Apache Diary

Our first mission in Apache Diary is a general overview of the AH-64D Apache, getting to know the layout of the aircraft, and exploring a bit of the cockpit.




We are given a brief walkaround of the Apache with an introduction of the basic parts...








After the pre-flight walkaround, we are invited into the cockpit to check it out...




Once in the cockpit, the familiarization lesson continues with yellow boxes highlighting certain features and suggesting some of the depth of modeling to the avionics...




The IHADDS works very nicely with TrackIR and the cockpit looks great...




I've set the left and right multi-purpose displays (MPDs) to cycle using the left and right DMS switch on my HOTAS. The tutorial has you cycle through different pages on each, pointing out useful information. It is a lot of information to digest at once and will require some study to get proficient at. The buttons around the perimeter of each MPD are clickable to select pages on each MPD...






After a few minutes of introduction on the basics of the MPDs, we are offered a chance to go fly...




I use the excellent ONLINE MANUAL to go through the brief startup procedure: turning on the battery, APU, starters, fuel levers, and turning off the rotor brake. The sound of the rotor spinning up gets me excited...






With only a cursory knowledge of the avionics systems, I simply set the left and right MPDs to the IHADDS repeater and the TSD...




I set up my HOTAS Warthog to work as a cyclic and collective, and my CH Pro pedals for the anti-torque rotor. Control response is pretty good. Definitely not DCS quality flight model, but not bad. A bit better and it might be close to the improved Take On Helicopters FM, but the model is very good and you can settle into it with no problems. I hover gently out to the runway, taking in the beautiful ARMA 2 environment, lighting, and small details. The dust from my rotorwash sends up a slight cloud...






I push the cyclic forward, ease in a bit more collective and accelerate up and away down the centerline of the runway. A few hundred meters to the east is the coastline and as I climb up we flash across the shore...




Turning my head to the right, the TrackIR follow the movements with the IHADDS display in the center. I maintain around 70-80 knots and about 500' of altitude in the pattern...






On the downwind I take in the scenery. It's not hard to imagine how much fun this thing is going to be in a shooting environment...




I drift a bit high as I'm looking around and up a bit high on the base to final leg so I lower the collective and get a "Rotor RPM HIGH" warning...






I ease her through the base to final turn and start pulling the nose up to bleed off some speed while keeping an eye on the descent rate. Though the flight model is good and fun, it doesn't appear to have much in the way of complex rotor physics such as ETL, settling with power, or vortex state..at least not that I've really discovered yet in my first flight with it..






I come in for a landing on the centerline. The feeling of flight over the ARMA 2 world is very, very good. By that I mean ARMA 2 is a world made for infantry, so the detailing is very good. The converse is that the worlds are not very big in terms of theater wide size. But the contours and collidable trees and feeling of speed are superb...




After landing I spot a little courtyard on the other side of the control tower and want a bit of a fine maneuvering challenge so I pick back up into a hover and fly around the tower to put the Apache down in the courtyard...










I burn about 3 or 400 pounds of fuel on the short jaunt around the traffic pattern. I turn the engines off and open the cockpit door to climb out. I'm hoping the 3rd person capabilities of ARMA 2 are taken advantage of in the missions and campaigns to come...








The mission is complete and now I'll move on to more detailed study of the avionics capabilities including navigation and weapons. I have more questions than answers right now. I still haven't figured out if it is possible to switch positions with the CP/G in flight. I know that I can get IN the CP/G station if it is empty on the ground and then order an AI pilot to fly for me, but I don't know if the cockpit positions are switchable in flight. I'll see you for the next training mission soon.

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A few notes on the mod. First of all..it is fantastic! I can't believe what Nodunit & Franze have done with this thing. I mean, this is a professional grade mod that could be sold for money easily! I understand they have it working (to large degree) in ARMA 3 as well. I know there are tutorial missions, some single missions, and I think a fairly substantial campaign to fly, so I'll be working through all of those and seeing how the gameplay is. Understand that the mod works within the framework of ARMA 2 or 3, so there are certain things they can and can't do. It will be interesting to see how the whole thing shapes up, but from what I've seen so far this thing is really good.

More information can be found: HERE!

BeachAV8R

I know what im downloading later lol. Thanks for the heads up.

Too bad it produces so many RPT errors in Arma 3. Our unit rejected it for that reason.

I'd love it if this would work in ARMA 3, it'll give me a reason to fire up the game again. The best would be to have a human player in both seats.... Didn't ARMA 2 have that capability?

