RTS-4 ArmA Released

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

As with anything, this feature can be abused. I implemented it this way to give a team a fighting chance against an enemy that was overwhelming them with aircraft. I don't mind players or AI being rearmed anywhere on the map. As you know, AI are notoriously slow to rearm if you have to tell them to take something one item at a time.

The reason I didn't modify it to prevent rearming from anywhere is that it can get complicated trying to manage 30+ soldiers when you have to micro-manage every little thing.

As it is, AI with AA rockets are great at shooting anything but planes.

What I really have an issue with is how effective these AA rockets are against tanks up to 3km away.

So, what I'll probably do, and I know some people will scream about it--but I'm going to make land vehicles immune to AA rockets. So if someone fires an AA rocket at anything but aircraft, it'll be re-directed.

What do you think about that?

Since AI are only moderately effective against aircraft, I'm not going to add countermeasures just yet.

Another change that might work, is I'm thinking of charging credits each time a player re-arms, and it'll cost for each AI he rearms as well. So if you rearm 20 AI, then it's that cost x 20. If the economy is set to resource capacity only, i.e. no credits, then it'll be free. I don't want to get into charging for each individual weapon. My goal is to allow players to plan their next engagement and fight without having to micro-manage every single magazine clip and weapon for their AI.

In general, how are the changes I made working for version 1.11b? Have you all been playing with the credits option much? And how do you like Victory point games?

Also, has the chopper-suicide prevention been working? I'd like to know if that's effective or not.

I'll try to have another version ready soon.

[ModaFlanker 0]

What I really have an issue with is how effective these AA rockets are against tanks up to 3km away.

So, what I'll probably do, and I know some people will scream about it--but I'm going to make land vehicles immune to AA rockets. So if someone fires an AA rocket at anything but aircraft, it'll be re-directed.

What do you think about that?

I'm all for it!!!

Helicopters with their antitank rockets are the bane of anyone taking the time to build up a large tank force, so I'm all for that manual AA guy (or using AI AA and rearming them at a distance) to counter any helicopters from getting too close. It balances the helicopter pilot's ability to target tanks from 3000m with the AA guy's ability to lay traps in between.

Conversely I am NOT for that AA guy taking out tanks from afar like that. Tanks have to take the time to travel on ground and they have to visually sight the enemy to have any effect. So I am in TOTAL AGREEMENT with your preventing the AA guys from damaging ground vehicles. This would also prevent them from killing or damaging trucks I hope?

I don't mind if we are unable to eliminate their ability to use their AA lockon to find where enemy vehicles are... its that ability to kill from afar like that that needed to go.

Anyone else test the anti-suicide helicopter feature? This is where someone tries to crash a forward base or resource building with a mh-6 for example in a suicide attack, thus blowing it up. I only tried this once, and I either sucked badly or the teleport did smack me into the ground just meters away in front of it, leaving it unharmed. Other attempts with close driveby's showed me clearly the "BOUNCE" as I was teleported a short distance away that looked like lag (but which I understood to be the anti-suicide feature).

P.S. Karrillion, thanks for explaining the ammo menu. I did manually try to load up ammo for each soldier and it definitely was a micromanage-from-hell task that wasted more time than necessary. In light of that I agree that the way it is right now with the ammo menu and arming from afar does make sense.

In a credit game, is there anything that stops someone from spending way more credits than would be healthy for the team? That would be my concern about credit games... there should be incentives to not overspend a teams credits to zero.

[colligpip 0]

I would just like to quickly say that I really enjoy the victory point games especially the one with the vic point in corzol really gives the battle some objective and sense of doing somthing. I also like the ammo menu the way it is and agree that AA rockets should not harm tanks - although i see more micromanaging for me as i quickly swap from AA to AT:-)

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

ModaFlanker - the credits are per teammate, not a team as a whole. So when you spend your credits, it doesn't impact anyone else directly, except that you might not be able to assist them later if you can't afford something.

At some point I'll add in a feature so players can give credits to teammates.

About the AA missiles and land vehicles, i.e. anything that can't fly--I'll probably make it so if someone fires an AA from within 200 meters or so, it'll still damage it. At least that way the vehicle has a fighting chance. But if it's over that, then it'll redirect the missile.

[BLSmith2112 0]

It's odd that everyone likes it in the forum, but everyday when I go into an RTS... it's not victory point, or credits.. It's annihilate and free resources all the way. I'd prefer annihilate if there were defenses similar to old school RTS3 and players could attack each others heavily defended bases from the start.. but as it is, victory point + resource credits is the way to go for me - At least I know where the battle is... or at least... should be

On another thought...

*Ah... someday, once again... perhaps... once I get $200,000 again that is.*

[lightzout 0]

Well I wish I wasn't so late to the party but after seeing your servers name in the OFPWatch browser for years but never actually joining I finally stumbled in to see what RTS4 was all about. I won't mince words here. I love this mod. Obviously its a work in progress but this mod is far and away the most fun I have had playing in a "join in progress ongoing strategic campaign type game thing" which is something I wanted more than anything else with ArmA's improved multiplayer. I just built a new rig to play arma so I have some learning to do to catch up to the veteran players. I will add your TS server and hopefully get to know some of the regulars. Cheers!

