thomsonb

sorry mate I thought you meant random buildings without roads! I recall now that Podagorsk has lots of logging tracks in the North, before it gets really remote and rural in the Far North... case "fdf_isle1_a": {WORLD_STRING = "Podagorsk"; SPAWN_LIMITS = [6400,15200,3800,20400]}; Just found that line still living in the init.sqf Those are the limits I chose when I made it ages ago... you can tweak them as required! Have fun On another note, just had some great intense fun playing my MP coop test version with my bro and a couple of others, we got repeatedly wiped out by russians especially Spetsnatz! No show stopping bugs so far, maybe I have finally worked out how to code a MP mission :) THe gameplay is really cool with the unknown factor and the possibilty of firing on friendly groups. Expect a more complete MP Coop soon. B

Well spotted Orcinus, I have found the culprit and fixed the wx script! I will upload it as a 1.20.1 minor update now... B ---------- Post added at 23:39 ---------- Previous post was at 22:59 ---------- Don't forget that my carpark.sqf only spawns cars near road sections! You may need to adapt the script or make an extra script for your "own flavor" of towns that don't have roads? B

I have been testing GCam2 by Gigan ..It works really well, I will include it in the next release if he agrees to let me use it... I will add it as an option after you die

The parked car system works like this: (using Takistan values as example) - Manually defined list of "town" positions in the init.sqf (CAR_TOWNS) - At each town a trigger is made to detect the player within 1500m (CAR_SPAWN_DIST) - When the trigger is activated all roads within 750m (CAR_TOWN_RADIUS) of the trigger are detected - This road list is refined to leave only those roads that are not junctions, and have a building within 25m (CAR_SPAWN_FROM_HOUSE_DIST) - These selected roads are then chosen at random for car spawning, between 6 and 9 cars are spawned for each town (CARS_PER_TOWN) - cars spawn between 6m and 15m from the road centre (CAR_OFFSET_DISTANCES) and at 0,90,180 or 270 degrees from the direction of the road (plus a small randomness in direction) -if more than 100 cars exist (CARS_MAX) then the oldest cars are deleted to keep the number below 100 So to pick car towns for Podagorsk just go into the editor, make circular triggers or markers of a certain size (750 works well, but maybe 500 as the towns are smaller in Podagorsk?) position these triggers so they cover all the roads in each town (remember only roads near building will be used so it doesnt need to be perfect) Then make a quick script to diag_log the positions of your triggers or markers out into the arma2oa.rpt file and save them as the CAR_TOWNS array. confused yet?! cheers ---------- Post added at 03:08 ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 ---------- Well, as promised, updated version 1.20 of Zargabad and Shapur is released! please download from here: Flashpoint Takistan Zargabad Shapur Download page rgds B

On that point you are correct, at mission start the spawnMin distance is set down to just 100m for the initial wave of infantry groups (of course most dont spawn as close as 100). I changed this after some complaints that the mission was always "slow at the begining" and players felt they "had to run around looking for the battle".... So its not a bug! But you may have a point that it can make the mission too difficult sometimes. It is of course worse in open areas with no cover... Thats a really good suggestion, I have never looked into these external files and the code needed to access them, just plain lazy on my part ;) That will go high up on the list for the next update! Re: Podagorsk thats a good idea, great map, I had my own personal Flashpoint: Podagorsk (With the default A2 units) ages ago but never released it after Arrowhead arrived... About the river and swimming, BIS have added a allowItemDropping setting in the description.ext file that stops units losing their stuff, need to double check its SP as well as MP though... Would be great if you can make a port... need any hints about my code just ask! Cheers B

Hi I have released an early testing MP Coop version of Flashpoint Chernarus! please download it from here: Flashpoint Chernarus MP download page Please remember this is not a full featured mission yet, definitely a work in progress. I decided to release this early as I know many people have asked about an MP version, and it is very helpful when people send me bug reports and ideas! Please send any feedback to me via PM. When the mission is more finished I will start its own forum thread for release. Cheers B ---------- Post added at 18:07 ---------- Previous post was at 17:59 ---------- Hi Zorg_DK, Thanks for the feedback! That is true, users who have low performance should set up manually and reduce groups to 5 per side or something... In the last update I increased the default AI group numbers a bit, there have been a couple of complaints, I am working on an automatic script that detects low fps and reduces group counts, remove ambient animals etc, this should help! Regarding cars, they are not very hard on framerates or cpu, but you are maybe right, there may be more than needed! Regards B

Thats a good idea anelaidlives, Does anybody know a good Spectator Camera script? I could try and include this in the next update...

