[SP/COOP] West To East: Dynamic Battles

[cosmic10r 2331]

And on the new lost map... got pretty intense in there ;)

[sttosin 67]

Thanks for the videos CosmiC10R. Love it.

All versions updated on Steam.

Changes include:

Commented out heli insert groups that depend on using RHS 0.3.6 so that heli insert always had occupants if player uses RHS 0.3 5.1. Dev branch has conflict with RHS 0.3.6 which crashed arma.

The ground transportat support may still not work with 0.3.5.1 as the vehicles are new and the groups. Upgrade to 0.3.6 with stable branch if you want to have that feature. Request your own support otherwise.

Now all versions allow debug console. Great suggestions Tortuosit.

Added addaction for skipping time for 3 hrs at a time and for loading different precinfigured loadouts for convenience to support playing however you want.

Let me know if there's any other requests for more addactions.

[tortuosit 486]

Thanks sttosin, I decided to use Workshop for your missions, because if they auto break something, it is not a problem. I don't play it long term as e.g. Pilgrimage, its rather for quick and dirty fun :)

BTW please fix the mission titles in a way that they can be distinguished in the scenario browser...

"SkipTime" from the addaction menu often appears in screen center. I'm in the SMD Sahrahni mission. Just open and close inventory and you will see it.

I have some experience with this. It happens, if the addaction command is incomplete, please check arguments and make the addaction complete. It does not allow lazy coding :D

BTW, it happened the video feed (or however you call it) was shown and I could see how enemy approached and killed me. I could not do anything :( So I guess when it is shown, time is not stopped?

Edited March 20, 2015 by tortuosit

[sttosin 67]

Thanks sttosin, I decided to use Workshop for your missions, because if they auto break something, it is not a problem. I don't play it long term as e.g. Pilgrimage, its rather for quick and dirty fun :)

BTW please fix the mission titles in a way that they can be distinguished in the scenario browser...

"SkipTime" from the addaction menu often appears in screen center. I'm in the SMD Sahrahni mission. Just open and close inventory and you will see it.

I have some experience with this. It happens, if the addaction command is incomplete, please check arguments and make the addaction complete. It does not allow lazy coding :D

BTW, it happened the video feed (or however you call it) was shown and I could see how enemy approached and killed me. I could not do anything :( So I guess when it is shown, time is not stopped?

Quick and dirty but you end up returning for more ;)

Cam does not stop time but player allow damage is false during.

Guilty of lazy coding for sure. Will look into it :p

[cosmic10r 2331]

I like this one because it has some nice lighting with the tank on fire at night.

[tortuosit 486]

@Cosmic, that is with Blastcore I guess?

@stt - As for the Action menu, you may want to use those. This number of args should always be used. Gets rid of the problem and in case of the skip time, menu does not auto disappear, for subsequent skippings.

player addAction ["Skip Time", {Skiptime 2;}, "", 1, false, false];
player addAction ["Change Loadout", {execVM "loadouts.sqf";}, "", 1, false, true];

[sttosin 67]

@Cosmic, that is with Blastcore I guess?

@stt - As for the Action menu, you may want to use those. This number of args should always be used. Gets rid of the problem and in case of the skip time, menu does not auto disappear, for subsequent skippings.

player addAction ["Skip Time", {Skiptime 2;}, "", 1, false, false];
player addAction ["Change Loadout", {execVM "loadouts.sqf";}, "", 1, false, true];

Thanks @Tortuosit. I was playing with the parameters last night but the text still shows in the middle of the screen. Even though false is used for the -showwindow parameter.

Even existing game addactions such as selecting weapons show window.

I am on Dev branch and don't want to go back and forth atm. I will upload new versions with the code above. Hopefully it is just a Dev branch issue. Nice touch on skip time dissapearing.

I am also testing including the game's Virtual Arsenal for those who want to play with the new toys in the DLC.

What I find is that there is some conflict when my loadouts script runs and then you try to use the arsenal. They do pic up the new weapons/bipods, etc and shows they have 2 magazines, but for some reason are out of ammo. Works well without the loadouts. I am thinking of not auto outfitting the player...........not sure at this point what I will do.

I am using

Player addAction ["Open Virtual Arsenal", { ["Open",true] call BIS_fnc_arsenal;}, "", 1, false, true];  

PS. It takes forever............for it to load. I will also need to freeze time while player choses ammo and unfreeze when ready.

[tortuosit 486]

Thanks @Tortuosit. I was playing with the parameters last night but the text still shows in the middle of the screen. Even though false is used for the -showwindow parameter.

Strange, in my testing the problem was gone. But stable branch.

