ----------

... that explains flag-captures and lots of other things.

I just did an exhaustive walk-through with wormeaten this evening, and something that really caught my eye:

I had thought of TacBF as basically a menu system, along with stuff like "roles". But when we got into "sync" I realized that it's also a comprehensive PvP system. I can't think of how to depict that simply, but I ferr shurr bet it's the aspect that most folk miss cuz it's transparent/not immediately obvious to first time players.

[wormeaten 0]

I m thinking a different approach must be made regarding all soldiers weapon optics.

I believe only Reflex sights must be the default -and only choice- for all classes except marksman-sniper.

Maybe Squad leader (role) can have the 4x sight as extra advantage but gamemode as is only encourages long range firefights-something which is bad imo

Please consider _this..

Personally I completely agree with you and in the beginning in closed Beta was set up like this but... (there was always but)

So far majority players want it like this so we put like this. But nex phase will be some sort of compromise so mission designers could be in future do it one way or another depend what he want to achieve in his mission.

So in one mission could be set up like you want and in other like is now and than mission popularity will say who is right. Also with new factions include and historical timeline will also depend should we use optics or not.

In real life today optics are more or less standard equipment but for example in 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom was not and should be set up exactly as you describe. Vietnam, Cold war or WWII optics got only snipers in WWII even go further with most of the weapon are semi auto or rifles without optics.

I hope this answer satisfied you. Good point is we will not waist our time doing our own factions when some good quality be made by ArmA community we will just use it so this could be happened in near future. There is already A3 Map pack and we working on some missions on it and maybe All in ArmA mode could be used for it especially if it is true about AiA stand alone mod which will not depend on A2 content.

All in all we have bright future.

---------- Post added at 13:02 ---------- Previous post was at 12:18 ----------

Hey, guys. I've been playing TacBF all week and I have to say the system is excellent. One thing that blew me away was your medic system. I found playing a medic a real treat. I want that experience for my co-op unit, however the rest of what TacBF provides doesn't really fit our style for our private sessions.

There is no better than good coop mission for training clan squad what ever. Personally I'm majorly aiming on good PvP but from time to time like to play some good coop mission. I will like to see more coop players not just as individuals more squads who doing coop.

TacBF is highly team work depending, practically always win this side who have better team work not individual skill. All your expertise you learn in coop missions is more than welcome, we need it and that will change gameplay experiance allot.

Basically you and your buddies should play TacBF in same way as coop with some minor changes to adopt to PvP. My point is TacBF is more demanding than coop against AI. You are play against humans who are smarter than AI ( sometimes are not :j: ), AI are predictable, AI are static not move or slightly moving in predictable pattern. In most cases you are moving too slow in coop because your AI opponent allows you that and you are adopted to that fact. One of major thing in TacBF same as in RL if you want to win you want to take initiative. This is not rushing even sometime is look like but you could rush only if your opponent allows you other wise they will make you an ambush and you will always get killed. Rushing works only against unorganized players or when you break true enemies lines and live them behind you so you will use given opportunity to capture objectives much as possible even finish mission by capturing last flag.

So do what ever you are doing in your coop only need to do it faster, make decision faster as SL and as soldier perform your task faster. Remember playing fast is not rushing it is taking initiative, making pressure on your opponent so play fast as possible but in same time save as possible. How fast and save will be is depending to your opponent and you always have to predict it and adopt to it.

I will prove that true TacBF organized events or even better tournament campaign and guaranty you and your buddies will change your opinion about PvP and will practice it much more frequently. We need you guys to bring all this good stuff from coop in to the PvP as well to show to the world how ArmA could kick ass to some Battlefield or Call of Duty even in PvP.

I was wondering if there was a way to just use the medic system. Can you just pick a choose which pbos you want, or will they not function on their own? If they are modular, which pbos do I need to be able to work the medic system? I'm sure this has been asked already, so sorry for being lazy and not reading back.

I'm not sure for now is part of TacBF maybe in future as separate mod for ArmA 3 but now we have lot of job to do with TacBF so cant promise if it happened at all. You are COOP player and ACE3 is in developing and got good and similar medic system so I'm not sure after that do you will need it at all.

Thanks - this mod is a blast.

Thank you too.

---------- Post added at 13:37 ---------- Previous post was at 13:02 ----------

Can you tell us about that, Worm?

STHud for me is just "normal". So I was both surprised / disappointed to see that TacBF had replaced it. Disappointed because I really like the way STH works, with its systems and features, and surprised since programming the (very nice) rose in TBF ... well, that must have been a lot of work!

Wouldn't it have been easier to add waypoint bearings to STH?

Good question.

I was explain that to you personally in our discussion on TS but will answer for public too to clarify it.

STHud don't have some features we need in TacBF and was connected with our squad management. At first site if you are familiarized with STHud you will say what he is talking about when it is same but soon as you familiarize with some features in squad management and how it is reflecting in squad hud will be clear what I'm talking about. It is hard to explain you have to see it by your self just take attention when SL divide you in Fire teams and check your squad hud and everything what I'm talking now will have seance.