Baraz

The issue or topic is not the difficulty as such (which is a very subjective point), as the discussion here shows : it is about how, if you do not trigger the proper objectives, the mission fails even if you were to kill everyone there. So the triggers (objectives) could be made clearer or they could be made more flexible (if the mission is done a bit differently).

The Arma 3 campaign mission Breaking Even has a few scripted tasks that are not obvious and can cause issues/frustration. I succeeded, to my great surprise after a few attempts, and feel it is necessary to share these useful tips as they can certainly be needed to succeed. These spoilers are rather necessary, as the mission will impose failures that have nothing to do with your tactics, your combat success, etc. I would dare say this mission has un-fun hurdles. 1) Introductory step - Shooting the two guards (difficulty: scripted tasks) What you must know : this first step has nothing at all to do with gear, weapons, accuracy or anything combat related. They are simple tasks to do following the scripted dialogue. a) The rebel leader will ask your squad to target the two guards... Select a part of your squad and target a first guard; select the rest and target the second guard. Do NOT fire yet. Voilà, the game will print a mission notice about succeeding that initial step. b) The rebel leader will then ask you to wait for his command to open fire and eliminate both guards quickly (to start a surprise attack). Once he gives his go-ahead, select your entire team and make them fire. Both guards will suddenly drop (it is scripted). Important : you (the player) must not fire until that first phase is done ! Only your squad mates are ordered to fire. I had to search the Internet to succeed, as naturally I tried to snipe them or gave the order a bit too late in the rather rigid script. TIP : do a save game immediately once that is done, to save you the hassle of doing it over and over again :P 2) Taking over the base (difficulty: easy) This part is generally easy and fun. If unlucky, you could lose a few squad members (I used my saved game). TIP : throw a few smoke grenades in the open field: in Arma 3, they greatly reduce the AI capacity to hit you. If you use the mod C2: Command & Control or GetTactical, you can also ask your squad to throw smoke on that field. Note : though it was not my case, many players have reported a bug where, after clearing the base, the game does not activate the next mission phase. If that happens, you may have to revert the mission and remove mods just in case (though the cause of this bug seems unknown). 3) Taking out the mortar (difficulty: time is important: move fast while fighting) Must know : the timer is ticking. If you take too much time, the last phase can become impossible (it happened to me: the supply truck was destroyed 100% because I was not fast enough). TIP : storm or rush towards the mortar position, while fighting the infantry that will try to stop you. Of course, when shooting, your squad and yourself will have to at least crouch once in a while, but you should not stop very long. TIP (alternate) from Lexx below : order your squad to defend base or a position near the base and rush the mortar alone (much faster, if you can kill or evade the defenders). 4) Regroup to defend the base (difficulty: no time to waste, hold fire and run for your life) TIP : at the second the mortar operator is down, don't wait : make your squad (and you) run non stop back. You really should ask your squad to Hold Fire, otherwise they will stop to fight. Do not fight : RUN and use the terrain to avoid being in the enemies line of sight. Reminder : having your weapon down (not in Battle Pace) makes you run a bit faster. Try it in the virtual training, you can see the speed difference. SPOILER ALERT - this following tip is not really necessary. You may ignore it and see for yourself :P -- Though I was getting discouraged at first, I am proud to say that I succeeded with only one KIA in my squad! (he did not get the order to Hold Fire and stayed back to fight at the base, very heroic of him ; select all squad does not always select all team members). Secondary Tip : Did you know that when the map is shown before the mission starts, you can change your teams loadouts! Holy f... not obvious. In the Team menu on that initial mission map, you can change the inventory (weapons and the likes; not armor). For example, you could take the RPG-42 and rockets from an AI, and put them in your own gear. Final tip : if you like using the squads and keeping them alive, I highly recommended one of the voice command tools. Commands are confusing otherwise. I use the one called Articulate (made for Arma 3. It works out of the box: just set Commands to their default keybindings), along with C2: Command & Control (for extra commands, like heal each other, take this item...) or GetTactical Interface (allows more top-down paused planning, but I have not tested that last one in an official campaign mission).

PROOF : here is another thread about the topic and even a VIDEO showing how it is done (they are scripted or sequential tasks to be done in order and it should succeed automatically once done, period). NOW, if this no longer works since last patch, it has nothing to do with the thread here which was meant to HELP because it is a frustrating scripted bit in the mission. If so, it should be posted in the official Feedback/Issue Tracker here. You are the ONLY person who claims it is false and you mostly did it with such a bad attitude that I did not want to waste my time doing a video (calling me a "lying toad" on Steam, etc.). Again, you are the ONLY person raging at me.

Although I recognize the good work BI does for other aspects of the game and DLCs, these annoyances reported a thousand times are not fixed or improved years later. In this case, super easy fix: inform the player of those specific objectives/triggers. Ideal would be to allow more triggers for success. It was hard to destroy and defeat so many units to then be told you failed for unknown reasons.

This is a very minor thing, but it might be an oversight (not as designed). Having zero civilian VR casualties, therefore zero collateral damage, does not give the Steam achievement, unless you also have zero soldier casualties on your side. If a few VR soldiers on your side falls, it blocks this achievement. Considering the purpose of this DLC and the content, if the user applies the rules of engagement and laws of war explained, it should congratulate the player with the Steam achievement. An armed combatant, fallen in the line of duty, should not count. Am I wrong ? (i.e. Did I have a civilian causality and did not notice? Pretty sure I would have failed the mission outright if that was so)

By removing all the needless mission code after version=53; it all works fine without an error. For those who do not know also : remove everything before: if (!isServer) exitWith {}; and save that as a simple text file called cz75_breachingdoors.sqf and placed in your mission folder.

Did a few tests : For the script, I removed the intro and the last coded line (they seemed for the pbo only). Make the installation instructions clearer if a copy-paste of the whole pbo content is not appropriate. They are not clear at the moment for a noob. I only kept what starts with if and I kept the last ); The scripts contains mission data and West units specs (?) I get a script error around line 70. Otherwise it works : doors are locked. Various mines can blow the doors open. Grenades do not open doors. As for gun damage, I only tried 0.45 ammo shots (which did not open the door).

Another similar script I found allowed the locked doors to also be opened by ... a Toolkit to lockpick (with a timer) some weapons like shotguns (suggestion: could be opened based on, if possible, ammo-class hit, on explosion classes or on penetration level). The other script in question did not work though, so I am looking at yours now :P EDIT: see my next post ...

An Arma 4 implies making players pay again for the core game and waiting years to obtain all the goodies now available in Arma 3. Not good! I strongly believe that various user-friendly tweaks and new simple functions can maintain Arma 3 is the current competition. Other FPS games still do not offer anything close the Eden Editor/Zeus. Like a new action menu and a different system to manage saved game (just two big examples: many other tweaks also). For the multiplayer aspect, the option to save all current map/player/inventory data (preventively in case of crashes or to allow a save and continue some other time). Easier mission creation tool (little or no written scripting) and better AI settings. With a few important changes like those, the game could be marketed again, along with their DLCs.

Wulf, on the Feedback Tracker, suggested I do videos about AI issues (I posted two), so I did it for fun. I kept the video short with some best/worst moments, which I think might amuse you. Issue : crews of tanks or other armored vehicles, when 'cooking' (about to blow up), exit but only run a short distance away, stop, and die in the explosion. They need to run further away: simple tweak I presume. It's just very embarrassing and makes it too easy. :P It is not a major issue of course. The NATO APCs I used for testing did not really "cookoff" as such, but sometimes did delay before exploding and the crews did not sprint for their lives (only a few non-crew infantry passengers and a few rare crewmen survived). The AI behaves the same in modded Zeus missions you can view online. Best to discuss it on tracker. This is practically my first Youtube video and had fun doing it. The next one will try and demonstrate a more important AI issue (AT soldier not firing at commanded target).

That does work in general and relatively easy to use (copy-paste the code on your map). Only downside is it will not save Eden Editor details, such as edited loadouts, etc. So it is good for quickly replacing all the AI and vehicles in place, but they will use their generic or default state. Example: a Nato Ammobearer that had special traits, ID and loadout, that a player used, will return as a generic Nato Ammobearer. Just saying so new Zeuses know what it is used for. It does not allow MP player persistence as such.

In the Virtual Arsenal, like many, I would like to see numbered stats/specs, mostly for weapons. I searched the web and did not find a mod. Is there a mod or a function one can activate too see gear specs in numbers, or better still, DPS, etc.

I did a few quick tests between Courage and Fleeing Coefficient. They are different things it turns out. - with very low Courage, enemies move a way a bit (not very fast) and go prone sometimes ; - with high Fleeing Coefficient (from this mod), combatants and civilians sprint away as far as needed, then crouch or go prone. If they can fight, they run a safe distance to cover and fire. If they are unarmed or civilians, they sprint like hell out of sight. EDIT: even with 100% Courage, the "Fleeing" behavior kicks in. They basically evade being sitting ducks, which can be good (have not checked if they stay behind cover or run). The fleeing behavior is pretty cool. I like it.

Awesome answer, much appreciated. The fact that you still answer questions years later is jaw-dropping, commendable. Thanks.

I read it. For question 2, I was not clear : I mean that in multiplayer/on a server, I presume that the AI settings we choose per unit, with this module in Eden Editor (Mission), are authoritative and that players who join the server do not affect those values. Hence why I ended by "that is obvious", but I want to be sure it doesn't need to be deeper in the server settings.

Hello, 1) Question: the mod adds a Fleeing Coefficient, but there still is the good old Courage attribute (hidden in vanilla). Why are there two settings? Sounds like they both do the same thing. 2) I presume that this makes the AI sub-skills set by the Mission and therefore player/client settings are not considered. Obvious, I know, but I am a noob making sure my understanding is correct. The alternative is to write a server setting which has the obvious advantage that all AI are set automatically. 3) I presume the vanilla AI General Skill slider in Eden Editor is not important once you change the other sub-skill attributes made visible by this mod. No need to answer, unless I am wrong.

Ah, thank you. From your answer, and something I just read elsewhere, what some nickname a proper dedicated server is a computer being used only to host as such. The Admin/Zeus/Gamemaster is on another computer as normal with the Arma 3 client. This should improve performance and hopefully the dedicated server computer should crash less often as no one is really playing on it (and the Arma 3 client is logically closed also). Also explains why some were proposing one should ideally use an extra Steam account (though probably not necessary).

I am a Zeus noob, researching about the technicalities of hosting a campaign. First, I understand that a dedicated server means it is hosted on a computer (acting as a server) other than the hosting service offered freely by BI [Arma 3 Steam servers]. I have watched a few videos about the awesome TADST tool. But I have not found any post up to now explaining what are the advantages. Options : I noticed TADST offers many options. Can these same options all be integrated in a mission file hosted on the BI normal servers, or is there an advantage to using a dedicated one? Performance : will my CPU (i7 2600S), with an SSD disk, offer any advantage in terms of performance? Internet speed: about 30 Mb (no bandwidth limit). Size : does a dedicated server store big amounts of live data on the local disk ? Stability : if CPU or GPU crash, I presume the effect is different if it is the dedicated server and not only the Zeus/gamemaster computer hosting a game on the normal BI hosting system. There may be a basic structural info I am not getting here, so I was hoping some here could shed a bit of light on this. I am a webmaster normally, so I should grasp most concepts you will dish out. :P

In the Arma 3 client, under the Multiplayer tab > Server Browser > button Host Server (select Internet or LAN, making sure the needed ports are opened). From there, you can host your created missions online via that Steam service. You can use both the premade missions or your own Editor/Zeus missions. Here is a video made by the famous Luetin about it : I have to presume that the expression dedicated server means you are using your own computer as the true host of the server files (made accessible by Steam for download).

You can hold a campaign (specific missions you made) on the Steam servers related to Arma 3. My understanding is that a dedicated server uses an independent host computer as server instead of the above service. Am I wrong ?

If, like I was, you are not able to fire or shoot while moving, it is not normal or really as designed by the game. The issue is caused by a little confusion about what is called Combat Pace in Arma 3. Hope this video helps. I also include a tip that can be useful even for veterans or elite players (a keybind that, when you are clicking, automatically allows you to fire even if you were not in Combat Pace at the moment). I have not seen this discussed anywhere here or elsewhere, so maybe I am one of the few who had this issue. Just in case, I am posting it here. Second video ever, Cheers

Quite true, good point.

The original post was in 2013, but it remains a true pain as of Sept. 2017... (!) Exemple : A.1: When I drop weapon upgrades on the ground right beside the AI squad member, they do not appear in the AI Inventory (in the Ground tab) Pain A.2: it is accessed by pressing 6 then pressing the key for that soldier (on my set-up, if I select the soldier first, pressing 6 unselects the soldier, WTF!) then pression 0 to cycle pages of dropped weapons on the field and then pressing the proper number for Inventory (!), but often is buggy and will not really work. B: there is a different option under that squad menu (6) allowing to transfer stuff to the AI backpack : which is not relevant here as I wanted to have him equip specific gear and weapon upgrades. HOW TO : dropping the items *near* a corpse works. Using A.1 above the shows all the items on and around that corpse, if you place the AI soldier near. ( I am currently looking for a mod that can make that more user-friendly in the single player campaigns.)

If you are reading this, it may be because you have googled after being repeatedly splattered near the end of the mission Tipping Point. It is normal. So here are my short, to the point, tips after doing it a few times. PROBLEM : the mortar fire zeroes-in on the player character (not on your squad mates running wildly over the hill :P) no matter if you hide, are behind elevated terrain and even if you have not fired a single shot. It is not the realistic style of the rest of the game, in the sense there are no spotters, so you cannot hide from it. If you stop, you die. SOLUTION : you must run or evade the shells until you pass the valley low-point, which means near the other hill side where the paratroopers dropped. Once you notice the mortar shelling stop (that part makes sense, as the shells would land near the paratrooper drop-zone) you can enact vengeance on the paratroopers! If you are an excellent mover-shooter, you can also try to shoot a bit then move to evade the mortars, but the chances of surviving are slim (as you wish). Personally, I ran on the left side near the water, so I was not gunned down by the para (but my entire squad was butchered). Following them to suicide in very honorable, but not too bright. COMMENT : Of course, the mortar fire always trying to hit the player was not immersive and does not fit the rest of the game which is praised for its more realistic style. It felt like the game was cheating (instead of just being hardcore or tough), but just get passed it: I found the rest of the campaign really cool.

Suggestion for BI : Ideally, AI would automatically (by itself) grab a weapon and associated ammo off dead soldiers near-by (without breaking formation of course, if any). The system to trade with Squad AI and use near-by loot (including near-by bodies) should be much much more user-friendly. I wasted a lot of time yesterday in single player trying to give my guys weapons and ammo. Near a container, it is much easier, but you still have to use a menu three pages long (Inventory option could be in Action menu when aiming at a squad member). Or why not integrate in the vanilla version a system inspired from the epic squad management mods like GetTactical Interface and C2 Command & Control. Thank you