Kacper

Was a fun mission. My first time leading a squad, I hope it was not too terrible to serve in Bravo tonight - I'm afraid my leadership was weak.
I also hope that you didn't hear my keyboard too much, I apologise for that.
 
I believe that the difficulty setting and amount of enemies was more fun during last week's mission; I think it's just more fun to have longer lasting firefights and engagements.
Today was a lot more laid back engagement-wise for me (and all of Bravo squad I think).
 
Having a platoon element was defenitely good, the downside to me personally was increased command chatter and decreased situational awareness (regarding both the strategic and the tactical situation), but I think that with more iterations the benefit of having that big picture coordinator will start to show more and more.
 
Big issue for me was people who were not on TeamSpeak. It split the squad. Those who were on TS and just listened without talking were doing just fine (@Jenkins for example), but those who JIP'd and never joined TS were quite the problem. I used TS and not the ingame group chat for squad management, so everybody who was not on there didn't really know what was going on and what to do, especially tragic with @pepeNS who JIP'd into the vacant Bravo medic slot but as far as I know didn't join TS and thus was very difficult to coordinate with - working two chats was very taxing, working three chats - one of which is redundant for most of my players - would have been one too much. For me at least. But maybe I'm just not made to be a squad leader.
Not sure if making TS presence a requirement would be the solution though, after all these missions are supposed to be less difficult to join and more public and vanilla.
 
We also might want to consider mixing the more experienced players with the less tactical ones to even the squads out a bit.

And half of those hours are thanks to @TheScar

First of all, I want to apologise  for the lack of community updates - as the last one was in January. A part of the reason for this is we had sort of a "business as usual" period, where there wasn't really anything new to announce. But now since we've got the ball rolling a bit recently, I feeI we have a lot to share with you all.
 
I&A 4:
In terms of I&A 4, it is essentially feature locked - meaning we have added all of the new features that I&A 4 brings over the previous version. At this stage of the beta release, we are just optimising the mission so it is more streamlined and runs better, along with a few little bug fixes. Ryko has a has a busy period - hence the lack of beta tests. Currently he is on vacation (a very deserved one) in which he will return on the 27th July. Moreover, Contact DLC releases at the same time, which gives us the opportunity to fix things it may have broke before we roll out the next beta test. In short, we are into the final stretch and we just optimising the mission so it isn't a lagfest.
 
[EU2] Zeus Operations:
Last Sunday, we held the first mission of our Zeus Operations. These are missions created by Spartans and Moderators, that will run every Sunday. We are happy to report that feedback has been quite positive, and based on the feedback from the community we have implemented some changes, such as the addition of a Platoon Squad, which includes a Platoon Commander, a Forward Air Controller, a JTAC and a Medic. Moreover we have implemented a Fire team leader. Last but not least, we have fixed the command channel, which haunted us last week. We hope that these changes will help to improve teamwork and communication, and we want to remind you that your feedback is incredibly valuable in making this work.
 
AWE
There isn't as much to announce on the revival of AWE. It is a long and hefty process starting it from the ground up, and we have been plagued with back-end issues that has made the server inoperable. Moreover Contact is expected to break things, so we have that barrier to hurdle too. Nevertheless, we are trying our very best to power through it, and we are now moving on to internal mod testing, so we haven't ditched the Revival of AWE, it is just a long some process and there's many issues that we need to resolve before we will get a running version. But we are making progress.
 
Graphic Re-branding:
For those of you with a keen eye, may have noticed we have been doing some slight updates to old Graphics that we have had for a long time. We have done this as some elements were horribly outdated, and didn't look appealing at all. Some design elements that have been updated are; Twitch overlays, Twitter banners, and a new donation picture.
 
Twitch/Youtube:
After a 2 year drought, we are now putting heavy influence back into our use of Twitch and YouTube. We will be live-streaming all of our EU2 Zeus operations on https://www.twitch.tv/ahoyworld and possibly even on our youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/ahoyworld where we have posted recent highlights of last Sundays operation. Moreover we are looking for people to stream to our twitch, and supply content for our Youtube Channel. For more information please message @GhostDragon.
 
Dark  Mode Forum Theme:
We have now added a dark mode theme for the Forums. To use it scroll down to the bottom of the forums and click Theme > Night Mode
 
Donations
Lastly I want to finish by thanking those who have donated to keep us afloat. Last October we were scheduled to close around January/February, due to a lack of funds. Due to the overwhelming generosity of our community, we are now able to sufficiently see ourselves through 2019. I want to encourage you all to keep up the donations, as this community entirely depends on your generosity to keep afloat. I would also like to thank all of you that have donated, as we certainty wouldn't of been here today if it wasn't for your beneficence. 
 

just to make it clear: its not a "capture airfield" type of mission xD

Event Date:
21/07/2019
 
Mission Name:
[EU2] Zeus Operations
17:00 UTC
 
Server Details:
IP: 144.76.82.169:2602
Port: 2602
 
TS adress: ts.ahoyworld.net
TEAMSPEAK MISSION BRIEFING FOR ALL PLAYERS WILL BEGIN AT 17:00 UTC
 
