What would you want in a Mudspike DCS Server?

Hardware & Tech Questions
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That’s a good aim, so now it’s really the details of how to prevent the ‘Internet Entropy’ where the work needs to be put in to make and keep it a nice place, as that’s not the default online. :slight_smile:

An analogy is the forum really, in that you need tech support to keep it going, moderators who want to put in the time to do the work no one else wants to and then actual content/time from people that just want to share something for fun rather than just passively read. Without those three parts it won’t work.

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Pick Me GIF by memecandy

My case :slight_smile:

99.9% of the time I am a single player. A Mudspike DCS Server with people from around here would probably be a good reason for me to pop-in when firing up DCS.

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Persistence would be nice, as that would allow people from different timezones to “join the effort” - it gives a sense that you’re on the same side as the other Mudspikers despite rarely being online at the same time.

That’s one of the things I miss about playing Anarchy Online (a sci-fi MMO from a long time ago) - you’d log in, accomplish stuff and you’d be working towards the same goal as your org mates (organisation = guild) from around the world.

I wanted Air Hauler 2 to be that interface but it is more about building your own company. I think Elite Dangerous is mostly about your own thing, too.

Of course, a persistent server is still pretty light on long term joint goals but it would be cool to go smash the SAM site that decimated @BeachAV8R while I was at work and write an AAR about it. It would be more fun than killing just a random SAM site.

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Through the Inferno has an excellent PVE template. That group may be able to authorize their mission templates for private/passworded use. I’ve flown TTI with another community, Tactical DCS/Pascale. They have a separate passworded TTI server that rotates maps and airplanes. So, it’s worth asking the TTI group.

Otherwise, why not build on our friends’ Hollo Pointe mission(s)? I’ve always enjoyed hopping in their servers, whether PvE or PvP.

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Hollo Pointe Servers:

We are working towards some kind of “mission index” documentation so people can know what types of missions are available rather than just mission names & memory from players.

I have the server protected by SLmod and hope to in future activate it’s voting system so a group of players can vote to change or restart a mission without admin intervention.

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That’s an excellent idea. Have some briefing materials and such. Perhaps some hints and such to get people pointed in the right direction as well. (yes I felt lost last time I flew HP)

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We’re looking to include the in-game/mission briefing info + the coalition situation report, available aircraft slots, signals data (radio and TACANs) and mission designer’s notes on theme/purpose/intent of the mission and how it’s played.

That will still be a while it’s just a concept, so data is coming together - how it’s all presented? TBD.

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I wonder if it is possible to create/update kneeboard pages dynamically with LUA-scripting?

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I think - in general, we qualify as a small group of people. It is pretty rare to have any more than four to six of us at any one time. For a larger event, like a published fly-in time, I think a bigger mission could be something that we could occasionally run.

Cool. I will probably visit the Hollo Pointe servers in the coming days and weeks and get a feel for what you guys are running. I have not been very active in online play the last few years because of some time pressures unrelated to my primary job and family stuff…and I’ve decided to move on from one of those obligations and it will free me up to spend more time online getting Mudspike main site articles up more often.

I will definitely do that. You run his missions on the two HP servers?

So this might be a long section of my reply, and will probably reveal a lot about my lack of knowledge about how DCS MP servers work, so this could be embarrassing.

What I would like to run is mostly geared to my own personal fantasy of online play - which would be very EECH campaign-like. I don’t know that this is achievable in DCS with a constant running mission, or if it would require loading mission segments in ways that some of the dynamic campaign engine missions work. I don’t think keeping up with shorter missions and reloading the server with those saved changes would really work for us.

I’ve been doing most of my flying the past two weeks on the Stoic Frog (SFrog) server which has a lot of attractive features, but I honestly don’t know too much about it (@fearlessfrog probably knows much more about the inner workings of it). One thing I don’t like about it…or any MP server that I’ve visited thus far…is that I never know the current progress or outcome of longer campaigns, generally because there isn’t much discussion about them. I know Blue Flag and ones like that are HUGE and last a long time, but I think those would go beyond the scope of what I’d like to run.

The SFrog server has pretty approachable goals, but runs on a pretty short cycle (10 or 14 hours or something?). Which isn’t a lot of time to get things done (I assume the server pauses when there are no clients playing).

I also always dream of having somewhat realistic or limited enemy activity that you can attrite - sometimes in online play I feel like I have never made a dent in the enemy CAP capability. I get the balance there though…so you shoot down all MiG-29s coming out of Base A and now the guys that log on to play A2A don’t have something to do.

Likewise, with regards to enemy defenses, we’ve seen a nice feeling of accomplishment on the SFrog server by knocking out the coastal defenses…you actually feel like you are making some progress, knocking some holes in the network, but when I leave and rejoin the next day, the mission has cycled (reached the TIME limit as opposed to the WIN trigger I suppose) and it is back to square one. And I don’t know that the SFrog server has limits on enemy aircraft they throw at you…but that does also keep it interesting because you almost always have to have a friendly CAP escorting you, which does make for some great gameplay.

