Open Conflict - Server Information

[Mirknir]

Server Updated to DCS/1.5.5.60338

In Masterscript: Skynet v3.5.3

 

Spitfire

 

• Added in Database
  
• Same cargo capacity as other WWII planes
  
  • 1 document slot
    
  • 1 cargo slot
    
  • Can carry explosive pack
    

   

 

In Map: Open Conflict Tuapse - v3.3.7

Free some slots

 

• All P51 @ GEL are now "On Ground" but still on the airport
  
• Krymsk now have 2 slots of each WWII planes instead of 3
  
• The advanced launching grounds [ALG] still have slots of each
  
• Some UH1 @ GEL are now "On Ground" but still on the airport
  

New Spifire slot

 

• At Gelendzhik, Krymsk for blue airports
  
• At Sochi for red airports
  
• At Blue and Red ALG
  
  • Not sure if they can cold start without ground power
    
  • Please tell me if they require HOT slots there like the Bf109
    

   

  [*]Radio ButtonA is setup on AWACS Freq 124

I don't own the Spitfire / I couldn't test any of this / Please report bugs

[PilotRyan]

Spitfires do not need hot starts! It appears as if the ground spawns work fine.

Edited December 17, 2016 by PilotRyan
Tested ground spawns (they work)

[Brett Sinclair]

IFF appears to be faulty on your server / in the current version of DCS:

I just took a Su-27 for a spin from Gudauta (red team!). Two enemy aircraft showed up on my display (arrow with open end, as usual), I shot both down. Two teamkills. Also, default radio was English with altitude readings in feet, as it usually is with the blue team on your server.

 

Best regards,

Brett

[bertOC]

Redfor AWACS talking english is a feature, not a bug. Never had any issues with IFF before, are you sure it wasn't your fault?

[Mirknir]

Redfor AWACS talking english is a feature, not a bug. Never had any issues with IFF before, are you sure it wasn't your fault?

 

Yea su27 will say enemy if you are seeing an aircraft thru IRST and the AWACS DL doesn't see it.

You have to switch your radar on to do a proper off request

[Brett Sinclair]

This might be a possible explanation. Thank you!

I never encountered it before, however.

 

Best regards,

Brett

[JDarksword]

Just trim it out NASA

[Mirknir]

This might be a possible explanation. Thank you!

I never encountered it before, however.

 

On the datalink screen, you can differentiate targets detected by your own instruments from the targets given by the AWACS.

 

If you only know a target from your instruments and you don't have the radar turned on, don't trust IFF because you are not interrogating the target and the AWACS is not doing it for you.

 

This case happens more in OC because the AWACS coverage is, by design, not that great.

 

From the manual, here is what it looks like:

[Mirknir]

Just trim it out NASA

 

Was the culprit a big bad F15C?

Should I decrease fuel level in AIM120Cs too? :lol:

[bertOC]

The culprit was a mirage and NASA not syncing with Skynet for about five minutes.

Once he synched that flaming ball of A10 lost it's wings on the clientside too.+

 

Foggy internet..

[bertOC]

Cmon Skynet, I've brought A10s way more damaged than this back to base!

 

[Mirknir]

Cmon Skynet, I've brought A10s way more damaged than this back to base!

 

Skynet is relying on DCS death events ; forward this to ED :music_whistling:

[StandingCow]

Is it possible the pilot got killed in that example?

[bertOC]

Nah, the only damaged piece was the CDU and maybe fuel tanks. Pilot more alive than ever..

[Mirknir]

What's next in Open Conflict?

 

Hello guys,

 

A lot of the past discussion have been centered about policing the server or removing the irritants that can happen on the server and that's ok.

 

However, I would like to start compiling some new ideas for Open Conflict.

 

Skynet masterscript might "soon" get a major overall and before considering this massive work, I would like to gather a bunch of ideas to add more gameplay.

 

So what new activities would you like to play in Open Conflict?

