Hey Hoppah,
Since I have so much to say and new pics as well, I might as well not clutter up your topic but just stick to this one. I'm going to break this up into a couple of sections to hopefully keep it organized and readable as well.
# Models/Graphics
* First off, what an AMAZING job you've done with your models. Every little detail is captured brilliantly and I'm really in awe at your abilities as both a coder and modeler/artist. The engines, ambulances and everything look great. The new charger is slick, and who knows, maybe someday in the future we'll have a few of those here in LA. But as always, I would like to comment on a couple of things that are minor at best, and in no way detract from the mod you have created.
* Motorcycle Unit
o While steady burn red lights have already been discussed ad nauseum, I was remiss in not commenting on the most obvious thing. All motorcycles driven by Law Enforcement Officers in this state MUST have 2 steady burn always on blue lights in the rear. Here are a couple of example pics:
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Port of Los Angeles PD +
CHP +
Los Alamitos +
Westminster PD +
Corona PD +
Perris/RSO o As you can see, it doesn't matter the county, or department. They all have it due to a few embarrassing occasions when CHP and air units would go in pursuit of a speeding motorcycle only to realize it was a cop when they got closer.
* LAPD Crown Vic - Slicktop
o I believe it was LAPDguy who said that the LAPD slicktops do not have rear arrow bars. I hate to seem like I am picking on him, and I, in no way, have that intent, but when someone says something on here I try my best to make sure the information is complete and accurate regardless of who says it. While he is correct that many slicktops have just the Blue and Amber rear deck lights, there are quite a few with arrow bars as well. Even more are coming out with LED arrow bars to replace the halogen ones with the latest budget. In fact, I just happened to grab some pics of an LAPD slicktop with its rear arrow bar on flash. I grabbed 11 shots of it as I walked around, but as I was in a hurry and only had a small pocket cam they're not the usual quality most shots on my website are. As you can see the lighting package is 1 steady burn red LED Fed Sig where the rear view mirror goes, 2 LEDs in the grille that flash red and blue, rear LED arrow bar with red and blue end lights, and a multi-pattern wig wag headlight flasher. One thing to note that I haven't mentioned before, no LAPD or LAFD apparatus has flashing tail lights or reverse lights. If you check out the pursuit videos and such on youtube you'll see, we're quite minimal that way. I'll have to pay more attention to CHP and LASD in the near future.
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Walk around +
Video of flash +
Video of flash * California National Guard
o In regards to the HMMWV, is it supposed to be missing the trunk lid and it still says US Army on it.
* LACoFD Squad and LAFD Brush Patrol
o I've noticed a weird gray dot that follows behind both models.
* LAFD Truck staffing
o In 1.4 the default truck staffing was 4 men, and it now seems to be 2. The typical staffing for a Light force is 5 on the truck, 1 on the pumper, though due to space and comfort, it usually ends up being 4 and 2.
* LASD Uniforms
o I can't believe I didn't notice this before since I use the LASD and Squad a lot, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department uniform is Khaki shirt and Olive pants. In the game, it looks like Khaki top, and tan/brown pants.
* LAFD Paramedics
o Great job, though I think the color needs to be a little bit darker shade of blue as you can see in this pic:
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Shirt o It's not quite the near black of LAPD, but it is a dark navy.
* LAFD Engines and Ambulances
o Amazing. They look amazing, and I can't phrase it any other way. One thing worth nothing is that the Engine do not carry any extrication gear. I don't know if I've mentioned that before, but only Trucks, USAR and LACoFD Heavy Squads carry them.
o To the person who said the chevrons are Un-American and that their department will never get them, I have to say that I am proud to say that while tradition is a very large part of the Fire Service, SAFETY and the well being of the firefighter and the general public comes first and foremost. It is the forward thinking, and progressive attitudes that have brought forth the latest changes to the NFPA rules after much debate. Having served on an equipment and apparatus bidding commitee and taken part in NFPA changes over the years, I can guarantee you that these changes were not taken lightly and that when your department purchases it's next apparatus, it will conform to the NFPA specifications. This is not a Los Angeles thing, this is not a California thing, this is a United States thing. Looking at your profile, it says you are from Iowa. I do not know what your position is with your department or if the age you put down is correct, but
here is even an engine going to Iowa with the new stripes.
* USFS Apparatus and new mission
o Great job on the Type 3 engine and the utility truck. Haven't finished the mission as of yet, but still getting closer. Oh how i long for a crew bus and hand crews!
* Sound Files
o Dispatches
+ I have to commend the voice actors for really doing a great job and effort. My nitpicks here are minor at best and just regarding the wording. Every department all over the world has a different way of communicating. I've been lucky that in my years as a firefighter I have been able to fight them in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Philippines and Spain and communications on its own is one of the largest differences you find throughout.
# bat_ambulance.wav - To begin with, LAFD does not refer to their Dispatch as Central. The full term is
Operations Control Dispatch and is refered to on the radio by its acronym, OCD. Because LAFD runs both ALS (paramedic) and BLS (emt) ambulances, requesting an additional one would get you a big question mark! For the games purpose right now, since there are only ALS ambulances, it'd be best to just request an RA which is the acronym for Rescue Ambulance. Full text would be: OCD from Battalion 1. Send an additional RA to my location.
# Engine.wav - Perfect, except for comments above
# Medflight.wav - I can't quite make out what he says at the end of the transmission. It's either Medflight or Metroflight. Either way the Los Angeles City Fire Department refers to their helicopters as Air Ambulances. Their radio designators are Fire 1 through Fire 6 which is how they self identify, but when requested, the typical dispatch would be: OCD from Battalion 1, Send an Air Ambulance to my location.
# Tower.wav - Only thing I would change besides mentioned above might be to call it a Truck instead of a Tower. That's real nitpicky since it is a tower in the game.
# pd_air.wav - In regards to the PD, as mentioned in the voice actors thread and as you can hear in the audio comms I posted, LAPD units have a way of communicating that is different then most. They never address dispatch as anything. Not LA, Not OCD, not Central. Instead they just give their unit identifier and start talking. Another key difference is that, 1A1 would be pronounced one-ay-one. LAPD does not use the standard NATO Phonetic Alphabet, but instead they created their very own which has been adopted by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO). That is how you get the old fashioned 1-Adam-12 from yesteryear. Today, only a few specialized units refer to themselves phonetically, like Xray and George units, rarely ever the standard beat unit.Also the Los Angeles Police Department operates the largest municipal police air force in the US. With something around 15 helicopters and 1 plane, they dwarf some countries military air forces! Because of this, at any given time of the day, and most of the night, you can rest assured that multiple airships are over head. Their radio designators are based off of the division they are "assigned" to, but realistically, they fly all over the city as needed. Last night I had "Air 12" overhead in the west portion of the san fernado valley which is Air 17's area. For this dispatch, the proper phrasing would be "one-ay-one, have an airship respond to my location." And yes, It is a strange quirk of LA's to call them airships even though they are not blimps.
# PD_ambulance.wav - Besides the comment above, because Los Angeles has an integrated Fire and EMS program, we don't request EMS like you see in many eastern parts of this country. For this, the correct terminology might not be the best to use in game though. In real life the call would be: "1A1, Send Fire to my location for a ______" For the games sake, I'd go with something similar to LAFD's protocol in "1A1, Send an RA to my location"
# PD_backup.wav - Perfect structure, 1A1 or 1-adam-1 works, though as mentioned before, adam is a rare occurence.
+ The only other thing i'd mention regarding the dispatches is the beeps. I'm guessing the person who made these files is familiar with his own local radio system which has terminating beeps, but LA does not. Neither for LAPD or LAFD.
o Sirens
+ I'm probably going to be in the minority here and I'll probably ruffle a few feathers as well when I comment on this judging by other comments I've read. I cannot stress enough how amazing the original sirens were. They were nearly dead on accurate without a fault and it was one of the things I enjoyed MOST about 1.4 was how accurate they were. The ones in 1.5 on the other hand are not what you would hear in Los Angeles for police or fire. The priority siren tones are even illegal in this state as I, and others have mentioned previously. They're cool tones, and they probably reflect some other states departments perfectly, but they're absolutely wrong for LAPD, LAFD or any department in california. The wail is too high of a pitch and peaks to shortly, the Federal Q is perfect, but the electric airhorn and the priority are two things you'll never hear in LA. All LAFD apparatus except for the EMS cars have real air horns mounted on them, and I've honestly never heard an LAPD car use an electric airhorn. I spoke to an LASD deputy and an LAPD officer today and both of them looked at me weird and said they just flip between welp and yail, nothing else. Youtube is an amazing resource for this kind of information by looking at clips uploaded by news stringers. A personal favorite of mine that showcases LAPD's sirens well is
here. For LAFD, you can hear an Engine and RA response one a video I just uploaded
here. It's not the best of quality but I took it to highlight how the Timberwolf Mechanical Siren sounds on the RA. It's a bit different from the Q's found on the larger apparatus and a friend of mine was curious. As you can hear by these videos, the new sirens are wonderful for a mod in a state or dept that uses them, but not for LA.
Overall it's an amazing leap from 1.4 and I'm having a blast with it. I'm still trying to get near a station with a USAR unit for some top pics, but the weather out here has been nothing short of crazy. 85 today, freezing last week.
Mike
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