Splin

We need more building parts like ladders, roofs and cinder walls with small door. More building parts to customize our bases, to make them more comfortable. Golems, poppies and strange ferris is not what we want, that things cause misunderstanding and outrage. We don't know what's going on with mod, no future update information, no work-in-progress data from developers in twitter or somewhere else. We have some problems with snapping and building on water and no one knows when this bugs can be fixed. Can you communicate with us more frequently and hear our problems? Epoch is the game about PVP and basebuilding, whether you like it or not. This mod become a main military game for groups of players. Just give us more possibilities and variety, we do not need mystical creatures, zombies, earthworms or something like that. That creatures only disturbing players that take a part in tactical fight with other players. I'm sorry for the harshness and candor, this opinion is not only mine but also of my friends, we played ARMA and Epoch very long and don't want to watch as this mod dying from indifference of developers.

Obsolete, disregard

Someone requested the same two days ago in another forum.
You can use my script I wrote for them.

Here it is:
http://kiloswiss.ch/misc/arma3/groupMarker.sqf

Greez Kilo

I've been struggling with storing all loot that my mates bring from AI missions and I decided to create bigger boxes that would be stored in the database as a storage unit. I took Shelf from Epoch client as an example. The new box can hold up to 10000 lbs of loot compared with 300 lbs of the Shelf. The new box may be built using 4 Large Corrugated + 4 Plank Packs. By using the larger boxes I also managed to remove 100 or so shelves and replace them with 10 boxes. I guess that may increase my server performance just a bit.
 
Check out this video and let me know what do you think.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQFY3PchJaQ
 
Here's the link to the new extra_storage.pbo
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxlL3HGbsA4PQkx5S3k0NTZuRVE/view?usp=sharing
 
You will need to put extra_storage.pbo into an existing or a custom @mod\addons folder on the server and on each client that connects to the server.
 
I also added this line into my mission.sqm:
addOns[] = { ... "extra_storage", ... } You may also want to customize your cfgCrafting.hpp to include the recipes to build the Storage Box Kit:
class ItemCorrugatedLg : Default { usedIn[] = { "VehicleRepairLg", "KitPlotPole", "KitStorageBox" }; recipe[] = { { "ItemCorrugated", 3 } }; }; class PartPlankPack : Default { usedIn[] = {"KitStudWall","KitWoodFloor","KitWoodFoundation","KitWoodStairs","KitWoodRamp","KitTiPi", "KitStorageBox"}; recipe[] = {{"WoodLog_EPOCH",2}}; }; class KitStorageBox : Default { recipe[] = {{"ItemCorrugatedLg",4}, {"PartPlankPack",4} }; }; That's it! No more struggling with finding place to put that new sniper rifle, or 10 rifles :)

Any chance you'll be sharing how to have this type of night with the rest of us or perhaps with the Epoch devs so it could be made standard?

So over the past few days that we have had the public 0.3.0.1 B17 running, we have noticed the extreme amounts of antagonists and some other little quirks here and there static weather example cough cough.....
 
 
However the biggest one for helping performance actually came from testing what would happen if I did this and that kinda stuff.
 
So lets get to the test.
Changed the epochconfig.cpp to have the antagonists spawn 0.01% for all 3 options
No change in amount of antagonists......
 
So then I said F it and made it 0 percent, remembers seeing lists of antagonists in the loot.h file and removed them from all lists associated.
 
At this point the epoch code should have no idea wtf to spawn in because there are no names and no percentages.
On top of that they were turned to a 0 percent chance of spawning, yet there they are still......
 
The better news is that it does reduce the amount of ANTAGONISTS and it does help with Server FPS.
 
