Mudspike Foothold Syria - Cold War
Server Name: KMAS-Mudspike
Server Password: mudspike71!
Direct IP (for now): 98.24.154.237 Port: 10308
Mudspike Discord invite link used for comms: Mudspike
Foothold Curator: Lekaa (Donation Link): https://buymeacoffee.com/lekaa
Notes:
This is a very slightly modified version of Lekka’s updated Foothold Syria mission. He updates the mission regularly (along with other theater missions). I won’t belabor the features and rules but generally:
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Mission is persistent in that it runs continuously on the server. The goal is total map domination, but you start out with just one base (and carrier ops). The mission save tracks your kills, deaths, and a bunch of other statistics. This mission save file dumps to another directory so we CAN make changes to the .miz file and usually the save files will be compatible. You may see some tweaks over time. Right now the OV-10 is missing for some reason, but I’ll jam it in there in the next day or so. Adjustments have also been made to remove the SA-10/11/15 from the .miz file. Let me know if you see any RED or BLUE AI that are over-equipped and I can make adjustments.
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There is an “economy” features - credits and rank points that are tracked throughout the campaign in a save file that gets written to every couple of minutes. I regularly save these files so that we can revert in case of something catastrophic like a griefer coming in and wrecking our bases. Rank points open up more items in the OTHER radio menu and allow for purchasing of items to help the cause. Credits earned by the collective can be spent by anyone playing - I don’t think we had any objections to any use of credits in the last campaign.
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While I’ve made some effort to pare down the equipment list for both BLUE and RED forces, there are plenty of non-period (Cold War) assets available. We aren’t a hardcore milsim group, so I’d encourage you to play with what makes you happy. There are no restrictions (I don’t think) on labels or help items..so play like you want to play..the goal is to have fun. From what I’ve seen, our group is self-disciplining and strikes a good balance between individual preferences and group teamwork dynamics.
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We have some members that cannot use voice comms due to late night family situations. Often they can hear on voice channels, but can’t broadcast, so keep an eye on the in-game chat box when able to help with situational awareness. Some of us have been using the Mudspike Discord for voice comms. I wouldn’t object to eventually setting up SRS - but I have no idea how to do that or use it. SRS might be a good idea if we have several “flights” going on at the same time so that channels can be separate for those of us asking questions like “how do I close the canopy” when others are trying to coordinate not dying.
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Weather is currently set to a broken layer. This will change (manually) every few days or so. I’ll try to keep it to a dull roar.
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Season and time of day are set for summer and 5:30AM local, so the sun is coming up and giving the maximum amount of daylight. The in-game clock only runs when a client is signed on..so if ya’ll play for 14 hours, you’ll reach sunset. Typically I’m around to manually reset the server. Night ops can be kind of fun and moody..so expect that to happen occasionally. I’ve been made aware there are some scripts that allow people to change the time or reset the server via the OTHER menu..so I’ll look into that.
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There are a few mods on the server that are not required to play. If you don’t install them they will show up as generic aircraft instead of what they are supposed to be. The A-4, freeware Hercules, OH-6A, and UH-60 are all installed and at least mostly functional. Might still be some weaponry issues.
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The server features roles for all walks of life: CAP, SEAD, STRIKE, CAS, and CSAR. There should be plenty for everyone to do. I’ll need to observe the behavior of the mission over time because this time AI should not be doing most of the heavy lifting for resupply of captured bases, but I’m not sure how that dynamic works. I believe all bases must have unrestricted airframes - I’m not sure that I can change that. Let me know what you see and report back. Typically, in the last campaign (Persian Gulf) we would see AI helicopters start to attempt to resupply captured FARPs and airbases within about 15 minutes. I tried to DE-select that, but I’m not sure if that behavior is still there or not. Let me know. The warehouse stuff is still a bit of a mystery to me.
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Just be aware if you idle on the server for a long period, RED may gain ground as the war keeps churning. That’s fine if there are other players online, but if you are a single player and idle for five hours to go clip your toenails, RED may take advantage. Also worth mentioning that the mission scales in difficulty (or opposition) with the number of players on the server. Helicopters don’t cause as much reaction, but fighters will..so expect as more people join for the enemy activity to increase. Fun stuff.
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I’ll get the offline campaign viewer setup this weekend when I get a moment - thanks to @fearlessfrog for the instructions. We’ll see if the monkey can press the right keys.
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HAVE FUN! Feel free to make suggestions, post observations, stories, screenshots. The PG campaign was a blast and this one looks to be some beautiful terrain with less modern challenges.
I tried a F-4E with 4 Shrike’s, tuned to the SA-8 radar with the mk37 seeker. Haven’t ever trained with the Shrike, it’s probably no surprise my attempt failed. I tried the WRCS direct mode, following Chuck’s Guide, but probably forgot a step or otherwise poorly implemented it: I climbed to 10k feet, steered towards the bright 8 on my RWR, got a on speed indicator, but no Shrike ever launched. Probably my vertical parameters were off or so.
