[SP] Pilgrimage

[Rydygier 1309]

Hello. :)

1.That's the way of updating missions, yes, But new version will be not compatibile with old saves. To play new version you need to restart the mission, what will clear savegames. Using old saves even with new file in mission folder means playing old version, I believe;

2. In 1.3 there is no options to change in mission. In 1.4 there will be only one, I think, changeable via radio channel (keys 0-0). Fast travel, as hitch-hiking, is explained shortly in the diary under "fuel fund" entry (enter the map view to see diary). Briefly: stand on road, have a ffu (changed for ff in 1.4), choose hitch-hiking action from action menu when is safe (you do not see enemy nor enemy see you), map will be opened, choose target location by single left click near some road inside darkened circle marking range defined by amount of ffu you have in meters. Exiting map view without the click cancels fast travel action.

3. Yep, kind of Arma's issue. Car's trunks and boxes capacity is sometimes ridiculously low (good for small civil cars perhaps, but not for trucks). Until devs fix that only way may be an addon with reconfigured vehicles (a mod, not a script). Otherwise we must live with it.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Rydygier

[doc. caliban 34]

Thank you for the quick reply!

The cargo issue is very frustrating ... an odd oversight, IMO. Thank you for clarifying for me.

Also, thank you for letting me know about where to look for instructions on fast travel. That reminded me of a question that I forgot to ask, but I suspect the answer is also in the diary, so I will try to solve it myself. (how to sell things)

As for the upgrade, I'm far enough into the mission that I think I will simply complete 1.3 and call it good; I'm a bit too far in to want to start again, but I cannot play for a few days, so if 1.4 comes out and it looks like there are enough changes to be tempting, then perhaps I will try it. I would LOVE to be able to jump forward in time ("sleep") so that I can choose the time of day that I do certain things.

Best regards,

-Doc

EDIT: I did not understand how to sell things ... I did see the section in the diary. Any help would be appreciated! (Didn't find anything searching the forum, but that could have been a poor job searching.)

Edited February 28, 2014 by Doc. Caliban

[tortuosit 486]

You need to find those grey boxes which are inside houses. Take what you need and sell the rest via mouse wheel. Wait for a while and the bid is shown bottom left.

If you want to sell stuff from your inventory, put it in such a box beforehand.

Edited March 1, 2014 by tortuosit

[meshcarver 12]

Hi OP,

Quick question- are you planning to make it so everytime we start a new play of this mission, various things like Brothers body/vehicles etc will be in different locations?

Would be great if so- if not, no problem..! :)

[Rydygier 1309]

It is like that already. And will stay this way. :)

Hey, people, last opportunity to add something small to 1.4. Do you want to have ability to relocate in boat, or should I rather lock it?

[meshcarver 12]

Great news, sorry mate I didn't know so thanks for the heads up..!

Relocating the boat would be good I think as it'd allow more variation without spoiling the overall mission, but it's entirely upto you! :)

Thanks for this mate, it's really good stuff..!

[tortuosit 486]

Some weather dynamics? I know from painful experience that setovercast is not as flexible as it seems. But things can change on half hour basis. You could only need to execute Setovercast, setfog and simulweathersync with somewhat varying values every now and then. There's a thread about dynamic weather...

[meshcarver 12]

Aye, sleep option would be good to, so you can set your watch to wake you up at evening/night etc for variation..?

[Rydygier 1309]

Weather will change slightly, but it is hardcoded in editor. Anyone can play with weather dynamizing mod, if he like and found any working properly. :) I didn't add such code to keep mission compatibile with such mods without any interferences. Also, weather is carefully chosen (slightly modified in 1.4 on demand) for certain mood and visuals. Sleep is implemented as part of incoming hideout feature - player can sleep & heal (if has first aid or medikit and is wounded) at his hideout. But to establish such hideout he must find first one of two dozens of hidden camps scaterred over wilder areas and clear it from enemy presence. Such hideout is also "a beacon", to which he can fast travel for free if is not in danger. Unlike autostop this will take some time though. Each camp provides also box for loot. Standard (scandalously low) capacity.

OK. Decided after some tests do not delay more, and release it today. Soon.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Rydygier

[tortuosit 486]

YAY!!

