[SP] HETMAN: War Stories

[silentghoust 132]

Incarnated fire team TL and dropped all my ammo to provoke Rest order (successfully). But all was OK, after reaching the waypoint position, I had no new rest orders. So, as usual, not so easy to hunt the bug down. It must be dependent on some particular circumstancies. Oh, well. That's third of that kind. I can only leave some diag_log "snares" in the bushes at expected paths of this bug and hope, it will trigger them some day leaving a trace in my RPT...

Does HETMAN take in fatigue? I have had the same marathon loop of rest waypoints were the cammander kept ordering me to go to diffrent points to "rest". None of my men were wounded, or fired a shot, but they were all very tired from having to run 1km to each rest point. After awhile I just ignored the rest order but as i head out forces ahead of me finished off the remaining CSAT and we won. This was me commanding a Squad for more information.

OK then, however can't guarantee if vanilla AI will use such things properly. Flare grenades also need proper weapon to be shot. I'll try to apply some light sources for FIA anyway, at least flashlights should be easy to add and used by AI properly (giving the enemies nice opportunity for some night "shooting the lights" practice :P ). In fact, I can also add randomly for some TLs even NVGoggles, let's assume, taken as trophies. IMO only those can noticeably raise survival chances for FIA.

For the most part the point man, would have the flashlight, being that only one guy needed to light the path, and if spotted only he would truly been seen. It also won't help the enemy AI any since they have nightvision and can pick them off just as easily without the flashlight. In the case of Arma 3 that would probably be the team leader or 2nd in command when it comes to dealing with the AI and how they act. As for Flares, Fire Team leaders and grenadiers both come equip with grenade launchers, the exception to this is Squad leaders. Again these are your choices, I still think even without any of these changes this is a great mission. Matter of fact the whole flare thing gave me a awesome idea for a HETMAN defense mission. :D

[Rydygier 1302]

Does HETMAN take in fatigue? I have had the same marathon loop of rest waypoints were the cammander kept ordering me to go to diffrent points to "rest". None of my men were wounded, or fired a shot, but they were all very tired from having to run 1km to each rest point.

No, fatigue isn't a factor. Rest order should get only groups considered as combat ineffective due to lack of ammo/fuel, immobilization or wounds/losses. And as soon group get such order, is flagged as "resting". Resting groups are excluded from getting resting orders again and stay resting till combat effectiveness conditions are met, what often means - to the end (eg if half of the squad is dead). That's theory.

If you got "resting marathon" still beeing combat effective, then this issue is even more misterious, than I thought.

EDIT: oh, I forgot one thing, not sure, if this applies here, but temporary resting order may be issued to the group considered as exposed to danger too much, as kind of tactical withdrawal. Danger level is in numerical form calculated basing on group kind, known enemy presence near and also presence of allied forces in that area. This mechanism is meant as solution for groups "left to die" due to overwhelming hostile threat. Danger factor is easy to monitor. To do so, RydHQ_DebugII = true; must be typed in the advanced setup field. With that, after some seconds each group's leader will be followed on map by a dot with number. Any value above 0 means some danger. Orange or red color means serious danger, that may be a reason of withdrawal.

Matter of fact the whole flare thing gave me a awesome idea for a HETMAN defense mission.

BTW indeed, as for Hetman and flares, HAL also can order to fire a flare, arty or grenade, if possible, but only in defensive mode, at night, for defending groups, to illuminate the foreground, if is detected approaching enemy. Apart from that - it is up to vanilla/modded AI.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Rydygier

[SavageCDN 231]

Gonna give this a try tonight it sounds awesome... loved HAL in Arma 2!! Do you recommend using AI mods (I'm thinking ASR_AI)?

[Rydygier 1302]

HAL, same as HAC, should work fine with most AI mods, that doesn't mess with waypoints. Can't point any mod in particular as 100% safe, because I do not know any well enough to be sure, so just try. If works (I suppose, will) - I recommend. :) Although, mods or no mods, on this stage some issues are expected, few reported already.

[tortuosit 485]

Good luck with your new mission. Will look forward to play it like I loved to play Pilgrimage. If only RL would allow me to...

Could you maybe add a note to the first posting which Addons you recommend? I'm thinking about bCombat and your ryd_incognito.

[Rydygier 1302]

Thanks. In this scenario there is no use for incognito - player is here regular battle participant. Thus bCombat may be good choice. It's quite different than Pilgrimage. It's more like dynamic instant battle generator, but battles are conducted by Hetman and there is spectator mode. I'm not sure yet, what to recommend apart from those most universal: audio/visual/AI enhancers. Similar story, as for Pilgrimage, is for addons adding new factions.

[SavageCDN 231]

Thanks Rydygier I'll try both ASR_AI and bCombat (separately) and report back.

[tawah 13]

Sorry for late reply, I was away for working purpose...

You are right, Rydygier, with both names (with underscore or a dot), your mission will initialize perfectly in SP.

In MP, the "dot" named version will CTD but it is not a problem because this mission is meant to be launch in SP. In fact, the "underscore" named version run flawlessly in MP even if it is not designed to. :)

Good luck, it is a very promising mission.

