[SP] HETMAN: War Stories

[cadmium77 16]

thanks will turn off the HAL then...

[orcinus 121]

Hi Ryd

Ran through HWS 6 beta 5 a few times last night. Good fun. A few suggestions:

I have 'campaign mode' turned off as the block red colour makes it even more difficult for me to the minute grid numbers in the shitty font they chose. Could that be changed to using "x" borders (as in the A2 campaign) to indicate enemy- and allied-controlled territory?

In some runs very few groups were on foot. Example - as BLUFOR in one run, there were only 4 teams on foot: a 2-man sniper team, a medic team, an HMG team, and a demo team, none of which suited my mood (I wanted to zap some tanks/APCs. Is there any way to show what Hunter-mounted teams are (AA, AT, fire team, etc.)? Even if only an acronym-style list in the briefing?

Using default settings, AFAICT the personalities for the two leaders are chosen randomly, though the player cannot know which unless they turn on debug. I think that it would better showcase HAL if (a) the player had the option of knowing at least what his own leader was set to; and (b) the player had the option of choosing what the personality was for each leader.

Could you post a list of what 'advanced settings' are currently possible, and a brief note on what they do where it isn't self-explanatory. Especially helpful to players unfamiliar with HAL/HAC and its capabilities.

Thanks for the mission, probably going to be my most frequently-played single mission until/unless thomsonb's Flashpoint series appears for A3.

Cheers

Orc

[Rydygier 1317]

I have 'campaign mode' turned off as the block red colour makes it even more difficult for me to the minute grid numbers in the shitty font they chose. Could that be changed to using "x" borders (as in the A2 campaign) to indicate enemy- and allied-controlled territory?

Hmm. Could you illustrate the problem with some picture? I have no such issues, so I'm uncertain, what exactly you're reffering to. X borders would be more complicated to do and frankly never liked such style, but if there are such issues with reading coords, then I could try to find some alternative. More transparent? Other colour?

In some runs very few groups were on foot. Example - as BLUFOR in one run, there were only 4 teams on foot: a 2-man sniper team, a medic team, an HMG team, and a demo team, none of which suited my mood (I wanted to zap some tanks/APCs. Is there any way to show what Hunter-mounted teams are (AA, AT, fire team, etc.)? Even if only an acronym-style list in the briefing?

Probably I could add somewhere not so pretty list with group names and type (eg using HAL's categories). But that would be not convenient. BTW I could probably update such list with actual tasks, KIA etc. Could be nice. I see no way for adding such data to the unit switch screen (which would be the best) or playable unit list. BTW again, you can control percentage of foot/mtorized units in initial GUI. Another factor influencing that proportions is kind of terrain on the battlefield.

Using default settings, AFAICT the personalities for the two leaders are chosen randomly, though the player cannot know which unless they turn on debug. I think that it would better showcase HAL if (a) the player had the option of knowing at least what his own leader was set to; and (b) the player had the option of choosing what the personality was for each leader.

Yes, by default personalities are assigned randomly, just like for default Hetman settings. You should be able to choose personalities via normal HAL setup variables in the Advanced Setup window. Showing chosen personalities or making separate init option to do so is possible, but I would like to do so only, if I find a way to make personalities more significantly differ to each other, so player really see the solid difference between genius and idiot, to make such setting justified enough. It still something "to do" though.

Could you post a list of what 'advanced settings' are currently possible, and a brief note on what they do where it isn't self-explanatory. Especially helpful to players unfamiliar with HAL/HAC and its capabilities.

IMO players unfamiliar with HAL/HWS shouldn't touch this window. What can be done there? All the things. I could paste whole 7th chapter of HAL's manual. Too big. In fact, if you know, what you're doing, you can exec/inject from that window nearly any possible script into mission. It's powerful and versatile tool if you know scripting.

Thanks for the mission, probably going to be my most frequently-played single mission until/unless thomsonb's Flashpoint series appears for A3.

Cool. Glad, you like it. :)

[orcinus 121]

Hmm. Could you illustrate the problem with some picture? I have no such issues, so I'm uncertain, what exactly you're reffering to. X borders would be more complicated to do and frankly never liked such style, but if there are such issues with reading coords, then I could try to find some alternative. More transparent? Other colour?

Ok, I'll upload one somewhere this evening. Main issue is the rubbish choice of fonts & seems to be no way of changing them. On my 24" 1920x1200 monitor the numbers in the axes are ~1.5-2 mm high and don't change with zooming in. The grid numbers under the mouse cursor are larger but a poor choice of font means depending on background, that it can be hard to distinguish between 9 & 8 or 6 & 8. More transparent / lower density cross-hatching should help (not sure if the latter is possible but would likely be the best option)

Probably I could add somewhere not so pretty list with group names and type (eg using HAL's categories). But that would be not convenient. BTW I could probably update such list with actual tasks, KIA etc. Could be nice. I see no way for adding such data to the unit switch screen (which would be the best) or playable unit list. BTW again, you can control percentage of foot/mtorized units in initial GUI. Another factor influencing that proportions is kind of terrain on the battlefield.

No, I don't think messing with the unit switch screen would be a good idea (btw, on my system it appears in the lower left corner which is yuk because chat messages partially obscure it. Can't find a way to change the location in the options/seetings pages). If you can work out a way to add in a list that would be nice.

Yes, by default personalities are assigned randomly, just like for default Hetman settings. You should be able to choose personalities via normal HAL setup variables in the Advanced Setup window. Showing chosen personalities or making separate init option to do so is possible, but I would like to do so only, if I find a way to make personalities more significantly differ to each other, so player really see the solid difference between genius and idiot, to make such setting justified enough. It still something "to do" though.

I've certainly seen a difference when the dilatory personality is selcted - really slooow....

IMO players unfamiliar with HAL/HWS shouldn't touch this window. What can be done there? All the things. I could paste whole 7th chapter of HAL's manual. Too big. In fact, if you know, what you're doing, you can exec/inject from that window nearly any possible script into mission. It's powerful and versatile tool if you know scripting.

Ah, great. I thought there was only a limited range of options. So, if I entered "RydHQ_Personality = Genius;" that would work?

Cool. Glad, you like it. :)

I like to have one or two relatively short missions that are semi-random in setup so I can have a quick bout of mayhem now & then. Also useful along with a few selected fixed-scenario for testing/comparing mods, especially AI mod or for bughunting mod conflicts. Nice to be able to choose the ratio of sides in HWS; playing with something like agressors one would want to have relatively rather more on the map than for say CSAT.

[Rydygier 1317]

Ah, great. I thought there was only a limited range of options. So, if I entered "RydHQ_Personality = Genius;" that would work?

Yep, normal HAL setup will work same way, as used in init.sqf. Advanced Setup is basically universal scripting field acting like regular sqf file executed at certain point of mission initializaton.

[law-giver 190]

Had this on my hard drive for a while and not really played it much, until today. It's excellent Rydygier, turning me into a patient soldier rather than the usual running off Rambo style. Love it! Downside, it's taking me away from Pilgrimage! :(

Just going to try the beta version!

Edited January 16, 2015 by Law-Giver

[law-giver 190]

UPDATE***

Rydygier, when randomizing i notice that the player you leave if alive doesn't return to the group. Which is kind of a pain if you cycle through the randomizing units and return to that soldier and he's miles away from his original group. Any chance of fixing this issue? ;)

[Rydygier 1317]

Hm. Wasn't awared about that bug. Not sure, if possible, I can try few tricks.

[law-giver 190]

Hm. Wasn't awared about that bug. Not sure, if possible, I can try few tricks.

The next problem i've come across, i started as a mechanic. We all disembarked and started patrolling while the APC went ahead. I was later told to repair it, which i did. The problem starts when the ai commander told us to get in vehicle then tell us to disembark. This continues in a continuous loop. Get in, get out, getin, get out. :(

With regards to the other randomizing, would be nice if your player name was transferred with you as you swap with an ai. No biggie though!

