Is There A Way....

[Beebop]

I making a POW Camp Liberation mission.   Sort of a 'Von Ryan's Express' idea.

 

I want to do two things;

A. Have it so if the player destroys a POW Internee's Building they get negative ("shot at friendly"?) points/message.

     I'm thinking that if I put say, vehicles Entity Linked as Allied, that should give the negative points/'shot at...' message. 

Question: Would German Defenses fire at them because they use "the Force" and could see through the buildings or would being hidden inside of the building shield them from prying enemy eyes?

 

B.  A POW train.  Loco, Tender, Passenger (guards car) and AAA platform German,  boxcars in the middle Allied.

Question:  Is this even possible as the loco is Entity Linked 'German' so all added carriages would be German as well?  If it was a static train I could assign different 'sides' to individual cars but would the AA car and any other German defenses fire at the Allied cars?

 

Just trying to think outside the box.  BTW, I'm using the Kuban map as a stand in for Italy because it has those Italian-like mountains.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by Beebop

[IckyATLAS]

Its easier than that. You can make the building block a linked one and set it with the country as Germany so that there is no risk the defense firing on the building. Then you can use the message event  link OnKilled, OnDamaged, etc.. using the damage threshold value to check if the building has been hit. I would advise to link the message event to a Trigger Counter MCU as you may have multiple times the event link firing. I use this technique on cities carpet bombing missions. In this way I see where the bombs have fallen on the city and start large fire and smoke effects if the buildings of a city block are destroyed.

[Beebop]

UPDATE:

You sure sharpen up your air-to-ground gunnery skills when aiming precisely at enemy targets trying not to cause collateral damage.

 

* I found out that if I put Linked Entity Allied inside of the POW barracks the German defenses don't fire at them.  Good.

* If you destroy one of those buildings with an Allied LE in it you get the "...fired on friendly" message.  Like in '1946' bullets alone won't damage a building unless you set a ridiculously low durability value.  (too bad you can't set Durability values on ships so you could destroy an "ammo ship" with say, 20mm cannon like they sometimes did IRL.)

* I found out that no matter how many enemy targets you take out, if you "fire on friendly" your point total is "0".  I find that satisfactory.  After all, what's the point of destroying your target if you take your own troops out with it?

 

@ickyATLAS,  so what would I link to/from the OnKilled, OnDamaged, etc MCU's? 

I am too new to the ME to fully understand all the MCU's and how to use them.  I will read up on the one's you mentioned as see if I can incorporate them into this and future missions.  Giving messages like "You killed Allied POW's! would be interesting.  I do know how to basically set up this feature.  I'd just need to incorporate it with these MCU's.  thanks for the tip(s).

 

 

[jollyjack]

Sideliner:

 

Is there a way to change-edit and eventually ad new versions of buildings, cars or train wagons. Some templates available?

I was curious if you can mark wagons in a Gerry train containing Red Cross, stolen artworks, or POW transport.

 

Is it also possible to add humans to a POW camp? Some MOD maybe?

 

I don't have TC, but also would like to rob a bank with a tank ... Kelly's Heroes comes to mind. There's a Sherman and a Tiger in that Zoo:

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by jollyjack

[Sketch]

Yes, you can switch vehicle type entities around...  (see what I have selected in the image)

 

 

Here an example:

 

 

 

When an allied player enters my checkzone, I delete the Opel Blitz, and replace it with a Medical Blitz. The Medical Blitz is 'not enabled' by default, and gets enabled via the Spawner. So the players only see the Opel Blitz initially and will only see the Medical Blitz when the checkzone fires. (And normally, I stack both vehicles on top of each other, so they'll disappear and reappear in exactly the same spot, but I didn't do that for the image so you can see how I'm doing it.)

 

SwitchVehicle.zip <-- the example group

 

 

There are some entities that have random humans near them. I don't know the list off the top of my head. Maybe someone else can help with that question.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Sketch

[Beebop]

39 minutes ago, jollyjack said:

Is it also possible to add humans to a POW camp?

I used this with some success in my "Stalag 666" mission....

 

From the Manual;

Populate an Airfield With Soldiers
You can populate an airfield with soldiers that move around various objects. This ability can
make your missions more realistic.
Do the following:
1. Place block objects starting with the following prefixes:
• arf_ammo
• arf_caponiers
• arf_dugouts
• arf_hangers
• arf_nets
• arf_tower
2. (Do any time before testing mission) For a multiplayer mission with "Friendly Fire
Notification" enabled on the server, do the following for the objects that are near a
potential target and are likely to be hit:
a) Make the object a linked entity.
b) In the object advanced properties, change the country to the same country as the
target.
c) In the object properties, click "Delete Linked Entity".
The country that you specified remains for the object. You can verify the country
by making the object a linked entity again and checking the advanced properties.
This step avoids erroneous "fired on a friendly" chat messages. These messages can
occur because an object country defaults to "Neutral", which is considered friendly to
human players and an enemy to AI objects. If a player hits the neutral object while
attacking an enemy object, the friendly fire chat message is displayed.

 

I found the "arf_dugouts" and "arf _ets" the most useful.

I did not make any or those 'arf' objects linked entity's so if the player fired on or bombed inside the compound they did receive a "Fired on Friendly" message which would take their total score to zero while still recording the other enemy objects destroyed.

 

39 minutes ago, jollyjack said:

I don't have TC, but also would like to rob a bank with a tank

LOL!  I like the way you think.  That would be COOL!

I don't have TC either but I know you can drive a tank in Quick Mission.
In the ME;
Vehicles > graphics\vehicles\t34-76-43\t34-76-43.mgm can be set to "Player".  I haven't tried it yet  but after your idea I just might give it a try.