Our next training mission will take a quick look at the navigation functions of the AH-64D. Another good tutorial walks you through the steps of clearing the Tactical Situation Display (TSD) and adding new waypoints via the map editor or directly on the TSD itself...





Here you can see I've entered (by clicking on the map) a bunch of waypoints that take me around the north end of the island...



Multiple IHADDS modes are modeled...



Once the waypoints are entered, we are cleared for free-flight to explore tracking the waypoints. The waypoints sort of float a bit on the TSD, particularly during passage, so there must be some issues in how they got it to work within the bounds of ARMA 2...





We work our way around the island enjoying the low level scenery...



Hey, there's a ship off the coast!



I head offshore a bit and make an approach to the amphibious assault ship...







Naturally, I shut down the engines and go clamber about the ship...





You have to duck to get under the radar - guess I won't be having anymore kids after the radiation dose...



I head back down, climb in the helicopter and start up the engines to head for home base...





I settle onto the ramp and another short training session is complete...





BeachAV8R

Now we move on to what the Apache was made to do - own the night! With the combined TADS/PNVS system the Apache is an excellent night fighter.



Once we get in the cockpit, we are instructed on how to turn on the cockpit night lighting and adjust it for the best results when combined with the night vision goggles. IHADDS brightness is also covered in the tutorial...





The NVGs are pretty well represented in the ARMA series, so the lighting effect is very good in the Apache cockpit...





After messing around with the lighting options we are instructed to start the engines and proceed to the practice area waypoint...



Flying with the NVGs is awesome and really gives a feeling of being ensconced in your own little world...





At one point I'm instructed to only fly by reference to the PNVS system, which I'm still a little shaky on the operation of and the reason for. I guess the PNVS view is the view only through the PNVS monocle? Whatever the case, the pure PNVS view is very green, and lacks much of the detail of the NVG view. I quickly switch back out of it and the instructor yells at me to get the PNVS back on. Yes Sir!



We fly to a couple waypoints and the instructor seems happy enough. Obviously I have a bit to learn about the sensors though because I'm a bit shaky on why exactly the PNVS view exists at all..



Taking a look at toward the assault ship off the coast...



I bring the helo around and line up on final to return to base...



At this point I'm more "renting" the dark as opposed to "owning" it...





BeachAV8R

Great AAR, thanks Beach! You have me tempted to install ARMA2 again and set up my X-52. I love chopper sims.

Excellent AAR series, hope you can reach combat ops too.

This also had me looking into Arma2. A good combat helo sim is so needed, this might be a good alternative.

Is this the whole package? Or the free version?

Just be aware guys - I don't *know* if this is going to be a good combat helo sim.. <g> I'm not there yet. But it is fun learning thus far.

As far as I know, you need ARMA 2 Operation Arrowhead and the free AH-64 package.

BeachAV8R

The PNVS turret can be linked to TrackIR or similar head tracking device. It has a azimuth of +-90 degrees and IIRC about +-60 degrees elevation. If you don't have head tracking hardware you can use the numpad arrow keys to pan the PNVS turret.

It becomes more useful in combat for the pilot to aim the guns and rockets at small targets like infantry.

I'm using TIR - and find it is very useful. Maybe the lighting was too bright for a good PNVS image when I was flying. I'll have to explore it more!

Thanks for dropping by - this mod is brilliant!

BeachAV8R

So. It's time to blow some stuff up! This mission we are going to take a look at the capabilities of the AH-64D with a flight around our little training island with some non-threatening targets (that turns out to be a good thing)!

Please note - these AARs do not contain all of the things included in the mission. For every text box you see with my images, there are probably four or five other messages that include much more instruction and guidance. There is just so much instruction and hints and tips it isn't possible to show them all in these AARs.



As long as you are near an ammo truck - which of course there is at the base - you can rearm and refuel using an awesome configuration menu. The tutorial goes through the loading process which includes loading the racks and selecting the types and number of missiles. It isn't generic - you can mix and match number and types of missiles...





Once we've loaded the weapons with the configuration menu, we take a few minutes to check out the weapons MPD. To my great surprise, most of these settings are adjustable including acquisition modes (FCR, TADS, etc..), missile profiles (LOAL, LOBL, DIRECT) and other weapon settings. This isn't just fluff, this stuff works!



We also take a moment while on the ground to check out the Fire Control Radar (FCR)...



After poking around a bit we get instructions to head out to waypoint #2 where our live fire will start...



