It is time.....to mod for Arma2

[thales100]

Me and lighty in a beta test of his first mission in Namalsk tonight, click to enlarge.

[Lightspeed]

yes the immersion in this game is incredible and was commenting to Thales how it feels as intense and immersive as GR ever did. the graffix on the island are beautiful though not photorealistic.

the first mission is very GR-like with 4 main objectives and you choose the order in which you take them.

battlefield size - about 1km x 1km bigger then GR but not too much hiking - just enuf to give you room to move and plan. throw in a few small random patrols (just enuf to keep you on your toes) and it means you have to move cautiously from cover to cover.

yes i love Arma2 and Mission Editor and modding community.

ordered my TrackIR today thales

[Lightspeed]

I have shifted my mission editing to Isla Duala (glorious African island) - its just more realistic and what ive learnt already I have ported across and already have mission one close to ready and a much better campaign planned and also getting assistance from an editing veteran called Kavlarkos.

will keep you posted.

this mission editor coupled with scripts is insanely good!!

[thales100]

ordered my TrackIR today thales

Cool, great stuff youll see. Im up for MP tests of your missions whenever you want.

Edited March 15, 2010 by thales100

[Lightspeed]

check http://www.ghostrecon.net/forums/index.php...mp;#entry555862 brother

i already got it and its working pretty good but want to get it perfect if you have any tips or tweaks.

[Lightspeed]

another update -

still working away with Arma2 and trying to skill myself as i complete this new first mission on Isla Duala.

Things i have learnt so far -

Create/Name/Delete units and groups.

Animations

Triggers

Markers

Add new objectives

Random spawn of objects like intel or units for example

Smoke and fire effects

Chopper insertion

Kavlarkos from Legion of Sparta created intro

Kavlarkos from Legion of Sparta setting up and teaching UPSMON urban patrol script

Construct briefing with links to markers on map

Revive script working

Added sound

Destroy map objects/set as objectives

Vehicles travelling to waypoints loading/unloading

Custom ammo boxes

Set units/objects at specific heights

Currently implementing scalable coop for MP so number of players determines number of enemy AI

Currently testing hostage follow

getting v close to finishing first mission but trying to learn as much as possible so that my knowledge grows and can be implemented quickly across multiple missions.

for those of you who havent seen Isla Duala - check out the youtube videos at bottom of page - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=9150

and it comes with - Molatian and Molatian Resistance Army plus Afrenian and Afrenian Resistance Army characters.

Sensational!!

[thales100]

check http://www.ghostrecon.net/forums/index.php...mp;#entry555862 brother

i already got it and its working pretty good but want to get it perfect if you have any tips or tweaks.

Cool m8, thanks.

another update -

...

Sensational!!

Hehe awesome, cant wait to play it dude.

[firefly2442]

Did you learn most of this from Wikis and forums?

[Lightspeed]

yes mate - that and downloading other ppls missions to look at to see what they were doing.

and also viewing the youtube tutorials which can be found on Armaholic.

asking a question here and there on BIS or Armaholic forums.

but Search on BIS is your friend most of the time.

[custard~SPARTA~]

Good news mate lookin forward to trying out your first mission, apart from the island are you using any other mods ie ace2?

[Lightspeed]

yes for Ace 2 - other then that no bcoz i dont want to make it too difficult for players to get what they need to join.

booyaa - I have the scalable coop sorted out - number of players determines number of enemy groups to deal with.

Will have it scaled for 4 or less, 5-8, 9-12.

So close now - I think I could have beta ready by end of this weekend and with the bulk of the knowledge now worked out I should be able to crank out GR-style missions a lot faster now.

[Tom_Anger]

Nice - keep me in the loop - would love to try out a session with you folks. I created Siege, but that requires at minimum 16 players or you are wasting fun time )

I also created Hamburger Hill which I call King of the Hill. I worked close with SBS Mac who wrote a wizard to make missions, even coops. Just plug the values you want and boom - instant mission. BTW - I am looking forward to GRFS, but not getting my hopes up )

[staff Edit: - Quoted text removed - No need to quote text if you are replying to the last post]

Edited March 23, 2010 by JohnTC02

[Lightspeed]

Update -

I have finished and tested objectives and all working - have sent file to Kav to do his bit on urban patrol script and adding ambient objects etc.

Have opted for 12 player coop scaled as: 1-4, 5-8, 9-12.

Will show a few screenies of the area so you can get a feel for what you will be going into...stunning environment.

Hopefully a week or so and might have something ready to play and will commence work on Mission 2 this week.

[Lightspeed]

http://img156.imageshack.us/i/ss1gr.jpg/

http://img717.imageshack.us/i/ss3c.jpg/

http://img97.imageshack.us/i/ss2ec.jpg/

[Lightspeed]

Look I know I have started a thread about doing Ghost Recon style missions for Arma2 b4 but real life does get in the way.

