12-08-2015, 05:57 PM
Thanks for report Unnamed. I probably should get a life but I love reading AARs. Another crew AAR (Kavala)
We've had couple of good discussions about vehicles and I want to reflect some experiences from a recent mission
http://ciahome.net/forum/mission-making/...i-crewman/
http://ciahome.net/forum/the-arma-game/i...ultiplier/
I was APC gunner for the Kavala nemesis mission. Manuel was commander, and Icecream Soldier took role of a driver in his first CiA coop night. Proper intro for new people : ) No bug hunts. It was hands down one of the better vehicle experiences for me. Comms-co-operation was good and every team member paid attention, responded to comms sharply.
As most readers knows, that mission involves (at least in our chosen approach) vehicle movement in urban grid in low light under poor visibility, fog, rain.
Mission started well and we spotted several threats from distance and were able to take them down. We neutralized Marid and armed Ifrit from long range before we moved to western end of Neri and started moving through the streets in short intervals and chopping down infantry on the way . I don't usually care if I get to shoot in mission or not but watching the sparkles from AP rounds hitting target is immensely satisfying.
This is where 3 human players as vehicle crew turned out to be invaluable. In urban grid angles of fire can be extremely narrow. Difference between half a meter can mean ability to take the shot / be shot. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to command AI driver. Now we had to several times manage vehicle with 1-2 meter micromoves so I was able to take the shot. Driver had to listen both commands from commander/gunner and Icecream did very well.
Relying on thermals in mission like this is mandatory but it also makes you 'blind' and switching to other viewmodes now and then helps. In this mission visual mode was less useful due light conditions 75% of a time, but with thermals (at least with our mods) I lost awareness if we are on open, between building, etc. In one phase I was engaging partial thermal signature infantry with 6.5 popgun MG and thought why on hell isn't he dropping. I was shooting stone fence instead. Quick switch to visual light revealed problem. Switch to HE solved the problem.
Also identifying target can be tough and had to rely on helmet profile to make ID and in some cases, educated guess/use the Force. I had my eyes glued to optics and I lost awareness of location of friendly infantry and was paranoid about engaging any targets to our east. I asked commander to confirm and Manual fortunately was sharp and on page with events and gave me clear orders to lit them up. All was going peachy until something blew us up. No surprise : P No idea where it came from. I noticed commander's optics spinning like maniac all the time and we were trying to maintain as good view of the battlefield as possible without getting tunnel vision but still something snuck up and nuked us.
In perfect world, our movement might have been even more slow, and moving from one building cover to another. Communicating precise movements with our difficulty settings is again, well..challenging. Usually team gets better in it during the process (assuming they survive) and improving/evolving team work was awesome. Eventually best teams reads others minds and reacts to commands from half a word. That evolving teamwork is really the best experience.
Summary:
- 3 human crew members hands down.
- Maneuvering to hull down position is tough. Turret elevation to negative angles is limited. If hill is very steep I no longer even try. In such case better place is side of a hill, not a hill top.
- Vehicle work requires absolute shitload of comms even ab out menial tasks. Speech skills of Axel Foley doesn't harm. Example: Commander sees a building. He wants to maneuver vehicle to cover behind it. Isn't that hard? Well, surprisingly it takes a lot of work.
- Human driver with fast reflexes is invaluable. Driver needs clear orders from commander. Very limited view, no GPS unless turned out, and turning out in some vehicles prevents turret movement and it exposes you to fire. Driver has to pay attention and react sharply. 'Driver, move course 220', 'Driver, back 1 meter', etc.
- Had tons of fun. Thanks Manuel and Icecream. Was a pleasure.
We've had couple of good discussions about vehicles and I want to reflect some experiences from a recent mission
http://ciahome.net/forum/mission-making/...i-crewman/
http://ciahome.net/forum/the-arma-game/i...ultiplier/
I was APC gunner for the Kavala nemesis mission. Manuel was commander, and Icecream Soldier took role of a driver in his first CiA coop night. Proper intro for new people : ) No bug hunts. It was hands down one of the better vehicle experiences for me. Comms-co-operation was good and every team member paid attention, responded to comms sharply.
As most readers knows, that mission involves (at least in our chosen approach) vehicle movement in urban grid in low light under poor visibility, fog, rain.
Mission started well and we spotted several threats from distance and were able to take them down. We neutralized Marid and armed Ifrit from long range before we moved to western end of Neri and started moving through the streets in short intervals and chopping down infantry on the way . I don't usually care if I get to shoot in mission or not but watching the sparkles from AP rounds hitting target is immensely satisfying.
This is where 3 human players as vehicle crew turned out to be invaluable. In urban grid angles of fire can be extremely narrow. Difference between half a meter can mean ability to take the shot / be shot. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to command AI driver. Now we had to several times manage vehicle with 1-2 meter micromoves so I was able to take the shot. Driver had to listen both commands from commander/gunner and Icecream did very well.
Relying on thermals in mission like this is mandatory but it also makes you 'blind' and switching to other viewmodes now and then helps. In this mission visual mode was less useful due light conditions 75% of a time, but with thermals (at least with our mods) I lost awareness if we are on open, between building, etc. In one phase I was engaging partial thermal signature infantry with 6.5 popgun MG and thought why on hell isn't he dropping. I was shooting stone fence instead. Quick switch to visual light revealed problem. Switch to HE solved the problem.
Also identifying target can be tough and had to rely on helmet profile to make ID and in some cases, educated guess/use the Force. I had my eyes glued to optics and I lost awareness of location of friendly infantry and was paranoid about engaging any targets to our east. I asked commander to confirm and Manual fortunately was sharp and on page with events and gave me clear orders to lit them up. All was going peachy until something blew us up. No surprise : P No idea where it came from. I noticed commander's optics spinning like maniac all the time and we were trying to maintain as good view of the battlefield as possible without getting tunnel vision but still something snuck up and nuked us.
In perfect world, our movement might have been even more slow, and moving from one building cover to another. Communicating precise movements with our difficulty settings is again, well..challenging. Usually team gets better in it during the process (assuming they survive) and improving/evolving team work was awesome. Eventually best teams reads others minds and reacts to commands from half a word. That evolving teamwork is really the best experience.
Summary:
- 3 human crew members hands down.
- Maneuvering to hull down position is tough. Turret elevation to negative angles is limited. If hill is very steep I no longer even try. In such case better place is side of a hill, not a hill top.
- Vehicle work requires absolute shitload of comms even ab out menial tasks. Speech skills of Axel Foley doesn't harm. Example: Commander sees a building. He wants to maneuver vehicle to cover behind it. Isn't that hard? Well, surprisingly it takes a lot of work.
- Human driver with fast reflexes is invaluable. Driver needs clear orders from commander. Very limited view, no GPS unless turned out, and turning out in some vehicles prevents turret movement and it exposes you to fire. Driver has to pay attention and react sharply. 'Driver, move course 220', 'Driver, back 1 meter', etc.
- Had tons of fun. Thanks Manuel and Icecream. Was a pleasure.