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Author Topic: (Review Completed) [SP] Realistic Combat Patrol  (Read 15889 times)

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Offline General Barron

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(Review Completed) [SP] Realistic Combat Patrol
« on: 17 Feb 2004, 03:19:05 »
3/17/04 - NEW VERSION UPLOADED!

 Many, many changes and improvements in this version. At this point, I am considering this a 'finished mission' and I am going to begin working on other missions in the campaign. Any ideas on what sites to submit this to? Anyway, if you haven't played this mission yet, try it out. If you already have, look at the list of changes in the new version below, and check it out again. I would still love to get any suggestions, and I will try to work them into the campaign.

If you downloaded this mission before, you need to use the new version of the hand signals addon provided in this download. There is also a new addon required (a chicken).

--------------(Part of original post below)--------------

   After many months of development (since september), I'm proud to post my latest mission for testing. Actually I mainly am testing the SCRIPTING of this mission, not the actual mission. Read the note below for an explanation. This mission also uses custom animations that were made by yours-truly--check the addons section for a link.

  In this mission you are a squad leader, only you don't control your men the 'standard' OFP way. You have to control them the REAL way: with hand signals or verbal shouts. No more cheating with birds-eye view. The most realistic OFP experience EVER! A big claim, I know, but in terms of controlling your squad, it's true.

THE NOTES SECTION OF THE BRIEFING GIVES FULL INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CONTROL YOUR SQUAD. BE SURE TO READ THE NOTES SECTION BEFORE PLAYING.

FEATURES

 8) Realistic squad control
 8) Keep track of your men and heal them with the "rally" command
 8) Realistic radio support (you must be near your RTO to use the radio)
 8) Usefull support options: ammo drops, artillery, air support
 8) Enemy has mortar support
 8) Enemy will surrender; prisoners can be taken
 8) Custom voices
 8) Custom music
 8) New hand signal animations (addon made by myself; see 'addons' below)


DOWNLOAD THE MISSION HERE:
http://www.ofpec.com/missions_depot/index.php?action=details&id=141

ADDONS REQUIRED

My USMC Hand signals (19.6 k)
(Included in mission download)

SEB NamPack 2 (47.08 mb)
http://www.ofpec.com/addons_depot/index.php?ID=389

CoC Mines (they come with the NamPack, but if you don't have them...)
http://www.website.thechainofcommand.net/CoC%20Mines.htm

CoC Unified Artillery (13.39 mb)
http://www.ofpec.com/addons_depot/index.php?ID=440

MIG Animated Chicken (300 k)
http://ofp.gamezone.cz/index.php?showthis=5957

Editor Upgrade (64.9 k)
http://www.ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=356
« Last Edit: 02 Jun 2009, 01:20:19 by Walter_E_Kurtz »
HANDSIGNALS COMMAND SYSTEM-- A realistic squad-control modification for OFP
kexp.org-- The best radio station in the world, right here at home! Listen to John Richards!

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #1 on: 17 Feb 2004, 03:41:36 »
The links for the mission and hand signal addons aren't working properly.  They open a new window that contains this page.  Hmm.  Strange.

I can cut and paste to get the links to work.

Good ole freewebs.  I'm getting a blazing 1K/s download rate.  God, I hate freewebs.  It is the absolute worst host I've ever seen.  But, you get what you pay for :)
« Last Edit: 17 Feb 2004, 03:44:20 by deaddog »

Offline General Barron

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #2 on: 17 Feb 2004, 04:07:19 »
Yeah, that always happens with freewebs links... I forgot to mention that. I've editred the post now :)

Know of any faster webspace? For free, that is ???
HANDSIGNALS COMMAND SYSTEM-- A realistic squad-control modification for OFP
kexp.org-- The best radio station in the world, right here at home! Listen to John Richards!

Kaliyuga

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #3 on: 17 Feb 2004, 04:51:08 »
 Sounds like a cool mission and idea to me..


and as far as hosting,  I think I probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10MB storage space I could upload stuff to for you ...

if you IM me or hit me up on ICQ we can talk about that part of it..

