Lenyoga

Operation SHOCK is a mod for Arma: Cold War Assault // Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. The first beta release comes with a demo mission, a mod folder and a few basic units and features. Warning! There are pictures in the post below. Story The main story takes place several years after System Shock 2 (at the return of the Von Braun) on a UNN space station. There will be two enemy factions, details will come later, because all the ideas are constantly changing throughout the process. Mod Features - A big fat UI overhaul,config file changes, modifications to the equipment files - Custom weapon scripts, visual effects and gameplay scripts Weapons and Items - Most classic weapons and many items from Shock 2 will be present in slightly updated form - all weapons have specific fire scripts, a ricochet system has been added for some - Items include some of the hypos from Shock 2 (health, anti radiation, anti toxin, psi) and mission relevant objects - Audiologs and cyber modules are included too RPG Elements - Stat system: You'll have three basic stats (Weapons, Tech, Psi) and three minor stats (Medicine, Repair, Research), they influence weapons and items, as well as the hacking minigame and context-dependent situations (repairing medical stations for example) - Currency system: Nanites for hacking and researching, cyber modules for upgrades. Units - Shodan: former UNN personnel, security bots, cyborg assassins, turrets, security cameras, protocol droids - UNN: UNN soldiers, crew members - ???: special forces - the mutants were scrapped, because the first storyline idea involving TriOp picking up the mutagen which evolved into the Many was dropped. Buildings, Objects, Levels The toughest part to create - all the interiors, misc objects and anything decorative you find within the levels. Sound The sound design is one of my major focus areas. I'm sticking to Eric Brosius' style in Shock 2 and the Thief games, the music will be kept in a similar style (with techno tracks and dark ambient tracks for different sections). All of the sound and music is edit and created by me, using Audacity, Ableton Live and several other production elements. I've finished a few tracks using software versions of classic synths that were used in the original game soundtrack, as well as samples of the game's demo tracks (provided and respectively created by Josh Randall) Plans and Info: March 2014 - working towards a beta release with the first mission, campaign not planned yet (mod folder with basic files, enemy units, weapons, scripts, etc. but no full campaign) January 2015 - demo mission with mod folder and all basic gameplay elements and features finished and uploaded July2015 - demo mission with mod folder and all basic gameplay elements and features finished and uploaded, updated I'm working on this project alone, so a final release date cannot be estimated yet. Most important updates will follow in this thread (chatter on the general topic, questions, ideas and so forth are welcome.) If you want to see funny colorful moving thingies, seek out that YouTube playlist (sorted oldest to newest to get some picture of the improvements): If you want to have updates on Facial Tome, here you go: https://www.facebook.com/OperationShock (other than that, I'm also on OFPEC.com and reachable via PM) Requirements: To see the full colors, you need to remove the night pixelshader effect (the one that makes everything go black and white at night, for some reason) - the best way to go is Kegetys' DXDLL - http://www.kegetys.fi/ofp/index.php?p=others (it has a configuration file or dialog, you can change the settings there) Releases: Demo v0.86 This is the updated demo release, with mod folder and the first mission in the campaign. Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bnmo4agw7g8sf0h/OperationSHOCK_demo_v086.rar?dl=0 Fixes v0.85-0.86 Thanks to everyone for the support so far, and especially to the WW4 team and SoldierEPilot!

I recently (recently meaning the beginning of 2018 or so) gave a mod called Enderal a try. It's a full custom campaign - really worth a playthrough.

Great documentary on the topic. Looks like I found a channel to fill my delirious nights with.

Okay, this is a good one - Outcast: Second Contact free (and DRM free) on Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/outcast-second-contact

I'm not usually into multiplayer kinda things, but Murderous Pursuits is free on Steam right now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/638070/Murderous_Pursuits/

Shadow Warrior 2 is now free on GOG ... a week after I bought it. https://www.gog.com/game/shadow_warrior_2

Layers of Fear is free on Steam right now - I don't know the game. But it has layers, and fear - two of my most favorite things. Ask my mother. https://store.steampowered.com/app/391720/Layers_of_Fear/

Unreal is free on GOG for another 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/#giveaway Also on Steam, but I don't know for how long: https://store.steampowered.com/app/13250/Unreal_Gold/

I agree 100%. Not just because I wanna feel safe in my dead trees...

I'm in a bit of a turret experimentation/research/despair phase right now, too, I got up to two turrets to function. Here's the things that caught my eye: In CfgVehicles the MainTurret is just fine, the secondary turret needs specific, hardcoded animation sources: body = "mainTurret2"; gun = "mainGun2"; animationSourceBody = "mainTurret2"; animationSourceGun = "mainGun2"; I'm not 100% sure about the next one, but my two turrets only started working once I used the Czech names for skeletonBones[] in the Model.cfg: "otocVez", "", "otocHlaven", "otocVez", "otocVez2", "", "otocHlaven2", "otocVez2", In CfgModels - p3d Name - Animations you should also define the animations for both turrets like this (axis, selection and source probably being the hardcoded parameters) class MainTurret { type="rotationY"; source="mainTurret"; selection="otocVez"; axis="osaVeze"; animPeriod=0; minValue="rad -360"; maxValue="rad +360"; angle0="rad -360"; angle1="rad +360"; memory = 1; }; class MainGun: MainTurret { type="rotationX"; source="mainGun"; selection="otocHlaven"; axis="osaHlavne"; }; class MainTurret2 { type="rotationY"; source="mainTurret2"; selection="otocVez2"; axis="osaVeze2"; animPeriod=0; minValue="rad -360"; maxValue="rad +360"; angle0="rad -360"; angle1="rad +360"; memory = 1; }; class MainGun2: MainTurret2 { type="rotationX"; source="mainGun2"; selection="otocHlaven2"; axis="osaHlavne2"; }; And don't forget renaming the turret body (otocVez) and gun (otocHlaven) in the p3d file. Bit me in the behind a few times...

On the topic of attaching the virtual gun to the correct position - there is a dirty way of referencing memory points in OFP via particle arrays. It only works with models that aren't animated and it has to be executed on a frame by frame basis, so it would probably screw with the CPU. The first component is a sqs or sqf using an array like this, referencing a named selection in the 3d model's memory LOD: drop ["koulesvetlo", "", "Billboard", 0, 0, "memoryPointName", [0,0,0], 0, 1.275, 1, 0, [1], [[1,1,1,1]], [1], 0, 0, "", "\path\scriptDoingThePositioning.sqs", _unitWhithTheMemoryPoint]; Part two is a script which is called by the drop array: _pos = _this; // [x, y, z] position of the memory point. ... blah blah setPos I'd only really advise using this for one-shot solutions, not constantly executed code. But there's something I haven't tried out yet - while almost every command in OFP uses world space, maybe camSetRelPos could be used to make continuous evaluation of a certain position easier. You could create a new camera via the plane's init script, assign the plane as the target, set the relative position to a value you know to be the right position of the gun barrel, then loop camSetRelPos and setPos the virtual gun to the camera object. There's probably a few downsides there, but it's just an idea.

Too many hyphens in the title for my taste, but let's try this anyway. I'm trying to have a plane armed with a CannonCore based weapon with multiple tracers (this is a secondary issue since it might be solved with a bit of scripting) use a turret that is operated by the pilot. The goal is to make AI and players able to land a few hits without lining up for the perfect shot and never taking it and making me scream in frustration. I had something like this (YouTube) in mind.

Thank you! Two birds with one comment.

primaryWeapon can help out a bit there, but it only detects primary weapons.

I demand the power of the dark souls to be brought unto me! On second thought, they make people insane, so maybe that's not the best idea... I get the frustration with some of the limitations. I have my own set of very specific things I'd like the engine to do - like pilot-operated turrets for fixed wing aircraft, something even Arma 3 doesn't do since I last checked.

You could use simple counter for the group members and the civilians. Initialize those variables somewhere: DeadCounterGrp = 0; DeadCounterCiv = 0; And each unit could have a script attached which checks if they're dead: @!alive this DeadCounterGrp = DeadCounterGrp +1; exit The trigger would then have "DeadCounterGrp >= 3" in its conditions.

I have always been the type to rather lurk in the shadows, which has been alright online but not so much offline - those people with their stakes and crossbows can be pretty annoying. Personally, I really have just two major phases in project-driven online communication - moderate communication with unhealthy levels of productivity and burnt-out lurking -, so the scope of my view on the topic is limited by that. But there are definitely some differences between interactions in let's say the good old OFPEC.com days and Arma 3 topics in the here and now. With the smaller groups such as the undying OFP section on here, the discussions are usually focused on the projects or issues at hand, where most people seem to realize that they are simply trying to play / mod a game that's almost old enough to drink the good stuff. In the Arma 3 sections, there's a lot more opportunity for interaction between modders and 'pure' players. And some of the latter strongly remind me of certain personality types I used to encounter in the bad old days of customer service, namely the angry middle-aged woman who wants to speak to the manager and the entitled SME executive who doesn't really seem bright enough to be an executive. Not sure if it's the reach the game has because of its popularity, or a certain culture among some gamers which makes them perceive modders as customer service representatives. All I know for sure is that I don't like it very much, and it might even discourage fruitful discussions or any sort of somewhat meaningful interaction. It truly is hard existing, with all their individuality, or whatever insipid, short-lived social construct is currently the governing instance of their self-perception and behavioral oddities... none of that could possibly elevate the rotting bag of meat they call a body above the perfection of the digital. That reminds me, I have to finish that other project. To be honest, I've also been pretty lazy since I've fallen into the bottomless pit known as Unity and replaying Dark Souls 2 (which caused a whole new set of mental disorders all on its own.) I will enter the next regeneration cycle around Christmas, maybe I'm useful again after that. And I haven't heard of Discord yet, although I am indeed a Discordian Pope - the most exalted one of them all, even - but personally I'm not really good with instant communication when it's about a somewhat complex project or topic. Anyway, that was my nine jumbled cents, and since I, as a general rule, never use more than 450 words a day, I will now end the comment right here.

Thank you! I've been rather absent the last weeks, but I'm hoping to continue with the System Shock project sooner or later. I already have the beginning and end of the campaign, so I can't just not continue.

After watching too much Star Wars Rebels and playing IL-2 Sturmovik I've decided to finally pick up the old TIE Fighter addons again. Contrary to the previous fighters I made, the new ones will be based on fixed-wing aircraft instead of helicopters - the handling is much better and now even the weapons are doing just fine. I'll try to stick as close to the movies as possible (instead of the game TIE Fighter like last time), while filling in the blind spots with info from the EU/Legends. Some screenshots: (Now let's get to the barrage of technical details) - current units The top speeds are somewhat variable, because they're depending on both mass, shape and maxSpeed value. I tried to come close to the values below, but most faster fighters don't really reach their top speed, which is alright because their acceleration is a lot better due to higher maxSpeed. - flight system - weapon system Download here: [v0.99 beta] http://www.moddb.com/mods/star-wars-tie-fighters/downloads If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas or threats, this is the time and the place.

The complete workflow can be a bit complex and varies depending on the project's specifics or my own volatile degree of mental capacity. I'll try to provide a short overview. There's a few things to keep in mind also: make sure you're using the Blender Render engine (Cycles has a different set of features which don't work well for A3) and don't rotate, scale or move anything in Object Mode (this will generally cause problems with scale and alignment). Basic UI: Object Mode lets you create new objects, it's where you apply the Arma Toolbox settings - you could make 4 objects for 4 LODs, one for fire geometry, etc., etc. Edit Mode is where you manipulate the separate objects, assign materials and edit the UV maps. Material Tab is where you add and edit the materials which contain the textures in Blender and also the paths to the textures and rvmats in A3. Textures Tab is where you add the texture files to a specific material (diffuse, specular, AO and bump are all you need for A3) - don't use Blender's Normal Map feature (wrong color channels), rather convert a black/white file later. Workflow example: Open new project and delete everything with A (select all) and X (delete selected) Create a new cube in the Create Tab on the left, press TAB to enter Edit Mode Edit the model (there are many basic tutorials on YouTube) Enter the Material Tab on the right and name it / assign it (the path on the bottom only describes the final A3 addon path, not the actual file you'll see in Blender) Do the UV unwrapping and apply the textures (best search for "blender render material and texture tutorial" and "blender render UV unwrapping tutorial" - there are many approaches to do these) You can bake ambient shadows, or even re-bake textures from one UV map to another, check for tutorials again. Save the texture files for further processing. If you need to, you can create and assign Vertex Groups in the Data tab on the left - those will be the named selections in A3. For the geometry LODs, I usually use Object Builder (Structure/Topology/Find Components...) Save and export as .p3d, open with Object Builder and press F5 just to make sure the normals are okay. If you're only using diffuse textures, just convert the texture file into uncompressed TGA and convert it to .paa or .pac using TexView 2. If you're using the super shader ... I hope this is a somewhat useful overview for an example of a workflow. It should be effective in conjunction with all the video tutorials that show only bits and pieces of the whole process.

I've used Blender quite a bit for OFP and now Arma 3. With all the additional tools it's definitely the better option for me - you can add and edit materials, textures, unwrap and edit UV maps, and so on and so forth. The thing is you have to invest a good deal of time in learning the most important shortcuts and navigation. The Arma toolbox is easy to use. Import and export function are done via the 'file' menu just like saving, applying options for LODs is done via the little menu brought up by pressing N while the object is selected. Vertex groups are exported as the named selections for Arma. You might have to normalize (F5) the model in O2, but I don't recall if this was just an OFP issue. I'd suggest looking up a few basic and Arma 3 oriented tutorials on YouTube.

The Ghost Recon idea sounds cool, though I'm not much of a mission making person myself either. I've started up SWAT 4 again a few weeks ago and thought this would go well in OFP, too. This would require a lot of scripting, but I'm kind of into that anyway. At least once I've mustered the motivation to finish the outstanding projects...

Reuploaded the demo to dropbox, the links seem to love expiring.

Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational PBO file: http://www.moddb.com/mods/star-wars-tie-fighters/downloads

Thanks! So far I've got modDB and all of the above on my list. It'll be a busy week, but once I have a moment of freedom and clarity I'll look at the options. So far I just have to either ignore the current status of the ion cannons ('functional' with an emphasis on 'fun') or implement the hit detection system I used in the Shock mod. That should be it, except maybe some easification of various weapons.