madrussian

I personally think the more the rocks/other obstacles, the better... Especially considering it's a desert map and all. More cover = more possibility. :D

@CSJ Any chance we'll see your wonderful sharks submerge eventually?

@MrN I just tried out the Duala version. Very nice! :) Couple of suggestions though. 1. Seems like when you get wounded, you (MrN) place the player into cutscene mode, which is kind of cool. However, then you cannot call for a medic... and maybe this was the idea to start with. (On the surface that makes sense). If so however, the player is going to "die" regardless (and become captive), and that's an extremely long time just sitting there wounded and waiting before you get to be captive. So why not just cut-to-the-chase with the captive stuff as soon as the player is wounded? (or maybe a few seconds later) 2. I really love the captive stuff and attempting to escape from the base. Once you make it out, however, sometimes it's an extremely long treck back to base. In my last mission after escaping, I encountered some civilians on foot and others in vehicles (a couple of which were parked). It occurred to me that I needed to take over the civ's vehicle (ya know, since I'm on official "escape" business and all). But the only way to get control of the vehicle was to execute the poor civ. However horrible this might have been, it was an atrocity I reluctantly committed. :eek: How about the option to HYJACK a civilian vehicle? Maybe they can still get pissed, but at least there's a more "humane" way to get it done. :D EDIT: Also, another quick thing. After escaping captivity, I was able to get back to base without encountering any enemy forces (aside from those at the captivity camp). I remember it being that way with the old Panthera version too. Do you have anything in place (for the way back) where we might encounter enemy forces? If something's already in place, maybe consider increasing the chances of an encounter? btw- Thanks again man for this great stuff. :cool:

Kick-ass flying machine CSJ! Also to IceBreakr... good to hear you are getting close on your apocalyptic stuff. I'm chomping at the bit here. :D

Thanks for the update! They are silent stalking killing machines now! btw- If I may ask, are future updates planned? Any word on the sharks submerging? Also, how about other sea creatures to shadow us, scare the holy crap out of us, and then finally eat us alive? :eek: In any event, great work on everything so far. :)

Good to see this happening, with the "pipe" intact to boot! Much appreciated! :D The biggest one for me is probably DirectInput mouse coordinates (and button states). Also joystick coordinates/button states would be nice. Another "must-have" is the ability to read/write to a simple ini file, as in "variable = value" format. That one would be HUGE for mission makers designing complicated dynamic missions (streamlined saving, etc) and web-based interface applications (for an interface that's as easy-as-it-gets). All of those were in place in ArmaLib, well iirc anyhow. Good luck! :)

Nice mission. No bugs, and it wasn't impossible odds like in so many others! :)

I fired up the demo mission and got to the point we were all in the water... and immediately shut it down due to the sheer terror! All before seeing even a single shark. :p Then after a bit I got up the courage and restarted the demo, made a b-line for land, and... was eaten alive in a terryfying fit of agony. Great work! Maybe we'll see other dangerous see creatures?!? ;) Edit: One quick suggestion. No idea how hard this might be, but can you make the sharks submerge some of the time? As it stands currently (fins above surface and spraying water), you can keep track of the sharks fairly easily. Now on the other hand, if they were sometimes underwater, well then they could be lurking anywhere!

Just set independent as hostile to west in the editor. Those settings are in the same place as the weather... :)

Looking plenty awesome as far as I'm concerned... Keep going McRuppert!

Greetings. :) In the command reference, I'm seeing two different types of map commands: 1. First, basic map commands like mapAnimAdd, which operate easily on the main map. (I can get this type of commands working just fine.) 2. Then there are a whole slew of map commands that need a "map control" as an input, like ctrlMapScale. For all the "map control" commands, I'm sure I could get them working on a map embedded in a user-created dialog. However, I would really just like to use these commands on the main map. Specifically right now, I'd like to get the map scale of the main map (but I see no ctrlMapScale equivelent, etc). In short, is there a built-in "map control" that represents the main map (without having to create a map embedded inside a dialog)? Another way to phrase: Anyone know how to get ctrlMapScale working on the main map? Thanks for any help in this matter!

@canis lupus I just read back a few posts... sorry to hear about your grandfather man. Good to hear you'll be there at the funeral to honor him. Best wishes, hang in there.

Yes, do it! Those are some of the best wrecked buildings ever created!

Cool mission! Some quick feedback. I love the RPG style and feel of the mission. The events of the first objective on that hill are intriguing, then shocking indeed, and make you want to keep going. :D But that first walk is a real killer, especially seeing as though the first objective is always the same. Perhaps minimum the shortest distance to transportation? (I found the bike on the way to 1st obj, but it was still one hell of a hike.) Even better still, maybe randomize the first objective (or insertion point), so you're not walking that same route initially, over and over? Best of all, how about some kind of a fast travel system (or similar)? That would really fit the style and theme of the mission, I think. Also: I can confirm starting the mission with no NVGs. This happened to me the first time I started the mission (after trying to turn them on, etc). But on the next couple attempts, I did have them. Anyhow, I've seen enough cool RPG content infused inside this intriguing mission to have another go. Great effort so far! :) (btw- And thanks for going addon-free!)

Having read and loved the book "The Road", I waited with eager anticipation for release of the movie version... and (due to limited release) the damn theaters would not even show the movie in my major metropolitan area. I would have had to drive all the way to Chicago to see it at the theater! What is wrong with our world population anyway, when they don't want to see the awesome result of apocalyptic mass-destruction??? :p Yes, I was imagining this!!! Only at first I was thinking about mixing your new factions with the standard "clean" U.S. in ACU... this latest news of remnant US force is many times better! Hopefully some remnant Russians too? Now I can hear an Abandoned Armies remake calling... :) Also, would you say that a high percentage of your units work well only in cold weather (with coats, etc)? The reason I ask is this recent marvel of jungle and ruins that is potentially an ideal post-apocalyptic setting.

Wow! Shockingly good looking jungle and ruins. :) I just discovered and read through the whole thread. One thing that caught my attention: I really hope you can get at least semi-decent AI pathfinding in the ruined city and towns. It's so very important for small-number-of-player coops, not to mention all the rpg mission ideas I've got brewing up there in my head. In any event, very eager for release here. Thanks for this! :D

This keeps getting more and more awesome! Keep going! Keep going! I am more excited about this mod than any other right now! Well, then there's the DAC... but that goes without saying. These two together will be the perfect marriage indeed! :D

For the record, having done some work with ODE in the past, I do not subscribe to the naysayer's sweeping blanket statements that this would never work. I instead refuse to rule out the possibility that utilizing another physics engine in parallel with ArmA2 to interface with / influence the ArmA physics, may actually work! I've actually given this concept a lot of thought and think this is a very good idea to try and make happen. But it won't be easy. First I would suggest learning how to use a high quality physics engine like PhysX and play around with creating primative rigid bodies, composite objects, and joints, applying force, etc. To really make it interface with ArmA2 we'd need something like ArmaLib for Arma2 (with that C++ based data pipe). Otherwise write an interface utilizing the two clipboard commands (bi-directional with full acks) to pass data in real time. [btw - anyone any idea if a ArmaLib for Arma2 is in the works?] Like I say, it's by no means simple and may not ever actually produce acceptable results, but it's far from impossible, and someone should start experimenting! :cool: Or wait for Arma 5 (when BIS finally implements 2010 era physics... the rest of the gaming world having moved ahead ten or so years). :D

Awsome! Can't wait to see some rag-tag civies! Mission ideas are already churning in my head.

Probably not exactly what you are looking for, but how about a simple Game Logic? For instance, I know you can do a selectPlayer to a Game Logic... maybe they can talk as well? Aside from Game Logics though, I'd be interested as well in a pure empty object you're talking about (that not on a side, etc)... good question!

I'm still polishing the functionality and it's more complicated than originally thought, but if and when I get it in perfect working order, I'll send it your way. I'll probably also release for general purpose, as I think this is the ideal way to transport playable troops via helo. (i.e. without crashing AI pilots, etc) Sounds good. One related recommendation regarding your Beachhead mission: It's cool to be able to combine the two groups for SP. How about the ability to split them up again? And how about adding this ability to MP? That would make for the perfect 2-man coop experience, being able to group together and then split back up depending on the circumstances. btw- Another kick-ass mission you've created! :) I see, that's a neat way to do it! I'm assuming once you locate the computer, you get an action? Just a minor suggestion though, but maybe add an option in the parameters to mark the exact position of the computer (with a small dot mark or something), maybe even upon clearing the base. For some of us, it really isn't fun to look around all over the place for something, especially inside a compound with numerous buildings / rooms / levels. :eek: Plus I really did end up stuck last time, after looking what I thought was everywhere in there. Maybe the computer ended up hidden inside a dead body??? Perhaps that officer you mentioned?!? :p Now that is a funny one! :D Thanks for the heads up though. I'll add that initialization to my helo addon for the moment until your next release. I'm really having fun with your missions... you've really got a knack for this!

