Soldiers all over the airfield How?

[IckyATLAS]

These are screenshots made when flying the second day in a career mode of the Battle of The Bulge in BOBp.

How can one make so many soldier all wandering around far from any objects or blocks.

It was mainly the caponiers blocks that had one or two soldiers moving around but near to them.

Here there are many all over the place and far from any block object.

Is there a new way to do this ?

 

[namhee2]

5 minutes ago, IckyATLAS said:

These are screenshots made when flying the second day in a career mode of the Battle of The Bulge in BOBp.

How can one make so many soldier all wandering around far from any objects or blocks.

It was mainly the caponiers blocks that had one or two soldiers moving around but near to them.

Here there are many all over the place and far from any block object.

Is there a new way to do this ?

 

One idea: open the mission with ME and try to find it. It would interest me too.

[WWSitttingDuck]

me too...

[616Sqn_Tyggz]

3 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

Is there a new way to do this ?

 

There are no soldier objects in the mission editor. So I suspect the method of adding them in has remained the same.

 

The ME manual says the following:

 

I think any obejct with the "arf_" prefix can have soldiers spawn around them, if all relevent objects on an airfield are set up as mentioned above then you should be able to get lots of soldiers wandering around.

 

[Gambit21]

All aarf objects do not come with soldiers.

At least last time I tested this a while back.

[Stoopy]

53 minutes ago, 616Sqn_Tyggz said:

 

There are no soldier objects in the mission editor. So I suspect the method of adding them in has remained the same.

 

The ME manual says the following:

 

I think any obejct with the "arf_" prefix can have soldiers spawn around them, if all relevent objects on an airfield are set up as mentioned above then you should be able to get lots of soldiers wandering around.

 

 

Yep that's how I've done it and it works for me but like Gambit says it is not available for all objects.

 

Also be advised when you enable this for revetments (caponiers) some of these dumb@sses will walk into your prop after you've gone through the engine start sequence, and if that happens it damages your engine while they somehow manage to live through the experience.    

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Stoopy

[IckyATLAS]

I understand but this means soldiers wandering around some of the arf_xxx objects.

In my pictures you see many soldiers wandering in the middle of the empty fields. 

How is this possible?

[Jaegermeister]

Perhaps there is a dummy object that will generate a soldier when placed and made into a linked object. That might explain some of the comments about blocked taxiways and invisible objects on airfields recently. I have not looked at the new blocks since the last patch or two.

[von_Tom]

 

Are these soldiers counted as objects that cause damage if you hit them?  They seem to be and one of my squad mates says they do.  

 

von Tom

Edited June 5, 2021 by von_Tom

[IckyATLAS]

14 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

Perhaps there is a dummy object that will generate a soldier when placed and made into a linked object. That might explain some of the comments about blocked taxiways and invisible objects on airfields recently. I have not looked at the new blocks since the last patch or two.

Worth checking indeed.

[Gambit21]

7 hours ago, von_Tom said:

 

Are these soldiers counted as objects that cause damage if you hit them?  They seem to be and one of my squad mates says they do.  

 

von Tom

 

This wasn't the case a few years ago when I was developing Havoc (I know because in 1 or 2 missions they would walk into props with no effect) but may have changed since.

[Jade_Monkey]

On 6/4/2021 at 5:14 PM, IckyATLAS said:

I understand but this means soldiers wandering around some of the arf_xxx objects.

In my pictures you see many soldiers wandering in the middle of the empty fields. 

How is this possible?

 

I think it works as described in the guide above and then by deleting the object entirely, not just the linked entity.

 

I haven't tested this in a long time though.

[IckyATLAS]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:00 PM, Gambit21 said:

 

This wasn't the case a few years ago when I was developing Havoc (I know because in 1 or 2 missions they would walk into props with no effect) but may have changed since.

I confirm that. I had a soldier that walked into the propeller of my P47 as I was parked with engine running, and he was hit and made a 5 meter jump on the correct side considering propeller direction of rotation, and was killed flat on the ground. The engine stopped on the spot but the propeller had no damage. The engine was broken as it was impossible to restart it.

 

Now what is realistic and what is not. In a real case you can just imagine that the guy would not have been ejected, but would be completely minced on the spot, and small parts would fly around, and probably some blood on your windshield. It is realistic that the blade did not carry damage, except if it hit say a gun that the soldier was carrying, or some hard metal stuff. But the engine should not loose a beat and clearly not be stopped in its track.  

