MedEvac brainstorming thread

[granQ]

Hi all..
ok, imagine a big coop mission sorta like Evolution or domination.
Now the enemy is getting casualties and leave their guys for ages..

i was just wondering, you guys think it will be "possible" to make a medevac script.

* KIA soldier
* Group of soldiers go to his rescue
* Loads into truck
* Truck drives off to base.

Problems I see isn't really coding this structure.. its more about gameplay, what happens when two-three people get killed and so on. The ai needs to move in once its cleared and so on. Don't want the player to use this to get some "sitting ducks" fun..

so any ideas?

[DaveP]

Seems relatively simple to me (in terms of the first aid modules), just check if they're being dragged/carried near the heli, then add an action that triggers the put down anim then attaches some kind of stretcher object to the heli, which the wounded is moved into.

[schaefsky]

Hmm, I coul imagine using a trigger generated on the fly with a certain radius that gets created once there are units to evac.
It will activate when units hostile to evac units are not present.
Or one could check the amount of hostiles present and send some fire support units with the medevac depending on how many hostiles there are.
Question is, if you use the first possibility if player will "see" something about the whole thing, so that it actually makes sense to send "real" units somewhere.

[granQ]

good idea schaefsky.

As I see it, have to use "areas", so not getting one "operation of Medevac" for each guy or it will get too much..

also, even if people don't see "directly".. just knowing and the idea to use the whole map, you might get overflown of helicopters or see trucks coming.

Basicly the idea would be like everything is dynamic sorta.
Player group ambush, withdraw (ai reinforce, fire artillery and so on)
Player group goes into hiding, overlooking the area.
Medevac comes in, cleans up.
Player can withdraw or go look for lost items.

[CarlGustaffa]

My thoughts on the subject:
* Player is killed.
* Player is immediately respawned but ends up on 'boot hill'.
* Dummy unit replaces the killed unit on the battlefield.
* Player sees action from the dummy unit using camera. Or spectating script.
* Other unit 'loads' the dummy unit onto an evac vehicle.
* Once evac vehicle enters the 'hospital' trigger area, the unit respawns fully (setPos to hospital entrance), and player again obtains control over it. Camera deleted. Spectating script terminated.
* If it takes more than a certain amount of time (say 20 minutes for realistic type missions), the unit will respawn at the barracks.

Result: With collaborate efforts and teamplay, respawn times are reduced.

Mechanics could be implace to reduce the automatic respawn delay if the server doesn't have enough players to support the mission properly.

[Serclaes]

It depends how deep you want to go. I've been thinking and working on that a lot. From what i know you have to differentiate CASEVAC and MEDEVAC. CASEVAC stands for Casualty Evacuation and is most often seen in symmetrical warfare. The casualties are evacuated by foot and then as soon as possible by vehicle to a casualty collection point. Then it can become MEDEVAC (air or ground). The main difference is, the MEDEVACed wounded is under constant care from a (flight) surgeon, a real doctor and not a medic.
In asymmetrical warfare it behaves a bit different. In order to call in a MEDEVAC you need to make sure you have the upper hand on the possible landing/pickup site. Nobody(except very brave men) will risk a medevac bird by landing near a site which still comes under constant and heavy enemy fire. Again, in my humble civilian armchair general experience, insurgents/guerillas tend to withdraw quickly once they've lost the momentum hence making a "safe" MEDEVAC possible.
When calling a MEDEVAC you have to specify how long ago you were under fire, where it came from and what type (small arms, mg, rockets). This could be used to determine a certain "threat level" and hence allow a MEDEVAC (=disptach a bird) or not. otherwise you can still drive (CASEVAC) to the nearest camp and call a MEDEVAC for when you're there. The problem for a mission is: where do you want to end? Of course you could build a whole "rescue chain" (thats a direct translation from the german term) with an AEROVAC from Termez to Cologne/Bonn. In Full Spectrum Warrior there was a truck following you around the (linear) levels. It would setup a rearming and CASEVAC point where the wounded would magically be healed. That worked pretty well and did the trick.
In arma2 you have the problem that everything is bigger and not so linear and hence taking a lot more time. While i like the idea of MEDEVAC to respawn i do not want to spend 30 minutes for every casualty.

[granQ]

Secleas, thanks for your input but what you and Carlgustav missed is that I don't intended this for human players but for "cleaning" up the battlefield. So the OPFOR side.