I'll give this a try sometime this week when I have the time..

:cheers:

crow

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #4 on: 17 Feb 2004, 07:23:09 »
1.0kb/s sucks!  I uploaded it to @war.

Patrol
« Last Edit: 17 Feb 2004, 14:30:58 by crow »

Offline General Barron

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #5 on: 17 Feb 2004, 07:34:16 »
Quote
1.0kb/s sucks!  I uploaded it to @war.
Patrol


Thanks, but that link just takes me to the site mainpage. What is the URL for the download?
HANDSIGNALS COMMAND SYSTEM-- A realistic squad-control modification for OFP
kexp.org-- The best radio station in the world, right here at home! Listen to John Richards!

crow

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #6 on: 17 Feb 2004, 14:31:42 »
Just click on the word Patrol in the post.

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #7 on: 17 Feb 2004, 15:27:33 »
The file planet download isn't working for me.  I click on "download" and nothing happens.  Never had that problem with file planet before.  Probably a fluke.

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #8 on: 17 Feb 2004, 16:21:16 »
Allright, I've got it :)

I've only just started because that darn job keeps interfering with my play time  ;D  

Love the Intro.  I've never seen that concept used before and it works really well.  However, I think you should lose the in-game intro.  It looks nice but why have two?  I want to get to the action right away (personal opinion here).  Also, that mg guy is using a Russian mg.  You should switch that to an M2.

The briefing and instructions are really good.  I had no trouble understanding what you are telling us to do.  

The layout of the base is cool as is that pulsating crosshair.  I like that.

I ordered my squad to follow me but one of the teams runs out in front.  Is that normal?  It probably makes sense to have one on point.

OK, you need more voices for sure :)  When I used "yell" mode, it's the same voice for each guy.  I'd be willing to record one for ya, if you'd like.  Just PM me if interested.  Should my commands be repeated  3-4 times when all the squads are really close to me?  You might want to adjust the distances a little.

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now but I really like what I see so far.  When I get back from work I'll finish up the mission.

Offline General Barron

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #9 on: 17 Feb 2004, 18:54:51 »
@deaddog
  Thanks for your comments! I look forward to hearing from you when you finish the mission.

Quote
I think you should lose the in-game intro.  It looks nice but why have two?  
Point taken; however, when I turn this into a campaign, the intro will become a cutscene (intro to the campaign). I'm still going to need some kind of cutscene or intro that kinda introduces you to why you are at this place in vietnam, etc. So assuming this becomes the first mission of the campaign, there will likely still be a intro and the ingame intro  :P

Quote
I ordered my squad to follow me but one of the teams runs out in front.  Is that normal?  It probably makes sense to have one on point.
 Ordering your squad to "follow me" is the same as ordering them to "form line/column" (whichever formation you are currently in). The only difference is that with "follow me" you can make only certain teams fall into formation, whereas with "form line/column" you always order your entire squad into formation. Really, ordering your entire squad to follow you, and ordering them to form a line or column has the same effect.

   You start the mission in column formation, which is two single-file lines next to you, so you get one team in front of you, one beside you and one behind you. I'll be sure to include diagrams so the formations are more clear  :)

Quote
Should my commands be repeated  3-4 times when all the squads are really close to me?  You might want to adjust the distances a little.
 The team leader of each team (including your RTO) will repeat the commands they hear, for both shouting and signalling. It may seem weird when everyone is close together, but the idea is that in combat, things get REALLY loud, so repeating the command is a way of letting the squad leader know you understood his orders. Really, the way I was trained in the marines was that EVERYONE repeats the command. That seemed like overkill though, so for OFP I've limited it to the team leaders.

