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KEVIN_OFP

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Problems, questions
« on: 01 May 2005, 11:10:30 »
Hello Folks:

I gave up on finding an Add on which lets me have more groups per side.  But i found another way of doing it. After I changed Resistance side to east, now the citizens are also my enemy.  Those citizens are traiters.  They side with the stronger.   But its cool, because now I can have citizens in Russian uniform which means if i be West, I have 3 enemies. East, Resistance and Citizen.   HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

of course thanks to Macguba for his suggestion.

OFP is obviously the best game, but as we know nothing is perfect(except me).  I say OFP is about 80% perfect which is good comparing it to the second best which is only 60%(Battlefield 1942, battlefield what, i almost forgot its name. oh, good old BF1942)

I have few problems with the game.  I wonder if i only have these problems.  Please indicate which of these problems you also have if any(A, B , C , D, or E)


OFP Problems: ======================>>>>

A-  Bonacular switches mgun to single shot
     I like my MGUN to be on 3 shot burst, but everytime i use the Bonacular, it switches back   to  single shot.  If you had any idea how many time i have died because of this.

B-  No save
     This is the last game that should have been without a save option where missions can take 10s of hours to complete.  Does anybody know anyway to save.  One game i started around 8 pm.  I did good so at 2 am i went to bed and left my PC on so i could continue next day(Next day when i continued, it was dark, i died 5 minutes into the game.  i hated it)

C- Why darkness does not reduce AI's awareness.  Seems like darkness to them is like a sunny day at the beach. is it my imagination or AI indeed are oblivious to darkness.

D-  Sounds from far seem close.
Battle from 2 km away sound so close as if its happening 10 feet away from me.

E- This game need DMV. why Citizens keep wrecking cars.  Do they have any Driver Licence. 30 minutes into the game and there is always no more citizens driving.  The police guys are the only good drivers.

F- Sometimes i go through walls.  Again you have no idea howmany times i have died where i was inside a building with lots of enemies around.


Now here are my Questions:======================>>>>
A-   Can you create a mission all by scripting or use game's Mission editor for the basic and then enhance behaviors with scripting.( i am just wondering)
B-   Add_on to let have more groups per side.(Yes i want more bad guys, i wont give up on this one as i said i did)
C-   Add on to have more units per group.
D-   Add on for Artillery and other cool vehicles.
E-   BF1942 had the C130(big plane) where a lot of guys could get in.  Any add ons where lets me have that big plane or any other big plane?
F- How can you make a citizen pick up a weapon without scripting.(i am tired of having all citizens as policemen or Russians, i want to fight women for a change.)
G-  When is OFP2 coming out?



Thanks for you answers.

Kevin_OFP says:  OFP ROCKS BIG TIME!   

Offline Baddo

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #1 on: 01 May 2005, 11:49:49 »
Quote
A-  Can you create a mission all by scripting or use game's Mission editor for the basic and then enhance behaviors with scripting.( i am just wondering)

Use game's Mission editor for the basic and then enhance behaviours with the Mission editor and with scripting.

Quote
B-  Add_on to let have more groups per side.(Yes i want more bad guys, i wont give up on this one as i said i did)

Get to know with the scripting language and especially the scripting commands createvehicle and createunit. With the help of these two commands you can dynamically create units (vehicles, soldiers) during the mission and your problem is solved. You can for example insert new soldiers into existing groups so the same group just continues fighting, no matter if the first 12 members of it have died.

Quote
C-  Add on to have more units per group.

See my answer for question B. There's also possibilities to control more than one group at a time. Search from the Editors Depot I think there's something that could help on this.

Quote
D-  Add on for Artillery and other cool vehicles.

This requires a bit of searching and browsing around from you. For the artillery, start searching from the Editors Depot on this very same site.

Quote
E-  BF1942 had the C130(big plane) where a lot of guys could get in.  Any add ons where lets me have that big plane or any other big plane?

Good places to search for addons are http://www.ofpec.com/addons/index.php and http://ofp.gamezone.cz/index.php?newlang=eng.

Quote
F- How can you make a citizen pick up a weapon without scripting.(i am tired of having all citizens as policemen or Russians, i want to fight women for a change.)