UPDATE***

I let the mission run while having something to eat and after 5 minutes they finally boarded the vehicle after in out, in out. So it worked in the end! :D

After all that, had to restart due to an ArmA3 issue. APC went down a hill and the other side was a 45 degree incline and it got stuck at the bottom, wedged! Guess ai doesn't know how to reverse or there isn't one! :(

Edited January 16, 2015 by Law-Giver

[Rydygier 1317]

This continues in a continuous loop. Get in, get out, getin, get out.

It's known. Apparently nothing, I can fix on my end. Looks like vanilla AI bug, maybe triggered by something in HWS code, but never discovered, by what - saw sometimes, but never was able to reproduce in controlled way.

[law-giver 190]

It's known. Apparently nothing, I can fix on my end. Looks like vanilla AI bug, maybe triggered by something in HWS code, but never discovered, by what - saw sometimes, but never was able to reproduce in controlled way.

Thanks for the quick reply, guess like ArmA2 i'll have to put up with the bugs. It's a shame because it's an excellent mission. Been playing it all day. Bugs ruin it at times though as it does with other missions and addons. :(

[orcinus 121]

Hm. Wasn't awared about that bug. Not sure, if possible, I can try few tricks.

Something like this also occurred in A2/CO - can't remember the fix though. I'll have a dig through my scrapbook. Also I seem to recall using it in a mission at some point. However I might be confusing this with the problem that switching away from a team leader to another team leaves the first not following his waypoints, the first group doesn't move (definitely there is a fix for that, might be related?).

[law-giver 190]

Something like this also occurred in A2/CO - can't remember the fix though. I'll have a dig through my scrapbook. Also I seem to recall using it in a mission at some point. However I might be confusing this with the problem that switching away from a team leader to another team leaves the first not following his waypoints, the first group doesn't move (definitely there is a fix for that, might be related?).

That would be cool and very much appreciated mate if you could. ;)

[flatbear 19]

Is it possible to have this on steam workshop?

[Rydygier 1317]

It is on Workshop, if you really prefer that way. Just search "hetman".

[JuanCholo 10]

10/10

[flatbear 19]

Very nice! I was just wondering if there was a way to make the hetman commanding AI more agressive. Unless I assume command of a squad and push up myself, the commanding ai is very passive and prefers to just have most of the friendly troops sit around in the back while the front few squads get shredded leading to a surrender from the hetman commanding ai because of combat losses.

Edit: Also another question, I played using the bcombat ai mod. Do you think this would affect the overall squad behavior and command behavior?

Edited January 25, 2015 by Flatbear

[Rydygier 1317]

Well, luckilly Hetman is quite customizable. For that HWS uses Idle decoy along with secondary objectives, so even idle reserves are pushing close to the front line.

If not enough, you can always use advanced setup window to apply any Hetman init variables. Eg:

[b]
RydHQ_Rush[/b] = false – variable shared by all Leaders. If true, groups will never move slowly,
but always with normal speed and aware behavior instead of safe. One of “dynamisingâ€
variables;

[b]RydHQ_NoRec [/b]= 1 – Percentage chance for omission recon stage – another “dynamisingâ€
variable. NOTE: is multiplied by (RydHQ_Recklessness + 0.01);
[b]RydHQ_RapidCapt[/b] = 10 – Percentage chance for capturing objectives “for all costâ€, means
immediate and regardless of enemy presence capturing missions. Can be rised, when taking
land should be of higher priority than defeating known enemy. Another “dynamizationâ€.
NOTE: is multiplied by (RydHQ_Recklessness + 0.01);

[b]RydHQ_Withdraw [/b]= 1 – multiplier of needed “danger level†(indicated in “debugII†mode as
number at group’s position) for tactical withdrawal overwhelmed groups. The higher value,
the bigger danger is needed for withdrawing. If set to 0 – withdrawal is turned off;