[teilx 4]

Is a A2 CO version planned?A3 is not worth to play for me anymore.:p

edit: Ok thanks for info........really sad ^^ good luck with A3

Edited August 15, 2014 by TeilX

[Rydygier 1302]

Nope, because on the contrary here :) - I'm not using A2 CO anymore (so also any update of my A2 stuff is unlikely). Months passed, since I last time launched A2 for longer than some minutes.

[teoleo 2]

some question:

is possible to export in other island

at the start what options I have in the advanced options?

in my last game i spawn at the drive of refuel truck....i have some possibility to see any battle or quit now the mission?

[Rydygier 1302]

Export shouldn't be difficult, but didn't tried yet. Of course anybody may try, I'll wait with that until this version become final. As for advanced options, you can type there any proper code (script), that will be executed at init, but primarily it is provided for advanced Hetman init setup. There is too many init variables to list them here all, just check HAL's pdf manual, chapter 7. Note, some settings will have no use or even may cause errors, as not all things are active in HWS (mainly - there is no Big Boss).

Driver of fuel truck may be sent with refuel mission. Very low probablity of such need. Restart or disembark and act like infantry on your own. Or just active spectator mode and watch the battle... In the next version, which will be released as soon known issues will be fixed (so far no luck with reliable reproducing), all units of A side will be switchable and there will be option for random re-incarnation. Or try newest beta:

---------- Post added at 17:26 ---------- Previous post was at 17:13 ----------

"Dev branch" updated to 1.04 beta4:

- proper Leader units for custom factions (if provided any officers);

- added chance for single cargo vehicles for foot infantry transportation;

- radio chatter and arty markers;

- re-randomize avatar via 0-8;

- all units switchable via Team Switch;

- MARTA reset via 0-8;

- some night combat equipment for FIA;

- various fixes.

[Rydygier 1302]

"dev branch" updated to 1.04 beta5:

- improved weather setting code;

- added "NO CHANGE" weather setting meant for weather mods compatibility;

- more various fixes and improvements.

Also added Recommended addons section in the first post.

BTW still no luck with bughunting (see To do). :/ Reproducing is hard and time consuming (rare circumstances needed) and even then problem stays a mystery, leaving empty my diagnostic "snares". For now I can only suspect some vanilla issues occurence in certain circumstances generated by Hetman (abandoning operational tanks end embarking leading tank as cargo if at least one tank in the group was damaged/destroyed, while this should appply only to the crew of crippled tank) and/or intereferences between Hetman's control and new, A3, vanilla AI actions (get in/get out several times) and/or not desired results of some Hetman features occurring in unknown circumstances ("restless resting").

Still, I want to fix these three before new official update.

BTW2 Noticed, so HWS' gameplay quality is highly sensitive on A3's vehicle driving AI - for default factions there is many vehicles in use, grouped too, if terrain is flat. I't sad observing, as very promising battle experience is torn apart by vehicles killing infantry, colliding with each other at waypoints, stucking on the rocks, bridges, walls and terrain curvatures, AI setting rear of armored vehicle towards enemy, clumsy, pointelss maneuvering, occasionally flying tanks... Yeah, but luckilly, as driving AI and config is so severe and well known problem, for sure will be fixed very soon. Any decade now.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Rydygier

[ophirb 13]

Just had to jump in and say thanks a lot for this awesome mission! First time for me seeing HETMAN in action and it's great. :)

[Rydygier 1302]

Thanks. :)

Today thought about some kind of optional persistent campaign around HWS battles. Let's say result of the battle is saved for the given player profile and affects somehow further battles (past battlefields are marked by winner's color on the map, amount of held by fighting sides areas alters chance for attack/defense mission (limited to proper areas), initial morale, maybe amount of support units?). Progress may be reset before each battle, also each single battle may be chosen to be not counted for campaign. Could be nice, but need testing. Any ideas/requests on that?

[SavageCDN 231]

Great mission Rydygier!! I played about 6 times last Friday 3 with @ASR_AI and 3 with @bCombat... didn't really notice any negative effects with either mod. FPS was approximately the same although I only played Medium or Small sized missions. Certainly the firefights were more drawn out than just vanilla AI.

I'll add my two cents as well although looking at the recent beta updates it seems my complaints have been addressed :) For 3 of the 6 'sessions' I played I did not fire a single round. The squad I was in was either tasked with rear defence (once) or for the other two times my squad was sent into the combat area they did a short patrol and were then ordered to fall back and I suppose act as rear echelon or reserves. One of my sessions our squad walked to the AO (20 minutes at slow speed walk), shots were fired, then ordered back to start position (another 20 mins of walking to the rear).

So I think the ability to switch to any other friendly unit will solve this issue.. that or have groups move at a quicker pace when following waypoints. I don't know if perhaps the AI mods had any effect on this.. but I don't think so.

Edit: I should have added.. the other 3 sessions were very good.. the best one was as a mechanized recon force that made first contact with the enemy.. lots of action and we even had to fall back before we got overrun!! Also the idea of having the results of battles matter on future conflicts is great!!

