Private Military Contractors Beta 1.0 Release

[ardvarkdb 104]

Hey everyone,

This addon contains 17 models of Private Military Contractors from 7 different countries. These units are retextures of Jonny's ACU SF v.1.0, with changes made to the models, textures, and config. Each country has a unique look (shirts, pants, weapons) and new wound textures. This addon is standalone from Jonny's ACU SF units, and can be used in conjunction with them without any problems (as far as I could tell).

Here are some pics of the units:

To download the units click here (~12.5 MB):

http://rapidshare.com/files/18269815/ardvarkdb_PMC.rar.html

New OFP.info mirror

ftp://www.ofpr.info/ofpd/unofaddons2/ardvarkdb_PMC.rar

You also need the following addons for these units to work:

Operation Flashpoint Resistance (patched to v1.96).

JAM3 (available from http://www.ofpec.com/addons/JAM.php )

SJB Weapons Pack v1.1 ( http://ofpc.de/files/addons/SJB_WeaponsPack_v1.1.cab )

Facestex2 ( ftp://ofpr.info/ofpd/unofaddons2/facestex2_9june2006.rar )

I'd appreciate any mirrors people could put up, since a lot of people don't like rapidshare.

I have only tested these units by myself, so I don't know if multiplayer works, but it should. Comments / feedback are welcome.

Enjoy,

Ardvarkdb

**** Also note that these units are in no way related with the PMC group. Thanks. ****

[Johannes 10]

Looks really good. You did a really good job on those textures.

Finally some good lockin pmc´s to play with.

[ALYGATOR 0]

French camo isn t very discrete

Great Addon!

Flashpoint isn t dead

[Blackbuck 9]

Glad to see someone is still doing PMC stuff

[ardvarkdb 104]

Thanks!

I've been retexturing units for quite some time, but either didn't like them or couldn't get them to work as standalone units (I had made PMC's using BMI's International Blackops but couldn't get them to work as standalones).

I do realize the French contractors are a little odd, they were basically the odd men out when it came down to mixing flags with shirts. I really wanted to do a flannel shirt (not sure why) and the French got stuck with it.

There is a new mirror up too (check first post) thanks to Ofp.info!

[Spinal Tap 84 0]

Excellent, I was waiting for a true PMC addon for some time.  Thank you very much.  I haven't tested them yet, but they look awesome.  Gonna retire the UCS mercs for zombie missions only.

[Snake Man 401]

Good PMC stuff.

[Spinal Tap 84 0]

I won't be able too test these guys out until tomorrow, but once I do I'll post some feedback.

[joelz 0]

Great work. I've been waiting for units like these for awhile! A+++

[Kirby 2]

I really hate facestex... No offence :P

PS. PMC Tactical has nothing to do with PMC's, In fact most of their members don't even know what a PMC is, every time I've said "PMC" they all go "Why are you talking about our clan so mutch, you giving us free advertising or something?!"

If they do then it seriously doesn't show...

Where did they get their name from?

[Spinal Tap 84 0]

Ok I got to test the units today, and I was impressed.  I could not find any bugs whatsoever.  There were some minor issues with the shirts overlapping the tactical vest but that happened with the afghan-style Jonny SF as well, and I think it has to do with the animations that I use (Sanctuary's GRAA Mod v2.0...love it).  Plus it is not a big deal at all.  

I was not too fond of the shirt that the US contractors wear along with the flannel shirt of the French contractors.  I also think that it would be a better idea to mix and match shirts and pants for each country.  If you had a squad of contractors from one country, instead of a mix of all of the countries, the squad looks a very odd.

I am no authority on the subject of PMC's but the weapon selection seems realistic for the most part and also adds allot of variety.  It is not often that units come equipped with SJB's P90 or LR 300 by default.  I would however, make each country's contingent of contractors have a rifleman, a machine gunner, a semi-auto sniper, and a medic with a submachine gun.  I am not sure of how difficult that would be so it’s just a suggestion because these units are pretty much ready to drop the "beta" from their name.

