The War Between the States - An American Civil War Mod

[USMCLuke]

The War Between the States (WBtS)
A potential mod for ArmA 2 based on the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Preface

Greetings from MilitaryGamers.com!

Before I begin, I would like to give you all a little back story behind our community's attempt to create a mod based on the American Civil War.

We began a short while back to develop this mod using another game's engine, Mount&Blade: Warband, in an attempt to bring a first-person command/shooter/milsim based on the Civil War to life in a game that supported large-scale multiplayer battlefield combat, and that was also, relatively speaking, easy to mod and had a strong modding community behind it. However, we quickly found that the modding community for that game was unwilling to assist in our effort even though the majority of the models, animations, systems, etc. had already been created. Not wanting our small team to spend several months of our time going it alone and reinventing the wheel where it had already been perfected only to possibly have another, more experienced team, release something while we were still in production, the decision was made to move over to one of the MilitaryGamers.com community's even more popular game ventures, ArmA 2, and break new ground.

With the switch to ArmA 2 as the backdrop for our mod, many features and possibilities we wanted to implement, but were unable to because of the "hard-coded" limitations of the previous engine are now at least feasible again. In many ways this engine is an even better fit because some of the more common engine mechanics such as shooting, projectile physics, explosions, hit boxes, etc. are all already part of the game and will not have to be added in just to make work. As long-time fans of this series, it was a natural transition for many of us. ArmA 2 also has (arguably) an even larger modding community to fall back on for guidance and support, and since no one has really attempted to create a period mod like this since OFP, hopefully this mod will be better received here and we will be able to assemble the team needed to make this happen.

We did, however, lose several members of our already small modding team that had committed to the project because they were not happy with the switch, even though very little actual work had been done, and what has can be converted. However, when making the switch to ArmA 2, we actually increased the number of potential members in our own community that can possibly assist in this effort. Our members have varying degrees of skill in modding different areas of ArmA 2 (some of them famous/infamous posters around here), however each member's time is limited and we will not be able to see this through without increasing the size of our modding team. We also need to get a feel for whether or not we can pull this off before we throw the full weight of MilitaryGamers.com's resources into the effort. We need your help!

We need assistance in all aspects, but especially those who are experienced in modeling and texturing, animations and rigging, etc. Eventually, if we can't pull it off ourselves, we will need someone that can create a custom battlefield map (Island) using historical locations.

If you can and would like to help, please contact me via PM here or through MilitaryGamers.com's Forums (best) with what area(s) you would like to help with, your experience, and links to some examples of your work (if possible). Please only offer your help if you are experienced and serious!

Goals

To accurately and realistically portray the American Civil War using the ArmA 2 engine.

The initial focus will be to provide a two-faction (USA/CSA) sandbox-style multiplayer mission with defined player roles (ranks) which allow you to take control of pre-made historical company-sized units at camps and march out to fight other players for control over strategic objectives.

Proposed Features (WIP)

• Melee Combat (Is it even possible?)

• AI Commands/Formations and Bonuses

• Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Units and Player Roles

• Realistic Uniforms, Weapons, and Equipment (With both generic and specific historical units represented.)

[Celery]

Yeah, I've gotten the general gist of the modders' attitudes in the M&B community by reading just a couple of threads: all self-made content (even simple scripts) is treated like prized possessions and no mod is good enough to actually make use of it.

Making working cavalry could be your biggest obstacle along with believable melee. Animations for horses, custom weapon handling and vintage postures will be the toughest nuts to crack. However the Invasion 44 mod already has a semi-working bayonet feature so you might want to consult members of that team, and the best animator I currently know of has to be Smookie who has recently been making a custom animation set for CQB, and I'd imagine he would find a few new stances a breeze.

If or when your mod is getting along with a playable version, I might be tempted to make a few pvp missions for it.

[USMCLuke]

Thanks for taking notice so quickly and for the advice!

Melee and Mounted Combat are the two I think stand out the most simply because I don't think either one has yet been perfected anywhere. I know we don't have the internal know-how to pull these two off. Issues like these are why it's critical for a mod like this to have the assistance of some of the best and brightest from the ArmA 2 modding community lending a hand to make it happen.

The MilitaryGamers.com team knows our limitations, but we would still like to pull this off both for our own members and for the gaming community at large since their are no recent multiplayer games or mods that focus on first-person, historically accurate, American Civil War combat on a large scale. We don't want/need the credit for this, and we will plaster contributor credits all over this if need be, we just want to see it become a reality.

