The Unsung Release 1 (Alpha)

[Gedis 0]

holy $hit, gues what i have done O.O

copied unsung mod folder, dropped it in arma2 and it works (unedited or ajusted for AA2)!!!

ofcourse i got lots of error messages...

what does work: building models, vehicles, hueys,boats.

what doesn't work: i gues soldier weapons(since when loading hueys i got error messages concerning m16_20mag etc...), any ported soldiers(don't even show up in editor) and islands(i can select islands in editor but when loading i get ctd + error message).

config error messages are easy to fix, just needs some tiny config changes(same goes for scripts too).

problems with islands and soldiers are way harder to fix, like i heared skeleton models or anims are entirely different in AA2, islands too...

TEH PROOFF

Edited June 8, 2009 by Gedis

[horror1 10]

yes i can confirm it works in arma 2, but i could use only empty vehicles as it was crashing when manned due to wrong soldierclass.

however performance on the maps is still horrible even with arma 2 , no way to play it, li will wait for optimization

[joske 10]

i sometimes get a problem, after a contact in the jungle sometimes some of my men refuse to move or are stuck, this way i cant complete the patrol missions because you need all your men on the waypoint, but this will probably be related to the arma ai and the jungle.

also i have found fighting in the jungles much harder then normal fights so if anyone has some good jungle tactics it would be nice if they would share them.

[csj 0]

men refuse to move or are stuck, this way i cant complete the patrol missions because you need all your men on the waypoint, but this will probably be related to the arma ai and the jungle.

We are not 100% sure at this stage joske, I do not believe it is the jungle.

I personally remove all pistols from my AI team members before the mission.

I can not say for sure if it is related but I have not had that problem when I have done this. Worth a try

also i have found fighting in the jungles much harder then normal fights so if anyone has some good jungle tactics it would be nice if they would share them.

Assuming you are playing Veteran its a completely different ball game.

Best hint - KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN :D At least until you know were the shooting is coming from. Move slow and keep low.

Do not bunch your team up.

Know exactly where you are at all time so you can use arty effectively.

Edited June 9, 2009 by CSJ

[Warrior Xâ„¢ 0]

also i have found fighting in the jungles much harder then normal fights so if anyone has some good jungle tactics it would be nice if they would share them.

In contacts

When alone:

- Keep low

- Do not run or walk upright :nono:

- Move small pieces (due to heavy breathing)

- Do not waste ammo

- Move away from a contact unless you sure you can take them

In group:

- Get on your belly.

- Do not run or walk upright

- Make sure the 60's (if there are any) have a clear field of fire towards enemy.

- Get the entire team close together in somewhat of a circle, but not to close so that 1 nade takes out the lot of you. :oops:

- Move small pieces (due to heavy breathing)

- Let the team watch in all directions

- Dig in and fight.

- Make sure you know where everybody is within the team so you can use arty if available.

On patrol

When alone:

- Keep low

- Do not run :nono:

- Move small pieces if in crouch mode or on belly (due to heavy breathing AI will spot you)

- Watch 360 degrees a lot

- Move up slowly and do not get yourself into clearings, open spaces or very low vegetation

- When moving around try to stay somewhat near bigger tree's, rocks or tree/bamboo clusters so you can instantly dive to them for cover when in sudden contact. (Use the terrain)

In group:

- Do not run

- Move in a colum or staggered column with maybe 1 or 2 guys ahead of you that spot contacts so the rest of the team can prepare in time. (works good for me)

- Do not have machine gunners walk point or scan ahead. (lotta fire power gone if they get killed)

- Move slow and small pieces (due to heavy breathing)

- Let the team watch in all directions

- Stop from time to time to check map where you are (for coordination and for arty use when instantly needed)

- Make sure you know where everybody is within the team so you do not fire at own members by accident (friendly fire) and also so when a team member does get caught between you and the enemy, you know he is there. :oops:

That's it in a nutshell, it kept me alive through those patrol missions

[csj 0]

Navigating a patrol in the jungle where there are no distinctive land formations.

Note:

You can use same methods as in RL - counting paces - I use time.

Each grid on our maps is appraoximately 250 meters square.

Using the standard BI aware walking speed you will cover

250 m -1 grid - in 2 minutes

125 m - 1/2 a grid - in 1 minute

1/4 - grid - 30 seconds.

Always traveling N E W or S if you are not good at determining angles.

map should be zoomed in so about 4 to 6 grid squares fill the screen.

Locate where you want to go and try to select a route that will give your group the best cover and advantage if a contact is made.

Face the direction in which you will travel.

Before I move the group out I will punch up the watch on my screen o,o.

Form a staggered column or desired formation (not Delta and not bunched)

then I will send #4 or #5 on point F4, 1, 2 (advance)

Once the minute hand hits 12 3 6 or 9 then move out - hold your bearing.

Stoping every 60 seconds at the most (1/2 a grid) and mark my location on the map.

