The CSAT Modification Project (Release)

[FeeltheBridge 0]

On 4/24/2018 at 5:51 PM, theevancat said:

 

Which mod are you referring to? I might be forgetting, but I haven't been tracking on any projects using my assets recently.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924454290&searchtext=

[theevancat 277]

On 4/27/2018 at 12:52 PM, FeeltheBridge said:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924454290&searchtext=

 

Oh, that's just inspiration. I was worried that someone had been like, jacking my stuff without asking. No worries there.

[theevancat 277]

Double post, but thanks to the Discord-formerly-known-as-Arma-3-Aegis-but-now-just-Arma-3-Hub, the CSAT Modification Project has slightly official Discord channel. If you're not already there, swing by and keep tabs on a bit more of the process:

 

https://discord.gg/dyXnZ8u

[theevancat 277]

 

Another release! A few months of work in my spare time has resulted in many fixes, a lot of improvements, and small additions to the mod. Crack open a cold one with the boys (but not too many or you'll wind up like this guy), enjoy this particular eid, and roll out on the plains of battle with some new and improved Iranian troopers. So enjoy The CSAT Modification Project 1.6.1.

 

Changelog:

1.6.1 (05/02/18)
> Added propeller and rudder model to the Abda.
> Added patrol/belt kit and machinegunner loadouts to the Azad and Hamel vests.
> Added glasses randomization to CSAT troops.
> Added white shemaghs.
> Added CSAT textures for non-medical Orange DLC tents.
> Added brown hex textures for APEX DLC IR masking tents.
> Added tactical (non-camouflaged) version of the Penah.
> Added Jets DLC aircraft to CSAT side, with green hex variants.
> Added tactical task symbols to groups.
> Added K729 Saeqeh drone.
> Added Mine Specialists.
> Added Iranian national flag and banner.
> Changed Abda wheel textures.
> Changed vest model on Hamel vests to be slimmer.
> Changed pouch placement on Hamel vests.
> Changed vests of Rifleman (Patrol) and Scout Snipers to their long-range patrol versions.
> Changed vests of machinegunners to their special variant.
> Changed vests of vehicle crewmen to lighter Hamel rigs.
> Changed headset model on Raad helmets.
> Changed mod logos to align more with vanilla styling.
> Improved Abda water handling and effects.
> Improved Penah LODs.
> Improved Abda RCWS to more closely match the vanilla model.
> Fixed unarmed Orca variants having weapons.
> Improved mod.cpp content.
> Fixed Abda water buoyancy.
> Fixed color of arid Qilin (Armed.)
> Fixed CSAT Bag (Heavy) and Penah RVMAT shininess.
> Fixed vehicle inheritances that caused errors with Tanks DLC interiors.
> Fixed woodland Rifleman (Patrol) backpack config.
> Fixed Keftar and Ruk window RVMATs.
> Fixed uniform of Riflemen (SMG.)
> Fixed woodland textures of Varsuk and Kamysh variants.

 

Check out the Dropbox link below:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lqt8oi93k2rd25e/%40TEC_CSAT.zip?dl=0

 

Steam version:

 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=441854566

[FeeltheBridge 0]

On 4/29/2018 at 12:46 PM, theevancat said:

 

Oh, that's just inspiration. I was worried that someone had been like, jacking my stuff without asking. No worries there.

Yep, he even gave you credits in the description lol. Anyways, you never confirmed or denied the possibility of creating a PLA-division along with the Iranians.

[theevancat 277]

On 5/11/2018 at 6:59 AM, FeeltheBridge said:

Yep, he even gave you credits in the description lol. Anyways, you never confirmed or denied the possibility of creating a PLA-division along with the Iranians.

 

So far I haven't made plans to create a PLA faction. I say this mainly because my regional knowledge swings more towards Iran and I'm able to get more in-depth with forces there. I've learned the language, lived in a culturally Persian country, and spoken with the people. Now I feel like when I'm looking over the faction, especially in terms of little things like making the Persian names sound correct or creating stuff like accurate faces (more on that later), I do a better job. This makes I feel like I wouldn't do China as much justice. It's definitely a lot less familiar to me.

 

Now for the status update: So far I've made some updates on bringing more gear to the faction. Kneepads are in and (mostly) rigged, while Penah helmets have goggles:

 

 

 

Up in the chute for the next few weeks is planned improvements to the customization: you've already seen the kneepads and the goggle helmets, but plans are in the works for new goggles to match and tactical glasses (like eyepro, because professional militaries have eyepro!) I'm also working on new loadouts for units like a grenadier vest, medic vest, and others if you have suggestions. Persian-language unit and morale patches are another idea I've thought about.

 

I'm looking at texturing new faces for the Iranians to add some diversity in there. Any suggestions to this process are welcome, since I'm gonna try and broaden the appearance of CSAT troops to include more ethnic diversity (there are a lot of Azeris, Kurds, some Arabs, and other non-Persians like Armenians and Turks in the country.)

 

Aside from faction content, I've learned some new tips and tricks so expect texture improvements to come about. I've also got to update some things in terms of editor preview images and inventory icons. I'm thinking about remodeling some lower-quality things like the helmet rails because they really aren't that great. The grind now is focusing on quality improvements. If you have issues, tell me: I won't be offended and I'll put it on my list.

 

I like to keep people in the loop and incorporate their suggestions, so say what you wanna see. Once again, if you want a live look at development, find the Discord here: https://discord.gg/dyXnZ8u

 

Bonus screenshots:

 

 

[grollig 19]

The error I reported above is gone (RHS Blackhawk "hit glass" error message) since the last update.
However a new error message shows up when an alternative CSAT unit is spawned for the first time:

 

RPT Log:

12:13:47 Warning Message: Cannot load texture i:\csat modification project\csat_vests\data\azad\forcerecon_body_co.paa.
12:13:47 Warning Message: Cannot load texture i:\csat modification project\csat_vests\data\azad\forcerecon_body_co.paa.
12:13:47 soldier[TEC_O_Soldier_Semiarid_A_F]:Some of magazines weren't stored in soldier Vest or Uniform?
12:13:47 Ref to nonnetwork object 1530cf00# 1784455: ia_soldier_02.p3d

[theevancat 277]

On 5/18/2018 at 6:25 AM, grollig said:

The error I reported above is gone (RHS Blackhawk "hit glass" error message) since the last update.
However a new error message shows up when an alternative CSAT unit is spawned for the first time:

 

 

RPT Log:

12:13:47 Warning Message: Cannot load texture i:\csat modification project\csat_vests\data\azad\forcerecon_body_co.paa.
12:13:47 Warning Message: Cannot load texture i:\csat modification project\csat_vests\data\azad\forcerecon_body_co.paa.
12:13:47 soldier[TEC_O_Soldier_Semiarid_A_F]:Some of magazines weren't stored in soldier Vest or Uniform?
12:13:47 Ref to nonnetwork object 1530cf00# 1784455: ia_soldier_02.p3d

 

 

Yeah, that's a bug associated with me pulling an updated model off of an external hard-drive (hence the "i\" part) when I worked on them at home on leave and switched them over to my actual computer. As far as I know, aside from the error message the only issue is the belt has a weird texture on the "top" part. I fixed it, should be released in the next update.

[theevancat 277]

So with everything happening I could really only get a mini update out before I left for the summer. I'm gonna be completely offline for the next three weeks and just away until August after that. So here's 1.6.2, currently just on Steam because I was having issues pushing it to Dropbox with this Internet and I had to pack out my stuff.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=441854566

 

1.6.2
> Added kneepad models to certain vests.

> Added eyepro glasses.
> Added Penah (Goggles) with variants.
> Added unit patch insignias for various Iranian armored, infantry, airborne, and takavar (commando) units.
> Added a new face to Persian face rotation.
> Improved textures on Azad vest and pouches.
> Improved Azad belt kit model.
> Improved Penah battery box textures.
> Fixed Penah chinstrap clipping/missing faces.

> Fixed Azad texture path errors.
> Removed facepaints for quality issues.

 

 

[theevancat 277]

Development update time:

 

So these have already been posted on the official Discord (it's a fun time there, I promise), but in and out of field training exercises and a fun stint learning about constitutional and military law, I've been working on the next steps for CMP. Right now I'm bogged down with quality control and bug fixes, aiming to make this look more professional. I'm learning and practicing a bit more to give myself the tools to improve the quality, and I'm focusing on small details that make this come alive. I started this project in 2014: this was actually my first big mod and continues to be my only long-term Arma project. I've done some side jobs but this continues to be my muse for the community. It's also, for the most part, a one man gig (however, I do have my helpers when I'm away and I thank them very much) and it's slow-moving because of that. But since it's my pet project, I'm trying to make it look as good as I can. Any criticism on the quality of it is appreciated, since that gives it stuff I can zero in on and work with.

 

The biggest change is going to be aesthetically. After a number of years with CSAT wearing black gear, something a little more... tactical is coming.

 

 

 

https://i.imgur.com/p5YcYo8.jpg

 

https://i.imgur.com/vcIWtkO.jpg

 

 

Basically this is, after some discussion and thinking, more in line with how CSAT looks in the base game. The black was definitely easy to do (partially why I kept it for so long), but looked a little weird when compared to how regular military forces dress. I haven't put it in yet, but I was gonna run some tests with a subdued flag.

 

However, I kept the black accents because I personally think that's a unique visual look. Like I keep saying, I want to keep this unique from a generic bad guy mod and add some flavor to the side. A lot of it is actually patterned after South African military kit from the 1980s, which was a cool little thing to reference and something that's not in the public sphere as much.

 

As for the future, I'm just nailing down bugfixes for the foreseeable future. I've already identified some and gotten cracking. I am also doing asset optimizations, which consist of improving the infantry kit and running some improvements to the vehicles in the form of improved gun stations for the Abda (Vodnik) and the Zamak MLRS. Other mundane stuff are editor preview pics (which for some reason I have a problem with converting the file types), and starting on localization. I only speak English, French, and Persian (the last one is not helpful for this task), so I'm gonna need some help from other folks if they're willing.

 

DLC plans for right now: I'm just throwing in the Tanks DLC content and waiting for it to become de-EBO'd so I can work on it more. Encore comes out soon, and I have some plans for that in the form of a command center Zamak (should be relatively easy to do and offers a command and control module for the new assets.)

 

Other than that, I have filler projects I'm working on that mostly just offer flavoring: a Zamak with a conex on it, and some vehicle identification marks like the little chevrons you see on military vehicles downrange (probably just a hexagon on the door.) Viper is getting looked at, because I definitely want to translate that to CMP in a way that makes sense.

 

Something else I'd like to drum up is news of a Pacific CSAT project by J.Burgess (who goes by LykosMactire on the forums.) LM Mods is putting together a China and North Korea themed CSAT expansion designed to work alongside the modifications made by CMP. We're going to end this post with a big, bad hype photo. You can find more pictures on the official Discord linked up top, where both me and LM Mods are based. Once again, thanks for reading my long-winded posts. I'll see you out there. 

 

!خدا حافظ

 

https://i.imgur.com/sVXbYGn.png

[theevancat 277]

Edited the post to show pictures. Not sure why they broke. Sorry if you couldn't see them before.

[sammael 366]

Spoiler

after your edit ...same

[theevancat 277]

54 minutes ago, sammael said:

  Reveal hidden contents

after your edit ...same

 

I gave up trying to embed it. Links are there to Imgur. Don't know why it's all messy today.

[red_spring 294]

44 minutes ago, theevancat said:

 

I gave up trying to embed it. Links are there to Imgur. Don't know why it's all messy today.

You're not the only one, there's some kind of issue between BI forum and imgur. I saw that some people are actually investigating the issue, that's all I know for now. Steam links are fine, they work all the time. 

[kothen 57]

I thoroughly enjoy this mod and look forward to the upcoming updates as well. Great work!

[R0adki11 3945]

13 hours ago, theevancat said:

 

I gave up trying to embed it. Links are there to Imgur. Don't know why it's all messy today.

Imgur links aren't working on the forums at present, the BI Web Team is currently investigating.

 

Edit: Imgur wasn't working, embedding images has now been resolved.

[theevancat 277]

Another quick update on the thang:

 

I've been making slow but sure progress on the mod. A lot of stuff that's needed fixing is getting fixed, and I'm working on some new assets and improvements to existing ones. Things are a bit difficult now just with my schedule and stuff: hitting school hard, figuring out my job options (hopefully I should be slotted as an Army Engineer officer come November), fixing my Internet so I can even launch Steam (you'd be surprised how awful it is here), working out plans to go see old friends now that I have a car and a pay raise, but most importantly dealing with the upcoming eye surgery I have on Wednesday. I wanted to have the update out before my surgery but it's just not finished enough for me to want to throw it out there. So it's gonna have to get delayed for a while so my eyes can heal (I'm going screen-free for a little bit.)

 

In the meantime, a little bit of the progress:

 

Targeting pod has been added to the Zamak MLRS. These pictures are pretty crap because I didn't do like, a glammed-up photoshoot. But it's whatever.

 

Viper has received a makeover for CMP. The next update will include Iranian members of the team, operating in sneaky beaky secret squirrel black operations right underneath your nose. This has been a pretty big undertaking, retexturing the vanilla uniforms for actual CSAT to give them a believable techy feel for a small group of operators. Also, if you turn on your thermal imaging... I wonder where they went...

 

Notice the camo'd up Raad helmets (except for the last one, that's just a prototype) and the fixed helmet cover/backpack materials. The stealth materials for the Raad haven't been made yet, but they'll have the same little thermal camo deals as the uniforms (think the diamondish pattern on CTRG uniforms.)

 

 



 



 



 

 

The Vorona got a paintjob and is issued to all members of CSAT who own the Tanks DLC.

 

 



 

 

A bunch of other bugfixes are in there without sexy pictures, but there's been a pretty sizeable overhaul. A lot of it is behind the scenes, like the vests now having hidden selections and are retexturable. Or the hours spent redoing UV maps... The replacement pack should also receive a fix so it's not broken (especially for Pacific CSAT.) A lot of it is simple configging like adding the new Tanks DLCs to the CSAT side with CMP crews. Plans for the future are to keep cracking at that and making sure stuff looks good and is fixed.

 

Asset ideas for the future have been floated around. We're gonna start seeing some new vehicle variants come to fruition.

 

Before I close out, I have a bunch of random screenshots to share as well, not particularly related to any sort of feature that hasn't been discussed already. Screenshots are all the rage nowadays, so it's something I've been working on doing:

 

 



 



 



 



 

 

And I'll leave you all with a nice sappy image. Look at how far we've come:

 

 

Thanks for reading. Keep up the good fight.

 



 

[theevancat 277]

Status update:

 

I've been having some troubles getting my desktop on the network so I've been making progress offline (no updates for a bit.)

 

Basically, a lot of behind the scenes work. While I'm sure you'd all like to hear about the pain in the ass that redoing the replacement config is (DLC, why are you so difficult?) or how I tried to get gunner station MFDs working only to find it was a typo messing it up all along, or how rigging vests is hard, so I think I'll settle for the sexy stuff.

 

Assets are getting some new UI pictures and editor previews to bring the mod up to speed with some quality standards. The Eden editor presentation and inventory icons really make a big difference in my opinion, since I like to at least pretend my assets have quality!

 

Spoiler

 

Infantry units are now CBRN protected in sticky situations.

 

Spoiler

 

The Type 42 gas mask with hood. Also comes without one.

 

Explosive-related people now are equipped with... a bit more in the way of protection. An even heavier version of the Azad OTV is now equipped on units like grenadiers, engineers, or mine specialists. Protection configging has been overhauled and should now be a bit better and more realistic to how things are portrayed.

 

Spoiler

 

Training for EOD operations on Stratis.

 

 

Taking a walk in the countryside.

 

Viper is finished and configured!

 

Spoiler

 

All the Viper units (NVGs have been replaced with compact black ENVGs with thermal and NV capabilities.)

 

 

A better view of woodland guys with the new NVGs, stalking bandits in the jungle.

 

 

Comparison with the standard CSAT rifleman.

 

The Zamak is getting some love with crew protection in the MLRS cab. Aaaand there's a special surprise coming to a convoy near you (heavily WIP.)

 

Spoiler

 

Hip-fire rocket launches at a good angle to show the new blast hatches.

 

 

The RCWS-protected version of the Zamak truck. It will have HMG and GMG versions for the open and covered truck variants.

 

Aside from that, that's just a quick peek into what's going on. More pictures are down below, but progress is slowly marching to an update. 1.7 is just around the corner! Keep up on the Discord for up-to-date shenanigans and updates (most of these pics are put there first) and watch coming content. Thanks!

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[theevancat 277]

Hot: The LykosMactire Pacific CSAT Overhaul has been released on Steam in its first iteration. The mod has been developed with close collaboration with a good friend of mine as an overhaul for the Chinese and other Pacific CSAT partners. A lot of people have asked about doing China: this is the answer. While it's not folded entirely into CMP as a whole, LM_CSAT is the sister mod to this and the replacement config is going to have both TEC_CSAT (CMP) and LM_CSAT as requirements when it updates. This overhaul is designed to enable parallel work on both sides with set areas of expertise (me working Iran and most likely other Middle Eastern and Central Asian CSAT partners, with LM working Chinese and Pacific guys.) So try it out, and get hype for the official CMP 1.7 release that's coming sooner than ever.

 

In the meantime, I suppose it's time for progress pics to prove I didn't actually die during Army-Navy weekend (although after three quarters of a bottle of vodka and a night at the clubs, I was pretty out there.) Administratively, the mod has seen a lot of under the hood action. CSAT (Alternative) has been split up into CSAT (Iran, Mediterranean) and CSAT (Iran, Pacific) forces. The diversity to woodland forces has been improved as well... There are now units like snipers, support guys, mortar/gun carriers, recon troops, and special forces wearing woodland camouflage. This should help with AI spawning mods like ALiVE and whatnot, since there were spawning issues before. Under the hood stuff like localization, UI icons, editor previews, and editor subcategories are still ongoing. These are arguably the biggest pains and less sexy than new assets.

 

Scrim helmets have been touched up and added to marksmen/sharpshooter/sniper units.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Vehicle crewmen coveralls are configured and in game.

 

Spoiler

 

 

The Keftar has had some extensive work done to it. Textures were touched up, still gotta do the interior. The flight model and sensor package are improved, a data link was added, and dynamic weapons have replaced the default weapon scheme.

 

Spoiler

 

This is more of a WIP picture (the compass position has since been adjusted right and fixed) but the Abda gunner station is just about done.

 

Spoiler

 

Snipers have been overhauled and the full stealth ghillies are added in. These are the "first-generation" stealth suits, but Western intelligence is so far unaware of any sort of Viper team activity... yet. So they believe that these are the most advanced thermal camouflage systems in the CSAT arsenal.

 

Spoiler

 

Thanks for staying tuned in! I'm hoping to push this out sometime soon. Let me know if you have any comments or concerns, and keep up on the Discord for real-time shenanigans. Khodahafez!

[Bayern_Maik 9]

[theevancat 277]

There are (I think, at least) Steam related difficulties with the Publisher tool pushing out the update. I've been trying for a week but I'll try again this evening. So far, I think I may have a solution.

[theevancat 277]

CSAT Modification Project 1.7.0 is now live on Steam after months of work!

