suchey

Lookin good Shadow! Looking forward to all your stuff!

No gibs or blood spray...it was considered but we decided against it due to multiplayer performance issues. The soldiers will bleed and leave puddles on the ground though.

The units will indeed be JAM compatable, but NOT right out of the box. We will be doing this in a bit of a different method as follows: The units will use their own default ammo, sounds, etc in the default install, HOWEVER, we will provide 2 tiny files (6KB) that will create 'clones' of every weapon in the package capable of using JAM ammo only. These additional files will not be distributed with the package, but will be available at the Marine Assault Pack web page and can be easily set up by installing these 2 tiny files to your addon directory. The JAM weapons will need to be manually edited into the soldiers for use. Class names for ALL items in the package will be available both in the readme AND in an on-line quick reference.

No...the goggles are not movable.

Im personally rather excited about getting my hands on NZXSHADOWS huey!

Ckeck with Blackdog...I know he hosts a BUNCH of addon makers sites. He seems to have web space to spare. Maybe he can help you out in this area? http://www.tacticalblunder.com/ By the way--VERY nice screens! Really looking forward to the addon!

Didnt mean it to sound that way ...I just meant to verify the fact that those are the settings on the server. Sorry if it came out in the wrong way I hope lots of servers run the addon

I dont want to debate the crosshair thing...its been done to death and theres good points on both sides...but the MTCO server does indeed run WITHOUT 3rd person and WITHOUT crosshairs. I think many of the beta testers (including those who complained about it in the beginning) have found it to be a nice new wrinkle in OFP. Besides...the crosshairs just foul up all the hard work that Earl put into his scopes

I dont know the exact file sizes yet, but the ones expressed above are complete with an installer (it is 41 megs right now WITH the installer)...so compression is not that great. We will offer the package also as a plain zip and rar file. The zip file is about the same as the installer, but the RAR file will be about 75% of that...so I would expect the package as a RAR file to run at around 30 megs. The other package that he is talking about is a collection of addons which have been used in some of the missions created for the soldiers by Jocko and our beta testers. These are not madatory and you only need that package if you intend to play on the dedicated server (MTCO) where the Marine Pack will be initially hosted on the day of release (and available to anyone who wants to get in some good games with the new stuff!) You will also need this if you plan on hosting any of these missions on your own server with the Marine pack. This optional package will also be set up for a server addon pack installer or downloadable in RAR or ZIP form. OFP Watch is by far the preffered method as you can cut down the load time for the addons considerably due to the fact that Im sure many of you have alot of the addons that are being used (IE AKM74s lite armor package) and you wont need to DL them again (OFP Watch can determine what addons you dont have and download only those which you need and skip those you have--a very handy tool that everyone shoudl use!). (who knows...the Marines may just pop up on that some day too! ) You can actually get a jump on this by getting youself the program here: http://www.binarybone.com/ofpwatch/ All of the addons used in the missions on the server so far (except the Marines) are currently available by using that. (keep in mind that in testing many of our missions remained infantry based so that bugs could be more easily spotted--the addons used so far have been mostly geared toward complementing ground infantry combat). There are approximately 27 megs of addons used in the missions (outside of the Marine Pack itself). You can choose to get these or not at your own discression although (once again) if you plan to play on the MTCO server you will need them.

Yes Force Recon and Naval Inf. Spetz will be represented. The AKs 74u is named properly in the pack...and none of the Aks have burst fire...only single and full. In regard to the possibility of future packs....nothing has been decided and no timeline is available on them. Right now we are focusing all of our energies into polishing up this portion. In regard to which AKs-74u variants will be available, I posted those pictures simply to show that the naming convention used was correct. However, there WILL be multiple variants of ALL weapons available in the package.

Munger...yes it does unfortunately. The AI has enough trouble trying to aim a LAW...the Javelin only confuses the crap out of them.

. http://www.sovietarmy.com/small_arms/aks-74u.html http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/models/ka114.html http://www.army.lv/English/Oruzhije/Avtomati/AKS-74U.htm

Thank Keg for the Javelin AND the RPG-16d! I used his config for the Javelin (very minor adjustments)...and his RPG that was in JAM as a base for the new Russian launcher (so that the JAM RPG-7 and the new RPG-16d would have a similar look to them when used side by side. Thanks KEG! The Javelin is really just a bonus...I couldnt resist it when making the USMC. The real match up to the RPG-16d is the SMAW. Each of these weapons can fire 2 types of rounds...one for soft and bunkered tarkets and one for Armor.