This will include a little bit of scripting, but not much. Insert the following code into a special file called init.sqs. Create the file into the mission folder and make sure it has .sqs extension, not .txt or anything else. init.sqs is run everytime you start a mission and it is a good place to give weapons to soldiers. The other option would be to insert code into unit's initialization field in the mission editor but let's do it this way this time.

Code: [Select]
_units = [joanna,cindy,heidi,mary]

"removeAllWeapons _x" foreach _units
~0.5

_mag = "uzimag"
_weapon = "uzi"

"_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addWeapon _weapon;_x selectWeapon _weapon" foreach _units

As you can see there is a list of women: joanna,cindy,heidi,mary. Give names to the units you want to give weapons to in the mission editor and replace the names in this example with those same names. The script will then give those units an UZI.

EDIT:
For a whole group you could do this:

To initialization field of some group member:

Code: [Select]
gw1 = group this
And to init.sqs like in the previous example:

Code: [Select]
_units = units gw1

"removeAllWeapons _x" foreach _units
~0.5

_mag = "uzimag"
_weapon = "uzi"

"_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addMagazine _mag;_x addWeapon _weapon;_x selectWeapon _weapon" foreach _units

Quote
G-  When is OFP2 coming out?

I bet BIS itself does not know. It's said to be out in 2006 but we will see what happens...

:)
« Last Edit: 01 May 2005, 12:12:32 by Baddo »

ProudPotter2490

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #2 on: 01 May 2005, 11:55:27 »
Hey KEVIN_OFP!
I can help you with your 'not enough soldiers' problem :)! The following link lets you have 2268 units (with 189 groups) prior to the old 756 units, 63 groups! All thanks to Mapfact ;D! Heres the link:-
http://www.mapfact.gamigo.de/include.php?path=content/download.php&contentid=161&PHPKITSID=76d26f688bdd3105ce85ae2226cb167e Good luck!
ProudPotter2490 :afro:

Offline macguba

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #3 on: 01 May 2005, 12:37:14 »
Problems.    (These are mostly gameplay issues which are off topic at OFPEC, but the questions are on topic so I might as well answer them since I'm here.   OFPEC is an editing related site, it is not a general OFP site.)

A) Everybody does.  It's just the way the game works.   It defaults to single shot all the time.   That tap on the space bar is automatic for me.

B) When you Abort a mission your exit point is saved.    You can switch off OFP and come back and the game will pick up at that point.    A well constructed mission will have the right number of save points to keep it fun.  Too many is at least as bad as too few.   If you are really desperate, search Google for savegame cheats:  there are two.   One easy and one hard.

C) Darkness does reduce AI's ability to see you.   A stationery, prone black op for example is, for all intents and purposes, invisible at night.  You can easily make missionettes to test this.

D) This is a known issue.  The sound model in the game is not correct:  the sound reduces linearly, as opposed to square law or exponential or whatever it is is in real life.  (Or something.)

E) AI drivers have been sent by your God/fate/whatever you believe in to Test Your Patience.    Achieve enlightenment by forgiving them.

F) Another known issue.   OFP has many great strengths - its openness for example and the vast size of the maps.   This is the price.   Stay away from buildings:  the provide better cover for the AI than they do for you.



Questions.

A) Use the Mission Editor, it is extremely powerful.  Much more powerful than most people think.    BIS rarely used scripts to make the original campaign for example.    You can make top quality missions without scripts.

B) Play THobson's Abandoned Armies (in the beta forum) and my own Un-Impossible Mission (Mission Depot).    Each offers about 24 hours of fun gameplay without using all 63 enemy groups.

D) For artillery check the Editors Depot, in particular snYpir's SP/MP support pack.

E) What baddo said.

F) Ditto.

G) Tomorrow.

Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

Offline Planck

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #4 on: 01 May 2005, 14:03:53 »
Emmmmmm, Macguba, you missed out C  ;D ;D

Anyway, I thought OFP2 was coming out the day after tomorrow.

On topic:

I can second the recommendation to play Abandoned Armies and Un-Impossible Mission.

These two mission can give you a good idea of what is possible with a bit of work.
Making missions like these also has the added benefit of forcing you to learn about aspects of mission building and things about the game that you would never have learnt otherwise.



