Rynthas

Strange problem, cropped up sometime in the last 6 months or so. When playing the beta version (seems to be any after _at least_ .102591, probably somewhere earlier), the side buttons on my MS Intellimouse 3 no longer register input in-game. It's fine in OA and base ArmA2, as well as every other app. Due to the way the mouse is configured, pushing those buttons is supposed to register a keystroke of [ or ]. Despite having these bound in-game, the corresponding action is not taken. The game literally acts like nothing has happened. If I try to rebind it, it doesn't register the keystroke. Furthermore, when trying to rebind, my mouse1 button appears to do nothing and cannot be rebound in the same way. Interestingly enough, it will still cause me to fire my weapon, though. I've tried a fresh install, running as admin, etc. It's literally just the beta that causes me this grief, and I've isolated any possibility of a mouse hardware fault -- it works fine in every other app, and fine in base OA/ArmA. It's quite maddening, since those buttons are bound to rather important functions that I need to do fast.

So what's the verdict on using Steam? It seems like the easiest and fastest way to handle things, if it allows easy modding and such. Is it generally accepted to work pretty well, or are there some big faults with Steam on the MP scene?

Next question, then: How much have the addons taxed hardware since release? I'm running an old Intel Quad 2.4GHz with 4 GB of RAM and a 1GB 9800GT. If memory serves, it was barely adequate to keep a viewdistance good enough to fly with and not be sub-20 FPS, but that may've been with an older vid card too -- can't recall. Also, how does the Steam version compare when it comes to modding? I know other games have had issues with Steam, but I'm tempted just to shell out for the Combined Arms pack, and just resell my retail DVD to a buddy.

So what's really needed to play MP? I've been out of the loop a long time myself, and as a result have not purchased any of the expansions. I remember with ArmA 1 that the expansions were not really needed at all for any multiplayer, which is primarily what I'm about, and I'm left with the choice of either upgrading my hardware a bit to eek out a few more precious FPS, or buying all the expansions and such. With a base copy of ArmA 2, retail DVD, what's really needed to get back into the MP scene aside from just patching?

Dr_Eyeball, Okay, the artillery HUD looks like what I'm talking about in part A of my original post, plus some extra. Hit detection and the laser marker and whatnot are outside of what I'm looking for (as are the built-in calculations -- do they take into account elevation of the artillery and target? If so, a seperate script to crunch the numbers using what you've got would be great). Also, any way to determine altitude above sea level? I'm suspecting that making a fire calculator is going to be outside of the scope of what ArmA can do clientside, so I'm probably going to have to find someone to code me up a small little .exe that takes firebase altitide, gun type, range to target, and target area altitude, then spits out the correct elevation for gun gun itself to reach that target, and the number of seconds the round will be in the air. I'll have to get a high quality printout of the Sahrani map itself to plot the precise bearing to point the gun at, since I doubt a client-side map calculator can be made. Thoughts? Looks like a pretty cool setup you've got. You've already worked out a lot of what I'm talking about, but I want to have to rely on spotters to have the burden of figuring out the coordinates of the target and marking it on a map or relaying it to me. Basically, I'm trying to make it as close to the real deal as possible.

Not sure if this is in the right place, so apologies in advance if it isn't. Could any of you mod-makers give me an idea of whether or not the following is possible, and how hard it would be to do? I'd really like to see some client-side mods that would make long-range artillery possible for players in any MP game, since serverside / mission-specific stuff seems to get little use. Mod A) Heading / Azimuth / Elevation display. A simple informational HUD display that gives your compass heading, the azimuth you are looking at, and optionally your current altitude ASL. With this, a dedicated player could hop in an artillery piece, and with the help of a forward observer do a pretty fair job registering artillery. Heading and azimuth display would allow them to adjust and repeat previous shots easily. Elevation would (in theory) aid in repositioning guns, and possibly doing the math if they really, really wanted to do it. I can see two versions of this being very handy: One that displays degrees, the other mils. Mod B) Artillery calculator. A script or mod or something that would allow a player to designate points on a map as a firebase and target, then output a compass bearing and azimuth to feed to a player-controlled artillery piece at the firebase to hit the target. Not sure if there is any support for elevations built in to the map, so elevation may also need to be manually entered. I can also see the specifics of the artillery peice (D30, M119) needing selection to. I imagine that this one would be a lot more work than the previous one. Options: Same degree/mil choices. Are either of these possible to do in a strictly client-side way that would be valid across any MP games? If so, is anyone willing to take a crack at them?

