SPON HoloMap

[Spooner 0]

SPON HoloMap v0.4.0

Hmm, SPON Map and SPON Radar might seem interesting, but aren't they a bit flat? We deserve better!

Well, you need to know what is going on all over the island and vehicle blips are the best way to show that!

Well, I know I said blips are best, but why not have little miniatures instead?

Oh, the humanity of it all!

One HoloMap isn't good enough for you?

SPON HoloMap v0.3.0 @ YouTube (Thanks to DeanosBeano for making the movie!)

- Released: 2008-12-18

- Install size: 45k (mission version) or 108k (addon version) + 1.7MB (optional DBO Miniatures) + SPON Core (Core v0.5.3 used in demo)

- (mission script version) 100% scripts with no addon dependencies

- Requires: ArmA 1.09 (or higher) and SPON Core (v0.5.3 or higher)

- See attached README.html for full details

Downloads

* OFPEC (guaranteed latest version)

* ArmAholic (mirror)

Overview

HoloMap creates a 3D holographic representation of the game world, showing friendly (blue) and non-friendly (red) vehicles, as well as missiles fired, as blips. Alternatively, using the @DBO_miniatures addon (included), show vehicles using scale models!

Features

   * Creates a 3D holographic representation of the game world, showing friendly (blue) and non-friendly (red) vehicles, as well as missiles fired (white), as blips.

   * Friendly and/or enemy infantry can be shown on the map if required, assuming they have radios and GPS, rather than using radar to detect them. This can be limited to just showing roup leaders, to reduce clutter.

   * Automatically renders a 3D map of any island, including ground textures (grass, urban, rock, sand, etc). Higher ground is given a lighter shade, in order to improve terrain shape recognition.

   * Each HoloMap projector is associated with a nearby or remote sensor object (such as a radar tower or AWACS plane) and will show a HoloMap centred on that sensor's position, at least until the sensor is destroyed.

   * Any vehicle or object can be made into a jamming device, with a specific range of effect. If a HoloMap projector or sensor is inside a jamming zone, then the projector will not show anything. A jamming zone is clearly marked on any HoloMap that is outside the jamming zone, but it will hide all blips within the zone. Jammer vehicles only cause interference when their engine is turned on, but other jamming objects, such as towers, are always on until they are destroyed.

   * Any vehicle can be given a stealth factor, which reduces the range at which it can be detected.

   * 100% client-side scripts with no broadcasts, so absolutely no effect on network traffic or server load.

   * Optional: By installing Deanosbeano's DBO Miniatures addons, you will see tiny representations of vehicles, including missile trails and burning vehicle effects!

Limitations and Known Issues

    *  (With DBO_miniatures) Only a small number of vehicle miniatures will be shown (currently only the RHIB, Cobra, HMMWV, KA50 and Harrier are implemented). All other vehicles will default to one of these models.

   * (With DBO_miniatures) Vehicle miniatures will only be shown on a single HoloMap at a time [Just make sure your displays are more than 10m apart if their areas overlap or make sure that they don't overlap if you want more than one].

   * (With DBO_miniatures) The current version of vehicle miniatures uses a unnecessarily high LOD, so if you have more than a few miniatures visible at a time, then FPS will be very badly affected.

   * All vehicles and missiles within range are shown on the map, regardless of line-of-sight from the HoloMap sensor [Not sure I can do decent LOS calculations for a large number of objects, especially when using long-range sensors].

   * FPS is affected most by the amount of terrain drawn on the HoloMap (or HoloMaps). The best FPS will be for HoloMaps that show a lot of sea [e.g. Ramadi range of 2000+ and Sahrani range of 10000+ are quite fast].

   * Can't manually control jamming devices (other than to turn a vehicle's engine on or off).

   * Sensors actually detect in cubes, not spheres, so they have up to 1.41 times greater range in the corners! Jammers operate in a vertical cylinder rather than a sphere [both simplifications are to make the map easier to understand, since neither are realistic].

   * Sensors can detect objects directly behind a jammer [true line-of-sight calculations for this special case are probably not worth the effort].

Compatibility

   * SP: Yes.

   * Teamswitch: Yes.

   * MP: Yes.

   * MP JIP: Yes.

Plans

   * Deployable/Stowable HoloMap inside mobile HQ.

   * Manually turn on/off jamming.

   * Simple dialog to switch sensors (rather than action list).

   * Size of target to affect detection (rather than just to affect size of blip).

Design Aims

   * Improve command and control by giving commanders a shared 3D representation of the battlefield.

   * Create a reasonably realistic radar system, in order to add new tactical dimensions to the game.

   * Avoid reliance on addons, in favour of scripting, as far as possible. Addon and 100% mission-scripts versions available!

Credits

   * BIG THANKS go out to Deanosbeano for resizing and configuring the miniature vehicles (@DBO_miniatures).

   * BIS for the original models that were used to create the miniatures.

   * Q for testing and feedback.

   * Demo mission and addon pbo files created with cpbo by Keygetys.

   * Thanks to Solus for allowing me to include the XEH addon in the release (and, of course, for making the great addon in the first place!)

Change Log

- v0.4.0

Added

   * Ground textures shown on terrain (grass, urban, rock, sand, etc).

   * Ranging rings shown on terrain.

   * Infantry can now be detected if required.

   * Any projector can be associated with any nearby or remote sensor (such as a radar tower, mobile HQ or AWACS plane) and will show a HoloMap centred on that sensor's position, at least until the sensor is destroyed.

   * A projector's sensor can be switched in-game, for example using an action.

   * Any vehicle or object can be made into a jamming device, with a specific range.

   * Any vehicle can be given a stealth factor, which reduces the range at which it can be detected.

Modified

   * Demo mission moved to Sahrani, so as to better showcase the script.

   * (With Miniatures) All vehicles now shown as a tiny model. However, most will default to a generic vehicle type rather than being representative (e.g. all land vehicles, regardless of side, size or type, default to a humvee miniature!)

Removed

   * No longer uses the Blue Box from DBO_miniatures.

Fixed

   * Only those players who start within 10m of the HoloMap will EVER be able to see anything on it (this allows for staff officers to see it, but not to unnecessarily update it for the regular army soldiers).

   * If a vehicle exists beyond the edge of the zone covered by the HoloMap, it will still be represented on the map, though placed outside the "projector area", floating in mid-air.

   * There can only EVER be one HoloMap in the mission.

   * FPS spike when redrawing terrain.

   * HoloMap rendered regardless of player's proximity to the projector unit.

   * The information displayed is appropriate to the observer, not to the projector (thus, you can't look at an enemy projector and get any different information from it than you could from your own).

(See readme.html for full details of changes before current version).

<a href="http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard311/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=70;t=74601" target="_blank">

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[Tankbuster 1733]

Hehehe great fun! Reminds me of some unremembered SCi Fi flick.

Could major landmarks be shown on the model too? It's great being able to see the vehicles, but without roads/ buildings as a reference point, it's lacking a little maybe?

[Spooner 0]

Yeah, Sickboy has asked for that too. Roads are difficult because you can't find them with a command in-game, but buildings are a distinct possibility (or at least, urban areas).

I remembered the surfaceType command just after I released, so expect properly coloured terrain in the next release (yellow sand & green grass, at least; currently defaults to green everywhere).

[.kju 3241]

Excellent addition Spooner!

Three remarks for the release post:

1) Missing screen of particle only version

2) 2nd screen is broken here

3) Put the video at the very top to make it easier for people

to find that.

[andersson 285]

Amazing. Impressive.

[dmarkwick 261]

Crikey

So, does this work with any map? It look like a fantastic addon, even if I cannot immediately think of a use for it

Well done, it's a stupendous achievement.

*edit*

Where's the download link?

[manzilla 1]

It's over at the OFPEC Scripting/Editing Forum also.(With Link)

http://www.ofpec.com/forum/index.php?board=83.0

[miles teg 1]

It would be useful for command & control in serious clan/squad based multiplayer tournaments. However if only one side can use it (only one map can be used), then it would provide an unfair advantage to the other team.

However for CoOp missions it would work well. Still I wonder if you can see AL the enemy units before your team's players and AI even detect them. That makes things a little too easy. It's like you have both an AWACS and JSTARS flying off the coast giving you all the information.

Still from the pics and video it looks very cool and like alot of work was put into that. Now if only there was a download link to actually try it out.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[mr burns 131]

Very cool!

I just wish the miniature vehicles were usable for players  

edit: Maybe make some RC cars? lol

[lecholas 2]

Yeah, Sickboy has asked for that too. Roads are difficult because you can't find them with a command in-game, but buildings are a distinct possibility (or at least, urban areas).

IIRC roads are detected by nearestObjects. They are returned just as other classless objects in a following string: "object's id : object's p3d". If you knew all the roads' p3d names (I think asphalt roads for example are all named 'asfaltkaxyz.p3d, where xyz are different numbers for different road segments, dirt roads start with IIRC 'cestkaxyz' etc.) you could theoretically find all the roads. It's a raw workaround and it would probably consume a lot (I mean: A LOT! of computing power but if it's needed for one pass (not loop) maybe it could work. Anyway I'm not a scripting guru so don't tread my idea to hard .

[Tankbuster 1733]

Yeah, Sickboy has asked for that too. Roads are difficult because you can't find them with a command in-game, but buildings are a distinct possibility (or at least, urban areas).

I remembered the surfaceType command just after I released, so expect properly coloured terrain in the next release (yellow sand & green grass, at least; currently defaults to green everywhere).

That'd be so cool!

I'm definately going to drop this into a map or two.

The vids show Porto, I think. Will it work as expected if the addon is dropped into a sara mission?

[kuIoodporny 45]

An wireframe representation switch would be cool

[Spooner 0]

Well, always good to get some feedback! Thanks!

@Q: Yes, the 2nd image, with the black "water" and simple coloured blips is the version when used with the DBO_miniatures addons (I can see all 5 images, so not sure what the problem is with you).

@Manzilla: Thanks for telling people where to find the download files; I'd forget my own head if it weren't screwed on!

@Miles Teg: As I said, this version is more of a proof-of-concept, so it isn't as polished as my usual releases. There is absolutely no technical reason why there couldn't be 10 HoloMaps in a mission, all showing different areas and at different scales. However, the current implementation isn't fully hacked into shape so it doesn't allow more than one HoloMap, as well as having several other limitations which I could overcome with more work

Regarding gaining "magical" information, you are absolutely right. In its current state it is a vast oversimplification, but without going to a lot of effort in setting up configuration options and polishing the rough edges, I feel this was the best overall "setting" to release with so people could play about with it!

@Mr Burns: Actually, it is possible to create a camera attached to a miniature vehicle and fly around over the holoMap, looking up at the people looking down at you! Quite unnerving, I can tell you! If you want to control them, then just run out and find the full-sized version :P

@lecholas: Ah, they do come as classless p3ds? Not really ideal, but better than nothing. Hmm, as you say it would need to be a single pass, not done on each map update (as it is, I should probably cache the height info, but I wanted something that worked first, not that was super-optimised). I'll maybe experiment with your idea, but I'm making no promises.

@TankbusterSPAFF & DMarkwick: The demo and video are set on Rahmadi, but I've overemphasised the bumpiness of the terrain for effect, so it won't look entirely as you'd expect! But anyway, the script should work on any map at all, since it reads in the terrain automatically (I've only personally tested it on Rahmadi and Sahrani though). The range of the map is also entirely dynamic, so you can show 100m or 100km of world on the map's surface! You may also need to damp down the vertical scale on very bumpy maps, otherwise you won't be able to see over the tops of the mountains! Experiment with the parameters to the SPON_Holo_map function...

@zGuba: A wireframe view would be nice, of course, but I'm not sure if I'll go that way! I must admint that I do keep wanting to see the Death Star spinning around, zooming in, then my X-wings travelling down the trench...;)

[mrcash2009 0]

Hippies rule

I can imagine this as a great tool addition running with COC/CEX in place, pure commander

[Gigan 1]

Looks great and funny fun.

[supergruntsb78 67]

i tested this holomap on one of the VTE maps and it worked perfectly it showed the map (i tried different distances ) completly this thing is realy great thanks spooner

[Spooner 0]

New release: v0.4.0!

Lots of changes, fixes and improvements (see changelog, above) and quite a few new screenshots in the zip. @DBO_miniatures hasn't changed since v0.3.0.

[Tankbuster 1733]

Now that's a massive improvement! Well done, sir!

[Spooner 0]

Well, you've had a month to play around with this, and yet, not a single comment about it after actually using it in-game. Hard to tell whether people are using it, or if they just played with it once and shelved it. Really wondering if it is worth continuing to work on this.

* Is anyone actually using this in missions, or is it just considered a proof-of-concept piece, that is, not really practically useful.

* Do people use, or want to use it, with blips or with vehicle models?

* Would anyone use it in a modern mission, as opposed to an SciFi mission, or would you not be able to get over the fact it is supposed to be a hologram? If this is really a problem, then I could just do exactly the same thing that you can only see inside a computer screen and it would be entirely realistic (essentially an ArmA-type simulation running on a PC in-game).

* How do people feel about the implementation of radar/jammers/stealth? Realistic or gamey (considering that even semi-realistic jammers/stealth are better than none if you actually want those functions).

* Would addition of LOS calculations for all radar contacts be a significant improvement (that is, would it allow people to use it?)? Just worried how much slower this would be.

* The next version will have an option to show infantry/light/heavy/air icons on the map (addon version only, I'm afraid), to offer a compromise between vague dots and fully detailed models. Would this make a difference for people?

* Planning to offer IFF system in future version. This would mean that friendly units would be shown with icons/models, but the enemy would be unidentified blips.

* What features are critical to this system being used, that it doesn't already have?

* If this was merged with SPON Sensor (so everyone had simple map markers for contacts, but you got the nice 3d map if you were physically next to the holomap) would that be more useful?

[mazza 1]

Great stuff !! Not seen it until now.  Perhaps a new section to ArmA should be added.  Like and armchair general module, equivalent to AWACS for F4 etc.  Chain of Command CEX mod should look at incorporatingo or working with SPON.  Imagine OPFOR and BLUEFOR each with high command making movements.