Upon reaching WP2 the instructor tells us to turn on the FCR to scan for air defense targets. You can cycle through target types to be displayed much like you can in EECH (SAM/AAA, vehicle, armor, etc..). After a couple sweeps two air defense targets (non-active) come up on the FCR...



We are to use a radar Hellfire on this shot and are told what target parameters need to be met (solid target box)...



Fire! (What does an Apache pilot say when they launch - "Hellfire!"?)



Boom - that's a kill! (This sim could use a flyby camera, a missile cam, and a target cam by the way..)



Though I'm supposed to stay in position and continue with the tutorial, I head in toward the burning target to check it out...



Next we are supposed to switch away from radar Hellfires and explore the other sensor systems. Let me say now that a TON of information comes at you on this mission. There are a lot of settings and MPD buttons and sensors to operate and it is quite humbling for a "light" sim to have this level of learning curve. It is very impressive. I can see where this will take some practice to get proficient and in combat is no time to be fumbling around looking for switches and buttons.



I scan the island with my TrackIR/TAD and soon find the proper targets...



Next up is rocket attacks which use the old familiar I-beam target reticle. I make some rocket passes and get a couple hits but it takes a second run to get my target burning...





Finally we are given instructions to close in on a final target to engage with the canon. Coupled with TrackIR - this is fun...



I back off to the designated waypoint again and the instructor starts walking me through the air-to-air engagement procedure (ATAS). I select the Stinger missile, find the target drone using the helmet mounted optics, lock, and fire...



To my great surprise - this isn't the end. I'm instructed to fly to waypoint #4 where we will learn about some of the more advanced AH-64D features including sharing and receiving targets and even designating targets with a laser for another aircraft to hit. Holy cow! I'll never remember all the settings and steps but I'm blown away by the fact that they have modeled this... BIS - hire these guys to make a dedicated Apache sim please (and give them the TOH crew for the helo dynamics!) I do as instructed, lase a target and "whoomph" a bomb or missile comes from some unseen source and sets of a huge explosion. Nice. I'm an Apache-FAC now!





With that the lesson is over. I'm free to fly around and engage remaining targets, go back to base to rearm and refuel, or end the mission. I fly back to the base but have to cut the rest of the session short, although I know I'll need to revisit it again without a doubt.





This is really, really cool. I'm getting super excited about the campaign possibilities... But a couple more training missions remain!

BeachAV8R

I didn't get a TIR myself until a couple months after the initial release, having to rely on testers for usage previously. The latest version has an option at the very bottom of the action menu called 'Head Tracking Toggle' that does two things: Links PNVS to TIR and allows the click action (the small 'X' at the center) to be linked to mouse movement. You can see a small demo of it in TKOH here.

/thread hijack

Pretty interesting!!

Oh... that looks so good. Reminds me of the training of the original Jane's Longbow.

Yep, impressive flashback to the Longbow sim. Seeing how Arma2 has really detailed ground warfare this is very very cool.

IIRC real world PNVS is the only way to slave the chain gun and targeting to the helmet. I don't believe Apaches routinely fly with NVG's, as the PNVS system provides both an IR and NVG capability on helmet already.

-Jenrick

The PNVS is just a sensor system, it's not a requirement to use any weapons or designation information. It's a FLIR camera with more clarity than the FLIR on the TADS night side. Apache crews can use NVGs and do so regularly, especially the CPG. I don't know how often the pilot uses NVGs.

The reason why we allow NVGs is because the thermal views in the ArmA series are poor for piloting clarity and are only really good for picking out targets.

On this last training mission, we will take a look at the aircraft's counter-measures capabilities. As usual, after a thorough briefing, we start up and head to the practice area...



We cycle to the ASE (Aircraft Survivability Equipment) page and a couple emitters come into view. A ZSU-23 and a 2S6. We learn how to cycle the jammers on and off and a bit about how long they can be on before they overheat. I don't think this Apache carries flares, and some carry chaff...







Next we were given a few failures, including a failure of the FCR and eventually an engine fire that I could not get extinguished. Franze and Nodunit indicated that they don't really have a way of failing a single engine in ARMA2, which would be nice to be able to limit torque to 50% or something... (EDIT - I guess I could just throttle back to 60% to simulate the engine failure with an associated engine over-torquing perhaps..)



We manage to get back to the airfield with the engine still blazing and the CP/G has had enough and he hops out...



That is about it for training. The scenarios are well done, with great information and voice-overs. Next we'll try our hand at an actual mission..