Tactician would be the man to talk to in regard to using the scripts...he did make it completely portable and it comes in its own stand alone file labeled TACTevents. It would be very easy for other addons to addopt the effects. In fact, I believe the "wargames" league is using the same effects package. You can contact Tactician via the PM functions or forums located at www.digitalgrenade.com The AI won't respond to most of these functions...that is correct. Its an effective simulation for the human players but probably would only serve to "weird out" the AI. I dont know a whole lot about scripting personally so my views on this are based only on what I have heard and read.

As I understand it, the US military had a serious shortage of the plate inserts for the interceptor system entering the Iraq war. Many of the troops did not have these inserts available to them. However, the Marines in our package are well funded. The interceptor, with its metal plate inserts, can defeat multiple 7.62mm rounds. Thats not to say that a bullet punching you in the chest at 900 m/s isnt going to put a serious hurtin on ya...but better to have a broken rib than a gaping hole. We have attempted to create a environment with this package that reflects the better protection offered in modern warfare with the human element factored in by creating the blunt force and beeding scripting. Game play wise, many of the features found in the player controled units (such as bleeding and such) will also be available to mission editors to put onto other units via event handler additions in the missions. A bit more background on the effects scripting...when you are knocked to the ground, you also lose your bearings by a random degree. This is not to say that you will turn around 180 degress, but you will also not be able to hold a target and continue shooting on the mark if you are struck by an enemy bullet. If bleeding starts, your soldiers will also experience short bouts of "blackout"...these are a simple quick fade effect based on the severity of your wound...and although it doesnt impede your progress completely, it is enough to let you know that you are wounded. The player will also be able to hear their heart beat as they bleed (which becomes faster as the player bleeds out more)....an audible indication of your status. I think you guys will really like the system that Tactician has scripted for these units....and of course, if you dont, they can be turned off.

Good question...I can only compare them to normal OFP troops as I have more experience with those...the Marines and Morpeh can certainly be placed against regular troops...Jocko has used regular troops in a variety of his co-op missions and they often times hand us players our ass on a silver platter. The new soldiers will indeed have body armor, but its been watered down a bit. This is to say that if you ding a guy in the skull hes deffinately goin down...hit his leg and you'll cripple him...but his chest can take approximately 2 rounds. This is where the bleeding and blunt force scripting comes into play. (this, like ALL special scripted features in the package can be turned off or on at the mission editors discretion). If a Marine takes a round without death, he will hit the deck from the blunt force of the round. There is then a high probability that bleeding will occur. The ammount of blood you lose is based on the initial impact damage done by the round in conjunction with some random variables to determine how fast you will bleed. (there are audio and visual hooks that you will see when you are bleeding). The soldier will also start to leave blood splatters in a trail behind him as he moves (these will be cleared from the map when the soldier is either healed or dies...this was done in the interest of performance--its also handy knowing that any blood trail you see leads to someone). Now...heres the interesting part. If you packed bandages in your gear you can try to stop the bleeding yourself. Bandages can be dropped, picked up, and shared just like a rifle magazine. Bandages will not always work. The chance they they will work is based on an equation including the severity of the wound, how badly damaged you are at the moment, etc. Bandages will not restore health, but they can keep you from bleeding to death. Only a medic or a med facility can restore health. (medics are important...in our pack they can also carry a regular equipment load and arent saddled with the big white target on their arm, so we hope that in multiplayer, more people will see the medic as a fun role to play rather than what you get stuck with if you get onto the server too late). There is also an option (put in place primarily for adversarial multiplay) where the screen will go black and sound cuts out when you die...as Tactician says "dead men dont recon". Scripted functions are 100% compatable with multiplayer...AI units will not be effected by blunt force or bleeding...only players. I cant stress enough that these functions can be turned on or off by mission editors. Full details on how to accomplish this with a single line of code in a mission will be available upon the packages release. Thanks again for your interest in our addon. Im looking forward to getting it into public release!

Id just like to inquire as to if 1.94 will be made "official" at some point. Having it remain in beta has seemed to split an already shrinking online multiplayer community in half. In addition, I hope that if 1.94 does become official, that it will NOT be compatable with earlier versions. Will this patch be made official at some point?