Edited August 18, 2014 by SavageCDN

[Rydygier 1302]

Great. :) Yeah, now all units are switchable (so even if you die, you can stay in the battle as someone else) and you have 0-8 option for random switch. Slow walk towards waypoints is default Hetman's way. You can type RydHQ_Rush = true;RydHQB_Rush = true; into advanced setup window to speed it up. I could make it default too, but now, with this new fatigue system this may be not as good idea, as it looks... BTW yesterady played with African Conflict as SVD marksman of Governatives and with Dynamic Weather mod. Got really great experience - very nice morning with some ground fog and group of us walking our kilometers towards objective in column, like kind of long range foot patrol. After some time we started to hear distant, but closer and closer shots and explosions (JSRS) followed by increased excitement on the radio chatter. Quite immersive war story. :)

Edited August 18, 2014 by Rydygier

[SavageCDN 231]

Ah OK I will try with 'rush' activated and let you know how it goes... or just switch to team leader and give my own orders :p

Do you have a list somewhere of variables we can set in the Advanced window?

[Rydygier 1302]

Do you have a list somewhere of variables we can set in the Advanced window?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/102178499/HAL%201.16.pdf

Whole chapter 7. BB variables shouldn't be used - there is no Big Boss. Also you'll see by their descriptions, some have no use in HWS context.

In fact you can type in the AS window any common script too.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Rydygier

[SavageCDN 231]

Ah thanks Rydygier although your link does not seem to work for me... I think I have this PDF already from HAL download.

Edited August 18, 2014 by SavageCDN

[Rydygier 1302]

My mistake. Link is corrected now. But yes, it's just HAL's manual online.

[delta99 34]

Great. :) Yeah, now all units are switchable (so even if you die, you can stay in the battle as someone else) and you have 0-8 option for random switch. Slow walk towards waypoints is default Hetman's way. You can type RydHQ_Rush = true;RydHQB_Rush = true; into advanced setup window to speed it up. I could make it default too, but now, with this new fatigue system this may be not as good idea, as it looks... BTW yesterady played with African Conflict as SVD marksman of Governatives and with Dynamic Weather mod. Got really great experience - very nice morning with some ground fog and group of us walking our kilometers towards objective in column, like kind of long range foot patrol. After some time we started to hear distant, but closer and closer shots and explosions (JSRS) followed by increased excitement on the radio chatter. Quite immersive war story. :)

Rydygier, we've had discussions about this in the past all the way back to A2 versions of HETMAN. I think the default should be normal speed unless the units are just patrolling or holding. Walking speed is pretty much useless for any units in combat or heading to combat. If they are going a long distance they should have transport. At least that part seems to work nicely for the most part.

If you recall I have had some success with RydHQ_Rush but even then a lot of the times that doesn't seem to work.

[Rydygier 1302]

If you recall I have had some success with RydHQ_Rush but even then a lot of the times that doesn't seem to work.

Hmm. When exactly it doesn't work? I can't remember such issue. All waypoints are generated by single function and Rush is affecting that function directly, so this should work for all or none.

Anyway, as I recall both schools had supporters (your way was my first choice, but then came people and requested opposite approach - their arguments was reasonable (not realistic, soldiers are too fatigued to fight), so I agreed...), so apparently (can't remember really) I decided to do it more realistic - AFAIK RL foot infantry doesn't run everywhere all the time, but I may be mistaken. Rush is for those preferring otherwise. That was under A2. And now, A3 1.24, we have new fatigue system. You realize, what results will have running all the time now? Awful.

BTW, as often in such cases, I'm now insipred to review some waypoint settings - this wasn't touched too long. For now for HWS, eventually perhaps also for HAL itself.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Rydygier

[haleks 8206]

Just tried this little beauty, very impressive job Rydygier.

Seems to be an excellent skirmish/battle generator! I only tried a couple of runs so I won't post an extended feedback, but I do have a couple of suggestions. ;)

- There's one thing that annoyed and confused me a bit during my runs : the absence of briefing and visual indications/markers on the map. I had no idea what the general plan was or how the men were deployed.

For this reason I was completely lost when assuming control of squad leaders. I think it also contributes to make the AI manoeuvres more confusing as you can only guess the plan they follow.

A couple of markers or arrows showing where the action is supposed to happen on the map would greatly help.

- How hard would it be to port this beauty to other maps?:p

Impressive work anyway; I'll most likely spend more time fiddling with HETMAN!

[Rydygier 1302]

Thanks. :)

A couple of markers or arrows showing where the action is supposed to happen on the map would greatly help.

On my "to do".

MARTA map markers should show current positions of yours and known enemy forces. Also in the diary should be present short sitrep with key sites pointing.

In any case I recommend latest beta.

- How hard would it be to port this beauty to other maps?

I designed this code to be very easy to port (should be very little handwork). However not tried yet - I'll wait with that until this version reach final version or close to it, to avoid simultanous development of many versions, which is annoying and generates risk of messing up things. Map must met some conditions too: must be big enough (Stratis seems too small) and contain numerous enough towns, cities, villages and such locations.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Rydygier