BeachAV8R

For this mission, I'm going to consider this a type of "Graduation Exercise" mission since we've been through all of the tutorials. Prior to starting the full campaign though, I thought it would be a good idea to take a crack at one of the single missions. (Knowing full well that I'm still way behind on being familiar with the Apache's weapons and systems as presented in ARMA2). The mission is a single mission "Ground Attack" where we are tasked with destroying a convoy. We will start off at FOB Manhattan and proceed across the map to the designate strike location several kilometers to the west...



Doing some pre-mission recon (if you love maps like I do - ARMA is map heaven!) I can see some high terrain northeast of the strike zone where I plan to set up my observation hover...



The mission presumes you will fly as the pilot, but I wanted a taste of flying in the CP/G position in the AH-64D, so I order the other pilot out, climb into the CP/G position, and order him to the pilot position...





Unfortunately, you can't flip flop back and forth between Pilot and CP/G positions. You would normally choose to fly and control the weapons from the pilot's seat, but from that seat you can't access the Optical Relay Tube optics that allow you to closely zoom in for recon and targeting. I don't know that a workaround will exist for the AH-64D, but it would be cool to have the ability. In lieu of that, I think this helo is best set up for multi-player crewing since the AI piloting leaves a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, I use the map to give the Pilot his movement command and order him to fly to the pre-planned location...





Again, I can't stress enough how great the feeling of nap of earth flying is in ARMA2. It pretty much beats any other sim for level of detail and feeling of depth and speed simply because of the amount of trees, the geography, and the buildings and other structures that make you feel like you are skimming right over the earth...







As we approach the observation point, I go into the ORT view which has three zoom levels. You can use the ORT to direct your AI pilot to the position you want, but it is a fairly imprecise affair that has the potential to unmask you and present a target to the enemy. It would be nice if you could control the AI pilot with Gunship type commands such as "left or right 5 or 10 degrees" and command altitude increments of 10 or 20 feet to help with positioning. Maybe future ARMA versions will allow for that degree of AI control...









As we gain the proper position, I'm able to see past the hill toward the small villages below though the ORT. Quickly we begin spotting targets. It is now that I realize how little I know about the targeting and weapons system as I fall back to simple targeting using the TADS and the Hellfire missiles. Simply looking at the target and hitting the lock button gives a solid box (unless you don't have LOS) so I start picking off targets. I should be assessing the threats first, but frankly don't have the time to do it. It is worth noting that ARMA2 doesn't have a pause button, so all screens have to be taken on the fly..which is very difficult to do while flying and fighting!

Missiles away!











The convoy is in disarray as vehicles move in all directions. By all appearances, it looks like the trucks and soft skinned vehicles stay on the road while the tanks and other armor take to the fields and start setting up counter fire. As I lose sight of most of the convoy I make a critical mistake and direct the pilot over the hill, which exposes me while I can't get my sensors fully squared away. Had this been a Longbow Apache I could have used my FCR to paint a picture of the scene below, but this is a non-radar Apache I'm flying in this mission. As we move, I can see some trucks moving in a village below. I put my TADS on them and start firing bursts of cannon on the moving targets...



Then - tick, tick, tick..we are taking hits! I quickly switch to the map and give a retreat steer command to get us some cover. Tick, tick, tick, the engine catches on fire! Crap! I'm not in the pilot's seat, so I can only assume he is going through the fire extinguisher procedure...



I place the cursor over our FOB and direct the pilot to fly directly to our base as the flames and smoke trail us. I'm still unsure of whether the fire is supposed to go out if the fire extinguisher procedure works or not...



Just shy of the base the pilot radios that we have lost our fuel and we are going in! My finger hovers over the button to get me out of the cockpit as we come crashing through the canopy. Our tail rips off and we come to rest tilted over, but alive!



I get out of the cockpit. In the far distance I can hear some vehicles...what to do, what to do?



I mark the location of the crash site on my map. When not in the helicopter there is no moving cursor, so it is all GPS readings and matching that up to the map - a nice little old school feature. We are only a short distance from the FOB so, with the beauty of a sandbox sim, I devise a plan to recover my helo!



Up the hill we go toward the FOB...



Excuse me while I borrow this supply truck...



I check out the map and find some roads that will lead toward the crash site. I elect to just use the roads, then once I'm on the same contour line as the crash site, I'll head off through the thick forest...







About this time, my 4-year old son comes into the room. I don't play shooting and killing games when he is around (he's growing up fast enough as it is), but this is now a SAR mission, so I invite him onto my lap and we start poking around the woods looking for the crash site. When he sees it - he points and yells in triumph!