I must not be describing what I'm after clearly enough. The artillery mod listed doesn't work just clientside, so it is of no use to me for this purpose. Secondly, I'm not asking for any scripts or anything that have AI, spawn guns, etc. This is strictly to enable _players_ to man artillery and place shells reliably on target using indirect fire. EDIT: Nothing in this automatically detects artillery pieces -- you have to manually select both the location of the artillery you're going to be calling the shot from, AND the target area. Just wanted to make that clear. The calculator would simply spit out numbers to feed a person manning artillery. For instance, if I had a spotter in the field, he could mark a target. I could then use the calculator to find out what bearing to adjust the gun to (in mils), then how far to elevate the gun (in mils), and lastly how long my shell would be in the air, so I could report back to the spotter how long he has until impact. I don't want AI gunning for me, and I don't want anything that does all the work, or allows me to call in arty by myself at my disposal. I just want something that will allow players using teamwork to call and place reliable indirect fire. The client-side only restriction is so that it will actually get some use. That way you could use it on Evo or any other coop mission effectively. I guess it could be used in PvP games as well, but it would only reward people playing as a team. If the admins don't like it, well, simple -- I'd like to get it signed, so they just disallow it at will.

No other suggestions, or even comments on feasibility? I'd love to use one of the previous suggestions, but SLX isn't currently a viable option for online MP (or so I've been told), and the other mod doesn't work solely client-side. If it can be done well, I may even be willing to make a small donation to the modder/scripter via paypal. It wouldn't be much, but I am willing to do what I can to compensate for time.

I was under the impression that that mod made substantial changes to artillery itself, and required that missions be edited to work with it...so no, not really what I'm after. I'd certainly love to see every mission out there incorporate it, but I've yet to see a commonly played one that does.

Is it? Would it be possible to break those tools out into a smaller mod? I've heard that SLX does not play with with multiplayer dedicated servers...

D-30. One shot will ruin your day. And the guy beside you. And the vehicle he got out of half a block away. And the building behind you. It'll hit you so hard that your mother will wake up with a black eye. Extremely lethal considering all you need to fire it is one gunner. Pretty crazy accurate too, I've used it to snipe Kamovs (somebody needs to explain why a Ka-50 will lose flight control and crash after taking a hit, but not explode instantly)

Just my two cents, but of all the games/movies/whatever with sound I've encountered, the bullet sound effects in America's Army have had the highest "pucker factor' for me. If you haven't heard 'em, you may want to take a listen.

That would only stop the small percentage of people who have static IPs. IP-bans are generally rather ineffective. I for one have a new IP every day. Some of us don't have a problem with chopping off entire IP blocks. I guess it really depends on how you look at things. As far as a lack of a central banning authority, why don't we just start up a centralized blacklist? People able to validate themselves as server admins send in numbers they've banned, and somebody keeps the list somewhere open for other admins to use. Keep the banning server ID with the ID number being banned, and then the admins can pick and choose who they trust, and ban the same people.

I've had the same thing crop up in Evo from time to time with SLA vehicles that are abandoned or have only dead crew inside. Can't figure out why, as it doesn't seem to follow any pattern. I'd say it happens to about 50% of abandoned SLA vehicles I come across. It's painfully obvious with UAZs, where you can see that there is nobody in them at all.

I'd just like to point out that "Second City Syndrome" isn't due just to new players not knowing where the action is -- some players deliberately assault cities far ahead of the main front. Perhaps these players just like fighting in one city more than others, but I suspect they're really just trying to farm a city for points without competition. Corazol seems to be a popular target, and I'm assuming that's because it's a fairly short trip from base via road compared to the others. Sadly, I don't have any feedback on how to stop it. I do ask that you leave shilka spawning as it is, or revert back to the old system of all spawning up front (if it doesn't drag servers down too much). S&D missions on the AA net are always fun, and it does actively help the team as they progress later.