Hope this info helps you guys.
Each of these are after 2 hours of uptime with a bunch of addons and scripts
Yesterday 73 players Server FPS 8
Today 70 players Server FPS 18-23

I saw the pinned trashpile lootmap and decided I wanted to create my own maps. So, I create one that marks all of the ATM and phonebooth locations on the map (indicated by green dots) and another that marks all of the locations of the blue water barrels that can be used to fill the glass jars (indicated by blue dots). Thanks to mosesuk for the script. Click the images to enlarge.
 

 

Let's ask another question. Why do you care how other people run their server(s).
 
If your goal is to run a hardcore survival server, cool, do it.
 
But wtf do you care how other people run their servers... Because they steal your players?
 
:D

From what i learned back in dayz era. 70% of the people who played on my non vanilla server liked it because:    1. They didn't have hours to dedicate to playing the game the way it was designed originally. (I.E. spending days before finding a broken vehicle and hours finding supplies to fix it). Gamers have lives to.  2. They loved the idea of the game and wanted to experience it in a faster pace.    I think to argue with how people have different opinions on how to run/enjoy a server is ridiculous. We should embrace every server being different and enjoy those differences. One day i might feel like spending more time playing the game and join a "vanilla server". Another day i want to drive my car into a (shark) tornado for the lawls...   Give people the creative freedom to do what they want. We don't all have to be the same. <3

Just to set the record straight, I am a 46 year old American male.  I have been firing, owning and collecting military small arms since I was 8 years old (that's from 1976 for those who are counting).  I am NOT some tween millenia hipster who only knows what they learned in COD: Modern Warfare 16.
 
That said, the guns in Epoch, especially the custom ones, are A-MA-ZING.  The model and skin on the M249 is extremely well done.
 
A couple notes, not complaints, not saying OMG CHANGE THIS NOW!, just for info and consideration.
 
1) The M107 rifle fires from a 10 round magazine.  Not sure if this is changeable without adding a new mag type.  Can you mod it to allow 2 Lynx mags to be used in tandem?  Not sure, not a coder.
 
2) When a sound suppressor is attached to the M14 rifles it attaches to the tip of the flash suppressor currently.  It should attach at the front of the front sight assembly, completely covering the flash suppressor.  Actually adding a suppressor would require removing the front sight assembly completely and adding a custom flash suppressor or muzzle brake mount, but that would mean you could not use the rifle without an optic.
 
3) Sound Suppressors in general are WAY too long (the exception being the 6.5 LMG suppressor which is perfect).  Suppressors have gotten much shorter in the last decade.  See the AAC M4-2000, 762 SD-N6 or the SilencerCo Saker line.  I know these are standard Arma art assets currently.
 
4) The m1911 and ACP-C2 are the exact same pistol, firing the exact same cartridge.  You have separate magazines for each, you could delete one of the them to clean up the weapons pbo file.  A small thing, just something I noticed in the wiki.
 
5)  There is a magazine repacking script in use on some A3Wasteland servers, check it out, it rocks.  Much more elegant a solution than the current means of selling almost empty mags to the vendor and buying them back full.
 
6) This is a personal request, add an FN-FAL.  thx.
 
Again, this is a great start to a great mod, please dont take these points as me being dissatisfied at all, I am loving it and my buddies in [TACX] are too.  Keep up the good work.
 
 
 
 

I've made great progress. Ai now fire back and what not. They also stay and the missions spawn with the help of a loop and some other stuff. Nothing on the mission.pbo side and well. It's pretty much nearing a "stable" state.

