Project ASTFOR - Astelandic Armed Forces

[Painmace 14]

Dont know if you already coverd this in an earlier post.

 

In the OP you mention you want to be uniqeu with your choice of weapons. What about the Ak5 that the Swedes use? Or the Finnish Rk types (not sure which they use)?

 

Also, how are you handling the "Scandinavian" terrain? Are you making your own terrain models? (idk the term for terrain stuff)

[j0nes 194]

@painmace both have been addressed in an earlier post, but ill gladly address it again, two years of posts can be a little arduous to read through ha. our main infantry rifle will be the AG890k, which is a custom Galil SAR, and an upgrade kit for it that was issued to Astelandic infantry around 2005, unofficially designated the AG890m. it includes a cheek rest, front rail system (similar to that of the RK95) and an adapter to use NATO stanags instead of Galil magazines. in 2025 a new rifle was adopted and named the AGA25k, a custom version of the Galil ACE. The infantry used to also use several variants of the G3. 

We have a real-world island that we have imported in to game to use for our first terrain. It is a main island with two smaller satellites, connected to the main island by ferry routes. The two smaller islands still have a number of buildings and points of interest, so were encouraging island hopping and water gameplay. but they also offer small, isolated locations for pvp missions or deathmatches. Our environment artist is working hard to give it some cool history, such as nazi occupation during WWII, that will influence terrain objects and overall feel. We would also like to incorporate a limited number of new wildlife to complete the scandi feel, but until we have our infantry kit playable, the island is not progressing past a blank in game terrain.

[j0nes 194]

*WEEKLY WIP REPORT- Week of 4.3 - 4.10.2016

 

*World Building

Work on the Astelandic Military ORBATS continued this week, finishing up all frontline branches at a macro level, with micro work continuing. Back stories have begun development as well as a slew of crests, logos, and patches. More discussions have taken place about our first homeland terrain and our lore team has begun working on finalizing many details for all aspects of Asteland’s history. Ranks have also been concepted for the Astelandic military, an example shown below.

*Design

A release forecast has begun this week, detailing not so much the anticipated dates, but the desired content. The Astfor mod will include various items from both modern day as well as 2020 and beyond, syncing with the current Armaverse timeline. For the first batch of releases we will be focusing on present day military, and as we progress, both past and future Astfor will fall into place. While we do not ever anticipating creating full past, present and future militaries, the content we hope to provide will span a large period of time. For example, M113s will be used by the Astelandic homeguard, and will be deployed in Operation Arrowhead with the military detachment in Takistan. Some models will then be replaced after OA with the CV90 MkIII chassis, containing several different variants. This should allow for many different types of gameplay from 1989 to 2035.

We would like to announce a rather special vehicle this week, the AC235 pocket gunship. After the threat of insurgency in Asteland began to rise in the early 2020s, the government, lacking a mid range attack aircraft, began researching vehicles to fill this role. After determining the required number of attack helicopters would be much to expensive, Asteland worked its long standing relationship with ATK to convert one of its existing CN235 transports into a gunship for the nation’s special missions air group.

 

*Art

The art team has finished the AG890k this week and is proud to present Asteland’s frontline infantry rifle from 1989 to 2005, when it began its upgrade process. The national crest has begun concepting, as seen below.

*Administrative

We’ve rounded up all our members from Europe and the US after battling time zones and have completed our comms software switch. Our outdated mod package has been distributed to necessary team members, for testing to determine what needs updates with the various A3 engine improvements since our last internal publish. Planning has begun for Dev Team missions prior to our first public release to ensure quality control.

 

[Folkward 50]

Amazing! :wub:

[Ogrinho 143]

Nice work guys, I'm currently working at Brazilian Armed Forces and we already have a A-4 Skyhawk modelled and also the AS-350 Fennec, alongside with many other "exclusive" models. Please let me know if you guys need something, maybe we could exange things and even work together!

Cheers from Brazil!

[j0nes 194]

*WEEKLY WIP REPORT- Week of 4.10 - 4.17.2016

 

*World Building

This week, with some help from our Scandinavian consultant, we’re releasing our first sattelite map of our homeland terrain, the island of Portmark. A rustic tourist hotspot, Portmark’s mountain range and beautiful ocean view is a one of a kind experience. Housing an secluded resort with cabin style accommodations, island helicopter tours, and an isolated lagoon for boating, the northernmost island is a beautiful seaside destination. The central island is home to residential living, a small port frequented by local fishermen, and a western mountain range containing numerous WWII Nazi coastal artillery batteries and tunnels. Due to recent instability in the region, both geologically and politically, all non-collapsed tunnels have been closed. The Portmark History Museum offers a brief look throughout the island’s rich history, a spot you will surely want to visit.

