VBS2/3 Discussion thread - the one and only

[bushlurker 46]

Right here on the forums - a large amount (or back when I had a clue) of the VBS content was/is created by people who started off making addons on these forums, either hired or freelanced - the right people tend to take notice if you happen to fill a gap they have.

Absolutely true!

BI (and BISim) are well aware of just how valuable an asset the Gaming Franchise Community is - it's a primary "proving & recruiting" ground, for several reasons...

Firstly, because at any time they can browse the "new addons" sections and see - right there - concrete examples of peoples skill, even download and try out stuff if they wish, since it's already implemented in the RV engine...

Secondly, lets not gloss over that "already implemented" bit!

As anyone who's even had a brief shot at modelling will know, actually sculpting/modelling the model is around 10% of the work - the rest is all down to implementing it in the engine - LODs, configs, selections, animations... it's all very complex... it's all very specific... specific to the RV engine itself...

Being a great modeller / landscape sculptor / coder is all very well - you can learn that stuff in college, or teach yourself.. BI/BIsim may well be impressed... but if you can display familiarity with actually implementing stuff as well, making it actually work in their engine, then they may just become interested...

As someone else mentioned - you don't need VBS2 or the VBS Tools to start learning that - the Community Tools are very similar in all the most important areas, as are the versions of the actual Engine... lessons learned here and now making crazy game assets for fun isn't time wasted - it's all very valuable learning experience in the field that BI/BIsim are usually particularly interested in - Familiarity with the RV Engine...

Another worthwhile thing to consider if you're an addon-maker interested in a pro career is to join a Mod Team.

When I joined the CWR2 mod team at first, all I was interested in was making terrains. However, I quickly found myself getting involved in a lot of other stuff... Since CWR2 are fairly pro-minded (and spread out geographically!) they use and maintain a central SVN, formalised bug-reporting, heavy use of Skype channels for collaborative comms... Being a "team-player" means you begin to pick up an understanding of other professional skills skills outwith your usual little speciality...

When I joined BISim at first, all I was interested in was making terrains. However, I quickly found myself getting involved in a lot of other stuff... Since BISim are total professionals (and spread out geographically!) they use and maintain a central SVN, formalised bug-reporting, heavy use of Skype channels for collaborative comms... Being a "team-player" means you're expected to have an understanding of other professional skills outwith your usual little speciality...

Get the picture? ;)

It's interesting to note that four of CWR2's contributers, including myself, have been hired by BI/BISim in the last year or so...

It was even more interesting to discover just how many other familiar "Community Names" I've discovered on my Staff Members contact list... :)

You Sir are correct :)

However, if someone feels a little saucy and wants to look else where, there's always contracting for other organizations. The customer-user base for VBS2 is really quite large and employment opportunities are out there every day.

For $211 a pop it's really a nice foot in the door to the industry if you have any desire to make this your career. I did :)

It's an absolutely knockdown, no-hesitation, total bargain of a price - particularly for addon makers since it includes the Full development suite! Serious terrain makers in particular, would be delighted with the contents of that!

As Vandrel says, there's a thriving market for bespoke VBS2 material. Decent content-creation skills and a good working knowledge of the toolkit - and the VBS2 engine - is an attractive combination for a whole host of busy independent studios...

B

Edited October 3, 2012 by Bushlurker

[Vandrel 10]

It's an absolutely knockdown, no-hesitation, total bargain of a price - particularly for addon makers since it includes the Full development suite! Serious terrain makers in particular, would be delighted with the contents of that!

Well said on all points.

It's not advertised at the moment but I can garuntee that if I happen to see someone send over a resume who's got some mod skills and a good understanding of programming then I'd likely snag them up and hire them in a heart beat. *if anyone thinks they may be interested then send me a PM and we'll talk*

[froggyluv 2136]

Just completed my order by phone and should have within the week -pretty excited :)

I hope I'll recieve info on how to join their forums etc...

Edit:Lol, just got the forum access email as I typed this.

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

Just completed my order by phone and should have within the week -pretty excited :)

I hope I'll recieve info on how to join their forums etc...

Edit:Lol, just got the forum access email as I typed this.

Congratulation's!!! You going to be making content for VBS2?

[froggyluv 2136]

Congratulation's!!! You going to be making content for VBS2?

Thanks!

Sadly I haven't the skills :(

I've released a few missions back in the day but thats about it. Is there a large Mission Making and/or MP community? I just read the manual and seen enough to know Im really gonna dig this.

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

Is there a large Mission Making and/or MP community?

Um... Not that I know of. Which I dont really play, I mostly just tinker around with things.

[noubernou 77]

There are a few communities, but they seem rather closed for the most part (obviously when people are dropping the money that it costs on VBS2 the groups tend to be tight knit).

[-Snafu- 78]

If you've applied for the discount PE licence, when should you expect a response? Seeing that froggyluv has got it, presumably with the discount, getting a bit worried that I've missed out or done something wrong. :p

[papanowel 120]

If you've applied for the discount PE licence, when should you expect a response?

You will get an answer very quickly (couple of days) ;)

For the community, I know that all the player from the FTS27 team are waiting for the big update before getting back to the game.

[phantomdw2 1]

If you guys are seriously interested in jobs with VBS2, I work for TBOC SIMS (facebook.com/TBOCSIMS & youtube.com/TBOCSIMS) and we are probably looking to hire another scenario developer and videographer in the next few months. Our Army Contract was just rebid and won by CGI Federal and they have just started the transition process. If any of you are interested, I'll post the job listing when it comes out. It's a great place to work and we've have great freedom to be innovative and create new trainers, like the land navigation trainer I've posted about on here.

[-Snafu- 78]

You will get an answer very quickly (couple of days) ;)

For the community, I know that all the player from the FTS27 team are waiting for the big update before getting back to the game.

OK, cool, it has just been over two days.

[Vandrel 10]

If any of you sent in for the PE license and have not heard anything back after 1 day just shoot me a PM with your info that you sent over and I'll chase it up for you.

[343rdBadger 0]

How long is this offer on for??What are the differences between this and the regular licence?Are there any videos of it (PE version I mean?)

[phantomdw2 1]

I don't know if there's any interest in a Real Time Strategy-style Interface for VBS2 but we've created one. The demo video is at

.

This prototype is an initiative to incorporate some of the attributes of the Real Time Strategy genre onto the first person shooter, Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2). We are looking to work with other organizations to build this into a more comprehensive capability to give VBS2 the ability to train tactical operations at the platoon and company level.

This prototype gives the leader the ability to control large numbers of Soldiers through an intuitive and easy to learn interface, striving for leaders to spend more time thinking tactically and less time learning the controls. We are looking for your feedback to determine our way ahead.

[papanowel 120]

How long is this offer on for??What are the differences between this and the regular licence?Are there any videos of it (PE version I mean?)

End of october for the discount and the 111 first buyer of a PE edition get it for half the normal price.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

source: http://products.bisimulations.com/bohemia-interactive-simulations-anniversary

[froggyluv 2136]

@phantomsw2: looks like something I would enjoy, but first I need to delve into the immenseness of vanilla once it arrives today:)

Also, the VBS2 forums hardly seems like the proper place to unleash unbridled enthusiasm of my new purchase -understandable given the military nature of the program. I hope there is such a place for us PE guys tho.

[Vandrel 10]

@phantomsw2: looks like something I would enjoy, but first I need to delve into the immenseness of vanilla once it arrives today:)

Also, the VBS2 forums hardly seems like the proper place to unleash unbridled enthusiasm of my new purchase -understandable given the military nature of the program. I hope there is such a place for us PE guys tho.

There used to be a "Serious Gamers" forum section but we had restructured the forums a few months back and decided to consolidate a lot of sections. Though, something like this could likely return given there's a new found spark in the PE community.

[Gruman 123]

What are the differences between this and the regular licence?

If your question hasent been answered yet, here is an answer from BISimulations regarding this question:

...but I can state that there is no difference, except the price and the licence type, between VBS2 PE and the commercial/military VBS2. The software & content are the same.

There used to be a "Serious Gamers" forum section but we had restructured the forums a few months back and decided to consolidate a lot of sections. Though, something like this could likely return given there's a new found spark in the PE community.

That would be great. Cant wait for receiving my PE Licence. Thanks BISimulations for that offer.

[usmcrp 0]

Hey Gents, I received permission to release a mission we have worked on from the USMC. However; it needs to be edited for ArmA 2. It is a simple TRAP mission, that's (tactical retrieval of aircraft and personnel )

If you'd like it, pm me.

Semper Fi!

[ScorpionGuard 10]

I do not know if this question has been asked before. But how many slot/clients can operate on one VBS 2 server at one time? The reason I ask, to me understanding that the engine that runs VBS series are for the size of an brigade. That's between 3200 - 3900 persons.

[noubernou 77]

Pretty sure its the same as regular arma, as much as your hardware and network can support. Of course a lot of training is done on low latency networks, so its a lot nicer in some ways.

[phantomdw2 1]

@ScorpionGuard, most Army VBS2 labs have less than 100 computers (last I checked) and typically VBS2 is used for training below the Platoon Level, usually focused on the squad (9 Soldiers). I believe that each server can support 128 unique users not counting AI.

[Vandrel 10]

I do not know if this question has been asked before. But how many slot/clients can operate on one VBS 2 server at one time? The reason I ask, to me understanding that the engine that runs VBS series are for the size of an brigade. That's between 3200 - 3900 persons.

If you have the ability to create a networked connection between sites then you can do much larger scenarios using LVC. VBS2 has the ability to send out DIS packets which allow for other DIS applications to populate network entities. Each server/site would manage their own network load for their entities which significantly spread loads the heavy traffic.

Here in the office we were able to conduct a test with 4 individual servers running the same network config for DIS and peaked at 1,318 entities before either server saw a performance hit. And that was 2 machines both running 2 instances of the game.

A sim lab in Germany had successfully conducted a training exercise at the Brigade level with over 500 live players tied together in LVC.

Of course this isn't the most practical way for 'gamers' to connect and play together but it's a nice example of how powerful the software is.

[noubernou 77]

Do you guys ever plan to have LVC natively support HLA since that is the standard now, rather than DIS?

[Vandrel 10]

Do you guys ever plan to have LVC natively support HLA since that is the standard now, rather than DIS?

HLA is supported in LVC and was recently tested against HLA 1.3, RTI ERFOM 5.3 and NGPro 5.

I wouldn't really go as far as to say that HLA is the standard as it's really rare that we see customers actually using HLA over DIS. Infact most of the Marine Corps has worked to phase out HLA that I know of. That's not to say it isn't used but it'd be news to me if it was now the standard over the plug-n-play DIS.