[b]RydHQ_Berserk [/b]= false – if true, Leader will keep offensive stance regardless of
circumstancies. This will overwrite also RydHQ_Order = “DEFEND†setting;

[b]RydHQ_IDChance[/b] = 100 – chance (in percent) of choosing by each idle (except land support)
group as its destination area position marked by RydHQ_IdleDecoy empty trigger;

[b]RydHQ_ReconReserve [/b]= 0.3 * (0.5 + RydHQ_Circumspection) – multiplication of total
number of available in given cycle recon capable groups by this value will return number of
such groups, that HAL will keep as recon reserve;

[b]RydHQ_AttackReserve [/b]= 0.5 * (0.5 + (RydHQ_Circumspection/1.5)) – multiplication of total
number of available in given cycle combat effective groups by this value will return number
of such groups, that HAL will keep as main reserve (part of them may be used for main
flanking maneuver);

[b]RydxHQ_MARatio [/b]= [-1,-1,-1,-1] – shared by all Leaders. By default HAL will send against
each enemy group up to three infantry/soft, two armored, one air and two sniper groups.
Each number in this array is corresponding to one of that kinds of forces in same order.
Setting any of that numbers with not negative value will replace for that kind described
default allocation with alternative one: total number of non-reserve and not busy groups of
that kind will be multiplied by set corresponding value. Result rounded up means maximal
number of groups of given kind, that HAL will try to send against one enemy group. So for
example, if there are 6 infantry groups and 8 armored groups not set as reserve and currently
idle, for [0.15,0.5,-1,-1] against next spotted enemy group in that cycle HAL will send up to 6
* 0.15 = 1 infantry group and 8 * 0.5 = 4 armored groups. Air and sniper groups will be
allocated in default way;

[b]RydHQ_CaptLimit [/b]= 10 - the number of allied units (not groups!) near an objective that
commander will consider as sufficient to “capture†that objective. The lesser value the more
dynamic progress. 

(rush already applied, ID Chance is set to 15, reserves you can set on 0, be careful with MARatio, increase capture limit to send more groups toward objectives, but note, if not sufficient forces to take it, Hetman will surrender). And there are also described in manual personalities for Leader.

Still not enough - you don't need a Hetman, just set bunch of groups in editor with waypoints at chosen area and go. :P

But IMO default setting in HWS isn't that bad in result, as you describe. In fact, seems pretty decent to me. Of course, each battle looks differently.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Rydygier

[sunhawken 10]

Well, luckilly Hetman is quite customizable. For that HWS uses Idle decoy along with secondary objectives, so even idle reserves are pushing close to the front line.

If not enough, you can always use advanced setup window to apply any Hetman init variables. Eg:

[b]
RydHQ_Rush[/b] = false – variable shared by all Leaders. If true, groups will never move slowly,
but always with normal speed and aware behavior instead of safe. One of “dynamisingâ€
variables;

[b]RydHQ_NoRec [/b]= 1 – Percentage chance for omission recon stage – another “dynamisingâ€
variable. NOTE: is multiplied by (RydHQ_Recklessness + 0.01);
[b]RydHQ_RapidCapt[/b] = 10 – Percentage chance for capturing objectives “for all costâ€, means
immediate and regardless of enemy presence capturing missions. Can be rised, when taking
land should be of higher priority than defeating known enemy. Another “dynamizationâ€.
NOTE: is multiplied by (RydHQ_Recklessness + 0.01);

[b]RydHQ_Withdraw [/b]= 1 – multiplier of needed “danger level†(indicated in “debugII†mode as
number at group’s position) for tactical withdrawal overwhelmed groups. The higher value,
the bigger danger is needed for withdrawing. If set to 0 – withdrawal is turned off;

[b]RydHQ_Berserk [/b]= false – if true, Leader will keep offensive stance regardless of
circumstancies. This will overwrite also RydHQ_Order = “DEFEND†setting;

