Yeah good call. I think it definitely has a decent layout for C2ISTAR (in theory) and get-in, get-out kind of missions. Too bad ALiVE doesn't have a prisoner rescue quest. Like some random camp we need to get Intel on with a solder hostage. That would be really topical and really really great. :) It's decided. Thanks Savage.

I've become unfathomably better at creating missions/scripting since I did a FATA mission, but it's still been one of the best missions I've ever played. Definitely a map worth trying.

I'll get started tonight. Hopefully to save me some initial basic setup time a copy/paste from CLAfghan will do. I have what I'd say is a 50% done mission on that map but yeah, CLAfghan's layout causes huge problems with AI path-taking. FATA is a cool map. Should have thought of that earlier. Thanks guys.

My personal favorites...

Sangin- absolutely phenomenal layout for insurgencies. Varied terrain, outstanding city layout, brilliant prebuilt FOBs, poppy fields, etc. not too big, not too small. My all time favorite Afghan themed map.

Isla Duala- one of the very few legit African maps. It's easy to get burned out on constantly fighting Middle East terrorists. Using this map in conjunction with Massi's African Conflict unit pack provides a slew of wonderful African themed campaigns. So much variety and unique thought in this map as well.

N'Ziwasogo- see my earlier comments about Isla Duala. Another very unique map that can be used for any Jungle environment. And...the best ambient sounds on any map available. It's also Huuuuuuge.

Sahrani SMD- this map doesn't get enough pub. Huge graphical improvements over the A2 ported Sahrani. Great terrain variations and Alive works wonderfully on it as well.

Those are my Top 4. If not for the AI path finding issues on Clafghan, it would be up there as well.

Is Isla Duala still working well with ALiVE? Am I making up that I thought I heard there was some new issues with it? Or maybe not with ALiVE-per say but some kind of issue in general? I could have sworn I read somewhere but I'm not remembering where I got that from...

Other than AI not crossing bridges, Isla Duala works great. But that issue is a map issue, not an Alive issue. Icebreaker is working on a fix. He already fixed it on his Lingor map.

^ I wonder how he fixed it? This is a long-standing issue with AI and bridges (not just on his maps).

He be magician

I'd include an FPS warning for Sangin. For my money it's probably my all-time favorite map, but really suffers from huge performance drops in the cities. Let's put it this way; it's not unplayable or unenjoyable, but it's enough of a deterrent for me to prefer playing on other maps when given the choice.

For FATA, I noticed that if random camps in the mil obj module are given unfettered access to spawn at will, about 200M-300M around the outside (in the non-playable areas) of the entire map will see camp placements. To combat this, I actually had to make blacklist markers for the entire map border. It's like even though the map is 5x5, ALiVE will spawn camps in a 5.3x5.3 area.

@incontinenetia Yeah that's true... but also true for quite a lot of maps with land borders too. In fact, in my experience, it happens on all of them!

Good to know! It's the first time I'd ever seen that but it's also the first time I had random camps set above low.

What would be a good map for a spec-ops style, nvg wearing, fly in, blow stuff up and get the heck out kind of mission? Something with a decent amount of enterable buildings and not super small I think would make the most sense. I'd love some suggestions.

I'm thinking of setting up something with a small fire team and auto-generated tasking. We'll likely use a helicopter only to move around so it should probably play nice with elevation (sorry CLAfghan). It can be from any part of the world. I just want to feel like I'm descending into hell when we fastrope out of the chopper. :)

I'm open to ideas. Just don't want to spend the next several days just download maps only to not like them or whatever.

N'Ziwasogo (jungle theme)
Lingor
Gorgona (small but good)
Isola de Capraia (has cool floating airfield in NW corner)

Oh.... :)

So Isola de Capraia seems nice! Looks like Russain and/or middle eastern fighters would work also. Very cool.

Is it playing nicely with CUP map pack?

And Lingor looks great too. I thought I read it was having issues with ALiVE or issues in general. Had you heard that at all? I'll look into it. Lots of good choices here.

