[WIP] Rhodesia Bush War

[McLupo 118]

Hello Scout,

 

a lot of work, I guess! But I read your motivation daily and do not get discouraged by setbacks.
Keep it up, it will be awesome if it is finished.  :)

 

Greetings

McLupo

[RhodesianScout 189]

Hello Scout,

 

a lot of work, I guess! But I read your motivation daily and do not get discouraged by setbacks.

Keep it up, it will be awesome if it is finished.  :)

 

Greetings

McLupo

 

 

Thanks McLupo

 

I have already tested this object in my map and it has the exact look that I was hoping it would have....except it is blue. Now if I can stop the object being blue then I would really be happy.

[RhodesianScout 189]

Currently logged in at http://www.twitch.tv/arma3officialto see the big announcement about the Eden editor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit : 

 

Enjoyed the sneak preview of what Eden was about and what it had to offer me that other tools such as X-cam could not.

 

I think the 1884 other people watching the big reveal were as stunned as myself when towards the end of the broadcast Jay Crowe who is the Creative Director at Bohemia Interactive clicked on a big red button with white writing on it    "Release BETA"   and we were promptly told that us developers can download the beta version of this now.

 

Which of course I am and from what I see Eden will most certainly be used in creating scenarios for my mod.

[RhodesianScout 189]

A quick testing of the Eden Editor before I get back to the serious modding.

 

I was able to quickly create a scenario where Rhodesian Infantry had captured suspected insurgents that had crossed over the border.....still learning all the bits and pieces about Eden but below is an interesting screenshot showing what the scenario looks like in the new FLIR view.

 

Now...back to the modding I go

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

When the Rhodesian African Rifles sets up a new base the first thing that is done is to raise the Rhodesian flag.

 

This is a test shot of the Rhodesian flag now added to the mod.

 

The wind was whipping the flag around so much it took about 20 screen shots to try and get even a half decent picture of the flag.......but hopefully good enough to show it is the Rhodesian Flag.

 

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

Some of the missions will involve attacks on ZANU and ZAPU bases in Zambia or Mozambique respectively and these bases will be flying their own flags as shown below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Added ZIRPA

[RhodesianScout 189]

I was not too happy with the pictures I had previously added in the last 2 posts...so I have re uploaded the images showing the flags for Rhodesia as well as ZAPU and ZANU.

 

The original pictures also did not show the Rhodesian Infantry in the picture and this has also being changed.

 

 

 

I had been thinking of adding a 3rd guerrilla group alongside ZANU and ZAPU. 

 

ZIRPA had being responsible for bringing down 2 Rhodesian airway civilian aircraft in 1978 and 1979 with surface to air missiles..... and even though I would really like to add ZIRPA to the mod the timeline is just not right as they were not around in the early years of the Bush War in Rhodesia.

[bullsh 22]

If not ZIRPA, maybe FRELIMO or a more or less unaligned local village militia? But if you want ZIRPA, go for it, I'm sure the players of your mod will forgive you your small timeline distortion :p Will you also add the characteristical shorts for the Rhodesian government forces?

[RhodesianScout 189]

If not ZIRPA, maybe FRELIMO or a more or less unaligned local village militia? But if you want ZIRPA, go for it, I'm sure the players of your mod will forgive you your small timeline distortion :P Will you also add the characteristical shorts for the Rhodesian government forces?

 

I know that someone called Garry has created the Rhodesian Infantry shorts back in February 2015 for ARMA 2.... looks like he did a pretty good job of it

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=395304118

 

However I don't think these can be used in ARMA 3 .

 

 

 

 

I will be creating my own version of the Rhodesian infantry (with shorts option) as well as outfits for the guerrilla groups ZANU, ZAPU and any others I end up adding in.

 

I will most likely add ZIRPA as it is the armed wing of ZAPU. I only found out today that they had brought down those 2 aircraft in 78 and 79... I left in 77....... and it makes me frustrated that they were just able to get away with it....especially after ZIRPA shot and killed survivors of the crash. 

[bullsh 22]

Hmm sadly those seem to have been made for Gary's Mod, a game on itself, and not for ArmA 2. Otherwise you could've ported them. But brand new ArmA 3 quality are always preferred anyway, so best of luck!

[RhodesianScout 189]

Sun setting over Rhodesia......

 

[opteryx 1562]

Looking real good.

 

What kind of custom assets are you planning to make?

[Crierd 24]

This looks so promising. I am very, very excited for this project.

[RhodesianScout 189]

After an early morning raid on a local farm, ZAPU guerrillas flee the local area as Rhodesian Infantry from the nearby Fireforce base arrive in the area.

 

Making their escape hidden by early morning mist, ZAPU were gathering at a rendezvous point by a large Baobab tree 30 km south east of Kariba before heading north into Zambia. Unknown to them, the 1st Battalion of the Rhodesian Light Infantry had spotted them from the top of a nearby hill and were preparing to engage the ZAPU.

 

 

EDIT : Hopefully this picture looks similar to the first picture of the next post.

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

For the maps in the Rhodesian Bush War mod for Arma 3 I am trying to recreate scenery as close as possible to the various different views of Rhodesia...as seen below.

