james mckenzie-smith

It never rains, but it pours. I have been working on this for a while as well, and I was going to present my solution to you all, as well as another HC problem that I have solved; namely, slowing down the breakneck pace of operations. My solution for the issue is similar to tswords' elegant idea, but does not make use of a radio slot. Rather, it adds to the custom commands menu. I have created templates for one and all to use, and a sample (and enemy-free) scenario, whereby the player has access to the might of a US Armored battalion south of Zargabad. Sorry, it's OA only, but the templates should work in ArmA2. http://www.mediafire.com/?mnh7xtszbtmd4us

Anyone have any more thoughts on this? It would be rather helpful...

Greetings, all. I wish to make a radio-activated trigger using the function 'stop'. Currently I have this: unitname stop true That works perfectly for single units. However, I would like the trigger to affect any and all selected units. I have tried: groupSelectedUnits stop true This does not work, because groupSelectedUnits is an array, and an object is needed. So, in a nutshell, how can one make a player-selected group into an object, for the sake of the 'On Act.' area of the trigger, so that... (whatever) stop true ...works? I would appreciate any assistance. I am no great hand at this sort of thing, and I am stumped!

Thanks for the continued assistance. Here's a similar question. How do we make this work in High Command scenarios? Let's say I try to select a few of many HC groups. Unfortunately, the script... {_x stop true} foreach groupselectedunits player ...does not seem to work in this situation. Is there any way of doing something like this? {_x stop true} foreach selected_HC_groups player That's obviously not a valid script. "Selected_HC-groups" is there just to indicate the desired effect of whatever bit of code ends up there. Any continued help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for the reply, but that's not quite it, either. I mean, when I am playing the scenario, I would like to be able to do this: 1. Select all or some of my units under command, using F1 -> F12 2. Then, selecting a radio trigger, and only the units selected in step 1 stop; all others proceed as normal. As it stands, I can stop everybody, by just doing... unitname1 stop true; unitname2 stop true etc. ...in each trigger, or make a bunch of individual triggers as such: unitname1 stop true ...and so on. I would like the added flexibility of being able to select all or some units, then using a single radio call, rather than taking up several radio triggers unnecessarily.

Thank you very much for the quick reply. Unfortunately, I get the message "Invalid number in expression" when I cut and past your code.

Crouching while stationary could have two positions, as per your screenshot. It could be implemented using the same key. When the crouch is initiated, the player is in high crouch; hitting crouch again toggles low crouch. Hit crouch again, high crouch, and so on.

Of course, once you allow shooting out of Humvee windows, as in Generation Kill, then what about air sentries in APCs and IFVs? What about crowds of people in the back of trucks, with logic for tarps up or open topped? What about a dirtbike coming to a stop, and the guerilla on the back firing off an AK or RPG, and scooting off? It's not that I am against the idea - I'm not - but there really is lots to consider.

The High Command module is a good step forward for the ArmA series; at present, however, it can be hectic to arrange coordinated maneuvers due to the tendency for squads to proceed on waypoints right away as they are made. This makes right-clicking on a waypoint and editing the actions there a bit of a race against the squad, and how fast it will get to the waypoint. This is further exacerbated when one is moving more than a single squad. I suggest that no squad proceed on High Command waypoints until a GO button is clicked by the player, signifying that the squad can proceed. Waypoints created for the squad will remain pending until such time as the order to proceed is given. Squads could be told to proceed as individual units, or en masse. Examples: Here, Squad 1 is selected, and waypoints are plotted. The squad does not proceed, however, because 'GO' has not been clicked. Each waypoint can be right-clicked and edited at leisure. Now, Squad 2 is selected, with more waypoints plotted. Squad 1 has not moved, because it has not been re-selected, and 'GO' has not been clicked. The player has selected Squad 1 as well as Squad 2, and clicked on 'GO'. Both squads now leave on their waypoint trails. Note that it is now far easier to coordinate movement. Squad 2 has been selected again, and now 'HALT' appears as an option. If the unit is halted, then its actions can be edited at leisure, and it can be further coordinated with any movements made by Squad 3, say. I hope that this finds the dev team's approval, as it would radically improve the enjoyment possible from the HC function. I do have a couple more suggestions. First, keep the current system in place for movement in the 3D world as opposed to the map, for those needing to make quick commands in the heat of battle. Second, allow my suggested system to work for helicopters, but it is probably too cumbersome for fast jets. I'm not too sure that anyone uses fast air in HC, but you never know.

Yes, it is possible to set departure times at each waypoint. Of course, as it stands, with the mad dash to right click and set times as your units remorselessly proceed on their plotted routes, this is impractical for coordinating more than a couple of units, and practically impossible if the distances involved are short.