[Rydygier 1309]

Mission upgraded to 1.4. Changelog:

- added more hostiles (checkpoints, hidden camps, chance for more guards at military compounds);

- added ability to establish a hideout at cleared hidden camp that allows to rest, heal, keep some cargo and fast travel there for free. Details in mission's in-game Diary;

- now player begins by random at one of ten pre-definedstarting points;

- immersive and narrative on-screen hints about noted by Alex near hostile presence or camps;

- player now can via radio channel set three-state loot markers switch (show all, show some, show none);

- phone calls logged under "Phone calls" in map view;

- hitchhiking disabled if player obtained brother's body;

- chance for better loot in military buildings;

- near motorized patrols will investigate area, where player was spotted;

- autosave at each holy place and at broter's body;

- adjusted music volume;

- ffu changed for ff;

- adjusted ammo auction prices;

- fixed issues with some loot items (like caps, vests, helmets and such);

- adjusted weather;

- numerous code and other fixes and adjustments.

as you can see, many new things was added. This means risk of new bugs despite my tests. I'll be grateful as always for any feedback. :)

Edited March 1, 2014 by Rydygier

[tortuosit 486]

Thanks for the release. This seems to be very scripting heavy (at the beginning?). My mods: "@JSRS2;@sthud_a3;@bCombat;@status_hud;@tao_foldmap_a3;@tmr" - they were fine with prior version.

First I only had like 5 fps for the first minute. Now after maybe 2 minutes FPS seem fine, but e.g. when I click "hitchhiking" I have to wait for 10 seconds, then the map appears...

---------- Post added at 14:31 ---------- Previous post was at 14:19 ----------

- Weather: Clouds at the edges, above the player its all clear, but its raining. Maybe you need to use simulweathersync once.

- There's some serious delay in all my actions. Opening doors. Or I entered a church, went out, the message about brother did not appear.

Edited March 1, 2014 by tortuosit

[Rydygier 1309]

Yes, above 6000 code lines. At init (under loading screen) CPU is really busy. Thanks to that later isn't that much. There is only one permanent main loop running with 10 secs intervals. I can test whole thing only on my machine, so do not know, how would it be for the others. Anyway, that's the price of implementing most of requested things. I usually get very low FPS during first 10 seconds (until caching system take out of simulation, what should be hidden), then it is rising to the about 35. If I then save and load, it raises more, above 40. Quite nice as for map with 200+ enemy groups and hundreds of spawned objects, I would say. How other addons interact with the mission regarding to performance cost - can't tell. If you must wait 10 seconds for hitchhiking's map, then perhaps at least one of your addons is overloading CPU. It is same under vanilla? If so, then sorry, perhaps too weak CPU. I tested on i7 3770 (not overclocked).

Weather is, as is. Same was from Alpha times to now. Do not know, when they do something about that part of Arma, hopefully soon. Not sure, what exactly do simulweathersync but IMHO nothing about rain from clear sky. Raining is only dependent on overcast value, I think, and even with heavy overcast you can have a bit of clear sky just above the head. And rain same time.

First of all - try to save&load for more FPS, also compare with vanilla gameplay. Second - check RPT perhaps is flooded by some error, thus sluggishness (also in rare cases some errors may occur due to massive script exec delay (overloaded CPU)). If many will report same issue - then I'll reduce back amount of AIs.

---------- Post added at 16:29 ---------- Previous post was at 14:58 ----------

After test - a troublemaker would be bCombat. Comparing to above results: until save&load I got only 8 fps, and after 25-30 instead of 40+ and second or three delay before hitch-hiking map open. Something must be wrong in bCombat's design, if adding distant AI groups have such performance impact. I suspect some fsms running for all or something like that. Anyway - bCombat 0.15 seems to make Pilgrimage 1.4 sluggish.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Rydygier

[tortuosit 486]

My CPU is some 3.4ghz i7. Will check vanilla.

[Rydygier 1309]

Did quick tour across bCombat's code and situation seems clear. Seems, that it spawns sqf loop per each AI unit on map instead of use one loop going through all units. That amount of loops must overload CPU power given for scripts if there is 200+ groups on map (about 1000 AIs I suppose). Caching them changes nothing here. And more, there are some per-frame checks and custom fsms applied. Not sure, if there is such thing there, but for sure should be also detecting, if player unit is near, and if not - most that activity should be suspended. So I would suggest to talk with fabrizio_T‎ about better performance optimization. If possible. I'm playing usually with JSRS or SoS (lately) and chosen TPW's goodies.

