Warfare Proton Mods

[USMCLuke 10]

Well, on our server, cities get fortified. I'm sorry you have to play with civvies all the time, because if you played with us you'd see the difference between the CoD civs and what actual Marines/Soldiers/and Naval Aviators can do. I can't emphasize enough that this game is a military simulator and the people who create mods should listen to the guys that actually know what it's like to live through this crap. We're just out to have fun too, so some things will obviously be unrealistic, but some things should definitely be as real as possible, arty is one of them.

Edited July 28, 2009 by USMCLuke

[Grunt 0311 10]

If you want force fields go play star wars. It is abundantly clear that most people here have no concept of how to utilize arty. Proton has somthing good going here a little more tweeking and its good to go.

[USMCLuke 10]

Either way, the entire base being destroyed at the moment is a moot point as in Proton's version the MHQ can be rebuilt. I might recommend a reduction in the cost to rebuild however. I think the intent was to ensure a town cap. win versus an HQ destruction win.

[greenpsycho 10]

Stupid question, but could someone guide me on how to create aircraft? I let the AI command, he builds the aircraft plant next to HQ (which is OK for helo's, but the planes spawn there as well)

I"ve tried capturing towns with airstrips and driving the HQ down there, but I can't seem to deploy it, or build an aircraft plant next to the airstrip or anything.

I have been able to take off in fields, but the AI doesn't really want to do that apparently.

[USMCLuke 10]

What we do is take over command from the AI Cmdr before he can build anything at the original location. We then drive the MHQ to the nearest airfield (some you have to fight through to). Once there, I have to disconnect and reconnect quickly to remain Cmdr and get the "Construction" option (this is a bug that carried over from Superpowers). I then build the base in a manner that allows aircraft bought to interface with the airfield (if the area around the AF is clear, the first plane/helo bought will spawn off the side with the Hesco barriers, I use this to "aim" the aircraft toward the runway without being on it). The alternative to the "Construction" option bug is to let the AI Cmdr deploy the MHQ then re-mobilize it once you assume command, but this can cause some bugs, such as losing the MHQ all together and respawning at the corner of the map in the ocean, but if you do it this way, there's no need to disconnect/reconnect. Also keep in mind that the two smaller airfields may require some smooth taxiing to get a good take-off distance because the unimproved surfaces slow the planes down.

[Takbal 0]

so once more...

Edited July 30, 2009 by Takbal

[Proton 11]

I have fixed this construction bug in the development version. I am still struggling with the arty as the BIS module produces pretty mysterious bugs: it works on joint server-clients with the arty in your group or in a separate group, it works on dedicated server with arty in a separate group, but it does not work on dedicated with arty in *your* group, which is exactly the case I have to use. The SecOps was similarly bugged, but it is fixed already.

[The.Yield 10]

I have fixed this construction bug in the development version. I am still struggling with the arty as the BIS module produces pretty mysterious bugs: it works on joint server-clients with the arty in your group or in a separate group, it works on dedicated server with arty in a separate group, but it does not work on dedicated with arty in *your* group, which is exactly the case I have to use. The SecOps was similarly bugged, but it is fixed already.

Sounds good, Proton! Can't wait to hear that you've squashed that weird arty bug. This is the only warfare mod my group plays and for very good reason! It rocks! lol

[greenpsycho 10]

its unfortunate that you need to fix inherent game bugs while your creating your mod Proton, but we're all grateful you are.

I ran across 1 weird bug last night (could just be the game):

I created several units (grenadier, machine gunners, and automatic riflemen), and they all spawned without weapons. Has only happened once, so not a huge deal. Beyond that, everyone Proton has touched is working well.

