Software Needed

[wormbyte 0]

In May of this I am hosting one of the largest and most intense airsoft events ever held in the UK.  It will be held at the rolls royce of FIBUA sites, Copehill Down in the Salisbury Plani training area.  It is the biggest of its kind and will have 400 airsoft players fighting it out of 24 hours of contant non-stop play.

Here is an image of Copehill Down.

http://www.townassault.com/myimages/copehill_west.jpg

If you are wondering, airosoft is very much like paintball but we use replica weapons instead and fire 6mm plastic balls.  Its more of a military re-enactment then a sport.

Here is an image of some of the guys from one team preparing to attack a building.

http://www.townassault.com/gallery....017.jpg

Anyway.  Last year I wrote a program that each team commander used in their HQ which I called BATCOM.

Here is an image of it projected on the wall in one of the HQ's.

http://www.townassault.com/images/batcom.jpg

Well this year I wanted to create version 2 of BATCOM.  But I am running out of time because the event on May 20/21 of this year.

So I am calling on all you modders and coders and scripters.  Is there anything that could used from Operation Flashpoint to create BATCOM?  Is there anyone that could take up the challenge?

I need some software that shows a map of the site, 3D would be great but 2D would work just as well.  It should allow the commander to plot, move and remove icons representing friendly as well as enemy units.  The symbols would need to contain current unit strength, grid reference and callsign.  There would be different symbols for section size units, snipers and vehicles.

There would need to be a method of recording current casualty rates for friendly and the estimated rates of the enemy.  The number of POWs would need to be tracked and we would need to show the current time on the screen.

Ideally the buildings should be shaded either red or blue or neutral to indicate the current occupier.

it would be great if the units had some kind of circle around them that showed their weapon range (which is normally around 40 metres but snipers can have a range of about 75 metres).

So is this possible using OFP?  Is there anyone capable of doing it?  I would take my hat off to you if you said yes.

But I am desperate.  Any takers.

BTW For more information no Town Assault have a look at the website... http://www.townassault.com

[j w 0]

If you are wondering, airosoft is very much like paintball but we use replica weapons instead and fire 6mm plastic balls.  Its more of a military re-enactment then a sport.

You know, there are paintball-guns that look like the real deal;

Linky (that means: Click me!

[Edge 2]

First of all, Wormbyte, if I had time, you'd have another player registered. The Copehill Down area is airsofters' MOUT dream, I hope it will be successful event!

I assume you might benefit rather from some GIS tool. There are some free geoinformatic systems available, but if you have an opportunity, go "pro" and find some guy who knows how to handle ArcView or ArcGIS and has a copy. ArcGIS has even sets of symbology used by US and NATO military, which would certainly add some flavour.

I made some preparations using GIS for some of our own airsoft events, better to PM me, we can share experience.

JW, I think that RIS, ironsights and M4-look-a-like won't change minds of paintballers to noble attitude of airsofters.

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

If you are wondering, airosoft is very much like paintball but we use replica weapons instead and fire 6mm plastic balls. Its more of a military re-enactment then a sport.

You know, there are paintball-guns that look like the real deal;

Linky (that means: Click me!

lol, what in the world is that?

[ebns72 0]

Okay, I know this isn't on topic of the thread but...

I am currently a paintball player and I was wondering about airsoft guns.

Is it possible to find an airsoft gun on par with the RANGE and accuracy of a decent paintball gun, have it be semi-automatic/automatic, for under $200 that looks decently like a real gun?

My biggest gripes with airsoft is their unrealism...they look like real guns, but most of the ones my friends have you have to cock and the ones you that are semi-auto seem to be either inaccurant without range or expensive. They also have 0 recoil (although some like this, this makes it feel cheap and fake to me). A lot of them may be more accurante but their trajectory just drops after a relatively short distance, where a skilled paintball player with a decent $200 gun land rounds in a general area from very far away.

[j w 0]

Sounds like you need a real gun

[Placebo 28]

If you search there is an airsoft thread which can be used for general airsoft/paintball discussions.

Please use this thread solely for helping the guy out with his project or for discussing the event he's organising.

[ozanzac 0]

Edge is right, in that a professional mapping program would better suit your needs, however, to create an electronic map, alot of data is required. X and Y co-ordinates a bare minimum, with Z for 3D rendering..... Basically it would mean undertaking a full survey of the area.

Another problem, would be finding software that can do all the wizz bang real-time updating that you say you'd like.... Without fancy tracking devices and what not, what you're asking for would be a data input nightmare!