Haha, yeah, I usually play with Arsenal and Zeus enabled. Only sometimes, if I know I will be weak and want to play as the mission maker wants it, I don't enable them. Because it's hard. If the tools are there, often you cannot resist. :D

[dondaddah 10]

I like this one because it has some nice lighting with the tank on fire at night.

What sound mod or addon are you using that plays all those 'colorful' responses from your AI squad?

[sttosin 67]

What sound mod or addon are you using that plays all those 'colorful' responses from your AI squad?

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=189957

[tortuosit 486]

stt, sometimes I only want to resolve a fight and by no means be disturbed by the camera feature; would you maybe add an option to turn it off?

I must say I started a Sahrani mission. First I got told "looks all clear from here over" 3 times in a row, than support got reported by camera, then enemy infantry, then enemy vehicle, there already was a lot of action... and I had to watch the camera feature and could not do much.

I'm not sure, but it seems enemy spawns are a bit close? 300m?

What AI mods do you guys use? I will probably be undecided about this forever :D. Currently I use @bcombat;@asr_ai3

Edited March 22, 2015 by tortuosit

[sttosin 67]

stt, sometimes I only want to resolve a fight and by no means be disturbed by the camera feature; would you maybe add an option to turn it off?

I must say I started a Sahrani mission. First I got told "looks all clear from here over" 3 times in a row, than support got reported by camera, then enemy infantry, then enemy vehicle, there already was a lot of action... and I had to watch the camera feature and could not do much.

I'm not sure, but it seems enemy spawns are a bit close? 300m?

What AI mods do you guys use? I will probably be undecided about this forever :D. Currently I use @bcombat;@asr_ai3

Turning the camera feature off completely would be a PITA for me atm. I will look into making it an option. That will take a while.

You should only be told it's all clear whenever map is empty of enemies. This then spawns new enemies. The system is actually simple. 1 west support + you vs. 1 east or 1 + 1 east.. the combinations vary. You fight till the death and another battle is initiated when you hear my voice..

Infantry is about 300m. I can increase it if more people want 400m. It's a balancing act.

At this point I recommend FOA mod only for AI. Long firefights. They preserve their lives better. Of course I am bias. ;)

[sttosin 67]

FOA: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=189957

[sttosin 67]

OK people who enjoy this single player experience I call "West To East", we have new toys!

Added: Boats! Now when you get close to the waters, you get a chance for enemy transport boats and gunner ships confrontation. They will follow you inland as well! Good luck. This is made possible by TPW_boat script. Thanks Mate for allowing the use of this sweet code. Check out tpw_mods here: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?164304-TPW-MODS-enhanced-realism-immersion-for-Arma-3-SP

NOTE that the way the infantry systems work now they don't check for water so they may spawn in water. I will work to fix that but may take some time.

Stratis is updated. Let me know what you think. More boats? Space them out more? Want Friendly Boats?

[tortuosit 486]

thanks stt. But the camera turns out to become annoying for me.

In extensive firefights: Shoot 2 time. Bullet cam (kind of shaky) appears. Then cam reporting support. I shoot a few times again. Again bullet camera. One more shot. Camera of a guy dying. Ah great, I've hit him. Uhm no, it's me. Really, I think there's too much cams. I mean, they are a nice touch, but should appear much more rarely, otherwise I could watch Youtube videos! Don't get me wrong, I like this kind of mission.

[sttosin 67]

thanks stt. But the camera turns out to become annoying for me.

In extensive firefights: Shoot 2 time. Bullet cam (kind of shaky) appears. Then cam reporting support. I shoot a few times again. Again bullet camera. One more shot. Camera of a guy dying. Ah great, I've hit him. Uhm no, it's me. Really, I think there's too much cams. I mean, they are a nice touch, but should appear much more rarely, otherwise I could watch Youtube videos! Don't get me wrong, I like this kind of mission.

@Tort,

The shoot x times bullet cam happens is only for the sniper riffle.

Cam reporting support is limited and should always be before enemies spawn.

The kill shot cam is only a small chance. Not every kill.

Your point is well received. In order to keep this fun for everyone I have to implement the camera system as an option.

Step 1.

Option to turn on/off all cam features in game using addaction. This requires touching all the spawn files which I am doing anyway with the SHK upgrade.

Step 2. Down the road

Option to enable/disable different cam features such as

a. Kill shot cam.

b. Last enemy killed cam.

c. Enemy vehicle destroyed cam.

d. Bullet cam.

e. Support spawn cam.

f. Enemy spawn cam.

I personally obviously enjoy the cam ;):cool: but I understand Arma is better when the end users have options. That will also keep the game more accessible.

I will see what I can do.;)

[cosmic10r 2331]

@ tort - that is indeed blast core Phoenix in the vids. I am going to try to help sttosin get a custom mission menu in game for the cams so player can select which ones are active. Hopefully it is not too long ;)

@dondaddah... They are colorful. Lol. Sttosin sent the link. Let us know what you think if you get a chance to try it.

[tortuosit 486]

Will try foa. Changes to cam selection are welcome... Currently it can be very different. Sometimes I saw cam overload, sometimes I was able to play pretty well... Personally I am only interested in some spawn cams. To have this authentic, maybe the cam could be replaced with a drone cam view? With thermal view maybe? But I have no clue if that would be difficult.

[kothen 57]

You said you recommend AISS ai mod for this mission? How would it compare to say ASR_AI or just plain vanilla in your mission? I heard 1.43 added some AI improvements (Sorry, just very picky when it comes to AI mods)

Edited March 23, 2015 by Kothen

[cosmic10r 2331]

Will try foa. Changes to cam selection are welcome... Currently it can be very different. Sometimes I saw cam overload, sometimes I was able to play pretty well... Personally I am only interested in some spawn cams. To have this authentic, maybe the cam could be replaced with a drone cam view? With thermal view maybe? But I have no clue if that would be difficult.

I have been playing with an mg so I am not getting as many switches as someone with the sniper rifles or ebr.

Drone cam view is a cool idea.. have to test that one out... :)

[sttosin 67]

Will try foa. Changes to cam selection are welcome... Currently it can be very different. Sometimes I saw cam overload, sometimes I was able to play pretty well... Personally I am only interested in some spawn cams. To have this authentic, maybe the cam could be replaced with a drone cam view? With thermal view maybe? But I have no clue if that would be difficult.

Only the sniper riffle in the loadout script currently does this....by the way I think I can make it smoother...but thats a different topic. It is as simple as scroll change loadouts for now.

Interesting idea on the drone view. I am not really going for hardcore military presentation. Remember this was inspired by Shadow of mordor where it cuts to new captains coming after you or whatever. The original cams actually had close ups of the choppers. I will think about the done views to mix things up but not replace presentation.

OK. @Tort, keep the feedback coming it is making this better everyday. There was a useless sleep 5; in the bulletcam. It now runs like butter. However I took it off completely from the "rhs_weap_m14ebrri" weapon as I can see how some do not want to use it as a sniper rifle and then added a real sniper riffle that comes with vanilla built in bi-pods and all.....this "srifle_LRR_SOS_F". Now it is 100% of the time bulletcam for that riffle. Folks who want that can use it and if you don't want it then scroll pick a different loadout.

Edited March 24, 2015 by sttosin
Gameplay Changes

[sttosin 67]

You said you recommend AISS ai mod for this mission? How would it compare to say ASR_AI or just plain vanilla in your mission? I heard 1.43 added some AI improvements (Sorry, just very picky when it comes to AI mods)

@Kothen,

I am sure they will work great. I will be difficult for any AI mod to ruin this mission. AI will be fighting each other. If you are close to the action, they will fight you too. It's all about you as infantry unit in a combined arms warfare.

Now we recommend AISS 3 Feat of Arms because you see things like AI shooting RPG at you while you are on foot! Lots of chatter between soldiers, long firefights, etc.

If you are just getting into this, checkout the Stratis version. Bad guy Boats courtesy of tpw and new enemy spawn mechanism courtesy of SHK.

The mission is perfect for trying out AI mods anyway. I have tested quite a few without feeling like I was testing.

Try FOA. I feel your pickiness. I am the same way. That's why I am part of the AIM team. :D

[sttosin 67]

Added Feature showcase:

Checkout new vids of things now possible in tight spots in the dynamic mission West to East.

Noticed them come after me on land?

Notice ability to find a good spot to land on tiny island?

Notice that was snow? Great map - Lost Island Winter.....good job to author(s)

[tortuosit 486]

Noticed. Will check Lost Island map today :)

[sttosin 67]

Even. Only side matters by default - must be the same or friendly.

BTW just released FFE 1.13. this RPT spam for mixed arty/non-arty groups should be removed now.

Rydygier,

Trying to use the USS Iowa classname "USS_Iowa_Battleship" for artillery support. Is it simply a matter of adding to array RydFFE_Rocket?

By the way, to anyone following this mission.....it is about to get real. Join me in welcoming CosmiC10R on board the mission design team for West to East.

Support for existing versions will continue but we are planning to build on West To East in the new installment we are calling "West To East: Taking Over". This version will require a handful more mods (Currently AiATP, USS Nimitz, USS Iowa, FUTARM, SMD Sahrani) but the outcome will be unlike anything you've experienced in Arma 3 SP. Development is already in full progress. Stay tuned!