Updated Dec 22nd: https://github.com/hogscraper/A3_EPOCH_Headless_Client   I have created a repo on Github with this code to make setting it up a little easier. The repo contains the bare essentials to get this up and running but has a crippled AI system. When I put that in the code below, it was crap and was only intended as a generic stand in so server admins would know how to get other AI mission systems up and running. What I overlooked was the lack of any decent ones being out when I first posted this. To force the issue I went ahead and deleted most of what was in the AI_Init code so it still spawns a few AI, but that's it. I want to take the focus in this thread from the AI aspect and stay with just the HC stuff. This repo is still being put together, but it has what you need to reference so you can get your server up and running a little easier.     Updated Dec 10th: I added a section below on processor affinity and how to set this up with multiple instances of Arma. thanks for the heads up axeman!   This isn't for the light of heart. If you feel confident in your ability to follow simple instructions, hopefully this tutorial will help you out. If you get to a point and have to ask yourself, "well how do I do that?" you need to use google. There are tons of tutorials out there on any instruction I give below and they are out of the scope of this tutorial. I had a friend and fellow server admin run through this on a basic A3 and Epoch install on his box and he was able to get it up and running no problems, (other than the BEFilters mentioned below).   SECTION 1: SETTING UP A HEADLESS CLIENT:   This has become so much easier lately as BI have recently included HC tech inside A3. It really is a much easier process than it ever has been in the past. Because of this, I will be redirecting you to a tutorial they made to get you started. You can use 127.0.0.1 wherever you find an ip address, (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx on the tutorial page), if your sever is local to  the headless client. The best part is, you no longer need another cd key for a headless client in A3. Read this, and when you are done, I will fill in the blanks with what's relevant to Epoch: https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3_Headless_Client   At this point you will have an edited mission.sqm with a new unit called headlesshogs_01, (or whatever you called yours). I added a number to my name so I have the option to create more than one at a later date if I need it. You can reference your headless client later to add even more to it by referencing the name you gave it. In most cases, AI systems are built so you only  need to fire and forget but its worth noting if you wish to take this concept further.   Create a new text file in your A3 base folder and rename it Headless_Client_01.bat Inside that file paste this line:   arma3server.exe -client -connect=127.0.0.1 -mod="@epoch";   This bat file will create a new, dedicated client and connect it to your server, joining the first free headless client slot it can find. If you use a master bat file to run your server you will want to have this code called after BEC has loaded. If you are running them manually, the order is Redis-(wait for load to complete) server launch BEC launch(waits on its own for server launch to complete before running) HC launch(best to wait until BEC is completely loaded before running)     Processor Affinity:   I'm a Windows user so these instructions are valid for that system. Before you begin, you should have some background knowledge about the processor you are running your server on. How many cores it has, which cores if any are hyperthreading cores, etc. This information will help you determine which cores you want to  run which processes so that you have a better idea on what to substitute for the generic values in this tutorial.   When you run multiple instances of any Arma product on the same box, its always best to assign each process to a separate cpu core. This can help get ahead of bottlenecks when the server and the HC are both running code at the same time. You can manually adjust these values through Task Manager but its much easier to just add the information directly to your batch files. If you edit your batch file you only need to edit the beginning of the line:   start /AFFINITY # "arma3server.exe" ... the rest of your start parameters as they already are   The # above are the cpu cores you want to utilize but its a little tricky determining, as its a hex value of a binary number. Your processors need to be arranged with the highest number first. So eight cores would be written down as 87654321 and four cores would be 4321   Once you have written the number of cores you have in that format you will need to create a binary number using the cores you want to run on. If we wanted this process to use cores 8,6,4 and 2 we would utilize the binary like:   87654321 10101010   Just mark a 1 under any core number you want to use and a zero under any that you don't. This new binary number needs to be converted into a hexadecimal value. A quick way to do that is open windows calculator. Click View and choose   Programmer   Click the radio button for Bin, (putting the calculator into binary mode), and enter the number you obtained above. After you hit the last digit you can click the radio button for Hex and it will convert the number. So, for the above 10101010 we would get AA as the hex value to substitute for #:   start /AFFINITY AA arma3server.exe  ...  the rest of your start parameters as they already are   With the server assigned to the cores we wanted the headless client can be done the same way. If the HC only needs to be run on core 3,  87654321 00000100   You get a hex value of 4 and our HC batch line becomes:   start /AFFINITY 4 arma3server.exe  ...  the rest of your start parameters as they already are   You can verify that the OS is running the process on the correct cores by opening Task Manager, right click the process in question and choose Set Affinity. The list it shows you has them ordered with cpu0, (first core) at the top and the list descending to the last core.   Ensure you are using values that you determine are proper for you setup. On my test machine I run the server on  4,3 and 2 and the HC on 1 but haven't noticed much difference whether I give each process one, two or three cpus. This is part of the tutorial where you will need to look at what you have and figure out what's going to work best for you.   Now we have a headless client that will connect to our server so we need to create an init.sqf to handle the HC. Head into your MPMissions folder and find which mission you are calling from within your config.cfg. The default is Epoch.Altis.pbo. You will need to depbo the file and it will create a folder called epoch.Altis with a mission.sqm and a description.ext inside. If you edit the mission.sqm and it is code instead of plain text you depbo'd the file  incorrectly. PBO manager will do this incorrectly so you need Mikero's tools to get a proper unpbo in many cases.   