Upcoming big game needs tester/stressers

[panda123 10]

no bugs for me excellent game well made thanks :)

[bushlurker 46]

Great Game!

Excellent fun... nice 2 actually play alongside some of you guys!

Bugs? - none really except maybe that non-critical "glasses" thingy that cropped up...

In-game... well, the captured T90 arriving at the base caused a little confusion - that's OK - it's a T90 after all! confusion is good, confusion is real in that situation...

The fact it set the Base under Attack Alert off was perhaps a little too realistic... I was an inch from toasting it when that happened... just in case it was a Cunning OPFOR after all... Not sure what can be done about that though...

Secondly, a few people seemed to be missing their name tag... some sort of JIP thing there maybe?

Microniggles both... hardly "bugs"...

Otherwise... best fun I've had in ages!

Thanks guys!!!

B

[Tankbuster 1747]

That was really good. Thank you all for helping. Further action reports to follow, plus lots of screenshots I hope. I got some cool vid that I'll bung up soon.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

One of the best games I've played in a while. Didn't have any bugs. Only "Hiccup" i had was when somebody nailed that Mi-8 and it dropped on kdjac's head and nearly on mine.

*Sorry about me crashing with you and that hooker still in the bird kdjac*

One suggestion. Look into replacing the current CH-53 with SFC. Itzhak's version. Then you would also have a CH-46 you could use.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Darkhorse 1-6

[bushlurker 46]

If actual addon suggestions are OK, then an MH-6 might be fun for some of those tricky rooftop rescues!... maybe as a prize in a sidemission?...

B

[ballistic09 241]

I had a pretty good time.

Here's the only screenshots I grabbed... it's of the village we completely leveled. :p

Thanks for the fun times!

[Tankbuster 1747]

If actual addon suggestions are OK, then an MH-6 might be fun for some of those tricky rooftop rescues!... maybe as a prize in a sidemission?...

B

Noted.

---------- Post added at 07:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 AM ----------

Well, thanks to everyone. We had 17 players for much of the evening. If I'm honest, I was hoping for more, but we'll run another test soon.

The server hardware held up fine. We had players from all over all reporting a good ping and while people had some desynch for some of the time, no one reported any real lag problems. I did see Ballistic lag and warp a bit and he reported a problem with a '60 not hitching, but another pilot can along and it worked just fine. Ballistic _is_ in the US, so if there was going to be lag problems, it was going to be him or his team mates who saw them, but they reported them acceptable. In the end, we played for over 3 hours before numbers dwindled. Lincks and me were in there 'till gone midnight.

Pog led a squad admirably, despite me forgetting I wasn't in charge of the squad we were in. :) Nice job, mate.

I've never run a game that big before and I'm grateful to everyone who offered suggestions. I will take on board what you all said and I can make better briefings in future. I used to coping with 6 blokes, not nearly 20. :) Teamplay was good and disciplined, there wasn't a problem with team kills and comms was nice and tight and not spammed with too much offtopic.

Highlights? For us in Alpha, having our '60 airlifting an MHQ between side missions when a SU-34 on it's way to main mission spotted us and chased us through the valleys for a few minutes. I don't remember who was piloting the '60, but you did a really good job - so much so that the SU-34 ran out of missiles and had to switch to guns to eventually knock us down. Even with a wounded bird, you still got the MHQ to within driving distance of the objective, before 'landing' the damaged aircraft. :) Epic flying. Mentioned in dispatches, whoever you are.

Sekra - really good job as medic. You really worked hard and kept the number of deaths on Alpha right down, well played mate.

Cjph watched my back on more than one occasion and saved it with a nicked RPG, good shot on that tank. Appreciated. :)

Max flew well. Worked hard at the controls of the helos and of course Ze_one, who quite simply, killed lots and lots of enemy dudes!

Oh, and not forgetting me. I got to utter Sgt Brad 'Iceman' Colbert's immortal line from Generation Kill. "There are men in the trees"

Over on the other squad, delta. I didn't play in their team, but I'd like to give a special mention to Bushlurker who signed up as a player, got pressganged into being a squad leader then busted back to a squaddie when we didn't fill the teams up. Played well too.

