Your idea for enemy AI ranks is great, but rather than being spoon fed the info could you incorporate into the uniforms in some way? so you have to do some work and look for the give away rank insignia.

Will higher rank AI's effect morale? ie:- If a squad's sergent does down the rest of the squad would flee but if the sergents on his feet he can keep the squad rallied round him?




Edit:- I thought JA:BiA would be the death of 7.62 but it looks like it's going to run and run.

@Iceshade
Would you care to explain your comment a bit more? If you are going to insult someone, don't be vague about it:-P:grin:

@Tozmeister
That's just the thing, the gov, rebels and Palinero army all have their rank on epaulets. Knowing which is which, and the camera work involved looking at them closely, will most likely drive most player insane. Having their rank in the tag makes much more sense since the info is there already, it's about making the game more fun to play.

Since I have only done some initial testing on the AI I can't say for sure how they will react and how their morale will affect gameplay. The thing I said about their rank being of importance to the player was that a higher rank means higher skill and attribute stats. As I said, I've only done some initial testing, but the game is much more fun(read: harder) since the enemies react better and some of them are quite deadly if left alive for too long.

Just a jab in general.

"But we have an understanding about these things, their content is to be released in their mod first, so we would have to wait until the next version of HLA."

I don't understand this. They have no people to persuade to play their mod with cool gadgets and advertise their mod with "We have feature X! This other mod doesn't! Exclusive features!". The fanbase is too small for that. It's better to just share resources and make every mod as good as possible. Without mods, this game would have been really dead. It's already desolate. I don't understand the competition, or pride.

It's just the same with any mod in any game. In ArmA2, a certain guy who made really good models and vehicles did not want to share them with another really big popular mod, because he saw them as competition. It's just baffling. If all mod makers would just cooperate and share resources, the game the mods were made for would just live longer and be better overall.

But we do share freely, and I understand why a guy working hard making something for HLA would want it to be available in it before anywhere else. And by doing so, making sure it works as it should before anyone else starts messing with it.

And BSM isn't really in competition with HLA(BSM is the quirky little brother:-)), and those who can usually play both since they offer a wide variety of additions and gameplay. This might change once BSM 2.0 is released and translated to Russian tho, at least then the number of players playing BSM might get closer to the number playing HLA, mostly due to the long periods between HLA releases.

And for the record, BSM wouldn't still be developed hadn't it been for the support we have gotten from the guys behind HLA. They have spent many, many hours educating me on how to mod the game. Learning the language of the source code was a very steep hill for me since I had no prior skills in programming, Deadhead's patience when teaching me was a monster task.

So I guess from the outside it might look like there isn't much communication between us, but that's wrong. And just because there is little activity in some of the forums doesn't mean there are noone playing the game. There are still thousands of people playing the game, and that number seems to keep growing steadily.

Detectable shipments=ambush ready...!
 

R@S,

Don't let an ounce of stress form on your brow over not being able to supply me with the default textures. You're plate is already substantially full. But if you happen to be able to get it to a state that you're happy with, don't hesitate to reach me.

That said, let me see if I can convince you to add even more to your plate! Yes indeed, I'm a generous guy, aren't I? ;)

I'm not keen on the idea of having the equipment orders shipped to just one centralized point. It's just seems too "gamey" to me.

But you could come up with a semi-viable back story that takes away the sense of it being "gamey." Perhaps that the region is such an unstable cauldron that arms restrictions are exceptionally tight, and that the deepest penetration that the suppliers can get "highly specialized" orders in is to one port, which is a neutral location, and one that is, sadly, routinely patrolled by potential combatants from every faction, some of whom are plain clothes agents with sly eyes and twitchy fingers... Man, I like the sounds of that! Alright, so it might work and not feel gamey... Another way to jab the Player in the eye for making special orders is that the order is randomly placed at the location, forcing him to have to sneak and skulk about checking out one shipping container and crate after another in the hopes that he finds his order sooner than later... Yeah, the more I talk, the more I like listening to myself! Imagine that! My wife wouldn't be surprised at all. :grin:


Another structure that you could establish seems a good deal more plausible to me than the above, and that's whenever an order arrives, there's a 15% chance of enemy plain clothes agents patrolling the area, as well as a 25% chance of enemy bounty hunters/mercs being entrenched in a sweet ambush position or two (randomly determined, of course!). These enemies would be "active" immediately upon the Player's spawning into the city/town. The items would ship to whatever locale one ordered them from, whether it be from a bar or a black market dealer. One could up the believability factor by reducing the odds of an ambush by 5-10% by ordering one's weapons through the black market, but as I mentioned before, this is a premium means of purchasing the products. Who knows, maybe the Player could be allowed the option of paying extra just to reduce the odds of his shipment being detected and used as a trap against him and his squadmates.

If you want to get really nasty with the "detected shipment" you could also include a 50% chance that by the time the Player gets there, the weapons have been removed from the area and taken to another city/town! Ohhhhh man, that would suck! By searching the corpses, the Player would find out where the location was, but would have to infiltrate the unfriendly area and search the trucks/crates/cargo containers in which his shipment was randomly placed.

