KaRRiLLioN

I've got a mission where I use the local server to create soldiers and move them into one of the players' groups. In init.sqs, I created two groups: westGroupA and eastGroupA So, I create the soldiers in westGroupA, then join them to whatever group ordered them. Afterward, no other units would build and I discovered that after moving the units from westGroupA, it was now a null group. So the question is this--anyone know if that means the group is deleted and not counted toward the 144 group limit? If it is deleted and doesn't count, then no problem--I'll just recreate the group each time I need it. I want to avoid the OFP method used for this, which was to create AI in the mission editor and give them group names that I'd use for createUnit, etc.

I'm not familiar with the mechanics of Prime's script, but the AI seem to rescue fallen comrades fairly well in the revive scripts I use. Â Since it's meant to be a player coop, however, it's not focused on AI so much. Also, all you need to handle JIP stuff is to use the onPlayerConnected eventhandler and have it exec a script that publicvariables the current global vars from the server. Â Then if "missionstarted" is true, just have the player setPos'd somewhere.

I think Chillamasta's C&H's are mostly good, i.e. Assault on Bagango and Assault on Airport. That said, I've made my own sector control style C&H's where you must cap in order and cap all territories to dominate. But on the pub it's really hard to get most players to actually think in terms of strategy, so the mission is over in under 5 mins since once team uses teamwork and dominates completely. It drives me nuts.

AFAIK, teamswitch does work, but I think you might need to be in the group, or be leader of that group because it has to be local to you to work properly. I've had it work in MP before with the switch dialog, but when I took over the non-local unit, I couldn't control it. I have a mission that will move the player to a new group after death, create a unit, then move the player into that unit using selectPlayer, but I haven't tried it with the switch menu yet.

I've got 3 missions that I added my edited version of Doolittles scripts and they seem to work fine. I adjusted the scripts to automatically create a list of class types for revival, but since there's JIP, you need to make sure you leave on one of each type of unit. Otherwise, people can join just fine. The only issues I run into tend to be related to other things in the mission, i.e. if the AI was turned off but it originally starts in a chopper over water, when a person JIP's into that unit, they may be in the chopper somewhere or swimming in the ocean. Fun stuff.

Is there a way to find the number of non-cargo slots in a vehicle using the getText command? I could have sworn there were some entries, although the ones I remember were boolean in nature, i.e. hasdriver=1; hasgunner=1;etc. I have a simple workaround atm, but it'd be great for spawning manned tanks, etc. If anyone remembers Backoff's old OFP spawn group script, you'll have some idea how this might simplify things a lot. Currently, I create 3 soldiers, have them moveInDriver, moveInGunner, moveInCommander. If vehicle soldier == soldier after that, I delete the soldier. Ugly, but it works.

Ah, another command. No wonder. Well, I figured there might be something for bool or number out there. I'm grateful for the flexibility of ArmA, but the sheer size of the commands list is somewhat intimidating even to one who was used to OFP's. Finding something to suit a need is a little more difficult even with search on the Wiki. Thanks!

Weed through its description.ext entries, extract them into a new file named loadoutMenu.hpp and put all necessary entries in there. Then in your description.ext, put: #include "loadoutMenu.hpp" And it'll have everything you need. If you've got some entries listed twice between the two files, it'll crash the game and give you an error so you can narrow it down. In OFP you could use hpp's unless they were in addons because of OFP's directory handling.

Good idea.

I already worked around it with triggers. I just prefer not to use them. But oh well--for now at least.

