Tanks - Vanguard MP Mode

[zozo 104]

Hi guys!

We have released three scenarios based on the Vanguard MP mode to the dev-branch. There are also two official servers where you can join:

• 85.190.155.162 (EU) 
• 85.190.157.210 (US West)

Also you can filter them in the server browser:    server: official type:TDM

 

 

FEATURES

• competitive Team Death Match
• 30 more players (depends on the scenario)
• oriented on the cooperation and the combined arms
• permadeath as default
• persistent ranking
• easy to setup new users scenarios

RULES 

• There's a device paradropped on a random spot on the map 
• its precise location is gradually revealed as the package gets closer to the ground
• To win:
  • one of three (or two) opposing teams needs to pick up the device, and return it to their base within a certain time limit.
  • or team also wins when they've eliminated the other teams in combat
  • or when they have the highest score at the end of the match

 

 

Feel free to play and post your feedback here!

[fn_Quiksilver 1633]

Looks fun! Played around with it a bit already.

 

Some dev feedback:

 

• As commander, i didnt know intuitively how to delete commander-tasks given to players.
• I only knew how to place the "move" task, it seems there are more though?
• Can spam tasks, maybe put a cap on active tasks (either total, or max per target, or some combo of that). Adding above the cap deletes the oldest task in the list so the max is maintained
• If tasked unit gets close to a "move" task assigned to them, maybe it should auto-complete
• signal percentage rate should speed up if device is moving/loaded. the 2-3 minute delay is too long for updated intel when its being moved by the enemy.
• "load device" interaction progress bar disappears before interaction is complete
•  have those neutral civilian trucks respawn if destroyed (late in a round they are all gone, would be nice if they would show up again for use)
• is good fun, areas are quite large to begin with, hard to find enemy (camping is best strategy)
• maybe a "power up" location in the AOs, for extra firepower/intel. gives objective to fight for during the 2-3 minute downtime. side holding the power-up location might get access to "enemy indicators" on the map while holding it, or extra weapon magazines, or slat armor

is very early feedback, so take with grain of salt :)

[Yoshi_E 178]

Some feedback:

The maps and vehicles seem unbalanced.

• The M4 Artillery can basically mine the enemy base and the "device", with both AT and anti personal Mines. This can happen as soon as 40s into the game, leading to spawn kills if somebody takes longer than that to leave the base.
  Limiting it to Laser Guided, Cluster, HE and smoke would be best.
• The maps are very open, the device often lands in a field with no cover. Considering AT weapons, this makes it impossible to load it into a truck, as you have 1-3 shots with an AT launcher to take them out.
• The time after the device landed is to short, 15min. On the Altis version it takes about ~7min to drive with the Truck from the device back to your base, making it to risky. If you drive in valleys and through forests it takes even longer.
• Overall camping the device, instead of capturing is encouraged. Taking out enemy players vehicle seems to be a higher priority than securing the device, as you can prevent its loading easily most of the time.
• In tests (2vs2, arround 3 rounds) the game was decided either by kills, or by the team that loaded the device.
• Delivering the devices to the base makes little, to no sense, as it puts the driver at a high risk. It is better to load it into the truck to secure the points, and the just leave it in the open. This is making it easy to defend until the time runs out.
• Once the device has been captured (loaded) once, little to no time is remaining, to secure it again.
• The independent forces are only receiving MRAPs and Trucks as a fighting force against Nato / Opfor MBTs and APCs. How are they supposed to take down a MBT and multiple APCs that can engage them on max range? Even if all their AT missiles would hit, it would still not be enough to take down all enemy forces... Are they supposed to play the guerrilla forces that only uses sneak attacks? Their chance to secure the device is basically none?

 

Some technical issues i found:

• issuing commands can be very tricky (this needs to be explained somewhere maybe?)
• Even though AI / A Player was inside the Truck from the main base, with the device loaded, it did not generate 1 point per second.

 

However, the degrees of freedom, and need to to cooperate are nicely done. Seems like a promising game mode. It would be good if there would be something for players to do while they are dead (waiting for a new round).

 

[grzegorz 33]

Hello. I found two DEV servers. Both yesterday and today after the update using the "game updater" tool, the BattlEye client copies me from the servers.
I connect to the server. I am in the lobby and I choose the role and I will be thrown out in a moment.
A folder with a stable version of the game was copied to another HDD and updated to the DEV version with the Game Updater tool. I can easily use the game if I am not joining the servers. In the stable version, I do not have problems connecting to servers.
I bought the game and some DLC in Store Bistudio. Dank Tanks I bought on the Steam platform.

 

https://imgur.com/a/plUPu

My rpt file https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhGMc3MQZJqr1D82HI2qJu137x-G

[zozo 104]

19 hours ago, grzegorz said:

Hello. I found two DEV servers. Both yesterday and today after the update using the "game updater" tool, the BattlEye client copies me from the servers.

 

Hello,

try to update using the Steam client. There might be some inconsistencies in data. That could be the reason why it kicks you off.

