Proposed: Joint session with MARSOC

[fer]

What's the proposal?
Tigershark has proposed that we conduct a joint session with the MARSOC community.

What is/who are MARSOC?
You already know MARSOC's leader, Spirit, and might also have met Bluescuba (another guest). Hopefully, they'll have time to tell us more about themselves in this thread. Meanwhile, you can read about MARSOC on their website. Oh, and Tigershark plays with MARSOC too.

I'm Kayne West, and I'm too busy to read their website. Give it to me in 140 characters!
They're good people. Except for Tigershark. Obviously.

What kind of missions would we play?
The proposal is that we take advantage of a higher playercount and focus on adversarial missions (PvP).

Would it be MARSOC vs. folk?
To begin with, yes; but after 2-3 missions the proposal is that we would look to mix up the teams, or perhaps combine forces to play a big coop together.

Will we still be simple farmers?
Very likely, at least for the first few missions. Right now, the idea is that MARSOC (which is patterned on the USMC) would play BLUFOR, and we would take the role of simple farmers. With weapons. So, armed simple farmers. Armed simple farmers, fighting to rid our country of the forces of capitalist running-dog imperialists!

Hasta la victoria siempre!

Calm down, and drink this glass of water. You're not Che Guevara. You're a very naughty host.
I'm sorry. Thank you.

So, will this be a competitive match?
No, not at all. This is just a friendly get-together. Like folk, MARSOC is coop-focused, so this is an opportunity for us all to do something a bit different. Our only objective is to have fun, or die trying. Well, the dying part will happen regardless.

Will I need any addons etc?
No. However, we would probably use TeamSpeak 3 for communication.

When would it be?
The proposed time and date is 20:30 CET on Sunday 03 October, 2010 (so it would replace the normal folk session that day).

Which OA server would we use?
It will probably be the folk OA server (since it's already set up for vanilla).

Which TeamSpeak 3 server would we use?
That's something we'll need to work out.

This sounds great, what do I do next?
Just reply to this thread indicating whether or not you're interested in attending. Assuming this goes ahead, we'll need to know rough playercounts so we can buy extra slots on the server.

Hey, do you need any (new) missions for this?
Very possibly! If you're interested in helping to create missions for such a session please shout. Or post. Well, actually, post. Shouting may be hard for me to hear, because I am very far away.

Actually, I lied, I hate this idea. What can I do?
If you have concerns, please post them here. This is just a proposal, and whilst the hosts will be more than happy to arrange it, we can't force anyone to participate. We'll only proceed if a good number of guests express an interest.

[messiah]

Interested and looking forward to this game.

[mort]

Interested!

[Housemaster]

Sounds very cool!

[Lor]

I would be interested in this session. But I want to be a dirty traitor and play for the BLUFOR side!

[fer]

But I want to be a dirty traitor and play for the BLUFOR side!

What if they won't have you, comrade? They'll send you back to us for a show-trial and execution. Actually, I like the sound of that ...

[fer]

Since it looks increasingly as if this is something guests would like, I thought I'd put down some thoughts on what needs to be done:

1. Server
Challenge: We need a server with enough capacity to host the missions.

Suggested approach: Given that the folk server is already set up for vanilla OA, it probably makes sense to use this. Currently the server is configured for 20 slots, but we can increase this within 24 hours (and then decrease it again later).

Suggest actions:

• Make a call on the number of slots required 1 week before the session (Fer) [ON HOLD]
• Increase slots on the folk OA server (Fer) [ON HOLD]

2. Comms
Challenge: We need a comms server which can be used by both MARSOC and folk at the same time.

Suggested approach: Spirit has very kindly offered up the MARSOC TeamSpeak 3 server for this task, and my suggestion is that we use it. It will require some guests to install TeamSpeak 3, but I suspect many already use it with their gaming groups. My other suggestion is that we don't bother trying to set up channel commander, and work on the assumption that folk can get by with 1-2 channels and VON (but this is something the person who looks into the actions below should lead on).