For those of you who enjoy reading, included below are the history of the Astelandic Marines, and the Asteland Battalion QRF.

King's Battalion of Marines

Asteland Battalion

 

*Design

More crest, patches, and TRFs have been drafted this week. Research has begun on creating a system for quickly integrating unit patches to uniforms outside of the A3 insignia and squad xml patches already available in game, and a set of templates for the creation of these patches has begun production. A lot of work has gone into the creation of an updated, more modern interpretation of the Astelandic Defense Forces insignia shown below.

 

*Art

We’ve added two new members to the AG890 family this week, the AG890, and the AG890c. Bracketing the AG890k on either side lengthwise, the AG890 is a longer assault rifle that fell out of service with the frontline, but can still be found in Astelandic Homeguard armories. The AG890c is still widely used today by armor crews and features an integrated vertical foregrip. The AG890k and AG890c are being shipped from military armories in batches back to Astelandic Metal Works for the installation of a modernization package that will include rails, a new more adjustable stock, and a magazine well that will change the type used from 35 round Galil, to 30 round USGI stanag, in order to ensure compatibility with NATO standards both in and out of the country.

Our uniform team has been hard at work in the past weeks modeling much needed assets for our infantry kit. This week, the initial pass of the Astelandic Viper helmet in several variants has been completed as well as a boot and gaiter set for protection against water and snow in the great white north. The Viper will have both high and low cuts around the ears to allow for headset usage, and will also feature a rail system for easy mounting of helmet accessories. An Astelandic camo (ASTPAT) facemask has also been made that will be included as both a stand alone facewear accessory and an integrated part of the helmet to ensure the cloth of the facemask looks proper around the helmet straps.

[teddymosart1 40]

Don`t forget to add a C-mag to it...Btw,Swedish Mod SAM have shared/traded some stuff before....they have a lot of CV-90 tanks.If you want to ask...

 

Witch Sam-system will you use?  The SAM-mod has Hawk-77,RBS-70.Old/Simple systems-use those?

 

Any new kind of Subs?  They are currently making some in Brazil Mod,getting those?

 

Will you be making radars?

[slatts 1978]

Moist. I'm actually moist.

[war_lord 934]

Don`t forget to add a C-mag to it

Only if it can be scripted to fail to feed every 10 rounds.

[roberthammer 582]

Only if it can be scripted to fail to feed every 10 rounds.

Haha , that would be realistic

 

but seriously , no c-mag - those things are unreliable as hell

[j0nes 194]

@teddymosart1 the swedish use the CV9040, whereas we will be using the CV9030, because it is the export version. we will also be including a few other variants of the CV90 down the road. We have an RBS70 right now, and will also be using a variant of the Norwegian built NASAMS, as well a variants of the bofors L70. As far as submarines, research has to be done when we start our naval assets, because there used to be game engine limitations with submarines. Tentatively, were looking at a a diver propulsion vehicle that will be smaller than the SDVs and backpack portable, which should open up its usage and gameplay opportunities. If naval testing goes well, we may add a medium attack submarine down the line. we will be making radars, we have a Sisu E13TP truck with several variants, one of which is the GM400 radar, and a Sisu A2045 truck with a Giraffe 75 radar. we have several ideas on how to make these systems usable in game, but will not disclose any information until later once any game mechanics have been tested.

[j0nes 194]

*WEEKLY WIP REPORT- Week of 4.17 - 4.24.2016

 

This week is fairly light on content. We have been able to make a lot of progress, but none of it is at the stage we would feel proud to show you yet.

 

*World Building

We’ve  begun to write the history of Portmark, as well as concepting the Portmark History Museum. Neither are ready for reveal quite yet, but we know you’ll enjoy them when they are.

 

*Art

The AG890m has begun modeling this week after much debate on the railed handguard and stock. We hope to be able to show you this and the AG890c2 in next week’s WIP.

 

*Admin

We’re proud to announce our joint venture with Finmod. We are not combining our two projects, however we are joining forces and sharing skills between groups to find common assets and speed up production. More details will be announced soon.

[CrazyCorky 463]

Is your map going to be released standalone from your mod? Just curious!

[Alex150201 894]

Is your map going to be released standalone from your mod? Just curious!

Yes I thought the same thing. If you release it standalone it's going to be 1) Easier to get access to because the downloads aren't going to be huge and 2) Others might want to play on that map without having to use the Astorian Armed Forces. If you release it as one whole part the downloads would be massive...