[Edge 2]

In big airsoft events, if the codenames and radio communication are set properly, you can use just map and pins, it works. GIS would be just better visualization of this, but it would have to be carefully designed. Depends on what exactly is the purpose of such system.

Regarding the data, in my country (Czech Rep.) you can buy them freely, as I did in case of our favourite spots. Another way is simply scanning paper map and georeferencing it (getting it into correct coordinates), which is quite easy. What I see as a problem is registration of movement, data flow and visualization means used in the system.

Wormbyte, can you post some more details on what do you expect from your BATCOM system?

[wormbyte 0]

Thank you to everyone for their input so far.

I was envisioning a 2d system that could allow the commander to zoom in and out and pan.

There is around 100 buildings on the site and this would be depicted as rectangles.

I agree that the callsigns would not change. But the strength, grid reference and other information about the unit would change and would need to be manually updated.

I also need to add, move and remove these unit icons from the map.

I would like a switch that actives a circle under each unit that would show their effective weapon range, which in airsoft would be about 40m for rifleman and support weapons and out to 75m for snipers.

Different unit icons for different units. Probably just 3, infantry section, sniper and vehicle.

I would like also to be able to set which buildings are occupied by friendly forces and which are by enemy (blue building for friendly and red for enemy).

I would like to have a marker on the map that can be added, moved and removed that indicates the position of registered artillery fire points.

I need a running count of casualties on both side as well as POWs. These would be increment through a button on the interface or maybe an input box, to enter mass casualties.

I want the map to be in colour.

I want a current time on the interface as well.

That basically sums it up.

Other tha I need the software to save the positions once every minute or so in case of a system crash.

Although GIS sounds very interesting, I don't think I need that level of accuracy. The whole area is no more than 700m x 700m.

[wormbyte 0]

Let me re-phrase that. The largest of its kind in the UK.

Thank you for your wishes of good luck.

Now can I ask people to please stick to the purpose of the thread.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Could you not just create Overhead Projector slides of the topographic maps of the area, then project the buildings on them (maybe combine a topographic map with a building layout map), then simply use the OHP slides and mark on them with felt tips.

I know its very simple, but I reckon it will be good enough?

[Placebo 28]

If you search there is an airsoft thread which can be used for general airsoft/paintball discussions.

Please use this thread solely for helping the guy out with his project or for discussing the event he's organising.

Dynamite_cow's post deleted.

[wormbyte 0]

Ex-RoNiN - Your suggestion would of course work but the event is supposed to be set in 2015 and I wanted something a bit more flashy and computerised.

The version 1 of the software had never been seen or tried in the UK airsoft scene and it had such a positive result on the game. So that is why this year I want to push it even further.

[Tigershark_BAS 0]

Wormbyte,

What was the original coded in?

Any details on the technology behind it? Would you release your source code for others to modify it in a Open Source Software kind of model.

Do you have a design document for the original?

Can you post a download of the original so we can see it's functionality?

[wormbyte 0]

The original was coded in Flash and ran though a browser.

I had no design document as it was only me working on it.

I an publish it to the net so you can see it in action and I will try and do this today.

[Daddl 10]

What I see as a problem with using a real gis would be the price of the software licences required to do this. Of course there's always GRASS (but that really takes time and knowledge to get into) and some very lightweight but free wannabe GIS packages. A proper GIS is one thing in the first place: expensive, and costs go up quickly in proportion it's capabilities - way too expensive for such a one time event. And data don't come free either (nor does the knowledge to handle them and the gis properly).

If all that's needed is a map with the capability to zoom in, then I'd rather go for a simple image that people can put on their pda or with the goood old pen&paper stuff. Reliable and simple.

[Tigershark_BAS 0]

worm..any update on this?

[wormbyte 0]

Yes...sorry...

http://www.townassault.com/command

[Tigershark_BAS 0]

OK wormbyte.

Couple of questions. Is this the final map in your Flash program?

If not, can you provide me the proper map?

Also...what do the "C" and "R" buttons do exactly. Not sure I understand their function.

[wormbyte 0]

That is the map for last years event.

I shall post the map for this years event tonight when I get home.

[wormbyte 0]

Here is the map for this years event.

The 2006 Map

[Placebo 28]

Please don't hotlink images greater than 100kb

[wormbyte 0]

Sorry, my mistake. I shall turn it into a link.

[Tigershark_BAS 0]

Thanks worm.....and the C and R buttons?