icebone

hi folks, currently i am working on a tunnel and cave addon for a mission in takistan. The tunnel/cave is a building standing somewhere at the edge of the map and players will be teleported inside/out. As i do not wanna talk about unlaid eggs, there is a video attached, showing the layout and a walk through during multiplayer gameplay. The tunnel/cave is in unreleased alpha stage, so do not expect fancy textures, sounds, lights yet. My problem and the reason for this post are the light effects within the tunnel/cave. The shadows of players, which u see in the video are not from a light source inside the tunnel/cave, they are caused by the outside sun. The same shadow effects appear, as soon as I place objects (like pallets, radios, tables, ...) inside the tunnel/cave. If the sun shines outside, then these objects are all lighted up inside by the sun. Is this a limitation of the arma2 light engine or are there settings in the .rvmat, which could eliminate/reduce the impact of the outside sun on the tunnel/cave textures and also on the textures of the other objects, units? Timing the mission during night or accelerating time into night time as soon as a player enters the tunnel/cave are options, but maybe there are better alternatives. Please let me know, if you have got some ideas/experiences on this issue. Currently I only use 1 texture for the walls and the following .rvmat settings. E.g. are the other available pixel or vertex shaders better suited for textures inside buildings? Thanks for your help! IceBone :) 06:09 min:sec, HD my.rvmat: ambient[] = {0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1}; diffuse[] = {0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1}; forcedDiffuse[] = {0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0}; emmisive[] = {0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0}; specular[] = {0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0}; specularPower = 0; PixelShaderID="Normal"; VertexShaderID="Basic";

Orcinus, there are blueprints on the web (I don't think of the detailed, technical blueprints, but of the blueprints for cutting paper pieces by numbers and sticking them together). They are not too difficult, to find. When I saw one of them, I had to build up the FT-17 paper model. In case, you should verify the aspect ratio x:y of the paper printout, because mine did not reflect the historical dimensions of the FT-17. I rescaled it, to correct the ratio and also to get a bigger paper model. Altogether it took me one evening, to finish it up. It was fun. Regards, IceBone

A small update: Some months ago I started this thread and in the meantime I experimented quite a lot with bunker buildings, tunnels, terrain and lighting, ai inside narrow tunnels, ... At present I put everything together into a large bunker building on a small island, shift everything backwards in time into the World War 2 period and script an attack and defend mission around it. There is some more information available at my website together with a video, which shows some first alpha stage impressions: More to come ... :bounce3: Regards, IceBone

Thanks for all your hints on the shadow LOD. I experimented with my big box a bit, reduced it's length, width and especially the height down to 50%. Not all of the entrance-structure is covered within the shadow lod box now, but that doesn't really matter, because players are teleported inside anyway and do not walk from the outside into the tunnel. The results are: the flickering has gone but the player's arms and his weapon still are lit up in first person view. Solving the flickering issue was important to me, but the second point is less relevant to me at the moment. Regards, IceBone

I tried both, if I understand your question right. First I tried a big single cube, big enough, so that you could pack the tunnel/cave system into it and ship it as a present and second, I copied all the faces of my 1.0 resolution lod into my shadow lod and removed the textures. In the second case the shadow lod looked identical to the Oxygen sequences of the video. (side note: all faces are triangles and I know that the second alternative causes lots of shadow calculation effort - it was just a try) The results were identical in both cases and like described in my earlier post. Regards, IceBone

Thanks for all your feedback on this topic so far and sorry for not replying earlier, but I had some construction workers at my home "cave" in real life. @NodUnit & Pathetic_Berserker: You are right. The addon in the video does not include a shadow lod. I experimented with shadow lods earlier and was not satisfied with the results. Your early feedback, NodUnit, made me reread the shadow lod part of Mondkalb's Addon Tutorial (which is a must read). My mistake with my shadow lods was, that I did not create sharp edges by pressing 'U'. Mondkalb writes that hitting 'U' is mandatory and in the German version of his tutorial he writes that pressing 'U' causes things being lit up correctly. http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Mondkalb's_Addon_Tutorial (English version) http://www.g-g-c.de/forum/showthread.php?t=11768 (German version) Now I implemented a lod shadowVolume 1.0 with one big box, covering all the tunnel/cave building. The results are better except for 2 things: - in 3rd person view the player is covered in shadow (which is ok), but in 1st person view the player's arms and his weapon are still lit up by the sun (which is not ok, but less relevant to me) and - when the player moves within the tunnel/cave or enters new areas of it, then the wall textures of the areas are first lit up and darken afterwards within 2-3 seconds (which is bad). I give the other hints a try as well and I will post feedback asap. Thx IceBone