What's for the future? I think more enemies, particularly at main mission. We simply didn't have enough targets, particularly armour. I also think smaller squads and thus, less players. The squad doing the side missions often had little to do until they rotated into main mission duties. I need to fix the medic scoring and look into why the vehicle reload script bombed out. Also for the future... more of the same, that was really good fun and I thank everyone for it.

[maddogx 13]

I found the test game yesterday to be quite enjoyable, although the delayed start rather limited my time in-game. Aside from the occasional stint in Charlie Foxtrot (which has been a while), I haven't played much Arma2 MP and it was pretty much my first time ever playing Domination. Overall it was a lot of fun, the side missions were rather cool and there was a fair amount of teamwork going on. :)

I did notice some things that may need improving though:

- The network bandwidth settings in the server configs could use some tweaking. Especially helicopters in flight seemed to jitter a lot, even when they were close by.

- It may be an idea to add a kind of mobile AI driven "air taxi" (UH-60 or whatever), as paradropping into side missions often left me stranded miles away from the action and forced me to respawn at base. It would be great if you could call for pickup via the action menu, have an AI pilot fly out to get you and then drop you off back at base. (Or possibly at a destination of your choosing.)

- This is really just personal preference, but I believe the choice of weapons was far too big and unrestricted. I think it should be limited depending on what class you are, otherwise almost everyone is just running around with an XM8 and a SMAW. I found it weird to be playing a medic who was equipped with what was essentially a scoped machine gun, a grenade launcher and heavy AT capability. ;)

- I was unable to complete one of the side missions because I couldn't enter a vehicle. This was probably related to the fact that no one could see my name (I just showed up as "Corpsman"), so probably an Arma2 bug.

That's all from me for now. I was planning to take some screenshots, but completely forgot about it, so no image material from me I'm afraid. :o

[Tankbuster 1747]

I found the test game yesterday to be quite enjoyable, although the delayed start rather limited my time in-game. Aside from the occasional stint in Charlie Foxtrot (which has been a while), I haven't played much Arma2 MP and it was pretty much my first time ever playing Domination. Overall it was a lot of fun, the side missions were rather cool and there was a fair amount of teamwork going on. :)

Yeah, sorry about the slow start. It'll be better next time. I was still coding the mission 15 minutes before kickoff :) Teamwork was good, I was impressed by that.

- The network bandwidth settings in the server configs could use some tweaking. Especially helicopters in flight seemed to jitter a lot, even when they were close by.

If you were in Alpha. that might have been because we had Americans flying the helos and they did lag a tiny bit. A laggy pilot will make his helo jitter. That said, the bandwidth stuff is untouched by me, I'll accept any advice on that front.

- It may be an idea to add a kind of mobile AI driven "air taxi" (UH-60 or whatever), as paradropping into side missions often left me stranded miles away from the action and forced me to respawn at base. It would be great if you could call for pickup via the action menu, have an AI pilot fly out to get you and then drop you off back at base. (Or possibly at a destination of your choosing.)

There is an AI airtaxi function in one of the versions. I might be able to enable it. To be honest, what you found was partly by design. I wanted the squads to move around by helo/MHQ/truck to encourage teamwork.

- This is really just personal preference, but I believe the choice of weapons was far too big and unrestricted. I think it should be limited depending on what class you are, otherwise almost everyone is just running around with an XM8 and a SMAW. I found it weird to be playing a medic who was equipped with what was essentially a scoped machine gun, a grenade launcher and heavy AT capability. ;)

The medic is restricted a little, he has less slots than other players. As long as he can do his medic duties it's up to him what he carries, but I agree, he shouldn't start impinging on the role of the AT specialists. That's down to the squad leader to enforce. I don't know if it's possible to enforce class weps in game code. We can look into that.

