Homer Johnston

I found something else; after I've run the drop command, the graphics settings page gets screwed and the UI has an error: http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l7/kylewilcox/particlecrash2.jpg so what I'm experiencing must just be long term effects of it screwing things up like that... could someone please do me a favor? download this mission file and see if this happens to you, I'm hoping my install just got borked. http://www.mooload.com/new....zip&s=t Preview it in the editor. radio 1 to start particles, radio 2 to stop them. Just hit radio 1 and then go into your graphics settings page and see if that glitch happened to you... if it's not just me I'll head over to the Biki... It seems to affect the old drop command but not the new particle system, so I'll have to just live with that apparently. thanks.

I think the _ made it local to whatever scope it was created in... without the _ it would have worked in the whole script (without the Private command). I think Thanks Sanders for saying that; I'm pretty sure it clarified me up a bit on usage of the private cmd.

yes; TimerPeriod, sorry... the bugging out is so friggin weird. after another couple hours of testing I'm leaning more towards it being a generic memory leak which somehow builds up during normal gameplay but then only does bad things once theres a bunch of particles around. If I start up my particle loop, look at the ground and leave my game idling, i have gotten a counter up to 200,000 new particles and still no issue. (maybe 20 mins) If I start my particle loop up, and start driving around everywheres on the island, it will go boom after i've explored some amount of saharani. If I drive around the whole island, and then start up my drop loop, by a few hundred iterations it turns into this and the game just goes haywire: dangit BIS, lol, I wish we could pay them to clean up the engine I think I'll just give up...

it's a bit of an oddball, some command situations will automatically initialize a variable and some won't, it seems... for example, <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> _var = 5; works flawless <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> if (true) then {_var = 5}; doesn't evaluate good (for me) although it reports no errors. But put private ["_var"] above that if statement, and then it will work. did you try a hint format ["%1 %2",light brightness,light brightness change] to make sure it's got the right data to work with? I think I'm just throwing the obvious out there, but sometimes the obvious gets overlooked

Yeah, if you were using my code you'd have crashed that's for sure  I've got 500 particles running each with a life of 10-20 seconds (randomized)... The game blows up after 10-20 mins. So if you have a few thousand going for a half hour, it's gotta just be my code. I'm not noticing "extra" particles visible though (my loops aren't running away into infinite particles). (amazing vid by the way, definitely going to keep an eye out your work from now on! ) I'm actually wondering if the random life parameter might be somehow causing it now, I don't think I noticed issues before I had it. I'll have to test that when I get home tonight (OFP forums @ work... sigh, I don't deserve my pay) I've also noticed if I accidentally leave the Timer param as 0 then running the drop command automagically freezes my PC  which I guess isn't surprising, lol. But now I've got it set to a value greater than particle life so it can't be that either...

Why? Because it was easier for me to use what I already knew ...And I get the impression it might be a nuisance to adapt all of my math to the particlesource system (it doesn't seem like it has any flexibility, compared to a loop running a raw drop command...). However I will see if particle sources cause the same crash-and-burn, and if not then I'll see if it's possible to adapt it to my math -- I admit to not having really learned the particle source method beyond looking at the code commands. And if that all works, then I'll shut up

I use that equation all the time, I assume you've doublechecked with a format-hint or some other manner, that you're actually trying to add two numbers together? usually my errors with simple things like that not working is either an uninitialized or badly assigned variable... if you can't figure it out, you could always leak your code...

i wonder if back when the ice age was starting, the wooly mammoths were all screaming, "GAAAAAAAAAH IT'S GLOBAL COOLING WE'RE DOOMED!!!" ... hmm I wonder if surviving humans freaked out and screamed, "GAAAAAH NOOO IT'S GLOBAL WARMING" when it started warming up again. I think other man-made things are going to lead to disaster in your life, and your grand-grand children's lives whom you'll never meet, long before your car's exhaust... like that guy who just got in his car drunk, or overpopulation. can't we just have 1 baby per family for a few decades?? (not to mention that would potentially solve "greenhouse gas emissions"! ...hmm.. I wonder if my supper's ready yet

just to give thanks where thanks is deserved: this mission is a really, really good piece of work to play with a group of serious-minded players. I hope you continue to make missions in the future