Dble click the map where I am then hit the down arrow twice to select a small red square and press enter.

Repeat these actions until destination is reached.

If you have a contact you know exactly where you are at all time and can be fairly sure where to drop arty.

If you want to look around and keep walking your bearing then hit the * key on the numpad this will let you move your head and look side to side.

Hit the key again to return to normal mode.

[-)rStrangelove 0]

Great mod tbh. The jungle looks perfect imo.

My experiences (havent read all posts here):

- even with a powerful pc you need a drawing distance of about 550m, making flying helis kinda hard without GPS

- fights in the jungle suit the AI more than the player for you can't see anything since you need to stay low while under fire. I checked the line of sights of my AI buddies and there was no way they could've seen the enemy - still they called out 'enemy soldier 100m 12 oclock'. Sorry but this kinda kills the immersion. You just send your AI buddy forward and he'll gladly call out all contacts for you. Where's the fun in that?

- finding dead bodies and reporting MIAs is a great addition to the general gameplay. however, it's really annoying trying to find all of them. Less bushes would be nice and would boost overall FPS

- Flying around in a heli over riverbeds is killing my PC at some points. Had several crashes. When i'm on a foot patrol i was able to walk around for more than an hour or so.

Overall:

Easily one the best mods for ArmA, but too heavy on the CPU. Use 50% less bushes and grass and this would be perfectly balanced, FPS- and AI-combat wise.

Great job :)

[EDIT]

I WANT JUNGLE EVOLUTION! :D

Edited June 9, 2009 by ])rStrangelove

[NoRailgunner 0]

Dont know if it helps only to lower the height of grass to increase performance and the players FOV. Otherwise you need to implement a AI viewblock on dense plants.

[joske 10]

as for navigation, i figured out a way to get your position when your lost although you have to know your amproximate location and/or your need to be in an overwatch postion.

you send a smoke shell (if you can use artillery smoke grenades) on 2 different location from wich you know the excact location (as you would mark them on the map) when you see each of the locations you note the degrees with your compass, this way you get 2 lines on the map (one for each degree number) and where these lines cross thats where you are.

as for fighting in the jungles im ok most of the time but generally its really confusing to know whats going on, yesterday when i was doing a patrol my squad and i got into a contact and we killed 3 vc and i pounded them a bit with arty now when we advanced a single vc got up our rear so we killed him, but as i was worried there might be more vc up my 6 we moved up there and when we got there we were attacked from both flanks, now here it got messy, there were vc running in our postion from both sides and arty shells exploding all around, in the end me and some other guy from my squad were the only ones left alive and we got a kill count of about 30 guys.

[sim 0]

as for fighting in the jungles im ok most of the time but generally its really confusing to know whats going on, yesterday when i was doing a patrol my squad and i got into a contact and we killed 3 vc and i pounded them a bit with arty now when we advanced a single vc got up our rear so we killed him, but as i was worried there might be more vc up my 6 we moved up there and when we got there we were attacked from both flanks, now here it got messy, there were vc running in our postion from both sides and arty shells exploding all around, in the end me and some other guy from my squad were the only ones left alive and we got a kill count of about 30 guys.

Welcome to Nam ;)

[cj525 5]

@])rStrangelove

Thanks for the feedback it's much appreciated. We are looking into ways to increase performance. The next island wont be as heavily jungled, with greater view distances, there will be triple canopy jungle (so ground cover wont be as dense).

@ NoRailgunner

Ai view block has been used but does not work with the auto clutter. I've added layers of view lods to all the jungle sections but due to the hills and valleys the ai can see another group on another hill, sometimes. The AI works both ways if you have the opfor standup and move at normal speeds etc. your AI will see them, if you have your AI do the same they will be spotted. Now if you keep your ai low and move very slow the other AI will have a very hard time spotting them unless they know your already there and are aware that your near.

Another practice I am using and have found works is training your self to stop look at an area but not to focus on anything this way you can pick up movement, I've found it really helps pick up the NVA/VC.

[NoRailgunner 0]

cj525 imo its an issue with AI and overall game performance. AI stuff, graphics+effects are chewing the ressources quite fast.

[Warrior Xâ„¢ 0]

I seriously do not get why people have problems with the performance. We have just been playing online the 4 of us and had an overall performance of about 20 fps. This was on Kham Duc and Ngok Tavak islands. As said before, you cannot have a huge dense jungle with 2000+ viewdistance. Not happening period. But as you are mostly on the ground you can have approx 1000. Also we had several occassions where the enemy AI was literally walking by so close you could poke them with a stick and they didn't see us untill we opened up on them. And we had AI in our squad as well.

Here's my settings for the game: click me

My system specs are:

Intel Quad Core Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz

3 GB RAM

32 bit OS

NVIDEA Geforce 8600 GS

Vista (Beep)

Running ArmA 1.16 without QG.

My average FPS is between 18-24 FPS on the maps with battles going on of 3x3 squads. Try the settings i use and tell me what you get on FPS. Maybe we can find a solution to the problems people say they have with the jungle.