I was unable to complete one of the side missions because I couldn't enter a vehicle. This was probably related to the fact that no one could see my name (I just showed up as "Corpsman"), so probably an Arma2 bug.

Some of the names things can be confusing. Did you look in the status menu/settings and check the names and markers bit? I did notice that some freindlies weren't marked properly too, but that's always happened in Domination, to an extent. Not being able to get in a veh might have been score related. Did it happen right at the start of the game or when you had a negative score? If it happened later, it might have been lag. *edit* just thought.. the veh you couldn't enter was it an enemy one? Some of the side mission enemy vehicles are locked by design.

Thanks for your comments, I will look at everything that's said here and thanks for coming and helping out.

---------- Post added at 08:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 AM ----------

Nice pics, Ballistic, thanks. :) Might want to resize them, they're over the 100k limit. :)

Edited April 20, 2010 by Tankbuster

[maddogx 13]

If you were in Alpha. that might have been because we had Americans flying the helos and they did lag a tiny bit. A laggy pilot will make his helo jitter. That said, the bandwidth stuff is untouched by me, I'll accept any advice on that front.

Come to think of it, I believe the pilot was an American. Darkhorse if I'm not mistaken. I guess that was what caused the jitter.

There is an AI airtaxi function in one of the versions. I might be able to enable it.

Sounds good. It would definitely be useful. :)

The medic is restricted a little, he has less slots than other players. As long as he can do his medic duties it's up to him what he carries, but I agree, he shouldn't start impinging on the role of the AT specialists. That's down to the squad leader to enforce. I don't know if it's possible to enforce class weps in game code. We can look into that.

It would basically require adding different weapons and magazines to the crates for each player. I believe the commands (addWeaponCargo and addMagazineCargo) have local effect, so this should work without major workarounds. Of course players could then still exchange weapons and mags by dropping them, but whatever.

Some of the names things can be confusing. Did you look in the status menu/settings and check the names and markers bit? I did notice that some freindlies weren't marked properly too, but that's always happened in Domination, to an extent. Not being able to get in a veh might have been score related. Did it happen right at the start of the game or when you had a negative score? If it happened later, it might have been lag.

Nope, it was definitely a bug. Other people saw me only as "Corpsman" (when pointing the cursor at me), and there was one other guy on our team who showed up as "Machinegunner". I was marked correctly on the map though. Rarius suspected it was a JIP problem.

As for my issues getting into the vehicle, it was definitely the correct one - and a team mate who showed up a few minutes after me was able to get in without any problems. The option just didn't show up for me. The vehicle was empty by the way (the side mission was to steal it) and my rating/score was certainly quite positive after killing 12 enemy soldiers and one vehicle. :D

Thanks for your comments, I will look at everything that's said here and thanks for coming and helping out.

No problem. I'll be happy to join in with any future tests.

[Tankbuster 1747]

Come to think of it, I believe the pilot was an American. Darkhorse if I'm not mistaken. I guess that was what caused the jitter.

Sounds good. It would definitely be useful. :)

It would basically require adding different weapons and magazines to the crates for each player. I believe the commands (addWeaponCargo and addMagazineCargo) have local effect, so this should work without major workarounds. Of course players could then still exchange weapons and mags by dropping them, but whatever.

[tanky] I was thinking of checking the specialists loadouts every few seconds. If a medic has AT, take it off him. Perfectly doable.[/tanky]

Nope, it was definitely a bug. Other people saw me only as "Corpsman" (when pointing the cursor at me), and there was one other guy on our team who showed up as "Machinegunner". I was marked correctly on the map though. Rarius suspected it was a JIP problem.

[tanky] yeah we had that too. game or mission bug that I can't fix [/tanky]

As for my issues getting into the vehicle, it was definitely the correct one - and a team mate who showed up a few minutes after me was able to get in without any problems. The option just didn't show up for me. The vehicle was empty by the way (the side mission was to steal it) and my rating/score was certainly quite positive after killing 12 enemy soldiers and one vehicle. :D

[tanky]Possibly lag related. If not, unlikely something I can fix.[/tanky]

No problem. I'll be happy to join in with any future tests.