Quote
OK, you need more voices for sure :) .... I'd be willing to record one for ya, if you'd like.  Just PM me if interested.
 Thanks for the offer! I'll PM you with the details in a little while. I've also got one other person lined up (my bro, who did some of the voices already for me.) I'd still like one more set of voices, so if anyone would like to volunteer, I'd be much obliged :)
HANDSIGNALS COMMAND SYSTEM-- A realistic squad-control modification for OFP
kexp.org-- The best radio station in the world, right here at home! Listen to John Richards!

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #10 on: 17 Feb 2004, 23:15:49 »
Ok, Let me pick up where I left off.

I took my squad and headed south (I got myself an M14, I'm partial to the civilian version M1A) and headed south.  I was trying to stay up high so I can scan the lower areas with my binocs but you can only do so much of that.

Spotted a couple of VC around ch56 and took them out.  Another one showed and got shot and then we got a short mortar barrage on us.  Nobody killed.  It was here that I found out the fire team 1 was 800 meters away, back near the base.  I must have screwed up something there :)  I guess I'll have to go back and get 'em.  The music that played during the action was a little too loud for me, so I turned down the volume.  Personally, I don't like music during a mission so maybe you could put an option in somewhere to turn it off.


When I started to move out, my guys started shooting at someone and the next thing I knew, two were dead.  It would be good to hear some guys shouting "medic" or "man down" or something.  Also, when I order the squad to "halt", several guys keep crawling around.  I want all of them to stop right where they are.  If they are crawling, then they won't be shooting, which is a bad thing.  

Got into another engagement with a couple of VC.  This time, the resulting mortare fire took out one of my guys.  I also noticed that the M14 was the HD type.  This is a very accurate weapon, much more so than the HD version in this game.  Maybe you can put the nonHD version in the ammo crate in the firebase.  I have a hard enough time hitting anything with the normal weapons :)

I think a useful feature would be a "report in" function.  Each fire team leader could report how many men he's got left.  That would probably have to be in "yell" mode.

Wait a sec, I got my squad to rally and got a status update there.  Damn it, I lost my RTO. :P

This is interesting, I'm back up near the firebase (to get team 1) and I hear some shooting towards the south.  I shouldn't have anyone down there.  Afterall, I'm not supposed to be able to heal with the rally command unless the whole squad is here, right?  So who could be shooting?  

Headed that way and I can see several VC off in the distance.  There is no way for me to inform my guys about them and without an RTO I guess we'll just have to attack normally.  I noticed there is one VC away from the main group that is in the surrender pose with a dead GI near him.  That doesn't make too much sense.  If there is no one around to take him prisoner then he should flee.

Ok, finally got the first objective.  I'm down to six men left.  Hmmm, that radio would have come in handy. :)  

I went up to one VC who had surrendered, hit "take captive" and he fell over dead. !!  What's up with that?  I also noticed that none of the dead VC had radios.  How did they call mortar fire on us then?  I mean, really, fair is fair :)

At the beginning of the mission, on first contact with enemy, I heard the music and someone shout out "contact left", or something similar.  I never heard it again in the mission.

I crossed over the hill above the village and there are just far too many VC to take on without support.  I'll have to start over.

fragsta

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #11 on: 17 Feb 2004, 23:39:22 »
I'm downloading the Nam Pack 2 from ofp.info because OFPEC doesnt support download express. Will it have the CoC mines in it or should I get them seperately?

