UN mod/pack for ArmA?

[Llauma 0]

I just had an idea which I haven't given much thought yet.

The basic idea is to create a mod/pack with international troops which are being sent to Sahrani when the war breaks out. This mod might include many different nationalities such as German, French, Canadian, Swedish etc.

Why would this be needed? First of all it would be nice to have a pack which can be released fairly close to the release date of ArmA. Making all these different units will take time but we have lots of independent addon studios who are making great units but none of them are probably capable or willing to release a full mod/pack close to the release date. So instead they'll contribute with what they have done so far. This would help addon makers to get their addons promoted, servers would get a real mod they can use instead of everyone using hundreds of different addons and mission makers would know what to work with. A good example of what a real mod can do is the FDF mod. There are over 500 missions for it, of which the vast majority only uses the units the FDF mod offers. This makes life simple for both the players and the mission makers.

So this mod would be a sort of collaboration between different addon studios but it won't be just a big pack of addons. The storyline with the UN involvement on Sahrani gives it a purpose.

There are a few key things though.. A 'mod' needs a good organization, the leader being the most crucial part. I'm not talking about a guy who makes all the decisions but one who makes sure that the decisions are being made. At the top of the pyramid there's a production team which unites the addons. It would mainly consist of members of the addon studios, at least in the deciding positions. I suppose this might turn ugly with the wrong guys in the team but I was more thinking of people who are prepared to work in a professional environment. I just want to point out that this 'production team' wouldn't hand out orders about which models everyone has to make. It merely unites the work that has been done and makes sure it follows a certain standard. Though if the addon studios are closely involved in this it's in their own best interest to make sure that the right addons are being made.

As I said, I just thought of it so it might be a bad idea or flawed but please give me your opinion and ideas about it. If you liked it please help evolving it.

Are you part of any mod/addon studio? What are you're thoughts about this?

I believe that if it's done professionally the thing might turn out great for all parties.

//Llauma

PS. No, I'm not seeing myself as the leader of this. I would prefer someone much more qualified. Infact I don't think I'll take any part of it at all. It's just an idea which hopefully qualified people will take further.

[Abs_01 0]

I think it's a great idea, and I'd be willing to contribute what Operation Northstar has. I'm assuming that all these vehicles and troops would be in UN colours?

Abs

[j w 0]

Swedish Forces Pack 4 contains UN infantry (blue-helmets), but don't know really all vehicles the swedish forces use when on UN-missions, and also not sure if they're white with UN on the side.

But, there are swedish stuff to add into this, wich would be pretty cool (atleast for me )

[Llauma 0]

I'm not necessarly talking about white vehicles... It could be more like a NATO lead multinational force we saw in former Yugoslavia. So all you need to do is to add stickers to the vehicles and badges to the soldiers. This would be a very likely and realistic scenario in the Sahrani situation. Too bad SFOR is taken but we could perhaps call it PFOR (Paraiso, Peace, Protection -Force)?

Of course blue helmets and white vehicles would add more diversity and possibilities to it, especially if you're making a campaign. This would cover the whole spectrum of the conflict. From the beginning when tension is starting to build up, to when the war breaks out and finally to forces trying to secure the peace. The collaborating teams simply presents what they have and the production team adds it if it follows the standards of the pack. Each country/studio would only have to contribute with a few vehicles and infantry types. Of course the pack can be patched when there are a fair number of new units ready to be added. Anyway I want to avoid a situation where people have to wait several years for a mod/pack to be released while being flooded with hundreds of stand-alone addons.

The other thing with this project is for the addon studios to share their knowledge about modern addon making which includes the use of different real time lighting methods. The key is to get a pack of quality units which uses the possibilities ArmA will offer.

[Sniperwolf572 756]

Sure, it's awesome idea, tough I wouldn't concentrate on infantry until ArmA is out, animations and all the detail required for it, and for starters, when it's out, you've got a base model straight from the BIS.

Vehicles and weapons can ignore this since selections and config would be easily modified for ArmA.

[Heatseeker 0]

One problems would remain though, diferent mod teams = inconsistent looking mod, and im not saying some guys make great looking stuff and others make bad stuff. What i mean is like how it is in OPF currently, you put soldier models from A mod and B mod together and they look like they came from 2 diferent games wich kind of sucks .

[CanadianTerror 0]

you put soldiers from country A and B together and they look like they came from 2 diferent countries.

Same with the models...sounds ok to me.

No one has seen anything, how can you critisize something like this so quickly?

[Heatseeker 0]

you put soldiers from country A and B together and they look like they came from 2 diferent countries.

Same with the models...sounds ok to me.

No one has seen anything, how can you critisize something like this so quickly?

Im not criticising, just posting how it is with OPF currently. I was refering to the fact that diferent artists use diferent "techniques" and styles that, when placed together may give a inconsistent look to the game. Goes for soldiers, weapons, vehicles...

For example the RHS infantry and Laser US addons blend perfectly because they were done (mostly) by the same artist. Now if you place a RHS russian soldier next to a Hyk US soldier it will look weird. Total replacement mods look bad because of this imo...

I cant explain it any better than this .

[cozza 16]

Pacfic Island with Aussie and NZ UN soldiers would be perfect for Arma. East Timor anyone?

[Llauma 0]

Yes, the infantry models will lead to a smaller delay, though you can start preparing for them by working on textures and such. An UV map of the ArmA infantry model would be very useful. Anyone here with the right connections?

The vehicles can be ready to be released pretty much right away. Though you should begin making some normal, spec. and diffuse maps for them if you want them to look as good as the game allows them to. Merely porting a OFP vehicle to ArmA isn't that good.

