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SP Harpoon Delta

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HARPOON DELTA

This is a very small mission I was using as a test bed for some scripts I've been working on as well as playing around with the ARMA3 engine. I am hoping the scripts will help me make missions much more easily in the future and possible help me randomize them a lot more. There has been a lot more focus on the scripts than the actual mission itself here but I would appreciate some testing and whether or not performance is ok. There's not many scripts running but one of them is quite intensive.


KNOWN ISSUES:

  • Weapons can be selected from the briefing screen. A selection of scopes and a bipod are available in the assault boat on mission start.
  • Mission difficulty varies significantly and the object will be one of two office blocks randomly selected by the script on mission start.
  • If you manage to get the VIP to the vehicle and your team is still engaged in combat it may take a little while for them to get to you. You can either go back and help mop up remaining contacts or sanitize the area. I may try and find a work around for this at a later time or cut the mission off earlier.
  • Units sometimes get stuck. There are scripts in place to try and deal with this in order to keep the mission flow going. This can on the odd occasion break immersion if a unit is setPosed.
  • Boat ride at the beginning is a little long. Spent quite a while on the boat scripts themselves.


PLAYTHROUGH BY JEZA



ABOUT THE MISSION:
-There are garrisoned units patrolling around the area and will move towards where they think the nearest enemy is in relation to their guard point.
-All enemy groups and units share information in regards to enemy positions.
-Friendly units will enter houses where they suspect enemies are located (if close enough).
-Some voice acting.
-Friendly squad will move slowly and generally together in order to minimize casualties (May require a little patience).
-Some self made music for a bit of atmos.
- Supported languages are English and German (My German grammar is not great but I hope it helps). Please contact me for string-table.

SUMMARY:

During recent months our team has been running surveillance operations in and around the coast of Altis to keep an eye on the increasing cooperation between Altis and CSAT. In correlation to this we've also been assisting in small black operations in an attempt to infiltrate businesses and government branches who are in any way affiliated with the emerging CSAT presence in the area. Additionally; While NATO countries have been keeping up appearances with Altis, there has been a significant effort to make contact with the FIA via back channels in order to lay the ground work for possible regime change should Altis shift its allegiance.

A high ranking Altis official who doubles as an FIA sympathizer has been one of our contacts in the area and maintains secret links to the FIA. About two days ago he contacted us in regards to information about a secret CSAT weapons program which had some bearing on Altis. Sadly he was arrested before we could get the information from him.

Our mission is to carry out an assault, deep behind enemy lines, on an observation post and to extract a VIP being held as prisoner by the AAF. We believe the prisoner is being held there temporarily until he can be moved to another location. Given that this is a black operation we will need to execute our attack without causing to much of an international incident. In order to do this we will pose as local guerrilla insurgents armed with AAF weaponry. We will also detonate our ship prior to landing in order to cater for a possible cover story. Two assault boats with your team (Bravo) will land at Lima Zulu. The boats will be dumped south of Kavala Pier. Once we have extracted the VIP we will drive to a local safe house for a change of clothes and documents.


DOWNLOAD LINKS:

Version 8 (Steam): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=532117787

/////////////////////////////////  Old Link: Version 7.2 (Armaholic): http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=28878

Changelog:

 

Version 8:

 

Have lowered difficulty substantially by making changes to enemy awareness in garrison script and have also increased friendly team awareness and aggressiveness to improve friendly team survivability. Previous script had problems in that it resulted in enemies maintaining lock-on on enemy targets even if target moved away behind cover. Enemies should now be easier to get a jump on but keep in mind that the more enemies know about your position the more likely it will be difficult to maintain the element of surprise.

Version 7.2:


HOTFIX: For some reason using stringtable for the overview text sometimes results in the overview text dissapearing when ARMA3 is loaded. For this reason have have just used plain English text for now for the overview text.
REMOVED: Advanced hint on using left alt to fire to the ride side of boat. I need to look into displaying the key bindings properly etc for it to look more pro.