In your new mission folder, you need to create a file named init.sqf. Inside that file place: if !(hasInterface or isServer) then {   HeadlessVariable = true;   publicVariable "HeadlessVariable"; execVm "AI_Init.sqf"; };   "GlobalHint" addPublicVariableEventHandler { private ["_GHint"]; _GHint = _this select 1; hint parseText format["%1", _GHint]; };   The called file above, (AI_Init.sqf), is whatever init file you use to get your AI started. At this point, your server will  have a headless client that will run any AI scripts you would like. The added bit is so the headless client can communicate with the players and let them know when a new AO spawns. The added benefit to this system is that, if the headless client fails to connect, it will continue to retry and the AI system will spawn whenever it finally joins the server. I didn't want the server to run the code as I have the HC for a lot more than one mission so I set this up with the thought in mind that I wanted as much as possible to be removed from the server's  overhead.   While following this section, you may get kicked when you connect as client. There are issues with Arma3 and how it creates the current mp mission in your appdata folder so that if your headless client connects, the next client from that same machine to connect may try to overwrite the current_mission.pbo. Since that will fail it will kick you back to  the server select screen. All you have to do is reconnect. Once connected/disconnected it will assume you already downloaded the mission and will no longer try to re-write the file, allowing your client to connect.   SECTION 2: GETTING AI TO SPAWN   UPDATE: From user Defent, it appears that the Vehicle_Simulation.FSM is deleting any vehicle, (AI included), that was not spawned by a logged in client. That likely means that this code will not work running solely on the server. I have personally verified that when I run this code exactly as written from a headless client it works fine, but when ran by the server it deletes the ai within seconds. We will have to wait on a workaround from the Epoch devs that will allow us to move this code server side in order to do that. I will update this again once we figure out what array or variables are protecting server spawned vehicles.   For this part, I've seen a lot of posts about people having issues with ai being deleted. I had trouble with this as well until I changed a lot of the variables. Certain models will be deleted but I found that creating soldiers and removing their uniform seems to allow them to stick around. I am creating a global array, placing all the ai into it and making that a  public variable. I had originally did this because I was using modified epoch code in a separate pbo on the server but  didn't feel it was appropriate to teach that route since the current restrictions say releasing that modified code is bad. I mention this because I really do not know what affects the ai during cleanup exactly, but it seems to have multiple parts. Certain  models I spawn seem to instantly disappear while others will stick around for a few seconds, fire their guns, then disappear. Since I don't know what exactly fixed the issue I wanted to post the code I am using as it stands right now and maybe we can  figure it out as a community. What I am posting works for me, on a private server, but I wanted some testing done.   I made all of the ai in a group from side RESISTANCE and made all of my triggers pick up side GUE. This mission will make an  AO, somewhere on the map, create a red marker and let all players know. After the mission starts, if thirty minutes goes by and there are still bandits in the AO, the AO ends with a hint saying they took off and the marker will turn yellow.  120 seconds later another AO will picked randomly from the list and continue. If players hunt down the bandits and kill them  all before the thirty minute timer runs out, the AO marker turns green and an ammo box spawns that will last ten minutes before it it deleted. 120 seconds later another AO will be chosen and so on. Each AO that is used is removed from the list and if the list runs through all ten missions it will reset to full and start over.       Inside the mission folder you created for init.sqf you need to make another file called AI_Init.sqf and inside that file place all of the spoiler code inside.
  The above code has positions that are relevant to a custom map I am working are and the AO's themselves have had their text chopped down to something generic. Since this is part of a much larger mission system I am working on I wanted to make a generic version that you could tailor to your own tastes. Pretty much anything you could want just needs to be added to the appropriate section or you could even work out DZMS. I previously got permission from Vampire to modify and use his mission system in my larger A3 mod and it has been working  as well, along side this system, and works the same if I spawn them the same way as this.   One thing I didn't mention above, are BE filters. You will need to take some time and work out which filters you need to edit. I currently have a dozen things I am working on and I honestly can't remember which ones I had to adjust to make this work. The BEC console window will tell you what rule you broke, and that will tell you what changes you  need to make to your filters. Since any AI system you use will likely have much different code, there's no way of knowing which filters will be affected anyways until you test it out. The above mission is more of a basic, to get  started, mission system and really should be used to figure out how to make your own or how to edit existing systems to work with Epoch. Be warned, though, that if you chose to retrofit an A2 mission there will be a ton of things you need to edit to get everything working happily with A3, (like ai skins and loudouts, positions, vehicles, etc).   As I said before, I have tested this many times on my test server and everything seems to be working just fine, but if its not for you guys, let's figure out what's going on! The only issue I have run into is that sometimes the  AI wanders out of the AO. This will prompt the same reaction as killing all of the AI and a reward will spawn as soon as the trigger sees no bandits. I am currently working on things for the ai to do other than a random patrol and am also looking at randomizing their gear and skills and fixing the wandering issue.  If you have a better way, just let me know and I'll gladly update the top of this post! 