I pull the vehicle up close to the wrecked helo, climb out, and get in the cockpit of the Apache. From there I'm able to order the rearming, refueling, and repair work...





I climb back out and look overhead. Hmm..this could be dicey...



I'm commenting on the problem of the trees when my son asks me "Well, do you have a cell phone to call for help?" I laugh at that. Then, I tell him that even though we are repaired, we might have a hard time taking off through the trees. I offhandedly mention that a couple satchel charges might knock down the trees so him (not knowing what a satchel charge is) suggests I use a chainsaw. No buddy, I don't have one of those either (now is when I need some Day Z friends apparently..haha..) I climb in, start up the engines and try to ease up through the canopy...



Crash..boom..crash..the helo blades tear into the trees and I'm back on the ground again, banged up once more. I use the truck to repair once more, but I notice I did manage to back up a bit and now I have a pretty good hole in the canopy above - this might just work this time! This time I take all the weapons off hoping that at a lighter weight I can just rocket up above the treeline...





I start-up the engines once again, wait for the rotor RPM to stabilize, the pour the torque on..



I ascend rapidly (maybe too rapidly) and boom! I guess I hit the trees with too much velocity because I drop straight down and the mission is ended.



Damn! That was exciting! I think it was in the top 10 of memorable missions in my simming career because it went from a straight up strike mission to so much more. That is the beauty of the combo of flying and ARMA2 third-person world. I can see all kinds of possibilities for missions taking advantage of this type of scenario.

Now I just need to find a human CP/G..! <g>

BeachAV8R

i have nothing - no sim experience, no stick no nothing except a keyboard and mouse but this looks awesome

quick question - do you not trust the weapons officer AI?

I think you can actually fly this with the mouse - I know you can fly other ARMA helicopters with a mouse (lots of people do it and get quite good at it)..


Actually, the AI gunner is probably way, way better than me. I just haven't quite come to grips with the ARMA command structure yet. It is going to take some time to get proficient at both using the weapons and sensors myself, and ordering my CP/G to work for me.

BeachAV8R

Beach, great job with this AAR so far!

do you have a link to the mod?

Yep - here is the thread with the mod description and the link: HERE!

Good luck!

BeachAV8R

Great read.

I haven't got armaA2 but I had a look at the link.
I have the greatest respect for a bunch of guys that will spend a couple of years making such a mod.
Modders are the unsung hero's of the milsim community

Great AAR Beach! I was so hoping this mod works with Arma III......while I own Arma II and many of the add ons, I did not bring them with me to Korea.

Beach, do you consider the Flight model and button pushing in the cockpit to be on par with the later Microprose Gunship simulations? Not that they were fantastically in depth, but enough to make you feel like part of a flight team. Make sense?

Well, yes and no. I feel that the flight model is better than the old Microprose Gunship for sure. To add to that - the sensation of flight can't really be beaten even by sims like FSX or DCS, simply because the level of detail and the excellent tree, grass, and shrub detail is so fantastic in ARMA2. I'll grab some screen video today if I can and post it up. Now, where the ARMA2 Apache lacks is that it is really hard to direct the AI from the gunner seat..which results in getting killed a lot of the time. It really is probably best suited to two-player multi-play because of the need to communicate and move and target quickly.

Regarding the button pushing - there is a lot modeled here, and it is all done quite well within the framework of ARMA2. The ARMA type user interface can be a bit frustrating (the scroll wheel rolling down through certain selections), but I had the same problem initially with Take On Helicopters and learned to adjust my mentality to it.

All of that said - it sure would be damn nice if ED would shelve all these World War 2 projects and get to work on an Apache for DCS - I'd never look back! (I love ED..but damn I want the F/A-18C and an Apache and/or Hind)..

Stay tuned, I'll try to put up some video this weekend...

BeachAV8R

Dyslecxi has a video, which I like, of Kilroy and himself playing as a pilot/gunner in arma 2. Can't say their TTP's are accurate but it looked like a fun mission.

Not ED, but VEAO is already on pre start phase for a Boeing/Augusta Ah-64D Apache. Check this:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=127100

This is some video that I shot last night while flying some of the single mission "Ground Attack" with the Nodunit & Franze AH-64D Apache mod for ARMA2.

You can see the training AARs: HERE!

This mission is just a single mission that has you going out to destroy a convoy. The video isn't exhaustive (or all that well flown) but shows the engine start-up, flying from the cockpit and flying from the CP/G view. I didn't do a lot of button pushing in the cockpit because mostly I was just trying to show the immersive feeling of flight that ARMA2 does when you are talking about low and slow stuff (helicopters!). It is very good at that. Flight model is OK. When you are flying at the CP/G, you will see you don't have a lot of control over where he flies and how he gets there. You really have to micromanage him when you get close to the action. You have to either use the view and direction commands to point and send him where you want to go (including lining up a heading for an attack or hover) and altitude has a tendency to balloon up if he is moving really fast. Eventually he will drop down into a hover, but it can leave you exposed. It would be nice to have some sort of basic (left right, up down) control over the AI gunner, but you just have to be careful and realize this is probably best flown with a human pilot (I haven't tried that).

I was flying a non-radar Apache in this mission. In other missions you will have a Longbow - so you have a radar and FCR and all that good stuff. I didn't mess with ASE settings or anything else..just pretty much designating with the TADS. Of interest is you'll occasionally see me switch targets while the Hellfire is in flight and it is pretty cool to see multiple missiles come down from different directions on the target. You'll also notice what appears to be a disconnect between the gun and the rounds "splashing", but if you take a look at the engagement range - that is the reason for the long delay between firing and rounds on target - 2.0 on the IHADDS, I'm not sure if that means 2000 meters or 2.0 miles. Either way, it explains the lag between firing and rounds hitting and the very wide dispersal. Still pretty damaging to soft skin targets though..

Sorry I didn't turn the music down in game..I actually don't even know if I heard it in the heat of the moment.

You'll also see me crash a couple of times when the enemy got off return fire at me. Learning the Apache and learning how to use it within the constraints of ARMA2 is pretty challenging, but rewarding too.

Best watched in 1080 obviously:



BeachAV8R

Great stuff Beach, as always. I think using the non-FCR Longbow is perhaps more rewarding than with an all Seeing RADAR attached to your bird. I was going to comment about your chain gun not being boresighted, but you've already addressed it in the above statement. Having spent much time in and around VBS2 and VBS3, made by Bohemia Interactive as well and really the same game engine, I am certain they are referring to meters versus miles. Everything on their map is scaled to meters, since we're the only knucklehead country not using metric measurements, outside the military. Finally, I have to say the explosions were very spot on with real life. I thought I was watching a real ITADDS video from an actual Apache in theater. Now, admittedly, no explosion is ever the same, it was just the way it hit, brewed up and popped that was so very reminiscent of the explosions I saw. As always, thanks for sharing and taking time to always reply to any questions posted. Watching and reading your AAR's may just convince me to buy Arrowhead again on Steam, just to play this great evolving add on.

Yeah, I think the 2.0 is KM or 2000 meters. It would stand to reason. A more experienced player would probably use the Hellfires from afar, then move closer in and clean up with the gun at less than 1000 meters, but I was pretty gun shy about getting blasted out of the sky. Particularly when you are flying as the CP/G since ordering a retreat takes some time. If you are flying as the pilot, you can just dump the collective and settle behind some cover..but trying to manage the AI pilot is pretty frustrating.

The explosions credit I have to give to Blastcore 1.2 Mod. The explosions, fire, and smoke effects they add are fantastic:

LINK!



Thanks for the kind words. It makes the effort to share this stuff worthwhile. Hope you get some stick time over there in Korea.. I have fond memories of living there.

BeachAV8R

I have never owned Arma but after watching your videos I am serious considering getting it
I have long wished for a Apache sim there's one on the horizon but this would certainly
Give me some training in masking and so on.
Could you explain some of the limitations you stated are present in Arma.
Many thanks for showing me this amazing mod.

Well, I think the biggest limitation in ARMA can be the combination of the view system and the scrolling action menu. You have to remember - ARMA was originally designed (primarily) as a land warfare sim. The helos and aircraft are sort of added in there on top of that, so they have to shoehorn their modeling into the existing framework. Now, what Nodunit and Franze have done is simply amazing getting all the more complex Apache stuff working - but there are still very real and noticeable differences between a dedicated Apache sim and what we have with this mod. Most notably is that PNVS is really not that useful in the sim unless you are at really close range. It will pick up heat signatures, but without a great ability to zoom it isn't that useful in my opinion. The other problem is that you can't get those zoomed in TADS/IHADDS views from the pilot seat - you have to be in the CP/G seat and as far as I can tell, there is no switching between the two mid-mission unless you physically land, order the gunner out, take his place, then order him in as pilot.