[tortuosit 486]

Thanks for sorting this out, then I'll try tpw_ebs and the new asr_ai eventually.

[fabrizio_t 58]

Did quick tour across bCombat's code and situation seems clear. Seems, that it spawns sqf loop per each AI unit on map instead of use one loop going through all units. That amount of loops must overload CPU power given for scripts if there is 200+ groups on map (about 1000 AIs I suppose). Caching them changes nothing here. And more, there are some per-frame checks and custom fsms applied. Not sure, if there is such thing there, but for sure should be also detecting, if player unit is near, and if not - most that activity should be suspended. So I would suggest to talk with fabrizio_T‎ about better performance optimization. If possible. I'm playing usually with JSRS or SoS (lately) and chosen TPW's goodies.

Hi there,

just a heads-up to anybody interested in the issue with bCombat:

Thanks Rydygier.

[tortuosit 486]

Wow, thanks to both of you. Unfortunately cannot test it this weekend.

[Piotre 10]

Loving the concept so far and exploring the island to my heart's content :-)

Getting around is a real pain though.

Could you maybe consider the possibility that every conquered camp can become a hideout and that free teleporting between hideouts should be possible?

[Rydygier 1309]

I could, but not sure, if I want. Looks too easy then to me. Unless some issues would be found, there is no plans for soon update, but I think, in the next one I'll introduce some kind of initial customization regarding to enemy density, loot density/value, prices, and some optional rules - eg. what you proposed (noted it). More "lazy solutions" may be optional then too, like teleport back from hideout to the position, from where you teleported to the hideout, automated transferring loot from all camp boxes to the chosen one, selling the loot also from camp box etc. All this crossed my minds, just decided not do this to keep mission challenging, forcing good planning and wise choices.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Rydygier

[giorgygr 61]

Loving the concept so far and exploring the island to my heart's content :-)

Getting around is a real pain though.

Could you maybe consider the possibility that every conquered camp can become a hideout and that free teleporting between hideouts should be possible?

I don't want to force *my playstyle but seriously..

try to play a game without Save or fancy trinkets (ie fast travel)and it will be another dimension of experience.

[Rydygier 1309]

Played several hours. I liked. Means - success :) .

Found two small issues though. Some fireplaces despite all my efforts anyway are a bit below surface if on the slope, and player can't use any action on them. I must force more flat areas for camps or use another object as anchor for hideout actions. A box? Preferred fireplace though. Second - hard to explain shortly, but in the effect non-weapon and non-magazine (item-like) loot is very rare and mostly unmarked.

[doc. caliban 34]

In the end, I did decide to restart since it starts in a random place now ... that way I don't have to reply the same part of the map that I've already done until much later. :-) The gameplay has definitely changed with more enemy! Previously I would drive around rather freely, stopping ahead of small towns to run up a hill and scope things out before driving in. Now I have to drive around in a stronger vehicle because I come under fire much more often. I like it! I've had to change my tactics.

I like the changes for 1.4. Thank you for putting the time into it!

EDIT:

Two things that I forgot to mention: I have not tested against the regular missions, but I've noticed that my FPS dropped quite a bit with this version. However, I think that is due to being in an area with many more trees, so it's probably just related to the map. I will hitchhike to an area that I was in during 1.3 and compare.

Secondly, I have been very careful to clear areas around churches/chapels because I don't know if the autosave first checks to see if there is imminent danger nearby before it saves. If it does not, that's perfectly fine, so I'm just careful before I check out the building.

- Doc

Edited March 2, 2014 by Doc. Caliban

[Rydygier 1309]

Mission upgraded to 1.41. Changelog:

- improved camp placement (less steepness acceptable);

- fixed problem with too rare "item" kind of loot;

- minor code tweaks.

Due to only secondary changes, workshop version will be not updated to avoid breaking saved games again for people currently playing 1.4.

[tortuosit 486]

I started 1.4.1 with latest bCombat - still a couple of seconds delay when fast travelling, or opening doors. No such problem with tpw_mods (with tpw_ebs turned on) in combination with asr_ai3

BTW, watched out for where I could alter the number of spawned enemies - and found stuff like this in JRInit.sqf:

"if ((random 100) > -25) then {player linkItem "ItemWatch"};

if ((random 100) > -35) then {player linkItem "ItemCompass"};

[...]"

?? Random 100 is [0 up to 100[ to my knowledge :confused:

Edited March 3, 2014 by tortuosit