+1 for manual fire overriding the gunner. If nothing else, it'd keep the useless monkeys from burning all the ammo in a UH-60.

Easy: Because it only takes one stupid human to ruin the game for several other humans. At the very least, this one human is causing another human (you) problems. We're not saying that all gunner positions _have_ to be filled by AI. We're just saying that we would like the ability to make sure that humans don't bump our AI out whenever we've got them in a position for a reason. Besides, if they really, really want to gun...they're free to go to the same trouble you did to secure a vehicle of their own to do it in.

I'd go so far as to say that anyone in the same squad as the AI should be able to bump it. I agree that it is supremely annoying, though. Last night I played Evo and had repaired a small convoy of vehicles, which I was using to gaurd the FARP at the front. Any enemy that came close was toasted, and the area was as secure as any landing site in a combat zone could get. Within 5 minutes, _all_ of my vehicles got jacked by players bumping the AI. All of them were dead within the same timespan. Very annoying.

The M107 is a .50 BMG semi-auto anti-material rifle. It'll decimate infantry, but it is really designed to damage things other than people. While Barrett did have the capability to damage parked enemy air assets listed in promotional materials, it is hardly limited to that. If things were modeled realistically in ArmA, you'd be able to disable a UAZ with a single shot to the engine. Doesn't work, though. You might well be able to kill passengers in APC's too, depending on the armor in use. Killing tanks with it is highly unlikely -- the best you might be able to do is wound/kill crew on old tanks, or possibly damage/destroy unarmored parts. Given the size of the .50 BMG round, there are some really crazy bullets available. The Mk. 211 "Raufoss" springs to mind. High explosive incendiary armor peircing...crazy, huh?

The "saving state" question has already been answered. No, there's no good, easy way to do that in ArmA, it is one of the features that VBS2 has (according to someone else. I can't claim to know much about VBS2). Besides, on most populated servers, there's no need to -- Evolution is finished in <12 hours. Perhaps if you and a couple friends were trying to do the map, I could see the point. On a personal note, I'm a fan of Linux. However, I think you need to calm down, Linuxkrn. Your "fanboy" accusations directed at sickboy were rude and unwarranted, especially since you are doing much the same thing. If you want to make a good point regarding the linux dedicated server we're all waiting on, fine. Nobody here needs another "My OS is better than your OS" pissing contest, which seems to be your real aim. Edit: "Calm down or grow up" was a little too close to a personal attack. My bad, Linuxkrn.

I think that's kinda one of the things he's saying, here. I'm betting the number of dedicated servers playing ArmA (and the overall quality of them) would more than double if there was a linux dedicated server available. More than a few people have linux servers colo'd in datacenters that get used for just this purpose. I'm one of them. I don't care what your OS loyaltys are, you've got to admit that dedicated linux server + 10Mbps/100Mbps connection in colo > Windows server on a DSL line or shared dorm connection. Let's be honest here, a lot of the servers up right now are just such boxes. There are some serious ones colo'd with the big game server leasing houses, but we've got more than a few home boxes pressed into server roles.