Planck
« Last Edit: 01 May 2005, 14:05:26 by Planck »
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voodzia

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #5 on: 01 May 2005, 18:05:31 »
@Planck
Quote
I can second the recommendation to play Abandoned Armies and Un-Impossible Mission. These two mission can give you a good idea of what is possible with a bit of work.
"A bit of work" - yeah, I like that. IIRC macguba spent hole f***ing year making his mission so please don't tell us (read - novice mission makers like me)  that he/she can make a top quality mission within a week or two.

@macguba
Quote
You can make top quality missions without scripts.
I think that you gone too far with that statement. Or maybe you want to tell me that you didn't use any scripts in your latest mission?
IMHO, it's impossible to make a good mission placing just units, WP's and triggers on the map - even if you group or/and synchronize them. However, there's the other side of the coin - you can use lots of scripts - I mean not just user written scripts but any kind of commands - and make a bad mission. That's the way it's - there's no easy solution here.
In general, I think that making a really good mission is a hard and time-consuming work that requires lots of knowledge of OFP editor and official comref - and that's not all.
Kind regards,
voodzia

ps.
Sorry guys for off-topic post but I just couldn't resist ;)

Offline Planck

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #6 on: 01 May 2005, 19:22:28 »
@voodzia

I think you will find that BIS made minimal use of scripts for their missions and campaigns, so it is perfectly possible to make use of the editor mostly.

And nobody said it would take a week or two to make a very good mission, it takes as long as it takes....and then comes beta testing.

Macguba didn't reallly take a year, it might have taken a year, or more, to get it out the door, but he took long pauses inbetween whilst real life took a hold of him on the odd occasion, but he eventually got back to it.


Planck
« Last Edit: 01 May 2005, 19:23:17 by Planck »
I know a little about a lot, and a lot about a little.

Offline macguba

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #7 on: 01 May 2005, 21:05:26 »
Quote
You can make top quality missions without scripts.
Quote
I think that you gone too far with that statement.
I wrote it and thought "Is that really true?"    It is true, so I left it as it was.

Quote
Or maybe you want to tell me that you didn't use any scripts in your latest mission?
;D  I may have used one or two ... or about fifty.  ::)  Which merely goes to prove I'm not a very good mission designer.

Quote
it's impossible to make a good mission placing just units, WP's and triggers on the map
This is complete nonsense.   You can, and I'll prove it to you.  ;)

The best mission I ever played was "After Montignac", which comes fairly early in the CWC campaign.    Never before or since while playing any computer game have I had such a physiological reaction.   I was lonely.   I shivered with cold but my hands were sweating so much I kept having to wipe them to be able to play.   It was enormously intense and enormously fun.

And how many scripts does it have?   Well one camera script for the cutscene at the end when you are captured, and about six lines in init.sqs.   That's it.    To be fair, the emotion was created partly by what had gone before, but also to be fair the preceeding missions had virtually no scripts either, other than for cameras.

Quote
However, there's the other side of the coin - you can use lots of scripts - I mean not just user written scripts but any kind of commands - and make a bad mission. That's the way it's - there's no easy solution here.
In general, I think that making a really good mission is a hard and time-consuming work that requires lots of knowledge of OFP editor and official comref
I agree wholeheartedly with all of that.  :thumbsup:

For the record, Un-Impossible took over two years but as Planck said it was on and off.   Sometimes I didn't touch it for six months at a time.    The point I was trying to make in using it as an example (and Abandoned Armies, which is an even better example) is that it is perfecly possible make very big missions without hitting - or even getting particularly near to - the 63 group limit.      Un-Impossible has about 56 groups I think (some of which are very small) and Abandoned Armies even fewer.    

OFP is a great game and one of the reasons that we are all still interested in it is that the current limit on the development of OFP missions is the imagination of mission designers:   we have not yet hit the limits of the game engine.   (I suspect we are still a very long way off.)  KEVIN_OFP is relatively new to the community:   like all new members he is not yet fully aware of the vast array of things that have been done, and could be done.    

Seeing people beating themselves up trying to defeat the limitations of the game engine always makes me sad.   :'( There is still so much to explore within these limitations ... which are not very limited at all.     One of the reasons I like mission designing is because it requires imagination and sophistication.   It is very sophisticated game.    Throwing large numbers of units at a problem is almost always the wrong way to solve it.   Thoughtfulness, experiments and imagination result in more pleasure for both the mission designer and the player.