Cool. Apologies for inline quoting. Gotta rush out soon.

[kMaN175 34]

Thanks for hosting the MP lastnight we had alot of fun!

I like the fact that the wreck helo was a 53 vs a Hawk that really can't sling vehicles & A/C hulks.

Leaving the server pw'd and posting the pw is the way to go to avoid getting the unwanted joiners.

[Maxmcg 10]

Highlights? For us in Alpha, having our '60 airlifting an MHQ between side missions when a SU-34 on it's way to main mission spotted us and chased us through the valleys for a few minutes. I don't remember who was piloting the '60, but you did a really good job - so much so that the SU-34 ran out of missiles and had to switch to guns to eventually knock us down. Even with a wounded bird, you still got the MHQ to within driving distance of the objective, before 'landing' the damaged aircraft. :) Epic flying. Mentioned in dispatches, whoever you are.

That was me. "landed" with one bar of health, so I guess someone farted or a leaf fell on a rotor blade.

All in all great fun. Hopefully even more will join next time.

[panda123 10]

suggestions :

- why not puting minefield ?

- more ennemies soldiers

- ennemies soldiers preparing ambushes in the forest and on the roads

- fortifications

I'll be ready for another test, thanks all :)

[cjph 0]

Never played on such a populated server before and had a real blast (our public 'HSLD' server has hosted 10 people before but the mix of players generally leads to the usual issues). I liked the squads swapping between side and main missions since our usual format is get some armour and air assets via side missions before a final assault on the current main target - though we are usually two coop players. My previous idea for Domination was for a preset time to knock off side missions and get as much kit as possible to assist with a large assault on one of the key towns, which starts at a specific time (and hence adds to the pressure and allows players to schedule timings with RL). Just an idea, since I'm not a coder or mission maker so have a simple view of the world.

I did not experience any bugs or problems other than those mentioned and typical Arma2 funnies like parachutes hanging in the sky, bouncing vehicles etc. The BTR90 at the first Alpha objective driving around on its own caused a bit of confusion at first, which was no bad thing as it kept people on their toes.

Some suggestions :

- As per other suggestions a password on the server to stop the jitters about a crash due to an ACE user joining.

- Could people sign up in advance in terms of role they want to play, preferred teams etc. ?

- I think an overall commander would be useful to drive the strategy. Nothing too heavy, simply to act as a focal point, distribute info and keep everyone legal.

I only got one boring screenshot of Alpha in a transit chopper, with the A10 providing cover. If I can work out to append it I'll add later when back at my machine.

Was a lot of fun playing with you all.

[Sekra 10]

There is an AI airtaxi function in one of the versions. I might be able to enable it. To be honest, what you found was partly by design. I wanted the squads to move around by helo/MHQ/truck to encourage teamwork.

My suggestion for this would be a dedicated airtaxi squad. I know that in public games there is 90% of the time someone who is willing to be a dedicated taxi pilot.

[Tankbuster 1747]

I like the fact that the wreck helo was a 53 vs a Hawk that really can't sling vehicles & A/C hulks.

Leaving the server pw'd and posting the pw is the way to go to avoid getting the unwanted joiners.

Re the 53, I'm considering doing away with the wreck chopper and the rebuild point. We simply don't need it. We won stuff quicker than the guys could crash it. :)

Passworded.. I agree. There will be more testing and in the final game, there'll be a signup webpage where people can put their preferences for squad, their abilities.. stuff like that.

---------- Post added at 01:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------

That was me. "landed" with one bar of health, so I guess someone farted or a leaf fell on a rotor blade.

All in all great fun. Hopefully even more will join next time.

I thought it was you. A masterful piece of stick jockeying. :) I've never seen a sooky run out of missiles and have to switch to guns before to take down an air target!

---------- Post added at 02:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:59 PM ----------

suggestions :

- why not puting minefield ?

- more ennemies soldiers

- ennemies soldiers preparing ambushes in the forest and on the roads

- fortifications

I'll be ready for another test, thanks all :)

Minefields are too hard, but more enemies, you can count on it. Basically, I was beefing up the OPFOR 15 minutes before game time, but buggered up the code - didn't have time to fix it and rolled back to a previous version.

There will be enemy patrols all over the island in the future, also, fast time. The only reason there wasn't last time was because the server admin forgot when the server restarted. (looks at Rarius :))

---------- Post added at 02:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------

Never played on such a populated server before and had a real blast (our public 'HSLD' server has hosted 10 people before but the mix of players generally leads to the usual issues). I liked the squads swapping between side and main missions since our usual format is get some armour and air assets via side missions before a final assault on the current main target - though we are usually two coop players. My previous idea for Domination was for a preset time to knock off side missions and get as much kit as possible to assist with a large assault on one of the key towns, which starts at a specific time (and hence adds to the pressure and allows players to schedule timings with RL). Just an idea, since I'm not a coder or mission maker so have a simple view of the world.

I did not experience any bugs or problems other than those mentioned and typical Arma2 funnies like parachutes hanging in the sky, bouncing vehicles etc. The BTR90 at the first Alpha objective driving around on its own caused a bit of confusion at first, which was no bad thing as it kept people on their toes.

Some suggestions :

- As per other suggestions a password on the server to stop the jitters about a crash due to an ACE user joining.

- Could people sign up in advance in terms of role they want to play, preferred teams etc. ?

- I think an overall commander would be useful to drive the strategy. Nothing too heavy, simply to act as a focal point, distribute info and keep everyone legal.

I only got one boring screenshot of Alpha in a transit chopper, with the A10 providing cover. If I can work out to append it I'll add later when back at my machine.

Was a lot of fun playing with you all.

Timer on main mission would be too hard to add at this late stage of mission development, but I agree, it's a fine idea.

I noticed no hanging parachutes too, usually we DO get them. Most odd!

Overall commander is a possible. One of the things we do need to sort out is squad leader comms. the only was SL's could talk was in text chat which is not ideal. The plan is for them to have there own channel and for one SL to be in overall charge.

There is a way to autokick ACE joiners. It was detailed here on BIS forums, but we couldn't make it work. I'm going to look into it more.

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 PM ----------

My suggestion for this would be a dedicated airtaxi squad. I know that in public games there is 90% of the time someone who is willing to be a dedicated taxi pilot.

I agree. I'm going to put a pilot in every squad.

I've been looking into the limited weapons stuff. It turns out the functionality is already in the mission, we just don't use it. WTG Xeno! I can specify a list of allowed weaponry for each slot. What I plan to do is stop the majority of specialists taking AT - Medics, Pilots, Snipers and probably engineers. We have 2 AT specialists plus later on, crushing air power, we don't need medics running around with SMAW.

By the way, in the final game, there are substantial prizes for top players. Your medic action was outstanding. I, and I'm sure the rest of Delta were REALLY impressed with your work as medic. I died 8 times during a 3.5 hour game. ONLY 8 times, that's unheard of for me and I put much of that down to your medic skills. in a 3 hour game, I'd often be looking at 20-40 deaths. If last nights game were the real thing, I'd put your name down for the top prize.

which is a TIR5 system

[cjph 0]

Random patrols would be a good addition - especially if they are motorized and so pack some punch. Does the server load prevent adding background life, ie civvies in towns and tractors in the fields ? Just to add a little more stress for players.

I also like using the Mando mod because there are usually only a small number of users when I play, and the flexibility of the added support helps in small coop games. I don't think you would need it with players manning Harriers and A10s but might be useful when there are only a few people around. It does'nt get sweeter than calling in a harrier bomb run at dusk.

[PogMoThoin 10]

Could the squads be made smaller? I'm not used to so many in the squad and just let people play as they wished, everyone knew what their role was and just got on with it, I'm sure this is why it worked so well. 8-10men is too much for the side missions when small groups of 4-6 would work better. With so many men it was slightly disorientaning at times.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

A dedicated 4 or 5 man squad that deals only with Side missions, and defends the base when waiting for the next one would be a good idea.