Hello guys I am happy to release an updated version 1.20 of Flashpoint: Takistan. please download it from here: Flashpoint: Takistan v1.20 download page. Changes: v1.20 - Changed: New Infantry Group Behavior. Infantry Groups now move towards nearby towns (only towns in range of player). They randomly have GUARD, HOLD, or PATROL behavior when at destination. When moving they prefer valleys and low terrain, when possible. - Added: Taliban Weapons Caches. Randomly spawned, mainly in walled compounds. Contain Taliban weapons, ammo, IEDs and sometimes equipment like binoculars, maps, compasses etc. - Changed: When adding units to your group, the units now stop and wait at their current position instead of strange behaviors (thanks to Orcinus for reporting bug). - Changed: US Army faction, reduced the probability of Spawning Delta Force teams vs. regular US Army teams (they were too common before. Thanks to Sektor for reporting bug). - Fixed: Dynamic Weather. The Clouds were not changing correctly (fog was overriding clouds). Now the forecast will be accurate, and the change happens over 1 hour. - Fixed: Spawn positions script error. When player is traveling fast, the infantry groups now properly spawn ahead of the player. - Zargabad and Shapur versions: Will be updated and released as soon as possible! :) *EDIT* I have added some screenshots of me getting blown up in the latest version here regards B

Hi Orcinus You are right, when you recruit units using my "Manage Team" dialog, You join the group of the units you are joining, and you "inherit" the waypoints structure of that team. I realise that most players will choose to be the leader, not follow the waypoints. However the reason I have coded it this way is to handle the case where the player decides to be in the group but not the leader. I have also noticed that some units respond slowly and refuse to return to formation after you become the leader of the group. The are not following the waypoints though, they are given a return to formation order automatically after you become the leader. There must be a way to order them straight back to the player, maybe i need to send them a disengage command or a doMove to the leader? Hope this explains why I have coded it this way, its a compromise to cover all possible actions of the player! If you find a good way of ordering the units back to you, that always works, please let me know, and i will script those commands automatically! For info, I am almost ready to release an experimental MP Coop. version of Flashpoint: Chernarus, its a very basic alpha version at this stage, but working! *EDIT* I have just found a quick scripting way to improve this, and added it to the latest release, thanks for bringing it up Orcinus! cheers B

JetlinerX, thats a bit spooky because I was just working on the basics of an MP version today. I cant promise anything really soon, as I am not familiar with MP mission making, and such a dynamic mission runs into some problems... I plan to release a very basic test version first, on Chernarus where you play as a Force Recon team... B

Hi Its not "dead" as you asked JetlinerX, I have been busy with other things! Thanks for everyones questions and comments, I do read all, and many ideas go on my list for future development, I often don't have time to answer every post sorry... I have been working on the following new features for the next version: - New Infantry squad behaviour: Infantry groups tend to move toward Towns and Villages and other Key terrain. When they arrive they patrol the area. When moving toward the chosen destination the groups follow the terrain, preferring to move in valleys and avoiding exposed routes. - Booby trap IEDs placed randomly in compound doorways. Triggered by BLUFOR soldiers. Can be spotted if player is careful. Small-ish explosion. - Taliban Weapons Caches. Guns, ammo, sometimes items like map, binos, nvgs and gps, and sometimes IEDs. Placed at predefined points, mainly in the walled compounds on Takistan (over 200 locations defined on Takistan). Randomly selected points chosen each game. - Performance Tweaks, some people had framerate problems, I am working on an automatic "Low CPU" mode that detects the users CPU benchmark and reduces unit count a bit. Hope I can release this soon, probably Takistan version first, very soon, then other maps, as it is a long job defining all Towns and weapon cache locations for each map. Cheers B

Try this link Kernriver http://ca.isohunt.com/download/147862369/7e7ac552ef3b4ebcefe3b2f5575f5233c7779748.torrent B

Instant Action, Dynamic Mission, ArmA2 Operation Arrowhead, Single Player, BAF PMC, No Addons. Instant Action, Dynamic Mission, ArmA2 Operation Arrowhead BAF PMC Single Player, No Addons. Please download latest version 1.18 from here: Flashpoint: Takistan / Zargabad / Shapur v1.18 download page Hello all. This mission is based on my A2 Mission "Flashpoint: Chernarus". The scenario is completely different every time you play, and can be configured however you like. This mission is designed for having a quick blast, exploring and experiencing the great AI and worlds that BIS provided. Have fun... any feedback is appreciated ;) B

Instant Action, Dynamic Missions, ArmA2 Single Player, No Addons Instant Action, Dynamic Missions, ArmA2 Single Player, No Addons. Please download latest version 1.18 from here: Flashpoint: Chernarus and Utes v1.18 download page The mission is completely unique every time you play, everything is randomly generated. However I have made the group types very carefully to be realisitc and balanced. This mission is designed for having a quick blast, exploring Chernarus, and experiencing the great AI and world that BIS provided. Have fun... any feedback is appreciated ;) B