@Laggy, Gave your mission a whirl... I've haven't gotten very far in yet, but so far it's pretty kick-ass! Awesome briefing and info and that GR1 music brings back good old memories indeed. :) A bit of help though... after clearing the initial enemy compound and then looking around for probably 10-15 min, I can't seem to locate the computer... any hints? Also, I've been playing solo in MP, to keep the ground and helo groups separate. Out of curiosity, why combine the two groups in SP? Imo, that really makes it hard to give your ground squad orders (as you have to keep checking/deselecting the guys in the helo). After all, you can teamswitch back and forth between the ground squad and the helo when the groups are separate... so why have one big group? btw- I'm liking the whole teamswitch-with-separate-squad-and-helo-groups thing so much that I've been toying around with writing a small command system (for SP use, maybe MP eventually) that works something like this: 1. When playing as the ground forces, you get radio options to call the ai-controlled helo in to your position, and an option to order helo back to base. So lets say as the ground forces you call in the helo in to your position (from base where it was awaiting the order). 2. Once the helo get's close to your squad's position... Because the AI is rubbish at landing air vehicles / taking off again without crashing into the trees, at this point you as the player teamswitch to the helo pilot and land the bird yourself, next to your ground troops (with precision of course, as you are human). 3. Now, when playing as the pilot, you get radio options to order the squad to board -and- an option to order the squad to dismount. After they are boarded up, you as the player pilot fly the troops to a new location, and order them to dismount. 4. Once they are all dismounted at the new location, you teamswitch back into the ground forces group leader and order the chopper back to base. Most importantly, all of this occurs while keeping the ground squad and the helo crew in separate groups!!! So, I've got a rudimentary version of that system up and running as an addon I made specifically for your mission, and it works! (With a few glitches I'm ironing out.) Funny thing is that, this has got to be the first time I've ever created an addon specifically for someone else's mission! :D Maybe you might be interested to include this functionality (or something like it) into your mission for those who wish to play in SP? Anyhow, thanks for the mission... so maybe I'll stop the bomb and the on the other hand maybe a big city goes up??? Only one way to find out... :p

I agree as well on a new Addon Request Subforum. I for one, have never opened up the "Addon Request Thread" for fear that my head may spontaneously combust!!! Now if things were all broken down by topic, that's another story alltogether. I could easily see myself going in there frequently to have a look. :) (And I have to admit, the way things are now, I always feel a slight sadness when someone gets their idea shut down because "they should be posting in the Addon Request Thread".)

I agree that for Yomies release, keeping the scripting minimal does have many advantages. I don't think though that ArmA in general does a very good job of letting you know you got hit, at least as far as melee-wise goes. IIRC, you get only audio/visual feedback and in the case of zombies, that's kind of inadequate... but to each his own. :) Getting randomly knocked down by a zombie sounds terrifying! I hope you get an opportunity to add this! (Please do make knockdowns optional though.) Hey, and maybe zombies can get knocked down as well?!? As far as melee goes, one effect of using the native damage system is that it will be pretty easy for anyone who wants to script in melee over top of Yomies release. The procedure looks something like this: 1. Add hit eventhandler to the non-zombie players/npcs as desired. 2. When hit, one argument passed in by the eventhandler is the unit dealing the damage. 3. Check whether the damage-doer is a zombie. 4. If so, face the player toward the zombie, and play a rifle swing animation. 5. Deal retaliatory damage back to the zombie via setDammage. The only challenge is potentially calculating the shielding effect the attacked unit gets by defending himself. Anyhow, I can't wait to get those vicious Yomies back in action again. Thanks again for all your hard work leading up towards release!

Good to see the Yomies back in ArmA2! :) Here's my contribution: Back in OFP, Trapper's zombies from Zombie Outbreak Simulation (ZOS) had an extremely immersive feature. When his zombies took a swing at the player, the victim player would automatically swing back in defense of the incoming blows! (Technically, as the zombie strikes, an animation was invoked on the player in the direction of the zombie, and the resulting "melee effect" was actually quite convincing!) This "zombie/player melee" system thus locks the player in place momentarily upon attack, and accomplishes two very important things: 1. It gives the player instant feedback that they are indeed under attack from a zombie and taking damage (which unfortunately is not always apparent to a satisfactory level in OFP/ArmA zombie mods, imo). 2. It gives the zombies an improved ability to "gang up on" the player. Fighting against one zombie is dangerous enough (although often survivable), but the real deadly impact is that while you're engaged in melee with that one zombie, the others are busy catching up and surrounding you for the kill! Couple additional points on Trapper's zombies: 3. If you were engaged in melee against one zombie, you would take damage at a reduced rate (as you're defending yourself to a certain degree), and also deal damage to that zombie in turn. However, while in melee with that zombie, additional swarming zombies would deal out damage at the full rate (as your flanks are exposed to attack). 4. As the player underwent ongoing zombie strikes, the melee animation was invoked on the player only at a carefully chosen rate, so he at least has the opportunity to try and escape. (It may actually have been once per zombie strike... not sure, but I know it was possible to break free. At the same time, it was dangerous as hell to start trading blows with more than one zombie, as you'd keep mixing it up with them while trying to break free and run away.) Although I'm obviously a huge proponent of the "melee" system for Yomies, I'd advise making it optional, as we all have different tastes. In summary, Trapper's "melee system" achieved great strides in eliminating the whole "running circles around the zombies" phenomenon (which I'm sure most of us are all too familiar with), and indeed melee helped make ZOS an absolutely terrifying experience! In any event... good luck with the latest Yomies!!!