You died 48 times?...

The point of BIS including all DLC content for everyone was to stop the fragmentation of the community like what happened with Arma 2/Arma2OA/BAF/PMC/ACR.
 
This way everyone gets the DLC and can join any server regardless on whether they have unlocked/purchased the DLC's or not,  this is only a good thing.
Some features are locked for those who do not have the DLC's, same thing with Karts DLC (Money from Karts all goes to charity) and it will be the same for the Marksman DLC.
 
The Heli's DLC brought you more than just 2 new vehicles, it brought you firing from vehicles, advanced rotorlib for helicopters, helicopter logistics and more  - yes those are the parts of the DLC you get for free!
 
So to say it's not worth paying £X for this or that is a bit shortsighted due to the fact that people only look for new content (models/vehicles/guns) in a DLC and not the extra features that they bring along with them to enhance the gameplay. 
 
Personally I know a load of people who have been waiting for the firing from vehicles feature since way back in Arma.

I will be adding config vars for spawnchance of the antagonists soon and we have much more on the way for 0.3+. Also, we are adding support on our side for the AiA terrain pack with 0.3 so that will open up a lot of maps for use with Epoch. I and assure you it will not stay this way forever.

This thing is crazy sensitive. So easy to flip the thing over. Find it way harder to fly than the sim settings.

Yes, I feel the general discussion should be about the game, not about setting up the servers. 

We are trying to work out some issues before the files go public, we may not be able to fix them all in time for today's release but the files will be released today.

We had a long day testing/fixing some major issues that popped up this morning and I think at this point we have sorted most of them. Server files release should be later today.

Group system is bugged a bit. A guy from my sqaud died and after respawn he is not in the group anymore.
 
I also can´t invite him or kick another player from my group. Yes i have moderator rights.
 