Hi sektor When you set an objective the units spawning area does not change. However, when you move towards the objective, your movement in that direction does change the unit spawning area. *(note: the moving of the spawn area means the deleting of groups outside the area, behind you in this case, and spawning of new groups) This actually happens at all times during the mission. Any time you move, the spawn area is moved in your direction. The size of the movement depends on your average speed. The centre of the spawn area actually moves quite far out from your position if you are running fast. This is designed to keep the battlefield busy wherever you go; and also to quickly generate a new battle if you, for example, drive a car really fast away from the battle. Its not a perfect system, especially when you drive a long way quickly. But I have tweaked it a lot to try and give the best immersion and feeling of realism. On another note, the objective system is still very basic I know, and I hope to improve it when I find the time! cheers B

Hi guys As requested, I have just released updated 1.19 versions of Sahrani and South Sahrani Please download them from here: Flashpoint: Sahrani download page

Send 6 right to the IED position, very close, then select him and then use the 6 command, and Disarm IED will be available, took me a while to work that out too ;) Another great mission there Zipper5, the way the battle flows down the valley is awesome!

Hi Cabot696, glad ur enjoying them! I tried out air respawn in the missions, but had big problems. Problem is that you can move too far and too fast in Jets or Helos. The system is constantly checking every group, vehicle, tank, air unit... and for each group out of range of the player the group is deleted and a new group spawned... Problem when the player flies around is that every time the script loops it finds TOO MANY groups out of range! This causes big slow downs, since literally hundreds of units are spawned each second... I will have a think about having different spawning settings for air and ground player.. but don't expect anything too soon sorry :) ---------- Post added at 13:54 ---------- Previous post was at 13:52 ---------- Thats a good idea dondaddah, Il get it up to date ASAP rgds B

Hi all I am pleased to announce I have just released an Updated version 1.19 of all the Flashpoint series: Please download the latest versions from here: Click here for the Flashpoint Download pages... The latest changes are aimed at making the battles more realistic, I'm very pleased with the results of my testing, I have had some epic fights! Here is a list of changes this version: v1.19 - Changed: At mission start, all units can spawn very close to the player. (This improves the gameplay at mission start, less need for running around looing for the acion!). - Changed: New Infantry behaviour, some groups now guard at the place they spawn, instead of moving around. - Changed: New Aircraft and Helicopter behavior, air units now use a "Search & Destroy" waypoint instead of "Guard", and now will leave the area if dammaged. - Changed: Spawn area increased, and number of infantry groups increased. (This is the result of me finally getting an up to date PC, being able to run long viewDistance, and having more CPU power... Please give me feedback if the new settings are too much for your PC, I have no idea what an average PC performance would be for players?). - Tweaked: Slightly Increased number of dead bodies before deletion. - Fixed: (ArmA2 Maps) Chedaki RPK player had PK not RPK. - Removed: (Operation Arrowhead maps) Farmers with animal groups. (removed because they dont behave realisticaly, I will work on some realistic ambient civilians later). Enjoy! B ---------- Post added at 23:23 ---------- Previous post was at 23:18 ---------- Hi LoK, I have had a look at the I44 mod, great quiality, I plan to make a Flashpoint 1944: Omaha. I look forward to playing it, hope I have time to make it soon ---------- Post added at 23:33 ---------- Previous post was at 23:23 ---------- Hi mrcash2009 This is a great idea, I will try and implement it as a toggle option on the first setup screen, what do you think? (something like "Player spawns as Squad leader" toggle button)... Thanks for the feedback, this gave me the idea to reduce the close spawn distance right down at the mission start, check out the latest v1.19 download, this new feature greatly reduces the quiet period at mission start where the other units are far away, can make for some action packed few minutes after spawn! Cheers B

Hi guys Thanks for the comments, glad ur still enjoying these. @mrcash2009: I agree, these maps by Mcnools are real gems! In the past I have avoided porting the mission to lots of maps, because its a lot of work to keep updating them, but when I tested Aliabad and Hazar-Kot I was so impressd I had to use them! @LoK: I am not an i44 user... not sure why really, since I loved it back in the ofp days, still remember playing the first mini demo on Malden! I will check out the latest i44 release and have a look. It is a lot of programming, most of it simple classnames, but some more tricky like changing the number of factions... mainly its just very time consuming. I hope i can find time. By the way, what would be your preferences for a map for an i44 flashpoint? B