Expected Mission Length: 120+ minutes (may go over or under expected mission length)
 
Player Slots: 60
 
Brief Summary:
 
We were attacked by CSAT forces in the morning. In less than an hour they've captured the Eastern FOB with overwhelming force. Enemy Air has neutralised all of our CAP assets, therefore enemy paratroopers were able to insert themselves and designate all of our assets for CAS, wiping them out of our hands. Later that morning, we were able to destroy enemy artillery with the remnants of our air assets, but we have loss contact with them - and we presume they are either dead or captured. In the meantime, hostile forces have captured civilians at Kalithea as hostages, threatening to kill them. Since then, they have now established a forward base and a command center - and their armored units are besieging our HQ.
 
You're a part of a NATO reaction force, and your aim is to sabotage CSAT outposts, rescue captured civillians, and assist our remaining forces at the HQ with a CSAT counter attack.
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
 

I would like to see squad leaders make more use of the in game command control (marking wp's/go here/regroup/target assignment). But I also think it could go kind of obsolete if command channel will work again next time.
When i first joined i was squad leader after few minutes bc everyone left my squad (don't laugh please lol). I had trouble with the not working command channel and someone suggests TS for workaround. I've been roasted for asking for advice in the alpha channel at ts, as if i'm not knowing how to use anything in arma. And that happened during the (idle) time between these missions... 
I had problems to get clear instructions/advice for supporting my unit in certain situations, so i kept straying around a little. If you want a noob like me to get involved with his weapons (was playing LAT) just offer me clear instructions. Overall enjoyed it a lot. That TS workaround lowered the feel of immersion for me a little. I don't want to have the ts overlay sitting on top just to see who's (of the like 20 people) talking (to me). 
That debriefing was wholesome and gave me goosebumps. I was so proud to be part of that experience. Please do it again. We all learn from that and it's awesome that a game this "old" can give you this joy. 
I hope i can be part of it next time. This will be great!
 
(PS: AhoyWorld people, you guys are awesome. Love you for giving me joy and being part of a great community!)

 

I think the mission went pretty well, I thoroughly enjoyed the more serious organised structure.
 
My advice for improvement would be:
Obviously fix the communication issue so that we have clear communications between just the leaders, then information can be passed down each squad by their respective leader. Add a Platoon Commander, he will be in charge of the overall plan for the infantry squads and armoured assets, as well as placing LZ's and issuing orders for Vortex. He could still give the squads a bit of leniency where required, but overall he will keep things organised over a common plan. MAYBE add a FTL (Fire Team Leader) role to the squads, personally I just opted that one of my men take the role, but perhaps a chosen role for this would promote the usage of them more. However, given the squads current size of 8, if you add a FTL, I would suggest adding another man to bring the squad to a healthy 10 rather than a odd 9. But, 10 is about the max I'd say, going upwards of about 12 men in a squad is starting to get too large. But again, that is IF you add a FTL, it isn't needed if we just recommend the SL's to pick a man. Perhaps also the Platoon Commander, there could be a FAC (Forward Air Controller), however I think given the fact we are not using a radio mod, this won't really be an issue. Especially given the fact that Vortex needs not communicate too often. For briefings, as Johnson stated in the debrief, perhaps an overall briefing at the beginning of the mission in a main hall could be good to give everyone a brief idea of the mission, then once that is discussed, have a more in depth brief with the main leaders.  
I suppose a good element for Platoon would be:
Platoon Command Platoon Medic (he could also be in charge of setting aid stations on larger missions) Platoon FAC (If needed, but again, without a radio mod I don't think it's absolutely needed unless our mission will mainly revolve around a Vortex usage)  
Overall the mission was really fun, I for one also enjoyed taking an impromptu Platoon Commander role over the mission, It's something I enjoy doing knowing I can give the knowledge and advice to the newbies.
 
One thing I would like to see however, is perhaps more of a logistical usage. I can understand the want to keep the mission going a bit quicker and having an arsenal to replenish everyone's ammo. But perhaps having Vortex or maybe a logistical team who can set up encampments where ever (maybe with the help of a zues) would bring a fresh bit of gameplay to the game. This would also mean that Platoon Command can choose where he wants the camp and having the Logistical team work alongside perhaps Vortex and Zues to get it done. This Logistical Team could also perhaps be a Weapons Team when not being used for Logistical support, and perhaps use Artillery or Mortars. 
 
Astounding job from Bravo, they may have lacked some of the organisation, formation work and perhaps communication of my team initially. But, given their overwhelming task, their teamwork and perseverance prevailed and I was amazed how well it went for them. It was a pleasure to work with their leader, whom I found to be one of the best squad leaders I've worked with and that's coming from an AWE/EU3 Veteran since day 2 of its launch back in 2014. I mean this with full sincerity, you did great. My only advice to give, make sure your men are safe in buddy teams and try not to have them clustered up so much as one big group. This is especially useful when you are in CQC, which you did go into numerous times and unfortunately you missed a few enemies on the buildings which could've been fatal. Just make sure you dedicate some men to go door-kicking and get the buildings fully clear. Other than that, great job and a good job to your FTL who kept me informed when you couldn't.
 