However, my most recent efforts to script missions for Arma2 using a GR-style of gameplay were sound but I made the mistake of using a lot of add-ons and realised after all the work that it would be unlikely that ppl would play the missions.

What I decided was that I would make missions using Vanilla and/or Ace2 add-on only so that it's easily accessible to ppl.

Essentially, I have a template now which enables me to knock up missions quickly using things like 3 to 4 objectives which can be completed in any order with the open gameplay style of mission.

It occurred to me that if I open the template to others and give other mission scripters the parameters of mission development, then as a group we could knock up plenty of GR missions and enjoy the next gen of GR which we all want.

I am going to start by setting the foundation here and we can build on it for those interested -

Number of Players - flexible but will start with 8 - easy to add more.

Number of Objectives - 3 to 4 (however 1 objective might have several parts - destroy multiple SAMs for example)

AO (Area of Operations) Size - maximum 1000m X 1000m

Insertion - Start at AO or Insertion by Humvee/Truck/Chopper only

Vehicles - used for insertion/extraction only - possible to steal non-armor enemy vehicles such as trucks/jeeps. No access to armor vehicles/attack choppers/jets

Weapons Load-Out - choose gear from ammocrate prior to insertion. I really like Ace2 loadout and the fact that you have to choose weapons carefully so you can carry the load without passing out.

Revive Ghosts can be revived either by any other player or possibly only by Medic - to be determined.

Numbers of OPFOR I don't think you need to have too many in Arma2 bcoz they are good at kicking ass but obviously this is a testing issue.

Replayability I have replayability built into the template - (1) random spawn of objectives and (2) scalability of OPFOR numbers depending on numbers of players in coop.

That's all for now but open to discussion.....

I will release template pack soon with all of the files needed to set the missions up as described above and happy to help scripters work out how it all works.

Oh yeh and one thing - I will be releasing my first mission soon which is designed to demonstrate how Arma2 can be GR -like and in the tradition of GR it will be Castle Day

Lighty

[Tom_Anger]

8 would be great. I prefer ACE if you are planning that.

Edited June 28, 2010 by Tom_Anger

[wombat50]

I like the idea of going vanilla as possible especially for people like me that don't have the game but the desire to buy it.

I think ArmA 2 is the only game out there for people that enjoy co-op with a good number of slots.

[Lightspeed]

@ Tom

I think most mission scripters are doing Ace and non-Ace versions which is quite easy to create both versions but I think the realism of Ace makes it the one add-on that should be stock for GR players

also, the scaling is really easy to do as well - a little script that checks number of coop players and removes groups of OPFOR accordingly to make the mission doable

[Bota:16]

I agree in keeping missions as vanilla as possible. ACE is a great mod and incorporates a lot of great things. But it is a HUGE mod with multiple files. Using the SixUpdater helps in keeping things tidy but it's an additional step one must do and an increase in the probability that there will be errors on the users part.

Remember K.I.S.S.

[firefly2442]

Sort of OT but do you know how to script firing flares/chaffs from an AI airplane flying? I want to have a short intro with the camera tracking a plane firing off some flares.

[custard~SPARTA~]

Good decision mate, I disagree with Bota a bit about keeping Ace up to date

If you are going to host missions on a dedi and you want to keep everyone on the same version of Ace we have found it easier to use the latest 'Stable' version cos these files are always available on sites like Armaholic or direct from development heaven.

[Lightspeed]

yes i see what Bota16 is saying but as Custard says our clan policy is only update Ace2 to each stable release not the iterations between. i think that as the template is released and ppl start trying the missions we can settle on an agree state that everyone will be happy with.

note: by following the Ace2 stable versions we need only update 3 files once every 4-8 weeks and as it becomes more stable the updates are less frequent but the benefits are massive.

nevertheless, open to negotiation - i will start this thread of in a couple of other forums - Blackfoot Studios and possibly BIS or Armaholic to try and get the right ppl producing GR missions not un-Grlike missions.

[Lightspeed]

i think as a start will use just vanilla material

also, thinking about recording some of the GR voices to use ingame as we complete objectives - i think its fairly harmless to use them but wonder what others think - they can always be removed if Red Storm or UBI have issue - I doubt they would. Could look at recording voices for real at a later stage.

template is nearly done now - once its finished i will put a readme together for it and let ppl go for it and produce the next generation of GR.

[Bota:16]

But each time ACE updates, stable or not, won't you have to make sure your existing missions still work correctly? I just remember in ArmA 1 that I would update mods but try to play the same user missions and would occasionally get errors. And it's why I have pretty much stayed away from user missions that require mods/add-ons.

[firefly2442]

What about the Yoma Addon Synch utility?