Version 7:




  • -FIXED: Repeatedly pressing space at mission start up could result in player exiting vehicle prior to vehicle lock (safety check added)
  • -CHANGED: Changes to group movement task (Move order executed straight away. Units will now move up the beach after disembarkation.
  • -FIXED: Script to terminate group movement towards objective and head for extraction fixed. Group will now hold fire (will still open fire if threatened) and head towards extraction point. As an added measure a doMove command is executred when player has dropped the VIP off at the extraction point. Can still take some time for the group to arrive but it works much better than before.
  • -CHANGED: Units targeting an enemy outside of the building they are heading towards (roughly estimated by sizeof) will be ordered to move into another close building.
  • -CHANGED: Changes to garrison script, units will move in half distances towards enemy last known location in halves and if close enough will do a rough building crawl (ie: building to building).
  • -CHANGED:Increased number of units in garrison by about 6.
  • -CHANGED: Gerrison dispersion by a large amount on mission startup so hopefully you won't get the enemies all coming from the same direction.
  • -ADDED: a support section on briefing.
  • -ADDED: Due to increased unit dispersion there are often units down at the beach. Have added FIA mortar support (until player is within 100 meters of landing site) for the beach landing with additional mortar support should your group's danger threshold increase. (Mortar fires as where the contacts are believed to be and only if the contacts have been spotted within the last 30 seconds. Additional error margin of 25 meters added). A kbtell radio script will inform the relevant groups which grid the attack is on. I have a script that reads the groupID's and will use voice files via kbtell to address groups, so a game generated group name of Alpha 3-1 will come out as "Alpha three dash one".
  • ADDED: support information in briefing.
  • FIXED: Mission key not being executed on some end conditions.
  • CHANGED/FIXED: To speed up mission ending; if your entire group is within 100 meters of extraction (You and VIP must be within 50) the mission end script will launch. If your team leader completes the waypoint to the extraction zone the mission end script will launch.
  • ADDED: Small hint on how to fire from both sides of boat at start. Could use more work on this.
  • ADDED: Detected mine proximity to chosen building for garrison script. Script will try to avoid buildings close to mines.
  • -ADDED: 2 enemy engineers and 2 explosive experts:

  • explosive experts may occasionally plant a mine if attempting to get away to another building. They don't do this often which is good since the efficacy of it with civs and friendlies moving about is questionable but I did accidentally lead the VIP over a mine in my last test which was surprisingly amusing.
  • Both explosive Experts and Engineers will plant bombs if close enough to an enemy position. They will then run away and detonate if an enemy has been seen near the bombPos. Timeout is 2 mins afterwhich enemy will detonate if no friendlies are about else abandon and go back to moving to buildings.

Version 6:

Added 2 low skill guards next to the VIP and 2 men on ground floor with subs so that the player can't rush in and take the VIP and so that it doesn't look like the VIP is unguarded. This was done as per request. Added a notice of low level task completion when the VIP is brought within 100 meters of the extraction zone and enters vehicle on his own. Also had a loop that would check if VIP was stuck and would join it to the player's group which wasn't feasible as the VIP would be orded into combat. VIP is now setposed onto player if he is not near the player and hasn't moved from the last logged position for 20 second.

Version 5:

Enemy units were to aggressive which resulted in a lot of suicide charging. Have changed it so that units will make their way to their destination in halves and will try to enter buildings some small distance from the target position so as to try and minimize the risks of running through enemy positions while trying to maintain a bit of distance from the target pos. This should hopefully maintain a better dispersed concentration without having units overrun the player.

Version 4:

Additional safety check for boat explosion at start and have extended distance requirement check prior to detonation.

Version 3:

-Fundemental flaw in garrison script fixed!!! Units were not moving towards last known enemy position resulting in resources not being used efficiently. This was thanks to a single variable. Figures lol. Mission should be a bit more challenging now.