I am beginning to think there are severe issues with any sort of hosting (memory leak or perhaps scripting issues that eats up resources over time). Also, if anyone has checked out their RPT files, there is a huge mess of errors going on in game (that I'm hoping will be fixed with 1.03)

thanks for the tip Luke, I'll give it a shot

[USMCLuke 10]

You're right about the memory leak and the errors. We turned off the UltraAI setting (we had had it on) for our custom difficulty. This gave us an average of about 2 hrs more uptime per session. As it stands right now, AI seems to be the big resource hog, and while it may not reflect it on your server stats, it def. reflects on every players average bandwidth over time, which will steadily decrease. Once it reaches the point where phantom squad members are shouting "Where are you 100 times a minute and town captures slow to 30 - 40 min. a piece, that is about it. It usually gives us a "no response" within a short time after and that is the end of the session. The most towns we've managed to capture before this happens is all but about 4 or 5, so we've never truly beaten this mod or Superpowers with a full town capture.

[greenpsycho 10]

Yup, same exact situation. AFAIK, its not the bandwidth issue, but your server fps (which could reveal itself as "lag").

When I first load my server, I monitor it ("#login pword"; then "#monitor"), and its cruising around 50fps, but after a couple hours, its down below 10fps and even stuff like the time delay for your kill money rewards is delayed (notice its instantaneous at the beginning, but toward the end, not to much)

[USMCLuke 10]

So when are you going to give us another update to test out, Proton?

[Proton 11]

As soon as I finished the arty. I have less time these weeks, but I hope I can do it soon, hopefully in the next couple of days.

[The.Yield 10]

As soon as I finished the arty. I have less time these weeks, but I hope I can do it soon, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Can't wait, Proton! Again, best Warfare mod out there. Fundamental changes that actually mean something as opposed to the non-sense fluff you get in other warfare mods.

[greenpsycho 10]

Well, patching now and will report back on 1.03 compatibility

[greenpsycho 10]

seems to hold up fine, in fact, because of the patches AI tweaks, the supply trucks, in fact every vehicle performs alot better. This the first match I've actually forgot about my supply trucks, because they performed perfectly.

Proton, how hard would it be to include some sort of a script to ensure HQ's are X amount of distance from the ocean? Just asking because, yup, the commander setup vehicle and aircraft plants in the ocean, so all my choppers spawn and then blow up :(

[Proton 11]

Commander placement needs a lot of improvement. For now, I recommend taking it over from him at the start by voting and deploy it properly. You can give it back later.

I have imported all the changes in the warfare module of the 1.03 update - there were only a few. As BIS did not release a dedicated server yet, it is harder to test the changes on one machine as arma2.exe -server uses the same .rpt file as the client.

[USMCLuke 10]

Dedicated server has been released.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=5823

Can we get an updated version for your mod, Proton? I'm in the process of updating our server to v1.03.

Edited August 6, 2009 by USMCLuke

[greenpsycho 10]

Commander placement needs a lot of improvement. For now, I recommend taking it over from him at the start by voting and deploy it properly. You can give it back later.

yeah....about that, he likes to rebuild all the buildings I've already setup, for whatever reason. Its like he's scripted to build the buildings, whether they are prexisting or built by another commander or not. Very weird (again, I know its not your fault, there is still a mountain of coding issues BIS needs to sort through)

[USMCLuke 10]

We have the same problem at times. Just make sure you're not building the buildings too far from the MHQ (i.e. on/near the edge of the placement range). If you move the MHQ after you've built buildings and they fall outside this range, they will no longer be recognized.

Also, if you don't take over immediately at the start of the match, occasionally the AI Cmdr will continue to build back at the original starting location if you've moved it.

[greenpsycho 10]

Hey Proton, I was messing around with some other mods and I thought a couple of them had some pretty good ideas that might help out some:

-dynamic weather. They had written a script so the weather is constantly changing (fog, lightning storms, rain, etc). Its quite nice because in conjunction with fast time, it really feels like a persistent place

-aircraft spawning. One mod removed airplanes to be bought as units from the aircraft plant, rather, you would call in an airplane via the action menu while in your base, and the plane would spawn in the sky above you. If you wanted to fly, just direct him to disembark at the nearest runway and you can hop in. I thought this might be an easy way to fix the airplane issue I think we are all dealing with. Don't get me wrong, its nice BIS put them in, but with the build and commander glitch (which still seems prevalent in 1.03), it makes enjoying the airplanes very hard because there is so much leg work to do

[Proton 11]

Ok guys, here comes the one with arty. I had a really hard time to put this part together as I had to twist the original code a lot to get the arty and the secop modules working on a dedicated server. I hope there are no major bugs.