 

Of the top of my request list, here is some examples:

• Capture enemy bases and even better enemy airports
  
• Implement a warning system that will tell you when your bases are under attack
  
• Transport actual troops that will attack stuff
  
• Retrieve sensitive cargo / secret documents on enemy aircraft/objective wrecks (like the rescue but with cargo)
  
• Defuse explosive packs put by saboteur on your objective /convoy path (inverse of planting bombs)
  

 

Of course, a lot of my limitation comes from DCS but still, let's make it first a brainstorm and then see what we can do :lol:

[doodenkoff]

Is it possible to have ground elements engaging each other for AtoG and CAS to fly missions for? I mean actually have some blue troops and units engaging red troops and units that we can support?

[acdelta57]

Is it possible to have ground elements engaging each other for AtoG and CAS to fly missions for? I mean actually have some blue troops and units engaging red troops and units that we can support?

 

^^^^this!!!! +1

[NASA6]

[*]Transport actual troops that will attack stuff

 

+:thumbup: for this, but can you do it in a different way than Blue Flag, so :

 

-if you can make the troops count limited, that means lets say blue Farp has 3/3 troops and every transport helo can take one but these troops are gone from the farp and are now trackable so if one helo carrying troops crash land another helo has to go and pick up the troop from the crashed site.

ofcourse if a helo carrying troops get shot down we have to bring new troops from Krasnodar airfield.

so it would be, if pilot survives troop do too and if dies troops are gone.

 

-these troops are trackable with the F10 menu, so we drop them in a city we give them CAS and if we capture that city we have to land and transport them again to the next objective.

 

this would give teamwork alot more sense like protecting the helos carrying those troops because we know if one get shot down bringing new troops from krasnodar is a pain in the ass and take alot more time. (it is not just well respawn load troops and try again).

[acdelta57]

+:thumbup: for this, but can you do it in a different way than Blue Flag, so :

 

-if you can make the troops count limited, that means lets say blue Farp has 3/3 troops and every transport helo can take one but these troops are gone from the farp and are now trackable so if one helo carrying troops crash land another helo has to go and pick up the troop from the crashed site.

ofcourse if a helo carrying troops get shot down we have to bring new troops from Krasnodar airfield.

so it would be, if pilot survives troop do too and if dies troops are gone.

 

-these troops are trackable with the F10 menu, so we drop them in a city we give them CAS and if we capture that city we have to land and transport them again to the next objective.

 

this would give teamwork alot more sense like protecting the helos carrying those troops because we know if one get shot down bringing new troops from krasnodar is a pain in the ass and take alot more time. (it is not just well respawn load troops and try again).

 

+100!

[bertOC]

As an A10 junkie, I've always wondered if there could be more use for the predator drone that used to be in the game along with the AI Tu22.

 

The TAD, the A10s moving map system can see the predator along with F16 and hopefully player F18 in the future and share information.

 

I've always dreamed about a Predator drone that's still an enemy A-A target, but with a bit more use for the team it's on.

 

It would be seriously awesome to have a drone move around the conflict zone, targeting objectives and moving on once it's target is destroyed. A SPI could be supplied for A10's, and a laser would benefit everything able to carry GBU12s.

 

Seconding the CAS idea, maybe have a BTR along with soldiers move in on every 5th crashed pilot for example, with about 10mins of room.

[cosmicdoubloon]

Okay this is gonna be long so get comfy, grab a beer, and enjoy :)

 

TLDR: Repair/Respawn friendly objectives, spawnable Predator JTAC support, dynamic spec ops incursions/AI convoy ambushes, player objective reconnaissance/artillery striking

 

For Bert's predator idea I was thinking:

 

Maybe we can encourage bush piloting/transport by having an objective to deliver supplies to a forward base (in a similar manner to how its done currently) but on completion spawns a predator specific to the nearest objective. For example, if blufor deliver predator supplies to the listening post, a predator is spawned to be JTAC at the nearest obj. The predator can be killed (and teamkilled) still and if that happens, it can be respawned by redoing the supply mission. Predators are squishy and have no countermeasures, so the supplies needed should be pretty small since they will be killed easily.