So far there are 34 missions for the Marine package (most submitted by beta testers--thanks guys!)...mostly Adversarial and Co-op stuff...but the co-ops could easily be played in single player style. There are also various other addons being used. I will be sure to make an all encompasing zip file containing all of the addons and missions for those interested in downloading them when they get the Marine Pack. Ill also stock the MTCO server with those addons and missions so that there will be at least one dedicated server running the addons at the time of release.

Is it possible to allow gear to be selected by the side the unit is on in the description.ext? In other words, I know it is possible to add weapons so that a commander can issue gear in the briefing of a mission, but can this be limited so that West can ONLY select west weapons and East can only select East weapons?

I vote for this idea too! It sounds like a winner and I think we end up getting more quality addons this way

Theres not a whole lot out there in regard to modern Russian desert warfare gear. Theres some info from the older Afghanistan conflicts, but thats about it (and that doesnt do me a whole lot of good). The gear I used really exists (ie, the cammo is real, the helmet is real, etc etc) but I dont have any pictures of it in actual use all together. I used the Sferas because they gave a really good method of differentiation for the Russian units, and because some of our Russian beta testers really wanted to see the Sfera in game. I would have liked to do some "rolled up sleeve" things and stuff like that to give the impression of more 'heat'...but since I think the arms look weird when they are skinned to flesh and because the use of a custom face leaves the door opened to the unit having multiple skin tones, I gave up on that idea (you gotta love an asian guy running around with caucasian arms). I guess folks will just have to assume that the units are ready for the colder desert evening...a lesson I learned the hard way while camping in the Arizona desert. BRRRRRRRRR

yes...the blackout scripts are in place. Â Its not a huge lengthy blackout and it only happens when you have lost ALOT of blood (just a quick zip in and out of dark vision). Â Also, blackout on death has been implemented. Â When you are killed you can now set the Marines to go completely blind and deaf. Â This stops the annoying practice of dead guys doing recon in multiplayer. Â In our testing we have found that it has become quite common to get shot and not know where it came from now. Â Of course, like all of the scripted behaviour that Tactician has created, this too is able to be turned on or off at the mission desingers leisure...so if any of the stuff is not appealing to a mission editor, he/she can simply turn all or some of it off at his discression.

Thats exactly right.  Although Im not sure of the % chance that Tact has scripted, I do know that it is based on an equation which takes into account the initial hit and seriousness of the wound and bases the % chance to stop bleeding on that...so the more bandages you carry the better.  If the first one fails, try a second one.  If you take a huge shot and are damn near dead, there is probably no ammount of bandaging that can help to stop the bleeding, but its good to try anyway  In testing I always seem to NOT have bandages when I need one, but usually a team mate can offer a spare.  Our goal was to bring the medic into play to a greater degree and toward those lines, he will also be able to carry a respectable ammount of equipment and isnt burdened with the big white arm patch that says "shoot me please". On a side note, bleeding also leaves blood on the ground. In testing it has been many a time that an enemy was tracked to a location using this. Take note that this does not work on AI...they will not feel the effects of bandaging and bleeding.  This is a multiplay feature best used by human players as the AI just doesnt understand the concept.

Actually no...we experimented with this, but using settexture on a unit also makes them unable to respond to damage textures. In the end we felt that blood/damage textures were more important to game play than a bandaged texture. The badages are just items you can carry as equipment...with the introduction of bleeding, the player now has the option to stop the bleeding using a bandage. It will NOT heal him or restore any health...it only stops you from bleeding to death until a medic can arive. In a nutshell, the bandaging works on a random basis based on the wound you receive...(ie it will be harder to stop the bleeding on a big wound than smaller one). You can choose to either carry or not carry the bandages.

hehehehe...well...I think we will probably be the winners of the "last release" cup...but I don't think it will be 2004 before the public has these guys in their hands. Â Out tiny litte group of addon makers is chugging away! Â In a perfect world they would be...we will do our best to provide the addon in as near to bug free a condition as possible, but I have no dillusions...I know that there is no such thing as a bug free program/addon. Â Im sure the community will find an item or 2 we missed at some point. On last count we had 32 multiplayer missions featuring the US and Russian Marines. Â I look forward to playing some of these when the package is public! The waiting wont be as long as you think... edit...thanks again for all the interest in the project!