I am a Canadian who would buy Canadian Army DLC, for sure. Mind you, I'd also buy a DLC with the French Foreign Legion, or the US Army Rangers. For that matter, I'd buy DLC with Laotian Army reservists, Singaporean Guards, or the full order of battle of the Zimbabwean Catering Corps. It's all good, and I certainly don't feel any slight to my nation if it is not mentioned in a video game about a fictional conflict. That said, I do see a way for some Canadian content. If BIS had a DLC called the Special Operations Pack or something, and included: - USSOCOM, with Special Forces, Deltas, SEALs (including a boat or two), Rangers, and also 160th SOAR - British SAS/SBS, and Royal Marines and Paras based on current BAF content - Aussie SASR - Canadian Special Operations Regiment &/or JTF2 - Alfa, Vympel, OMON...Russians, just to balance OPFOR the out. Doing something like that would get some Canadian content in there, and people who would not otherwise buy a Canadian only pack would probably buy it for the rest, so long as there were good OPFOR options and terrain, and some sweet missions and campaigns.

155mm, to judge from the available ordnance and the sheer damage when it splashes. It's murderous, and has saved my virtual bacon on more than one occasion when I have nearly been overrun by Taks. Fankly, I prefer it to the game's air support. It gets there faster, there's a selection of lethal rounds, and while a single LGB is the biggest damned thing you can use to eff up your enemies, the volume of HE in a long 155 stonk is just amazing. Send me a PM at SimHQ with your contact info, I will send you some template missions, orbats, loadouts, and other stuff to help you out some more.

First, Place a Trigger on the map, pretty much anywhere. In this trigger, leave everything at the default settings, except cut and paste this... [["tactical_airstrike"], player, [[]]] call BIS_SOM_addSupportRequestFunc; ...into the Condition field of the trigger's menu, overwriting "this". Second, place a Module on the map by pressing your F7 key and clicking on the map. Double click on the SecOp module you placed, and cut and paste this... this setVariable ["settings", [[], true, nil, nil, false]]; ...into the Initialization field. Finally, select Synchronize by pressing your F5 key, and drag a line between the module and the player. Enter the mission, and try it out. A pair of A-10s should appear (or sometimes AV8Bs or F-35s, if I recall correctly) and circle around. They will drop on a laser designation that you set, or failing that, they will drop an LGB each on the designated target location after a few passes, although in this case, they have been known to miss or go after enemy concentrations, and they might also attack enemy vehicles on an opportunity basis. Here's a couple more options for you: Artillery on-call: [["artillery_barrage"], player, [[]]] call BIS_SOM_addSupportRequestFunc; Air recce: [["aerial_reconnaissance"], player, [[]]] call BIS_SOM_addSupportRequestFunc; All three: [["aerial_reconnaissance", "tactical_airstrike", "artillery_barrage"], player, [[]]] call BIS_SOM_addSupportRequestFunc; That should about cover it. In future, try posting your editor question in the mission editor forum, lots of knowledgeable people there. http://forums.bistudio.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93

1. Place a group of infantry. 2. Place a truck. Ensure that the truck is NOT grouped to the infantry group. 3. Make a waypoint for the infantry roughly where you want the infantry group to board the truck. For the 'Select Type' waypoint field, scroll to and select 'Get In'. 4. Make a waypoint for the truck roughly where you want the infantry group to board. For the 'Select Type' waypoint field, scroll to and select 'Load'. 5. Press your F5 key to go into the Synchronize function in the editor, and drag a line between the two previously created waypoints. 6. From the truck's waypoint, create a waypoint where you want the infantry to get off the truck. For the 'Select Type' waypoint field, scroll to and select 'Transport Unload'. 7. Create more truck waypoints, moving the truck away from where the infantry are to go. 8. Create more infantry waypoints, towards where you want the infantry to go. Note that you do not need to tell the infantry to get off the truck, the truck's waypoint pretty much handle this. That should work all of the time. To start the infantry in the truck, ignore steps 3-5 above. Instead, do the following: 1. Give the truck a name when you place it in its 'name field' Example: Truck1 2. In the 'Initialization' field of each and every infantry unit in the infantry group, write the following: this moveincargo Truck1 Thereafter, steps 6 and on will work the same.

No, I am not asking if it is possible to use patches for the improvements you listed. I am asking if you believe that a DLC can only be produced at the expense of other improvements? It is strange that people still do not understand that 3D artists and level designers could possibly improve those aspects of gameplay you deem in need of improvement. What would you suggest the artists and level designers do while engine improvements are made? Should they get paid for doing nothing? Should they be released from BIS until the game reaches a state that your 400 people deem satisfactory? I am not too sure that the artists will just wait around to be hired by BIS in the meantime. I think that the DLC content is a welcome addition, frankly, and the latest beta patch is further evidence that essential gameplay elements, such as better AI, is still being worked on by BIS. CQB is still not at a standard that you might like, but in my opinion, the improvements are pretty impressive, and BIS is on the right track. Really, I think that we can have the best of both worlds.

Are you absolutely sure that fixing the issues on your list, and producing DLC content are mutually exclusive?

I'm bumping this one myself, as there has not been too much improvement to High Command for a long time. It would be nice for HC to have some love.

I own a copy of OFP with the box signed by the dev team. I still own Resistance, and ArmA2, OA, and BAF, and two copies of VBS2. I used to own OFP:Red Hammer, Armed Assault, and Queen's Gambit.

