Home » PLAYER'S HQ 1.13 » JA2 Complete Mods & Sequels » All about modding JA2 » Horn of Africa Mod
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #291765]
|
Sun, 09 October 2011 21:26  
|
|
 AngelJdF |
|
Messages:1
Registered:February 2010
Location: Germany |
|
|
lockieThe load times between play are tedious ... has this to do with the big maps ? If so , some workaround will have to be found , as even an interrupt for enemy gives time enough to read a magazine article ! Scrolling is also jerky and the rain falls in slo-mo !
I don't have that kind of problems. My quickload time is only 3 seconds. The time for an enemy turn is as fast as on Vanilla. Nearly no crashes or bug warnings. My main problem is - i never found the last remaining enemy on that big maps. Perhaps there should be that kind of body scouter gadget in the first sector? Unfortunality there is no guide for this new scenario. Its very complicated to make decisions what to do next. Where are the mines? Where are the anti-aircraft bases? The wrong radar screens are very annoying too. Its complicated to find important NPC's. There are NPC messanges in empty desert sectors.
The marksmanship of the enemys and my soldiers are very bad. But thats very interesting and a very good idea - long and good battles! But why is the visibility at night that kind of high? (its not really a problem).
A much more important problem is - the enemy has no teamwork anymore. No pursuits and no other kind of enemy support when the player is sighted. Every opponent is still standing on his position whatever happens (even in battle with itinerant groups of enemys). The big maps are very helpful too, to prickle the opponent one by one.
This mod has a very good potential. Pershaps the modders should built a entire new story in order to make this mod epic like Renegade of the Republic or Urban Chaos! (Un)fortunality the big maps are very time-consuming to play, so goodbye girlfriend xD
Report message to a moderator
|
Civilian
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292192]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 06:47
|
|
| usrbid |
 |
Messages:1506
Registered:December 2008 |
|
|
Yo olivier, What's AAR?
And to clarify, the link RoWa posted doesn't work for me, I get an HTTP 404 error. This is not an in game error, I simply cannot download HoA anymore.
I installed HoA on top of Tais' latest unstable SCI, the game became unplayable slow in sector L14, I had to give up.
First impression, the weapon balance reminds me of the WW2 mod, where you get rifles early on. I have now 3 battle scopes, more small scopes, bipods, and flash suppressors than I can attach even to my backup guns.
The large sectors make taking out enemies easy. The gear placed in the sectors is too much e.g. I have more rags, molotovs, rod & spring than I can carry. The enemies drop amazing guns starting with the second battle e.g. my squad of six AIMs has all AKs, one RPK, one G3, all with tracer ammo, even the G3. Definitely more rifle ammo than I can carry. MD became a sniper with a mosin nagant (because you can attach a battle scope to it).
Enemy armor feels too strong, 9mm HP is almost obsolete after the second battle, it is just luck to get a good hit through. Enemies drop Twaron after the third battle.
I am playing with NCTH, auto fire is very different from 1.13, many times all bullets miss completely. CTH percentage almost always starts at zero, even with a battle scope G3 and 13 tiles away aiming at the torso I start at zero CTH.
[Updated on: Sun, 16 October 2011 07:13] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292228]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 16:47
|
|
| viracicha |
 |
Messages:102
Registered:November 2007 |
|
|
the fact that thoses maps are so big; it make defense a nonsense :
for example ( i play in expert ) the army attack ( they are 17 ) the camp at night, but they were scout, so i prepare the d
[Updated on: Sun, 16 October 2011 17:57] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
|
Sergeant
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292238]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 18:31
|
|
| Toneone |
 |
Messages:376
Registered:October 2008
Location: Germany |
|
|
Holy shit, that intro music. 
I laughed pretty hard for a moment there.
So, the first thing that sprung into my eye was SLEEVES!
Oh yes, dear lord!
After all this years i finally have sleeves on my mercs. Granted not ready in every animation frame, and none on the imps but still, im glad.
The obvious thing with this mod are the large maps, as you all stated. It takes some time to get used to and especially to the newer sight ranges. I was pretty surprised how far we and the enemy can see in the dark even.
Still i had some fun battles so far. Seeing as ive only looked at four map squares im not drowning in good gear or whatever. I actually had to lure patrols into the camp sector to fight defensive and clever with my shabby pitols and smgs. In those jungle maps, youre toast with crappy guns against the AI.
I have to say, that i toned down the settings of the mod(which are obviously for testing) and play with a more challenging setup.
The strategic map looks neat so far, but i find it hard to make out city borders. Could use a little less brightness or different coloured borders.
I have not seen any of the slowdown other players are talking about. I had some lag during actions once or twice. And when i quickload the game displays roofs again on explored houses, even if mercs are in there.
So, what ive seen so far seems really cool and interesting. I will look forward to the day we get a new WIP or whatever. Really a lot of good ideas in there.
Also, at the other folks playing: Is there anything you can do besides fighting and looking at the maps?
Report message to a moderator
|
Master Sergeant
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292239]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 18:39
|
|
| lockie |
 |
Messages:3717
Registered:February 2006
Location: Scotland |
|
|
Quote: have not seen any of the slowdown other players are talking about.
Seems to be only on certain maps ...
Quote: And when i quickload the game displays roofs again on explored houses, even if mercs are in there.
Yup , thats a nuisance .
Quote:Also, at the other folks playing: Is there anything you can do besides fighting and looking at the maps?
Doesn't seem to be so far , usual 'somebody in sector blah blah ' and no-one is there . Or , if there is , this is another example of Large Map 'spend hours searching for' nuisance ! .... Large maps have great potential , but gonna have to be carefully constructed so as not to be a waste of time , with the player wandering all over trying to kill the last redshirt or just find something .
Hope they match up the radarmaps with the actual maps soon ... would be so much better . Also , again , can we not have dark skinned civ's and enemies ?.
Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292240]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 18:57
|
|
| Toneone |
|
Messages:376
Registered:October 2008
Location: Germany |
|
|
Quote:Doesn't seem to be so far , usual 'somebody in sector blah blah ' and no-one is there . Or , if there is , this is another example of Large Map 'spend hours searching for' nuisance ! .... Large maps have great potential , but gonna have to be carefully constructed so as not to be a waste of time , with the player wandering all over trying to kill the last redshirt or just find something .
Yeah, my first thought was similar. You have to construct them very carefully and place important people or things in such a way that the player will find them without to much hassle. But i can not imagine that the devs do not realize this.
Quote:Hope they match up the radarmaps with the actual maps soon
Oh yeah, that would make things much easier.
Quote:Also , again , can we not have dark skinned civ's and enemies ?.
Seeing as the sleeves thing is not finished im guessing animtions and models will be done along the line. Cant imagine that they will not populate africa with dark skinned people.
Though im guessing the plot will include some white mercenaries and such.
When Far Cry 2 came out, there was a big roar because you were shooting black people in africa.
So they had to bring in a bunch of white mercenary/milita enemies to silence that.
Maybe the devs remember that instance.
Report message to a moderator
|
Master Sergeant
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292276]
|
Sun, 16 October 2011 23:57
|
|
| usrbid |
|
Messages:1506
Registered:December 2008 |
|
|
HazmatI have to say, that i toned down the settings of the mod(which are obviously for testing) and play with a more challenging setup.
Yo Hazmat, what did you change? I am playing Expert just like you for playtesting only. Below are my INI changes.
MAX_NUMBER_PLAYER_MERCS = 32
AUTO_SAVE_EVERY_N_HOURS = 0
CREATURE_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
MILITIA_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
CIVILIAN_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
ATTACHMENT_DROP_RATE = 100
lockieUse the link to Kermis repository , courtesy of our good friend Schienworld !
Yah, that's the one I ended up using as RoWa's link seems to be broken. Maybe I should update the link in RoWa's post to Kermi's one?
lockieAlso , again , can we not have dark skinned civ's and enemies ?.
I believe there a multiple brown colors possible for the skin in the game. I have seen mods where enemies wear certain colors for shirt and pants. It should be technically possible to change the skin color as well, it works just like shirt and pant colors.
They could ask someone to externalize enemy colors (skin, shirt, pants etc.) into an XML (unless this has been done already), then mod the XML to match with the theme.
When I was in Somalia, there were vast amount of kids around, not sure why because I did see schools. That is also something Horn of Africa should have modded, much more civilians and way more children.
I am not sure why some sectors slow down so much that the game becomes unplayable. I believe I use the SCI EXE, so they didn't mod the EXE, then it has to be the maps. XMLs typically just crash the game when you stumble into an XML miss.
You know, that reminds me, why does JA crash when the XML has a bug? Just log the problem and replace it with a NADA item. For example when you miss skins or wires in other games e.g. Oblivion, the game will display a big a$$ yellow question mark when you get to the missing item, this way you know it is broken, but the game will just go on normally, what's up with the crashing, that is so 90s...
Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292279]
|
Mon, 17 October 2011 00:45
|
|
| usrbid |
|
Messages:1506
Registered:December 2008 |
|
|
You know, that reminds me, why does JA crash when the XML has a bug? Just log the problem and replace it with a NADA item. For example when you miss skins or wires in other games e.g. Oblivion, the game will display a big a$$ yellow question mark when you get to the missing item, this way you know it is broken, but the game will just go on normally, what's up with the crashing, that is so 90s...
HazmatI have to say, that i toned down the settings of the mod(which are obviously for testing) and play with a more challenging setup.
Yo Hazmat, what did you change? I am playing Expert just like you for playtesting only. Below are my INI changes.
MAX_NUMBER_PLAYER_MERCS = 32
AUTO_SAVE_EVERY_N_HOURS = 0
CREATURE_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
MILITIA_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
CIVILIAN_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0
ATTACHMENT_DROP_RATE = 100
lockieUse the link to Kermis repository , courtesy of our good friend Schienworld !
Yah, that's the one I ended up using as RoWa's link seems to be broken. Maybe I should update the link in RoWa's post to Kermi's one?
lockieAlso , again , can we not have dark skinned civ's and enemies ?.
I believe there a multiple brown colors possible for the skin in the game. I have seen mods where enemies wear certain colors for shirt and pants. It should be technically possible to change the skin color as well, it works just like shirt and pant colors.
They could ask someone to externalize enemy colors (skin, shirt, pants etc.) into an XML (unless this has been done already), then mod the XML to match with the theme.
When I was in Somalia, there were vast amount of kids around, not sure why because I did see schools. That is also something Horn of Africa should have modded, much more civilians and way more children.
I am not sure why some sectors slow down so much that the game becomes unplayable. I believe I use the SCI EXE, so they didn't mod the EXE, then it has to be the maps. XMLs typically just crash the game when you stumble into an XML miss.
Edit: Moved my last comment to the top in the hope people are more likely to read it.
I finally reached sector I14 - Alma Mine in HoA, the game gives me the pop up message "your aquad noticed someone in the sector", but the sector is completely empty (except for jungle). I GABBI Alt+E - nothing. Scrolled through the entire map, screen by screen, nothing. No buildings, no people, zip. Looks like it is the broke.
Yo lockie, were you able to establish mine income somewhere? If so, in what sector?
[Updated on: Mon, 17 October 2011 00:48] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Modhttp://www.ja-galaxy-forum.com/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newreply&Board=20&Numb[message #292280]
|
Mon, 17 October 2011 00:54
|
|
| Toneone |
|
Messages:376
Registered:October 2008
Location: Germany |
|
|
Quote:Yo Hazmat, what did you change? I am playing Expert just like you for playtesting only.
Yeah Expert is my level also.
First off ive reduced the imp attribute input points to 600. Still more than vanilla but way less then their setting. Seeing as this is just for looking at the maps and stuff ive gone with an all IMP group, but i still didnt made them supersoldiers.
Then i halved the starting cash to only grab the med/repairkits of some mercs.
The enemy pool for expert was already at 1000(my usual setting) so i just cranked up the elite percentage to 55%(also my usual setting).
The garrisions seemed fine to me at first glance, didnt went into town now. I usually crank those up a bit.
I left ATTACHMENT_DROP_RATE as it was and dont use drop all.
The speedfactors for milita and enemies are fine at 0.2 imho, civis and creatures at 0.0.
I think thats about it.
See, i did this under a false impression. I thought there was a little bit more to do already.
Had i remembered my own words, advising people that Bugmonster said this dump is only to show off the maps that have been done so far, i probaly would have left the settings as they were and breezed through the maps once.
So again, for all you fellow players.
Its just to show off the maps and some minor things, nothing more to do or see.
Ah well, no matter. I do enjoy the battles one the big maps very much.
You have to get used to the scale, and ranges but its not bad.
Its a bit tiresome without the radarmaps but the difference to normal map tactics is quite noticeable, to me at least.
With my "crappy" starting gear, i have to lure the enemy closer, lay a trap or have to flank them in pretty wide angles.
The AI also does that very well. They are good in using the trees so you cant really hit them, but they can hit you. And they can be pretty clever when they circle and flank your positions.
Its been quite some time when i had to play so crafty.
Last night i had a patrol wander in my camp sector.
I placed five of my imps in stationary defense postions so the AI would see them and try to circle them or hunker down behind trees.
They only had their MP5
Report message to a moderator
|
Master Sergeant
|
|
|
|
| Re: Horn of Africa Mod[message #292281]
|
Mon, 17 October 2011 02:02
|
|
| usrbid |
|
Messages:1506
Registered:December 2008 |
|
|
I am now getting an assertion failure when advancing time after clearing K13. Apparently I freed Balime and both watching the queen cut sequence or skipping it causes an assertion failure. Looks like I am done, there is no way for me to get out of this other than going back to an older save game.
Yo Hazmat, Really cool play report!! There used to be a bug when drop all was turned off where LBE wouldn't be dropped, did you get any LBE vests or leg rigs in your game with drop all off?
I also like the larger maps, although I believe (but I don't know for sure) that they make the game slower. It could also be the items on the maps which slows it down. Try L14 and let me know if you notice any slow down.
In L14 there was an enemy next to a little supermarket with a blue car parked in front, the game got faster after I killed that guy. Under Alt+E the majority of the wait time was spent by that enemy, who didn't do anything, not even move or turn. The guy stood there frozen and sucked up 2+ minutes real time each turn.
The only drawback of large maps is, when you enter a map where militia and enemy soldiers are already engaged in combat. It took ~25 minutes real time for my soldiers to reach the enemies in K13 because I needed so many turns to run from the sector edge to where the enemies were, and had to wait for the enemies and militia to finish shooting at each other after each of my turns.
Edit: Alright, I went to a previous save, left K13 with the tank unharmed, and continued the game.
Yo lockie, I believe you are supposed to be able to order shipments to Shumodigu Cargo, at least there is a Cargo Quarter on the map directly north of the Camp. My guess is L13, the sector with the airplane on their release map. In L13 there is a heli and an airplane, and there is a wooden and a metal crate close to it. However I tried ordering something and it doesn't arrive, you also don't get an email from BR. There is also a Shumodigu Private, which is probably meant to be a drop off closer to the queen, B3 on their map, similar to the Meduna airport.
[Updated on: Mon, 17 October 2011 10:27] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Mon Jan 06 06:32:36 GMT+2 2025
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.02579 seconds
|
Blog
Search
Help
Members
Register
Login
Home