I have a capture and hold script that checks for specific vehicles in order for the sector to be capped. Â The script is Server-side only. Here's the code sample: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> ammoTruckWest = "Truck5tReammo" repairTruckWest = "Truck5tRepair" fuelTruckWest = "Truck5tRefuel" ammoTruckEast = "UralReammo" repairTruckEast = "UralRepair" fuelTruckEast = "UralRefuel" _w = nearestObjects [_spot,[ammoTruckWest,repairTruckWest,fuelTruckWest],10]; _vehW = _w select 0 _e = nearestObjects [_spot,[ammoTruckEast,repairTruckEast,fuelTruckEast],10]; _vehE = _e select 0 In single player, it detects the objects just fine. Â In multiplayer, I had three trucks which respawned server-side, and the player could createVehicle the trucks (rts-style) local to the client. The trucks which respawned server-side were detected by the script. Â The vehicles created by the player were not. Â In other words, it appears that if a vehicle is created client-side, the server does not detect them using nearestObjects. Would this be a bug, or intentional? Â I tested this several times by running a dedicated server and using vehicles spawned server side and vehicles created local to me. Â I wouldn't think this behavior is desireable. I worked around it by using triggers, but since nearestObjects offers so much nice flexibility in unit classes and distance, I'd prefer to use it. Anyone else suffer this phenomonon?

I haven't checked that, but I will. I ran more extensive tests with the dedicated server sending out a public msg string so I could see what it sees. Interestingly enough, when I created a vehicle locally, the server did detect it briefly, then it abruptly vanished from its radar. Odd. I whipped up a sample mission and sent it to Suma to see if perhaps I'm making a mistake, or this is something that needs repair. I can get around using nearestObjects, but it's such a dandy command, that I'd rather not. Here's the sample mission if anyone wants to futz with it. ftp://addons:[email protected]/nearestObjectsTest.zip To test on a dedicated server, all you need to do is run ArmA with the -server parameter and then run the client as you normally do. Click on address: Internet and it'll change to LAN and you'll see your dedicated server.

It was V2. I changed it a bit and added revive respawn to it since the players on my pub like to try and stop bullets with their heads a lot. Hope you don't mind. Main issue we had was Maria would take my order and go to evac zone, but while waiting for chopper to arrive, she'd suddenly go running back up the hill where she'd been, or sometimes even warp up there. No idea why. Perhaps, instead of making her join the group, you could have her run to the evac zone by herself? I dunno, it's tricky stuff sometimes even with the simple things. Is there a newer version out than V2, btw?

Remember the error from OFP: Cannot load mission, missing addons "addon" This is ArmA's version of that error. If there's supposed to be an addon in the mission.sqm, but it isn't listed, ArmA will give you that error.

You could definitely delete inactive missions while the OFP server was on. I update missions frequently, so I really need this to work with ArmA.

Is this a single player or MP mission? I'm guessing SP, right?

I had a few issues. When Maria joined the group, sometimes it would tell her to join the group several times. Then I'd have her run to the evac spot, but she'd get there sometimes, then run all the way back to where we found her instead. Sometimes she'd disappear and reappear at her original spot. I'm not sure if those are Arma bugs or not. Another is that even when I got her on the chopper, the chopper wouldn't take off. If it's an ArmA issue, instead of having her join the player's group, instead just give her a waypoint to run to evac and automate the chopper picking her up.

The foreach command would be the same in either, AFAIK. The main difference is the way if statements are handled, and loops are replaced by when...do and for...do.

I'd recommend searching the Multiplayer forum and also the BIS Wiki. Here's a thread in MP with a server.cfg. http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....t=56985

What kind of power supply do you have, i.e. how many watts and brand name? An 8800GTX is a power-hungry beast, not to mention a P4 isn't the most economic cpu either.

Cool, downloading for my server now.

AFAIK those commands are new for ArmA 1.04. I don't think the markerlocal commands will work yet. Of course I haven't tested them. ATM, createMarker and setMarkerText are GLOBAL commands, whereas all other setMarker commands are LOCAL. This will obviously change with ArmA 1.04 since they just added a ton of Local marker commands.