Regarding the flight modeling - I think they've done a good job with it..but it probably lacks a lot of the more advanced helo physics that something like DCS has. But like I've said - it is almost all made up for in the very low action detail that you get in ARMA worlds. Seeing the treetops skim by is pretty cool..and knowing they are collidable and that the enemy can't shoot you through it (unlike DCS), is quite compelling. And then there is the whole 3rd person ability to hop out of your helo and fight, or flee, or grab another vehicle.

Other limitations that I think are there but haven't explored yet - is that I don't know if you can get full standoff range from the Hellfire missiles. I'm not sure what the draw distance and detection ranges are in ARMA2 - but I'm not sure that you could engage something from like 8KM out or whatever the max range of the Hellfire is.

Anyway - those are a few of the "buts" about the mod. But I've found the gameplay to be quite compelling, although occasionally frustrating. It feels a bit like a chessmatch with the enemy forces as opposed to a run and gun type deal. Which is fun..but can be brutal.

I'll be starting the full campaign this week - so I'll have more on that soon. Hope that shed a little more light on my impressions thus far.

Regards,
BeachAV8R

Beach, I found out at some point I actually had purchased this through Steam but since installing ARMA3, deleted and de-selected from my favorites....yay! Anyway, I re-installed it, Operation Arrowhead and got an error message about needing a CA_Water file or something along that line. I then read the BI Studio forums and it pertained to a file present in Czech Army DLC that must be installed too. However, this thread was discussing only that particular error message. So, installed Base game and OA and got no error messages and all the DLC, even if some are of the lite configuration. I then installed the AH64 mod in the Addon folder in Steam, as well as placing the Key file in the Key folder. When I fire up the game. I cannot locate the missions or campaign. I see the EW campaign, but that was in the original game or OA addon.

Any chance you can tell me how you installed your file? I read the Read Me file, it only spoke about the pbo files going into the Addon folder, which it did. Thoughts from you or anyone else that's installed this excellent mod?

I'm no expert on ARMA strykerpsg, but here's how I got it to work:

- Copy the entire Apache mod archive contents (key file and all) to a new set of '@FZA/Addons' directories under the ARMAII:OA steam directory. (i.e. Z:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead)

- Started up OA, go to 'Extensions' and activate the new FZA Apache addon. I then got the 'CA_Water' file warning when restarting OA.

- Installed plain ARMA II from Steam, but when done then copy the entire 'AddOns' directory from that to the base directory for ARMAII:OA. After you copy that directory across (it's about 8GB) then you don't need plain ARMAII installed anymore. More details in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkD5fxsdvMY

- Play.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Great stuff, Beach. I need to find time to try this out.

BTW, my favorite terrain for helicopters and armor:
http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=16584

Sorry, my sever is screwed up with the images...hope to have it fixed shortly..

OK, not having any luck at all with this. I copied the Addon folder from the Arma2 directory so I could insert it into my Arrowhead directory later. It's size is about 8 gb or so, so it matches your description. I then re-installed Arrowhead, started it and got a missing string message but it started anyway. I exited, installed the Apache mod as you described and started up the game. Again, string missing message and starts up. However, the Apache campaign or missions don't show. Just the stock Arrowhead campaigns. I know it's not so tough to install, but I am genuinely stumped on how to get it to work. Anyway, I'll do a search on the web to see if there's help out there but I'm willing to listen to any additional ideas you, Beach or anyone else may have on how to get it to start. Such a simple mod and no joy...........

Apologies. Had a busy day yesterday and am currently back at work. When I get home later this evening I'll take a look at my install and try to help you out. I recall that I had to modify the Steam launch parameters and add the @AH64 (or whatever folder you have the AH-64 mod in) to the command line.

When I get home I'll get a copy of my Steam command line and maybe that will help...

Startup Parameters

EDIT - One other thing I had to do (I think) was to copy an entire folder from ARMA2 to ARMA2 OA or vice versa..I can't remember which, but that solved the problem similar to what you had I think. Again, once I get home I think I'll have a better idea of what I had to do to get it working..

BeachAV8R

You could always go the extreme route and toss the files into your addons folder, normally it is not recommended since doing this with too many addons will bog your start up down but it is the simplest solution.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Arma 2\AddOns

Are you saying DON'T use or install Operation Arrowhead? I only installed Arrowhead, as I did the first time too and got the missions to show, but at the time needed the CA Water file and some others that were needed to make it operate as well. I currently have the Addons folder from the base game installed in the Arrowhead main directory and the Apache mod, in it's own folder, installed in the Expansions/Addon directory of Arrowhead.