[Baraka]

Deanosbeano made a wonderfull horse: dbo horse.

Basically it´s a car which looks like a horse. AFAIK it will be a problem to attack while riding. Shooting out of cars is a big wish from a lot of peoples and it´s the same thing like shooting\swing a saber from a horse-bag.

Another way may be to make a horse like the cows what are already in game, make a riding-animation for soldiers and attach them via addAction.

For the melee-thing: SLX has a knife attack, in the John Rambo Campaign is another and Invasion 44 has the bayonet like celery said.There was also a little stand alone Addon which added a strike with the rifle butt.

Weapons and canons are the easiest part i guess. The Island will be the biggest part imo. Have never done an Island but it must be a pain in the ass.
Which you good luck with this baby!

[Celery]

Another way may be to make a horse like the cows what are already in game, make a riding-animation for soldiers and attach them via addAction.

I tried to create a cow riding system in 2009 and otherwise it was successful but being an AI with an AI unit's benefits, the cow would just stroll through all solid objects.

[Baraka]

I tried to create a cow riding system in 2009 and otherwise it was successful but being an AI with an AI unit's benefits, the cow would just stroll through all solid objects.

I forgot about this. Also the cow will always run away when there is gunfire in the air.Was a bad idea from me.

Is it possible to use soldiers legs as horse legs and create a minotaur like monstrum out of the soldiers body parts? Just another stupid idea.

BT: The best start for this mod will be to make some units and 1-2 weapons.
Easiest part and best way to learn how it works.

[USMCLuke]

We've already began to create some 3D models, however, this isn't our strong suit amongst the guys currently contributing. We've mainly done/tweaked missions, some people have done mapping/island work, and implemented parts of other peoples' mods/addons into ArmA 2 missions, file tweaks, adding units, vehicles, etc. We also have some guys who can script fairly well in a few different languages. Sounds we can probably borrow for now and a musical score has already been created.

I created a '53 Enfield Rifle Musket, after picking up and teaching myself how to model using Wings 3D (for the M&B Engine). 3 days using the app. and it didn't turn out too shabby, however I really have no idea what I'm doing and I'm sure the model could be improved (eliminating hidden faces for starters). It and any others that were created that we can get permission to use now that we've made the switch will need to be converted over. UV mapping, normal maps, specular maps, textures, that's something that we'll definitely need to recruit someone with experience to help with. I don't have time to learn those tasks at the moment due to my real life job, but I can continue to contribute an unmapped/untextured model here and there when needed if someone else can finish them.

An M1857 12-pounder Napoleon Cannon (If the creator will allow us to use it still, he was on the fence about the switch):

It has 2854 total polygons.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...eon_strip3.jpg - Sorry for URL only, the forums won't let me put more than 5 images in at once.

Also, I will need to check back with the gentleman, and see if the offer still stands now that we've made the switch to the ArmA 2 engine, but one the the primary contributors for the Blue and the Gray Mod for Empire: Total War has offered us the use of his models and textures if they could possibly be converted over.

[])rStrangelove]

Nice

Red Dead Redemption comes to mind, oh how i love western games. If you can pull off riding horses it would open a big door for others. Good luck

[Defunkt]

I love ArmA and know nothing about M & B but in all honesty I'd have thought the latter a much more suitable platform for your chosen period. Horses & melee aside (and these are not trivial undertakings) I expect you might have a lot of trouble getting the AI to adhere to the formations you might potentially require.

[USMCLuke]

Well, there's many pros and cons to both engines. ArmA 2 won out because of several factors, but the things it does well, it does much better than the things M&B Warband can do well. I honestly feel that the mod will do better and have far better staying power and longevity using this game as well.

As mentioned above though, here, it may actually be more work, and more trial and error, but much of it will be pioneering new systems that will help the community overall, as we will share everything, and in turn we're hoping more of the experienced members here will help us as well, quid pro quo.

Having lurked amongst both modding communities for many many years, I also think that ArmA 2's community is much more receptive and I'm banking on that. Ultimately, the bottom line is that an American Civil War mod could be a reality within a week with M&B, if the people that have created everything for it would loosen their deathgrip on the materials and cooperate. I just don't see that happening, and if we have to do most of it from scratch, we might as well do it where the rug won't be pulled out from underneath us, and where people will appreciate this mod for what it is and take it to the next level when we release it to the mission making community.