geloxo

I didn´t manage to do that. I use a global light to iluminate the scene and it can´t be filtered unless you modify the 3D models (which is not feasable). My first approach was to add single light points to each unit but then I noticed it had a limitation: the more units on the scene the worse result, because some of them didn´t appear to be illuminated unless you came really close to them. So that I had to choose this secondary option. In real life, almost every object drops a small amount of heat to the camera, even buildings and terrain, but I agree this is too much. Well I had to decide to come to an intermediate state according to what is currently possible ingame. Anyway you can still play with the standard black and white camera, which is similar to the one already included in other released addons. The most important feature anyway is that it´s not affected by sun light, moon light or weater. You always get the same image quality. Cheers

Hello, Fresh news on the tests regarding FLIR system I´m working on. Finally I managed to obtain some nice results after trying several options: Standard cam (night vision during night or just B/W during day) Infrared vision simulation Details on heat sources (notice that jeep lights are not visible for IR light) There are some limitations on the game engine that made me stay on an intermediate state. Unfortunately light management has some limits and you can´t go through them but I think the result is quite nice anyway. It works with all units, is independant from daytime or weather conditions and image brightness and contrast can be adjusted to your needs. I hope you like it Â

First step will be to consolidate the SP version. I have reworked the old scripts to make them more accurate (helicopters and jets) and added new stuff such as the rope system and the editor (will work for jets too, yeap). This is almost finished but will need some more days to test and improve it. Once this is finished I will think about MP, cause it was out of the initial scope of the addon from the beginning and I may need to test the limitations of all included functionallity, but I guess it would be possible to make it work. Other things I want to add in a short time are the support console, which would allow a player to call those scripts while in a mission, without editing but just using some default configs, for instance to request an Medevac, ammo, extraction, close air support, etc and then experiment with two more issues: IR night vission system which allows to see real heat sources in men or vehicles (I have some ideas to try...) and a virtual AC-130 system (gunner view only, without a model). I also want to make a short video, cause I enjoyed last time a lot preparing the previous ones and this would also be a good oportunity to show all new features on the screen Sorry, I can´t understand what you mean here...  Cheers

Hi everybody, Today I bring some more news about the WIP. As I know its hard to configure the scripts I´m working on an editor that will ease this procedure: In the editor you can play around with all old and new options from the scripts, to configure waypoints (red arrows) and the related actions linked to then (blue arrows). As you see, now it´s a matter of some clicks to configure the choppers scripts and also link them to the Handy Tools Radio commands, by means of adding callsigns to the unit that will be used to exchange basic radio messages between units. Most relevant feature is the export and import options, by means of using the great Armalib interface from Kegetys. With this you can export and import the content to your clipboard or even print a written file ready to be used in your mission folder to call the scripts or be used to import content for further usage in the future, as all variables are properly formatted and structured in blocks usable by the scripts. Cheers

Very easy: extract HT.pbo, then open "troops_monitor.sqf" under "rope" folder and change "_veh limitspeed 5" to "_veh limitspeed 0". This will stop chopper while troops are on the rope Cheers

With all of Arma 2's new scripting commands, I wonder if they will include some of the more advanced script commands like: attachTo (VBS2) & createRope (VBS2) ? No problem, use and modify "at will". I plan to improve the system and other things inside HT mod in the following weeks. This is the basics of the rope and I just published to find out if everything worked or not but more things are to come... I thought about the actions removal but found no way to track the IDs properly. If I assigned IDs and used them for smart removal not all of them where deleted at the end. The clean.sqf only removes custom actions created after game started and rope system was called, so the ones defined in the unit config are kept. If you add extra actions while the rope is running and before it´s terminated they will be removed too, yeap, but I assumed that won´t happen so frequently. Cheers

Hi everybody, As Loki said we found a way to solve it and everything should work ok now, without crashing servers. You can find the corrected version here: http://rapidshare.com/files/156295823/RopeSystem_pre_hotfix.zip <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">Installation: Copy @HT folder to your ArmA folder and the demo mission to your missions folder (please do not modify the folder names or scripts won´t work). Delete any previous versions of HT.pbo from your hard disk cause this one includes a hotfix in 3D model that caused servers to crash. It´s very important that you remove the old HT.pbo from your disk before installing this one. Please also look into the readme for further details. I have changed some minor things (now no .sqs is called and it contains its own folder structure with an external config file for you to customize your choppers) but the demo mission is also included and updated. Also the custom animation from da12thMonkey is included. Please update your mirrors with the new link. I have removed the old mirrors from the first post too to avoid confussion. Sorry for inconvinience. As I´m not experienced with 3D the new bone model is a very basic cylinder but with no errors at least. Shadows on the ground are not continuos, so if you can tell me how to improve it, I  will do it next time. I have also changed the attachment by placing a "V" model on the side of the chopper. If everything runs ok now I will not release more versions till the official one. Special thanks to da12thMonkey, Loki, DeanosBeano and Spooner for their support! Also to Doolittle who gave me a new idea with the modeltoworld command and the rest of you for your comments and support. Give me a hint when you need my help in the future. Cheers