@Heatseeker

Yes that might be a slight problem but that's where the production team comes in. It's in all of the involved parties best interest to have a consistent pack. The production team assures that the units included follows some standard. If a unit is simply too bad then it won't be included. If someone makes a model which is twice the poly and resolution of the other units it wont be included. This is what professionalism is about. You get some guidelines and you stick to them. Though the main guideline is the game. I guess people have to show that they can be professional.

Don't forget that you're talking about models which had no guidelines when they were made. Even without strict guidelines we'll have some some level of filtering to keep the worst cases out. In OFP some textures are based on photos with strong shadows and highlights (OFrP) while others uses photoshopped textures(BW). In arma photos wont be as common as you don't want textured shadows and highlights. These will be generated in real time by the game engine. Merely this will give the units a much more consistent look.

Also the new units will all be most likely based on the new ArmA model so they wont differ that much.

[mr reality 0]

With hugely anticipated release of ArmAs this is a superb idea. Having a multi-national force is what OFP needed instead of concentrating on one country against another. The addition of a task force patch and a blue retextured helmet by today standards of modding can't be that difficult (as said by someone who has no f***ing idea   ).

One problem i see is the precious time which it takes to create the mods own addons will be bitten into by this. I would think it would be better to have a dedicated retexturer who could borrow (with permission) said addons from the various mod teams to work on his/her own. Another problem would be that some addon teams are (and rightly so) protective of there hard work and wouldn't like to see a "teaser pack" released before there own main release.

I can't speak on behalf of the PUKF guys but i know they have made some addons which would fit perfectly (i know it's not just about white vehicles and blue helmets but there so iconic ).

[Llauma 0]

If some addon maker is protective of his addons he simply won't be added. I have no problems leaving out the germans, brits or the french etc.. It would be a shame though.

The idea is not to borrow addons from others but for them to be part of the collaboration. I don't want someone who makes the textures white and attaches a UN sticker to them to get the credits for the mod. The theme of the mod will be international collaboration as well as the work with the mod.

Unless the addon studio is making a total conversion I can't see a reason why they wouldn't want to be part of a mod/pack if it keeps a high level of standard, and which would most likely be quite popular due to it's diversity. The truth is that most single addons are only being played with in the editor unless they are included in a larger mod/pack. Making a large pack takes time and I'm quite sure that within a year of the release of ArmA the majority of the players have already moved on to other games.

Perhaps they can try with offering a couple of models and see how the people will react to a mod/pack like this. There's really not much to lose.

There's one problem though.. We don't really know how addons are being handled in ArmA. Still, having a collaboration between addons makers to ensure a certain level of standard is good for everyone.

[Shinkansen 0]

Hi, without being offending, but

There is no real idea when the game will be released.

There is no clear list what kind of addons will be released with the game, there will be some US and russian addons of course.

Whenever the game will be released, the release date will be too early and a lot of patches will be needed.

There is no idea what kind of new lod classes will be introduced, this might lead to a complete reorganisation of modells. (and it turned out quite often that it is easier to start from the scratch again than importing old modells from other older games)

The previews showing larger maps, more units, more effects, better rendering engine, so a new PC might be necessary to play this game on full quality scale otherwise the quality will more or less look like OFP.

Who will be the enemy of an UN pack? In my opinion it will make much more sence / fun to have two more or less balanced enemies like BAS TONAL for example first, then for missions some special forces / un packs can be integrated.

UN troops have more or less light equipment and "should" have some rules of engagement, so the total number of missions for an UN pack (and again the question who will be the enemy) is from the start very limited to my opinion.

So the idea as such is good, but will make sence after version/patch 1.5

[Llauma 0]

ArmA is basically like OFP. BIS is working hard to make it as easy as possible to convert OFP addons to ArmA so there's no point in being scared by what BIS might come up with. Secondly, all of these independent studios are already working on units on their own, this pack merely unites them in a larger pack with more useful content than what they would manage to come up with on their own.

I didn't really follow the logic behind the patch issue so please enlighten me.

The game will bring us two balanced enemies. Sure the UN is normally lightly equiped but a UN/NATO force can be as heavy as the armies of the involved countries. I'm sure that there are situations where one can imagine a UN/NATO being in a full scale war. It's all up to the mission maker.

The idea is to create a pack which offers the mission makers a possibility to create realistic and likely missions for a Sahrani conflict. International involvement including numerous countries is much more believable than USA saving the day on their own. I'm not thinking of PVP missions like CTF and such where every units has to have it's counterpart on the opposite side. I'm more picturing large scale scenarios with AI involvement where the balance is done by adjusting the number of units on each side.

[raedor 8]

There is no clear list what kind of addons will be released with the game, there will be some US and russian addons of course.

There was a list of vehicles in a german magazine months ago.

[Sepe 1]

Yep, sounds great, as long as you make 'em realistic in terms of uniforms, gear, weapons etc. I remember the ancient UN Pack released for CWC, it did have the right atmosphere with blue helmets 'n berets, white vehicles etc. but many camouflage patterns were out of place. For example the Finnish ones in there, their camouflage looked more like a bad attempt to create the swedish M/90 camo. Plus that their officers had fieldcaps, not berets, which would be much more realistic.

But from what I read it seems like you're going to use the stuff made by mod teams etc. already, so fine. FDF has great FRDF (Finnish Rapid Deployment Force) units in it, though only the desert ones have blue berets.

[CanadianTerror 0]

Just looking at people's comments...

A)I would think that teams would want to contribute "new work" not old units from 2 years ago. Just because someone made a unit before, doesnt mean thats what would go in.

B) Dont complain and critisize the idea of the mod before it takes shape...even if you dont like units being different. Give it a chance.