Ace12, Twitch Channel Banner Graphics

Another quick post to show some graphics that I whipped up for an Arma 3 streamer who I have known for quite a while now... his nick name is Ace12, you can catch him on twitch here. Ace12 is from the USA and is an avid gamer of Arma 3, and mission/mod Battle Royale... as well as various other games. Check out his twitch channel to see his game play in action and my graphic banners in their glory.

Whilst watching Ace12's stream lately, I found that the banner graphics on his twitch stream were generic and mediocre, and didn't really fit the theme of his logo. At the time, I was feeling a lil' creative so I loaded up Photoshop, grabbed Ace12's logo (not sure who created the logo) and started creating something (better?).

Ace12 twitch channel logo

The banner dimensions were taken from the previous generic banners from his page, which then I created something to fit the theme of his channel, to have a proper theme throughout so nothing looked out of place, and kept things neat and small at the same time.

These are the banners I created below...

The banners took me all of 15 minutes to whip up (I'm getting better/quicker since restarting my graphics). I set up a custom template, then color picked the logo and threw some borders up with background masking for the pattern and fade, then chose a mono spaced font (fixed width) to type it all out with... made sure it was decently centered and saved them all out to png files.

At the time, Ace12 did not know about what I was doing in the background until I sent him a direct message with a link to see/grab all the new banners. He was appreciative of what I had done, liked them and proceeded to use them, so I was pleased.

Another set of free graphic done by yours truly, soul. ;P

P.S. Yup, I'm still around... just not coding much at the moment (but I will proceed to... sometime).

-soul.

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The Whirlpool Resistance, New Logo Creation

I have known some of 'The Whirlpool Resistance' (WpR) members for quite some time now, and have played Arma 3 A3Wasteland and Invade and Annex with them on and off over the last year or so.

WpR are an Australian/NewZealand based gaming group on PC and Console. In recent talks with a couple of members about WpR and it's vision, I saw that there was no real branding (or logo) to make the group stand out... as I found their web presence extremely bland.

Without letting any of the WpR members know, I started to create something that would be fitting within WpR and try to use their existing color scheme... that being, orange and blue (based on their banner text colors and current Arma 3 in-game group symbol/patch).

After a few revisions and subtle changes, the below graphic is what I came up with...

The NEW WpR branded logo

The NEW WpR branded logo (with shadowing)

After submitting this design to their forums for feedback, it was decided that they will accept and use the logo for their clan (after a couple of small changes). I was very pleased that the logo will be used. 

I did the new logo due to wanting to give something back to the WpR team, as I enjoy their company as well as enjoy being able to play on a very decent (and fun) Arma 3 Wasteland server in which they host.

Keep watch on WpR's web presence, as it will begin to change with nice branding and color scheme. There will also be an upcoming merchandise store with the above logo and variations of design work.

I also have done the new loading screen for their Arma 3 [WpR] A3Wasteland server, which is fitting with the new theme...

The NEW WpR Arma 3 Loading Screen Banner

*UPDATE... so I have been messing with some more graphics for WpR, that being a design or 3 for a 'stubby holder' (as shown below), using the same color theme and such.

Arma 3 Themed

Generic Themed

Generic Themed

Also, the TeamSpeak 3 logo/banner...

  ... and some variants of said logo/ts banner (just for test purposes).

 

  

P.S. back to my own coding 'soon'.

-soul.

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Arma 3, Custom Scripting - Server Restart Messages

ArmA 3 Scripting

Lately, whilst making a slight diversion from my own scripting, I have been helping out the guys from 'The Whirlpool Resistance' aka 'WpR' who are an Australian/New Zealand based gaming group. The new WpR ArmA web site (forums) can be viewed here. *August 2016, The group in which I support split/changed/updated and can now be found at Total Annihilation Gaming who are an Australian/New Zealand based gaming group (and they have a few USA based players also).

Without the usage of a Battleye client (eg BEC) running on the hosted server to help with timed server messages, I attempted to put together my own version of a script/timer function that was able to be ran on a hosted gaming server, or a dedicated gaming server... and I succeeded.