Btw, I cannot get the rpt, can you send it as an attachment?

[grzegorz 33]

I'm sorry but google translate changed my word. Instead of the word "copies", it should be a "kick" but you probably understood and seen on my screenshots.
I can not add attachments on the forum.
This link should work. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jatQiIh2nS9Qm7kqwO-GgWAeV58q3uSK/view?usp=sharing

[zozo 104]

Guys,

we will be performing the Vanguard MP Dev test today at 15:00 (14:00 UTC).  We've decided to make it using the Official Public EU server (85.190.155.162). If you had a time, feel free to join us! ;) The dev-branch will be updated in an hour.

 

[grzegorz 33]

Will there be slots for viewers and / or simple live streaming ?

[zozo 104]

Slots for players (if you JIP after the briefing phase, you will be spectator)

[zozo 104]

Thanks for joining!

We enjoyed it a lot. We found some issues, but if you found something, let us know here pls! Issues, suggestions, etc.

Ofc let us know if you wanted to have an another session the next week.

[grzegorz 33]

@zozo

Thank you for your answer. I could not join because I still have a problem with BattlEye.
At the moment, this is not an urgent matter. I will wait for the RC version and stable.
If you find the time, see my poor and boring movie.

https://streamable.com/tyu3m

If you repeat such an event, please for a small, uncomplicated stream live. It can be made by any user.

[fn_Quiksilver 1633]

Without respawns i felt (as a gamer) there was too much down-time between rounds. this might scare away all but the most enthusiastic. I think respawns are necessary to allow peopel to get back into the game

 

---

 

and a familiar script error (for mission makers), that pesky "findEmptyPosition" script command.

 

give 

player setVehiclePosition [<pos>,[],0,'NONE'];

a try. that should put the player in a safe spawn position.     https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setVehiclePosition

 

 

Also saw the neutral civilian trucks spawning along dirt jungle footpaths on Tanoa

 

 

(most of the footpaths are in deep jungle so it could be a bit funky)

a fix for that requires to filter out the jungle paths from the nearRoads list, something like this:

_centerPosition = <pos>;
_radius = <radius>;
_realRoads = ([_centerPosition select 0,_centerPosition select 1] nearRoads _radius) select {((_x isEqualType objNull) && (!((roadsConnectedTo _x) isEqualTo [])))};

the _realRoads list will exclude jungle paths on Tanoa, while still working as intended on other terrains.

 

 

And more broadly I thought the scope of the gamemode was confused. Stepping into I thought "ah a chance to fight with armored vehicles", but most people fought on foot. I feel like it would be better to bring the focus back to armored vehicles, with less sniper-type gameplay

 

 

[HaseDesTodes 62]

either i was to stupid to use it or it wasn't there:

please add dynamic groups by default

the mode can only benefit from this, as you could communicate without spamming the side chat or the need to be in the same vehicle/nearby.

 

i played 2 rounds on indfor, and it was totally uncoordinated.

[zozo 104]

23 hours ago, grzegorz said:

@zozo

Thank you for your answer. I could not join because I still have a problem with BattlEye.

 

Have you tried to reinstall the BattlEye?

[BIS_Adam 24]

We have three Release Candidate Servers running vanguard!

 

85.190.155.168:2302

85.190.155.168:2402

85.190.155.168:2502

[grzegorz 33]

4 hours ago, zozo said:

 

Have you tried to reinstall the BattlEye?

I admit that I do not.

I did not even think about it because so far BE in stable versions of the game did not allow me to play online only in random cases. My problems with BE lasted a maximum of one or two days and everything returned to normal. It looked like that for a few hours I could not join the servers (eg EUTW) but if I finally joined the server, then BE was not really throwing me away.
Such situations with BE appeared sporadically for me.

 

If I find time, I will do it or I will go straight to the RC version.

[grzegorz 33]

@zozo

Unfortunately, I still have a problem with BE in the DEV and RC versions.
I even updated the standard version of the game to the RC version using STEAM - there is a problem.
Uninstall_BattlEye.bat and Install_BattlEye.bat files do not produce visible results. Only the CMD window will open, but the files do not change. I manually deleted the BE folder and checked the integrity of the files using STEAM. The folder and BE files have been re-created and have today's current date, but after a while I'm kicked out of the server.
I have reset my router, deleted and introduced new firewall rules.

 

I returned to stable version 1.80.14xxxx and there is no problem here.
Unfortunately, I am expecting big problems on April 11 for my game (v1.82 or 1.83).

[HaseDesTodes 62]

21 minutes ago, grzegorz said:

@zozo

Unfortunately, I still have a problem with BE in the DEV and RC versions.
I even updated the standard version of the game to the RC version using STEAM - there is a problem.
Uninstall_BattlEye.bat and Install_BattlEye.bat files do not produce visible results. Only the CMD window will open, but the files do not change. I manually deleted the BE folder and checked the integrity of the files using STEAM. The folder and BE files have been re-created and have today's current date, but after a while I'm kicked out of the server.
I have reset my router, deleted and introduced new firewall rules.

 

I returned to stable version 1.80.14xxxx and there is no problem here.
Unfortunately, I am expecting big problems on April 11 for my game (v1.82 or 1.83).

 

i think (not sure) i read somewhere that  clearing your MPMissonsCache (C:\Users\*username\AppData\Local\Arma 3\MPMissionsCache\ folder can help...

 

at least it should't hurt.

maybe make a backup first

 

if i had those problems i would contact Battleye.

even if it's a server problem, they might be able to point to a soulution or at least help finding what's going wrong

[grzegorz 33]

@HaseDesTodes

I've done various magic tricks. I have turned off everything that is unnecessary, eg MsiAfterBurner, Discord, even anti-virus programs, etc.

I did cleaning MPMissonsCache, it did not help.

Hm. hm. Conversation with BE is a greater or lesser way of suffering. I had a problem with the TS plugin (TSNotifier). Every update of this overlay was blocked by BE and I always had to wait long for BF to graciously update. Then I did not want to write after each update.
See also what he writes BE https://www.battleye.com/downloads/
 

Quote

Below we provide miscellaneous downloads for some BattlEye-protected games. Note that all the latest client-side and server-side files are included in the game.

 

Quote

Client not responding
This can happen for a while or breaks up completely. A common solution is to update your modem / router's firmware. Also, make sure that you are not running "Cucusoft Net Guard" which is incompatible with BE. If you want to contact your ISP, please do not hesitate to contact your internet connection.

I will attack them on Monday.

The strangest thing is that everything is OK on the current, stable version. BE sometimes throws away some people every few minutes for a long time or for a long time does not allow them to enter. I almost always had zero problems. I do not remember when the last time in a stable version of the game BE gave me the message "client not responding". You could say that in BE I had a VIP pass.
My problem with BE is only in DEV and RC.

[Cenwulf 40]

On 15/03/2018 at 8:22 PM, fn_Quiksilver said:

Without respawns i felt (as a gamer) there was too much down-time between rounds. this might scare away all but the most enthusiastic. I think respawns are necessary to allow peopel to get back into the game

 

I’d have to disagree slightly here. Battle royal games (a phenomenally popular genre at this point) seemly thrive off this mechanic. You can always hop out and join another server once you die. I guess I see your point with the down time though, if initially there aren’t enough people playing to maintain a decent turn over of new games then the downtime could be a big factor in why people don’t play. It’s kind of a chicken and the egg problem. Need a large number of active players to negate downtime and make it popular, needs to be popular to draw in sufficient players.

 

I do think the no respawns aspect is fairly important for the flow of the game though, without it then it’s very dificult to avoid a stalemate and then it just devolves into a ticket based team death match over a fixed time period. I think of this game mode in its current state as primarily a vehicle death match with the device serving as a focal point and then as a quick game finisher for the victors, which negates the need to hunt down every last opponent when one team has obviously won. Makes it much more about team strategy/synergy rather than throwing waves and waves of players at each other with very little penalty for dying.

[runekn 3]

Three times I've now been spawned on the eastern island in the Chapoi mission, without the intro showing. The only apparent link between those instances seem to be that we were 2 players on the server.

[fn_Quiksilver 1633]

20 hours ago, Cenwulf said:

 

I’d have to disagree slightly here. Battle royal games (a phenomenally popular genre at this point) seemly thrive off this mechanic. You can always hop out and join another server once you die. I guess I see your point with the down time though, if initially there aren’t enough people playing to maintain a decent turn over of new games then the downtime could be a big factor in why people don’t play. It’s kind of a chicken and the egg problem. Need a large number of active players to negate downtime and make it popular, needs to be popular to draw in sufficient players.

 

I do think the no respawns aspect is fairly important for the flow of the game though, without it then it’s very dificult to avoid a stalemate and then it just devolves into a ticket based team death match over a fixed time period. I think of this game mode in its current state as primarily a vehicle death match with the device serving as a focal point and then as a quick game finisher for the victors, which negates the need to hunt down every last opponent when one team has obviously won. Makes it much more about team strategy/synergy rather than throwing waves and waves of players at each other with very little penalty for dying.

 

the purity of the mode is better with no respawns i agree, but one of the objectives IMO is to fill a server and keep it filled. a more pure experience with 0/24 vs a compromised experience with 19/24, most would prefer the compromised experience (same concept as the 1pv vs third person view debate)

[zozo 104]

19 hours ago, runekn said:

Three times I've now been spawned on the eastern island in the Chapoi mission, without the intro showing. The only apparent link between those instances seem to be that we were 2 players on the server.

Was it RC or DEV?

[runekn 3]

6 hours ago, zozo said:

Was it RC or DEV?

 

dev

[fn_Quiksilver 1633]

On 19/03/2018 at 8:45 PM, zozo said:

Was it RC or DEV?

 

its a problem with your “findEmptyPosition” safe-spawn thing above, check the error in the screenshot. after that error i spawn far away on island