Ebden

I'll try this one soon. Good to see someone taking advantage of the splendid addons created recently.

Non-scripter comment: Couldn't someone swap out the weapon type in the cobra's main gun and plug it into the 130s, creating a different scripted view and loadout selectable in the scroll menu? Planes are faster than choppers, sure, but the chopper still flies and still has an independently-moving weapon. I imagine it wouldn't be difficult to change the ammunition fired from the cobra's gun, and the rate of fire, to mimic the 25, 40, 105mm weapons. Then again, I'm quite sure one of you must have considered this, since changing Arma II is far more complicated than Resedit for Escape Velocity. As far as map balance, let the mission makers sort it out. Any public MP maps that are so severely out of balance by something like a 130 won't last long, and a 130 opens up a plethora of new options for coop and sp maps. I'd like to see a team w/130 support v. a full enemy platoon in Arma II in coop. Bigger guns and a balanced map equate to deeper immersion in large battles, since the guy on the ground finally feels like part of a larger theatre. Rarely too is a mission solely to kill all enemy. There are intel objectives, personell objectives, civilian and humanitarian objectives. Arma II offers these as real options for gameplay which are also a good balancing tool against 130 bombardment of the AO (via destroying your other objectives).

The CDF may be the most original idea of the three, because it must utilize assets and geography which are already battle-scared. Towns and earth should show signs of the first invasion and possible recovery (UN/Red Cross first aid refugee/aid stations??). AND the available munitions and armor for the CDF should be diminished (but mixed with captured Russian/US assests?), vehicles damaged...BUT the CDF AI, because it is 'battle hardened' from the first battle, would have greater ability to the invading well equipped, but 'green' russians.

Wind can change rapidly, if the weather is flukey enough. It's most apparent at sea or along a coastal area (Electrovadsk?). Gusty conditions I would think are the worst case scenario balistically, but it must be a bitch to script that sort of dynamic condition. Someone at the ACE team must have watched clouds drift by as a child, so this'll be old hat to them. Elements to consider for wind: -Wind and clouds usually work together. Don't have 'em blow against each other. -If it's blowing steady 65kts from the west, and you can't shoot straight up the road toward Berzino, then you'll have a hard time keeping a bicycle, motorbike, or even an AAV on the road. Definitely should make driving a rib a bit trickier. Script it in if you can. (http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=19787&CFID=67128&CFTOKEN=11458130) -Also-if it's coming from the west or from the south, the water'll probably be a bit higher. If it's from the south and pouring out for the whole map, flooding should be an issue as well. Again scripting challenges certainly, but something to consider -Depending on the time of day, all other weather aside, you'll have a regular wind shift mid-day from an offshore to an onshore wind (Wind will blow offshore in the early morning with warm ocean and cool land, shifting mid-day as the land heats up and air begins to rise faster on land than it could at sea). -Wind is usually strongest mid-day to the afternoon given the season apparent in ARMA (Summer or early fall), especially if 100% sunny. Just a few thoughts from a long-time mariner.

This was originally posted in the addons section, thread: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73531&page=46 It is more appropriate here... --- The nuke comment earlier about 'radiation' effect gives me a great mission idea (no, nothing to do with Fallout 3). There are those of you who will reply "Another mission idea? Custom scripts? Write it yourself you mooch and stop begging the community." Consider the comment heard. If the ACE team created some other sort of damage script for radiation, something that leaves civilians/characters in the blast radius with varying levels of radiation poisoning, this might work: Humanitarian mission-disarm the bomb. Devise some clever plotline to get a dirty bomb defused/controlled before opfor sets it off. 1st half of the mission is getting to the bomb. 2nd half: If bomb contained...then localized radiation from the poor construction must be identified and quarantined (such as the assembly room for the bomb, or anywhere else it sat for some time, such as an opfor transport vehicle). Incorporate whatever tools a character would need, including military rad suits and a geiger counter and fences/flags/tape/map markers. As one team sweeps for radiation AND survivors/dead with radiation poisoning, a second humanitarian team responds to the survivors and dead by consolidating bodies and treating injured and poisoned. The humanitarian part of the mission could begin as soon as radiation is detected. This adds the unique challenge to this capture-the-objective mission, to examine, treat, and evacuate civis to some staging area while looking for the bomb. If bomb NOT contained...easy to imagine the initial outcome. As the dust is settling, start again the humanitarian mission in earnest, but radiation levels are higher, casualties are obviously massive, and the job becomes a catch-the-criminal for one team and a quarantine-the-city and mop-up for the other team. Mission ends when leader caught/killed, AND bomb contained/detonated AND remaining opfor flushed from the city AND city/radiation detected/contained (how to complete?) AND lastly, civilian triage operable. The part that makes this mission idea unique to FPS is the direct civilian aid/interaction element. Domination game mode must have some useful scripts fo the prisoner/downed pilot side missions (interating with civis) Lots of room for civi-intel similar to the SP mission (the more you help, the more intel you receive) and a different element for those drawn to the complexity of simulators over twitch. Yes, I'd make it if I could, but I am idea-rich and skill-poor at programming, like most people. ---

Great, thanks! I still haven't played with the program, but it looks like options abound through Global Mapper for building a real-world location.

The nuke comment earlier about 'radiation' effect gives me a great mission idea (no, nothing to do with Fallout 3). There are those of you who will reply "Another mission idea? Custom scripts? Write it yourself you mooch and stop begging the community." Consider the comment heard. If the ACE team created some other sort of damage script for radiation, something that leaves civilians/characters in the blast radius with varying levels of radiation poisoning, this might work: Humanitarian mission-disarm the bomb. Devise some clever plotline to get a dirty bomb defused/controlled before opfor sets it off. 1st half of the mission is getting to the bomb. 2nd half: If bomb contained...then localized radiation from the poor construction must be identified and quarantined (such as the assembly room for the bomb, or anywhere else it sat for some time, such as an opfor transport vehicle). Incorporate whatever tools a character would need, including military rad suits and a geiger counter and fences/flags/tape/map markers. As one team sweeps for radiation AND survivors/dead with radiation poisoning, a second humanitarian team responds to the survivors and dead by consolidating bodies and treating injured and poisoned. The humanitarian part of the mission could begin as soon as radiation is detected. This adds the unique challenge to this capture-the-objective mission, to examine, treat, and evacuate civis to some staging area while looking for the bomb. If bomb NOT contained...easy to imagine the initial outcome. As the dust is settling, start again the humanitarian mission in earnest, but radiation levels are higher, casualties are obviously massive, and the job becomes a catch-the-criminal for one team and a quarantine-the-city and mop-up for the other team. Mission ends when leader caught/killed, AND bomb contained/detonated AND remaining opfor flushed from the city AND city/radiation detected/contained (how to complete?) AND lastly, civilian triage operable. The part that makes this mission idea unique to FPS is the direct civilian aid/interaction element. Domination game mode must have some useful scripts fo the prisoner/downed pilot side missions (interating with civis) Lots of room for civi-intel similar to the SP mission (the more you help, the more intel you receive) and a different element for those drawn to the complexity of simulators over twitch. Yes, I'd make it if I could, but I am idea-rich and skill-poor at programming, like most people. Edit: Comment moved to http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?p=1438206#post1438206

Considering an attempt at a map and storyline, lots of ideas, very little practical on the editing side. I'd like to make something local, and I can likely get topographic info from a number of sources, most likely ESRI(ArcGIS) databases. Can existing terrain/elevation environments be imported for use in ARMA 2? If so, what is the appropriate pre-import format?

Good info. My 9600GT is crying under the ARMA II load, but that's for equipment quality issues with the 9600. This thread helps steer me toward the newer gear and a mightier investment, since it appears even the best stuff still struggles under full specs. Hell, even with moderate settings I get stuff like this. Look familiar?