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Beebop

[Beebop]

12 hours ago, Beebop said:

In the ME;
Vehicles > graphics\vehicles\t34-76-43\t34-76-43.mgm can be set to "Player".  I haven't tried it yet  but after your idea I just might give it a try.

 

I tried it, it doesn't work. ? Probably need to own Tank Crew. 

I'll get it the next time it's on sale.

[jollyjack]

Thanks. Curious if you can 'drive' other vehicles too in TC.

 

But i am not planning to pre-release 'invest' in TC, nor Normandy. Did that with both BP and FC1. And then shortly after there was a 50% off.

Can't afford also due loss of freelance jobs due corona for one (not complaining as i pity al those real victims) ... only good thing is i got time now for this here ME bizzimess.

 

Well, i pre bought the Yak9s and Hurricane planes, IL2 needs some support eh? ... But enough for a while.

[Beebop]

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

Curious if you can 'drive' other vehicles too in TC.

I think that at the moment only tanks are driveable.  The T-34-76, KV-1s. M4A2 “Sherman”, SU-122, SU-152, PzKpfw III Ausf.M, PzKpfw IV Ausf.G, PzKpfw V Ausf.D "Panther". PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1 "Tiger" and Sd. Kfz. 184 "Ferdinand".

In non TC games you can only drive a T-34-76 STZ and a PzKpfw III Ausf.F neither of which is listed in TC.  Must be stand in's as "teasers" as I couldn't install skins for them because they don't have folders.  I don't know the naming convention for them although both indicate in the setup screen that 'Custom' skins should be available.

Like you I'm waiting for a sale.  I'm much more interested in getting off the ground, (that's hard enough as it is LOL), but it seems to be a pleasant variation of the game.

[jollyjack]

I tried them in the QMB, but the controls are hard to get right for a joystick and keyboard buttons. Each time i tried to get them going i felt my plane controls got all screwed up,

hat to revert to a saved input folder, so.gave it up.

[Beebop]

Interesting.  I can drive then in the QMB using the cursor (arrow) keys for movement and the default "turret" gun keys for aiming and firing. 

No HOTAS, just keyboard.

Odd.

[jollyjack]

will give it a try ...

[IckyATLAS]

On 4/16/2020 at 8:43 PM, Beebop said:

I used this with some success in my "Stalag 666" mission....

 

From the Manual;

Populate an Airfield With Soldiers
You can populate an airfield with soldiers that move around various objects. This ability can
make your missions more realistic.
Do the following:
1. Place block objects starting with the following prefixes:
• arf_ammo
• arf_caponiers
• arf_dugouts
• arf_hangers
• arf_nets
• arf_tower
2. (Do any time before testing mission) For a multiplayer mission with "Friendly Fire
Notification" enabled on the server, do the following for the objects that are near a
potential target and are likely to be hit:
a) Make the object a linked entity.
b) In the object advanced properties, change the country to the same country as the
target.
c) In the object properties, click "Delete Linked Entity".
The country that you specified remains for the object. You can verify the country
by making the object a linked entity again and checking the advanced properties.
This step avoids erroneous "fired on a friendly" chat messages. These messages can
occur because an object country defaults to "Neutral", which is considered friendly to
human players and an enemy to AI objects. If a player hits the neutral object while
attacking an enemy object, the friendly fire chat message is displayed.

 

I found the "arf_dugouts" and "arf _ets" the most useful.

I did not make any or those 'arf' objects linked entity's so if the player fired on or bombed inside the compound they did receive a "Fired on Friendly" message which would take their total score to zero while still recording the other enemy objects destroyed.

 

LOL!  I like the way you think.  That would be COOL!

I don't have TC either but I know you can drive a tank in Quick Mission.
In the ME;
Vehicles > graphics\vehicles\t34-76-43\t34-76-43.mgm can be set to "Player".  I haven't tried it yet  but after your idea I just might give it a try.

 

 

Just adding a block in the editor called "arf_soldiers" where you would have just the moving soldiers without the other objects, would really allow us to nicely set up "lifely airfields".

It should be easy to do. Same block same soldier motion logic, just take away the physical objects.

 

 

[Beebop]

You got me goin' there ickyATLAS.  ? I started going through my 'Blocks' looking for 'arf_soldiers' thinking maybe they were added in a recent patch and I had overlooked them somehow.  When I didn't find it I thought maybe it's because you have Tank Crew.

Then I re-read your post and realized you were saying it would be nice to, have'.  I agree.  Having soldiers milling around a stopped convoy, having people walking around in towns,, having soldiers on the battlefields, the list could go on and on.  True it might not be terribly useful in WWIi scenarios but in both Tank Crew and Flying Circus where you fly low and slow, it would add tons-o-immersion.

 

Let's all cross our fingers shall we?

Edited April 18, 2020 by Beebop

[IckyATLAS]

24 minutes ago, Beebop said:

You got me goin' there ickyATLAS.  ? I started going through my 'Blocks' looking for 'arf_soldiers' thinking maybe they were added in a recent patch and I had overlooked them somehow.  When I didn't find it I thought maybe it's because you have Tank Crew.

Then I re-read your post and realized you were saying it would be nice to, have'.  I agree.  Having soldiers milling around a stopped convoy, having people walking around in towns,, having soldiers on the battlefields, the list could go on and on.  True it might not be terribly useful in WWI scenarios but in both Tank Crew and Flying Circus where you fly low and slow, it would add tons-o-immersion.

 

Let's all cross our fingers shall we?

Over the years crossing my fingers all the time for many expected add-ons they have become somewhat paralyzed in that shape. They are in a perpetual fingers crossed shape. ?

[Beebop]

9 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

Over the years crossing my fingers all the time for many expected add-ons they have become somewhat paralyzed in that shape. They are in a perpetual fingers crossed shape.

Has that ever helped when you were caught in crossfire? ?