Version 2:

-Updates to garrison script (Added timeout for units taking to long to move).
-Added reset to the units arriving within 50 meters of the last known enemy location. I should have spotted this way earlier!



PICS:

2015_05_29_00011.jpg

overview.jpg

2015_05_29_00008.jpg

Edited by rejenorst

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I played this mission two times...no bugs. It's small, but funny for me yet.

Thank you. :ok:

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The Rejenorst is back!!!!!

Guys, for those of you who are not familiar with him, Rejenorst is one of the best mission makers the RV engine ever knew. His work on the games since Arma 1 was amazing and his voice acting skills takes his missions to an all new levels of immersion. DON'T miss his work! Damn, I'd go far even to recommend installing Arma 1 again just so you could play his PERFECT campaign - The Cause.

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Oh cheers man :D appreciate it. I wish I had something more to show to live up to your description but sadly this is just a small mission that I am using to develop some scripts which will hopefully help me in making missions quickly down the track :)

Also have uploaded v2 of that mission with some small adjustments to the garrison scripts. I'll be developing these scripts further and fine-tuning them for use in subsequent missions.

EDIT: Make that version 3. Have now fixed a fundamental flaw in the script that I didn't realize existed. Units will now properly move towards the last known enemy position, making the mission a bit more challenging.

Edited by Rejenorst

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Welcome back man -having a problem in that I die at the very start of the mission. See myself swimming, see a boat appears another overhead screen type cutscene is about to start -derp dead.

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I've never had that happen to me but I think I know what the problem might be. The trawler is set to detonate once the player is 100 meters out but the safety checks on that are inadequate so have increased them. See if this works for you Froggy.

If somehow the scripts are executed slowly then there's would have been a chance for the bombs detonating prematurely.

Version 4: http://www.filedropper.com/spharpoonaltis_4

Version 4 (Armaholic): http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=28878

Changelog:

Version 4:

Additional safety check for boat explosion at start and have extended distance requirement check prior to detonation.

Edited by Rejenorst

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glad to see an old school legend back in the fold! hope you'll make some great stuff in the future. i'll try this mission asap.

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Cheers man :) What an awesome reception :D

Have uploaded version 5:

http://www.filedropper.com/spharpoonaltis_5

My apologies for so many uploads (was always notorious for that lol).

Enemy units were to aggressive which resulted in a lot of suicide charging. Have changed it so that units will make their way to their destination in halves and will try to enter buildings some small distance from the target position so as to try and minimize the risks of running through enemy positions while trying to maintain a bit of distance from the target pos. This should hopefully maintain a better dispersed concentration without having units overrun the player.

Edited by Rejenorst

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Just played it (version 5). Very nice! Thanks for this mission Rejenorst. The enemy is lethal and I had to try multiple times. One thing I'd changed was the target building. The HVT was just sitting there when no one around him. Was that on purpose? It looks a bit unrealistic. I'd expect some point guards and some furniture around him.

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Please make vanila free version, I cant stand AI "tanking" 3-4 shots from my weapon.

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Just played it (version 5). Very nice! Thanks for this mission Rejenorst. The enemy is lethal and I had to try multiple times. One thing I'd changed was the target building. The HVT was just sitting there when no one around him. Was that on purpose? It looks a bit unrealistic. I'd expect some point guards and some furniture around him.

Cheers :D Glad you liked the mission. Have made the changes as requested. I originally did have a point guard but removed him as I was placing a large amount of priority on scripts etc. I am a bit afraid to add furniture in case it block the pathways of other units.

Version 6: http://www.filedropper.com/spharpoonaltis_6

Version 6:

Added 2 low skill guards next to the VIP and 2 men on ground floor with subs so that the player can't rush in and take the VIP and so that it doesn't look like the VIP is unguarded. This was done as per request. Added a notice of low level task completion when the VIP is brought within 100 meters of the extraction zone and enters vehicle on his own. Also had a loop that would check if VIP was stuck and would join it to the player's group which wasn't feasible as the VIP would be orded into combat. VIP is now setposed onto player if he is not near the player and hasn't moved from the last logged position for 20 second.