I've converted most of my scripts to SQF and found the largest challenge is restructuring some loops.  Since there's no "goto" you can't just hop from a loop, grab something and then go back.  This is why the flow control is better.  It keeps the game engine from having to skip all over the script.  Instead it goes through all the steps in order. Now as to whether there's a discernable difference between SQS and SQF as to performance, I couldn't say.  My dedicated server seems to react the same way regardless of whether the mission is based on SQS or SQF.  In other words, once I get upwards of 30 people, the server performance drops a lot. So in summary, if you're more comfortable with SQS, then don't worry about it.  If you can make a nice clean script in SQS, I really don't think you'd have a problem making it in SQF.  The syntax isn't that hard, you just have to think about it a little more. Here's some examples that might help: My old vehicle respawn script in SQS: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> ?!local Server : Goto "end" _vcl = _this select 0 _respawndelay = 10 _dir = Getdir _vcl _pos = Getpos _vcl _type = typeOf _vcl Goto "Custom" #start _wait = _time + 150 ~1 ?CanMove _vcl && Count Crew _vcl < 1 : goto "Start" ?Alive _vcl && Count Crew _vcl > 0 : Goto "Wait" Goto "Dead" #Wait ~1 ?Count Crew _vcl > 0 && Alive _vcl : goto "wait" ?!CanMove _vcl : Goto "Dead" ?Count Crew _vcl < 1 : Goto "DriverWait" Goto "start" #Dead _delay = _time + _respawndelay #DeadWait ~1 ?Alive _vcl && Count Crew _vcl > 0 : Goto "start" ?_time < _delay : goto "DeadWait" #Respawn deleteVehicle _vcl _vcl = _type createVehicle _pos _vcl setdir _dir Goto "Skip" #DriverWait ~1 ?(Count Crew _vcl < 1 && _time > _wait) || !(canMove _vcl) : Goto "Respawn" ?Count Crew _vcl > 0 : Goto "start" Goto "DriverWait" #Skip goto "start" #end Exit The updated version in SQF: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> private ["_vcl","_respawndelay","_dir","_pos","_type","_run","_crewWait"]; if (!local Server) exitWith {}; _vcl = _this; _respawndelay = 20; _dir = Getdir _vcl; _pos = Getpos _vcl; _crewWait = 150; _wait = 0; _type = typeOf _vcl; _run = TRUE; sleep 1; for [{}, {_run}, {_run}] do {   while {canMove _vcl && count crew _vcl < 1} do   {      _wait = Time + _crewWait;      sleep 1;   };   while {Count crew _vcl > 0 && Alive _vcl} do   {      _wait = Time + _crewWait;      sleep 1;   };   while {canMove _vcl && count Crew _vcl < 1 && Time < _wait} do   {      sleep 1;   };   _delay = Time + _respawnDelay;   while {!canMove _vcl && count Crew _vcl < 1 && Time < _delay} do   {      sleep 1;   };   if (count Crew _vcl < 1) then   {      deleteVehicle _vcl;      _vcl = _type createVehicle _pos;      _vcl setdir _dir;      sleep 1;      _vcl setvelocity [0,0,0];      _vcl setpos _pos;      sleep 1;      _vcl setvelocity [0,0,0];   }; }; The SQF code looks as long as the SQS, but that's because of the way I format it.  I've never been the most eloquent of scripters, but hopefully this'll give you some ideas.

You could probably use some trigonometry to create a small explosion behind the chopper on the tail rotor. Something like: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> [chopper] exec "shootRotor.sqs" Then copy this into shootRotor.sqs: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> _chopper = _this select 0 #bombLoop _pos = getPos _chopper _dir = getDir _chopper _dist = -4 _posX = (_pos select 0) + _dist * sin _dir _posY = (_pos select 1) + _dist * cos _dir _posZ = getPos _chopper select 2 <bombtype> createVehicle [_posX,_posY,_posZ] ?getDamage _chopper < .8 : goto "BombLoop" It'd require a lot of tinkering to get the position right, and knowing how createvehicle can be imprecise at times, it might not work at all. Â But it's worth a try if precision is what you're after.

That was one of the first things I did, but the boost was only marginal over the custom profile they whipped up at the slizone for me. I've tried it in FEAR and other FPS's and have seen 70-150 FPS even in heavy firefights at 2560x1600. There must be something funky about ArmA's graphics engine.