I really hate facestex... No offence :P

As far as facestex goes...I am not the biggest fan either. It seems though that all the best add-ons nowadays use it, so I have learned to live with it.  I mean you could change the heads and stuff using O2, but I never even installed O2 and know nothing about modeling.  Since these units are based off of Jonny's ACU SF, I have no problem with these units using the faces either.

[Snake Man 401]

You guys are joking or what huh?

The POINT here is that you/whoever releases LONG-NAME something and then this long name is shortened into name of our organization which is "PMC". Its not a shortcut of anything, the name is just... PMC.

If I do addon lets say basic armored shell and then I come here and post topic "NEW BAS ADDON!", how would that look?

Anyone get the picture here?

PMC was born 1984, we did alot of stuff before Bohemia Interactive Studios did even start to work on the poseidon engine which became to OFP then. PMC has been with OFP scene since the demo was released, we were one of the first to release patcher to the demo which let you have new guns and stuff. PMC is the most active campaign creator team, in fact PMC still holds the position of creating Operation Flashpoint largest campaign. PMC is behind WrpTool island creator utility which is the most used in the OFP wrp scene. PMC is behind Vietnam: The Experience (VTE) modification. PMC created the first ever ArmA campaign. PMC has done alot of stuff outside OFP scene like being the one and only Falcon 4.0 Theater developer on the scene. Enough of merits already?

I really hope someone get the HINT at this point.

Stop spamming the name PMC with these private military contractors, just call them what ever you wish but its just lazyness if you make posts into forum/news sites with character strings of our name.

I mean one good example is the Crappy Zombies Mod which called itself as "CZM" when it was initially released, I kindly pointed out about already existing mod called Conflict Zone Mindanao (CZM) and the author of the zombie mod was smart enough to see this and now its called Zmod.

Take a look at this topic, it says "Private Military Contractors Beta 1.0 Release" which PMC has absolutely no problem about, its perfect and nice looking topic... however then in the bottom info part it says "new PMC units", hey, PMC did not release any new units...

I mean this is a small issue, however the issue is part of the guys who splatter our name without any need to do so.

Hopefully that clears it up for everyone.

PMC since 1984

http://tactical.nekromantix.com

[ardvarkdb 104]

@Snakeman - It's an acronym, there are lots of them out there in the world, and a lot of them are duplicated (for example: ISAP is used for International Society of Anti-Infective Pharmacology, Integrated Substance Abuse Program, International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, International School for Analytical Psychology, and so on. I used this as an example because I have worked with one of the groups mentioned above.) Nowhere in the readme or in the first post does it say anything about your group, PMC, which happens to share the same three letters used in the acronym for Private Military Contractors, so I don't think people will confuse these units with anything related to your group. If any confusion is brought about by the main topic sub heading it should be cleared up once people read the thread. I would appreciate it if we could keep this topic "on topic" from now on. Thank you.

@Spinal Tap - I'm not a huge fan of the US camo and the French shirt becomes less appealing each time I see it. I'm sure they will be changed soon. In my first run I made about 30 different shirt textures, with different patterns and colors. I ended up just going with the flat colors for most of the units, but when I get some more free time I'll be playing around with the other textures I've got and seeing if I can't come up with some better combos for the units. I also have some different pant textures (a darker tan, a brown, a corduroy type pant, and so forth) that I'm playing around with, to make the units a little more distinctive from one another. I'm also playing around with the boot colors. Adding more units (machine gunners and such) for each country is not a big deal, just some simple config additions, which I am working on. I just wanted to get something out and not have it sitting on my computer forever.

As for all the units from a country wearing the same clothing, it bothers me too, but the flags are tied to the models. There are seven models, hence seven countries. I could eliminate a few countries and add different clothes for other countries, but I don't think it's that necessary. Most contractor teams are fairly mixed, and it's just a little flag and label :-) I had thought about adding more variety for the countries, but to do so I would have had to add duplicate models, and I was worried about the file size getting too big. I may fool around with it and see what happens, or if you are really bent on having one or two countries, I could whip together a special version of this addon fairly quickly and just change the flags and the labels for ya, if you were going to make a mission or something. Wouldn't take long at all. Thanks for the feedback though. I appreciate it. Glad you enjoy the units.