I think the issues were with Isla Duala (another Icebreakr map) which there was a fix released recently... could be wrong though ;) If you've never used Lingor before you are in for a treat!

The bird sounds on N'Ziwasogo - check the BIS forum thread for that map - I think someone released a small mod that removes that sound... or there is a way to do it manually (ie: remove the .pbo file for that sound).

Capraia - one of my all time favorites and great FPS

Yeah man I'm thinking for this specific mission, Capraia it is! Just watched a video on YouTube with some guys taking off from the airbase. :) Wow. If it has enough buildings it will be perfect. Are you using CUP or AiA.

Lingor and Isla Duala look amazing too. So many choices.

I'll look back through the N'Ziwasogo thread again but I skimmed it and didn't see any custom patches or the name of the sound file to remove. Do you have the answer to that handy by chance?

Sorry just going from my (failing) memory. Check the .pbo files if you've already downloaded it - perhaps it will be obvious ie: annoying_fucking_bird_sounds.pbo :)

It's been a while since I fired up Capraia so it was probably with AiA. Not a ton of buildings at the airfield however you can always add more (vid below @ 17 seconds in)

Yeah Savage, Capraia is remarkable. At first I thought it may have too few civ/mil objects but when I turned on debug and the map lit up like a Christmas tree, my heart melted. :)

Doing a bit of googling and not having any luck. Is there a boat or submarine mod I could use to get from the ship to the land? I plan on mainly using a transport chopper but for operations right on the coast line, I'd love to be able to travel that way. I'd definitely prefer a boat but any water transport vehicles I could drive would work.

EDIT: You know I didn't even think to check. I wonder if vanilla NATO has some boats I could use...hmmmm.

Chernarus!

I kid I kid

@ski2060 Vanilla has armed speedboats and rubber insertion boats. Nothing bigger though.

I am trying to find a good East European/Balkans style map(not Chernarus!) for our next campaign. Half through with our Insurgency on Al Rayak and I want to move to a different theater for an Open Warfare style map. Players vs. Russian/Chechen .. Maybe Georgian intervention? Ukraine? something along those lines.

Do you know where I can get something that can hold an 8 man team?

@ski2060 Hmm... I think the armed patrol boat is 7-8 men. Might want to check it out and see.
I will look around for larger boat transport for you.

Cool. Thanks man. I'd return the favor by recommending an Eastern European map but the only ones I know are Chernerus and Esseker. What about Bornholm?

Ah nice! This will also do nicely seeing as I'm playing as British Royal Marines. :) Burnes is amazing and I had no clue this existed. Thank you.

Now hopefully there's a way to actually board when I park it next to the carrier on Capraia.

Thanks man. Much appreciated.

Yeah good call. I'm hoping the pre-built carrier on Capraia actually has a well/docking area similar to what the LHD has. I'll have to look later. But now I have options so I appreciate it. :)

Ski, according to the Wiki, Esseker is already indexed.

The airfield on Capraia is not a carrier - just a few 'floating' runways and taxi areas. I can't recall if it has a 'launch area' ie: a ramp into the water or similar.

@ski2060 I am trying to find a good East European/Balkans style map(not Chernarus!) for our next campaign. Half through with our Insurgency on Al Rayak and I want to move to a different theater for an Open Warfare style map.

Small but good: Caribou Frontier
Taviana
Thirsk
Everon 2014

@SavageCDN The airfield on Capraia is not a carrier - just a few 'floating' runways and taxi areas. I can't recall if it has a 'launch area' ie: a ramp into the water or similar.

Yeah I found it. This mission is going to be awesome. :) I set up some transport choppers for tasks within the heart of the island and put down some assault boats near the dock to use for coastline objectives.

Gonna blacklist some of the C2ISTAR tasks to lean toward HVT missions next. It'll be a perfect little spec-ops map. Thanks for the suggestion. This is gonna be sweet.

There is a great location for HVT missions - it's the 'palace' building on the east coast (can't recall it's actual name) just SE of the main port town.