 

Hopefully each map will show a different view....... dry and brown landscape of the Inyanga area or lush and green hills such as seen with the Honde Valley.

 

I am hoping to create custom trees and more variations of the Baobab.....and am testing one piece of software to see if it will import into my modelling software.

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

The Timeline for the mod has changed.

 

Originally set around 1966 I am now changing the timeline to a period ranging from 1972 to the end of 1979. This will give me more mission ideas as the war will have being going for several years.

 

I am hoping to have a special set of 5 missions set in Rhodesia based on events that occurred in the latter 2 years of the war. I have an idea of how these missions will look and some of it I have no idea how I will do the animation....... but there will be a lot of fire, smoke and combat. 

 

The first mission will probably not show the event but will start in the aftermath with the Rhodesian Infantry tasked to protect civilians from ZIPR spotted in the area.

 

Apart from these 5 missions there will be more planned to cover the rest of the period from 1972 onwards.

 

 

 

 

How will ZAPU and ZANU will look in the Rhodesian Bush Wars mod.

 

I am looking at adding them in to the Bush Wars mod based on their appearance from training photos below as they were seen in 1977. I never actually encountered ZAPU or ZANU face to face but I believe these were the actual uniforms they were wearing during the war......

 

Once I work out how to create them in the mod (figures and textures) I will add them and show screenshots.

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

Progress on the mod slows down a little when I have no idea on how to do something....... and I need to research the steps on how to achieve what I want.

 

The steps I am following in creating the mod ..... what I do is to add the scenery in a small area with enough trees, baobabs, bushes etc and then add the Rhodesian Infantry from an Arma 2 mod I found and then substitute the closest possible characters to represent ZANU or ZAPU and have a firefight in that area to see if any other objects or vegetation needs to be added to that area to provide cover.

 

For realism in my testing I need to  put some priority to creating the uniforms as shown in the last post. When I am skilled enough to create the characters from scratch I will create custom character models for the mod...but for the time being reskinning  the uniform for existing models will do for testing purposes.

 

The picture below shows the character I will use for testing my reskin for ZAPU and ZANU characters on......  hopefully I can show the results some time this week.

 

Development work on this model will be cut down this week and possibly next week as I am the owner of a small business and have a lot of work on this week and possibly next week. I am trying to squeeze in a few hours of work on the mod each day but that will depend on the day.....

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

How long will it take to complete the Rhodesian Bush War mod?

 

A good question and obviously will depend on how much time I spend on the mod. To fully complete the mod it could take 12 months... may be even 2 or 3 years.

 

 

 

 

How long before others can play the mod?

 

My plan is not to have people waiting 1, 2 or 3 years before I release the entire map....... I am looking at the option if available at all to release the mod in stages .

 

Version 1 will be the initial small area large enough to have good skirmishes . I am hoping that there is a way for me to limit the missions to a specific area on the map so that if players reach the end of the developed map area they can't go further. If that does not work then I can put up big fences or walls like in Jurassic Park to signify the areas that have not been worked on.

 

Then Version 2 will be released with an expanded area.......version 3 more expanded area ....and so on till the mod is complete.

 

This way people can test the mod as it is developed and leave suggestions or comments.

[jw custom 56]

Progress on the mod slows down a little when I have no idea on how to do something....... and I need to research the steps on how to achieve what I want.

 

We have a terrain builder sub forum where you can ask for help. I have just started creating my first terrain and i've gotten a lot of help there ;)

 

https://forums.bistudio.com/forum/164-arma-3-terrain-builder/

[RhodesianScout 189]

When Rhodesian Infantry are in earshot of ZANU or ZAPU guerrillas they will be able to hear them speaking in the Shona language....a native language to Rhodesia, Mozambique and Botswana.

 

I now have access to over 8 hours of Shona vocabulary in mp3 format and will over the next few months extract select phrases from what is available to provide conversations between members of ZANU or ZAPU .

 

This will add realism to the mod when Rhodesian Infantry are in close proximity to the enemy.

 

I will create about 15 minutes or so of Shona language in ogg files over the next few weeks for my testing purposes and have them trigger randomly in areas where patrols are standing at sentry duty......... or where ZAPU or ZANU are talking to each other while on patrol.

[RhodesianScout 189]

We have a terrain builder sub forum where you can ask for help. I have just started creating my first terrain and i've gotten a lot of help there ;)

 

https://forums.bistudio.com/forum/164-arma-3-terrain-builder/

 

Thanks for the tip.... I will certainly have a look over there.

 

Thanks.

 

 

EDIT :

 

 

Actually I have already been looking at that forum before.... this is where I found the     "The Atlas: Guide to ArmA 3 Terrain Making" 

[jw custom 56]

Yes but when your are stuck with something you can ask there, don't be shy :P

[domokun 515]

Here's a photo I spotted over on Reddit that might interest you:

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/3mnzxv/a_rhodesian_machinegunner_1970s_935x943/

BTW if you need help implementing the Shona in Arma, you might want to chat to the Unsung team members as they spent quite some time adding Vietnamese for Charlie.

In terms of African models, you might want to check with Icebreaker.

Hope that helps

[Gruntini 40]

~

[RhodesianScout 189]

A Preview of test picture - WIP