VictorFarbau

= INCLUDES PATCH AND MOD VERSION = = CURRENT VERSION 1.2 for V1.08 = I have decided to release my sound patch for Arma. Maybe you like it. Sound is all a matter of taste, so there's different sound packs out there already that serve different purposes. I like mine since it based on real sounds I captured from different original footage. During intense battle and with EAX turned on it really creates a nice battle atmosphere for me. You need 7zip to deflate this (www.7-zip.org), the best program for compressing sound data. So welcome to a different experience. All the real sounds were captured from live footage of current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I reworked the sounds a lot, still you might notice slight background noises in some of the sounds. More so if you use earphones instead of speakers. But hey, life ain't no recording studio LINK: VF_RealSoundV12 Changed sounds include (30 in total so far): ==================================== AK74SU, AK74, PK, Dragunov, RPG, DsHk, M4, M16, G36, Handgrenades, M136, M24, M240, M249, M2, Riflegrenades, several explosions, MP5, MP5 silenced, Gun120 Installation method 1: using a patched "weapons.pbo" file. ========================================================== 1. Backup your Arma/Addons/weapons.pbo! This is important. For future updates and patches you will need the original files. No messing with game files if you don't have a backup! 2. Open the "FilePatchGen" directory and run "FilePatch.exe". The "File to patch" is your Arma weapons.pbo, the "Patch file" is my .ptc file and the "New patched file" is the file you want to create using my patch. 3. Take the new file afterwards, rename it to weapons.pbo and overwrite the orginal file with this. And think of step 1 before! No backup no patch! Installation method 2: using a mod folder ========================================================== 1. Browse to your game directory, create a folder called "@VFSound". In "@VFSound", create another folder called "Addons". 2. Open the "FilePatchGen" directory and run "FilePatch.exe". 2.1 The "File to patch" is your Arma weapons.pbo (\Arma\Addons\weapons.pbo) 2.2 The "Patch file" is the supplied VF_RealSoundVxx.ptc file 2.3 The "New patched file" is the new weapons.pbo for the mod folder (\Arma\@VFSound\Addons\weapons.pbo) 3.Start Arma.exe with the "-mod=@VFSound" parameter to use the sounds To do ===== - Pistol sounds needed Known Bugs ========== The grenade throw sound ("Grenade!!!") is also played when taking grenades from an ammo box. I don't know why this has been configured like this. Sometimes the same sound does not get played at all when throwing a grenade. Revisions ========= 1.0 Initial release 1.1 Added single MGun shots instead of burst samples, new M203 grenade sound (east + west) 1.2 New / changed sounds: G36, M4, Grenade launcher,SVD, MP5 silenced, MP5, instructions for MOD included © 2007 Victor Farbau Lurking around in the Arma forums: http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....SC;c=14

@gL33k: So which patch level of Arma are you using that you cannot apply the 1.08 patch / MOD patch? I just finished a big makeover of my sound mod after some time and am uploading it now (including a MP3 preview). I am only using final stable versions so far, no hotfixes and no patch previews. Cheers, VictorFarbau

I like the way it is compiled - kudos for that. Nonetheless it is rather a compilation mod than a genuine sound mod since most of the sounds have been around in other sound mods (mostly OFP) for a long time. Blame it on me, but I just like it better when folks be open about it; I was looking for some new audio pleasure but it sounded all too familiar. Cheers, VictorFarbau

I had the same issues a long time ago in OFP already. That's why used a more complex script in OFP and now SQF in ArmA (calling the SQF from the init.sqs). In my mind this is related to the multiple statements per line that you use. The code parser failed on me each time I tried that construct and I think it has to do with the line breaks used by different text editors. Anyway, this is speculation; but what I know worked is either this: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> ?secondary==0:goto "default" ?secondary==1: goto "vickers" #default exit #vickers gun="TwinVickers" mag="500Rnd_TwinVickers" exit But SQF constructs with their clear delimiters work a lot more reliable in general: <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> IF (secondary==1) THEN { Â Â Â Â gun="TwinVickers"; Â Â Â Â mag="500Rnd_TwinVickers" }; My 2 cents, VictorFarbau