I also always enjoyed the base and FARP capturing movement of the EECH campaign - I enjoyed turning the map BLUE or RED over time - and it had those great primary objectives (like 5 main sites) that you could concentrate on to win the campaign.

And, of course, I love logistics…so I enjoy the ass & trash hauling in helicopters and doing logistics stuff like that.

I might be trying to fit a square peg in a round hole with regards to my wish list for a DCS MP campaign/mission specific to our small group here at Mudspike. I have a lot to learn about what is possible in both mission capability, MP stability, and with the admission that I know nothing about the advanced methods of making campaigns (MIST, MOOSE, CTLD or whatever those are called)…

Yes - fun is paramount. If I can find a scenario that mixes fun with like week-long objectives that can also be enjoyable for a wide array of DCS modules, that would be ideal.

Agreed - throw that on my wish list pile…

Good to know…

Yeah…I like to come back and see progress. Not that a whole map thing where you can spawn in stuff isn’t useful for training…I enjoy those too (and in fact have probably played that type of mission more than others on the Hoggit training server…)

One of us! One of us!

Agreed. I think MP is addictive and if it is fun (and we have a fun group here), it can definitely self-sustain. I mean, I only just started flying heavily a week or so ago and I can’t wait to get back to it. Was looking forward to getting on tonight, but the wife begged me to watch a couple episodes of Orange is the New Black…

Agreed.

Agreed. Hey Europeans…leave us some stuff to bomb when you get up in the morning! :rofl:

I’ll continue to research this and maybe start small with some training type missions and we can just see how the server will hold up.

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WC runs HP with his missions, while I run HPN with Franze’s.
Originally my server was running as a temporary backup while HP had issues.
Since Franze’s mission set increased in size and HP has been stable I have for now taken WC’s missions off HPN so that the mission list is shorter and easier to get through when we change what is running.

I haven’t been on too many servers. I did spend some time on the 104th and while that was big, it was not campaign like, so that makes sense to be lacking info. On a smaller scale, you’d run through things before necessary. Both WC and Franze have periodic status updates post on screen or they can be called by the F10 menu. Missions are usually 8-24 hour timeouts so more micro-campaigns if anything.

Franze’s Offensive Posture v2 (Caucasus) and Trivial Perplexion (Syria) both include this type of function to a degree. Degrading enemy CAP requires hitting airfield warehouses, hitting warehouses requires removing enemy air defenses, removing enemy air defenses requires removing CAPs. It’s a team game, with a sprinkle of AI assistance - when they cooperate!

FARPs aren’t so much of a big deal to do as a helicopter AO is rather small, to be fair to helo pilots who don’t want 6 hour flights… The problem is on the jet scale your mission requires significant scripted logistics to open/close slots at bases, activate and close objectives etc. Plus too many units and the mission will bog down - meaning an endless mission full of burnt out tanks etc, doesn’t work well.

We’ve been finding that the scale of operation means that a mission that works great with the jets isn’t as practical with the helicopters. A small role perhaps, but not truly integrated. Likewise, a heli-centric mission with a sprinkle of jets is OK but the AO would be too small for jet pilots to stay busy for any length of time.

Yep, we’re learning the same lessons. The result is mainly this:
Do you want to sand the peg round, or cut the round hole out to be square? :wink:
Different players, different answers - if the changes aren’t to drastic and you have a set of missions with some taking both methods, well that’s been our idea, it works alright!

I can’t keep up with all that, I try to so my mission idea suggestions aren’t out to lunch but otherwise I just keep the ball rolling. I have someone else to design and build it! :grin:

I feel obligated to throw this out but sportsmanship helps too. You can make a nice mission to destroy an enemy tank brigade (100+ tanks) and one A-10C (or F-16C) with CBU-97’s can finish that up in a couple sorties. So you make the flight distance longer so they don’t take as much bombs (F-16C would need drop tanks), but now they think the flight is too long and don’t want to play. Are you ruining the player’s fun, or are they ruining your “community project” so to speak? The same goes for the F-14 and the Phoenix missiles (taking 6 of them) and the Hornet and JDAM/JSOW (taking 4-8). It’s another nobody is right/wrong conundrum. An overloaded player isn’t being malicious, they may just want to get a lot of practice on something in their limited time.

We’ve been waiting for more Multi-Crew. The F-14 set a high bar but it’s roles and function don’t meet most people’s interests. Training someone via the back seat of a F/A-18D Hornet…we’d like to see that. (To note, early Super Hornet F’s aren’t much different software wise). The Huey isn’t practical in combat with armor, and needs lighter targets. Missions for the Mi-24, OH-58 and AH-64 as they come out will see if Multi-Crew really takes off.

Definitely, learning your player base is the hardest part!
I am trying to spout what knowledge I have gleamed over the past year or so with a 24/7 server, so I hope that hasn’t come across as dismissive to the idea. Think of it like an aircraft emergency checklist diagnostic section: as many of the possible problems you may encounter, and some knowledge that may help you get out of them - however the procedures section is someone else’s job!

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