-LZ

PS Others have mentioned it but I would like to add my wish of buildable/deployable defensive structures and fortifications to the long list of requests you get. I also have to mention how sweet the MCU looks not sure if its from SP campaign or not.

[robert(uk) 0]

Wow, RTS4 is indeed really cool. I do have one request though. I like spectating in these sort of games, and right now the 'Soldier Cam' thingy has a couple of bugs. Could you make it so that we can switch between soldiers? As far as I can tell, you can't do this at the moment.

There is also an annoying feature when, if the guy you are watching dies, and then you press a certain key, the camera goes back to somewhere in the middle of the ocean, and you can't really find your way back from there. Pressing space doesn't fix it either.

Thanks...

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

RTS-IV v1.11c is on the server, and I put a download link in the first post of this thread.

Changes:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

AA launchers have been nerfed against land vehicles.  If you fire an AA rocket at any sort of truck/car/tank/apc and you're over 300 meters away, the missile will now veer off target.

@Robert:  I'll take a look a the cam when I have time.  I converted that from Kegetys's spectate script since he had so much functionality already built into it.  Have you tried hitting escape when a unit you're viewing dies?

ATM, I'm working on static defenses and howitzers with ammo cam.  I'm still deciding how I want static defenses to be built.  I think I'll require the player to have an engineer in his group, and the engineer will need to be within a certain distance.  Once the player gives the order, the defenses will build.

[uberkayser 0]

How lame is it when an admin just resets the game when its clear his side has lost some of the key flags in 1st 20 minutes of game??I wish more servers had RTS running on em so's the fannys would be a bit more spread out.

[BLSmith2112 0]

Is this happening in the mornings? I've been getting reports of no registered admins ever on the server in the morning from the 'new' regulars on the ts server. We may have to consider nominating one if no one's there in the morning.. If you wouldn't mind Karr.

[ModaFlanker 0]

Wow, RTS4 is indeed really cool. I do have one request though. I like spectating in these sort of games, and right now the 'Soldier Cam' thingy has a couple of bugs. Could you make it so that we can switch between soldiers? As far as I can tell, you can't do this at the moment.

There is also an annoying feature when, if the guy you are watching dies, and then you press a certain key, the camera goes back to somewhere in the middle of the ocean, and you can't really find your way back from there. Pressing space doesn't fix it either.

Thanks...

Robert,

Use the WSAD keys. It works just fine in Soldier Cam. A previous version used the other commands but then it switched to WSAD with 1.00. I think there are other keys on the keyboard so experiment with all the keys on your keyboard besides WSAD.

I do LOVE Soldier Cam too!!! I send a huge force and then I can watch the battle... it does help me figure out if the commands I am sending are actually working or not. Helped me fine tune the commands to soldiers.

[daikan 1]

dunno about others, but i noticed the bootcamp server has been crashing a lot lately. in fact i havent been able to finish a single RTS game for the last couple of days due to crashes.

weird thing is, there is no real server disconnect for me, all objects just freeze, except me and my AI... could that be the new 1.11+ versions?

[colligpip 0]

yes server is def crashing A lot. As says above it freezes but not completely so you walk around for a bit shooting at stuff and wondering why nobody is shooting back... kindof like an Rts limbo land i was wondering why i wasnt hitting a spec ops solider for a bout 5 minutes when i realised nobody was talking on thetext about what graphics card was the most awesome ist and nobody was moaning about the AI. ( sorry i have been playing to long)

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

Someone emailed me and said a lot of people were joining with the XAM mod and thought that might be a reason for the crashing.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[uberkayser 0]

Ive seen same...every 1.11c game ive been in over past few days has crashed server...not just on Karrs server...i just come off another one where it crashed...no indications that its XAM mod causing it(like im not seeing the "claymore" thing-at least def. today..only 6 of us playing).Im surprised there not been more posts about it.

I heard a few guys on about a West side credit bug in that they were gaining practically no credits while East was racing ahead buying T72s and stuff even though both had near even territories..Regards,Ajax.

[daikan 1]

Ive seen same...every 1.11c game ive been in over past few days has crashed server...not just on Karrs server...i just come off another one where it crashed...no indications that its XAM mod causing it.Im surprised there not been more posts about it.Regards,Ajax.

this is confirmed.