Please make vanila free version, I cant stand AI "tanking" 3-4 shots from my weapon.

Yeah I quite dislike the fact that units can take several 5.56mm rounds but I suppose in the future we may have access to body armor that can take a 7.62mm at point blank without major discomfort (not sure how they pull this off as I was under the assumption that even with cermamic plates you could walk away with broken ribs or heavy brusing)

Nonetheless it does irk me a bit :(

I probably won't convert this particular mission to a mod but could you give me a list of preferences/suggestions for decent mods?

Edited by Rejenorst

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Hi Rejenorst

Just went through version 6, great fun, quality stuff as ever!

Also recorded the playthrough for our armaholic channel so will add it to your front page post if that is okay with you.

Thanks

Jeza

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Hi Jeza, that would be great thank you :D If you need me to add it to the page let me know and send me the link and I'll add it (for this thread) if you mean Armaholic then yes please feel free to add. Thanks :)

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Excellent!

Will send you the link once we get it on YT. (Note ending got cut a tad while waiting for squad to get to the truck...they though it would be a fantastic idea to run into an MG team).

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------

All done :)

updated page with the video:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=28879

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ok, finished v6. the mission feels professional although short. had some heavy firefight. yeah,that body armor looks insane,stopping several direct chest hits.

i generally liked enemy behavior,they moved into buildings and attacked from the rooftops. everything is better than when they stand still and wait to get killed;)

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Cheers Mason :D It is a very short mission. I really intended it only to test the scripts that operate the AI. Basically the majority of the AI teams including garrison and player team are governed by a loop script that launches nessecary side scripts and collects information about the contacts from each squad and updates them to an intel array while avoiding duplicate entries (updates old entries with entry of the last time an enemy unit was seen etc). At the same time the script provides information as to whether or not squad is fatigued/known by enemy/stuck or has units that are stuck in the group etc. I can give group(s) orders via an array and what combat stances I want them to take in the execution of that order and what combat scripts I want them to execute when they spot an enemy and what scripts to execute when the order is completed/failed. I will be recycling this script and hopefully developing it further etc in the hopes that it will make creating missions for me a lot easier in the long run. The scripts themselves aren't amazingly efficient but they will hopefully get the job done.

Excellent!

Will send you the link once we get it on YT. (Note ending got cut a tad while waiting for squad to get to the truck...they though it would be a fantastic idea to run into an MG team).

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------

All done :)

updated page with the video:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=28879

Awesome! Great play through and nice soundpack. Makes it sound intense :D

That soldier sticking his gun out of the door startled me a bit 7 mins in. :)

I've added the video to the first post. Also I will try and fix the AI team not coming to the EP earlier. I've had massive problems trying to get AI squads to disengage in the past (for retreat scripts) so hopefully I might be able to get something sorted.

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@Rejenorst: i think you are on the right track with your script. enemy AI performed better than vanilla. they moved to balconies and inside buildings and fired through the windows which is a welcome improvement.

you should double check how many units get stuck in the open and wait to get killed. i still encountered several enemies standing in the open and making themselves easy targets.

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Good to see you still tinkering in the editor, Rejenorst. :)

I had a playthrough with bCombat and must have died from cunningly thrown grenades about 20 times. Nicely done quick mission.

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A Rejenorst mission for Arma 3??

Shit, where is my laptop?!

Great to see you back, Rejenorst! Does the mission have (your) voiceovers again? :) I remember those missions from the Arma 1 times and the quality of the voices was simply remarkable!

Gonna test soon.

---------- Post added at 21:37 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------

Finished it. Really cool mission. The enemy AI really was a challenge. :D

One thing I noticed: The mission is not checked off in the scenario menu, when the player has finished it.