More flexibility = more complicated... too bad--what you may hate, someone else may have been able to utilize to their advantage. For example, I would be pissed if making stuff on client vs. server was forced by the game engine. The reason OFP/ArmA is awesome, is because they left a lot of stuff open-ended, such as that. Smart mission makers are able to take advantage of the freedom and produce amazing things. If you're not one of those people, then... too bad (I'm not one either) If you can't learn it, then maybe making "interesting" missions isn't for you... but the majority of it isn't too hard, it just takes time. I do agree that BIS would do well for their community, to spend one day going through the scripting commands in the wiki and filling stuff out. Sucks being on our own there  In the end, you'd have been better off asking a few questions in the editing forum, then telling everyone "I CAN'T LEARN THIS!" ... many people already have, and instead of helping you, now they're just asking themselves "sheesh, what's wrong with him?"

we beat it (with one survivor left ) took out all of the BMPs with satchels and GP-25's (much more interesting than starting with M136's), and just ran for it when we heard the truck engine... I think for future missions of "similar difficulty" having a couple more casually patrolling pairs would be fine to tense it up a bit, but perhaps not many... maybe even make it depend on how many players are present or something. we played it with 5, split into a pair and trio and swept through each side of the town...

played it with a gang tonight, much better mission than several others a person could play, thanks cleanly made (and it made it much more interesting that you didn't supply any AT to the players)... only thing i might say is you could get into doing some mission scripting to make the AI behave a little better (like most missions people make, you can shoot at an enemy and they will ... just sit there) good job, keep makin em

... two dumb questions in one day, look at me go! Case scenario: cutText ["","black out",5] Â If I use the above command/syntax, it does black out, but it only takes 1 second, not the 5 specced. ? Other than that I've got all the cutscene stuff figured out again... I used to know all this stuff for flashpoint... about 3-5 years ago... lol. Must be hitting my midlife crisis because lately I'm trying to make a Sahrani Virus (the last OFP mission I made was Nogova Virus Part 1) help greatly thanked!

Doh... two minor snags and both bugs... ok, thanks, guess I ought to go look in the bug list before I post any other snags I find.

Hey, has anyone noticed when you make particles (using cl_basic) with the drop command... if you right click to zoom your view, the particles stay the same size on the screen?... it looks really weird. does anyone have any ideas how to stop this from happening? its purely a cosmetic issue, but sometimes... i'm a perfectionist-douchebag thanks for any input! Â

I just played this with one other guy and even though usually all we do is coop... it was a hell of a blast to play!! everyone should give it a run!

haha, PS it's "Homer" Johnston no worries, i'm not around much these days anymore... i was thinking about making a zombie mission in the spirit of my original nogova virus... ideally for AA... but I won't have AA for another couple months here in Canada how is AA for this kind of nonsensical fictional scripting anyway? lol

refresh rate doesn't have an effect on the number of frames per second your CPU/video card can produce (the running speed of the game)... but generally, if your monitor is capable of using a higher refresh rate it is better, easier on your eyes... your monitor is a strobe light, the refresh rate is sorta just how many times per second it flashes a picture

NOT SIGNING PETITION well, i'd love to have all the animations possible (with regards to memory consumption... is each animation really all THAT big?) but in all honesty, i would much rather a petition was made pushing BIS only to give us word that at some point they will release tools... I don't mean "GIVE US THE TOOLS NOW BIS!" ... I mean... "we'd like confirmation that you're working on releasing modding tools" ... because i'm sure you realize: a)that benefits EVERYONE, not just zombie fans b)that is a much nicer approach than trying to tell BIS you want them to make you an anim! c)as stated by others... civvie animations aren't that convincing, I would rather they focus their day on releasing customization ability than building a punching anim d)unless you're going to situate all future zombie missions in a boxing ring, i kind of hate using the fist anim for a zombie attack!!!!!! Heck, back in the day i made a couple lunge attack anims with Maya, but I never released them because I didn't know how to code it right alternatively, you could just wait for the tools/do other aspects of the work until the tools arrive... Regards! NOT SIGNED -HoJo

i've only got the demo but i think it is saaa-weet. it makes me sad when people try to claim features as crap stains example, in that poll the guy whines about lighting changing... man, that is a COOL effect, I can't believe BIS thought to put it in! it really screws you over at night if you stare at a light, or fire your gun for a while... with regards to aiming.. I think it is spot on in terms of how fast a highly trained soldier could do it... for crying out loud, I dare you to pick up a broomstick, and see how fast you can ACCURATELY point it at something (a man) standing at the OTHER END OF A FOOTBALL FIELD! (and that's a fairly short combat engagement distance! ) ... in-game when you get good at it, i'd say you can do it pretty fast... One other point... many of the things that are annoying people, are simply things that they need to give a chance... I guarantee you 75% of the complainers, if they got used to the coded elements that they initially find obtrusive, would actually appreciate these things, and further, enjoy the game for them... will they do it?... nah, easier to play CS Â

i suspect (but have no evidence) that BIS has some sort of code job implemented so that the demo STAYS as just... the demo. are you in North America too? lol

as raedor mentioned... you could script it... i can't remember the code by heart but the logic would be something like #start wait until player within certain distance of this unit   add heal action menu item "Heal at medic" (define heal.sqs) wait until player no longer within healing distance   remove heal action menu item goto start mind you, that's not going to let you heal the AI through the action menu.... and if it's going to be a MP mission you'd have to do a couple things differently......... however, what raedor says below this also recieves four thumbs up

man.. if this junk gets working in AA, and if I can get my hands on the game (Canada), i'll make a couple zombie missions, lol (i made the first Nogova Virus that i think really grabbed some more people's attention... back in the day). in all seriousness, I bet you could really impress people with a good zombie mod in this engine... it could be ---VERY--- immersive... i know nothing of the modding front for AA... are we able to custom make anims and implement them? if so, is it through the same way as OFP?

damn, guys... BIS is just trying to earn a living... cut them some slack. they want to make a 'hardcore' sim, but i'd be surprised if they could feed their families from that alone. so they make a 'hardcore' sim with some "remove this pain in the ass" options to survive. better that they do that then go out of business? i dunno about you, but i think so... not that there's anything wrong with voicing what you'd like to see in the game... just understand that unless you're having the work custom tailored to yourself as an individual, or doing it yourself, it is impossible that it will be made 100% to your desired specifications (and even if you were doing it yourself... i'd like to see you make something closer to your preferences than they are going to ). you can't ask them to tailor several thousand hours of labor to meet only your own desires, for ~50 bucks. you are the minority. you are not capable of providing BIS with food, water, and shelter. but i am sure that the deviations from your desires will only be slight... so just wait & see what comes... besides, if you'll get this worked up over a game, it might be healthy for a tragedy to occur in your life... sorry

Hi, I coop OFP on weekends with a little group of people, we've got a linux dedicated server. I have basic remote access to it; enough to manage files and manage the server. What happens, is that seemingly randomly the server will crash. One second we're running around the map, then all of a sudden the yellow square appears... turns to red square... no msg received for XX seconds. The server application terminates itself, but leaves nothing in the log file-- the last entry is "time: Game started". I can simply start the server back up with the appropriate command and start playing again without hassle, but this crashing is killing us... it happens about once an hour? Can anyone think of some possible causes for such a random crash?? might a win2k server be a more stable (albeit lower performance) solution? Thanks for any insight! HoJo