Beforehand there was no able way to warn/notify the players on the server about when the server was going to be restarted, you just had to keep notice of the time yourself, and many (if not all) players including myself have been caught out many times, wonder why the server d/c us... only to check the current local time to realize it was an actual server restart.

serverRestartMessage.sqf code preview

I have now scripted a server side function/loop to grab the actual hosted server time (not in-game time) and run a timing schedule off of it. Currently server reset times (Australia, Sydney time) are 03:00, 09:00,15:00 and 21:00. The timing routine keeps track (to the second) of the current server time in HH:MM:SS, it then warns you in-game from 30/20/10/5/2/1 minute(s) until restart, in the middle of the screen in big bold colorful writing. There is also an option to have it count down in seconds from the 1 minute mark (as seen in the second screenshot below).

30 minute warning message

the 60 second countdown has begun

I enjoy small scripting challenges like this one, especially when I succeed. I'm happy, the group is happy, the host is happy and the players are happy that they now have proper timed on-screen warning messages for the server restarts. :)

You can check out/download the script here on my GitHub.

P.S. Back to my own mod scripting soon.

-soul.

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Arma 3, LMS Mission/Mod Progress... And Lots Of It!

Over the last few weeks I have been 'tinkering' away within the Arma 3 editor and running tests in a multi player environment on a dedicated Arma 3 server for my own "Last Man Standing" mission/mod. Needless to say, things are progressing rather quickly after another big learning curve.
 
What is this progress you may be asking?... Ok, I'll try to explain.

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My "Care Package Run" script has been ported to a multi player environment (server side), with some code/routine optimization and enhancements.

+ Random calculations for care package drop locations are now more random, based on map grid size and current playable area (multi step custom routine).

Care Package Run - Debug Markers

+ Custom flare/smoke with any RGB color combination possible (no smoke grenades here!).

Care Package Delivery... Perty Custom Smoke

+ Changed the delivery method to a cargo helicopter. The helicopter opens the rear door whilst tilting backwards... then drops a care package out and flies off into the distance.

Cargo Helicopter... Deploy Care Package!

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My "Bombing Run" script has been ported to a multi player environment (server side), with some code/routine optimization and enhancements.


+ Random calculations for bomb zone locations are now more random, based on map grid size and current playable area (multi step custom routine).

Bombing Run - Debug Markers

+ Amber markers on map "warn" you that the area will be bombed and to move away from the area (not just a red circle that pops up on map, then explosions.. smh).

Bombing Run - Amber Zone = Danger

+ Bomb zone size is random, as are the number of bombs being dropped per zone (which is relative to the bomb zone size).

Uh Ow... Bombing Plane

+ Red bombing zone markers will stay on map until the last bomb has been dropped and has exploded.

Red Zone = Bombs

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My "Loot Spawn" script has been ported to a multi player environment (server side), and semi re-written for optimization.

+ More building positions for possible loot spawn (buildings that have limited amount or have no default positions now have some). See the yellow (manual positions) and red (dynamic positions) circle markers in the below screen shot.

So Many Loot Positions

Hey! Loot Never Use To Spawn There...

+ No floating loot...nope, none, nil, nadda. My custom calculations for placing loot onto (and not above or under) surfaces is 'almost' perfect, and all done without sacrificing any optimization in regards to accuracy vs speed (each possible loot spawn calculation takes a maximum 2ms to execute whilst doing it all on-the-fly).

Backpacks, Headgear, Vests Do NOT Glitch Anymore!

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My "Land Vehicle Spawn" script has been ported to a multi player environment (server side), with some code/routine optimization and enhancements.

+ Vehicles are spawned on (or right next to) roads. Per map adjustments are made so that 20 vehicles do not spawn in one area... aka the airfield.

So Many Vehicles...

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My "Water Vehicle Spawn" script has been ported to a multi player environment (server side), with some code/routine optimization and enhancements.

+ Water vehicles are spawned in around the map in at least 2m depth of water (to prevent beached boats that are not drivable).

No Beached Boats Here...

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My "Timing Routine" script is half-way there (written from scratch), I have the initial routine done and tested. The timing routine is for the 'blue zone' calculations as well as checking to see whether each player is inside said 'blue zone' once the zone is locked, as well as making sure you are within the overall map zone ('black zone').