 

I really like the idea of being able to HEAL friendly objectives. Say the SAM base takes a pounding from an SU25T (or an A10 with a very brave GBU-equipped f5... ;) ) but isn't destroyed, helicopters (or bush pilots!) can deliver supplies to the base which will respawn the killed units. I don't know if it would be possible to scale this too, so if the base has only lost one unit it only needs one/two supplies (depending on unit), but if there's only one unit left it will take a concerted effort to completely replenish the objective.

 

Tied into the above, respawning friendly objectives. If the friendly SAM base is killed early on then for the rest of the session that side is left very vulnerable to aggressive pushes by enemy fighters. I think (again, bush pilots/helicopters!) pilots should be able to do a delivery objective to respawn that friendly objective. It should be a big delivery to justify it, but being able to bring Tuapse/SAM bases back into the fray could be very exciting!

 

How about a reconnaissance feature? If certain planes/helos (maybe Gazelle, trainers, props, sabre/mig-15?) are close enough to an objective they can perform reconnaissance by staying in that vicinity for a set time (30 seconds/1 minute or something), at which point the location of the enemy units in the objective appear on the F10 map? or they could become marked with script smoke or similar.

If that could be done, recon could be dynamic, for example for every 20 seconds the pilot can stay in the vicinity a couple more units are exposed. At first its just one or two, but over time eventually an entire objective could be visible. Nerves of steel and a steady hand would be needed for the defended objectives, but the rewarded intel could be massive!

 

Tying into the recon idea, how about scripted artillery? If an objective has been fully reconned, the recon aircraft can call in 'artillery' (read: scripted proximity explosions 'a la' skynetflak for the safe zones) by doing an additional period of time in the recon state. This could be useful for objectives where there are only one or two well hidden units left (those damn spec ops incursions are notorious for one rifleman going on a hike miles from the original objective!).

 

Other ideas... having standard and dynamic spec ops incursions. The standard ones are like what we have now. APC + infantry + maybe the MANPADs. Dynamic ones have kinda been touched on by the others in the troop transport suggestions. Here's my thinking: Certain towns (listed in skynet for player convenience) can have troops delivered to them and set up new incursions. These will be similar to the standard ones (except maybe sans MANPADs, unmarked SAMs and all that... maybe replaced with a ZU23 emplacement? IRL they are easily slung under a helo) but will be on the route of the convoys, to act as ambushes for the convoy! That way we see AI vs AI action (so the CAS lovers will be happy) as well as additional light objectives (so the helo/light ground attacker/NASA with his S-24 Rockets have more to kill :lol: ).

If for arguments sake bluefor manage to set up a dynamic spec ops incursion, redfor will get a message warning of a new objective on the route of the convoy. The exact location shouldn't be given, but maybe the grid from the F10 map (not sure of the proper name, the one where a large square is designated like KJ42 or LM17) is given so they know the general area. This is then accessible in skynet as normal (could be like -amb1 for ambush one, which would then give the 4 character grid, current HP etc)

 

Thoughts on all of the above? Apologies for the essay!

Edited December 20, 2016 by cosmicdoubloon

[acdelta57]

I love your ideas cosmic! Matter of fact all the suggestions have been really good however i think mirknir is thinking about 1 thing specifically...more AI=BAD performance. I know he is capable of programming and scripting all those Wonderfull ideas, its just a matter of computer power i think at that point. So just pondering to myself thinking about the best ideas;

 

1. Cosmic your recon idea is brilliant! finally the L39 would have a purpose! And if by just making the units visible to the F10 map that would be great and wouldn't be a hit on the servers performance if i am thinking of it correctly. Or perhaps if that wasn't possible smoke could be (hypothetically popped at the targets for x amount of time while on station)

 

2. healing or repairing an objective. Now the transport idea is great, while brining supplies to the base is great maybe there could be something else to aid in the repair such as a rescued pilot=X amount of health points to objective?