Hi everybody, I think I have managed to correct the problem with 3D models that produced server crashes. I have created a custom bone without geometry and this will be included in the next release of the tools. Special thanks to Loki, DeanosBeano, Spooner and friends for their support to identify this problem. Please, meanwhile do not join servers if you are using this pre-release to avoid further problems. I will release a hotfix this week. On the other side I´m proud to say that da12thMonkey has kindly offered his custom fast rope animation to this addon, and it will also be included in the hotfix. Thanks for that Cheers

Nothing is stupid, thanks for the comment. I talked with Loki and his friends yesterday night and they suggested that the problem is the geometry on the original 3D model. In ArmA logs I can read: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">Wrong geometry convex component mapping  for person collision geometry found in ht\rope\bone.p3d. Convex component number 3. not found Wrong geometry convex component mapping  for person collision geometry found in ht\rope\bone.p3d. Convex component number 6. not found You are right and this could be a solution too if I use a Mosquito class, but we have to be sure that no geometry at all is expected for this case too. I will test with O2 and classes today to try to solve it  I guess we will solve it at the end

Thanks for the kind offer but I´m sorry to say this is not working with my scripts. I have tested and the rope model (.p3d) he uses is not compatible with vectorup setting, and therefore the bones can´t be moved like a pendulum. I understand the server crashings are not acceptable so, I propose the following options for anyone who wants to support me and I will include it as part of the release (credits included, for sure): 1) I´s sorry but I can´t deal with 3D (no idea about that). The first solution is that someones creates a 3D model, compatible with Man class to avoid those vertex problems in servers, which looks like a rope bone. For your information I´m currently using the fence model: "\ca\buildings\misc\DD_pletivo_sl.p3d" which belongs to the following class hierachy: Static-Building-Strategic-AAFence-AAHO226 as 3D model for the ht_rope class. Size of the 3D model is not relevant as my scripts can be re-configured by setting just one variable value (lenght of the bone). 2) Second option is to use a Mosquito class or any Insect class because they support vectorup setting, as Man class does too, and use the same fence model or your custom one on it. My current problem is that those classes use a coordinate system that is not placed on the object bottom, but on the middle. This causes the rope bones to be attached and moved wrongly in the rope. A quick example: if I attach to Mosquito class bones (2m lenght each) one next to the other and force them to oscillate, they will form a cross joined at 1m, instead of a 4m line, which is the result in the current rope implementation. If you tell me how can I alter that 3D model attachment in the class definition, so that it fits to the 3D model bottom or top (the feets / head on a Man class), no more should be needed and I could rework the script for that. Thanks Â

Thanks for the support and sorry for the problems. I was thinking about the bones for several days, and testing different options. I took the class civilian for visible bone and model mosquito for invisible one because you can set their position and vectorup and because (for civilian) the 0,0,0 position is at the end of the model (feet) and that´s easier for connecting bones. In the beginning I tried to generate the rope with drop command, with particles, but it became difficult to syncronize them and the continuity of the bones was influenced by GPU performance. So, in case of big graphic loads, the particles began to separate from each other and the bones appeared as "series of dots" instead of continuous lines. That´s why I decided to switch to a rigid model instead. If anyone has an alternative solution I will try to implement it.

