Ballistic Addon Studios

Ballistic Addon Studios
Tigershark
2D	Ebud, SelectThis, DeadMeat, Tigershark, Frandsen, Wetwork
3D	SelectThis, DeadMeat, Wetwork, Ebud, AngusHeaf, Tigershark, Frandsen
Script	TJ, Rom
Code	Rom, TJ, DeadMeat
Missions	Nagual
Other	Ofpeditor, Damocles, AvonLady, Fer
Betatest	Katerina
External	Gatordev, CassandraG (Music)

Introduction

Ballistic Addon Studios was formed in mid 2002 by Tigershark when he expanded TJP. The team soon grew and gained many skilled members. All of whom were actively involved in pushing the limits of the Operation Flashpoint engine.

Ballistic's first Addon followed soon after, in October of 2002 the Littlebirds were released, followed by the MH-47E Chinook in January of 2003, the Deltas/Rangers in February, The OH-58D Kiowa Warriors in April, the MH-60 Blackhawks in August and Tonal in October. Variations of Addons, such as the Pavehawks followed soon after in November, along with smaller releases such as the OPFOR ballence pack, various patches for older addons, as well as some fresh material in the form of the Tonali Special Forces.

Every one of Ballistic's releases was met with both joy and controversy. The popularity of the Studio was also one of its major downfalls. Many controversial issues have surrounded BAS from the time the Studio was formed to the current day. They range from peoples personal issues, to accuastions of theft and Ballistic's involvement with P3DEdit and ODOL Explorer. Most, if not all, of these accusations were based on rumours or un-truths, and BAS Team Members believe to this day that they did nothing "wrong" or different to any other members of the community.

Key to Ballistic's success was not only the quality of the Addons, but the Missions which were packaged with them. The Missions, expertly created by Nagual, TJ and later by select members of the community were demonstrations of the capabilities of BAS addons, and were meant not only to be played but to inspire other people to create missions for them.

The culmination of Ballistic's work was the release of Tonal and its supporting addons. Whilst not the prettiest of addons, the Tonali units combined with the island are one of very few complete full-modifications for Operation Flashpoint, and the highlight of Ballistic's releases. The Tonal Addon still generates approximately 500 downloads a month.

Post-Tonal

Following Tonal, BAS went on to release some selected updates of its earlier OFP addons, although the much anticipated SEALs pack never materialised (it became something of a private joke for everyone associated with the group). The most famous of these post-Tonal releases was probably the updated Littlebirds, which TJ released unofficially to the BI forums more than a year later. However, the creative team that had spawned Tonal did not stay together. Personal projects and changes in real-life circumstances saw most of the original members depart or become inactive as addon-makers.

A few orginal members, plus some new recruits, then went on to create content for VBS1, releasing a two-part SF pack of vanity characters modelled on the existing members of BAS at that time. During this period the team also experimented with mission design frameworks, starting with CoopA for VBS1, a project which ultimately evolved into BAS f for ArmA and latterly F2 for Arma 2.

With the advent of ArmA there was an attempt to revive BAS, now re-titled BAS2, but with a broader focus than just addons. Sadly, the revival was short-lived, and in 2008 Tigershark and Deadmeat closed the website. Officially BAS is not dead, just dormant. Although many of the original team members have left the OFP/VBSx/ArmAx community, some remain active participants in modern projects.