 

Now the chances for you to fly out after the incident in real life would be small, and you probably would have to stop the engine anyway. So after all the sims behavior is perfectly acceptable. 

[Gambit21]

Why there isn't a simple soldier model with simple animation by now is beyond me. He can stand there and scratch his nuts every few seconds for all I care, but it's awfully late in the game for him not to exist. Airfield scenery in general is lacking, equipment, tractors, cranes, messy work areas...etc.

 

 

 

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Gambit21 said:

Why there isn't a simple soldier model with simple animation by now is beyond me. He can stand there and scratch his nuts every few seconds for all I care, but it's awfully late in the game for him not to exist. Airfield scenery in general is lacking, equipment, tractors, cranes, messy work areas...etc.

 

Some of the existing airfield objects really need an overhaul as well - for instance, the steel drums are far in excess of the size one would typically see.

 

[Gambit21]

Yep

 

These seemingly little things make a huge difference in the immersion and feeling of "being" there either to the positive by their inclusion, or to the negative by their omission. Currently it's to the negative.

 

On one hand I understand the aversion to devoting resources to this stuff on some level, but lack of scenery is hurting.  Aircraft start off on the ground, and one way or another they end up on the ground...life on the ground deserves more attention.

[IckyATLAS]

11 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Yep

 

These seemingly little things make a huge difference in the immersion and feeling of "being" there either to the positive by their inclusion, or to the negative by their omission. Currently it's to the negative.

 

On one hand I understand the aversion to devoting resources to this stuff on some level, but lack of scenery is hurting.  Aircraft start off on the ground, and one way or another they end up on the ground...life on the ground deserves more attention.

 

I love your dreams. Because dreams they will remain. Jason does not like our dreams unfortunately.

He is on frantically spitting new plane models and maps. Don't have me wrong, I am fine with that, he does a terrific work, but nevertheless a superb plane on a basic airfield does indeed bring down the overall quality a bit. A serious flight simmer takes off and lands in airfields which then contribute enormously to the immersiveness of the sim. An airfield is a small sim world by itself. I am pretty sure that the more you add to a map and the longer should be its lifetime.

By the way the map in which we live is evolving continuosly and is eternal. ? 

[jollyjack]

On 6/5/2021 at 4:31 AM, Jaegermeister said:

Perhaps there is a dummy object that will generate a soldier when placed and made into a linked object. That might explain some of the comments about blocked taxiways and invisible objects on airfields recently. I have not looked at the new blocks since the last patch or two.

 

Any news on this yet? Would be nice for some added spice regarding TC missions too ...

[LeLv30_Redwing-]

14 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Why there isn't a simple soldier model with simple animation by now is beyond me. He can stand there and scratch his nuts every few seconds for all I care, but it's awfully late in the game for him not to exist. Airfield scenery in general is lacking, equipment, tractors, cranes, messy work areas...etc.

 

 

 

I agree, it does feel too empty. Moving infantry would also change TC a lot, as you can see in the clip below. This was recorded with a mod by AEthelraedUnraed but imagine if it would be your normal in-game footage ?
 

 

[Gambit21]

25 minutes ago, LeLv30_Redwing said:

I agree, it does feel too empty. Moving infantry would also change TC a lot, as you can see in the clip below. This was recorded with a mod by AEthelraedUnraed but imagine if it would be your normal in-game footage ?
 

 

 

To be clear I’m not talking about moving infantry - that’s a whole different ball game.

I’m talking about scenery personnel for airfields with simple standing/casual animations. 

[IckyATLAS]

On 7/21/2021 at 4:39 PM, Gambit21 said:

 

To be clear I’m not talking about moving infantry - that’s a whole different ball game.

I’m talking about scenery personnel for airfields with simple standing/casual animations. 

I agree. Standing personnel with scripted animations is easier to do as it does exist already in the sim, but linked to some objects.

Pilot human models exist and are also animated. Standing personnel is indeed a small incremental change here. Some work to have the proper dressing with service personnel "german" "soviet" or "usa" type. And we had totally static soldiers in the past IL2 saga, with various positions, firing a gun crouched, a kneel down, or standing as well as with his gun hanging on the shoulder in a standing position. The body models were very crude (very boxy) but it allowed me to have static battalions  and simulate some ground combats with tanks for which there was air ground support missions.

Today Jason has the possibility to do this with a WoW factor in terms of immersions. But will he do it? I am not sure he even reads our chapter. I see him reacting only on General Discussion and the Updates, and more rarely on the videos too. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by IckyATLAS

[jollyjack]

Now with BoN coming and the invasion scenery it just won't work without (masses?) of foot soldiers.

