eggbeast 3673 Posted September 26, 2015 Operation Herrick A multiplayer co-op mission for Arma 2:OA. ok so I had a massive brainwave tabbing in the New Forest sunshine this week... Aim we spend so much time trying to create realistic men, weapons aircraft and vehicles as well as other equipment for Arma, but to date I at least haven't spent much time away from sandbox ops like Evolution. so, the challenge I have set myself, and any team members willing to fry their brains developing this, is to create an authentic MP co-op mission that simulates real ops in Helmand, Afghanistan. I figured a recreation of some of the routine tasks in Op Herrick could be pretty interesting to play. So I thought I'd start laying out my thoughts so others can chip in to help if they want to. it's also useful to do this up front before we get deep in the coding bunker and discover someone already did this lol. Which Islands? Now I'm not too bothered aboutchoice of island, i will look throug hthe published ones but Takistan should be fine to start, unless there's a compelling suggestion from someone? i.e. a Helmand or similar map available. Mods BAFX/Rangemaster would be the way to go, as we have developed that mod pack to simulate some real british kit. obviously limiting it's use will be key to maintaining realism. no more big-ass airfields full of test aircraft... just items released for use per task. Mission structure So I'm thinking of having up to 20 zones in a database, and 10 will be active for each run-through of the mission, to change it up each time you re-start. To win, you need to complete key security, stabilisation and infrastructure projects for each zone. During mission play AI Taliban fighters will fight to destablise ISAF operations, and attach ANA and ISAF forces in order to ultimately recapture a zone. The zones marker will change from Red to Orange to Green as you make progress in the area. At any time all 10 zones will be dynamically changing. I am planning to learn (finally) FSM coding for this one... It will only be for Arma 2 and Takistan initially but I do plan to make it portable. So here's what I wrote down so far: Mission Development Notes 10 zones active of 20 in database. Each has different (random) objectives to secure the DC and covert the population from Taliban to ANA/ ISAF supporters. Other missions spawn randomly. Marker system for towns indicate the % support for ISAF from -100 to +100. Building facilities and suppressing Taliban operations increases ISAF support (increases must be gained by holding a regular Shura with the elders. ISAF is in 4 squads: QRF (Quick reaction force) (wmik, wolf, jackal) Pathfinders/SF (wmik, FAV, ATV) Armour (scimitar, spartan, scorpion, warrior, bulldog, mastiff, ridgeback) Air (merlin, Chinook, lynx, apache, harrier, tornado, F16, A10, predator) Priority for missions: Medevac TIC (troops in contact) – either Air Support or QRF (Quick reaction force) RIP (Reinforce in Place) a DC or FOB HQ Tasks QRFOverwatch road / destroy Taliban traffic Protect medevac protect vehicle recovery Patrol green zone Destroy Taliban stronghold Reinforce a DC under attack Reinforce FOB under attack HQ Tasks PF (Pathfinder)SCUD hunt cave / depot/ compound destruction capture or kill HVT directing artillery/drone/air onto enemy forces HQ Tasks ARMOURProtect ANA road checkpoints Patrol green zone Escort convoy Destroy a Taliban stronghold HQ Tasks AIRMedevac Support TIC Protect QRF/ ARMOUR Ops Patrol operations Town TasksUp-arm the DC Build FOB Shura - defend and complete Rebuild school Destroy a Taliban stronghold Clear IED’s Clear legacy minefields Provide medical attention for civilians Support will be managed through a module of different AI forces that may or may not be available when you call for it. This would include: FARP creation FOB creation Air support (Fast or loiter) Armor support Resupply Medevac Vehicle recovery Minefield / IED zone clearance Completion of each task in or near an active zone will add a percentage of population support to ISAF for that zone. Troops travelling overland will be randomly engaged by enemy forces, which can lead to more side-missions like casevac, vehicle recovery or denial etc) I'm planning to make the whole thing run simultaneously so if you get shot down, you can call for extraction, and if there's a player in the AIR group he will get a priority task to do that, meanwhile the Terrys will deploy hunter groups after the pilot. if no Air group player then an AI bird will do it.I like the idea of having to talk to the civs and make them feel secure. so if your shura gets bounced you need to sort it out quickly before you lose too much cred, etc I may make use of the dynamic databse system developed at Elite Warriors, will need to talk to them about that.. This would make the mission run like dayZ with permanent storage of your position, kit, health etc during each run. thoughts? any suggestions about code/ subroutines/ trigger management etc most welcome, as optimisation will be key. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Col_Trautman 1 Posted October 23, 2015 Hi, I really like the idea of this mission. For me I would like it to be SP compatible too; as I am still working with CO 1.63 and never did update the multiplayer with STEAM as my bandwidth was so bad it couldn't handle the multiplayer aspect. I hope the mission continues to progress. I look forward to trying it out. :) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggbeast 3673 Posted November 10, 2015 thanks man - i'm just finishing up 3 aircraft and a couple of tanks at the moment. meanwhile am making lots of notes and reading a lot of books from the op. will try to build a skeleton for the mission before xmas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dalber24 122 Posted November 10, 2015 Hi, for the island maybe you could use Gulf of Aqaba. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggbeast 3673 Posted November 11, 2015 thanks for suggestions. we play on the gulf of aqaba a lot. it's basically Jordan, Israel and a bit of Sinai (Egypt) and quite inappropriate for the Afghan conflict, as it's obviously coastal, modernised and a recognisable piece of real world space that isn't anywhere near Afghanistan. I was thinking we might check out FATA (federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan) or Clafghan (an old map we played a lot in the past) or something else - but to begin we can build the mission in Takistan then it's a one-day job to port to another map. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dalber24 122 Posted November 12, 2015 thanks for suggestions. we play on the gulf of aqaba a lot. it's basically Jordan, Israel and a bit of Sinai (Egypt) and quite inappropriate for the Afghan conflict, as it's obviously coastal, modernised and a recognisable piece of real world space that isn't anywhere near Afghanistan. I was thinking we might check out FATA (federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan) or Clafghan (an old map we played a lot in the past) or something else - but to begin we can build the mission in Takistan then it's a one-day job to port to another map. Yes, you're absolutely right, I do not even think, I just suggested it because I like the island. F.A.T.A - Known issues: Originally the map was created for combat PVP, So the AI and some BIS modules like Civilians or similar may not work fine, no intention of working in these areas. Considering this problem in FATA, it may be convenient to use Clafghan. No matter which island do this mission, I wait patiently to play it THX! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