There have been a lot of interesting ideas thrown about. I really like some of Frederf's earlier suggestions. I've got a couple things I'd like to inquire about, as well as a few ideas of my own. 1) Revives. It seems like a topic of much controversy, but I think it'd work better than the "multiple respawns" option. More than 2 respawns would fragment friendly forces way too much, but getting killed at Masbete often means standing around in base for a loooong time waiting for transport. On the other hand, "painless" revives like in BF2 obviously are not the way to go. Frederf had a good idea with a revival requiring a trip back to the MASH or base to get patched up, but why not take it a step further? If you're incapacitated in battle, a medic can come to you and revive you. The process would take 2x as long as the standard "heal" animation, and you would respawn at the nearest MASH or aid station. The number of MASHes is limited by the medic slots on the server, so this doesn't seem outrageous. When you spawn, you'd have the default loadout. That's tough luck, but hey...you can't expect a busy medic to grab everything for you and tote it back too. Other options involve requring the newly-revived casualty to stay at the MASH for a minute for further healing. More such penalties can be applied as required for balance. 2) Another idea: Aid stations. In cities, fighting on and in buildings happens a lot. Neither FARPs nor MASHes seem to spawn terribly well in these places. I don't mind FARPs not working, as they should be in open areas anyway. However, it'd be nice to be able to put up an aid station with the same functionality as a MASH inside of a building. Of course, it'd be a "one or the other" deal. No medic could have both. I suspect the original problem is an engine limitation just by watching FARP/MASH spawns. If so, then obviously this idea is worthless. Can anyone confirm? 3) Supplies. One thing I've noticed is that FARP supply boxes seem kinda weak. It'd be nice to have substantial quantities of smoke in there, even if adding full compliments of ammo isn't an option (seems so, based on an earlier post). Smoke at a FARP is kinda obvious, since FARPs tend to double as LZ's for incoming troops. Also, either the FARP box or the repair truck carries no ammo for the M240. I can't recall which it is offhand, but I've run into it quite a bit. Seems like a minor oversight. 4) FARP/MASH despawning/destruction. When a player leaves, his FARP/MASH should go as well. MASH trash is annoying on the map, and it also gets old in prolonged fights with high turnover, where a city has a half dozen MASHes scattered about. 5) Gear & ranks. I can see the logic behind requiring high scores for using advanced vehicles, but the same restrictions for most of the firearms seems kinda silly. Kiljoy, might I ask why you opted to do things the way you have in regards to this? Some weapons make sense -- obviously, we don't want everyone running around with a Javelin at Lt. Why such high requirements for other things like the M4 Aimpoint or the M4 QDS, though? 6) Vehicle despawn at base. I like the new despawn/respawn at base for idle vehicles, but it seems a tad aggressive. I've had MH-6's despawn on myself and my squadmates while they were trying to get supplies loaded on board to bring to the front. Sometimes AI isn't available to sit and idle, so tweaking the timer for this may not be a bad idea. Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone involved in the making of Evolution, especially Kiljoy (for obvious reasons). It'd a damned fine mission and is quite impressive. I like a lot of the changes with 3.0, especially the addition of the D-30 to towns. Capturing it is one of my new favorite activities when it spawns in an area with a wide view. Very nice work!

Well, I tinkered with my profile some more, and I've got it set to fairly responsive settings with a large deadzone...but I still get a _lot_ of movement when still. I can't figure it out. For instance, if I look over to the side (such as in a helo) it'll move to the spot I want to look at, but then continue to drift no matter how still I hold my head. The same is true when I return to center, and I've got a massive deadzone to try to prevent just that.

Well, mine's buggered. I do have trackIR, but Z axis is disabled in the profile I use. Enabling it doesn't help. Without the TrackIR controls for zoom in my ArmA config, I'm stuck in max zoomed out mode. With the controls in my config, I'm stuck zoomed in.

I bought a TrackIR 4 system for ArmA, but I find myself rarely using it outside of vehicles. It's just really annoying, and I can't seem to get the settings tweaked to fix it. What I'd like is a large deadzone, since I've noticed it tends to 'drift' once I return to center after moving my head. It's bad enough that I almost always have to tap my center key to get it re-locked. Beyond that, when I do move my head, TrackIR has a nasty habit of continuing to decelerate after I stop. This makes using it for quick glances almost useless, which was the big selling feature. I find myself hitting the freelook key and using my mouse simply because it's so much faster to look at a specific area, then be viewing forward again. The sad part is, the two "modes" each have a feature I want, but also exaggerate the one I don't. The default deadzone profile settings cut down on the drift a lot (though it still happens), but have really awful lag times on stopping once I've turned, and precision mode gives me the kind of response to stopping I want, but drifts like mad once I've returned to center. Any vets have suggestions?