Alrighty.. I DO have Arma2 and Operation Arrowhead installed. When I play - I launch the Operation Arrowhead shortcut using my desktop icon and my Steam command line reads this:

-mod=@AH64;@CBA_CO;@Blastcore_Visuals_R1.2;@gtmod;@Clafghan

I have the mods in directories:



And I also think I copied all of the files from the Arma2/Addons directory to the Arma2/Operation Arrowhead/Addons directory. I still have Arma2 installed, but I'm not sure if I really need it.

Hope that helps...

BeachAV8R

I misunderstood the problem.



In order to play the campaign and training missions you will need Arma 2 as they use the islands and assets from the original game.

Ah..thanks for that bit of info!

So did ya' get it working stryker? Dealing with Steam installs can be frustrating for modding..for sure..

BeachAV8R

Installing ARMA2 as you read this. I'll try both recommendations and will let you know the outcome. Thanks in advance and appreciate the kindness as well as the patience.

Beach, thanks for the pic of your directory, it helps. Is the Command line the URL or the Shortcut key space on the Arrowhead Shortcut? I haven't used a command line in quite some time.

Also, still haven't gotten it to run yet. I see the regular missions but not the Apache ones. Does the key have to be installed separate from the pbo files or does your reside with the unzipped file in your OA directory in one folder?

I'm off to bed, will resume with this install this weekend. Thanks much to you and nodunit for your assistance.

No, the command line is actually set within the Steam menu. If you start up Steam, go to your Library, go to ARMA2 Operation Arrowhead, right click and go to the bottom Properties, then Set Launch Options you can alter the startup command line.



I think when you use the shortcut on the desktop, it launches the Steam app according to what is set in that Steam Launcher line.. As far as I know anyway..

Good luck!

BeachAV8R

Beach, I got it to work. I noticed when I installed the Blastcore mod in the directory, started her up, and noticed Blastcore in the Expansions directory of the game menu, it got me thinking about what is different about it's install versus the Apache one. So, went into the directory, add an @ symbol and made sure there was an addon sub folder within the 2 addons applied. I then cranked it up, went into the expansions menu and Voila! They were both there....now, an ethical dilemma about catching a cold between now and PT time....thank goodness the weekend cometh.

I am certain I will be back, as I did get some error message about Blastcore needing some other file, this time no CA_Water, but something about Extended Event Handler or other. More to follow.

Matt

Thanks Brother. I will give this a try tomorrow. Also, I noticed the other mods in your command line. Are they for the Apache as well, or just general mods to enhance the theater overall?

Pretty much just visual mods - BlastCore enhances (or probably "Hollywoodizes") some of the game explosions, smoke, stuff like that. CBA is a requirement for many mods including BlastCore.

The @gtmod was something I was experimenting with to try to change cockpits mid-flight, but I think it might only work with stock ARMA2 helicopters..not the AH-64D.

Then @clafghan is just a map/theater that replicates Afghanistan with sort of a Restrepo feel to it (but I haven't really found any missions that I can use with it yet..)

@C185 is a Cessna 185 mod that I never did get working for some reason. Can't figure that one out.

So all you really do need is the @AH64 or whatever you've named the Apache mod folder.

Regards,
BeachAV8R

Any mod that requires the Chernarus map needs the original Arma 2 installed.

I wonder if they are going to make this mod for ArmA3...

Franze did but support has been discontinued because there is literally nothing we can do for the problems it faces.

My favorite helo and my favorite AAR author. Beach we need moaaaaaaaaaaar!

Thanks for the comment. I'll be posting up more AARs shortly.

Also this post should be of interest to those looking to fly the AH-64 in Arma3: LINK!

From Nodunit:

"Decided to test the TKOH version Franze worked on into A3 with the inclusion of RTD on dev branch.

Turns out all of the flight characteristics tranferred flawlessly and the bird is back to her older self but even better.
To clarify the difference, the pivot point was raised and behind the main rotor which made the control all wonky and jerky whereas now the weight is actually central to the helicopter.

Thanks to the new FDM added we no longer have to use physX class which means no more sliding and a very strong possibility of not losing the modeltoworld features."



BeachAV8R

That's both unexpected and extremely interesting. I was fond of Franze & NodUnit's Apache, but at the point it had come out I had abandoned Arma 2 in favor of the general superiority of Arma 3, and never gave it the attention I otherwise would have.

If they find that FDM fixes the simulation class problems they were having, and they continue developing it for Arma 3, I think their it would be an excellent compliment for the upcoming Helicopters DLC. Now if we can just convince the 160th SOAR guys to FDM their upcoming blackhawks....

I wish them the best in whatever they choose