Suggest actions:

• Work out how many channels (and in what configuration) folk will require (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Create a suggested set of key-binds for the folk channel(s) (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Write a set-up guide for new TeamSpeak 3 users (there is a good MARSOC guide which could serve as the foundation) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Publish the TeamSpeak 3 download details (for the correct client version) to the folk forum (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Publish the TeamSpeak 3 server access details to the folk forum (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]

3. Missions
Challenge: We need some adversarial missions to play!

Suggested approach: MARSOC has, IIRC, roughly the same ORBAT as Shack Tactical. My suggestion is that we produce and distribute a modified version of F2 OA Folk v2-4-2 with a pre-placed instance of the MARSOC USMC platoon (complete with correct weapons, group IDs and markers), in addition to the normal folk platoons for Takistani Locals and Takistani Army etc. With that as the baseline, mission makers from both communities should be able to crank out some adversarials.

Suggest actions:

• Confirm the MARSOC ORBAT (Spirit) [DONE]
• Create modified version of F2 OA Folk v2-4-2 (Fer) [DONE]
• Create modified version of assignGear script for MARSOC slots (N/A) [DONE (Using F2 OA Folk BLUFOR loadouts)]
• Publish modified version of F2 OA Folk v2-4-2 on both the MARSOC and folk internal forums (Fer) [DONE] (See below)
  
  Download special build of F2:
  http://www.ferstaberinde.com/f2/downloa ... vs_folk.7z
  
  From ReadMe_MARSOC_vs_Folk.txt:

  Code: Select all

  MARSOC VS FOLK README
  =====================
  
  01. INTRODUCTION
  ================
  
  This is a specially adapted copy of F2 OA Folk v2-4-5. 
  It has been designed to act as the baseline for TvT missions between MARSOC and Folk.
  The BLUFOR faction has been reserved for MARSOC.
  All other factions are intended for use by Folk.
  
  
  02. CHANGES FROM F2 OA FOLK v2-4-5
  ==================================
  
  Deleted folk platoons for US Army and British Armed Forces.
  Added new US Army platoon for MARSOC (MARSOC ORBAT).
  Updated OA Folk Group Markers component to support US Army platoon (MARSOC ORBAT).
  Updated OA Folk Group IDs component to support US Army platoon (MARSOC ORBAT).
  Added journalists slots.
  Updated OA Folk Group Markers component to support journalists.
  
  
  03.NEW US ARMY PLATOON (MARSOC ORBAT)
  =====================================
  
  The structure of the platoon is:
  
  - PltCo Element
    |-- Alpha SL Element
    |   |-- A1 Fireteam
    |   |-- A2 Fireteam
    |   |-- A3 Fireteam
    |-- Bravo SL Element
    |   |-- B1 Fireteam
    |   |-- B2 Fireteam
    |   |-- B3 Fireteam
    |-- MMG1
    |-- MAT1
    |-- ST1
    
  For balance, loadouts are identical to the US Army platoon in the OA Folk Platoons component.
  Group markers and IDs have been implemented to reflect the MARSOC ORBAT.
  
  
  04.JOURNALISTS
  ==============
  
  The journalist slots can see markers for both sides.
  US Army markers all appear blue.
  All other faction markers appear red.
  

• Hold some kind of discussion (perhaps in Skype or on the forum) for mission makers (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Make missions! (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]

4. Pre-Session Checks
Challenge: We need to ensure that everyone is ready to play at the start of the session (i.e. can connect to the server, and has TeamSpeak 3 set up correctly etc.).

Suggested approach: My suggestion is that as soon as possible (i.e. the TeamSpeak 3 server is set up with the new folk channels), we schedule a few periods in the days before the session when a host will be on-hand to help people test out their connections/set-up. Furthermore, we can borrow a neat trick from Shack Tactical: for an hour prior to the session start we can run a dummy mission which has nothing in it except playable slots (no AI, no weapons etc.). Players connect to this over the hour, which means the server is not spammed by multiple connections in a 5-minute period, and there is a last opportunity to help anyone with difficulties.

Suggest actions:

• Schedule and host 1-2 check-out windows on both servers in the days before the session (TBD) [NEEDS OWNER]
• Create dummy mission with enough slots (Fer) [DONE] (fkoa_misc50_preSession.Takistan)
• Be on both server an hour before the session to help with last-minute issues (TBD) (Fer) [DONE]

Obviously, please feedback with any comments/suggestions/offers of help!

[Headspace]

I'd be interested in playing.

[fer]

Updated a few of the actions

[fer]

Update more actions. Crucially, the mission template is ready, and the preSession dummy mission is loaded onto the Folk server.