Alpha also did a great job, we just got unlucky during the last assault on the main airfield. Part of this was down to some poor luck but also the fact I misjudged my attack and it unfortunately led to the death of much of my men. Apologies for that, I did suffer a bit of combat stress from all the leading so it made my decisions start to falter in minor details. Another good reason however, to add an overall leader like a Platoon Commander.
 
Good work to the vehicle crew, there could have been a bit more I would have liked from them, however that is not their fault. It's mainly just down to the fact that I was too disconnected from Bravo's fight and I was unable to correctly deduce the best plan of action for them, but the vehicle's fire support was incredibly useful and a big confidence boost to the men on the field. Just having that Marshall with us on the AAC was a big enough confidence boost to Alpha to make a large push down the airfield.
 
Also thanks to the Vortex teams for running the reinserts, you kept Alpha with a stable number of men even during our most critical moments and I can understand that it wasn't easy getting close with that Tigris and Armata's cannon having a grid lock over most the airfield.
 
Overall, really fun mission and I'm so pleased to see a large community come together to play as a team. I've been starved of good, organised, serious fun ArmA for quite a while now and I'm pleased to say that EU2 actually satisfied me quite a bit, despite perhaps some of my previous thoughts of how the mission could have gone.
 
Unfortunately, I won't make it to the next one as I'm having a Mini Holiday (pun intended again) and won't be back until Tuesday. I would've really loved to perhaps do a Platoon Lead on that mission but there's always another time. I suppose it gives someone else a chance to lead and perhaps do things the way they'd quick like to do it.

I was able to fully experience only the first mission since my internet choked during start of the second one, but still I have to say I really enjoyed my time. As mentioned by Midnight, the main problem was too many voices to handle. It was a bit painful, but still could get used to it. I also really liked our leadership on Alpha team (all props to Minipily). Short and straight orders, keeping everything together as it should be. Definitely looking to play some more missions in the future.

I'm just going to suggest a few ideas i mulled over on my lunchbreak
 
Platoon structure:
 
Communicating with, and managing more than 2-3 elements can be really taxing. I suggest a structure that looks like this
PLTCo ->2-3 SLs + FAC
SL-> 2-3 FTLs
FTL->4-5 FT member. (members can be split into buddy teams)
Like this, we would end up with (10+1SL) ppl per squad at least, hitting the 40 player mark with 3 squads , command and support elements at minimum and still no more than 6 ppl in one group of communication channel (example: FTL pov --(FTL+4 ppl in group) -//- 1SL+2FTLs+2Medics in TS )
 
TL;DR
think in twos, every commanding element has 2 subordinate elements, FTL has 2 buddy teams, SL has 2 fireteams, PLTCo has SLs and supports, and so on
 
 
 
Communications:
 
Handle group chat for level communication and TS for reaching higher ups, but have to alternate between the levels.
Example:
 
FTLS in group with 4-5 infantry and on TS with SLs    - (TS to reach higher ups)
SLs in group with FAC+PLTCo maybe 1-1 squad medic to be dispatched to the fireteams as needed, - FAC is on TS with vortex and uav    - (group to reach higher ups)
Vortex use group to talk about flight paths and hazards while can get info and recieve missions from FAC on TS   - (TS to reach higher ups)
Armored units can fit in, just treat armored commander as SL or tie them into PLTCo on TS - just so we can alternate again and armored command can be on group
 
 
Either side of the group and TS communication has 6 or less ppl in it, each should be clear enough to convey the necessary information. The localized level communication will be the most used,  the higher up only active when elements need to communicate between each other Aka FTLs have to inform another FTL or SL about threats and unfolding situation, and so on.
 
This could clear up comms, lift the heavy load of SLs doing a lot of work while engaged in a firefight (Mad props to Mini).
 
 
Briefings and conducting the missions:
 
-Briefings were fine, mission live hint after the squad leads report back to command that they finished briefing their teams would have made the start a bit more flowing and more coordinated (instead of move when ready - alpha goes in first bravo still at arsenal), but otherwise i have nothing to add. (If PLTCo is added, the planning and breifing will be in a player's hand anyway, a ready signal can be given to Zeuses from PLTCo to start the mission)

From my point of view the mission went very well, we had some teething issues but that is to be expected from the first mission in a new format.
Some Items I noted:
 
Communication
This is still something to be worked on. This will likely take trial and error to best design a system to allow efficient comms between squads/command/vortex.
I think a lot of the problem we had was that there were too many voices and not enough listening, this again is likely a result of this being the first mission and I imagine people will get better at this in the coming weeks.
 
Mission Design
I only played the second mission and enjoyed it a lot, I felt the number of enemies as about right. we assaulted the middle of the base so we had enemies all around and it felt like it, but it was never over the top. 
 
