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I thought about a Syrian war project a lot myself, but I realized that, for me at least, it would have crossed a boundary over wounds that are still very fresh. Since I am not Syrian, nor do I know anyone who is or was actually there, at most it would be some masturbatory western perspective on the situation, and at worse potentially highly offensive. Such a project, if it really materializes, could end up attracting attention, and the question becomes whether or not you can and want to be the subject of that attention, which I assume will be mostly negative. Am I trying to dissuade? Definitely not. Is it allowed within RWO? Yes it absolutely falls within the criteria. Just be sure to tread lightly if you take it on.

As an Arma2 editor, primarily, this would be my first attempt at creating an add-on unit, or I suppose in this case, a simple reskin. Fortunately, I have many years experience creating skins for games like MOH:AA, COD, and COD2 (which included normal and specular maps), so I do not foresee having problems on that end. Reading mondkalb's tutorial to start, if anyone here has other useful reference material to help, I would appreciate it! The purpose for creating this addon is to add Algerian Special Forces units, which were inspired by recent real-world developments in Algeria, which culminated in one of the most devastating hostage situations in decades, in-terms of hostages killed. There isn't a whole lot of information regarding Algerian SF -- aside from the fact that they have a penchant for torturous and over-the-top training techniques, and apply a mostly Russian methodology to counter-terrorism (taking the name as literally as possible). There are enough photos out there to give me a sense of what they need to look like. There are a couple of possible versions of SF uniforms: All OD with three-hole balaclava and/or MVD-style helmet http://i23.servimg.com/u/f23/11/43/45/77/dsi_ph12.jpg (181 kB) http://i23.servimg.com/u/f23/11/43/45/77/dsi_ph14.jpg (144 kB) Russian-style DPM (?) with black watch cap http://i22.servimg.com/u/f22/11/43/45/77/parass10.jpg (160 kB) http://i22.servimg.com/u/f22/11/43/45/77/ph_de_10.jpg (177 kB) More info: http://fulcrumaaf.skyrock.com/ http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?127649-Algerian-special-forces-Pictures Suggestions and input are welcome and appreciated!

Noted, thanks guys. RCMW is looking into this as well, he will be taking the lead on a fix (since he authored the original scripts).

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to generate a config.bin or config.cpp file for the addon they're hosting on PwS that would place the file into the Campaigns folder. For now, you can either try (have not confirmed this works yet) to add that .pbo to your OA install's Campaigns folder, or just download the Armaholic .pbo file and put it in that same Campaigns folder while using PwS to coordinate all the mods and launch the game. I'll be sure to post an update once I get this figured out, but I'm not getting much help - if anyone can share some insight on writing this config file, that would be a big help! In other news, I've investigated A3, AiA and A3MP, and sadly, I can't spend more than 15 minutes in there without closing it in frustration. I don't know when I'll be able to edit using Arma 3, but it clearly won't be any time soon, at least until we get some damn takistani models in-game and not a bunch of honorable but sadly homogenous unit reskins. That said, if I release anything in the near future, it will likely still be for A2/OA. I think A3 will have to be uninstalled until I get a real reason to give it another try.

Can you confirm if this was triggered bc the Apache was actually shot down or when the Apache seems to have gone away after the RTB radio msg? Sounds like a settings thing maybe, I've never run into it in my testing nor had it reported by anyone.

Note to all: Some of the objectives may suffer from similar issues when it comes to picking stuff off the ground or interacting with static objects, some of which are partially inherent to the Arma 2 engine. In this case, you can still easily complete the mission with other intel, but it could present issues for those shooting for that 200 score.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't need to actually board the chopper, just be within 50m of it. Getting to test the hostage hidden objective was insanely tough, so there may well be bugs with this part. I'll have a look as soon as I have a chance.

Hehe, glad to hear it, I was going to post in the LoK thread and recommend this new one! Your words of support do more than you probably realize, so they're much appreciated. I look forward to hearing your impressions on both once you finish them!

That is thought-provoking. Maybe some kind of follow-up or manual port using only A3 mods and no AiA would be cool. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get AiA to run all the mods needed. Also, using PwS to download the campaign appears to work -- but at the moment the Campaign doesn't show up in the Campaigns menu, for now, you need to manually place the .pbo into your Campaigns folder wherever your A2 install is. I've reported this issue to Six and they're investigating, so it should be resolved soon. Hope you guys enjoy!

Task Force 42 is now also hosted on PlayWithSix, so downloading and managing all the dependencies should work much more easily. http://play.withsix.com/arma-2/mods/tf42 http://play.withsix.com/arma-2/mods/tf42lite Can someone please do me a favor and try to verify that this works? I can test after work but it won't be for some time. If I can quickly get confirmation things are working, I'll ask Armaholic to update the pages with that info.

I tried running it in AiA before on my old windows install, wasn't able to get it working... need to try again. As for a port to A3 using A3 mods, I think aside from the maps, that would be possible. Though I'm not sure if there are proper British SOF weapons like the L119, L115, L128, etc. Still, could be worth exploring. Sadly, I still haven't been able to get too into A3 editing. However, I did start to adapt the CAS and support scripts RCMW wrote for TF42, they work pretty nice actually.

There is some missing voice acting in some of the bonus missions in Addon+ and maybe a line or two missing from the core story in both Lite and Addon+, as well as a few minor quirks here and there. Players may get a couple of error messages, but no game-breakers or endmission-needers. I wasn't able to test through the last two missions of Addon+ because I decided this needs to get released without any further delay, so there may be something wrong here or there that I missed while testing individual missions. I was able to endmission through both Campaign versions in order to make sure there weren't any critical errors with the campaign structure, etc., and everything appears to be fine. I welcome all AARs, feedback, impressions, and any bug reports you guys may run into while playing! While I already know I won't be able to release updates quite as rapidly, I do intend to fix whatever bugs I can solve within a reasonable amount of time. I'd also really like to figure out how to get this Campaign working in Arma 3 and/or All-in-Arma, as I try (and fail constantly) to find a way to get into editing for A3.

Task Force 42 v0.50 beta has been submitted to Armaholic!

OK I have worked out as many bugs as I can, so I will pack up Task Force 42 and release soon (I hope). Sadly, I lost my test campaign build on the old HD, so I need to re-write the description.ext and test, but I'm shooting for some time this week!

Got A2 and OA installed again, and I was able to load up one of the missions successfully, so I should be back on track soon! It's actually nice to start off fresh, this time I'm running the 64-bit version of Windows, things are running a lot faster, even A3, which ran really slow before.

Thanks, Wiki! Slowly but surely, I'm getting back to it -- got my laptop back Sunday, but they had to replace the HD...so I have had to start again from scratch. Of course, everything is backed up, it just takes time to get everything back in order. More updates to come!

Unfortunately, my laptop's display adaptor needs to be serviced, so TF42 release will be delayed a little longer...maybe like a week or so.

Yeah, I was trying to uninstall and then re-install as the frame rate had become unacceptably low. Sadly, I can no longer play Skyrim because it crashes way too easily, even with all the CTD-prevention mods I had installed. So, Skyrim is gone, I've been playing Company of Heroes and some of the mods that came out for that, but this too is freezing on me, while my PS4 collects dust. Both versions. Not sure how long for testing, but I can say so far there are no game-breaking bugs I've come across so far. I'd have others helping but I really just need to go and test it myself since I know what to look for. And I should also note that the first release will not be perfect (in case anyone was expecting otherwise haha), there will be bugs and missing dialogue, but I just need/want to get it out there.

Pre-release PBOs are together and currently in final testing, so hang tight! :)

YESSSSS \m/

Here's a small preview of these two bonus missions that will be in the Addon + version only of TF42... You'll get to play Mission 2 from the sniper team's perspective, and you'll get to tie up Charlie 22's story (sort of) in a scenario inspired by real-life Op. Eagle's Summit.

We really need someone who understands how to edit for COOP to join us and either convert missions or just post or point us to the process for converting them. I love the idea of being able to play something like TF42 or Op. Roadblock with other players, but I have no idea where to start, how to test, or what to do.

Which units will you use? I tried doing something Soviet-Afghan-era for TF42 as a flashback (I think it was for TF42, can hardly remember), but I couldn't find any authentic units... maybe CWR? Thanks Valken, I think this would be a great option. I will be sure to explore this for TF42 when it's ready to go -- the Addon+ version will be especially heavy, so having PwS handle things sounds like it would be a great option. TF42 Bonus Mission 2 for the Addon+ version is roughly in the same place as Bonus Mission #1, which means the Addon+ version is getting closer to completion. Bonus Mission #2 will put you in a fictional interpretation of Operation Eagle's Summit, loosely based on the real op -- your SBS troop is tasked with clearing an especially treacherous stretch of the convoy route to Kajaki Dam in Helmand province. You will need to coordinate CAS (AH-1, GR-9), and support (MEDEVAC and a newly-developed script for Reinforcements flown in via ADuke MH-60K), in order to clear the fields and compounds of hostile ambushers, and protect engineers from 9 Para as they dismantle IEDs along the route.

Also, in case anyone happens to be wondering and cant find it in the thread (like me), the classname for the 160th SOAR pilot should be "dk_160thsoar_pilot"

Starting to get back into the groove with TF42, even though I have drastically less time than I used to. Bonus Mission 1 - Night Raid from the Sniper's Perspective This mission is basically done, just needs a few final things. Bonus Mission 2 - Eagle's Summit UKSF Clearing Op I decided on a good scenario for the second bonus mission, which both references a real operation where UKSF was involved, but helps bring one of the stories loose-ends to a close. You play as the same SBS Team Leader as you do in Missions 1, 2, and 4. This time, you are inserted ahead of a massive convoy carrying parts to repair a nearby dam to provide the region with electricity and power. You insert via chopper and are tasked with clearing ahead the convoy route, sweeping fields, clearing compounds, and protecting a team of engineers as they dismantle IEDs placed along the road. I went from feeling blah about this mission to feeling super excited. Stay tuned!