Great work! I'm waiting for a "full length" mission now! :)

PS: Yeah, the voiceovers were cool again. :)

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@Mason:

have tried to make adjustments to the way the garrison script works. This may mean less intense firefights but hopefully more being fired at from building moments/ambushes and hopefully from more varied directions.

@Cameron:

Cheers mate :D Glad you enjoyed the mission and good to see your still here :)

@Undeceived:

Thank you very much :D Have hopefully fixed mission key not triggering properly in this version.

Version 7.2:

http://www.filedropper.com/spharpoonaltis_2

Version 7.2:

HOTFIX: For some reason using stringtable for the overview text sometimes results in the overview text dissapearing when ARMA3 is loaded. For this reason have have just used plain English text for now for the overview text.

REMOVED: Advanced hint on using left alt to fire to the ride side of boat. I need to look into displaying the key bindings properly etc for it to look more pro.

  1. -FIXED: Repeatedly pressing space at mission start up could result in player exiting vehicle prior to vehicle lock (safety check added)
  2. -CHANGED: Changes to group movement task (Move order executed straight away. Units will now move up the beach after disembarkation.
  3. -FIXED: Script to terminate group movement towards objective and head for extraction fixed. Group will now hold fire (will still open fire if threatened) and head towards extraction point. As an added measure a doMove command is executred when player has dropped the VIP off at the extraction point. Can still take some time for the group to arrive but it works much better than before.
  4. -CHANGED: Units targeting an enemy outside of the building they are heading towards (roughly estimated by sizeof) will be ordered to move into another close building.
  5. -CHANGED: Changes to garrison script, units will move in half distances towards enemy last known location in halves and if close enough will do a rough building crawl (ie: building to building).
  6. -CHANGED:Increased number of units in garrison by about 6.
  7. -CHANGED: Gerrison dispersion by a large amount on mission startup so hopefully you won't get the enemies all coming from the same direction.
  8. -ADDED: a support section on briefing.
  9. -ADDED: Due to increased unit dispersion there are often units down at the beach. Have added FIA mortar support (until player is within 100 meters of landing site) for the beach landing with additional mortar support should your group's danger threshold increase. (Mortar fires as where the contacts are believed to be and only if the contacts have been spotted within the last 30 seconds. Additional error margin of 25 meters added). A kbtell radio script will inform the relevant groups which grid the attack is on. I have a script that reads the groupID's and will use voice files via kbtell to address groups, so a game generated group name of Alpha 3-1 will come out as "Alpha three dash one".
  10. ADDED: support information in briefing.
  11. FIXED: Mission key not being executed on some end conditions.
  12. CHANGED/FIXED: To speed up mission ending; if your entire group is within 100 meters of extraction (You and VIP must be within 50) the mission end script will launch. If your team leader completes the waypoint to the extraction zone the mission end script will launch.
  13. ADDED: Small hint on how to fire from both sides of boat at start. Could use more work on this.
  14. ADDED: Detected mine proximity to chosen building for garrison script. Script will try to avoid buildings close to mines.
  15. -ADDED: 2 enemy engineers and 2 explosive experts:

  • explosive experts may occasionally plant a mine if attempting to get away to another building. They don't do this often which is good since the efficacy of it with civs and friendlies moving about is questionable but I did accidentally lead the VIP over a mine in my last test which was surprisingly amusing.
  • Both explosive Experts and Engineers will plant bombs if close enough to an enemy position. They will then run away and detonate if an enemy has been seen near the bombPos. Timeout is 2 mins afterwhich enemy will detonate if no friendlies are about else abandon and go back to moving to buildings.

Edited by Rejenorst

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Shall up date video when I get a chance. Front paged on the holic.

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Shall up date video when I get a chance. Front paged on the holic.

Jeza, before you do, activate your radio messages, so your video will include the cool voice acting of this mission. Your original video had it turned off.

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Had a few runs this morning and not yet completed, but enjoying so far. Nice one - thanks !

cj

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