Platoon Structure
We definitely need a platoon element which will likely include a platoon command, platoon medic and possibly a FAC. This will allow each squad lead the ability to focus on their squad only. It will also allow for more organised and free communication.
 
again can't wait for the next mission. See you next Sunday
 
 
 

Hi all,
I know I arrived late but I still had a lot of fun at yesterdays Zeus Op. I'm looking forward to next weeks event and to keeping this going for quite some time. 
If you have any feedback, suggestions or anything related to the Zeus Ops please post it here.
 

The squad system that we use for the upcoming Zeus Operations on EU2, will be very much different then the standard EU1, as we are looking to head in a more organised layout.
 
The Slot layout will be as follows;
 
Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
 
Armour Squad Golf
Armour Squad Hotel
 
UAV Operator
 
Vortex Hotel
Vortex India
Vortex Juliet
 
Squads:
Squads will be LOCKED. If you join as Alpha, you will stay as Alpha unless you join a different squad in the lobby. Please try fill up empty squads when you are joining, and avoid being the only person in one squad. Lonewolfing is disallowed, unless you are walking back to your squad after being re-inserted because you died. You stay with your squad, and follow the commands of your squad leader at all time. If you are the only person in a squad, you will be tied with an existing Squad.
 
Squad Leaders:
Squad Leaders will actually be Squad leaders. You will manage your team and have acess to the command channel, where you will communicate with other squad leaders and Zeus Operators, aswell as Armour Commanders and the UAV Operators, and a member member of Vortex. It is highly reccomended that Squad Leaders have mics, but we will not force this, it will just make communication much easier.
 
Armour Squads/UAV OP:
These are support units. Both UAV OP and Armour Squads can only fire on request, as requested by squad leaders.  Shots will be called out in command channel.
 
Briefings and Insertion:
The briefing and inital insertion will work as follows;
 Zeus Commander will give a briefing to Squad Leaders  Squad leaders will then brief their own Squad Players will then insert to the mission together as a squad (whether this is via ground or air) If a player dies, they will be re-inserted and will make their way back to the squad. Once the mission is complete, Vortex will then evac back to FOB as a squad. If there is multiple missions, Squad leaders will be briefed again back at FOB and this cycle will repeat.  
 
As you can see, this is a much more formal and organised system then what we have now on EU1, as these Zeus Operations will cater towards a more organised style. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below.
 
 
 
 

hell yea, finally

Event Date:
14/07/2019
 
Mission Name:
[EU2] Zeus Operations
17:00 UTC
 
Server Details:
IP: 144.76.82.169:2602
Port: 2602
 
Brief Summary:
Every Sunday, we will be hosting custom Zeus missions on EU2, where Spartans and Moderators create Zeus missions like they do on EU1, except on a much bigger scale. These missions will be more likely to be teamworked base - and a bit more organised than standard play on EU1. While there is no entry requirement, we ask you to be able to work effectively as a part of a team, and that you are responding to Admins, Spartans and other players when needed.
 
Expected Mission Length: 120+ minutes (may go over or under expected mission length)
 
Player Slots: 60
 
 

 

Hi, I've played on EU1 about 2 months now. Still a noob though. 
I have 360 hours on Arma 3 (170 of it fiddling with the editor and making SP/COOP Missions find me on Steam Workshop  )
Played hardly ever on multiplayer servers before. Started to like it after enjoying EU1's massive, friendly coop missions.
Favorite role is LAT and AT Rifleman (always carrying 2 expl. charges, lol). Want to become a heli pilot so i can help out when server is missing transport pilots.
See you guys at EU1! Have fun!

Here is the final change log for Beta 059: we'll be running the next beta test this coming Wednesday at 1800 UTC.
 
If all goes as planned and there are no major bugs, this may very well be the release version!
 