This is not off topic btw, it's directly relevant to one of the [on topic] questions in the first post.

And now, a translation.    British English to American English (for comparative purposes).

British -
Quote
a bit of work

American -
Quote
like, the most awesome amount of work you can even imagine, and then some
« Last Edit: 01 May 2005, 21:07:48 by macguba »
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

KEVIN_OFP

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #8 on: 02 May 2005, 00:55:44 »
I beleive the mission editor is like a beautiful women.  sripting is the makeup.  So without the makeup, you still have a beautuful woman.
I have made only 2 major missions so far and i been playing only those 2 all along.   And I did not even use any scripting.
I know one day I will introduce myself to the wonderful world of scripting.
I will also play the UN-Impossible mission one day. thats for sure. (after I finish my own missions.  I should name my missions "Impossible mission")

Regards,

Kevin_ofp


Offline macguba

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #9 on: 02 May 2005, 09:27:39 »
Quote
I beleive the mission editor is like a beautiful women.  sripting is the makeup.  So without the makeup, you still have a beautuful woman.
An excellent analogy.
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

KEVIN_OFP

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #10 on: 02 May 2005, 10:47:37 »

macguba,  i tried your suggestion on saving missions after aborting.  it worked.  If i have played a mission at least once, i have the option to resume from where i left off.  but the problem is from there, when game is aborted, no statistics are shown and it goes directly to the games main menu screen.  
That is the reason why recently i play my missions from the mission editor itself using the PREVIEW.  Because only there i get to see the statistics after the game is aborted.  But no resume option in the editor as there is from single mission.   So to me is the question which trade off?  statistics. or saving.
Is that true? or is there a way to still see the statistics after a mission is aborted inside the single mission?

Also how do you yellow highlight someones previous quote in your post?

Thanks.

Kevin_OFP

Offline macguba

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #11 on: 02 May 2005, 10:54:08 »
Yes, if you Abort a mission in the middle you get no statistics - that is because the mission is not yet finished.    This whole feature exists so that you can leave a mission the middle without it "costing" a save, then return to it another day.   You will get your statistics when you finish the mission.

Playing completed missions from the mission editor is not satisfactory because Intros and Outros do not flow to and from the mission.   Also, although you can Abort and return where you left off by using Continue, you cannot close OFP and come back to the same spot.

To make one of these quote things click "quote" rather than reply and edit.   Or just use the tags [&quote]text[/&quote] without the & obviously.
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

KEVIN_OFP

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #12 on: 02 May 2005, 12:28:33 »
Ok, i got it. just one last thing. when is mission considered complete . My missions i am sure will still continue even when i have killed every single enemy.  How do u make a mission considered completed where it give the message "mission complete" as it does with the missions that came with the game?

I wish there was OPF pills where i could take one and next day, whalla, i became an expert in OFP

Thanks,

bluehand

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #13 on: 02 May 2005, 13:37:13 »
Have you tried the tutorial mission?  The one in the ReadMe.chm file in you OFP folder.  It takes you step-by-step through making a mission for a sniper to defend a UAZ against a truckload of enemy.  There are some typos, and it can't decide whether to call Triggers "sensors" some of the time.  Reminds me of the old days, typing in BASIC programs from games magazines on my BBC micro (ahh, nostalgia).

Anyway it includes how to put objectives in the briefing, how to tick them when complete, and how to make the mission end (with a trigger).

Offline macguba

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Re:Problems, questions
« Reply #14 on: 02 May 2005, 14:13:19 »
The demo mission that comes with the game does indeed take you step by step through the process of creating a simple mission.   However it's not that great and has at least one typo.

For a working example of a straightforward mission study the Tutorial Mission in the Editors Depot.   It was created specifically for people in your position.    I also recommend that you at least skim through all the other tutorials in the Getting Started section - there is a lot of good stuff there.

Mission making is not easy - the learning curve is very steep at first.     Producing a proper working mission - as opposed to having a bit of fun in the Mission Editor with missionettes - takes a fair bit of persistance.
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play