Request: Player artillery enabling.

[Rynthas 0]

Not sure if this is in the right place, so apologies in advance if it isn't.

Could any of you mod-makers give me an idea of whether or not the following is possible, and how hard it would be to do? I'd really like to see some client-side mods that would make long-range artillery possible for players in any MP game, since serverside / mission-specific stuff seems to get little use.

Mod A)

Heading / Azimuth / Elevation display.

A simple informational HUD display that gives your compass heading, the azimuth you are looking at, and optionally your current altitude ASL. With this, a dedicated player could hop in an artillery piece, and with the help of a forward observer do a pretty fair job registering artillery. Heading and azimuth display would allow them to adjust and repeat previous shots easily. Elevation would (in theory) aid in repositioning guns, and possibly doing the math if they really, really wanted to do it.

I can see two versions of this being very handy: One that displays degrees, the other mils.

Mod B) Artillery calculator. A script or mod or something that would allow a player to designate points on a map as a firebase and target, then output a compass bearing and azimuth to feed to a player-controlled artillery piece at the firebase to hit the target. Not sure if there is any support for elevations built in to the map, so elevation may also need to be manually entered. I can also see the specifics of the artillery peice (D30, M119) needing selection to. I imagine that this one would be a lot more work than the previous one.

Options: Same degree/mil choices.

Are either of these possible to do in a strictly client-side way that would be valid across any MP games? If so, is anyone willing to take a crack at them?

[maza94 0]

Everything you found in SLX MOD my friend .

[Rynthas 0]

Is it? Would it be possible to break those tools out into a smaller mod?

I've heard that SLX does not play with with multiplayer dedicated servers...

[chops 111]

This addon does almost word-for-word what you're after.

You'd be amazed what treasures a quick search will uncover

[Rynthas 0]

I was under the impression that that mod made substantial changes to artillery itself, and required that missions be edited to work with it...so no, not really what I'm after. I'd certainly love to see every mission out there incorporate it, but I've yet to see a commonly played one that does.

[Rynthas 0]

No other suggestions, or even comments on feasibility?

I'd love to use one of the previous suggestions, but SLX isn't currently a viable option for online MP (or so I've been told), and the other mod doesn't work solely client-side.

If it can be done well, I may even be willing to make a small donation to the modder/scripter via paypal. It wouldn't be much, but I am willing to do what I can to compensate for time.

[gunterlund 0]

Try the addon the Chops suggestion. Its a slight mod to the base arty static pieces in Arma. It allows you to load different ammo for different ranges. It designates asimuth and angle so you can hit targets from 11km out. You also get credit for kills. Ive also found that the enemy will fire counterbattery at you with DAC 2.0. :-)

[gsleighter 0]

I think what you're suggesting, a client side addon to enable you to spot arty in any mission, would be considered cheating if you took it online. Basically, you'd be able to click on the map and bring down shells, regardless of your role in the mission. This sort of thing is better left to the mission maker, IMO.

It's probably feasible, by either detecting the artillery guns in the mission or spawning them, but like I said, that sounds an awful lot like cheating.

[Rynthas 0]

I must not be describing what I'm after clearly enough. The artillery mod listed doesn't work just clientside, so it is of no use to me for this purpose.

Secondly, I'm not asking for any scripts or anything that have AI, spawn guns, etc. This is strictly to enable _players_ to man artillery and place shells reliably on target using indirect fire.

EDIT: Nothing in this automatically detects artillery pieces -- you have to manually select both the location of the artillery you're going to be calling the shot from, AND the target area. Just wanted to make that clear.

The calculator would simply spit out numbers to feed a person manning artillery. For instance, if I had a spotter in the field, he could mark a target. I could then use the calculator to find out what bearing to adjust the gun to (in mils), then how far to elevate the gun (in mils), and lastly how long my shell would be in the air, so I could report back to the spotter how long he has until impact.

I don't want AI gunning for me, and I don't want anything that does all the work, or allows me to call in arty by myself at my disposal. I just want something that will allow players using teamwork to call and place reliable indirect fire. The client-side only restriction is so that it will actually get some use. That way you could use it on Evo or any other coop mission effectively. I guess it could be used in PvP games as well, but it would only reward people playing as a team. If the admins don't like it, well, simple -- I'd like to get it signed, so they just disallow it at will.

[dr_eyeball 16]

I've got a manual indirect arty system which sounds similar to that. I could probably convert it to a client side addon easy enough if it looks suitable.

Images: (images are a little out of date, but similar)

Arty bearing, elevation details

Laser marker spotting

Arty impact detection

It's got:

- Added Artillery HUD to artillery guns upon mounting. Info supports initial firing and successive adjusted firing.

- Added 'Calc firing solution (map)' to 'HQ Support'->'Artillery' menu. This gives the gunner a bearing and distance to target.

- Artillery impact spotting via 3rd party observer. Any team member who has a laser marker while being near an impact site (within 1500m) will automatically report impact details. Manual spotting proved to be too difficult for spotters.

- Synchronised artillery aiming & firing by nearby AI in your group upon your initial fire. (optional)

[Rynthas 0]

Dr_Eyeball,

Okay, the artillery HUD looks like what I'm talking about in part A of my original post, plus some extra. Hit detection and the laser marker and whatnot are outside of what I'm looking for (as are the built-in calculations -- do they take into account elevation of the artillery and target? If so, a seperate script to crunch the numbers using what you've got would be great).

Also, any way to determine altitude above sea level? I'm suspecting that making a fire calculator is going to be outside of the scope of what ArmA can do clientside, so I'm probably going to have to find someone to code me up a small little .exe that takes firebase altitide, gun type, range to target, and target area altitude, then spits out the correct elevation for gun gun itself to reach that target, and the number of seconds the round will be in the air. I'll have to get a high quality printout of the Sahrani map itself to plot the precise bearing to point the gun at, since I doubt a client-side map calculator can be made. Thoughts?

Looks like a pretty cool setup you've got. You've already worked out a lot of what I'm talking about, but I want to have to rely on spotters to have the burden of figuring out the coordinates of the target and marking it on a map or relaying it to me. Basically, I'm trying to make it as close to the real deal as possible.