059
---
NEW
1. Added mission persistence and set to ON by default. When server restarts, completed AOs / player rewards are loaded from persistent save.
2. Added smoke screen deployment option to heavy air trans vehicles (Ghosthawk, Huron, Blackfish level vehicles). It is a action menu item (similar to the deploy ammo box) and will be available when the vehicle is going less than 40 km/h and more than 400m away from base. You have one charge, which can be reloaded at Air service or helipads.
3. Added Artillery Smoke reward (1000 points).
4. Added Button in rewards menu to show/hide vehicles, weapons and gear that the player is restricted from purchasing due to their role. Useful to let you purchase a non-role vehicle, then activate the related squad.
5. Added Vehicle Flag reward (lets you add your faction's flag to your current vehicle)
6. Replaced vehicle servicing functionality with vanilla repair / rearm / refuel functionality - you just have to drive into the service area, and R/R/R will activate automatically. Vehicle ammo/fuel paradrops also now function this way, but those boxes will despawn after five minutes.
FIXES
1. Turret toggling in Ghosthawk
2. UAV secondary mission
3. Further fixes to prevent players having access to prohibited gear via the arsenal
4. Players can no longer donate fractions of reward points (trying to donate 10.7 points will cause you do donate 10 points)
5. Inventory may no longer randomly close (cleanUp function was deleting player's virtual inventory item)
6. Empty reward vehicles show up on map.
7. Skills assignment to OPFOR AI
8. Attempt to stop AI from spawning in rocks
9. Reinforcement troops added to composition of enemy, changes win condition and cleanup activities
10. Ammo drop reward wasn't spawning correctly.
11. Notifications for when player is incapacitated or killed.
12. Tweaks to how Goblin UAV spawns
13. Redesign base restrictions to prevent trolling / griefing and bringing vehicles into player spawn area.
14. Fixes to prevent exploit on loading gear from arsenal to elude gear restriction.
15. Gunner positions in the Armed Blackfish are now usable by non-VIPER crew members.
TWEAKS
1. Tweaks to rescue civilians mission.
2. Tweaks to ambient AI spawn placement.
3. Tweaks to garbage cleanup script.
4. Tweaks to enemy awareness scripting.
5. Tweaks to UAV respawning.
6. Tweaks to respawn loadouts. If you have a loadout saved from the arsenal, you won't get the default loadout for your role on respawn.
7. Tweak to map markers: empty vehicles show as dark yellow instead of yellow.
8. Tweak to ammo depot, repair depot and command+control sub objectives:
8A. Destroying the objective will no longer despawn nearby friendly vehicles (whoops!).
8B. Tweaked how holdAction charges are set (only one player at a time can set charges, you can't set them more than once, and a notification will spam to nearby players when the charges are set).
8C. Tweaked how they are spawned, trying not to spawn them directly on roads.
9. Tweak to enemy reinforcement notification (shortened text to fit in notification box).
10. Tweak to artillery reward - will now only give one 'splash' report before barrage begins.
11. Tweak to enemy mortar sub objective, and determining how that task completes.
12. Tweak to custom vault action. Fixed for when 'v' key is used in vehicles, should resort to default behaviour.
13. Removed enemy counter attack from secondary missions, not super interesting, win conditions were difficult and in general it was just misbehaving.
14. Tweak: NATO now has advanced MAAWS, AAF has basic MAAWS (was reversed, thanks Bohemia for confusing class names)
15. Tweak to revive, trying to fix bug which puts you in medical animation even while you are incapacitated
16. Tweak to player name tags: name and tag are now place at chest level and responds to player stance position.
17. Tweaked how map markers are updated and communicated to players.
18. Reward menu (gear) now only propogates items that attach to weapons you have in your inventory.
19. Removed Shelldrake (Mortars) squad - problematic in a few ways.
20. If you are in an air group where no vehicles are available for that group, you will be kicked from that group (VIPER, REAPER and TALON)
21. Commander cannot kick players from slots in layer configured for pub play (default)
22. Talon (CAP) vehicles can no longer mount air-to-ground ordinance, but are restricted to air to air and anit-radiation missiles.
23. Tweaks to heavy asset respawn times (slightly longer).
24. Slight buff to skill level for the following enemy AI: Anti-air soldier, Pilots, Crew, Squad Leader, Team Leader.
25. Added 5.56mm magazines to NATO/NATO pacific faction ammo boxes. Simplified how ammo/ vehicle ammo/ vehicle fuel boxes are delivered to the battlefield (no longer spawn a delivery vehicle).
26. Changed how vehicle rearming works for air vehicles with dynamic pylon loading. Instead of selecting individual weapons, the player can now purchase pre-configured loadouts for these vehicles.
27. Civilians who stray outside the AO distance are now deleted.
28. Attempts to fix seat switching to roles you're not allowed have failed; you'll be ejected if you try.

Version 059 is now in internal testing.  Change log:
 
059
---
NEW
1. Added mission persistence and set to ON by default. When server restarts, completed AOs / player rewards are loaded from persistent save.
2. Added smoke screen deployment option to heavy air trans vehicles (Ghosthawk, Huron, Blackfish level vehicles). It is a action menu item (similar to the deploy ammo box) and will be available when the vehicle is going less than 40 km/h and more than 400m away from base. You have one charge, which can be reloaded at Air service or helipads.
3. Added Artillery Smoke reward (1000 points).
4. Added Button in rewards menu to show/hide vehicles, weapons and gear that the player is restricted from purchasing due to their role. Useful to let you purchase a non-role vehicle, then activate the related squad.
 
FIXES
1. Turret toggling in Ghosthawk
2. UAV secondary mission
3. Further fixes to prevent players having access to prohibited gear via the arsenal
4. Players can no longer donate fractions of reward points (trying to donate 10.7 points will cause you do donate 10 points)
5. Inventory may no longer randomly close (cleanUp function was deleting player's virtual inventory item) (still working on this)
6. Empty reward vehicles show up on map.
7. Skills assignment to OPFOR AI
8. Attempt to stop AI from spawning in rocks
9. Reinforcement troops added to composition of enemy, changes win condition and cleanup activities
10. Ammo drop reward wasn't spawning correctly.
11. Notifications for when player is incapacitated or killed.
 