I wouldn't place it too far way, at most, perhaps 1-3 locations away from the original delivery point. Again, randomly determined (the further away the shipment's been redirected to, the more time the enemy had in securing it before the Player arrived).

What I also like about the "detectable shipment" scenario is that it really increases the level of uncertainty. Suspense, even without direct action, can really get the adrenaline pumping in a good way.

Which causes me to wonder: is it possible to have plain clothes agents on a map without having their weapons already in hand? Talk about an immediate attention getter! It would be neat if the AI of undercover agents could be written so that they don't take immediate action for 3-7 minutes, using that time to get into position to do a sudden attack from the rear.

All of the above could also be balanced out by adjusting the likelihood of detection based on the Player's level and just how hated he is by opposing parties. The more of a thorn he is, and the more effective he becomes, the more resources are devoted to ambushing him where it's likely he's going to be, such as picking up a shipment of equipment. I would probably cap the maximum level of detectability at 45-50%, because, once again, ambiguity is exciting too.






It's hard for me to not imagine that with the new rank-based AI that you're working on that morale wouldn't be affected by whomever is killed. That exists in the title to a limited degree already, doesn't it? It sure seems like it to me, and makes perfect sense. If that could be increased even more, then more power to you. I also think that it's a good idea to include the target's rank in its dog tags. Yes, it's more believable to have to zoom in to search for the rank on the epaulets, but it's also a chore (like having to manually mix up one's ammo for magazines, but I'm not a stubborn bugger so I won't say another word about how annoying and time consuming such "features" are), so, to speed up gameplay and increase the "fun" factor, presenting a more simplified solution seems perfectly fine to me.


Having contributed to many mods over the years, I genuinely sympathize with badly wanting cool features that another modding team is working on, but I also totally understand why they'd want said features to appear in their own creation first. It's a matter of pride, and, of course, creator's choice. If there were a more formal "merging" of the two mods into one enormous supermod, then I'd expect the sharing to be more open, but then the circumstances are very different from what they are now.


I have a feeling that if the producers of Back in Action don't make some substantial allowances for deep modding, that a good deal of those frustrated players will be much more willing to finally come 7.62's way. It's been AGES since a title has adequately come close to inheriting Jagged Alliance 2's mantle, and the community rightfully devoted to that title are quite reasonably frustrated.

Turn play or not, there's nothing like 7.62+BSM's gunplay. And I routinely sing its praises wherever I go. If BiA ends up being another nosedive into the ground for this genre, then I'm completely confident that 7.62's and BSM's numbers will grow. And deservedly so.

The work is terrific, and deserves praise, even if due to engine limitations, it'll always be a "diamond in the rough."



Before I forget, R@S, could you alter the main BSM screen so that it also displays the current version number? Yes, I know that one could check the Read Me, but I'm a "proactively" minded kind of guy, and its display would certainly eliminate any future confusion about what version a person is/isn't playing.

Also, I advise including a Read Me in the very first compressed file with a brief description of how to install the mod (I'd just include the text from the very first post). This is in case anyone passes the files along to anyone else who isn't acquainted with this thread, and also in case it's ever offered up for download through another site.



Have a Great Weekend, All ! :)

Not sure but...
 

When I try and download the Blue Sun Mod parts listed at the starting of this thread, I get to the Mediafire site and hit the download button I get A URL:Mal warning from my Avast and from Malwarebytes programs which blocks the actual web site address containing the files.

Now I have in the past disregarded this same type warning only to end up with a redirection virus or other nasty thing that is a pain in the butt to get rid of. Will someone please check out the actual site that is holding the files or re-upload them to a different site or location and or CHECK them for a virus. I have downloaded from Mediafire before without this kind of warning as well as other files I have downloaded today from other sites with no problems. My sons computer did the exact same thing with the warnings when I thought it might just be my machine and was going to have him download the files.

@Kyle
The ordering script is already done, but making additions and changes is easy. The problem is time, I have a few other things that needs my attention, like to total revamp of all the shop inventories.

But this is how it works at this moment:
You'll get some dialog options of what types of items you want to order, weapons, clips and ammo boxes, armor and weapon attachments. Once one is selected, you'll get a list of what is available depending on your current CGL. Items will appear 1 CGL earlier than in most shops.

Once you click on an item it will get added to your shopping cart, and once you have browsed and selected the items you want, you go to the check-out counter. There you'll see all ordered items, the total price and the time it takes to deliver. Here you can also removed any items from the list, and you'll get a warning if you don't have enough money to complete the purchase. Due to engine limitations I have limited it to 3 simultaneous orders at any given time, but if you have 3 orders pending, the second the first order arrives you'll be able to place another one.