Let alone tank battlefields where infantry soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons are so crucial ... even if they are confined to a fixed firing position.

F.i. the lone 'artillery' gunner mg34-aa has some good use i saw in TIGRE's Fury campaign.

 

Howzabout foot soldiers and some hidden mine fields they could go walk about?

Saw horses in RoF; in the ww2 eastern front there were horses involved, especially used by local militia and resistance.

 

ADDED, updated for 4.602 a file called spawner test, once made by AethellRaedUnraed. Seems it's already (raedy?) there  !!!

The buggers start running due the damage command set to damage for the involved vehicles.

Two German soldiers keep hugging each other ... and you can even kill all these runners by overrunning them with the GAZ truck. How awful !

 

ps, i exchanged the player plane with a GAZ AA truck, if you don't have it, use a tank or parked plane as player instead.

Spawner test v2 GAZ player.zip

Edited July 31, 2021 by jollyjack

[jg123410]

Hi all,

 

I realize this topic is over 3 years old.
 

Just curious if anyone has come up with any creative ways to add scenery personnel, even static ones to airfields besides using the arf_ objects?

 

Thanks. JG123410

Edited September 22, 2024 by jg123410

[Zooropa_Fly]

There are 2 sets of infantry filed under 'Vehicles' named 'detachmentgbr5' and 'detachmentusa5'.

These are lines of 5 infantrymen that are controlled in the same way as any vehicle, and they shoot / can be shot.

 

There's only British and American as you can see, but they can be assigned to Axis or Russian if desired.

They've said they won't be doing any more with this, i.e. not modelling German uniforms etc.

 

That I can understand, but they could have given us a generic soldier in different colours to represent the different sides.

I'm sure that would take someone all of about 1 hour.

 

S!

[IckyATLAS]

Regarding the pictures I posted at the beginning of this thread it remains a complete mystery for me. I did invest time trying to find a way and found none.

You can increase the number of soldiers by adding multiple identical objects on top of each other on the same spot, but beware the game (not the editor) may crash.

You can create with photoshop an image with all these soldiers wandering in open space but the images here where taken from the running sim.

As far as for the objects of the type arf_xxx  it does work (do not forget to have them as linked entities) but not at all for arf_hangers I suppose this is a typo and it should be arf_hangars. I checked all arf_hangars types and it does not work.

Finally very limited option but as usual better than nothing.

[LeLv30_Redwing-]

14 hours ago, jg123410 said:

Hi all,

 

I realize this topic is over 3 years old.
 

Just curious if anyone has come up with any creative ways to add scenery personnel, even static ones to airfields besides using the arf_ objects?

 

Thanks. JG123410

As IckyATLAS said, only some of the arf_xxx objects have walking soldiers and stacking them gives you more soldiers. You could also hide arf_xxx inside of bigger building, if that helps you at all? Also, stacking arf_xxx objects in addition of crashing the game, may also make the nets invisible from certain angles which also has its advantages. Here's an (timestamp) example of those two things:
 

-LeLv30_Redwing

Edited September 22, 2024 by 30th_Deadthing
grammar

[Billsponge1972]

And the infantry being only US or British soldiers, walking or running in straight lines of five and kneeling down and aiming when stopped aren't exactly immersive either. I never thought to stack the "_arf" objects! That's brilliant! I wonder how many you can stack before it crashes the game? I got to try this!

[LeLv30_Redwing-]

I used around 4-6 to have nice effect. Crashing might depend on your GPU, I had never such issues.

Place two objects next to each other and copy x and z coordinates in the properties box from one object and paste to another. Rinse and repeat and then group all the objects you have stacked.

-LeLv30_Redwing

[IckyATLAS]

3 hours ago, 30th_Deadthing said:

Rinse and repeat

I had not thought of grouping them which replaces the objects icon with a unique group icon. Maybe that would reduce the crash risk. Just a question what do you mean by "Rinse"?

[LeLv30_Redwing-]

Just a phrase for doing something again and again 

Edited September 22, 2024 by 30th_Deadthing

[jg123410]

Pardon the delayed response. 

 

Thanks everybody for the information. I didn't realize some of this. A lot of good stuff in here.

 

I know in the old IL2 you could unlock the Full Mission Builder, copy a map, modify it, then place it back in the game with all the changes you had made. I think in IL2 GB I am limited to modifying mission files, so I will see if some of the these ideas you mentioned can be added to my favorite campaigns.

 

Thank you all again   - JG123410.