TWEAKS
1. Tweaks to rescue civilians mission.
2. Tweaks to ambient AI spawn placement.
3. Tweaks to garbage cleanup script.
4. Tweaks to enemy awareness scripting.
5. Tweaks to UAV respawning.
6. Tweaks to respawn loadouts. If you have a loadout saved from the arsenal, you won't get the default loadout for your role on respawn.
7. Tweak to map markers: empty vehicles show as dark yellow instead of yellow.
8. Tweak to ammo depot, repair depot and command+control sub objectives:
8A. Destroying the objective will no longer despawn nearby friendly vehicles (whoops!).
8B. Tweaked how holdAction charges are set (only one player at a time can set charges, you can't set them more than once, and a notification will spam to nearby players when the charges are set).
8C. Tweaked how they are spawned, trying not to spawn them directly on roads.
9. Tweak to enemy reinforcement notification (shortened text to fit in notification box).
10. Tweak to artillery reward - will now only give one 'splash' report before barrage begins.
11. Tweak to enemy mortar sub objective, and determining how that task completes.
12. Tweak to custom vault action. Fixed for when 'v' key is used in vehicles, should resort to default behaviour.
13. Removed enemy counter attack from secondary missions, not super interesting, win conditions were difficult and in general it was just misbehaving.
14. Tweak: NATO now has advanced MAAWS, AAF has basic MAAWS (was reversed, thanks Bohemia for confusing class names)
15. Tweak to revive, trying to fix bug which puts you in medical animation even while you are incapacitated
16. Tweak to player name tags: name and tag are now place at chest level and responds to player stance position.
17. Tweaked how map markers are updated and communicated to players.
18. Reward menu (gear) now only propogates items that attach to weapons you have in your inventory.
19. Removed Shelldrake (Mortars) squad - t'was problematic in a few ways.
20. If you are in an air group where no vehicles are available for that group, you will be kicked from that group (VIPER, REAPER and TALON)
21. Commander cannot kick players from slots in layer configured for pub play (default)
22. Talon (CAP) vehicles can no longer mount air-to-ground ordinance, but are restricted to air to air and anit-radiation missiles.
23. Tweaks to heavy asset respawn times (slightly longer).
24. Slight buff to skill level for the following enemy AI: Anti-air soldier, Pilots, Crew, Squad Leader, Team Leader.
25. Added 5.56mm magazines to NATO/NATO pacific faction ammo boxes.

Maybe increasing the skill level for manpads will help? Not sure cuz its still Arma AI...
btw @Ryko i know that AI is smarter and more challenging than before but is there any chance to use something like VCOM AI in the future?

I've played for several hours today and yesterday so now might be a good time for me to write a bit of a longer post with suggestions.  But first some bug reports:
Yesterday the kill HVT sub objective bugged out causing the AO to be hung up and a member of CS had to join to forcefully complete the mission.  After quickly glancing at that sub obj code an idea I have would be to additionally also work with a trigger with an alive check instead of just the eventhandler.  The UAV side mission bugged out today, for that I'd suggest to additionally add a trigger to check if the UAV is destroyed and fail the mission then.  I know the damage of the UAV is disabled but the alive command also returns false if the variable passed to it doesn't exist.  So if the UAV failed to spawn the mission will simply fail but the missions will keep spawning.  Parachutes are still being removed from paradropping players every so often On at least 2 occasions I've seen huron pilots try to life the huron crates at base but fail to do that.  I'm not sure if that's a bug or by design though. I saw several unassigned people outside of the spawn area.  Maybe add an additional thing to kill unassigned players if they exit the spawn trigger area?  That's it for the bugs, now for some requests:
Could Zeuses have the ability to force mute players for the entire server?  Say if someone keeps talking and talking in a channel he's not supposed to?  I've had at least one occasion in the last two days were such a feature would've been nice to have.  It's not something critical though. Could players have the ability to withdraw from a channel?  Like not wanting to be in command or air channel.  If voice alone could be disabled that'd be great but I don't know if that's possible.  It's rather annoying when you're talking in teamspeak and someone in command channel just keeps talking and talking.   Also not something critical. Could player choices, related to UI etc, be made persistent?  I'm mostly talking about the compass on top not being there, the crew names on the left, etc.  And this isn't something critical either. Could backpacks be locked by default?  Also just a nice to have, not critical. Could mortar tubes (not the bipods, only the tubes) be made available to helicopter pilots?  This would enable pilots to bring some tubes (aka ammo for the mortar) to the mortar gunner when he runs out of ammo. Could the respawn timer for the blackfish vehicle transport be reduced a bit?  It's not that powerful of an asset for it to have the respawn time it currently has (I believe somewhere north of 45 minutes right?) Rather technical but could it be made that as long as a unit has the name "error no unit" he can't actually pick a slot? And finally some general observations:
I was flying talon for a good 5 hours today and in that time there were exactly 2 enemy jets, both neoprons.  There were also a handful of orcas, not more than 5 if I recall correctly.  Could that be increased a little bit?  And, if not already the case, could the enemy also spawn shikras, kajmans and xi'ans as close air support for them?  I know the xi'an is already used to deploy enemy reinforcements. During this time I spend in talon I only encountered 2 tigris' (tigrisses/tigri/...?).  Meaning that in all other AOs I had free reign to provide CAS as I pleased.  Meaning I could stay in that jet for 5 hours while doing multiple low level flyovers over the AO.  I think it might be best to spawn at least 1 tigris with every AO.  This to make providing cas more difficult and compared to an MBT or an IFV they don't pose about the same danger to infantry.  The small diameter bombs are very very powerful.  You only need 1 to kill any vehicle, including MBTs.  They do not require a laser, they will guide themselves to any target you lock them onto.  And there's 4 of them on one pylon, meaning the wasp can carry 8 of them.  Which means the wasp can kill 8 vehicles very very easily without needing any assistance from ground units.  I don't mind the suppressors being rewards honestly.  Not a single army issues suppressors to all its infantry.  A bipod by default for ARs, marksmen and snipers would make sense I'd say but I believe at least the ARs already have one by default?  That's all I can think of right now.  But I would like to end with:  I think this mission is way better than I&A 3 and all the above are minor things that I personally feel could be slightly improved with some of the suggestions I made.  I don't think there's anything game-breakingly bugged/wrong/bad/... in the mission.