 

3. Downed pilots. To fully incorporate medic helos, and support helos at the same time I would love to see some kind of trigger event when the choppers get within a certain range. Perhaps an alternating spawning of enemy units attempting to shoot down the rescue attempt (AI perf hit i know, but maybe it wouldn't be too bad if kept small)

For example...

Medic helo and mi8 approaching downed pilot, he pops smoke at 3nm, maybe at the same time a small enemy group spawns at 4nm from the pilot with a track to its location. This spawning could be several trucks with zu23 or 4-5 enemy soldiers maybe a single manpad etc so this forces the slick helo to get in and get out fast while requiring support to defend him on the pickup. I also think for non hover pickups the pilot should be required to be on the ground for 10-15 seconds to add to the pucker factor lol

 

This light attack force would be a dynamic situation every single time and could be fun for having a recon plane (like comics idea) get the coordinates from a helo and fly over there so he could spawn and begin eliminating the light ground vehicles or whatever it may be.

 

I would like to see the pilot extract have more of an impact on the servers scoring/team balance. I feel like its a feasible idea that can add a dynamic that will be different for every player every time. To further accomplish this a pilot rescue could maybe even insta-spawn friendly cap--

 

******To add to the wishlist* this final idea, perhaps if only 1 thing was implemented i would like to see this****

Now continuing with the same idea for rescue, lets talk capture. Have the same scripting with enemy units etc but when a pilot is captured that will *unlock* an enemy base for capturing. (there could be a skynet message "DustOff captured Nasa6, under torture and water boarding he revealed an enemy base that is now available for capture, Sochi Adler" etc :) ) that would change the gameplay to a very dynamic round by round play style that is never the same.

Edited December 20, 2016 by acdelta57

[Mirknir]

Thanks for all the awesome ideas ; keep them coming!

 

I will respond to them a bit later more in details.

 

But I wanted to add questions about the way Skynet communicate with the players.

Almost every features end up needing to communicate something with the player whether it's by pushing the information on the player (notification popup) or having the player query the information (chat/radio commands).

 

I would like to improve the communication with the players to be able to add more features.

I was thinking of adding a global notification system that will give information to the players and would spam on different channels that you register too and request information from.

 

A bit like now but more global....

 

The information could be spammed to you in BRA calls in your unit system.

The message would be text only though ; I don't think I can generate audio.

The notification system would be tied into the objective but also a scripted-by-me AWACS or EWRS or TCAS and also what happens to players.

 

The channels / information could be:

 

• A2A Channel
  
  • AI CAP spawning
    
  • Friendly objective under air attack
    
  • Friendly player under air attack
    
  • Enemy player spotted
    
  • ....
    

   

  [*]A2G Channel

  • Ground objective spawning
    
  • Enemy convoy progress report
    
  • Friendly objective underground attack
    
  • Air enemy closing
    
  • ....
    

   

 

• Rescue and Transport
  
  • Downed Pilot
    
  • Captured Pilots
    
  • Downed Wreck to loot
    
  • ....
    

   

 

Since I would control almost all aspects of this system, I could do more stuff like hide MEDIC or some planes from AWACS message, maybe do a Fog Of War on notification like without a drone nearby, you don't get convoy progress or information, no objective detailed report until a player comes nearby, automatic help request after Xmin of player being engaged, without com tower a objective could not report its status....

 

It's a very rough and kind of crazy idea but I think it could help solidify the way Skynet and players interacts.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Mirknir

[JDarksword]

You can play a .ogg track on a radio channel (Chuck has a guide on it somewhere) but it can't be hot swapped, so you'd have to set several trigger events that would activate one of the sound files that applies. It also means that the data would be limited as you'd only be able to mention predefinables (i.e. Sochi Adler has been captured) and not other things (e.g. NASA6 crashed in conflict zone).

[Junglie]

Awesome ideas guys +1 all of these :thumbup: