DD_Friar Posted April 5, 2024 Posted April 5, 2024 (edited) Salute I have just created what I think is a first for DCS (if you know different please let me know). Thanks to the tools available in the excellent DML Tool Box by @cfrag, I have created a mission that I will be hosting for the first time this evening (UK time 20:00BST GMT+1) as a public beta test. I have tested as much as I can but need to open it up to proper iron out the wrinkles. Therefore please be patient with me, if you find issues with game-play (spawns need moving, too many tanks, not enough tanks of different types etc), let me know and I will do all I can with the units and game engine that is available to us sort it out. The mission I have created is called "DCS Advance & Secure" and replicates as best I can the excellent scenario as played out in IL2 Tank Crew. I first came to DCS looking for a tank alternative to IL2 when it looked like IL2 was stagnating and said that I was just going to buy Combined Arms and the WWII asset pack only (year and a bit later I own multiple planes and helicopters and maps ) SERVER NAME DD_Friar DangerDogz DCS Advance and Secure THE SCENARIO The scenario is WWII tanks on the Normandy map (see below). There are no planes, just tanks. For those of you who are not familiar with the "Advance and Secure" concept the mission is the two sides A(Allies blue Axis red) start at either end of the map and push to capture all of the flag points along the route. As a point is captured new additional spawn points are created in the vicinity of the town. If the town was previously held by the enemy their spawn points are removed, thus pushing them back to their last held location for spawn points. The first team to capture all of the 4 flag points wins the mission. DIFFICULTY SETTINGS No F2 external views, so no "god views" (although the default tank external view is enabled), No in game icons, own side only on the F10 map. The server is set for a maximum of 16 a side. If this server proves popular I will look to enlarge this somehow.) It will not be running 24/7 at the moment and I will advertise when it it is going to be available, I hope it will become a regular thing if it proves to be popular. I do not have any Teamspeak or Discord available for this test and will have this forum thread open in case anyone has any issues. I will hope to get something sorted again if this site proves popular as it will be good to talk to fellow "tankers". GAME PLAY A flag is "captured" by driving into a zone 30m deep around the flag (flag picture below). When captured the fact will be recorded in a global message and the score updated. The zone will also change colour from neutral to either Blue or Red on the F10 map. This will then enable two spawn points located near by. If the enemy previously held the point their spawn points will be removed. (The example in the picture is not a true location. It was moved closer just for the picture). Only 1 tank is required to capture a zone and does not have to stay in the zone to retain ownership. If there is an enemy tank in the zone when you enter the zone, it will be declared under contention and go neutral. Positions for the units are random at each spawn point generation. Totals are renewed each time. If you are in the friendly spawn zone when the flag changes hands you will be removed from the tank. You will then have to re-spawn at one of your other locations. Rearming is available within the spawn zone so if you run out of ammo in the battle you can retreat from the front line back to the zone. It is not my intention for players to start issuing commands to the unoccupied tanks, although there is nothing I can about it as the only way for players to occupy a tank is to have the "Tactical Commander" role, so please do not feel tempted just because you can. Friendly kills WILL be monitored. You will have 1 chance, accidents do happen in war after all, but 2 or more you will get kicked form the tank. EQUIPMENT Totals at each spawn point Allied - Sherman x 10 / Firefly x 5 / Churchill x 5 / Cromwell x 5 / Greyhound x 3 / M4 Half-track x 3 Axis - Pnzr 4 x 15 / Tiger 1 x 6 / Stug IV x5 / Kdf 251 x 3 / Puma x3 MISCELLANEOUS I would suggest when driving around, if you have never used Combined Arms before at this level you treat all obstacles with caution until you have tested it for yourself if you can drive through it. For example you CAN go through wooden railed fences (they seem to have a damage model so other players will know you have passed through there) but some hedgerows will stop you dead, I think they are made with concrete reinforced with iron bars (but with no damage to the tank thankfully), others you can drive through with no problem. Thankfully this is consistent by type, i.e. if you find a style that you can drive through this will be global across the map. Please do not moan at me if one tank proves to be more potent than any others, if we find that I will try and balance the mission out in future. We have what we have. Lets hope this server if it proves popular will show ED that Combined Arms does have a value for future development. I hope to see you in my gun sight later (and not the other way round ) later on this evening. DD_Friar Edited April 5, 2024 by DD_Friar 5 Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
DD_Friar Posted April 5, 2024 Author Posted April 5, 2024 bump Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
352ndDeacon Posted April 5, 2024 Posted April 5, 2024 Sounds great. I hope to have a few members of the 352nd with me today. 1
DD_Friar Posted April 5, 2024 Author Posted April 5, 2024 DML is NOT a mod by the way - Other than WWII asset pack, Combined Arms and the Normandy map, nothing else is required. Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
DD_Friar Posted April 5, 2024 Author Posted April 5, 2024 FRIDAY 5TH APRIL- SERVER NOW UP Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
DD_Friar Posted April 6, 2024 Author Posted April 6, 2024 First session completed. Thanks to the guys that showed up to help test. Thank you for the kind comments about how much you think this scenario has such great potential. What did I learn? Driving around the Normandy map is stunning. The detail in the countryside is amazing and the details in the towns and villages can never be appreciated from the air. My game logic worked well with everything doing what it should. Player tank against AI / unoccupied tank is very satisfying - they go boom! Unfortunately, player tank v player tank is a slug-fest, with it taking multiple shells for any damage and final destruction to take place. I think I am going to have to produce benchmarks to see if this scenario is really viable or not. It will not work, for example for a player in a Tiger 1 to expend 20 shells against a Churchill If AI tanks are taken out of the "Hold" state in ROE they are capable of miracles (see picture below). The smoke column (top left) is from a target the tank in the lower right hand corner hit! Will I be putting the server back up? Not just yet, not until I can evidence the killing power of all the player tanks against each other. If I do run it back up I think players will get frustrated. Perhaps something for ED Combined Arms Dev team to look at when they give it some love as mentioned previously. 3 Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
352ndDeacon Posted April 6, 2024 Posted April 6, 2024 I was one of the guys that showed up to test this mission for DDFriar. All I can say is, WOW!!! The potential for this is spectacular as is the scenery while driving around the Normandy map. My members have used the Advance and Secure missions in IL2 and because of the scenery excellence in DCS Normandy map, this is much better. DDFriar has done a phenomenal job making this initial mission and while I’m still inexperienced in using the tanks in DCS it didn’t reduce my enjoyment of this first mission. Congrats, DDFriar. Well done. My hat is off to you for your expertise in mission making. 1
DD_Friar Posted June 30, 2024 Author Posted June 30, 2024 This has been a bit of a dormant project but I am hoping to re-visit once I have seen what the latest work on AI in CA does. 2 Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
DD_Friar Posted April 5 Author Posted April 5 (edited) I have just recently re-visited this with a new scenario and updated mission tools using the excellent DML Tool box created by @cfrag. Unfortunately I have come up against an issue where the method I use to generate/spawn in tanks results in them having no engine sound when played in a multiplayer environment. Units placed directly in the mission editor are Ok (but does not work for the requirement of multiple re-spawns), but units created via a script do not. Until an answer/fix can be found for this, my project has stalled again I am afraid. Edited April 5 by DD_Friar 1 Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
-Cipher- Posted April 5 Posted April 5 Hi Thank you for your effort to make something new, I am super excited to participate in it... regarding your issue, I had the same problem when I had UH-60 and A-4 mod installed, some mods make you not hear the tank engine. make sure your saved games is clean from mods and try again, thanks. Also I would like to offer my assistance with your project since I really want pvp ground battles get alive. Thanks 1 CPU :Intel® Core i5-13600KF | GPU :ASUS RTX 4070 Super OC |RAM : Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32 GB | SSD 500GB & 1TB Samsung | Flight gear : T.16000 FCS Flight Pack | MB : ASUS Z790P Wish-list : F-117 Nighthawk | F-14D Super Tomcat | F-111 Aardvark | P-38M Lightning
DD_Friar Posted April 5 Author Posted April 5 @-Cipher- - I am aware of the sound issue - I found the solution and started a thread telling people how to solve it! Its not that that is causing my problem. I will PM you the mission to see if you get the same problem, you may have someone you can speak to about it. 1 Visit the Dangerdogz at www.dangerdogz.com. We are a group based on having fun (no command structure, no expectations of attendance, no formal skills required, that is not to say we can not get serious for special events, of which we have many). We play DCS and IL2 GBS. We have two groups one based in North America / Canada and one UK / Europe. Come check us out.
hannibal Posted April 14 Posted April 14 (edited) This sounds exciting .. I have to look at mapping out my controls for land vehicles What's the most popular armor to drive? Edited April 14 by hannibal find me on steam! username: Hannibal_A101A http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197969447179
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