 

Changelog:

 

1.7.0 (12/22/18)
> Added Tanks DLC assets (Angara and Vorona launcher.)
> Added Heavy AT soldiers.
> Added Viper teams in arid and woodland.
> Added Encore DLC SAM and radars.
> Added new groups using new Tanks, Apex (Viper), and Encore assets.
> Added targeting pod and crew protective hatches to Zamak (MLRS) model.
> Added camouflaged versions of the Raad helmet.
> Added Hassani identity.
> Added CSAT Viper stealth uniforms in arid and woodland.
> Added stealth (Viper) versions of the Raad helmet in arid and woodland.
> Added hidden selections to the Azad and Hamel vests.
> Added all CSAT Azad and Hamel vests and variants in a coyote brown color.
> Added Type 42 gas masks (thanks to Mr. Skellington for releasing the source data.)
> Added vehicle crewman coveralls in all five camos and issued them to vehicle and air crews.
> Added explosive protected versions of the Azad OTV and issued them to relevant personnel.
> Added Army and Navy versions of the aircrew vest.
> Added dark eyepro shades and orange and dark shades to the shemagh/glasses combo.
> Added dynamic loadout to the KA-97 Keftar.
> Added tactical goggles in clear, dark, and orange to the eyewear randomization.
> Added woodland UGVs.
> Added woodland SOF (sweater) uniforms.
> Added woodland support (HMG/GMG teams, etc.) units.
> Added woodland recon and SOF units.
> Added woodland groups (support infantry, special forces, Viper teams, etc.)
> Added full ghillie suits in arid, semiarid, lush, and jungle.
> Added datalink and recon capabilities to the Keftar.
> Changed equipment loadouts of CSAT troops to wear brown (for arid, semiarid, and woodland troops) or black (urban and naval) vests.
> Changed flags to a subdued tan or black color depending on uniform.
> Changed Ifrit replacement to the Abda instead of the Shir (removes conflicts with other replacement that touch the Ifrit.)
> Changed Shir trucks in motorized groupings to Abda trucks to allow every member of the teams to fit inside.
> Changed replacement packs: there is now one replacement pack since DLC troops are available for everyone, not just their owners. This simplifies installation.
> Changed strap color on CSAT Bergen backpacks.
> Changed face 04's name to "Tehrani."
> Changed faction organization from CSAT (Alternative) to CSAT (Iran, Mediterranean) and CSAT (Iran, Pacific) in order to simplify menus and aid spawning scripts.
> Changed editor subcategories of most units to be vanilla ones.
> Fixed mine specialist backpack error.
> Fixed FCH Penah texture shine.
> Fixed CSAT Heavy backpack texture shine.
> Fixed Squad Leaders having grenade launchers (gave them to Team Leaders instead.)
> Fixed Explosive Specialist not having a vest.
> Fixed Raad chinstrap clipping/missing faces.
> Fixed Raad helmet texture stretching and missing faces.
> Fixed retextured weapons not showing up in Virtual Arsenal.
> Fixed general issues with old, out of date replacement pack.
> Fixed Penah battery box texture issues with distant LODs.
> Fixed units not spawning with first aid kits.
> Fixed duplicate faces showing up in arsenal lists: should only be for identity lists, not public.
> Fixed Tehrani's face shine.
> Fixed Navy UAV operator's icon (was officer, not regular icon.)
> Fixed eyepro view pilot LOD (should no longer see glasses in first person view.)
> Improved Abda turret models to more closely match the original model.
> Improved Abda gunner command station, PIP, and animations.
> Improved replacement pack gear lists and loadouts.
> Improved details and textures on the Penah and Raad helmets.
> Improved unique UI icons for vests and helmets.
> Improved item descriptions for vests and helmets.
> Improved medium backpack texture and model.
> Improved textures on the Keftar helicopter.
> Improved Penah (Scrim) model and issued it to marksmen/snipers.
> Removed old alternative and variant replacement packs, as they are unnecessry now.
> Removed old DLC patches: the mod is one singular entity since it is now too intermeshed with DLC content and people can utilize these assets regardless of if they own the packs or not.

[evrik 841]

Congrats on the release!

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Hey theevancat! Kudos for another release! Long time fan, but I have an issue with sws mods (missions run fine, but mos through steam are a mess), are you going to mirror with armaholic or gdrive or dropbox or onedrive?  Here it is - mirror mirror who´s the fairest of them all  - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=25615&highlight=CSAT%2BMODIFICATION

 

Anxious to run your mod everyday (again) replacing bughead space aliens with actual and believeable CSAT soldiers =)

 

Cheers!

[autigergrad 2034]

Great stuff.  Congrats on the release!