[j0nes 194]

at first our map will only be released in our mod pack, it will be stand alone in that respect and wont require A3MP or anything like it. The main reason for this is we want to encourage people to download our entire mod that we put so much effort into. but as the mod gets out of alpha and adds more content we may have a separate weapons pack/ vehicles pack/ map pack to make it easier to download, and so players can pick and choose what they want. we are also looking into porting Zargabad from A2 with some upgrades when we release our desert units.

[CrazyCorky 463]

at first our map will only be released in our mod pack, it will be stand alone in that respect and wont require A3MP or anything like it. The main reason for this is we want to encourage people to download our entire mod that we put so much effort into. but as the mod gets out of alpha and adds more content we may have a separate weapons pack/ vehicles pack/ map pack to make it easier to download, and so players can pick and choose what they want. we are also looking into porting Zargabad from A2 with some upgrades when we release our desert units.

 

Definitely understand that! I'll have to read the first post again to see all the things planned for this pack!

[j0nes 194]

 

April, 1068 AD Portmark revolutionary, Erik Foggad is now known as Erik Borax, has gathered a small following among the native Saxons in Sudpart, who believe he is a living descendant of Horgan Borax come to liberate them, and begins to meet with other Saxons across the island.

[j0nes 194]

 

27 April, 1940 AD The Astelandic Corvette Rickkenhart engages in a running battle with the German destroyer Georg Thiele just off the east coast of Portmark. After trading shots the Rickkenhart is hit twice and lists heavily to port. The crew beaches the ship before she can sink, and abandons her.

[R.Anderson@15thMEU 1]

Will your Mod pack contain   Swedish CBJ-MS sub machine gun, Ak-5 series assualt rifles, and the Bandvagn 206 tracked personnel carrier or  the NH90 helicopter  Used by neighboring Nato countries 

[j0nes 194]

@R.Anderson@15thMEU Unfortunately the only thing from that list we will be using is the NH90. We have an unreleased SMG called the MP6, that is similar in role to the CBJ-MS and will mainly be used for special forces and air crew. The AG890 series are being used in stead of AK5s. The Bandvagn 206 would be an interesting addition at some point, but its not even on our vehicle list right now because even with ropes, articulated vehicles are still near impossible to implement in game and have them work reliably, consistently, and realistically in single player and multiplayer environments. There would be a lot of scripting involved and right now its just more work than its worth, and not really necessary with all the other vehicles we have.

[john111 76]

Bell Jet Ranger seems a cheap addition to the armada.A lot is getting retired by US Coast Guard.Something for the mod?

[j0nes 194]

@John1 the as550 will be covering the roles that the jet ranger would, if a model turns up for one in the future we may incorporate it as a civilian helo.

[j0nes 194]

 

May, 425 AD Saxons looking for a northern passage above Scotland discover Portmark. They land on its southern shore and begin colonization.

[j0nes 194]

*WEEKLY WIP REPORT- Week of 4.24  - 5.1.2016

 

*World Building

This week we’ve completed the history of the island of Portmark, and moved on to the history of Asteland. Were releasing the timelines as ‘This Day in History’ posts, for a more fun, snippet way of presenting the information. Upon full release we will include a download for some bonus out of game content that will include these timelines, the ASTFOR soundtrack, and some other items.

 

*Technical

We’ve begun adding visual elements to our orbat, using ShipBucket guidelines. While we had some reservations about the somewhat retro style after so much work with cutting edge graphics, the team has begun to warm up to it. A nice sampling of vehicles have been added to our files, some of which we would like to share with you today. With these vehicles, we’ve developed our color palate guidelines for our vehicle camo in both desert and woodland.

 

 

*Art

The AG890 series has completed its modeling phase. The galil sar has begun preparation for texturing, and the 890 series will follow upon its completion, as they share many common parts. We have a new addition to our weapon accessories, the Aimpoint CS, and while we can’t show it to you quite yet, we can assure you it looks fantastic. As mentioned in last week’s WIP we have joined forces with Finmod, and we are already seeing the benefits. Both teams have begun to help each other and the quality of work is on the rise. The M2HB and HK GMG are among the first additions that will appear in the coming weeks. Not only will these be independant static weapons, but the gun cradles, mounting gear, and weapons themselves can be used on a number of the coming vehicles. This will speed up production later when we can draw from a large library of weapons, objects, and mountings that we are creating early on.

 

*Admin

The students in our group are preparing for final exams, and doing a wonderful job of balancing their real lives with the project. Keep up the great work, and good luck to all community members in the coming weeks who have exams!

 

[j0nes 194]

 

4 May, 1714 AD After seeing the performance of army detachments on navy ships, the admiralty decides to officially found the King’s own Marines on Portmark.