PlannedAssault web based mission builder

[blackmamb 2]

Hey, regarding air assaults, did you add a new downwash dust effect? I remember playing one of my quick missions generated with PlannedAssault, and the dust effect from choppers was awesome. Those were choppers from Op. Frenchpoint I think. I can't reproduce such an effect, I'm wondering where that was conming from

[_William 0]

Hey, regarding air assaults, did you add a new downwash dust effect? I remember playing one of my quick missions generated with PlannedAssault, and the dust effect from choppers was awesome. Those were choppers from Op. Frenchpoint I think. I can't reproduce such an effect, I'm wondering where that was conming from

That wasn't me. I leave models, effects, audio, etc. to the specialists. Occasionally I add a script to enable certain effects already present in an add-on (snowflakes, unit designations on vehicles, etc). Normally I have my hands full with planning missions.

The down wash is an interaction between the terrain and the heli (some maps generate more dust, and low sun positions highlight this), and might be exaggerated by mods such as JTD's Fire and Smoke. Have a look there.

William

[blackmamb 2]

Yeah, that's what I thought, but it was worth asking. I'm pretty sure it was Blastcore then, but I can't seem to reproduce it. Or maybe I was on drugs.

Thanks for the answer!

[_William 0]

Any chance of Independent faction units?

I put in a request for PRACS, but even if you enabled NAPA or PMC, I could just change it later.

Would be awesome.

TIA :)

PMC (BLUFOR + OPFOR), Takistani Guerrilla (BLUFOR), and Takistani Militia (OPFOR) are coming up soon, thanks to Pachira's efforts. I'm doing some final tweaking and testing now.

Note that I'm not offering three-way fights, just BLUFOR against OPFOR. I'll make two PMC forces available (they fight for whoever pays them).

I wouldn't mind adding PRACS but lack the time to figure out define all the units.

William

[_William 0]

With help from Pachira's the following new units: Takistani Militia (OPFOR) and Takistani Guerrillas (BLUFOR), and PMC (both OPFOR and PMC). I've updated the Isla Duala terrain because IceBreakr made significant improvements (adding roads and cities, such as Dendala district shown below); these are now reflected in the 2D map for mission planning and in the missions itself. Added the new units introduced by the Dutch Armed Forces add-on.

In addition, I've been experimenting with Dingor, Tarinkot and Taviana and running into snags with each of them. For Dingor, my planner does a bad job picking river crossings (and the map basically consists of river crossings with islands in between). In Tarinkot, a beautiful Afghan city, we're suffering from the Arma2 AI inability to detect and fix 'stuck vehicles'; I'm almost guaranteed to have a IFV get stuck on a wall and delay / stop mission progress. On Taviana, the Arma2 AI is unable to cross the amazing 1km bridge (it gets half-way and then intends to cut corners, getting stuck). Also on Taviana, the AI vehicles tend to pick hillsides to steep to drive up and stay there forever with spinning wheels/tires.

It would be nice if BI (or someone else) would add a script or AI ability to (1) detect vehicles being stuck and (2a) continue with back & forth + random steering movement, (2b) cheat and destroy the blocking object, or (2c) cheat and re-position the vehicle away from the obstacle. It would improve the game experience and make life for mission developers a lot easier. With A3 coming up, this would be a great time to experiment with these kinds of fixes in A2 first.

William

[_William 0]

I've updated the PlannedAssault web front-end to simplify add-on selection for missions. In some cases (such as Arma2:CO), I couldn't see the wood for the trees with over 140 add-ons. In the new selection screen, the add-ons are grouped by theme, making it a lot easier to find and add, for example, helicopter add-ons or select cold war add-ons.

With mod selection now able to handle more mods, it was time to add two beauties: Konyo's SOAR(A) MH-47E special forces Chinooks, which come with a large crew, many guns and fast-roping capability. I've defined 'normal landing' and 'fast-roping' variants so you can control the type of troop insertion.

The other add-on is ExplosiveAids & Stiltman's RG-31 Mk5 Nyala's mine protected armored personel vehicle. The add-ons comes with markings for USMC and US Army, but lacks an US Army crewed variant. I've worked around this limitation in the unit database, and you can select a US Army marked and crewed RG-31 for your missions. See the screen shots.

With most of you picking the 'default' Arma2 and Arma2:OA maps for mission generation, I've increased your options with the Sakhe area in Takistan. The Sakhe area consists of high barren mountains with a few valleys separating them. Some villages and vegetation can be found in the valleys. Fighting in Sakhe is fighting for the valleys, the villages and the few mountain passes that are suitable for vehicles.

Next on my list is rolling out improvements to the attack generation, reducing the number of 'Cannot find maneuver space' problems. And Pachira's CWR2 guerrilla forces.

The timing might be influenced by VBS 2 2.0 being released sometime soon (said to combine the best of VBS2 with Arma2's graphics and a few of Arma3's innovations such as the "underwater stuff"), and Iron Front's DLC. We'll see...

William

[soldier2390 0]

When trying to drag and drop units from the "Available Units" into the "Selected Units BLUFOR" section but it will not let me drag anything? I know for a fact I have all required things as mentioned in the site, I even tried to install internet explorer 9 to make sure, but it wouldnt let me install it because it says I have a newer version already installed! And I have google chrome's latest version.

Dave,

[R0adki11 3949]

@_William i may have mentioned it previously, do you have a template for adding a mod to mission builder? As i would like to add my Nogovan Armed Forces Mod :)

[soldier2390 0]

Has anyone figured out how to get passed the "Oops! An internal error was encountered when planning this mission for you! The problem has been reported to the site administrator, who will look into the problem soon. We apologize for the inconvenience." Error encountered near the end of the mission making process?

Dave,

[_William 0]

Dave,

for your mission, you can work around this (and get the mission you intend to have) by moving all infantry elements (A, B, C) into the BLUFOR air cargo slots underneath the map on the 'positions' tab (just drag and drop them there).

What's causing the crash (and that's my mistake) is that without explicit cargo, the MH-47Es are tasked to execute gunship roles, but the planner lacks info how to do this. It should have this info, and shouldn't crash.

But you probably want your Delta Force grunts to be in the Chinooks...

William

(I do receive and check every 'planning problem', but I receive these rarely :) ).

[soldier2390 0]

Thanks much, this is a really outstanding thing you got going on here!

Dave,

[Juankar 1]

William, thanks for your effort. I'm enjoying every day. :)

I'm sure you already know awesome "VME The Chinese People's Liberation Army" mod. It have high quality infantry, vehicles and aircraft models.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14099

Please, could you add it for OPFOR and Independent forces?

Right now the only PLA force present in Planned Assault is aged ACEX Chinese PLA Units. Chinese army is a major force and has a lot of potential for mission makers that shouldn't be overlooked.

Cheers!

[soldier2390 0]

Dave,

for your mission, you can work around this (and get the mission you intend to have) by moving all infantry elements (A, B, C) into the BLUFOR air cargo slots underneath the map on the 'positions' tab (just drag and drop them there).

What's causing the crash (and that's my mistake) is that without explicit cargo, the MH-47Es are tasked to execute gunship roles, but the planner lacks info how to do this. It should have this info, and shouldn't crash.

But you probably want your Delta Force grunts to be in the Chinooks...

William

(I do receive and check every 'planning problem', but I receive these rarely ).

I have re-made my mission, started new but did it mostly the same, except now there is 4 (9)man SF Squads and a single (4)man SF Team all of which are now Dragged & Dropped into the Air Cargo section bellow the map screen, no ground forces on the map at all that are not in the Cargo section at the bottom of the screen. Only other vehicles are a pair of AH-6J's and one MH-6J(for transport of the 4-man SF Recon team) and 2 sets of MH-47E's sections(4 total, for the transport of the 9-man SF Squads). However still same error??

EDIT: I tried the same mission with MH-6J's instead of the MH-47E's, and it made the mission for me. I am about to try it out now.

Dave,

Edited December 9, 2012 by soldier2390

[_William 0]

William, thanks for your effort. I'm enjoying every day. :)

I'm sure you already know awesome "VME The Chinese People's Liberation Army" mod. It have high quality infantry, vehicles and aircraft models.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14099

Please, could you add it for OPFOR and Independent forces?

Right now the only PLA force present in Planned Assault is aged ACEX Chinese PLA Units. Chinese army is a major force and has a lot of potential for mission makers that shouldn't be overlooked.

Cheers!

I'll be happy to look into replacing the ACEX by VME provided you or someone else provide me a class list (a list of vehicle class names for all units, vehicles, static guns as they appear in the mission.sqm) for the VME add-on. It doesn't come with such a list, unlike some other mods. Without such a list, I'd have to inspecting a config file or put each unit into a mission and read the mission.sqm, which is very time consuming.

I have re-made my mission, started new but did it mostly the same, except now there is 4 (9)man SF Squads and a single (4)man SF Team all of which are now Dragged & Dropped into the Air Cargo section bellow the map screen, no ground forces on the map at all that are not in the Cargo section at the bottom of the screen. Only other vehicles are a pair of AH-6J's and one MH-6J(for transport of the 4-man SF Recon team) and 2 sets of MH-47E's sections(4 total, for the transport of the 9-man SF Squads). However still same error??

EDIT: I tried the same mission with MH-6J's instead of the MH-47E's, and it made the mission for me. I am about to try it out now.

Dave,

When I perform my next site update, I'll correct the info on the MH-47E and send you an email.

Please be aware that you have full control over which squad ends up in which heli by ordering your squads and helis the 'right' way, as explained here.

William

[Juankar 1]

I'll be happy to look into replacing the ACEX by VME provided you or someone else provide me a class list (a list of vehicle class names for all units, vehicles, static guns as they appear in the mission.sqm) for the VME add-on. It doesn't come with such a list, unlike some other mods. Without such a list, I'd have to inspecting a config file or put each unit into a mission and read the mission.sqm, which is very time consuming.

OK, I'll try to make a list myself. It's worth it.

[the chief 15]

William. Just to say thanks alot for creating the option, to play with Iron Front. Very much appreciated.

Well done:yay:

[Sakowski 1]

Would it perhaps be possible to add North Korean Army mod to the PlannedAssault?

Link:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?121677-Someguywho-s-North-Koreans

[pd3 25]

I recall there was somewhere on this forum a tool or something that allowed players to create missions with multiple generated waves of AI.

That is to say, they weren't generated until certain criteria was met to save on performance issues.

Does this utility do that? Or am I thinking of another one?

[pd3 25]

Its interesting, although the small total size of the forces involved is kind of disappointing, and the aerial drop feature is... not really useful.

I've made about three or four attempts to get a v22 osprey to make an aerial deployment and every time it takes WAY Too long to paradrop resulting in an extremely imprecise deployment.

I mean like without fail it always turns tail and dumps off troops over the water instead of at the intended drop site.

[_William 0]

Would it perhaps be possible to add North Korean Army mod to the PlannedAssault?

Link:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?121677-Someguywho-s-North-Koreans

Not planned yet. Thanks for pointing out there is a NK mod, wasn't aware of that.

I recall there was somewhere on this forum a tool or something that allowed players to create missions with multiple generated waves of AI.

That is to say, they weren't generated until certain criteria was met to save on performance issues.

Does this utility do that? Or am I thinking of another one?

Must be another one, probably Rydgier's HETMAN Artificial Commander.

Its interesting, although the small total size of the forces involved is kind of disappointing, and the aerial drop feature is... not really useful.

I've made about three or four attempts to get a v22 osprey to make an aerial deployment and every time it takes WAY Too long to paradrop resulting in an extremely imprecise deployment.

I mean like without fail it always turns tail and dumps off troops over the water instead of at the intended drop site.

Thanks for your feedback. My experience is that aerial drops can be problematic, but mostly with large planes and mountainous terrain, and for reasons that sadly are beyond my control: large planes sometimes fail to reach waypoints because the Arma2 AI don't attempt to fly along a Hermite curve through the waypoints but fly from waypoint to waypoint without any lookahead. This leads to waypoint overshoots, and large planes sometimes lack the ability to turn sharply enough to make the next waypoint. I have already increased the visit radius of waypoints for aircraft ingress paths to reduce the effect. The second issue is Arma2 AI pilots simply returning to the first waypoint and revisiting all subsequent waypoints.

If you check the mission.sqm that's being generated, you'll find all kinds of tweaks to improve the drop performance: aircraft are given a series of waypoints on a straight line to help them arrive at the drop zone from the right direction, a script is running in the background that aborts the drop if the aircraft fails cross the drop zone line (after I had been dropped in the water one times too many), Arma2 AI is set to ignore threats, etc.

Despite these issues, I've decided to offer the aerial drop feature; it is exciting to play, and aerial drops going FUBAR is in line with military history (The Hague, Crete, Normandy, Arnhem, Panama).

If you let me know the name of your aerial drop mission and leave the mission as-is for 48hrs, I'll take a look and see if I can make the drop more robust.

William

[Juankar 1]

Hi William, I've finally found a PLA unit list that may be useful!

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?73917-VME-PLA-MOD-for-ARMA-II/page48

This is it straight out of my code. Should be understandable enough.

first array is woodland,

2nd desert

3rd urban camo

4th airborne

5th marines

6th vehicles, most vehicles are described

mbPLAData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_SoldierC", "VME_PLA_SoldierC", "VME_PLA_SoldierC", "VME_PLA_SoldierC", 
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_G", "VME_PLA_SoldierC_G",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_Medic",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_LMG", "VME_PLA_SoldierC_LMG",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_MG", "VME_PLA_SoldierC_MG",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_marksman",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_AT",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_AT98",
"VME_PLA_SoldierC_AA",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper127",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Spotter"
], //troops
[
"VME_PLA_SquadLeaderC",
"VME_PLA_TeamLeaderC"
], //officers
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Medic"
], //sf troops
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_TeamLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_TeamLeader"
], //sf officers
[],
[],
[],
[["PLA W"]]
];

mbPLADData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_Soldier", "VME_PLA_Soldier", "VME_PLA_Soldier", "VME_PLA_Soldier", 
"VME_PLA_Soldier_G", "VME_PLA_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_LMG", "VME_PLA_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_MG", "VME_PLA_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_marksman",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_RPG",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_AT98",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper127",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Spotter"
], //troops
[
"VME_PLA_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TeamLeader"
], //officers
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Medic"
], //sf troops
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_TeamLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_TeamLeader"
], //sf officers
[],
[],
[],
[["PLA D"]]
];

mbPLAUrbanData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_SoldierT", "VME_PLA_SoldierT", "VME_PLA_SoldierT", "VME_PLA_SoldierT",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_G", "VME_PLA_SoldierT_G",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_Medic",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_LMG","VME_PLA_SoldierT_LMG",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_MG", "VME_PLA_SoldierT_MG",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_marksman",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_AT",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_AT98",
"VME_PLA_SoldierT_AA",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Sniper127",
"VME_PLA_Soldier_Spotter"
], //troops
[
"VME_PLA_SquadLeaderT",
"VME_PLA_TeamLeaderT"
], //officers
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Medic"
], //sf troops
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_TeamLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_TeamLeader"
], //sf officers
[],
[],
[],
[["PLA W", "PLA D"]]
];

mbPLAAirborneData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_marksman",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_G", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_RPG",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_AT98",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_LMG", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_MG", "VME_PLA_AP_Soldier_MG"
], //troops
[
"VME_PLA_AP_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_AP_TeamLeader"
], //officers
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Medic"
], //sf troops
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_TeamLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_TeamLeader"
], //sf officers
[],
[],
[],
[["PLA W", "PLA D"]]
];

mbPLAMarineData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_G", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_LMG", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_MG", "VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_marksman",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_AT98",
"VME_PLA_MR_Soldier_AA"
], //troops
[
"VME_PLA_MR_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_MR_TeamLeader"
], //officers
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_G",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Medic",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_LMG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_MG",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Engineer",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AT",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_AA",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sniper",
"VME_PLA_TZB_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Sabotage",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_Soldier_Medic"
], //sf troops
[
"VME_PLA_TZB_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_TeamLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_SquadLeader",
"VME_PLA_TZB_GL_TeamLeader"
], //sf officers
[],
[],
[],
[["PLA W", "PLA D"]]
];

mbPLAVehicleData =
[
[
"VME_PLA_Y9"
], //airdrop
[
"VME_PLA_Mi17",
"VME_PLA_Mi17",
"VME_PLA_Mi17",
"VME_PLA_Mi17",
"VME_PLA_z9"
], //transport helo
[
"VME_PLA_J10BH",
"VME_PLA_J10BH",
"VME_PLA_J10BH",
"VME_PLA_J10BH",
"VME_PLA_J10HD",
"VME_PLA_jh7",
"VME_PLA_jh7B",
"VME_PLA_jh7B",
"VME_PLA_jh7B",
"VME_PLA_jh7B",
"J20B"
], //CAS
[
"VME_PLA_z9", //ffar, 6 troops
"VME_PLA_wz10", //hellfires
"VME_PLA_wz10A"
], //gunship
[
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"VME_PLA_J10B",
"J20"
], //fighter
[
"VME_PLA_BJ2022", //unarmed
"VME_PLA_SX2190" //troop truck

], //camp veh
[
"VME_PLA_EQ2050", //hmmwv m2
"VME_PLA_KJB_EQ2050A", //hmmwv 23mm
"VME_PLA_KJB_EQ2050B", //hmmwv TOW
"VME_PLA_TZB_EQ2050B", //hmmwv TOW
"VME_PLA_ZBL09", //wheeled apc
"VME_PLA_ZBD03", //apc
"VME_PLA_ZBD04", //apc
"VME_PLA_ZBL09", //wheeled apc
"VME_PLA_ZBD03", //apc
"VME_PLA_ZBD04", //apc
"vme_pla_ztz96A", //tank
"VME_PLA_ZTZ99" //tank
], //combat veh
[
"VME_PLA_hq7", //brdm aa
"VME_PLA_PGZ2000", //guns and missiles
"VME_PLA_PGZ04" //guns and missiles
], //aa
[
"VME_PLA_PLZ05" //tank
], //arty
[
"VME_PLA_SX2190Refuel"
], //refuel
[
], //repair
[
"VME_PLA_SX2190Reammo"
], //reammo
[
], //ambulance
[
], //command
[
], //static aa
[
"VME_PLA_QJZ89",
"VME_PLA_QJZ89A"
], //static mg
[
"VME_PLA_HJ8"
], //static at
[
"VME_PLA_QlZ04"
], //static gl
[
"VME_PLA_PG59_base"
], //static arty
[
], //static mortar
[["PLA W", "PLA D"]]
];

Happy new year for all!!

[_William 0]

With this update, armored attacks in Arma2 OA/CO (and Iron Front) into defended positions have become a lot more dangerous, especially if the defender is given anti-tank capabilities. It's the first time I've seen weak skinned, AI crewed AT vehicles such as the TOW HMMWV actually defeat an attack. The secret: position these AI vehicles in spots where they are most likely to observe attackers from far, spread them out, and don't allow the gunner to bail out if the HMMWV gets lightly damaged.

PlannedAssault's defensive positioning has been improved to analyze better, and take analysis results into the mission where they are combined with lines-of-fire and presence of houses / bushes / trees to find better positions. A new script is able to move a single group's vehicles into spread out positions and keep them there until the group receives new orders. Infantry placement has also improved. This news post provides more details on defensive positioning.

These improvements works for Arma2 versions capable of terrainIntersect (Arma2 OA/CO and Iron Front). I can make it work for VBS2 2.0 as well, but would need to get my update from BISim first.

Screen shots: (1) improved defensive analysis, (2) hard to spot TOW HMMWV vehicle engaging, (3) Schwemlitz, (4) Vilas' 'Panamka' Soviet units and (5) Vilas' Soviet infantry with 6B2 vests.

To have more fun during the testing of "defensive positioning", I've added a large number of Soviet troops and vehicles (from Vilas' P85 Soviet pack). I knew Vilas had great artillery vehicles in his mod, but was seriously surprised by the presence of some 'Panamka' Afghan war Soviet infantry hidden in that mod. Great for creating cold war Aghanistan missions.

Another beauty is Schwemlitz: the terrain is a very accurate copy of an area in Northern Germany, just west of the former inner German border. It used to be part of the Dutch corps' sector, and is superb for cold war and modern day missions. One caveat: the makers even mimiced the exact layout of farms, back yards and used a lot of small roads to represent garden paths, drive ways etc. Arma2's AI has trouble dealing with this, and light vehicles run the risk of getting stuck. You can reduce problems by sticking to heavy armor, which is less likely to get stuck.

I've covered the Schwemlitz with two maps for mission generation (north and south).

William

[pinetree 0]

Thanks for fixing the problem with the vanilla ArmAII mission builder. I'm guessing all the error reports were coming from me :) Looking forward to giving it a crack now.

[ebarstad 18]

Hi _William,

I didn't see a place to send feedback on the Planned Assault site, but I wanted to say thanks for adding the Arma 3 Alpha to PA.

I generated a quick mission for A3, and I did run into a couple problems. The main one was that all the OPFOR units were missing their uniforms. :) Secondly, my unit kept calling out that they didn't have ammo and I think my player only had what was in his gun -- no extra magazines.

I only played the mission for a few minutes so I didn't see any problems beyond those. Cheers!

[_William 0]

Another updated with planner improvements, this time for the attacker. I've looked into all 'cannot find maneuver space' problems and tackled the majority of them. Missions with large groups of attackers on terrain offering sufficient space are more likely to generate well on the first try. The improvement works across the board, from missions for Arma1 through Arma3, Iron Front and VBS2 1.x. Hilly terrain with steep slopes remains challenging for the planner (just like mountain warfare is challenging for commanders).

New entries in the unit database: the additional units introduced in Cold War Rearmed2 (M2A2 Bradley, T-64, BRMD-2s, OH-58 Kiowa), and the Project 82 Pucara.

wrt Arma3:

I've also introduced support for Arma3, but will keep quiet about it in this thread. Ebarstad's problem was caused by an outdated version of a gear/uniform/backpack swapping script, and was fixed right away.

I'll be supporting Arma2 for a long time, being a fan myself of the Europeans theater covered by Arma2 and wide range of mods available for Arma2 and Arma2:OA.

William