RTS 1.11c N-S just crashed our own server and there's no way to restart it as game admin because the server does not accept commands anymore, only the physical server admin can do that (which i'm not unfortunately)

no players were using XAM addon although other addons were used for sure. will have to try disabling all addons in order to troubleshoot the cause.

other than that, people reported that the credit economy was not working for blufor, something like "<NULL> money object" error message appeared and the credits were not increasing (this happened in a previous game that didn't crash due to restart)

[BLSmith2112 0]

Perhaps it wasn't XAM then. Something in the scripting perhaps? That causes:

1. Players to freeze in their steps.

2. Aircraft and all vehicles to stop in mid-air.

3. Text box unreadable/not able to be seen.

4. Server/Admin Commands no longer work.

5. Server ultimately crashes.

This is a fairly new experience and (currently) have only experienced it in 1.11c.

=======================

On another note, I have a question or two or three......or 10.

1. Will HALO be incorporated? Or is the parachute bug a factor in this?

2. Will CJ's ever be reincorporated? (Med tents, Ammo Crates, Static MG's, Recycle vehicles)

3. Do we honesty need 6 AA missiles on our person at one time?

4. Do we honestly need unlimited amounts of ammo at no cost? Specifically AA's...

5. Repair vehicles? Do vehicles honestly need to disappear seconds after they are destroyed? Allowing for no use of cover if you need it? If lag is a factor due to few vehicles staying on the battlefield... personally I thought 10 soldiers was a nice and neat squad to control but 30... is just insane (to me anyway).

6. Lift Boats With Men In Them. If this is not possible due to the excessive "lag" one gets for being airlifted and is inside the boat... have it be in-cargo like that of RTS3. The boat drops and men spawn inside it.

7. Since Navel buildings don't count as a "base structure", why force them to be 800m away? It just seems a little excessive to have this tiny boat travel so far... when it can only do so much.

8. When addons and mods are out in the future, will it ever be possible to attack the enemy's base and win without necessarily controlling most of the towns?

9. Can players earn more money for doing more things? IE: Taking towns, having AI kill enemy's, killing AI/tanks/base structures.. I personally don't have the drive then to do much, knowing that all of my teammates are making the same amount of money as me.

10. Perhaps a tweaked lobby menu?

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

ECON/VP/Time/

RSC/NO/Day

RSC/NO/Dusk

RSC/NO/Night

RSC/YES/Day

RSC/YES/Dusk

RSC/YES/Night

$$$/NO/Day

$$$/NO/Dusk

$$$/NO/Night

$$$/YES/Day

$$$/YES/Dusk

$$$/YES/Night

Both/NO/Day

Both/NO/Dusk

Both/NO/Night

Both/YES/Day

Both/YES/Dusk

Both/YES/Night

Excessive? Perhaps, but sure beats having more than 10 versions of the same mission

Now all we need is a ramp creation button with the CJ, the Barracuda addon that was just released, and a turbo button. Make the ramp secretly, set satchels on enemy base, sneak out, grab the Barracuda, hit the ramp, turbo, hit the horn and while flying over enemy base laugh as you set the satchels off!

[daikan 1]

i have the feeling it has something to do with how many players are actually logged in. at least it ups the probability for a crash in my experience. almost like a memory leak or something.

we had 1 game today that went through without crashing, but there were only like 8-10 people on.

then the next game was more like 16-20 players and it crashed when the action was at the hottest... so there you go.

[uberkayser 0]

Any chance could switch back to 1.11b on server meantimes?

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

Hmm, the only change between the two versions aside from some minor fixes was the eventhandler to prevent AA missiles from harming land vehicles. Since it's a global eventhandler, maybe it's overloading everyone as it fires on all machines. I'll try a minor fix and make sure it only fires locally and see if that fixes it.

[BraTTy 0]

Ahh I thought it was my connection.It is definately crashing.The server even disappears from the list (if was my connection no servers would list)

I do see some script errors when I play on top of screen.And something mid screen that I dont have rhsak47 (ak74?) or something along that.(your topic here says no addons required)

Sorry I only been recently playing again, not aware of changes made but I must say.It sure is fun (when no hackers come in)

You would feel good to know also that it is the only server I play Arma MP on

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

Okay, I've put version 1.11d on the server and updated the link in the first post of this thread. Hopefully the global eventhandler was the issue.

This issue appears to be caused by a script that is looping so much and so fast that it hogs all resources on the server and the client machines. Anyway, lmk if this fixes it.

[BLSmith2112 0]

3 hours into the game and so far no crashing. A lot of red chains even people weren't joining but it ran fine. Once during the game it said I was losing connection but idk if that was just me or what.

I just quit so I'll ask the others whether or not they experience problems.

Avg amount of players: 20

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

Aside from hacker idiots, has everything been working properly? Any issues with the other economy types?

[daikan 1]

Aside from hacker idiots, has everything been working properly?  Any issues with the other economy types?

as i wrote earlier, there have been reports that the credit-economy wasn't working properly:

Quote[/b] ]people reported that the credit economy was not working for blufor, something like "<NULL-object> money blabla" error message appeared and the credits were not increasing

i know this is not very specific, but that's all i know. could be a JIP error...

personally i never had any problems and i absolutely LOVE the new economy modes! sadly, almost noone else seems to share that opinion and as a consequence they are hardly ever being played...