Ravage

[Jimmakos 168]

Speak for yourself..... :ph34r:  

 

Yeah, bet those armbands will be easily recognizable when friendly survivors (traders) spawns from a 400 meters minimum to 800 maximum radius around player, and with the scopes being more rare than a needle in the straw, those gonna help for sure.

[EO 11277]

Yeah, bet those armbands will be easily recognizable when friendly survivors (traders) spawns from a 400 meters minimum to 800 maximum radius around player, and with the scopes being more rare than a needle in the straw, those gonna help for sure.

 

I'll take binos over a scope any day.  ;)

In any case, sounds like we've established two points today.......we need something to differentiate traders from bandits, and everybody's survival tactics are different.  :)

[BattleChief 97]

Yeah, bet those armbands will be easily recognizable when friendly survivors (traders) spawns from a 400 meters minimum to 800 maximum radius around player, and with the scopes being more rare than a needle in the straw, those gonna help for sure.

 

Scopes are rare, but I have found 1. Yes, I found 1 scope, it was a little CQC scope for an AK that I pulled off a dead bandit, I felt so accomplished when I found it, then I went on to restart that game cause I spawned close to my NATO base (I know where its at, but I felt that, without a map, you guys won't know if you spawn close to it) and I started again, by Kavala, and I had some fun in there, until I died.

 

Speaking of fun, I dunno if anyone has found it, or if any of you downloaded my mission to see my handiwork, but I added a Tank, yes, I know, that kills the experience, but I felt like I wanted to add it just so you could screw around. I gotta take it down, its really tempting, so it was down by the beach close to Molos, but I am gonna remove it, just so I don't get any ideas, I also took the liberty of adding a UH60 to the map, for those of you who like to take to the skies, just not in a plane, it has no marker, but if you wanna use it instead of the plane, go ahead and fly around and find it, then crash the plane. 

 

Now my turn for a question, I happen to want to make the game a bit more challenging at the start, I want to spawn the body with only a pistol. Yes, just a pistol, I want to give it that feel of "I just got up from a wreck, and of course Jim only grabbed a pistol and is now dead, leaving it to me" and with whatever the poor dead SOB had on him around the time of death. I just think that it adds to the feeling of "I just killed that patrol of Bandits, who all had AK's, except for that one idiot with the M9, with just a pistol, I can survive just about anything!" or the feeling of "I really shouldn't have just shot all my ammo into those zombies, I did not see that patrol coming..."

[rolandrhaine 21]

You can add support for E. P. S. M-Exomod http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=30628 ?

That exo suit looks beastly! I would love to try that out  in the land of Ravage!

[Transflux 16]

Hey, I really enjoy the loot and survival modules and use them in other missions I make. I was wondering if there was a way to blacklist an area or multiple areas for loot not to spawn in those buildings? Or maybe sonething i can put ib them to nake the system feel its already adequately sto ked with loot? Also to save the needs and items I'm guessing the save module and MP persistence is needed? Thanks in advance and good work. Would you also be so kind as to explain how I would be able to make a trader show up in a certain town all the time, just one or two. And only in a selected few towns.

[Lecter 66]

Haleks you can give traders blue helmets? Like UN forces :D That will distinguish them from the rest and hopefully wont get them killed :D lol

[Jimmakos 168]

Haleks you can give traders blue helmets? Like UN forces :D That will distinguish them from the rest and hopefully wont get them killed :D lol

 

 

Object,view distance maxed out.

 

 

 

Edit: To make something more distinguishable you take the most presentable part of it and color it to an eye catchy color , like a distinguishable type of clothing such as a raincoat.

[extaz93 30]

Amazing modification.

 

I tried the example mission, and Roads, RoadZ,Ravaged Daysz in Bystrica, all that work is amazing !

 

Now, me and my buddies we would like to play coop on these missions.

I know there is already a coop mission (Escape), but we would like to try Roads, Roadz, Bystrica or the example mission also in coop.

I'm not really good at modding, i just would like to play the exact same missions with a grouped spawn at the beginning where everyone has some random equipment,  and a respawn fonction when you die (where you respawn with your clothes only) which makes you revive near your friends (maybe 200-300m next to them...)

 

We would be 4 players max.

 

If someone could explain to me how to do it ? Thanks

[tourist 617]

After a lot of Editing and a killer-cool MP playthrough with reforger, my new Esseker Mission is released:

 

https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/193057-spco-11-ravage-tourism-esseker-survive-the-zombie-apocalypse-and-maybe-save-mankind/

 

Have fun and give feedback!

[FireWalker 329]

Has anyone had any success getting inidb or a mysql database going on their server for Ravage?

Ive been messing with it but just cant get it to work.

Thanks,

Fire

[S.Crowe 142]

@FireWalker

 

I'll be releasing something very soon (gotta test the crap out of it first) inidb support for Ravage and ALiVE.

[FireWalker 329]

@FireWalker

 

I'll be releasing something very soon (gotta test the crap out of it first) inidb support for Ravage and ALiVE.

Cool I'll keep my eye out. I run on a dedi server.

[law-giver 190]

@Haleks

 

Since we can get water from various sources, how about random amounts of money from the ATM's. :D

[kodabar 607]

Haleks you can give traders blue helmets? 

 

Here's a suggestion: Don't do that. Or only do it a bit.

 

Ravage isn't fair. It doesn't guarantee that you'll make it to the end (not that there is one). It can kill you in an instant (and does so, regularly) or it can kill you through the slow attrition of hunger, thirst or radiation.

 

When I came across a trader for the first time (I'm editing a video of it right now, fans), it was a heck of an experience. It was an emplacement, rather than an individual (I'm being vague, not trying to give anything away for those who have not had the same encounter). I didn't know what to do. I didn't know it was a trader. I didn't know if I was about to get shot. I was in cover, nearby and I didn't know if my game was about to end.

And that's a good thing. If every trader has a blue helmet, that experience of mine will never happen again. That part of the game will now be "Oh, a guy with a blue helmet; that'll be a trader then."

And it'll be easier to find them. And that makes it easier to go looking for them.

If I can tell someone's a trader from binocular range, I know what's going to happen in my game for the next while.

For me, games are about experiences. The first time I played Doom, was on a 386 DX40. I couldn't even play it fullscreen. My nerd friends and I lugged our computers to a nerd house and set up an IPX/ODI sodding network so we could play multiplayer. We even did the thing where we used three networked computers to give an early multi-monitor experience. Playing that in the dark with headphones on was mind-blowing.

Now there's twenty devices within arm's reach that I can play Doom on. My phone can play Doom. Easily. And I don't have a nice phone (Palm Pre - yeah, be impressed). Now Doom is nothing to me.

I liked DayZ, especially when it first came out. No one knew what was going on. I remember when there was only a tiny handful of servers. I'd sit in broken lobbies with a bunch of strangers, just hoping we could get a game going. Half an hour, even an hour we'd wait. And we'd type messages to each other in the side-chat. Trying to be the funniest (that's funniest, kids, not grossest or most racist) was popular and surreal. On the rare occasions when you'd get on a server, you could die at any point. The landscape was huge, no one knew where anything was, no one knew where they were even. Even meeting up with friends in-game was a Herculean task until we figured out that the sun actually worked and time really did pass.

Meeting other players was just mind-blowing. They could be base idiots who'd try to kill you regardless of any circumstance or context. There were people who killed me in elaborate ways. There were people whom I befriended for just one game and then rather missed. One time I was running from a horde of zombies and I suddenly found myself running alongside another chap fleeing in the same manner. It turned out he was from a village just down the road from me. And I live in a tiny town in the far north of the English countryside. Those were the good times. Those were good experiences. I will remember those.

So yeah, if you're going to put blue helmets on the traders, realise the implications.

Call of Duty games don't work any more. They're packed full of 'experiences'. In fact, they use that as a marketing point. (I wonder if they've trademarked 'experiences' yet?). But Call of Duty is linear and it presents the same experiences, in the same order, to everyone who plays it. And that's why they suck.

The promise of games like Ravage ought to be that there are experiences in there, waiting to be found. Some put there on purpose and some just magically happening through chance. One or two playthroughs ought not to guarantee you'll see everything or deal with everything correctly. I was a bit hesitant about the wiki for that reason and I'm pleased that it doesn't give too much away.

Stick blue helmets on them and traders ain't shit; they're a vending machine. And I will use them. I will base my gameplay around finding out where they are and adventuring around them so I can always run back to some guaranteed resources when things go wrong.

It's late at night. I've typed too much. But maybe you get the point I'm trying to make. If you're going to give traders blue helmets, maybe only give them to some of them, eh? Keep a certain element of surprise...

[rolandrhaine 21]

Here's a suggestion: Don't do that. Or only do it a bit.

 

Ravage isn't fair. It doesn't guarantee that you'll make it to the end (not that there is one). It can kill you in an instant (and does so, regularly) or it can kill you through the slow attrition of hunger, thirst or radiation.

 

When I came across a trader for the first time (I'm editing a video of it right now, fans), it was a heck of an experience. It was an emplacement, rather than an individual (I'm being vague, not trying to give anything away for those who have not had the same encounter). I didn't know what to do. I didn't know it was a trader. I didn't know if I was about to get shot. I was in cover, nearby and I didn't know if my game was about to end.

And that's a good thing. If every trader has a blue helmet, that experience of mine will never happen again. That part of the game will now be "Oh, a guy with a blue helmet; that'll be a trader then."

And it'll be easier to find them. And that makes it easier to go looking for them.

If I can tell someone's a trader from binocular range, I know what's going to happen in my game for the next while.

For me, games are about experiences. The first time I played Doom, was on a 386 DX40. I couldn't even play it fullscreen. My nerd friends and I lugged our computers to a nerd house and set up an IPX/ODI sodding network so we could play multiplayer. We even did the thing where we used three networked computers to give an early multi-monitor experience. Playing that in the dark with headphones on was mind-blowing.

Now there's twenty devices within arm's reach that I can play Doom on. My phone can play Doom. Easily. And I don't have a nice phone (Palm Pre - yeah, be impressed). Now Doom is nothing to me.

I liked DayZ, especially when it first came out. No one knew what was going on. I remember when there was only a tiny handful of servers. I'd sit in broken lobbies with a bunch of strangers, just hoping we could get a game going. Half an hour, even an hour we'd wait. And we'd type messages to each other in the side-chat. Trying to be the funniest (that's funniest, kids, not grossest or most racist) was popular and surreal. On the rare occasions when you'd get on a server, you could die at any point. The landscape was huge, no one knew where anything was, no one knew where they were even. Even meeting up with friends in-game was a Herculean task until we figured out that the sun actually worked and time really did pass.

Meeting other players was just mind-blowing. They could be base idiots who'd try to kill you regardless of any circumstance or context. There were people who killed me in elaborate ways. There were people whom I befriended for just one game and then rather missed. One time I was running from a horde of zombies and I suddenly found myself running alongside another chap fleeing in the same manner. It turned out he was from a village just down the road from me. And I live in a tiny town in the far north of the English countryside. Those were the good times. Those were good experiences. I will remember those.

So yeah, if you're going to put blue helmets on the traders, realise the implications.

Call of Duty games don't work any more. They're packed full of 'experiences'. In fact, they use that as a marketing point. (I wonder if they've trademarked 'experiences' yet?). But Call of Duty is linear and it presents the same experiences, in the same order, to everyone who plays it. And that's why they suck.

The promise of games like Ravage ought to be that there are experiences in there, waiting to be found. Some put there on purpose and some just magically happening through chance. One or two playthroughs ought not to guarantee you'll see everything or deal with everything correctly. I was a bit hesitant about the wiki for that reason and I'm pleased that it doesn't give too much away.

Stick blue helmets on them and traders ain't shit; they're a vending machine. And I will use them. I will base my gameplay around finding out where they are and adventuring around them so I can always run back to some guaranteed resources when things go wrong.

It's late at night. I've typed too much. But maybe you get the point I'm trying to make. If you're going to give traders blue helmets, maybe only give them to some of them, eh? Keep a certain element of surprise...

I suggest people turn on the in game funtion of show tags for enemies, or you can do just allies. Or both. Either way it doesnt matter, but if you increase the distance to "show" it will show a tag when you put your cross hair, or when looking down a scope at someone. It will be a green tag for allies, and red for enemies. Simple, yet easy to change, and it solves the issue for everyone. That way people like us who dont want the tacky looking helmets, and wants the thrill of "who did I just kill?" and it fixes the issues for those who do want to know.

Just a suggestion, but I used to use that all the time.

[tortuosit 486]

Haha, those speeches... Koda, we understand you, I mean, this is ArmA. But if people want to play in a different way, they should not be prevented from.

Haleks could provide them information what they put into debug console in order to get their fancy hats. ({addredhead} foreach trader). BTW I am a friend of open debug consoles in missions, because I support the idea "everyone plays as he wishes". I hate when others (it's just about elitism and social membership) decide how I have to play, even if technically it was totally unnecessary.

Freedom of playstyle!

Except... maybe... umhhh... well, but... if they play Life mod style ... *cough cough* ;)

[S.Crowe 142]

collaborative development for the next phases

@haleks

 

If you would like, hit me up. I can't do full on collaboration, but I am interested enough in the mod to lend a helping hand every now and then. Like I said, I am working on saving MP/SP sessions through iniDBI2. You can do a lot more with a database than you can do with vanilla Arma saving.

[law-giver 190]

Here's a suggestion: Don't do that. Or only do it a bit.

 

Ravage isn't fair. It doesn't guarantee that you'll make it to the end (not that there is one). It can kill you in an instant (and does so, regularly) or it can kill you through the slow attrition of hunger, thirst or radiation.

 

When I came across a trader for the first time (I'm editing a video of it right now, fans), it was a heck of an experience. It was an emplacement, rather than an individual (I'm being vague, not trying to give anything away for those who have not had the same encounter). I didn't know what to do. I didn't know it was a trader. I didn't know if I was about to get shot. I was in cover, nearby and I didn't know if my game was about to end.

And that's a good thing. If every trader has a blue helmet, that experience of mine will never happen again. That part of the game will now be "Oh, a guy with a blue helmet; that'll be a trader then."

And it'll be easier to find them. And that makes it easier to go looking for them.

If I can tell someone's a trader from binocular range, I know what's going to happen in my game for the next while.

For me, games are about experiences. The first time I played Doom, was on a 386 DX40. I couldn't even play it fullscreen. My nerd friends and I lugged our computers to a nerd house and set up an IPX/ODI sodding network so we could play multiplayer. We even did the thing where we used three networked computers to give an early multi-monitor experience. Playing that in the dark with headphones on was mind-blowing.

Now there's twenty devices within arm's reach that I can play Doom on. My phone can play Doom. Easily. And I don't have a nice phone (Palm Pre - yeah, be impressed). Now Doom is nothing to me.

I liked DayZ, especially when it first came out. No one knew what was going on. I remember when there was only a tiny handful of servers. I'd sit in broken lobbies with a bunch of strangers, just hoping we could get a game going. Half an hour, even an hour we'd wait. And we'd type messages to each other in the side-chat. Trying to be the funniest (that's funniest, kids, not grossest or most racist) was popular and surreal. On the rare occasions when you'd get on a server, you could die at any point. The landscape was huge, no one knew where anything was, no one knew where they were even. Even meeting up with friends in-game was a Herculean task until we figured out that the sun actually worked and time really did pass.

Meeting other players was just mind-blowing. They could be base idiots who'd try to kill you regardless of any circumstance or context. There were people who killed me in elaborate ways. There were people whom I befriended for just one game and then rather missed. One time I was running from a horde of zombies and I suddenly found myself running alongside another chap fleeing in the same manner. It turned out he was from a village just down the road from me. And I live in a tiny town in the far north of the English countryside. Those were the good times. Those were good experiences. I will remember those.

So yeah, if you're going to put blue helmets on the traders, realise the implications.

Call of Duty games don't work any more. They're packed full of 'experiences'. In fact, they use that as a marketing point. (I wonder if they've trademarked 'experiences' yet?). But Call of Duty is linear and it presents the same experiences, in the same order, to everyone who plays it. And that's why they suck.

The promise of games like Ravage ought to be that there are experiences in there, waiting to be found. Some put there on purpose and some just magically happening through chance. One or two playthroughs ought not to guarantee you'll see everything or deal with everything correctly. I was a bit hesitant about the wiki for that reason and I'm pleased that it doesn't give too much away.

Stick blue helmets on them and traders ain't shit; they're a vending machine. And I will use them. I will base my gameplay around finding out where they are and adventuring around them so I can always run back to some guaranteed resources when things go wrong.

It's late at night. I've typed too much. But maybe you get the point I'm trying to make. If you're going to give traders blue helmets, maybe only give them to some of them, eh? Keep a certain element of surprise...

 

I really enjoyed reading that kodabar, took me for a ride back in time. :D

 

I think the dilemma having traders in Ravage is the weapons etc they carry. In my earlier post i'd killed someone without realising it was a trader until someone kindly pointed it out. But until then it left me thinking it was a bug of sorts and it was just a bad guy having too many weapons. I think with traders as they are currently in Ravage they unbalance the game giving you access to weapons that in effect make you invincible with nothing to fear.

 

I've been playing games like ArmA for what seems like a 100 years, yeah i'm that old. My point being in a short space of time i have weapons coming out of my ass and i'm already invincible fearing nothing before i've even come across a trader. I actually don't need a trader because i can quite easily bump off numerous patrols and end up with more weapons than the traders themselves. Each play through i'm dropping the loot % and before long i'll be hitting 0. Okay not that low but you get my point, i hope.

 

Maybe have traders trading food, water, camping and health related items with very very limited weapons and weapon related items. I myself can live without traders as Ravage stands but i guess there are players who love or need them. It's why Ravage is so good, it gives you the choice having the modules you want or don't want. My final point with traders is once you bag one as i did you have access to the weapons etc regardless of having money. I didn't take any weapons at that time as i had too many already.

 

Back to you guys ;)

[BattleChief 97]

Honestly, to each is his own, and I understand where your coming from Koda, and it is actually easy to tell traders from the rest (Only in open fields and on the roads). I took the time to study the AI's movements, and found that Traders, are very different than the rest. I am not sure about everyone else, but the ambient AI, they Jog/run with their weapons up all the time, Traders tend to walk slower, and only one or two have there guns up, I honestly feel, that they shouldn't have so many guns, but more helpful supplies, in lower quantities. I understand the thrill, but I honestly am growing bored, I think its all the solo playing...we need to get a server out (I just pray that you include Enhanced movement) with a system like the beginning, except that everyone spawns randomly, almost like the rest of the maps, and must find themselves so they can either team up, or kill each other. 

[haleks 8212]

Thanks for the feedback guys. :)

 

One quick note about traders and difficulty balance : the problem is that there are currently two types of traders.

One sells survival stuff (food, drinks etc) and the other sells weapons & ammo. Although such a distinction between "shop types" can be usefull, it doesn't always make sense in a ravaged world.

 

It's something I'm gonna tweak : it would make more sense for spawned traders to have a bit of everything, in small quantities.

[law-giver 190]

We definitely need traders because they would exist in a Ravaged world, love it or hate it. Like you said haleks, just needs a tweak. And yeah small quantities makes more sense. Keep up the good work mate, i can't stop playing! ;)

[HeroesandvillainsOS 1504]

I really like it when Kodabar gets tired and has a point to make. It's a good opportunity to get some coffee or tea and then sit down to read a cool story. :)

[EO 11277]

Enjoying the "traders" pow-wow guys, it's all good.

Inconspicuous or not, I'm glad they're around, they carry the fire. 

 

 

[tortuosit 486]

I really like it when Kodabar gets tired and has a point to make.

I watch his missions on Youtube sometimes.

Also I like his handmade maps:

Kodabar:

The way he talks reminds me pretty much of him :D

[Lecter 66]

Here's a suggestion: Don't do that. Or only do it a bit.

Helmets were just a proposal, even intended as a joke with that picture in the spoiler. :D Nothing of a big deal mate, I had no intention of spoiling the game mechanics with my proposal. - it was just an idea since Ravage is WIP.  ;) What I've read previously is the fact that some people are having a rather hard time to distinguish traders from radiers. 

Personally, I managed without traders so far therefore I didnt ask it for myself. But I welcome the idea of having a trader (sometimes I do get low on ammo and they could be used for purchase, or if I'm really desperate killing them and looting whatever the player might choose). 

Now, speaking of the idea itself, I dont need a blue helmet to tell friend from foe. I'm not quick on the engagements anyways, especially if I'm in open terrain with no cover. I havent yet seen a trader in the game, but what I would do to make sure they're not hostile is: 

- watch their route and come in front of them, 

- use some cover and show myself until seen for a brief time, 

- if they start engaging & shooting it's easy to duck = conclusion: those are raiders. 

So that's it - maybe this piece of advice can help players who have problems. In short: always use cover, observe, then react.

Those armbands are a nice idea IMHO - one would need binoculars to focus on such a small detail and that could be that balancing factor.

I'm sure Haleks can give them a label "trader" with white marker color on the map for example for lower difficulty settings to make them a bit easier to distinguish for the people (they'd need a map). I use hard difficulty settings with no markers on map anyways, so generally I'm rather cautious no matter whether it's raiders, renegades, or survivors. I've been shot dead more from renegades (mistaking them for survivors) than from raiders, since renegades are solo. Raiders are patrolling in bigger numbers so I can distinguish them by that. Cheers.

EDIT: I'm more concerned about radiation mechanics. That one is a pain. Even fully geared (protection suit, gas-mask, rebreather - I found all on one occasion) I find it very difficult to venture in irradiated areas. Main problems are that those items, while being FREAKING rare, provide insignificant protection (at least I couldnt tell the difference of having a gas mask and not having it at all). I even checked irradiation increase with geiger counter and no matter whether I have those items equipped or not, I'd get same radiation dosage per 1minute of exposure on same spot. And that's not balanced IMO. If I managed to get good stuff, I'd like to have more time to spend in irradiated area searching for loot or killing bandits who spawn there with good stuff. 

Anti-rad pills should be there to remove the rads only, but if we do find above mentioned protection items (maybe even include some other suits with closed-circuit), then they should give more resistance to radiation (not full immunity of course). Balancing factor should be that protection suit, oxygen rebreather, gas-mask, maybe add new backpack with oxygen tanks? would have no armor, and that backpack would have less space? Just an idea if Haleks is reading this of course.