This is probably my first post of all time, however I believe this mod is definitely worth the time.
Your mod is by far one of THE BEST Ranger mods available to Arma 3 at this time. Not to knock Massi, DaveGary, JSOC Team, or Xaysana because their work is also excellent in my book. This mod has the most potential in my opinion. You have your head in the right direction, and with a bit more of a push, can make this mod on line with even the RHS team.
A little about myself before I make any further comments or suggestions for this mod. I was enlisted in the U.S. Army for 3 years as a 12B, Combat Engineer. I have only been deployed to Mosul, Iraq. I will not disclose my specific unit, however I was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. I left the Army in 2010 and have enjoyed civilian life since.
Okay so my background is set in place, lets get to the nitty gritty.
SUSTAINS
- The texture work is on POINT. Wouldnt change anything with the camo patterns or the uniforms at all.
- Alot of collaboration with other mod authors has gotten this mod some great recognition and respect from the veterans of the modding community, even as early as the first release.
- Alot of updates, openness to suggestions, and continuously refining and tuning your work. Great motivation and drive for your work.
- Such a great undertaking as so many before have tried to forego, yet none even got near the amount of recognition for a first release since RHS: Escalation as this mod has for a unit mod, IN MY OPINION.
- THOSE OPSCORE HELMETS!
IMPROVES/SUGGESTIONS
- Great detail in the vests, however I personally forego the vests in this mod for another vest mod.. Upon doing some research (I know, GOOGLE cannot be trusted as goes for the Internet as well) the US Army Rangers have ditched the ranger green pouches on their vests and have gone with Multicam pouches. Maybe just apply the MCam texture from the uniforms to the pouches on the vests, while keeping the green vest itself.Also I would like to see your vests have the option of NO PISTOL HOLSTER as an option. Again the research concluded that not ALL rangers were issued M9 pistols because of the shortage that was available to a Battalion. I personally was issued the M9 pistol because of being a vehicle gunner while deployed, but we only had maybe 6 of those sidearms to the whole company. A rangers immediate focus should be on his rifle, and the terrain to his front.
- The weapon dependencies. Not knocking the weapons themselves as EricJ and the other mod authors who made the weapons, but having a weapon dependency kills unit mods at times. I dont speak for others, however, I forego the weapons in this pack as I use RHS and their M4A1 Block 2 rifles over the Mk18 Mod 0 pack. If you were to perhaps make these weapons as an optional config, then it leaves more room for customization for the public while using your mod. The research also showed that the SCAR-L (or Mk16 SCAR) was ditched in favor of the SCAR-H 7.62 rifle by SOCOM.
NOTE: I probably have no CLUE what I am talking about when it comes to this and by all means correct me.
- The Garmin GPS on the wrist was AWESOME, btw. I just wish I could use this GREAT idea with those Oakleys of yours, or without the Thermals. Again just falls under more customization for the public when using your mod.
- Another suggestion, is perhaps add some past gear, such as the MICH 2000 in Black with all the bells and whistles (with variety of course). This would look GREAT with the pack, and further add more depth besides just using current times gear. Just an Image search would show that the Rangers were using Black/Dark Grey colored MICH 2000 helmets and the RLCS (green/sage LBT vests) during their time in Afghanistan, then progressively started to field test new equipment like the OpsCore helmets, SCAR weapon platforms, and new uniforms. As far as UCP or "ACU" uniforms, those are now replaced by Multicam. Images show that during their actions in Iraq, they used ACU uniforms, PCU (grey/blueish) blouses, and Tan MICH 2001s, but this varied as METT-TC/SOP changed. Again, these are all subject to speculation as these are all gathered from internet searches.
Again, this is all just suggestions/constructive criticism, not telling you how to run your mod, or make it tailored to just one person out of the MANY that will be watching/using this GREAT mod. Thank you for all your hard work and time that you have clearly put into this mod, and I look forward to seeing this mod develop and grow into the greatness it will achieve.
*EDITED ORIGINAL POST*
*EDIT*
The vest pouches are ACTUALLY good, I must have been tired when I saw those so I DO apologize for that. Its the vest color tone that is a little too dark for me. Your "Fastpack Drab" is lighter than the vest which actually the vest should be the color of the pack, if that makes sense.I say "should" but what I really mean is COULD. I could also show you exactly which images I am looking at when I make these suggestions as to give you a better picture at what I am talking about in this post.