Uff, thanks a lot for the hint on "modeltoworld" command! I really missed that one and it avoids huge problems while positioning things, and indeed it prevents one of the known issues to reproduce: attach points deviate from their initial positions when chopper tilts. It simplifies a lot the calculation process and therefore some lines are no longer needed now I have also changed the sqs to sqf as you suggested too. We will see the results soon. Matt, by the way, I think the solution to your question is: to test it in MP, the server should call the script, not the player. As far as I understood from previous readings the units, vehicles, etc, are local for the player: truck is local for the driver(player) but that driver is also local to the server. So if two players call the rope, they will see it on their PCs but the rest of players not. But if the server calls the script all players should see it and all units / cargos attached to the rope should move properly for everybody in the server. I guess this is also valid for the chopper and jets scripts in the Handy Tools  Cheers

Hello again, After some weeks working on the release I finally managed to improve the formerly released beta version and come now with the v1.0 of the Handy Tools. This release contains several flight model improvements, a new "all-in-one" FX cam and also some fire effects among other resources. ----------------------------------------------------------- Download v1.0 Full Pack (35 MB): http://rapidshare.com/files/52168382/HandyTools_v1.0.zip Download v1.0 Basic Pack without radio chatter (1 MB) http://rapidshare.com/files/52246025/HandyTools_v1.0_basic.zip Download v1.0 release trailer (25 MB divx format): http://rapidshare.com/files/52165422/HandyTools_v1.0.divx.avi http://youtube.com/watch?v=T9LlFgsYI4w Download mirrors (thanks for the contribution): http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=1327 http://prison.tibet225.server4you.de/ww2pn...._id=118 ----------------------------------------------------------- Most important features are: - Improved flight model for AI choppers and jets, allowing custom and close formations and accurate landings. - Custom radio chatter related to some of the choppers and jets actions. - FX cam and Trackcam tools plus other resources for creating cutscenes easily, allowing several special effects, unit control and display gadgets. - New fire effects, including flamethrower and molotov weapons templates for creating more refined weapons. - Set of stand-alone scripts to be used at anytime. - One demo mission to be used as practical example of the configuration process. - Fully detailed reference documentation. More videos and missions will come in the following weeks but meanwhile I hope you enjoy the first official release. Try to take control of one of the units within a formation flight to see how difficult it may be for a human pilot to keep a close formation ----------------------------------------------------------- Available videos: http://rapidshare.com/files/29505840/littlebird.wmv http://rapidshare.com/files/29552847/chinook.wmv http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IU8RKAMI ----------------------------------------------------------- Old beta version related posts (informative): http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....t=63035 http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....t=62284 ----------------------------------------------------------- Please read the reference documentation for deeper explanations. Please be patient with the posible bugs that this release may contain. Due to complexity of new script system used now they may appear more often than expected Feel free to upload these files and videos to your servers (no permission from my side is needed). Cheers

Thanks for the comments. I´m not so experienced with the engine to get the most of it so that´s why I recommend that everybody who wants so just plays around with my scripts and improve them. This is "open code", as my previous releases. I intend to dive into the coding but unfortunatelly I´m not so experienced yet to get the most of it, cause I joined the game series quite late. I´m glad to read that you liked it. Thanks again  Cheers

Ok, here we go... I decided to postpone the video and just prepared a demo mission for you. The rope system pre-release is finally here: Handy Tools Rope System pre-release (3 MB) http://rapidshare.com/files/156295823/RopeSystem_pre_hotfix.zip Feel free to upload it to your servers. No permission is needed to do it or to modify the code to work with your addons. You can also addapt it for MP but please, if you succeed, keep all of us informed at least, and release it Please take into account that with this pre-release of the Handy Tools new pack you will find some new features and some redesigns but work is not yet finished. But Rope System is stable at this point and can be used without problems. Please read the "readme" included to find out how to make it work. The demo mission will show to you the current features of the Rope System (more to come as I´m still adding new ones). At this point the predefined configs allow you to work with UH-60, Chinooks, Hueys and AB212 from FFAA mod. Anyway it may be the case that the positions match for several models and no extra config is needed. To be honest, I didn´t have time to check all cases... I will try to extend those configs to the rest of BIS and most popular addons in the future. In the other cases the script works, but the attach point is a default one placed at pilot´s position. For the special case of the models with animated parts you can call the animation state directly in the predefined config. As an example the FAMET helicopters Chinook and AB212 from FFAA mod will automatically open their doors prior to the rapel insertion. This feature allows users to syncronize the custom animations with the rope attachment. One of the new features from HT is the on-screen dialog for camera management. Press "H" and the options will pop-up. Important note: This file replaces the old HT releases. If you experience problems with old missions just go back to the v1.0 release until I release a complete official update of the pack. Sorry for that... This pre-release changes some of the code but it´s only intended for demostration purposes, as a proof of concept, of the system basics and mathematics, cause if there was a problem with the basics of the code, now is the time to correct or addapt it for better performance. In the future I plan to improve it and also improve the physics of the ropes if this finally succeeds as a bigger project, but remember I created those addons just for fun and to experiment with the game engine capabilities. Enjoy!

Lol, I know I made those files difficult, sorry... The problem at that time was that, in order to allow full flexibility for users, lots of variables needed to be set. For the current case the config is very easy: - choose a helicopter - choose a cargo or squad - choose a mode (rapel, drop, pickup) - choose a predefined attach config (e.g: blackhawk with 1 rope on the left door) - choose the initial rope lenght and then call the script with those 5 variables values. This works for both AI and player. For your information I´m trying to improve the old choppers scripts configuration by enabling a realtime edition (set wayponts, actions and formation settings in the map) and a GUI so that the resulting variables are generated automatically and you could copy them to clipboard to use it in other missions. I hope this will ease the task... but this is not yet finished and takes some time. Cheers

A: I have never tried to addapt my scripts for MP. I´m not experienced on variables handling in MP but if anyone suggests how to do that I will modify the code for that. I only need to know how to handle the following issues in MP: - createvehicle command - an object position, vectorup and direction - squad assigment to any existing vehicle B: No, due to game engine limitations as I explained before: - setposASL and not flat areas (maps usually contain small areas wich have peaks under sea level) - static objects, such as M119 gun, can be transported but you can´t set their vertical speed, so they can´t be dropped, must be left on the group and no, because this is not a commercial addon so you may face errors or conflicts with other addons as in any other released stuff Cheers

Thanks for your comments. I agree that the lack of physics support on the engine has a huge impact on the gameplay. I have seen really modest games which had that feature implemented and the result was impressive (don´t need to think about any high-end engines, they were really basic games...). For example collision with objets made them fall and roll. This would allow infinite new features for ArmA, which indeed, due to the current scripting commands, are possible (position, speed and time can be handled) but need a hard design from scratch for the scripter. As an example: a soldier falling from a jet/helicopter will maintain a vertical path without rolling in the air or changing it´s animation. By the way, I forgot to say that with this addon, rapel could be possible from static objets too (e.g: top of a mountain, building roof, etc). I didn´t implement it yet but once the basics are ready this is an option too because the only needed modification is to place the rope attach point at any world [x,y,z] coordinate and block soldier rotation while moving on the rope. I will think about it for the official release. I expect to upload a short video of the rope today, stay tunned Cheers

Rope configuration is made easily by providing the attach point [x, y, z] offset from pilot´s position. If you like it just copy and paste that config to an existing config file in the scripts to use it in the future and that´s it. After that you call the sctipt with the config name as a variable and rope will be placed where you wanted. You can use infinite configs you create or use some of the default ones I have added. I´m finishing testing so it could be ready by this weekend...

I think I could try to make a chopper or airplane fly in circles to simulate the attack runs based on my scripts for choppers/jets delivered with Handy Tools. The modification is not so difficult and I could create an ad-hoc script for this purpose. Which is the status of this AC130 right now? Is this still an open issue? Who is working on this? Too many questions for an old post? Cheers

Short video featuring "Vietnam The Experience" mod current release. I focused on the choppers, as always, cause I love hueys... Also featured mods: - Maddmatt´s ArmA effects - XAM mod - Handy Tools There were so many items I could not show in this video, sorry... I hope this video makes developers, including BIS, to think about some of those NAM style mods for fans like me 45 MB low-res (divx): http://rapidshare.com/files/81069725/VTE_TheEnd_divx_.divx 82 MB high-res (wmv): http://rapidshare.com/files/81078768/VTE_TheEnd_HiRes.wmv Enjoy! PD: Feel free to upload the videos to any server you desire. No permission needed from my side

And now a short video showing some of the items included in the current release. There are so many ones I could not choose all, so I decided to focus on my favourite ones: the choppers 45 MB low-res (divx): http://rapidshare.com/files/81069725/VTE_TheEnd_divx_.divx 82 MB high-res (wmv): http://rapidshare.com/files/81078768/VTE_TheEnd_HiRes.wmv Enjoy!

Nice! Lovely huey Cheers

A quick tribute from a huey fan to thank VTE mod developers: Sunset at Mekong delta... And a little of image editing featuring also the great Maddmatt´s ArmA Effects mod... Happy 2008! Cheers

I just tried this mod yesterday (too late after it´s release probably but I couldn´t before)... I missed a NAM modification for the ArmA engine for a long time... This looks very promissing for the current release and I can´t imagine how it would look in the future. Lots of choppers! Thanks for the job already done on this Cheers