I can rather understand how some people might have trouble deciding how to deal with surrendered AI. After all, one's own friendly AI are sometimes rather uncertain on the matter. I usually walk up to the surrendered parties, and have a rather quick and unrewarding chat, just for form's sake. On one occasion, as I walked up to this surrendered Chedaki bloke, one of my own fellows let rip at him with a Mk48 when I was about six feet away from him. A bit surprising, and I was actually a bit pissed. Also, I made a scenario whereby I had a bunch of marines assaulting a position. On the objective, I discovered a Chedaki who was lying badly injured. I told the corpsman to patch him up. That done, the Chedaki stood up, dutifully put his hands on his head, and then he fell to the ground, a little more definitively than before. An automatic rifleman some distance away had let rip with a Minimi, nearly taking me and the corpsman out at the same time. I have also seen some enemies without weapons fleeing the battlefield on occasion. I wonder if these are surrendered enemy who have decided to do a runner (given the AI's occasional trigger-happiness, I cannot blame them), or if they ditched their weapons without surrendering, the better to get the hell out of the area?

Forces that I would like to see: - French Foreign Legion - More or less complete USSOCOM, including 160th SOAR assets, Rangers, some SEALs, all those sorts of people. - Western special operations pack. SAS, Australian SASR, NZ SAS, Dutch Korps Commandotroepen, Canadian CSOR. Plus, a few new ideas for theatres and opfor for the Armaverse: Battam Bam. Based on Cambodia. Formerly under the genocidal thrall of the Communist Party of Battam Bam, or the Battam Rouge, Battam Bam has enjoyed a relatively peaceful twenty years. However, increasing rural support for remnants of the Battam Rouge, motivated by the continuing poverty of the rural peasantry while urban areas gain in prosperity, enables the Battam Rouge to retake the northern rural province of Dai Nam Reap. Alarmed, the national government calls for aid from the former colonial power, France, to counter this menace, and Operation Sacre Merde is launched. New opfor: Communist insurgents, with captured Russian vehicles. New map: Mix of rice fields, hilly jungle, a big, muddy river, and villages. Karooland. Somewhere north of South Africa. After the fall of Karooland's apartheid regime, the nation has settled fairly peacefully into being a far from rich nation by world standards, but well-off by African standards. However, with the discovery of what might be the richest deposits of platinum yet discovered, the formerly obscure little nation finds itself coveted by totalitarian Gondwanaland. With its restless population and relatively low wealth, Gondwanaland has hitherto concerned itself with its internal strife and equipping a fairly impressive army, while letting internal economic infrastructure decay badly. However, with a democracy movement making headway and the temptations of Karooland's platinum dangling before them, Gondwanaland attacks, citing bogus historical claims and invented wrongs by Karooland. Mindful of the strategic value of Karooland's possible new platinum resources, Western nations commit troops to help Karooland fend off invasion. New forces: Blue and Red African armies, with a mix of 1970s Western kit and 1980's Russian kit; also, some militia. New map: African Veldt, with red soil, some low hills, and some dusty villages and towns. Eurasia. Because we've always been at war with Eurasia.

I'd buy an upgraded to OA standards USMC pack, with desert and temperate options. I would also like to see BIS reskins of the US Army vehicles to fit in Chernarus. Russians so updated would be nice as well. I am somewhat encouraged with the inclusion of the non-desert troops and vehicles in the British pack, which tells me that Chernarus has not been abandoned. I think that BIS must be at least mulling this over. Let's hope that they decide that it is economically viable.

I think that they are, just not under the name 'Landrover', presumably for licensing reasons. In Taki and Czech service, they have a more generic name.

Clues as to the actual location of the Green Sea and Takistan can be found on the History of Takistan page at http://www.arma2.com/arma-2-oa-takistan/a-2-oa-history_en.html, where it is stated that Genghis Khan overran Takistan in 1219. In reality, Genghis Khan's movements would have placed him invading eastern Khwarezm, so it would seem that Takistan should be within a couple of hundred miles (probably east and a little north) of 42°47′00″N 68°17′00″E, the location of the ghost town Otrar on the Silk Road, that was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219. Of course, this would mean that the Green Sea covers bits of Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and Chernarus would be north of the central Asian 'stans, and the Green Sea would somehow be accessible to the USN, necessitating a body of water connecting the Green Sea to the Indian Ocean 900 miles away. All of this, of course, would be rather hard to fit on any fictional map maintaining any resemblance to reality. Personally, I don't really try to fit the Armaversum into our current reality, and certainly not with Chernarus and Takistan being neighbours, because it really does not work too well.

My copy of OA is still in the post, so I cannot answer my own question, which is: Are the weapon-mounted IR lasers compatible with any of the basic ArmA2 weapons? How are they implemented? My curious mind would like to know!

Distribution in Canada of BIS products is pretty poor, whoever the publisher is/was; certainly, EB Games/Game Stop cannot be relied on. Some of their stores never carried them. Out West, London Drugs has typically had BIS products, but usually months late. Amazon.ca does not have it listed at all (although they eventually carried ArmA & ArmA 2). Try online, Amazon.com has it, and I can recommend game.co.uk for reasonable prices and rapid delivery.