[b]RydHQ_IDChance[/b] = 100 – chance (in percent) of choosing by each idle (except land support)
group as its destination area position marked by RydHQ_IdleDecoy empty trigger;

[b]RydHQ_ReconReserve [/b]= 0.3 * (0.5 + RydHQ_Circumspection) – multiplication of total
number of available in given cycle recon capable groups by this value will return number of
such groups, that HAL will keep as recon reserve;

[b]RydHQ_AttackReserve [/b]= 0.5 * (0.5 + (RydHQ_Circumspection/1.5)) – multiplication of total
number of available in given cycle combat effective groups by this value will return number
of such groups, that HAL will keep as main reserve (part of them may be used for main
flanking maneuver);

[b]RydxHQ_MARatio [/b]= [-1,-1,-1,-1] – shared by all Leaders. By default HAL will send against
each enemy group up to three infantry/soft, two armored, one air and two sniper groups.
Each number in this array is corresponding to one of that kinds of forces in same order.
Setting any of that numbers with not negative value will replace for that kind described
default allocation with alternative one: total number of non-reserve and not busy groups of
that kind will be multiplied by set corresponding value. Result rounded up means maximal
number of groups of given kind, that HAL will try to send against one enemy group. So for
example, if there are 6 infantry groups and 8 armored groups not set as reserve and currently
idle, for [0.15,0.5,-1,-1] against next spotted enemy group in that cycle HAL will send up to 6
* 0.15 = 1 infantry group and 8 * 0.5 = 4 armored groups. Air and sniper groups will be
allocated in default way;

[b]RydHQ_CaptLimit [/b]= 10 - the number of allied units (not groups!) near an objective that
commander will consider as sufficient to “capture†that objective. The lesser value the more
dynamic progress. 

(rush already applied, ID Chance is set to 15, reserves you can set on 0, be careful with MARatio, increase capture limit to send more groups toward objectives, but note, if not sufficient forces to take it, Hetman will surrender). And there are also described in manual personalities for Leader.

Still not enough - you don't need a Hetman, just set bunch of groups in editor with waypoints at chosen area and go. :P

But IMO default setting in HWS isn't that bad in result, as you describe. In fact, seems pretty decent to me. Of course, each battle looks differently.

How can I make hetman do a blitzkrieg.

[Rydygier 1317]

Er... You just quoted the answer, isn't? :) Just play with those decoys and variables and adjust them till satisfactory result (depends, what exactly is a "blitzkrieg" for you). Study the Hetman's manual for any other details - that's its purpose. I would suggest rather to experiment using regular Hetman mod, not HWS mission, for repetitive results.

[teilx 4]

what exactly is a "blitzkrieg" for you

fast military operative Strategy to eliminate enemy troops before they organize a stable defense....no room for own interpretations :D

simple "forward ASAP"

= is simple forward = suicide ^^ and blitzkrieg is always historical = from high skilled Gernerals very well-planned multiple standard Operations

medium - long planning phase and fast execution only if the conditions have to be right + many coincidences & unauthorized actions of generals

example "sickle cut/Sichelschnittplan"

It's something it won't work in Arma anyway ......have not the scale nor possibility

both words invented by Britain^^

Edited January 26, 2015 by TeilX

[Rydygier 1317]

Of course, there is a room. One may understand it in historical way, then definition (adn evaluation) will be more complex, while for another that may means simple "forward ASAP". As said, for such meaning Hetman is redundant - simple groups with waypoints will do it faster. Not so useful if both sides are attacking though.

[sunhawken 10]

Is there a Arma 2 version of these two?

[Rydygier 1317]

There is Hetman itself (HAC), which is an older version, not developed anymore, but nothing like HWS.

[kbbw123 115]

I got a propble with HWS, it seems that each time i use my custom faction it will load everything but after 2 mins. ingame it tells me that i have to surrender and end mission.(Often whitout leaving my spot)