New additions in 1.2:

+ Added artillery.

+ Found a workaround which made the addon unnecessary.

+ Added more weapons/vehicles.

+ Merged with changes of the 1.03 update.

+ Fixed game ending with a single deployed MHQ.

+ Fixed: base construction menu for non-AI first commander.

+ Increased starting money to $1000.

+ Increased minimum side starting distance to 4km.

+ Changed MHQ repair cost to $15000.

---------- Post added at 07:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:21 AM ----------

About the AI issues: IMHO warfare, or at least this version makes much less sense with a static base.

The regular warfare had the major problem of forcing sides to build a fixed base, as moving the MHQ was very risky (a guy hiding with a Javelin could end the game). As both sides has enough firepower to obliterate a base quite easily towards the end of the game, the finale became a peek-a-boo where the first to find the enemy base wins.

The mod intented to circumwent this by making the MHQ more easy to manoeuver and encourage the commander to build more bases, so destroying a single base cannot end the game. This is very hard to do well with a scripted AI commander, so I always had a human commander in my mind at the first place. *Always* have a human commander or you are deemed to loose.

[USMCLuke 10]

Thanks for pushing out an update, Proton! We've been sorely needing it. We were running Chernarus Life a bit in the interim since v1.03 came out and that mod will cause complete anarchy on a server. Thanks again for the hard work and we'll report back any bugs we find as usual.

[Desiderius 0]

Hey nice work Proton,

we will give it again a try. The First Build MHQ problem was really bad and we are all really happy that you fixed it.

Greetings

[USMCLuke 10]

Here's some notes I posted up for my guys regarding arty. Many of the bugs I know are just there and aren't your fault Proton, but I didn't find one that would break it all together. Keep in mind I tested it alone on our dedicated server, and only used it for about an hour.

1. Only one person should be running the arty missions per team, just trust me on this... You feed them some cash and give them a grid and a landmark within that grid (or divide it into 9 sectors so going left to right, top down you end up with NW, N, NE, W, Center, E, SW, S, SE).

2. Only put one man on an arty piece, for testing I used basic riflemen. 81's have two spots, and Howie's three, but again, just trust me on this. There's no obvious gain, but it will cause bugs if you use more whether you include them in the fire mission or not.

3. Wait until all men have rejoined your squad to start another fire mission.

4. Be ready (and willing) to have to enter the Construction mode and Delete arty pieces and shoot AI troops. Having the Cmdr place other defenses may help with some of this...

5. There is a maximum as well as a minimum range. Sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't.

6. It doesn't tell you this outright, but after you reply with "1" during the mission, open your map up and the next left click on the map will be the target of the fire mission. After the green icon appears, the fire mission will continue.

7. When in doubt (or after lots of Foxtrot Uniforms), delete all arty pieces, send all riflemen to AI squads and wait about 10-15 mikes.

8. Sometimes you will not get your men back, at all, and that arty piece will then need to be removed.

All in all, it works pretty well. I was able to FO my 81's and they were awesome. I leveled Novy in about 15 mikes. I didn't really kill a lot, only an infantry squad or so (the BRDM's kept moving around too much), but it was a thrill. Hearing the actual proper reporting over the radio was sick. Splash is a little off, but the rounds were always on target. This is going to add a whole new element to Warfare.

I didn't elaborate for my guys, since I'll chat with them later today, but I will here. The reason for #1 is this... The need to delete arty pieces and control the troops manning them requires someone be at the HQ (or wherever the arty is) to keep a handle on things. If arty pieces get built and then screw up the script, they need to be removed, and the guys manning them sent away. If the aforementioned belong to someone else, you can't do this, unless you're the Commander, but sometimes even he can't remove them and they have to be satcheled.

This is still the best implementation of arty I have yet to see, good work Proton!

Edited August 10, 2009 by USMCLuke