Offline General Barron

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #12 on: 18 Feb 2004, 00:16:06 »
Quote
The music that played during the action was a little too loud for me, so I turned down the volume.  Personally, I don't like music during a mission so maybe you could put an option in somewhere to turn it off.
 I'll turn it down. Can't you turn music off under the options menu??? I suppose I'll add the option in this dialoge I'm going to put at the start of the mission, along with some other options.
Quote
This is a very accurate weapon, much more so than the HD version in this game.  Maybe you can put the nonHD version in the ammo crate in the firebase.
 Good idea--gives more of a distinction between that and the m16. I'll do that. How accurate are the AI with non-HD m14's? If they are too accurate, I'm going to keep them with HD, but I'll put standard in the ammo crates either way.
Quote
If there is no one around to take him prisoner then he should flee.
 Another good idea :)
Quote
I went up to one VC who had surrendered, hit "take captive" and he fell over dead. !!  What's up with that?
  Hmm.. I thought I fixed that bug  >:( Guess I'll have to look at it again....
Quote
I heard the music and someone shout out "contact left", or something similar.  I never heard it again in the mission.
 In theory, you are supposed to hear that after every contact with the enemy, as long as a couple minutes have passed since your last contact (so you don't get that a bunch of times while attacking a base). Obviously it isn't working in practice  :-\ Another thing for me to work on.
Quote
I also noticed that none of the dead VC had radios.  How did they call mortar fire on us then?  
  Actually, only VC with radios can call for mortars, just like your squad. When the VC rto gets killed, his radio is destroyed, also like your squad. If you were closer to him when he died, you would see/hear the same effect that occurs when your RTO dies. The idea being I don't want you seeing all these VC radios around and thinking "gee, why can't I just pick one of those up and use it?"
Quote
This is interesting, I'm back up near the firebase (to get team 1) and I hear some shooting towards the south.  I shouldn't have anyone down there.  Afterall, I'm not supposed to be able to heal with the rally command unless the whole squad is here, right?  So who could be shooting?  
 Hmm... interesting. Could you provide a little more info on this please? So you went to the firebase, got team one, then rallied? And then you heard shooting? What kind of weapon? Did you call for air support prior to this? If so, it could have been the VC shooting at the helo, or vice-versa. Please look out for this again in the future, and let me know if it happens again. :)
Quote
There is no way for me to inform my guys about them and without an RTO I guess we'll just have to attack normally.
 Oops... I guess I should have put this in the player's guide, but here goes: you can inform your guys about enemies by right-clicking on them, just like when you normally have a squad. There is a script that makes your whole squad share info on enemies with each other (its a script by me that is in the pending section of the ed depot right now). So you could just right click on the enemy, and in a few seconds your squad will know about him (assuming you could reveal the guy to a "regular" ofp squad, if you had one. Sometimes you can see a guy, but the game won't let you reveal him).
Quote
d**n it, I lost my RTO.... I crossed over the hill above the village and there are just far too many VC to take on without support.  I'll have to start over.
  Like I said: the radio is your squads most powerful weapon. You should protect your RTO's life just as closely as you protect your own :P Just watch out for civvies in the village ;)
« Last Edit: 18 Feb 2004, 00:18:26 by General Barron »
HANDSIGNALS COMMAND SYSTEM-- A realistic squad-control modification for OFP
kexp.org-- The best radio station in the world, right here at home! Listen to John Richards!

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #13 on: 18 Feb 2004, 01:23:23 »
Started over and decided to take out the village first.  The artillery support comes in handy, especially for taking out those mortars.  Couple of notes here:

1.  Called in air support.  When chopper is done, it should leave the area.  As it is now, it just hovers a few hundred meters away.

2.  Ordered ammo expecting a chopper or plane to parachute one in, which would be really cool.  There is a script for that in the ed depot.  Ordered the ammo, radio guy said ammo sent to bh61 (were the blue target marker was) but the ammo appeared where the RTO was standing, several hundred meters away.

I've also seen one of my guys ending up 200-300 meters away from the main group.  I've seen that about three times now.  I haven't ordered anyone to advance or anything.  I wonder whats going on with that.  They usually end up dead in short order.  I'm convinced that was the shooting I talked about earlier.  It's like they are not part of the group anymore.

More to come....
« Last Edit: 18 Feb 2004, 01:30:54 by deaddog »

deaddog

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Re:The most realistic OFP experience EVER!
« Reply #14 on: 18 Feb 2004, 02:59:48 »
Well, I would finish it but every time I try to load a saved game, OFP crashes.  I'm not going to use ECP anymore.  It's not worth it until a stable version comes out.