Invade & Annex 4 Alpha Test Feedback

[Ryko]

On 9/1/2018 at 11:25 AM, Patrik_swe said:

Found that as a Sniper I could not find the .50cal Lynx?! (Bad with names)

In Arma 2035 lore it's used by CSAT and AAF (Armed Assault Wikia). The NATO equivalent is the .320 Long Range Rifle.

[Stanhope]

Things that i know to be fixed or still broken from last time:

On 8/31/2018 at 10:01 PM, Stanhope said:

-UAV operator cannot use UAVs while he's in base
-Crate with ammo near the vehicle service pad closes your inventory automatically after you open it.  It also contains vehicle ammo

-Ghosthawks don't have lock guns actions 
-UAV operator has controls over all the UAVs on the carrier and destroyer
-Tasks aren't deleting themselves after completion, meaning we'll end up with a long list of completed tasks.
-Vehicles don't have clean vehicle inventory action
-Slots that you previously took cannot be taken again

 

New 'bugs':

-UAV op doesn't have the arty comp

-GH turret lock action doesn't work (whoever made that should be publicly shamed )

-IDAP enemies spawn the unarmed nyx recon

-The co-pilot seat of the xi'an is disabled

-The default spawn xi'an is armed

-The default loadout of the xi'an doesn't give the dumbfire rockets to the pilot

-Base protection zones in some bases need tweaking

[Ryko]

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-UAV op doesn't have the arty comp

Does it need it? I kind of like needing it to be team based, ie., VLS needs laser des

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-GH turret lock action doesn't work (whoever made that should be publicly shamed )

pls fix

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-IDAP enemies spawn the unarmed nyx recon

fixed

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-The co-pilot seat of the xi'an is disabled

-The default spawn xi'an is armed

fixed

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-The default loadout of the xi'an doesn't give the dumbfire rockets to the pilot

maybe add that to loadout function

1 hour ago, Stanhope said:

-Base protection zones in some bases need tweaking

rgr

[radek]

(not a bug)report/rant

 

today's experience probably more showed the direction of IA4 as such - much more dynamic, natural and organic. and in the current test setup, much much much harder. if you don't move, you die. id you don't coop, you die.

 

increasing the AI skill, or it's ability to return fire at 500m, move fast and randomly should provide enough havoc. There seems to be far less 'static' troops which just wait to get dropped.

But they also seem to have too big balls of steel, as suppression is not really working on them, which makes them feel like a robot army again.

hm, i wonder whether humans of EU1 look the same way to the AI though...

 

AI will always have bugs, I had some ambients appear in breathing range, just step me over and continue moving.

 

speaking of ambients... it will be devastating for players having to cover their asses when AO is done, much more than the present danger of "AO spawnkill". especially of troops at range can have a very tough time exfiling, when a squad suddenly rises near. anyway, whole shiploads of smokes will have to be added and used in loadouts.

 

My fav, sniping, finally will have some challenge, even without full ace ballistics. As mentioned, at shorter range, when counter-detected, the AI will mercilessly hammer your position. At greater distances, ~1000, the more lively movement patterns will make the job harder. Also the risk of being just stepped on by ambients from all directions around the AOs adds a beautiful concern and could generate demand for spotters which would be fantastic

 

one deployment had me paradrop across katalaki bay. after being shot at in the air, i broke contact on landing. patrols across the bay were still looking for me and when I took some out, they went crazy, suppressing really good, pinning me down in hard cover. And then they just sent a gorgon all the way around the bay to finish me. That was oddly satisfying.

 

btw, the automatic "paradrop" feature is nice, it's basically teleport to any location, and solves the issue with parachute-vs-backpack vanilla problem, which is convenient. my concern would be that it might steal pilots' jobs, being priced only at 10 kills.

 

Lonewolfing will get more difficult, but the ability to revive "for all" could help create/favor small, buddy teams. Here the squad system might get a bit in the way, as for now, dynamically creating/changing squads is limited as such and outright not possible in field. Otoh, it's a result of the complex (and great) features that come with it, like rewards, locking, budgets and all that stuff.

 

I agree with what almost all in the test felt - the potential is great. And I hope a nice balance of difficulty, scaling and user satisfaction can be found to keep reasonable number of EU1 population interested and engaged (sic).  Also the idea of having a second server "turned up a notch" sounded really good if that would be practicable.

 

Again, at this level, the gameplay was less casual than current EU1, you need to watch out, move and beware of mistakes. It does not allow you the same level of "reckless" style, which is an advantage and risk at the same time.

 

I hope after the current bug fixes, the fun of large-scale balancing will start soon, because I like IA4 already.

[Ryko]

Thank you for your detailed experience report! In some ways this is more valuable than just bug reports because it makes us examine the mission as a whole. 

 

My takeaway items from this:

 

1. Finesse ambient Ai spawns so they appear to be legitimate reinforcements; spawning within breathing range is unfair and unacceptable. 

2. Reduce the frequency of ambient ai to keep players on their toes, but not crush their spirit. 

43 minutes ago, radek said:

suppression is not really working on them

I'll investigate this, but my sense is that this is the brick wall that is arma ai. 

 

44 minutes ago, radek said:

might steal pilots' jobs, being priced only at 10 kills.

I agree, I am also concerned about this: right now, with regular infantry players not having much to save their points for, there's no reason not to Paradrop. My long term vision is that they can use points to add weapon and equipment upgrades, which will provide a disincentive to just dump those points on a Paradrop. 

 

47 minutes ago, radek said:

dynamically creating/changing squads is limited as such and outright not possible in field.

Yeah, something else I want to review. I think if an equivalent role is available in another squad, you should be able to switch squads in the field. What I want to avoid is the situation of players switching from one role to another just to address tactical needs: you shouldn't magically become proficient as a medic "in the field". But I also don't want players being able to create uber squads on the fly with 8 medics. 

 

R

[Stanhope]

9 hours ago, Ryko said:

Does it need it? I kind of like needing it to be team based, ie., VLS needs laser des

 

He's the only one with access to the Hammer, which is basically a piece of arty that happens to be a UAV.

[Amentes]

Mk45 requires Arty Computer, indeed. Useless without it. Technically, it can be used in Direct Fire mode, but it's not like the Sochor where you can kinda sorta point the barrel at something and expect to get a hit. It's finicky.

 

9 hours ago, radek said:

speaking of ambients... it will be devastating for players having to cover their asses when AO is done, much more than the present danger of "AO spawnkill". especially of troops at range can have a very tough time exfiling, when a squad suddenly rises near. anyway, whole shiploads of smokes will have to be added and used in loadouts.

 

Might be worth looking into what kind of units Ambient will spawn. If it spawns a bunch of high-level threats to aircraft, it could get overly problematic for players getting out of the AO, as in evacuation helicopters getting shot down anytime they try to land near infantry.

 

Otherwise your words make me very hopeful as well. It's high time AW I&A steps it up a notch and provides a challenge, and you sure make it sound like that's happening.

 

Well done Devs on this. All hail Ryko I guess

[Ryko]

Version 035 of I&A 4 is on server now and undergoing testing.  We'll be doing another Alpha Test on Friday (1800GMT)

 

Change log:

1. Tweaks to compass direction (vehicle direction if driver, player / gunner direction in other cases)
2. CSAT Xi'an added to vehicles whitelist for co-pilot allowance; base default Xi'ans now spawn unarmed. Reward Xi'ans spawn armed.
3. Removed Scout version of the Nyx from Independent OPFOR vehicles.
4. Only non-incapacitated players now considered for medical alert (players nearby who could revive you).
5. Fixes to destroy cache mission.
6. Tweaks to soldier blue force tracking (should stop it from disappearing randomly).
7. Players not in your group will now show name and rank tags within 30m. Players in your group, this range is 200m.
8. Fix for ground vehicles excluding gunners ('Co-pilot disabled on this vehicle')
9. Added automated team-kill sanction measures (three strikes rule).
10. Tweaks to medical actions (should get reward points for revives?)
11. Restored ability of zeus players to remove players from group roles in squad management.
12. Removed admin notification of player suicides, as no easy way to detect between manual respawn or just bleeding out.
13. Add night vision goggles to all default loadouts.
14. UAV operator now has access to artillery computer.
15. Removed RANDOM button from Arsenal.
16. Tweaks to OPFOR awareness, after calling in support, OPFOR units will return to patrol waypoints after dealing with threats.
17. Added automatic parachutes to air vehicles (if you jump out of a helicopter, you'll automatically get a parachute; your backpack will be restored when you touch down).
18. Revised arsenal. Suppressors and bipods are now reward-purchased items. Slight limit on weaponry as you can purchase additional weapons with reward points.
19. Added weapons and gear purchase functionality to reward menu.
20. Fix for donating points to group leader.
21. Added reward-purchased deployable ammo box functionality with faction-specific box loadouts.
22. Added first version of AI Buddy (purchased with reward points)
23. Secondary missions: extended timeout to minimum 25 minutes, plus an extra 5-10 minutes. Also, first person detected by enemies in the secondary AO will trigger a bonus 10 minute extension.
24. Added new secondary missions: destroy enemy artillery pieces and destroy tank platoon.
25. Added remote designator backpack to Spotter class.
26. Default quad bikes set to faction type.
27. Time multiplier changed to default 6x, parameter option for 12x.
28. Completely removed Freedom / Liberty / +turrets for AAF
29. Added flavour rifles at Arsenal tables.
30. Main AOs that have civilians now also spawn civilian vehicles; some on roads, some in garages (if there are any garages).

[Lindi]

Purchased 6.5 silencer and 6.5 stealth silencer with reward points. Could not find items in arsenal. Playing as LAT using MX 6.5 assault rifle (black).

Purchased AI buddy. Buddy nowhere to be found, maybe AWOL?

[Ryko]

Good test today - I'm leaving the server up over the weekend for people to continue the test.

[Colby]

Alright here we go. Played around with various roles and I like the squad management system, although I clicked u thinking that it would bring up the squad management system. Instead it placed a squad move marker thing. I could not find out how to teleport places, maybe i'm not looking in the right spot or not developed yet? While playing uav operator I forced respawn and open the uav terminal did not appear in the action menu. So I checked in squad management and it said I was uav operator but I spawned as a mortar operator (correct term?). Is everything going to be aaf and will fobs still have to be earned? Overall I like I&A 4 so far. I also like the fact that you get killed if you fire in base too many times. Had to find that out the hard way. Anyway since I'm not that good at reports like this I'm done.

[Ryko]

3 hours ago, Colby said:

I clicked u thinking that it would bring up the squad management system. Instead it placed a squad move marker thing.

That's a good observation. I think I'll tie u as the default key to bring up squad management and assign... The end key, perhaps, for waypoints? What's really needed is an interface to allow players to reassign these hotkeys. 

 

3 hours ago, Colby said:

I could not find out how to teleport places, maybe i'm not looking in the right spot or not developed yet?

The only teleportation in the game is if you're a pilot, to the USS Freedom and back; in IA4 there is only one base (additional Fobs are not progressively unlocked). Though I suppose reward-purchased Paradrops are a form of teleportation. 

 

3 hours ago, Colby said:

So I checked in squad management and it said I was uav operator but I spawned as a mortar operator

So that's a bit strange, I'll investigate. 

 

3 hours ago, Colby said:

Is everything going to be aaf and will fobs still have to be earned?

The player and opfor factions are randomized by default, though when we roll out 4 on eu1 we'll probably keep it to NATO vs Csat for a while (you can also specifically select the factions in mission parameters). No fobs in 4,just the main base randomly selected from the six airfields on Altis. 

[Colby]

5 minutes ago, Ryko said:

 

The player and opfor factions are randomized by default, though when we roll out 4 on eu1 we'll probably keep it to NATO vs Csat for a while (you can also specifically select the factions in mission parameters). No fobs in 4,just the main base randomly selected from the six airfields on Altis. 

Will each time the server restarts the base will be chosen?

[Colby]

Remove countermeasures from dont shoot at base?

[Mark T]

2 hours ago, Colby said:

Will each time the server restarts the base will be chosen?

That is correct, a base will randomly spawn after a server or mission restart. 

[Colby]

Also hellcat got shot down and didnt respawn. I checked half an hour from when it was blown up

[Stanhope]

Some 'bugs' i can remember from last night:

 

-AT and LAT roles need tweaking (for AAF)

-Backpack was lost after jumping out of a helicopter

-Donating points to your group leader gives you a pop-up with the variable name of your group-leader not the name of the person

-When everyone else left I tried switching into vortex 1, which was empty at the time.  It told me that it was not empy but seeing how I was the only one on the server ...

-clear vehicle inventory and sling weapon actions would be nice

[Walk'N]

4 hours ago, Stanhope said:

-Backpack was lost after jumping out of a helicopter

not for Engineer

 

& I have a question:

Are the bought items always in your inventory,even after a deconnection/ reboot of the server?

[Ryko]

Walk'N, are you saying that you landed after using the parachute and your backpack was restored?

 

5 hours ago, Walk'N said:

Are the bought items always in your inventory,even after a deconnection/ reboot of the server?

No.  If you disconnect, you'll lose any items you've purchased (though as I think about it, it may be possible to save that; I'm not anxious to as it means transferring a bunch of information between the players and the server. We'll see).  However if you disconnect and reconnect you will maintain any reward points you accrued.

[ansin11]

missionNamespace?

[Walk'N]

18 minutes ago, Ryko said:

Walk'N, are you saying that you landed after using the parachute and your backpack was restored?

yes

[Ryko]

1 hour ago, ansin11 said:

missionNamespace?

Would prefer to keep it server side

[Colby]

Found that you can get in helicopter as pilot in base then switch your role to something else and still fly the helicopter. I could see how this could be ok if the player count is under 5 so then you could transport yourself faster

[applechaser]

On 9/15/2018 at 10:35 PM, Colby said:

Found that you can get in helicopter as pilot in base then switch your role to something else and still fly the helicopter. I could see how this could be ok if the player count is under 5 so then you could transport yourself faster

yeah, same thing with the armor roles.

 

another thing: helicopters are not respawning: joined the server when it was emtpy yesterday all helis were gone..

[Colby]

1 hour ago, applechaser said:

yeah, same thing with the armor roles.

 

another thing: helicopters are not respawning: joined the server when it was emtpy yesterday all helis were gone..

Me also hellcat was gone and a few hours later still gone