My suggestions

-swap the CH-53 addon for SFC. Itzhaks birds, so you can replace the Osprey with the CH-46.

-Maybe look into using the R3F Artillery and Logistics script. It allows you to tow arty pieces, load sandbag walls, tents, machineguns, etc. etc. into trucks so that you can actually build a small camp area around your MHQ. It also allows human players to call in precise artillery strikes.

A Forward Observer calls in a firemission. The Fire Control guy relays the firemission to the artillery battery, and the humans on the artillery input the information relayed from the FO and open fire. Normally one spotting round, probably best to use smoke just in case the FO got the coords wrong.

*If you use this you would probably need to put some sandbags, bunkers, and defensive items on the base, so that the trucks could go to this "depot" and load them.

-Much tougher AI.

-Is it possible to disable teleporting to the MHQ, while still being able to spawn there if you die? If so you should experiment with doing that.

Other than a little bit of jumpyness on my end it was a great game. Looking forward to the next one, if there is one.

[Tankbuster 1747]

Could the squads be made smaller? I'm not used to so many in the squad and just let people play as they wished, everyone knew what their role was and just got on with it, I'm sure this is why it worked so well. 8-10men is too much for the side missions when small groups of 4-6 would work better. With so many men it was slightly disorientaning at times.

Are you following me around? :D Just this morning I said to Rarius I wanted to make the squads smaller, for the very reasons you give here.

---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

A dedicated 4 or 5 man squad that deals only with Side missions, and defends the base when waiting for the next one would be a good idea.

I think it's likely we'll reduce all the squad sizes, probly to 6 or 7.

---------- Post added at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------

-swap the CH-53 addon for SFC. Itzhaks birds, so you can replace the Osprey with the CH-46.

.

Looking into that. We don't have the opsrey in that mission.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 PM ----------

-Much tougher AI.

Yeah, and more of them too.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 PM ----------

-Is it possible to disable teleporting to the MHQ, while still being able to spawn there if you die? If so you should experiment with doing that.

That was already in the mission!

---------- Post added at 06:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 PM ----------

Other than a little bit of jumpyness on my end it was a great game. Looking forward to the next one, if there is one.

Definately there will be another one, within a week or so, I expect.

[Sekra 10]

I agree. I'm going to put a pilot in every squad.

Rather than having a pilot in all squads I would personally go for a 2-4 person squad with only pilots.. That way any team needing transport can call in any available chopper without having to wait for the chopper in "their team" to be ready.

And about my medic actions, I think I did only a decent job as at some point I did do a lot of other stuff than being a medic and did neglect my duties as a medic to some degree. At least compared to the standard we have in the games in our FinTac community. :)

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

*Just remembered what I thought it was missing. Norrins Revive script. I love that thing. I do understand it may not be the best for tournament play, but it does increase teamwork, and it can allow players to drag severely wounded players into aircraft/vehicles and get them MEDEVAC'd

[kdjac 19]

Only issue i had when the chopper crashed i went minus 4 and couldnt leave the base for a while :(

Other than that would let the makers stick whatever they want into it.

Easily the best organised game of Arma i have played with so many players.

[Tankbuster 1747]

Only issue i had when the chopper crashed i went minus 4 and couldnt leave the base for a while :(

Oversight on my part, easily fixed.

---------- Post added at 08:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 PM ----------

*Just remembered what I thought it was missing. Norrins Revive script. I love that thing. I do understand it may not be the best for tournament play, but it does increase teamwork, and it can allow players to drag severely wounded players into aircraft/vehicles and get them MEDEVAC'd

I'm not convinced if I'm honest. :)

---------- Post added at 08:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

Rather than having a pilot in all squads I would personally go for a 2-4 person squad with only pilots.. That way any team needing transport can call in any available chopper without having to wait for the chopper in "their team" to be ready.

Rarius and I are thrashing this out right now. :)