I&A4 version 058
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1. Overhauled how artillery rewards work. Instead of trying to make the Liberty fire shells, shells are now created dynamically. Results in greater accuracy for calculating ETA and other benefits. Shells are also laser guided, so if you have a laser designator, you can precisely designate a target within 500m of the targeted point.
2. Tweaks to UAV respawning to prevent crashing.
3. Removed full service button from vehicle repair.
4. Fixed holdAction on ammo depot / repair depot subObjectives, should now properly set a charge.
5. Fixes to gear removal code to prevent abuse.
6. Fixes to how Gambler / Hitman vehicles are claimed (resolves issue where player was prohibited from entering an armored vehicle when other group members were in a non-armor vehicle)
7. Minor fixes for vehicle and backpack locking.
8. Fix: added exception handler to catch case where player is incapacitated while reviving or healing another, should prevent player from being put into medical animation while player is unconscious.
9. Overhauled destroy command + control center subObjective with a less confusing win condition.
9A. Added task images for some sub-objectives for greater clarity.
10. Further tweaks to enemy infantry vs armor balancing (slightly more infantry, slightly less armor). Secondary missions now include some level of randomness, but not linked to player count and generally a lower number of units overall.
11. Tweak: added code to remove zombies at base
12. Tweak to destroy prototype tank mission (instead of just super thick armor, it now has an active defence system)
13. Fixed turret locking on Ghosthawk.
14. Lights in base no longer destructible.
15. Added hint/hintC/kick functionality for admin players to the Players section of the Squad interface.
16. UAV strike is offline for the time being to have a think about how it can be better implemented.
17. Fixes to vehicle rearming.
18. Fixes to custom groups.

Yup, tracked the bug and it's fixed in 056
Not sure what this means as you are determined to be engaging an AO when you are 1000m away from the center of the AO "balloon"
Balance conversation, which we had in spades on server
Yep, looking into that
Just because they were dull for you doesn't mean they were dull for other players participating in them, again, balance. As well, just because the AO completed doesn't mean all the OPFOR disappear, some still remain and they are moving to the next AO.
 
Each AO is going to be slightly different, with between 0-3 sub objectives (which add additional forces).
If you're outside the engagement distance (1000m from center) you won't be considered as participating. This is arbitrary and cruel but it's the only way I have available. You still get points for kills regardless.  As well, you get 25% of the reward per minute (or it could be 30 second, can't remember) you are in the AO, and lose same every cycle you are outside of the AO. So if the AO completes the second after you respawned, you'll still get some level of credit.
Fixed in 056
 
Enemies do spawn in houses, they leave garrison when they're shot at so they don't sit there for target practice.
 
One thing I've noticed that's not playing as intended is that Gambler and Hitman are taking and one-manning multiple vehicles per squad, restricting it to a single vehicle per squad should help cut down on the amount of assets that engage the AO.
 
In our exchange on server today, you suggested that I don't play the mission, and that while I'm coding the mission I don't have a feel for how to create a mission that plays well. I reacted strongly to that ("You can make your own mission") mostly because there's an implicit assumption that making missions is easy. It's not, because it's not just about the code, it's about finding solutions to problems raised by players.  You suggested that there are too many assets in the AO, making it unfun for regular infantry, which is a legitimate concern, but if I just restrict the vehicles used by players then it becomes overly difficult to complete the AOs as presented. If I reduce the enemy vehicles to make it easier for friendly infantry to complete the AOs, now the AOs are too easy to complete.  It's a dog chasing its own tail, and the only way to find the right balance is to tweak it slightly with every revision.
 
I don't claim to have all the answers, nor do I claim to be an expert in making missions. I have had a bit of experience, I'm trying my best here, and I'm also trying to incorporate everyone's suggestions and criticisms (yours included) in order to make a balanced mission everyone can enjoy. There are going to have to be compromises to get to that point, it's not going to be perfect, but my hope is that everyone can live with the final product.

There probably won't be a beta test this week as I'm a bit swamped IRL, and there are some new features coming into 52 based on player feedback.
 
Here's the change log for 052 thus far:
 
 
Point 14 deserves a bit more elaboration, based on TheScar's comment (Another thing i really want to happen is randomisation of AO´s). My initial thinking in IA4 was to remove the concept of priority objectives, but then I realized that doing this (while improving performance) does make each AO a bit of a "rinse and repeat" operation. Up until beta 051 there have actually been two random sub objectives, but they're not very well noticed. I have dramatically expanded on this concept, and now they are very much a thing, and they are randomized for each objective:
 

 
There are six types of main objective zones:
Airport and Stronghold - only five extra Airport zones exist on the whole map, as the players' base is one (and there 6 on Altis). Strongholds are military installations, of which there are only a handful on Altis. An airport or stronghold objective has a buffed up enemy presence, and will have a guarantee of two sub-objectives, and a 50% chance of a third.
Capital - large urban areas (there might only be one on Altis, but I haven't checked and it's not immediately google-able). Guarantee of one subobjective, a 50% chance of a second, and a 25% chance of a third.
City - urban area. 50% chance of a subobjective, 50% chance of a second subobjective, and 25% chance of a third.
Village - small urban area. Up to three subobjectives, but a 25% chance of each.
Industrial or Special areas - these are factories, big hill tops, and other areas of strategic importance. 33% chance of a subobjective, 33% chance of a second subobjective, and a 25% chance of a third subobjective.
 
What does all this mean? For some areas there will be at least 2 if not 3 subobjectives, and for some areas there will be none. There are a total of 10 different sub objective types which I'm not going to reveal just yet (obviously, from the screenshot, there are at least 3 - destroy an enemy mortar team, eliminate an elite squad, and destroy an enemy command & control center).
 
A sub objective adds 1-2 small squads, and/or a vehicle, and sometimes an objective that must be destroyed. It's not mandatory to complete the subobjectives: if you clear out a majority of the enemy presence in an AO, the main task will complete and close out the sub tasks. But since the troops added by the subobjectives are considered in the overall enemy presence, it's likely you'll be engaging the sub objectives.
 
Other noteworthy points: I've made a first pass at custom squads, where a player can create their own squads and add/remove roles as they like. Up to 8 roles can be assigned, but these exclude special roles such as pilots, armor operators, and sniper/spotters (custom squads are infantry squads). The first mandatory role is a Squad leader, you can add as many basic riflemen as you like, but after that you can only add one role from the other types (medic, autorifleman, rifleman AT, etc). You'll be able to lock a squad and invite other players to join. Squad names will be fixed (NATO phonetic names from Foxtrot to Romeo).
 
Next beta test will be next week, when 052 is ready, and probably after we're done the latest Steam Free Weekend for Arma
 
- Ryko

My notes from today's test:
- Inventory closing on its own - somehow related to backpack locking or vehicle locking script, no reason why that should be happening.
- Users aren't getting a hint on zeus ping to stop endless spam of zeus pings.
- Side missions didn't spawn.
- Enemy reinforcements came in after an AO was cleared, not when enemies were reduced below 50%. The reinforcements went to the new AO. ?
- Body dragging was terribly bad (bodies weren't released)
- Gear restriction didn't remove blue smoke grenades, thus they were in some players default loadouts. Solution: don't remove these smokes, but change them to green smokes.
- Wounded players aren't showing up correctly in the world and on map view.
- Map markers are disappearing after time, for no good reason.
- Consider different medium range scopes for marksmen (with alternate reticle)
- Paradrop reward produced a script error.
- Dead bodies cleanup: it's working as intended, but the result is that bodies aren't being cleared. Next version of this code will be much more aggressive to keep dead body count low
- UAV recon missions produced a bug. Will consider making UAV have added functionality, ie., it will automatically recon areas that have the most players.
- OPFOR were reacting to player presence appropriately - but this meant that almost all enemy squads responded to the presence of even one identified player. Consider restricting the number of squads the respond to player identification.
- Purchased rewards are currently added to inventory; as a result they're not automatically saved to the player's current loadout. Solution will be to add these items to the arsenal, the player will have to equip them in the arsenal, then the loadout will be automatically saved.

My name's MrBlob, or Jake - as I am called in game - I have recently got Arma 3, just before Christmas from a generous YouTuber because I have been a mod on his Discord server for over a year now. I got the Apex Edition so I have got all the nice DLCs, hopefully soon I can get the Jets, Tank, and Law Of War DLCs. I already have 65 Hours in the game, I'm enjoying it a lot. I&A EU#1 has become my main server, I have met people like Jordan and Chris on there and any time they come on the server we play together. Thanks for running this server and I hope I can help out with and around it.
 
Thanks,
MrBlob (Jake)