Arma 3
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DUWS Expanded Collection (ABANDONED: It kind of works, but not being updated)
   
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Data Type: Mod
Mod Type: Campaign
Scenario Gameplay: Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Scenario Map: Altis, Malden 2035, Tanoa, OtherMap
Tags: Tag Review
File Size
Posted
29.607 MB
27 Jul, 2020 @ 1:56pm
1 Change Note ( view )

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DUWS Expanded Collection (ABANDONED: It kind of works, but not being updated)

Description
DUWS Expanded is abandoned. Should still 'work' but DUWS_X is a better version. If you have that AND TPW MODS, it does everything this version does except random armed civilians, which are more annoying than interesting to most people. Leaving the assets up in case anyone wants to use either my or GODIS's code to make even better versions in the future.


So I've always been a fan of the Dynamic Universal War System. DRO/DCO are great mods, but I liked the grander scale that DUWS can provide. My personal favorite version, for that very reason, was the Dynamic ISIS War System by Godis.

My problem with it was that a) it had SO MANY dependencies that were being constantly updated that the mission file itself became more and more unstable, and b) while a very dynamic mission within its own parameters, it wasn't very modular and locked you into US vs ISIS. And it was kind of just old. It's been a while since DUWS got any love. Or at least a big honking overhaul. And it still hasn't, since I'm not a good coder/modder. What I am excellent at, however, is CTRL+F, CTRL+X, and CTRL+V. So when I start listing features here, please remember that I didn't WRITE any of them. Most of the work was done or compiled by a modder called Godis, and a God he is! (That was forced, but seriously, the DISWS I based these mods on is a work of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ art. Buggy, buggy art).

From the original/early DUWS missions, if you've never played it:

1) Play on any island. Just rename the .pbo file to end with the name of the Island. That is, changing DUWS EXPANDED CIVIL WAR FIAvAAF.Altis to DUWS EXPANDED CIVIL WAR FIAvAAF.Takistan will port the entire thing over to Takistan.
2) Either manually or randomly place not only your own HQ, but also enemy zones anywhere on the map.
3) Choose relative strength of OPFOR vs BLUFOR, as well as climate and a bunch of other stuff
4) Fight and earn Control Points to spend on vehicles, new squads, and features like artillery or air support.
5) Use high-command to control other squads to be either in the action yourself, or in control of the army.

Some amazing features from Godis' version:

1) Civilian reputation system: if you kill civilians, the population will turn on you. The more you kill, the more civilians will take up arms against you, or even become suicide bombers. (Known issue: NPC on NPC violence/car accidents still up the tally, so it's kind of unavoidable, but it's never been a HUGE issue for me)
2) Enemy Occupation System: Entering towns spawns enemies there! No more DUWS where the only enemies are scant patrols and control zones. Capture a town, and it stays captured! Depending on enemy strength/who is spawned, this can and DOES INCLUDE AIRPOWER. Jets, helicopters, BOATS if it's on a coast. Be prepared. (known issue: Sometimes killing all enemies doesn't 'capture' a town. Usually, but it's a little buggy. Also, they will spawn first, and THEN find placement, so there's often a moment where a bunch of Syndikat goons will suddenly appear in the middle of a road you're driving through, start shooting, IMMEDIATELY DISAPPEAR when the system places them throughout the town, and then you can properly fight.)
3) IEDs. These have been a staple of DUWS for years. I play with them off, but they're there if you want them.

So, acknowledging that, here's what I did myself:

1) Used https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1159462402 as a base. My goal was to make this compatible with EVERYTHING by making it dependent on NOTHING. I failed here only in that it requires CBA and I don't know why. Sorry.
2) Removed all mod dependencies (like RHS and other content mods), and converted the entire system into the 2035 setting as NATO vs CSAT with vanilla assets.
3) Created several more versions with wildly uncreative names and opposing forces, to include:
NATO vs CSAT (Vanilla)
NATO vs CSAT (Pacific)
FIA/NATO vs CSAT (Resistance)
FIA/NATO vs CSAT (Pacific Resistance)
FIA/NATO vs AAF (Civil War)
4) Unfluffed most of the mission files to make them more Generik(tm)
5) Introduced native MAX_Women compatibility for the civilian population, while not requiring the mod. Just feels like having ONLY male civilians was weird, so I tossed a few women into the spawn list. Tested it, and not having the mod does not break the mission. They just don't spawn.
6) Modified the civilian and traffic population rates to make them more present, while not creating a major drag on MY machine. No promise yours won't slow down.
7) Fiddled with the EOS: Entering a town will spawn EITHER the main enemy faction of the mod, 'deserter' AAF forces or Sydikat rebels/looters depending on the DUWS-EX version selected
8) Imported and de-Russia-fied some missions from DUWS-Modified: RHS Escalation by Ceitho
9) Debloated a lot of the selection lists, since I removed so many mod requirements.
10) Robustly play-tested it in private LAN. I have absolutely no idea how it works in true multiplayer or single player, but you were never supposed to use DUWS in single-player anyway.

Here's what I did not/can not figure out how to do:

1) Make civilians-turned-enemies stop screaming "allahu akbar" before blowing up or shooting at you. I would prefer they not do this; it feels a bit insensitive and unnecessary.
2) Competely fix the EOS bugginess. Also, it might still tell you that al-Nusra captured a town. I THINK I removed all that, but there's a pretty good chance I missed something.
3) There's probably a lot of 'mission info' stuff on the map I missed that references ISIS, al-Nusra, and probably Russians (I lifted a few mission files from DUWS-Modified: RHS Escalation as well). I got lazy and distracted by other parts of the mod.
4) Traffic pathing is AWFUL. NPCs will drive through fields, crash into literally everything, and forget how bridges work. You know, like ARMA. TO be fair, I don't think that one's on me.
5) Enemy AI isn't particularly aggressive. I think I might have borked this up, but I don't know how or how to fix it. As I, and most people I discuss it with, prefer DUWS as a specops offensive game instead of a defensive one, it's not game-breaking.
6) If you spawn your HQ in the middle of a town, you WILL have to fight immediately. I think it's cool, but I get it might not be ideal for everyone.
7) Aforementioned CBA requirement.

Compatibility:
DUWS Expanded should be, and is DESIGNED to be, compatible with everything. I made it explicitly to work with ANY faction replacer without having to recreate spawn lists for a new version. I have tested it with RHS and NIA replacers by Jarrad96. If it modifies the cfgvehicle files but leaves the paths intact, it works.
Works fine/great with ACE.
Any sound/visual mods should be completely unaffected.
Designed to work with Max_women, but it is not required. If you have it installed, female civilians will spawn.
FEMAL3/Fifty Shades are supported in that female faces will start populating on random soldiers.


INSTALLATION

Since Steam/the BI Publisher is being weird to me, I'm putting all my eggs in one basket. Installation is a bit annoying this way, but hopefully better. Once you subscribe to the mod, follow these instructions:

1) Start the ARMA 3 launcher
2) Find this mod. DUWS Expanded, if you forgot.
3) Right-click and select "Open Folder." This should take you to your hidden Steam Workshop folder.
4) Find this mod. @DUWS Expanded, for those struggling to keep up. Open it.
5) Go inside the folder and COPY ALL the .pbo files. There should be five.
6) Go up one directory to the ARMA 3 folder, and PASTE the .pbo files into the "Missions" or "MPMissions" folder. They are now playable in their default islands.
7) You can designate which island you want to play on by creating a copy of any .pbo file and changing the location name. Be aware mod-added location names get weird, so it requires some experimentation.
8) Have fun!
Popular Discussions View All (1)
0
19 Feb, 2021 @ 6:00am
Mods that enhance the experience
scameronde
26 Comments
Stein 24 Jul, 2023 @ 6:29pm 
how do i start this map?
Stef 27 Apr, 2021 @ 2:28am 
There is probably something i don't understand, but i can't seem to make it run correctly.
Every time i try to launch a side mission, i get myself stuck in infinite loading screen.
Seloune 16 Apr, 2021 @ 7:32am 
@TPW_MODS require at mission start...
Mr Generik  [author] 15 Apr, 2021 @ 5:42pm 
Yeah, noted in the description is that the WARCOM isn't very aggressive on either side. Given that I tend to play it as a specops/patrol sort of game mod that has never bothered me. It's definitely an effect of it being wildly unfinished.
Slaughterias 14 Apr, 2021 @ 4:17am 
Update: I did it! :) Spent all day yesteday switching out troops and balancing, turning it into a North African insurgency scenario. still got a bit to do, then i gotta change all the text to fit better. I'm actually pretty pleased, if everything works out fine i might upload it. Big credits to you for updating the scenario and keeping it running, king. I wonder if you've run into the issue where WARCOM sometimes won't send out patrols and assaults though. I think it might have to do with the map I'm using, because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Slaughterias 12 Apr, 2021 @ 11:06pm 
@Mr Generik I found those files by trial and error already yesterday. I've went through everything and changed it aside from the WARCOM files, which I discovered and then immediatly went to bed lol.
I'm bout to sit down and get it done right now, but thank you for the alternatives.
Mr Generik  [author] 12 Apr, 2021 @ 1:38pm 
Or, another thought: Use a replacer mod. eduardcomandox (educom) has great replacement mods on armaholic, and on the Workshop there are ones by Jarrahd96. Try these: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1076260321 . Very few actual CHANGES, but straight swaps for better equipment for most factions. Jarrad has some that swap out NATO for RHS' US Army or Marines.

I also used Jarrad's to create other 'hotswap' files for myself that let me change factions around, but again... more time that it was worth, and they sometimes just stop working.
Mr Generik  [author] 12 Apr, 2021 @ 1:31pm 
@Slaughterias 3/2 (again) however, if you want to change factions, it's a very in-the-weeds process unfortuantely.
1) In any file labeled 'createpatrol' 'createoppatrol' 'createteam' 'createopteam' 'createwpteam' you'll need to swap individual classnames with what you want to be there. To make it tropical, for example, you need to exchange all occurrences of B_Soldier_F with B_T_Soldier_F. With every unit.
2) In WARCOM you'll need to go into basically ever file, learn the syntax for calling a specific team or unit, and recreate what you want. Too complicated to write here, but it's a pain.
3) Go through all files in the Missions folder and replace every instance of the old unit with new ones like in step 1
4) Same thing for InitHQ and InitZones, operatives, and the entire dialogue folder

You get the idea. It's awful, and I'm going to try and never do it again. It's easier, in every way, to download TPW mods and DUWS_X, and make a custom faction for that if you have to.
Slaughterias 12 Apr, 2021 @ 1:25pm 
@Mr Generik

That sounds exciting, I started of with DUWS_X because of its simplicity and options but after i tried your DIWS edit I just can't go back again haha! I hope it gets released and thank you for your work. That must've taken some effort to successfully salvage. I'm trying to revert the units back to an updated version of the original right now for me and my buds, but I can barely pay attention to whats in front of me lol, just now figured out how easy it was to change civillian units, and that's about how far I've gotten.
Mr Generik  [author] 12 Apr, 2021 @ 1:12pm 
2/2


I have since given them updated .pbos, and hope that they like what I've done. For two reasons, I won't be publishing it independently. 1) They did 99% of the actual programming work and it would be horribly shitty of me to take credit for it at all. 2) there are still problems with my version, namely that I can't figure out how to actually DISABLE the IEDs in the version that has them (hence two separate versions), and I can't figure out how to make the EOS spawns variable like OPFOR. SOooooo, a DUWS X-PANDED won't be forthcoming to the general public. However, like I said, I've given my project to Killa Tomato and LT Dang, and maybe they'll publish something even better than what I could cobble together in a cave WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS.