ETS - Enemy Tagging System

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

ETS - Enemy Tagging System

by

Hortzy & Gunter Severloh

What is it?

This little mod adds a feature to tag enemies, similar in nature to games like, Ghost Recon Wildlands and others that use a tagging system eg.. (Sniper Elite, 1,2,3,4)

Core concept was inspired by Ghost Recon Wildlands, this mod is useful for communications in a squad, and identifying targets,

ideally best suited for Coop but it can be used in singleplayer to help you keep track of enemy targets, or at least make them more apparent if they blend in.

Video Demonstration

DOWNLOAD

Steam Workshop
 

Features

• Tag enemies by Aiming at them or holding your 'Lock Target' key.
• Option to choose between Side or Group for Tag visibility.
• Tagging a unit will reveal their rank and side. (Red = Enemy, Green = Friendly)
• Use UAV's, Binoculars, Weapons etc. (Pretty much anything that you can aim with).
• Works for all vehicles.
• Tags last 60 Seconds by default.
• Icons scale according to distance and FOV.
• Works in SP and MP (Dedicated server tested).
• 100% Client-side (Providing a module has not been placed).
• Server key included.
• Admin/Host Menu (Located in the map menu)
• 3den Editor module for mission makers. (Module will override clients)

Server/Host settings (located in the Map settings menu, or Module)

• Icon Duration
• Icon Delay
• Scale Modifier
• Automatic Tagging
• Play Sound
• Show behind cover
• Show players
• Show allies
• Show enemies
• Required weapons
• Require optics
• Debug

Note:
'Arma 3 Apex - Old Man' uses a different style of map menu, and the settings will not be available.
However, any previous ETS settings you had/applied will carry over.

 

Dedicated Servers - ETS Configuration

Spoiler

With Dependency:

1. Place down the module in mission.
2. Configure module to your liking.
3. Upload mission to server.

(Settings will be saved to server and kept persistent after restarts)

With or Without Dependency:

1. Log in as admin. (voted admin does not count)
2. Configure settings to your liking (Map menu, A module must NOT be placed)
3. Apply new settings.

(Settings will be saved to server and kept persistent after restarts)

Note:
This mod can run 100% client-side, But in-order for Custom settings to work..
It must be placed either server-side (To make the mod optional)
Or as a mandatory mod on the server.
     Default values will be used otherwise.

Alternative methods will be available at a later time.

 

Scripting Features

_unit setVariable ["ETS_HVT",true,true]; //Creates a HVT (Marked by a star).
_unit setVariable ["ETS_TEXT","SomeText",true]; //Sets text below a units icon. (optional)
_unit setVariable ["ETS_FONT","TahomaB",true]; //Sets the font of the text. (optional)

Mission makers can use the above code to make a HVT.
HVT's will be marked with a star when tagged.
 

How to install

1. Subscribe
2. Activate in launcher
3. Play

 

Credits:

• Hortzy - Scripts, & Configs
• Gunter Severloh - Concept, Screenshots, & Video

Changelog

Spoiler

Update: Apr 20 @ 8:40pm

• Added ability to choose between groups or side for Tag visibility.
• Updated Module and Settings Dialog.
• Fixed Enemies showing as Friendly when a player was in an Incapacitated State.

 

Update: Apr 18 @ 10:11pm

• fixed tags not showing when 'Show behind cover' was set to true.

 

Update: Apr 18 @ 3:02am

• Require optics now supports UAV's and Vehicles/Planes
• Removed 'Required Weapons' feature. (Everything is covered by Require Optics now).
• Targets visible by player owned UAV's will remain tagged for the duration of the icon. (This is intended)
• Fixed tags not appearing for pilots. (Note: You must be in a group to see eachothers tags)

 

Update: Apr 17 @ 9:11pm

• Show behind cover now works as intended.

Terrain features (hills), objects, foliage all effect the status of icons.
Condition was replaced by engine command 'checkVisibility'
Thanks to @LSValmont for his advice/help.

 

Update: Apr 17 @ 2:56am

• Host/Admin dialog has been updated to reflect settings inside module.
• Additional bug fixes.

Note: The mod is nearing its final release. Updates will be less frequent

 

Update: Apr 16 @ 10:15pm

• Fixed: Show behind cover
• Fixed: Icons for vehicles
• Fixed: local variable errors

 

Update: Apr 16 @ 6:23am

• added sounds for tagging.
• Icons now are dynamically scaled according to distance and FOV.
• optimized some scripts.
• added new scripting features.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_HVT",true,true]; //this will set a unit as an HVT.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_TEXT","SomeText",true]; //this will set the text below a units icon.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_FONT","TahomaB",true]; //this will set the font style.

• added new module options.

Scale Modifier

Play Sound

Debug

Automatic Tagging

 

NOTE: The Host/Client settings menu (Map menu) has not been updated.
Once all features are set in place, the dialog will get its final upgrade.

Hidden feature.
-Dedicated server owners can place down a module one time, in one mission, and settings will stay persistent afterwards regardless of having a module present.

 

Update: Apr 15 @ 5:59am

• Added 3den editor module.
• Settings made inside module will override clients and host.
•  If module is present, Settings menu will not be available for clients or hosts in-game.
• 'Require Optics' option now works.
• Added 'Required Weapons' option. (Tagging will only be enabled for the specified classnames).

 

Update: Apr 14 @ 7:16pm

• added server/host/admin options (Located in the map menu).
• Only Hosts or Logged in Admins can change settings.
• created dedicated functions for some scripts.
• Setting icon duration to 0 will disable ETS.
• Paved the way for a dedicated module, will be good for mission makers who wish to make this a dependency. and override settings at a mission level (Coming next update)

Server/Host settings (located in the Map settings menu)

• Icon Duration
• Icon Delay
• Show behind cover
• Show if player
• Show if ally
• Show if enemy
• Require optics

 

Update: Apr 12 @ 5:02pm

• fixed HVT variable not getting recognized.
• fixed target colors in some cases where friendlies would be marked as enemy.

 

Update: Apr 11 @ 2:38pm

• v0.1 first release

 

[LSValmont 789]

Very useful! But how could I make it so that the tags only appear when a player has a very clear visual of the target, like looking though Binoculars or seeing the target up close. (I don't want players to tag just be seeing an unrecognizable portion of the enemy).

[EO 11225]

21 minutes ago, LSValmont said:

I don't want players to tag just be seeing an unrecognizable portion of the enemy).

 

5 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said:

• Tagging a unit will reveal their rank and side to your group. (Red=Enemy, Green=Friendly)

 

No?

 

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

29 minutes ago, LSValmont said:

Very useful! But how could I make it so that the tags only appear when a player has a very clear visual of the target, like looking though Binoculars

or seeing the target up close. (I don't want players to tag just be seeing an unrecognizable portion of the enemy).

In Hortzy's reply to this:

   Tagging an enemy requires you to have them in your sights, in plain view for a short period of time,

however it might be possible that a small portion could be seen and a tag be set, but usually only if the target has been pre cached

so to speak (player already has pre existing knowledge on the unit).

25 minutes ago, EO said:

5 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said:

• Tagging a unit will reveal their rank and side to your group. (Red=Enemy, Green=Friendly)

 

No?

Hey EO, so you were testing in coop, or what is the issue or concern you have?

Basically the tagging is relatively simple, if you tag a friendly he will show green, an enemy red, the rank of a unit that you tagged is what is seen hence the tag.

For the group, another player in your group should be able to see the tags you tagged, and vice versa.

  

AI wise haven't tested myself if the AI when they spot an enemy unit that that unit is tagged, i mean technically the tagging is done by targeting

an enemy unit, any unit that is targeted friendly or enemy for that matter. Ideally as said in the description its perfect for coop, and useful to the player in SP for his own info

on the whereabouts of an enemy, granted he only has 60seconds before the tag disappears.

[old_painless 182]

Hi Gunter, cool addon. I am a bit worried if it could be too much of a cheat for my taste, though. If I tag a unit and he then runs behind a building, will the tag show where he goes ?

 

-OP

[EO 11225]

No issues mate, I was just suggesting, through quotes, that LSValmont's point about tagging unrecognizable enemies seems to be covered by one of the features of the mod. 😉

[nikiforos 450]

Thank you! I will certainly use this mod for single player and scenarios created with editor!

[hortzy 64]

13 minutes ago, old_painless said:

Hi Gunter, cool addon. I am a bit worried if it could be too much of a cheat for my taste, though. If I tag a unit and he then runs behind a building, will the tag show where he goes ?

 

-OP

 

Hello there, I realize some for some people this might seem like a bit of a cheat, but the goal was to simulate (to a degree) the tagging system within Wildlands.

And to my knowledge, In Wildlands Targets continue to be marked even while behind cover?

With that being said..
I do plan on adding a couple customizable features!

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

28 minutes ago, old_painless said:

Hi Gunter, cool addon. I am a bit worried if it could be too much of a cheat for my taste, though. If I tag a unit and he then runs behind a building, will the tag show where he goes ?

 

-OP

Hi OP, i hear you bud, im a bit of a realism fan myself i almost dont prefer not to tag the enemy for the sake of im more into communication and association in terms of location of things.

Example i'd rather carry a compass and a pair of binocs, and a watch and determine my location based on the sun and time of day, for enemy i prefer to use the clock example,

enemy at your 1 oclock 150m ect,.

 

  i dont want to go off on a tangent here but this tagging system has its limits in terms of how long the tag lasts, on another note it has its uses for the

sake of communication, it shines the most in coop imo as Hortzy and I have used it there, its also fun, but it can work for you if you dont abuse it and not rush to win

because its easier then using your brain, its a tool nothing more.

 

    As far as cheating, imo i would consider it cheating if you are careless in how you use it, on the technical aspect GRW tagging stays on the target til its killed, and all

targets tagged can be seen no matter where they go, for ETS it is the same, you may lose the view of a tagged enemy but the tag you will see regardless, that technically is the concept behind it

to tag the enemy no matter where they go inside, or behind something that blocks your view of them.

 

     As Hortzy has mentioned maybe a customizable feature could be were if the target moves behind an object, building or what have you then the tag will not

show until they step out from behind or wherever they might be, either something on or off might be best, something like:

  Tagseen while behind objects = 0       // Tag is visible only if in clear view of target. 

Set to 0 for false which means tags will be not be seen regardless of object/building excludes vehicles.

Set to 1 for true which means tags will be seen regardless of objects/buildings a target is behind.

 

Just an idea to throw out there for that aspect.

[old_painless 182]

Yeah, those are some great suggestions, like an option to only display the tag while the unit is clearly visible. You already have the 60 seconds time-limit though, so that may be enough to avoid marginal cases such as the one I mentioned. Your addon makes great sense in a coop environment, so you should definitely cater to that crowd first.

 

Thanks,

OP

[hortzy 64]

3 hours ago, old_painless said:

Yeah, those are some great suggestions, like an option to only display the tag while the unit is clearly visible. You already have the 60 seconds time-limit though, so that may be enough to avoid marginal cases such as the one I mentioned. Your addon makes great sense in a coop environment, so you should definitely cater to that crowd first.

 

Thanks,

OP

 

Really appreciate the feedback!.

The suggestions mentioned above are definitely planned in the near future.

 

Just a brief list of a couple planned features.. 

- Add some optional Server-side/Host settings to override clients running the mod. ( This will include.. IconLifetime, IconDelay, ShowBehindCover, ShowIfPlayer, Maxdistance )

- Add some optional client-side settings. ( Mostly just visual effects, like Color Temperature for those of you that suffer from color blindness like me!)

- Add a sound for when a target is tagged. (Something subtle, nothing over the top)

 

The end goal, is to keep this as a 100% client-side mod, while still letting the server/host have control over Tag settings if they so choose.

[LSValmont 789]

4 hours ago, hortzy said:

 

Really appreciate the feedback!.

The suggestions mentioned above are definitely planned in the near future.

 

Just a brief list of a couple planned features.. 

- Add some optional Server-side/Host settings to override clients running the mod. ( This will include.. IconLifetime, IconDelay, ShowBehindCover, ShowIfPlayer, Maxdistance )

- Add some optional client-side settings. ( Mostly just visual effects, like Color Temperature for those of you that suffer from color blindness like me!)

- Add a sound for when a target is tagged. (Something subtle, nothing over the top)

 

The end goal, is to keep this as a 100% client-side mod, while still letting the server/host have control over Tag settings if they so choose.

 

That is excellent hortzy! May I ask for the team to consider adding two optional settings:

 

1) Option to require using binoculars or other vision enhancing tool to tag.

2) Option to only tag friendlies... so if you try to tag a unit and it doesn't show a green tag then you must assume is enemy and call out. (This will make target recognition worth it while also eliminating any possible unrealistic advantage for players).

 

Thank you!

[hortzy 64]

19 minutes ago, LSValmont said:

 

That is excellent hortzy! May I ask for the team to consider adding two optional settings:

 

1) Option to require using binoculars or other vision enhancing tool to tag.

2) Option to only tag friendlies... so if you try to tag a unit and it doesn't show a green tag then you must assume is enemy and call out. (This will make target recognition worth it while also eliminating any possible unrealistic advantage for players).

 

Thank you!

 

Those are great suggestions!

Once I get a dialog setup for user settings, that should not be an issue 🙂

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

Guys,

Hortzy and myself would like to thank those of you who have taken an interest in our little mod, seems the Arma3 community

really likes our work http://prntscr.com/rysvq6

Cheers!

[hortzy 64]

Hey guys, Just a little update on the mod. so here's a little list of some changes.

 

Update: 14 Apr @ 8:16pm
- added server/host/admin options (Located in the map menu).
- Only Hosts or Logged in Admins can change settings.
- created dedicated functions for some scripts.
- Setting icon duration to 0 will disable ETS.
- Paved the way for a dedicated module, will be good for mission makers who wish to make this a dependency. and override settings at a mission level (Coming next update).

[hortzy 64]

 

Also one quick last note about this update.

 

Server/Host settings (located in the Map settings menu).

• Icon Duration
• Icon Delay
• Show behind cover
• Show if player
• Show if ally
• Show if enemy
• Require optics (not yet implemented)

[hortzy 64]

Module is setup!, Options are all working. Just working out a couple minor issues.. then I will push out the update.

 

Brief explanation of some of the options.

Most are straight forward.. so ill just skip to the ones i think might need to be explained.

 

Require Optics- If set to true, the player will need Binoculars or a Optic mounted on their weapon. (Rangefinders, Laser Designators etc also count).

Required Weapons- This is an array of weapon classes which are required to tag targets.

example: ["Binoculars","Rangefinder"] (This will also override the option for 'Require Optics')

An empty array just means there is no requirement and the option is ignored.

 

Placing this module will create a dependency, So if you wish to keep the mission dependency free, just use the Server/Host Settings within the map menu.

 

 

 

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

Update

Updated the OP with some misc details, also adding a pic from the workshop for the editor module.

Added changelog to the bottom of the page to show changes since release, Cheers!

[beagle23 16]

Such a good idea. Currently there's a feature for 'dont show while behind cover' what about removing ping when the target goes behind cover? So if I mark a target and that target disappears behind cover, the mark is removed permanently until I mark again, that sort of thing. Lets people disappear and not be immediately re-spotted when they poke out from somewhere totally different.

[hortzy 64]

1 hour ago, beagle23 said:

Such a good idea. Currently there's a feature for 'dont show while behind cover' what about removing ping when the target goes behind cover? So if I mark a target and that target disappears behind cover, the mark is removed permanently until I mark again, that sort of thing. Lets people disappear and not be immediately re-spotted when they poke out from somewhere totally different.

 

That's a great suggestion!

I will add it to the "todo" list 🙂

Thank you

[hortzy 64]

Implementing true dynamic sizing of icons based on distance and FOV/Zoom.

Icons in the mod are already sized by distance, This is just Implementing FOV/Zoom features.

Big shout out to KK for his trueZoom function!

http://killzonekid.com/arma-scripting-tutorials-get-zoom/

 

Pictures Below are about 1.1km away from targets. With 4 different levels of FOV

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Standard Zoom Level (1.1km)

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

x5 Zoom (1.1km)

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

x10 Zoom (1.1km)

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

x25 Zoom (1.1km)

 

 

[Gunter Severloh 3948]

Update

Per Hortzy's post/update on the workshop:

 

Update: Apr 16 @ 6:23am

• added sounds for tagging.
• Icons now are dynamically scaled according to distance and FOV.
• optimized some scripts.
• added new scripting features.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_HVT",true,true]; //this will set a unit as an HVT.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_TEXT","SomeText",true]; //this will set the text below a units icon.

_unit setVariable ["ETS_FONT","TahomaB",true]; //this will set the font style.

• added new module options.

- Scale Modifier

- Play Sound

- Debug

- Automatic Tagging

 

NOTE: The Host/Client settings menu (Map menu) has not been updated.
Once all features are set in place, the dialog will get its final upgrade.

Hidden feature.
-Dedicated server owners can place down a module one time, in one mission, and settings will stay persistent afterwards regardless of having a module present.

[hortzy 64]

Update: 17 Apr @ 3:56am

• Host/Admin dialog has been updated to reflect settings inside module.
• Additional bug fixes.

Note: The mod is nearing its final release. Updates will be less frequent

 

[LSValmont 789]

6 hours ago, hortzy said:

Update: 17 Apr @ 3:56am

• Host/Admin dialog has been updated to reflect settings inside module.
• Additional bug fixes.

Note: The mod is nearing its final release. Updates will be less frequent

 

Thank you @hortzy, yes it is nearly perfect and there is no need to expand this so much that it becomes a beast of burden, so far it runs like a charm and does the job. 

 

I guess only mayor Arma 3 patches/changes would require updates in the future.

[hortzy 64]

12 minutes ago, LSValmont said:

 

Thank you @hortzy, yes it is nearly perfect and there is no need to expand this so much that it becomes a beast of burden, so far it runs like a charm and does the job. 

 

I guess only mayor Arma 3 patches/changes would require updates in the future.

 

@LSValmont Thanks!

I wanted to add a nice level of customization so it could used in multiple game types.

One thing I do plan on updating is the 'Show behind cover' feature.

Currently its working ok.. it detects if objects are in the way, but its not recognizing terrain features. So a hill will not effect the status of an icon.

Once I get that fixed.. I will be pretty happy with how this turned out 🙂