Hi all, Some time ago, I wrote a tool for an non ARMA project, which creates and processes semi-transparent or translucent images. As these types of images/textures are always a bit tricky to create for ARMA, I thought of sharing the tool with the community. The result is an online tool, which is available via my website: www.where2link.com/IceBone/ and a teaser video, which also describes the basics of the tool. Feel free, to use the tool & have fun! IceBone :bounce3: P.S.: The maximum resolution supported is 2048x2048 pixels, which is more than enough for transparent ARMA2 textures. I prefer working with .bmp files as input, as their pixels' colors are not manipulated by any compression algorithm. On the other hand .bmp file sizes are bigger, compared to their compressed image file type alternatives, and there is an upload maximum somewhere between 2 or 3 mb for the online tool (defined by ASP.NET, I'm working on increasing it). So please consider your file sizes as well, when you give the tool a try. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWe3LtnSO4g?hl=en&fs=0&rel=0&hd=1&feature=youtu.be

Hi all, there is a new mission located on Chernarus, called TEC ePower. Your tasks are pretty simple :D : - Start off from the USS Khe Sanh by chopper, - blow up 2 TEC ePower buildings at the village of Elektrozavodsk and - return home to the aircraft carrier. More information as well as the download link of the mission is available at: www.where2link.com/icebone/missions_for_download.aspx P.S.: the mission The Hunt for Colonel Aziz is updated as well; and don't forget to download and install the IceBone folder, or the missions won't work; Have fun ! IceBone :bounce3:

Hello AllesDoof, thank you for both of your feedback posts! @domokun: The short answers to your questions are: yes, it needs to be hosted by a dedicated server and no - performance is not an issue Performance was an issue during times of Operation Flashpoint or Operation Flashpoint Resistance but is not an issue any more since Arma1. Some elements of hosted missions behave in different ways during gameplay, when hosted locally on your system without the use of the arma dedicated server software, compared to their behavior, when hosted by a dedicated server. The missions are tested intensively beeing hosted by a dedicated server and for the reason described above, there is a script implemented, that ends and debriefs the missions, in case they are not hosted by a dedicated server. IceBone

Task: Locate Colonel Aziz at Nagara, Takistan and eliminate him! The basic principle of the mission is similar to one of my older OFP Resistance missions, called "Kvilda Naval Base". It took place on Nogova years ago. Scope: start at Loy Manara Airfield by helicopter; rendezvous with Colonel Aziz and his 2 assistant ladies at Nagara and eliminate him; afterwards return to Loy Manara Airfield or make your way to the extraction point NW of Nagara. This mission offers a high replay value due to some randomness and dynamic features, implemented for the ai units: random locations of Colonel Aziz at Nagara; random locations of hostile outposts; random waypoints of patrols; hostile mortar artillery fire; unload of ai units, transported by helicopter to locations selected dynamically; besides the standard bis concept for ai units, to search and engage enemy units within their local area, there is a more global "hunting" concept implemented. It is based on the knowsAbout function and starts working, as soon as some ai units know the position of some players ... So keep stealth for as long as possible. :) Mission download, teaser video and more information is available at: www.where2link.com/IceBone/ Have fun IceBone :bounce3:

Yes - just as it is described at the website ...

update is available at: http://www.where2link.com/icebone/missions_for_download.aspx enjoy :D

Thank you very much Allison! It was a great pleasure, to do the recording with you! :cool: More information about the new coop mission TEC ePower is available at: http://www.where2link.com/IceBone IceBone

Hi, I updated the mission, to make sure, that it only runs in case it is hosted by a dedicated server and in case the IceBone folder is accessible. Otherwise the mission will debrief. This should avoid confusion (like TheScar's experience above) in the future. There is a 13th player slot for an undercover agent also now, to add additional tactical approaches, to solve the mission. This agent in Takistani local clothing is the ideal unit for reconnaissance tasks and for locating Colonel Aziz at Nagara. He remains undercover as long as he does not behave in a conspicuous way ... His behavior is checked periodically. This means, that his status will switch from conspicuous to inconspicuous to East and vice versa, in case he acts accordingly. More information is available at: www.where2link.com/icebone/missions_for_download.aspx P.S.: a second mission called "TEC ePower" is finished. To add more atmosphere to the mission, I am looking for 2 native US English speaking voice actors (accent doesn't matter). One is for a chopper pilot and the second is the voice of an radio operator on the USS Khe Sanh aircraft carrier. If you are interested, then please drop a short note on my website. IceBone :bounce3:

Hi, I am working on a new coop mission on Chernarus and therefore I am searching for 2 native US English speaking male voice actors (accent doesn't matter). One is needed for an US chopper pilot, and the second is needed for a radio operator on the USS Khe Sanh aircraft carrier. Full credits to the voice actors will be given within the arma2 mission briefing. If you are interested, then please send me a short message with your email address via my feedback site at: www.where2link.com/IceBone Please also let me know your time zone and which time of the day suits you most for the recording. I am on GMT +1 (Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam) Recording will be done via teamspeak on my TS server. Regards, IceBone

Hi TheScar, thx 4 your feedback. It's a cakewalk - do you mean the mission could be accomplished easily? Then you probably have not copied the additional icebone folder, which includes all scripts for controlling the ai, randomness, patrols and enemy reactions. Just check the information about the icebone folder and folder structure on my website About the Kamov: Randomness determines between a Kamov and a Mi-24 Hind. IceBone

Hi all, I updated this mission in the following way: - The mission is more balanced now and offers 12 player slots. Besides the basic 8 player slot assault team, there are slots available within 2 sniper teams. - The surrounding of Nagara village is secured by additional hostile outposts :D. IceBone :bounce3:

I made a video for all players, who do not know Turn Based Everon War yet and for those, who are not fully familiar with the teleporting and the weapons and ammunition options within TBW. The video is available for download at: http://85.214.19.233/everon_war/index.html cu on Everon IceBone

Turn Based Everon War is a set of 3 parties capture and hold missions across Everon. Turn based in this context means, that the result (captured flags) of the previous turn influences the situation for the following turns. Each turn takes 45 minutes. It will be created automatically after the previous turn has been finished. If the server is online, then there is a strategic map showing the progress of the 3 parties on Everon. Turn Based Everon War offers slots for 28 players, 8 East versus 8 Resistance versus 12 West. East and Resistance forces start offshore from their bases on small islands SW and NE of Everon. West established a base on Everon and has captured the flag(s) already at the beginning of each turn. During each turn there are between 1 to 4 C&H flags. More info coming soon. Where & when to play Turn Based Everon War: Type "Turn Based War" into the OFP Gamespy filter. We start the server round about 08.30 p.m. GMT +01.00. Public players are always welcome on West slots. Get ready for action & cu soon on Everon IceBone Â

No. You do not need addons for Turn Based Everon War.

Battle III has started on October 14th 2005. Don't miss turn 12 and the following ones to be played on Sunday 30th 2005 from 8 p.m. (GMT +01:00) onwards. Be part of it on IceBone's Turned Based War Server and dont forget to register, to get detailed information about the server and the upcoming battles at: http://85.214.19.233/everon_war/index.html cu on Everon & please connect without modifications IceBone Â

Thanks, NaBoKi @ D.murphy man: np, man @ All: We are 28 players already - Keep on registering here. Cu on Everon IceBone Â

Hi all, The turn based war server is password protected now. As public players are always welcome on our server, we offer the possibility of registration now. Feel free to register yourself here, to have access to the latest turn based war news, info and to our lastest OFP server password. IceBone

Ooops, maybe my statement about the strategic map was a little bit confusing. The strategic map does NOT update during the turn of 45 minutes. It is a static .jpg during each turn. There was no intention to develop a realtime online monitoring system. The strategic map will be updated at the beginning of each turn, indicating the position of the West Base and the positions of the 1-4 C&H flags. The next update is done at the end of the turn, displaying the result of that turn (which side won which C&H flag, which segments have been conquered and the overall score for each of the 3 parties). Both updates per turn are done automatically by the server. Sorry for the confusion IceBone

Update of Seagull Wings and Checkmate There is a major update of the Seagull Wings map and some smaller ones of the Checkmate map. Seagull Wings v3.7: Until now Seagull Wings has been a pure cooperative map for 8 players on West side. With version 3.7 I upgraded it to an attack & defend map with additional 4 player slots on East side. Now you are also able to protect the convoy (e.g. with the support of artillery fire) against attacks of West players. In case the East slots are not used, the map is basically a coop map. Checkmate v3.7: Besides some smaller changes to East, the West players are equipped better now. At start every player carries a heavy machine gun, which he could set down and pick up again at his current position. More info & missions at: http://icebone.gmxhome.de Enjoy the missions IceBone