[sgt_savage 586]

I seriously do not get why people have problems with the performance. We have just been playing online the 4 of us and had an overall performance of about 20 fps. This was on Kham Duc and Ngok Tavak islands. As said before, you cannot have a huge dense jungle with 2000+ viewdistance. Not happening period. But as you are mostly on the ground you can have approx 1000. Also we had several occassions where the enemy AI was literally walking by so close you could poke them with a stick and they didn't see us untill we opened up on them. And we had AI in our squad as well.

My average FPS is between 18-24 FPS on the maps with battles going on of 3x3 squads. Try the settings i use and tell me what you get on FPS. Maybe we can find a solution to the problems people say they have with the jungle.

I second that some have to read the previous posts, switch post processing to low and add fog, Its not a bare assed desert map. Our MP game ealier tonight was very fluid and the server was rock solid exteremely enjoyable game no lag at all, the best MP game i've had in ages.

[cj525 5]

the mp test last night went very well, the mission lasted a good 1.5 hours lots of recon in very very dense jungle , we had fog, I would like to test without fog to see what performance is like. on almost all contacts both opfor and blufor didn't spot each other it was a player that called the contact and initiated the engagment, at one point we had stopped to change out the pointman, when a patrol of VC walked past about 10 feet max from our pos. again the players initaited contact, and destroyed the opposition in short order.

It is very hard to spot the NVA/VC in this terrain as they blend in very well. But we played the NVA on a mission where we initiated a contact with an MFR unit. we hit hard and fast but they called in arty then CAS on our butts. We broke contact and faded into the bushes. They hunted us agressively with recon by fire and CAS. We came across several recon elements in the single canopy jungle, it was very hard to spot them the TS camo blends in very very well. Even though they where looking for us both AIs did not see each other and a player spotted the MFR recon element. It was a glorious day for the NVA.

the only noticable lag was during an EVAC when the uh1 flew in then the frame rate dropped off and got choppy.

[sim 0]

I also don't know why people are having such problems:

I'm running on my laptop absolutely fine, my spec is:

Intel Dual Core 2.10Ghz

4gb ram

Nvidia Geforce 8400M GT.

Graphics settings similar to X, except texture on High and terrain on High. Get about 20fps most of the time.

[joske 10]

not to put pressure on you guys but how far are you with making the game compitable with ati video cards, because im getting a bit frustated with having to kill my own men when they are stuck because i cant acces their gear and remove their pistols and having a crash everytime i enter a village or a base.

anyways great mod, i just got ambushed with the vc right next to me with neither me, my ai and my pointman noticing where they were until it was too late.

[csj 0]

These are my PC specs and game settings that I find work best for me

and give best game quality. 18 to 35+ fps depending on location.

Duo 3.40 GHz 1GB RAM

ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO Memory size 512 mb

Driver version 8.561.0.0 - 2008

Have you tried Bi patch 1.16 ?

Re the game crashing - is it every village you enter on every island ? Can you be more specific.

Edited June 11, 2009 by CSJ

[cj525 5]

I know ATI cards don't like none square teztures, looks like from what your saying some of the village gear etc might fall into this setup of non square textures. if you can tell us the villages as CSJ poninted out we can narrow down what's causing the problem.

[joske 10]

i already reported my problem a few days ago and you guys said you would look into it. but since then i have done some tests and the crashes are in every village and base i have been inside but i havent been able to go to them all so it is possible there are villages out there wich i can go in.i did test all the vc buildings(the eastern one with the shelters and towers) also i have tested the ammo crates and they seem to work the problem is the weapons( you can exclude the m1911 because that one i can acces with the pilots) i cant acces my gear or any weapon crates because when i do i get a crash.

i would like to test all of the objects and see wich ones are causing the problems but atm i have exams so i dont really have much time for this.

so i hope you guys can make the addon playable for me too.

[aussie dave 0]

Can Unsung run with the ACE mod?

[sgt_savage 586]

Can Unsung run with the ACE mod?

It hasn't been tested but I don't see why not we haven't added any of our scripts as yet. Try it out see what happens should work.

[cj525 5]

We have located reasons for the cfgskeleton probs and have fixed these we will release a patch very soon aas well as a new khamduc island with a closer zoom in fix for easier navigation and arty support. re ATI card problems, not sure if we will beable to fix these, but we are looking into it. Located FPS killers in the jungle and have been tweeking. We are busy thats why things have gone quiet.

[joske 10]

as for the ati card problems if it would be too much work to locate and solve the problem with all objects i would be more than happy if you would only solve the problems with the weapons as this is the main problem im facing, the other objects can easily wait for a while as im more interested in the jungles than in the towns and bases.

[cj525 5]

I'm starting to think it's a problem with to many textures per model, we have consolidated a whole bunch of the textures even the weapon textures. But I think the ATI card is particularly sensitive to this.