Chaser

Played a bit earlier, logged out.  Now getting this when trying to spawn:
 
Loading player body...please wait
 
then after I'm guessing a timeout
 
Problem setting up player
 
then
 
You were kicked off the game Battleeye public variable restriction #0
 
Guessing I have some missing or corrupted data in the DB?

It's getting close and we need some large scale testing. Mells House server will be hosting the RC patch.
 
You can download the test client here.
 
http://epochmod.com/downloads/Epoch_0.2.5_RC1.zip.torrent
 
Once the RC files are tested and we pack the live version, server files will follow.

[New] Custom single seater "Mosquito" Light helicopter. [New] Consumables can now give the player multiple attributes on use. [New] Honey can now be consumed and an empty jar is returned. [New] Empty Food cooler added. To be used with food crafting. [New] Metal Scraps added and can be found in many places as well as crafted into Salvage Metal. [New] 3 new Soda cans some with unique attributes. [New] Player Krypto account added. Accessed by pressing the Inventory key next to a phonebooth or an ATM. Larger the transaction the longer it takes. [New] Custom Weapons: AK47, M14, m249, m107, m4a3 ported from Arma 2. [New] Camo version of female wetsuit. [New] Female Ghillie Suits Tan, Light Green, Dark Green. [New] SteamAPI support added for future features and VAC ban check system. [New] In-game Admin Panel cleanup and features added: Spawn Menu, 3D ESP, Map ESP, Basic Admin levels. [Changed] Removed all "Take" and "Rearm" actions to prevent taking items from locked vehicles. A new take option will be added soon to allow item access underwater. [Changed] Sledge Hammer damage increased 2x. [Changed] Loot now spawns more readily. [Changed] Loot table tweaks to increase building materials. [Changed] setTimeMultiplier 4x enabled by default. Can be changed with timeMultiplier in epochconfig. [Changed] Shelf, tipi, and Frequency Jammer are now built using the physx build mode. [Changed] Combat Logging: Players now leave a Doppelganger behind for 60 seconds after disconnect. This can be changed or disabled in epochconfig.hpp server side. [Changed] Death trigger now spawns shark if player is killed at sea. [Changed] Added Override vars to epochconfig that control object expiry. vehicle, building, storage (7 days), players (30 days). [Changed] Vehicle slots limit now based directly on total of per vehicle counts in allowed vehicles list. [Changed] Reworked backend of NPC trader mechanism to be more accurate and optimized. [Changed] Land vehicles now spawn in cities near roads instead of anywhere on roads. [Changed] Many performance and security changes server side. [Changed] Vehicle save queue system for better performance. [Changed] Seasonal items like Meeps and Halloween masks removed from loot tables. [Fixed] UAV's are no longer static and now move like they are supposed to. [Fixed] Fully disabled thermal equipment for all vehicles. [Fixed] Geometry of walls changed to help reduce glitching. [Fixed] Disallow Holster and GetOver action near base walls, to reduce wall glitching. [Fixed] Global setdamage event with Communication towers. [info] Reworked server configs. InstanceID is now set in EpochServer.ini and the rest in epochconfig.hpp now found in @EpochHive folder. [Known Issues] Weapon attachments get wiped when player to player trading. (workaround for now take the items off the weapon first). [Known Issues] Moving a painted corrugated wall causes it to lose its color.

It is a video game as well you know, yes it's a 'survival' game, and yes, the point is to survive in as much comfort as possible. But you and I both know that the overwhelming majority of players don't play it to test their survival skills.
 
Depriving players of a base they've just built is fun, even better if you won a fight to have the freedom to blow the fucking thing up, but it's no fun playing on low pop servers. As someone else here said, the biggest cause of server rage quits is losing a base.
 
Remember, this isn't real life, it's entertainment, and unless you enjoy collecting scrap metal and bricks to constantly rebuild your base, then destructible bases will stunt the mod's growth, in my opinion. 

The more people in a squad - the more loot each other need. So it's about balance, not an advantage.