[Spinal Tap 84 0]

Oh, I should have figured that out on my own (that the flag is tied to the model).  No need to reduce the countries because like you said there is a wide variety of personnel these organizations.  That little flag adds a lot of color to the units, and I wouldn't want to ruin that.  Making duplicate models like you mentioned would work, but I agree with your concern about making the file size too big.  It is probably best to keep things simple.  Maybe add another country or two (maybe Germany and Poland) so there is some more variety with only adding one or two new models.  Good news on the extra units for each country too.

Thanks for the great units and listening to my suggestions.  I just wanted to add that my suggestions are only that.  Ultimately the content creator knows what is best, and I wouldn't want to interfere with any ambitions you had for your addons.  I just like throwing ideas out there for consideration.

EDIT: If anyone is interested in a good vehicle to use with these units other than a HMMWV, I would recommend MERCS' Toyota Hilux Special.

http://ofp.gamepark.cz/index.php?showthis=9829

It gives you that SUV feel since there are no great SUV's around.  It has room for 6 guys, handels well off-road, and has decent armor.

[joelz 0]

You might have already seen all of these, but here's some pictures of American contractors over in Iraq.

http://media.militaryphotos.net/photos/Close_Protection

If you can I'd like to see some us guys with 511 tactical vests etc...Again great work though thanks a ton for the good units!

[BlackScorpion 0]

Sniper Skull... "PMC" in Wikipedia.

And, to the point. Haven't tested these yet, but they look cool, and surely will be useful for Iraq and general VIP missions. Kinda like few units I've been making for personal use, too... might use these in conjunction with them, then.

[Kirby 2]

Yes, Sniper, whos the people who need to look at other acronyms first before shouting at people over using "Their Name"

And I just had an idea... Why not make the units with NO FLAGS and make them SETTABLE as textures through that init command.... I can't remember it, Ill find it in a sec and tell you.

[ardvarkdb 104]

I thought about using the set texture in the command line feature but I didn't know how it worked, and didn't want to get into something that would get me more frustrated than I already was (after making them using BMI's blackops and then not being able to get them to work), which would cause me to stop working on them all together. If you find the info I'd be glad to change it so they work that way.

[Kirby 2]

I'll try and find you the info, as I'd rather have it settable than already dead set (I think most people would) or even no flag at all (Look at some pics of PMC's, most don't wear flags, but it is a nice touch)

Will edit or reply when I find info.

[MAA3057 0]

I really hate facestex... No offence :P

PS. PMC Tactical has nothing to do with PMC's, In fact most of their members don't even know what a PMC is, every time I've said "PMC" they all go "Why are you talking about our clan so mutch, you giving us free advertising or something?!"

If they do then it seriously doesn't show...

Where did they get their name from?

Do I smell indirect bragging/advertising?

[Kirby 2]

^ I don't get it *Scratches head* ^

[Kirby 2]

Sorry for posting right after anouther but I just have to bump this so Ardvarkdb can see it...

Wirtten By Fab.

Quote[/b] ]a few years back i made a tutorial for it

It should be in this rar from ofpec : http://www.ofpec.com/OFPResources/tutorials/FABsTuts.zip

if that doesnt work, there's always the original there (but i still recommand ofpec's version since they corrected some bad english here and there) :

Hidden selections (u need them to get Setobjecttexture to work) :

http://fab.ofp.free.fr/Tutorials/Hidden_Selections.htm

and then setobjecttexture :

http://fab.ofp.free.fr/Tutorials/SetObjectTexture.htm

With that you should be able to implement it, but since i wrote this tut back in 2003/4 i must warn you some of the info in there is probably outdated...

good luck,

Fab

[ardvarkdb 104]

Thanks for the info Blazin, I'll look into it.

[-dandan- 0]

Hey, great work on these ardvarkdb, but I can't seem to get them to work, I get an error message saying "no entry model.special" or something along those lines, I'm sure I've installed all the .pbos correctly... Does this mean I need to install Jonny's ACU SF v.1.0 even though you state it's a standalone?

I'm confused...

[miles teg 1]

Are you using JAM3? If not, then thats probably the problem.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>