@Nikoo, please don't hijack this thread for scripting issues. It is important to stay on subject. How to go about implementing: if I was Suma I would choose the hard way, introduce a new command as suggested but disable the old one completely to provoke errors and force code corrections. I mean hey, it's not that anybody makes a living from writing AA scripts here or that AA is mission critical software to anybody's survival (even though it seems different at times ). AA is (from a market perspective) still in its dawn phase, now is the time to correct things decisively and to not encourage support of old workarounds. Too much user code probably gets carried over from good old OFP w/o any changes made. This way you'll never encourage switching from SQS to SQF btw and the usage of new/corrected commands. OFP was OFP but now it's Arma time and I think you can afford the courage to execute some changes when required. In this context I would suggest to maintain a separate Biki page that explains more about new commands exclusive to AA. Like, which commands they supercede and why etc. This would increase chances to boost the development of new/optimized code rather than being satisfied with copy&paste jobs from OFP. Just my 2 cents, Victor Btw - i voted for option 1. It is the only "logical" behaviour in my mind.

@namman2: Uploading a ~230MB pbo file won't be a feasible solution. Plus, we're talking about the 1.08 patched file, that won't be any good for a 1.05 installation. I would stronly suggest to download the 1.08 version regardless what time it takes - it's an important patch anyway. Regards, Victor

@taoistlumberjak - I can add another accel factor and repost the addon. But since I am on business travel it will take 1 week. @SNKMAN - weird, I tested this on a dedicated MP server w/o any problems. Questions: is the addon present on both clients and servers? Do you see any related errors listed in the arma.rpt? @mrbean1112 - jumpiness of the clouds was one of the reasons I limited this to 24x max. 60x as requested above looks totally ridiculous since the weather system apparently tries to forecast the new situtation as to be expected after the "skiptime" command. I reckon that when using 24x or even 60x you would not only provoke a diabolic sky but also a higher CPU load. I haven't searched for but also didn't notice a way to stop the weather generation when using skiptime. Regards, Victor

Added V1.02, as usual all info is supplied in the initial post.

Looks very cool indeed - good idea! Victor

I am just back from vacation and intend to release a new version after this weekend. I reviewed (collected recorded cut cleaned polished) a lot of sounds to build this pack while trying to maintain a coherent overall theme and loudness. The continuous request for changes (looking at this thread) wouldn't allow me to keep this together the way I think it should be. For the time being I will keep releasing this "as is" - future changes of course possible (MOD release, different sounds, a greater common sound project) but dependant on spare time as well. I got a job and family to nuture as well Victor Farbau

Upon my return from vacation (leaving tonight) I am more open for the suggestions I guess. For the equalizer suggestion: actually I played with that a bit to add some bass in the beginnig - but there's a very fine line between no effect at all and distortion. I found that this would do more damage than good. And I wonder if it will do any good to the atmosphere but it's a matter of taste in the end. We will see. Cheers, Victor

@Plaintiff: Creating a mod of this is not on my agenda. As said, too much hassle with config files and mods already in MP. With a backup of your weapons.pbo you're safe. This patch just exchanges some sound files, no fishy stuff. However, I respect your choice. @Puma: I think you need to read my first post again: So reconsider your continuous statements about "sounds like airguns". I won't modify the sounds to give'em more boom or bang or whatever. I try to clean the samples but leave'em for the most part as they are. That is exactly what creates the real sound environment for me in big battles. There's other mods out there with more synthetic and boosted sounds that might serve your needs. Cheers, Victor

Since my dedicated server was down today I had to try this (using 1.08): Started Arma.exe and ArmaServer.exe on the same machine. That worked well. Then I set the CPU affinity of arma.exe to CPU 0 and arma_server.exe to CPU 1. Started "Seize the base" and played a nice long coop mission. Both CPUs used 70-90% all the time, memory consumption in total was 1.3GB (got 2GB). A very nice way to use the potential of your dual core machine and circumvent the perfomance limitations of running a non-dedicated server. The odd thing was that I still had some lag and AI soldiers were partially jumping around. You would think this shouldn't occur with a ping <0ms (localhost). But it does. Cheers, Victor