Hi LoK, thanks glad u like the mission Im not sure what you mean by this mate, it is possible to play as any faction, any combination of factions... if you want Woodland BAF you just have to play the BAF version, the other version is just for the vanilla ArmA2 (I still support it as some ppl may not have arrowhead etc) Or maybe I didn't understand what you were getting at here.. let me know There is no engine limitation there at all, it would be possible to program the mission in any way... I have just decided to keep it simple, with the classic East vs West factions.... (i think many players would be confused if USA and Russia were allies in one game then enemies in the next ;) ) If you are keen you could dive in to the code and edit the mission yourself to play as US vs UK... would take quite a lot of changes to the scripts :) B

Hello I have just released an update... Please download latest version 1.17 from here: Flashpoint: Takistan / Zargabad / Shapur v1.17 download page This version removes the Artillery strikes, after feedback from players. I will work on a new and improved artillery system as soon as I can! Sorry for the long delay in updates... my pc blew up, almost literally, anyway now back with a brand new pc, looking forward to updating this again soon :) Cheers thomsonb

Hello I have just released an update... Please download latest version 1.17 from here: Flashpoint: Chernarus and Utes v1.17 download page This version removes the Artillery strikes, after feedback from players. I will work on a new and improved artillery system as soon as I can! Sorry for the long delay in updates... my pc blew up, almost literally, anyway now back with a brand new pc, looking forward to updating this again soon :) Cheers thomsonb

Hi guys, Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of civilian player, but not on random. This will have to be a preset mode i think? Also the civilian players can show up on the players list in manual setup... @Jetliner RE: random IEDs.... They are already there in Takistan, Zargabad and Shapur! Since version 1.14 iirc... steal a car and drive along some roads (as a BLUFOR player) and you will soon find out ;) Every IED has an IED object placed near the road too, so you can spot them if you're really careful. I decided they don't fit in so well on the Chernarus battlefield... RE: Starting as car/tank/heli etc, Planes and Helis are a no-go at the moment, because they travel so fast, the mission will be spawning and deleting literally thousands of units every minute. A major redesign of the code would be needed.... As for ground vehicles, great idea, i will make a test with a preset mode and go from there. @ Jetliner & Oldpainless RE: Wandering around too much / where is the "war zone" / not enough action... It sounds like you guys are action junkies ;) One important thing to remember is that there is no set "Warzone" or battlefield. If you jump in a car and drive really far, all the units will be deleted, and new units spawned as you move. there are always the same number of groups on each side. I have set up the missions for my personal PC performance, to get a reasonable framerate even in a busy battle. I have no way of testing the latest hardware, and I don't want to release a mission that runs crap on some peoples PC... Your rigs may be able to handle more.. in this case I recommend try manual setup, and just change the group counts up, and maybe the spawn area smaller, and you will have the action packed battlefield you are looking for!! In the next update I will maybe change one of the presets so "Hardcore Mode" or something with you guys suggestion in mind... sorry for the ramblings RE: Multiplayer, I know it would be a cool mission in COOP! I don't have the time to make a COOP version, there is just too much code that need to be changed, and living in Asia I have such a bad internet connection i can't even test MP missions if i do make them! I would be very willing to give tips and help to someone making a COOP mission like this, anyone is welcome to use my code too, if you ask :) RE: Objectives, I know the "Give Objective" sucks right now. Its kind of a place holder. I will try and tidy it up in a future release when time permits.. Anyway please keep the suggestions and feedback coming in P.S. Check out these flashpoint videos Cheers B

Hello, I have just released an update: Please download version 1.16 from here: Flashpoint Takistan / Zargabad / Shapur v1.16 Download Page The Chernarus version has also been updated! Changes: v1.16 - Added: Artillery strikes; * All factions now call in Artillery strikes against known enemy units. * The type of strike is random, mortars or heavy guns. * The number of shells per strike is random. * The weight of fire is random. * The aiming error is random. * The strikes take time to arrive, so a moving target might move to safety. * The time between each strike of each faction is random. * The player is trated the same as AI units, no more or less likely to be the target. * All this results in a range of fire missions, from small slow atacks by a single mortar, all the way to a devastating rapid fire heavy barrage from multiple heavy guns. * The Artillery is a work in progress. * Features to be added later: Player designation of targets, Prioritisation of targets, Checking for friendly fire of each barage, Different levels of Arty for each Faction etc. * This Artillery system adds a bit more realistic danger to the battlefield. It was inspired in part by another of my favorite milsims, SteelBeasts. If you stay in the same place too long, you're toast! * Please feedback about the Artillery, let me know if it fits in with how you play the mission etc. - Fixed: Respawn list now shows the primary and secondary weapon of each unit, rather than its class type (class types are often not relevant anymore with the new custom unit spawning. This introduces the problem that Medics and Snipers are not easily identified on the list... to be fixed later). - Changed: Respawn list now shows units on the players original side first on the list, not always BLUFOR first. - Changed: "Who Got Me?" command now not added to rabbit in the cases of suicide, or death from unknown source, like artillery etc. Cheers B