+ Zone timing with on screen messages are done.

At the 60 Second Warning Mark...

+ Zone checking once the zone is locked. Adjustments were made to have the player and minimap match up for zoning. Player half out of the locked zone = in the zone. Player over half out of the locked zone = out the zone (as in the screen shot below).

Ouch!

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All in all, I have been very busy coding in the background, and thought it was time to do another blog post.

I have learned a lot in the last month, and continue to learn. Learning new/better ways to code my routines so that all my scripts are as optimized as they could be.

Whilst testing on my local dedicated server I have also written a script to keep a check on server FPS. The FPS of the server sits at mostly 50fps, dipping down to 30fps at times... which is decent considering the hardware that I am using to alpha test with.

Once my mission/mod reaches Beta test stage, I already have multiple USA servers to host with, with much thanks to those who continue support me and my efforts (sorry, no name-dropping at this stage ;P).

Watch this space... there is more to follow.

-soul.

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Arma 3, Module Testing

For the last few weeks I have been tinkering in the background (away from public eyes) inside the Arma 3 Editor, correcting my modules/scripts, updating/optimizing code, etc.

Bombing Run System - Debug Markers On

The above screen shot shows the normal game markers everyone in game would see which are the black circle (map zone) and the blue circle (current game zone), as well as the bombing zones (orange/red circle markers).

The other colored arrow markers are debug markers to show the random chosen base location(s), the random chosen bomb location(s) (which must be inside the current game zone), and the flight path of each air vehicle with color codes in regard to current speed. The start/finish markers are cut off the above screen shot.

Today, after much anticipation... I can happily say that I ported one of my modules/scripts (Bombing Run System) over to multiplayer to test, and it worked flawlessly with multiple players on the server.

At first I had ALL debug markers on server wide (see above screen shot) so any connected/connecting client could see them, and to make sure in what I had coded worked for everyone... and it sure did. *happy dance*

I then turned off all debug markers and ran the "Bombing Run System" again once. Everything worked as intended, no lag/lost frames. I then ran 3 bombing zones at once, no lag/lost frames. I then ran 12 bombing zones at once, no noticeable lag, fps dropped by 1. Then again to stress test/load up the server I ran 24 bombing zones at once, no real lag as such, but fps did drop by about 10fps for each client, which was noticeable. Each instance of the script ran as intended, cleaned up after itself and exited, which made the fps (when the script ran 24 times at once) gradually get back to "normal".

All in all, it was a successful outcome to the effort of learning and scripting/coding within Arma 3 for my own mission/mod.

Watch this space, as there is a lot more to follow.

-soul.

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Code Four Gaming, New Logo Creation

For a while now I have been amongst/involved with "Code Four Gaming" gaming group aka "C4G" who are known for their Arma 3 "Sa-Matra Wasteland Mod" servers (you can check them out at www.codefourgaming.com).

Recently I had a dabble at creating a C4G logo... just as a test and to see if I could do something decent (see logo at bottom of page).

After showing a few C4G members what I had produced, they wanted to use the logo (or something similar) for their new logo/badge. Discussions were had, and I agreed to create a new logo to their likings, something to re-brand C4G as a whole.

After a few iterations in design and colors, the below logo was decided upon as the new logo for Code Four Gaming.

The new 'code four gaming' logo design

It's simple, clean, bold and red, which is what was wanted, and am glad with what I produced, and glad that it is liked and will be used.

I will also create all other graphics needed (web/teamspeak/etc) based on the logo and it's color scheme, so that a real "theme" is behind Code Four gaming, which will make the branding very hard to miss.

I'm still in the progress of creating each part of the theme, but as another example, here is the TeamSpeak banner, and below that are some custom forum badges for rank within C4G itself.

Example TeamSpeak Banner with the C4G logo and color theme

 

Example forum badges with the C4G logo and color theme

I have done graphic design in the past, and still dabble from time to time (when I'm not scripting/coding for Arma). I may not update my blog as frequent as I could, but I still work in the background doing various things. I'll try update more soon.

Below is the original logo test I did, just to see if I could still manage to put together something decent.

The "test" logo I designed

-soul.

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