I have reworked the M240 and M249 sound samples to single shots. I think after an extensive makeover they sound pretty good now. Also added a new and better explosion sound for rifle grenades. The updated information and link is in the original post. Regards, Victor

I think the feedback is fair enough. Funny thing is that the Mgun sounds are original as well Ok, I admit that I captured and used a burst (3x) instead of single shots. I did try to use single shots but then the samples did not even remotely sound like Mguns anymore. Except for the RPK which is still ok somehow. About the volume - it's odd but for me they are exactly as loud as the original game sounds. Maybe due to my settings, I have set all other sounds to 7/10 and only gun sounds to 10/10 as this is mostly how our ears perceive the environment my mind. I will continue to look for good original samples (news, youtube, movies) and will try to update some of the sounds as they become available to me. So far that's all the material I got and managed to make useable. Regards, Victor

Yes, particle effects run on clients only, for the exact reasons you mentioned before. If you want sync'ed smoke effects, trigger this on the server and have the clients create their own effects using local scripts. Victor

I believe this switch has only been introduced in Windows Vista. There is no such switch in XP-SP2 available. There you indeed need to use 3rd party tools (couple of them available). Regards, Victor

Ah no worries about CPU priority, there's still plenty of latency time available for bg processes. In fact the only life-changing insight to me is that you can run both server and client in parallel on the same unit. Was that also possible in OFP? I don't recall; I just thought you can't do it. Now I know better. Victor

@Sickboy, waddya mean "nothing new"? I think I discovered a live-changing concept!!! Anyways, I was just surprised how well the CPU load balancing works with both server and client running. @Nutty, I am not convinced about the lag. It is the same lag that I have when I use my dedi server in my local LAN (100mbit) or even server on the Internet. There's always the same amount of lag. Maybe it really is due to less-than-optimal bandwidth settings on the server side. Victor

Not nitpicking - but you're wasting a good deal of CPU time on the server as well. You're flooding MP traffic with weather updates 10 times per second. Why if your client only checks this only 2 times per second anyway? And the weather updates will not be instantaneous either, they'll always take up to a minute to develop so no reason to update weather in a "higher than realtime" fashion. I have written a similar script back then for OFP and found it more than sufficient to distribute it every 30 seconds. Less CPU, less traffic, same effect. See ya, Victor

What you try to achieve is not trivial but it can be done. The same principle has been applied in CENT's tracer script addon for example. It has to do with catching creation events of each object on the map. If you decompile and fully understand those scripts you have done a good deal for your education in Arma. Regards, Victor

So anonjj, are you gonna flood every thread with your dissatisfaction now or will there be some constructive suggestion some time soon? I guess it is understood that this must be somehow related to a Securom update causing the failure. And Maruk has already logged a complaint to Securom and you prolly read their suggestions. Right now there's not much else to than to wait until somebody finds a way to resolve this. And ranting each hour will not be solution by the way. Victor

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">_t = (position player nearObjects ["Tank",100]); IF (EAST countSide _t > 0) THEN {hint "Help!"} ELSE {hint "No threat."}; You can replace EAST with WEST or GUER if needed. Dead units don't have a side anymore, that should do the trick. Cheers, Victor

Well, create a trigger (Radio Alpha or whatever) and add the following codeline to it: setTerrainGrid 50; 50 is just an example, see the link below to understand potential values. This will work locally, clients in an MP game don't need to share the same grid value. Some say it's cheating but that's relative: if my computer can display grass with 50fps then it's cheating to force the other party down to 10fps if his video card sucks Biki Link Cheers, Victor PS: Stick around to these forums; all the news will be discussed here.

Matt, this is a regular addon that needs to be present on each client and server alike. Regards, Victor