Once the order arrives it will be added to your personal storage at the bartenders. This is a shared storage space available at any bartender at any city, so all you would have to do to pick up your order is by going to the nearest city that has a bar. But as I mentioned earlier, I would like to add something negative to this, so I have been toying with the idea to add the shipment to the player safe at the Player Base instead. That would mean that the player would have to have the base under control, and having something shipped to your door step is something that happens every day in the real world.

@Headshot
I suspect the warning you get is related to the new "offensive" pop-up window mediafire has implemented. I don't think (and really hope) that it would do anything harmful to your system. As for the files themselves, I have checked them with Comodo and ClamWin and no haven't found anything wrong. You will get a warning once you run the BlueSunMod.exe, but the code injection is part of the fixed exe and nothing to be alarmed about, just add it to your exception list.

Consequences of regional destabilization...
 

Out of the concepts that you've presented, I like this shipment-structure the best. And it would be punitive, having to force the Player to travel all the way home in order to get the delivered goods.

Maybe you could still work in ambushes tied to shipment-detection as I mentioned above, although they would now have to happen along the potential travel routes to the Player's base instead of being setup at the city/town where the gear was originally ordered.



Under normal circumstances, I completely agree with you on this, however, the reason why I proposed what I did was due to the highly unstable circumstances that naturally befall a region caught in the grips of terror-inducing war. The entire region is highly dysfunctional, the postal system is barely operational (think about all of the "delivery" type missions the Player is asked to carry out in the game due to it not being trustworthy and for being inefficient), and foreign imperialist powers (and organized crime too) have their filthy and greedy hands into everything.

I feel that what I proposed reflects this, and furthermore, makes it highly personal. While every RPG (tactical or not) has "postman missions" in them, few game producers make them impact the Player's direct interests; the item/message mostly belongs to somebody else. It's a given, of course, that all of these postal-missions force the Player to put his life at risk, but far too few of them are wrapped directly around the Player's own desires. What I propose does. The awful hook of it is that the threat of one's shipments being discovered is always there. So it's not just a "one time" potential threat set against one's own interests, instead, it's chronic.

If such a system could be setup, it probably wouldn't be too much work to establish "exclusive" delivery lines/points of extravagant equipment to the Player, but that's only if he's willing to work with agents from MI6/SIS, OGA/CIA, SVR (Russia's foreign intelligence agency), and the like. Dancing with the devil has its advantages and most certainly its disadvantages.

It's too bad that what I'm proposing here is too complicated to implement, as I strongly feel that it would add a lot to the game, simultaneously touching the Player's wishes much more concretely while also constricting him into a deeper sense of the awful nature of operating in a hostile region.

The english version of "Marauder - Man of Prey" is released and there is a lot of extra maps (~10 + 5 variants). It's possible to import them ?

Here is the list of maps :

avtaikin.azp
avtaikin_geom.mesh
avtaikin_grass.mesh
avtaikin_phys.mesh
Bazaar.azp
Bazaar_geom.mesh
Bazaar_grass.mesh
Bazaar_phys.mesh
dk.azp
DK_cut.azp
DK_cut_geom.mesh
dk_cut_grass.mesh
DK_cut_phys.mesh
dk_geom.mesh
dk_grass.mesh
dk_phys.mesh
final.azp
Final_cut.azp
Final_cut_geom.mesh
final_cut_grass.mesh
Final_cut_phys.mesh
final_geom.mesh
final_grass.mesh
final_phys.mesh
home1.azp
home1_geom.mesh
home1_grass.mesh
home1_phys.mesh
home2.azp
home2_geom.mesh
home2_grass.mesh
home2_phys.mesh
Home3.azp
Home3_geom.mesh
Home3_grass.mesh
Home3_phys.mesh
menu.azp
menu_geom.mesh
menu_grass.mesh
menu_phys.mesh
MILITARYBASE.azp
MILITARYBASE_geom.mesh
MILITARYBASE_grass.mesh
MILITARYBASE_phys.mesh
Pentagon.azp
PENTAGON_CUT.azp
PENTAGON_CUT_geom.mesh
Pentagon_cut_grass.mesh
PENTAGON_CUT_phys.mesh
Pentagon_geom.mesh
Pentagon_grass.mesh
Pentagon_phys.mesh
rreserve2.azp
rreserve2_geom.mesh
rreserve2_grass.mesh
rreserve2_phys.mesh
ruins_cut.azp
ruins_cut_geom.mesh
ruins_cut_grass.mesh
ruins_cut_phys.mesh
ruins_night.azp
ruins_night_geom.mesh
ruins_night_grass.mesh
ruins_night_phys.mesh
Rusreserve1.azp
Rusreserve1_geom.mesh
Rusreserve1_grass.mesh
Rusreserve1_phys.mesh
rvsn1.azp
rvsn1_geom.mesh
rvsn1_grass.mesh
rvsn1_phys.mesh
Rvsn2.azp
Rvsn2_geom.mesh
Rvsn2_grass.mesh
Rvsn2_phys.mesh

I know that this question is off topic, but where did u find Marauder - Man of Prey, with english translation? Thanks