Need help creating M29 CSW, some questions

[Fox '09 14]

I have no experience with configs. So talk to me like I'm 5 years old :p

Basically, I am creating the M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System (tactical nuclear recoilless gun) for ArmA 2. My freind has got the models done (will post pics ASAP). I think I can handle the O2 stuff (maybe not proxies, but they seem easy.. I'll give it a try).

I think I will contact whoever made the ACE nuke and talk to them about how to implement their system in my weapon system. As for particles, I am not sure how to start with them. I have a feeling this is the hardest part of my project..

Model names / Class names

So I'll start with the "class names" and such i will be using. Don't know how classnames work, I have a feeling they're just for units and ammo etc. Either way, the models will be named after these.

Pack and Unpacked mean what goes on the units back, and what goes on the ground

Name (what it is)

Ammo

DC_M388 (projectile (ammo...))

DC_M388_pack (obviously too big to fit in the regular weapon slots. It'll be cheesy, but hey - it's a game. Will go on back and might/will be smaller.

Legs

pack is for on the unit's back, ground is for on the ground (see the CSWs in ACE mod. you place separate parts..

DC_LegsPack

DC_LegsGround

Launchers (body, you place on top of legs) will be two of them since it's probably big.

DC_LauncherPack1

DC_LauncherUnpack1

DC_LauncherPack2

DC_LauncherUnpack2

Complete

DC_Loaded

DC_Unloaded

Scripts

Targeting

I was thinking along the lines of the artillery style targeting system (move around the weapon and you find where it lands on a small map) OR just a simple chart saying with every 100 meters, this is what you need to do.

Damage

Damage will be similar to an ACE nuke, with modified blast/damage radius so it fits the M388. I believe this is a simple edit of their system configs. Of course, I need to talk to the guy who made the ACE nuke about this. On the ACE nukes, radiation lands within 30 mins.. perhaps a reasonable 15 minutes or less for this? Thoughts?

CSW

I want this to work like other ACE mod CSWs. Going to need lots of help with this one. Will use standard USMC units, as well as Vilas Project 85 units for the carriers.

Firing

Should be simple, make the projectile fly as the real one did. I will use real world data for this from various sources.

Particles

As for particles, this is what I want it to look like http://arstechnica.com/civis/download/file.php?id=7810 along with the ACE nuke shockwave.. (it is going to probably use their system, so it shouldn't be hard.. right?)

So i guess basically a messy looking mushroom cloud.

Sound

I just need to know how to implement sound. I can do the rest.

I know it is a lot. I probably won't need help with most things, as I will be reading some tutorials and such.

Progress:

Model - 80 percent (need to port and do LODs)

Configs - 0 percent

Scripts - 0 percent

Textures - 0 percent

thanks guys. Going to sleep soon (as of posting) so i will read your comments in the morning if I miss them

Edited May 16, 2010 by Fox '09

[Evil_Echo 11]

Summoned, I appear.

It's quite possible to wire up your DC to ACE nukes system. Mostly adding a fired eXtended Event Handler ( XEH ) entry to capture the launch of your warhead. That script will track its motion and invoke the detonation when it strikes the target area. Code in sys_nuke is designed to handle various yields dynamically so all you need to do in your config is specify the correct tonnage for that warhead.

[Fox '09 14]

thanks, I'll take a look into that stuff as I wait for the models :)

edit:

since I don't think any tut clearly shows how to make a CSW/Static weapon config, I was thinking I should check out existing CSWs (from ace??) and static weapons (possibly from Vilas's p85 pack)

Edited May 17, 2010 by Fox '09

[Evil_Echo 11]

How-to's are scarce indeed. Working on correcting that shortcoming.

[Fox '09 14]

cool.

The whole concept of a CSW seems to be quite an undocumented thing, since it is basically a deploy-able static weapon.. scripts do this, and I don't think I am able to create such scripts at my level. So I was thinking about using the configs from the ACE mod and giving full credit for them (as well as the scripts etc). Who should I PM about this?

[Evil_Echo 11]

I'm working on alternate documentation for ACE, with more details and better presentation that the current wagn system. It just takes time and I can only do so much each day.

If you wish to actually incorporate ACE code in your mod then you should post a ticket on their main site at dev-heaven and ask. Howerver, if you are just calling their routines or creating new configs that are subclasses of existing ACE items that should not be a big deal. Either way, it's always a good idea to give credit to people as thanks and acknowlegement of their effort.