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Author Topic: (Review Completed) [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' - final  (Read 11080 times)

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Offline Wiper

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(Review Completed) [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' - final
« on: 11 Aug 2009, 03:52:51 »
      Hi All !

      Essentially a development that started in the good old OFP times and that most probably will go on, arrives on its first step for Arma2.

      Please see the readme below for details, here just a snapsot for what you might expect:

The mission development was centered around three central themes:

  • Literally unlimited replayability providing unexpected encounters each time the mission is restarted.
  • Let the player experience how awesome the AI and micro AI actually is that BIS has created for us and what I think is the most sophisticated AI for home computer games to date !
  • Give the player the possibility to explore and enjoy the gorgeous beauty of the Chernaurus map while immersed in a living environemt.
  • Embedding all of the above into a plausible "story line" keeping a most enjoyable balance.


No Addons needed.

Edit: v1.41b uploaded Nov 17.

OFPEC Download

See ChangeLog below

Enjoy !



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'Cipher' - a full dynamic SP & MP mission for Arma2 with unlimited replayability, v1.41b
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Description:

'Cipher' is a Arma2 mission fully based on scripts.
The mission development was centered around three central themes:

  • Literally unlimited replayability providing unexpected encounters each time the mission is restarted.
  • Let the player experience how awesome the AI and micro AI actually is that BIS has created for us and what I think is the most sophisticated AI for home computer games to date !
  • Give the player the possibility to explore and enjoy the gorgeous beauty of the Chernaurus map while immersed in a living environemt.
  • Embedding all of the above into a plausible "story line" keeping a most enjoyable balance.

As a result, on one hand the mission concept is based on a relatively advanced AI "engine" as a core system that I originally started to develop in the beginning of the good (golden) old OFP times and provides a full dynamic driven persistent AI.

On the other hand the "AI engine" (ADPI) provides sort of an interface so that it can be relatively easy adopted into a different mission concept.

So essentially 'Cipher' can be seen as a base module with a minimum content story wise, that just needs to be expanded to be a fully story driven mission. However this means, the story part still needs drastic scripting efforts not to speak of all stuff that needs to be implemented to have multiple and dynamic story lines working perfectly even in MP mode.

 
Features:

So, starting 'Cipher' what can you expect:
  • ‘Cipher' is playable in SP mode as well as in MP coop mode (just copy the mission into your respective Arma2 folder).
  • Each time you start the mission over, you start at a unique location anywhere on Chernarus.
  • Each time you start the mission over, the primary objective is located somewhere else.
  • 2 basic mission modes are available: ‘Task Force' mode by default,  features a 10 man group and alternatively ‘SpecOp' mode for a  intense solo experience. There is even a third mode ‘SpecOp light' where some of the enemy patrols are removed to ease up a bit.
  • You need to search for the main objective and after successfully completing the required tasks, call for extraction and leave Chernarus.
  • While on mission, you will encounter 'living' AI, easily implemented thanks to the new BIS modules, as well as scripted civilian population roving around the whole map, mostly by car.
  • Dynamically acting hostile forces, using choppers and armored vehicles, initially randomly patrolling around the target area, and dynamically reacting to encounters - eventually flanking your position and supporting each other.
  • random time start (at daylight), selectable daytime emphasis per option.
  • full dynamic weather
  • no Addons needed


What will you not meet in 'Chipher', yet:

  • large cinematic cut scenes (besides small intro & outro cuts)
  • voice actings

From that latter point of view consider 'Cipher' in beta stage. While the mission/concepts are heavily tested and should be working as intended, those fancy elements were needed to be kept out of focus, otherwise its development would have needed much more months to spend in.


Installation:
  • requires Arma2 v1.04 or later.
  • Extract the pbo files to your ArmA2\Missions folder for SP.
  • Extract the pbo files to your ArmA2\MPMissions folder for MP.



Known issues:

Well most of us Arma2 (and earlier versions of the game) users know that we need to live with some quirks the engine still has, mostly concerning AI behaviour.

  • Right after the mission has started your MTVR truck (or ammo crate in SpecOp mode)  maybe isn't accessible right away.  This is a game engine peculiarity of fresh spawned vehicles and not a bug. If this happens  give it about 20 seconds at max. After that time it can be accessed as usual.
  • When you find the Suitcase placed on elevated building positions (barns upper levels, deer stands,..) it may happen that it seems to vanish when you open it. Actually the "opened suitcase" might now be found at ground level. Also that action menus sometimes take some time to be active.
  • Although since patch 1.03 most of the civil module glitches seem to be fixed, expect strange civilian behaviour in some regards, often cars placed at strange places or strange wording by some civilian guys.
  • (Civilian) AI drivers seem to love to crash into other cars standing right in front of them on the road. Occasionally they often roll over other AI or player units, so always consider evasive behaviour with them.
  • Air AI has trouble navigating around rough terrain eventually crashing sometimes, particularly when attacking.
  • Performance: right at mission start up expect some lags and frame rate drops for some seconds on slower computer hardware, usually vanishing within 20-60 sec. After that time span the mission performance should be the same as for the official missions, most probably even better due to highly optimized scripts performance wise.
  • JIP (Join In Progress): Sometimes the daytime is not synchronized  for a JIP'ing player. This particularly seems to happen with a fresh hosted game and it seems to be very hard to reproduce. To sync the time, abort to the lobby and reconnect a second time. In ‘Task Force' mode you need to chose the slot of group member of the High Commander (the originally group leader) if teams are split. In SpecOp mode you need to select a new slot that was not played in the current mission.

For the mission itself and its tasks refer to the briefing when started.


MP notes:

Some words for the MP mode:

The mission is JIP (Join In Progress) ready and should run fine on a dedicated server but you need to know some specifics:

  • ‘Cipher' can be played by 1-10 human players as Blue in Coop against OPFOR AI.
  • At least one player needs to take the role of one Team leader!
  • If starting alone always choose the first slot/group leader to minimize JIP issues for connecting players.
  • The standard mission starts as one single team but the group leader can split up the group into several teams where each team has its own leader using the HTS menu (use the Command menu for this). Note that the split teams can't rejoin after the original team leader (i.e. "High Commander" of the sub teams) is killed.
  • When playing the SpecOPs version no team splits can be performed and only one human player is group leader. Each connecting player will be assigned to the team leader and always starts with a bike at the insertion point. Also initially no AI players are allowed but you need to let the AI enabled (in the lobby options) as the AI exists as a poll for JIP'ing players and for semi-respawns.
  • Because the team occasionally can be split after mission initialization, JIP works limited, yet: when JIP'ing you maybe need to reconnect and choose one of the units of the originally 'group' leader in TaskForce mode or one of the free slots of the pool AI in SpecOp mode.
  • Performance: In MP mode the mission's visual distance and the grass rendering can be chosen vie the lobby parameters.
  • Respawn/revive: Currently the mission doesn't support respawns or reviving. The AI is tweaked to be challenging but not overly hard to fight. This should provide for a well balanced learning curve in mastering the game as well as the mission itself. Both aspects don't match up with reviving elements very well I think. However if not all slots are taken by human players there's still the possibility to switch over to a free slot using the team switch.



Hints:

Finally some hints from 'under the hood' - feel free to read on, as due to the mission concept 'spoiling' is not really possible, you'll never know what you will face :-)

  • As briefing suggests, approach carefully. Often the mission can be easily failed by simply rushing towards the hostile area.
  • The closer you move to the hot spot the more likely you may encounter ambushes. Every single hut or deer stand may be a hideout!
  • In the first phase planning is crucial, always use terrain and cover to YOUR advantage!
  • Consider taking out Air targets at first hand, then APC or armored forces before moving in further.
  • Hostile air patrols periodically take place about every 5-30 minutes (you never know when they start), covering the hostile area for about 5-20 minutes.
  • Enemy armor is focussed around the primary target, but patrol movement may carry them far out for 1-2 km's away,
  • Same goes for some hostile infantry patrols.
  • Always remember the persistence of the AI: each enemy AI unit is there right from the beginning of the mission and none is spawned randomly. So relax - no cheating AI, each one you've killed is out of question, but if you encounter one you didn't expect at that position, you just have overlooked it ;)
  • Have fun !


Made by Wiper




Change Log:

v1.41b
  • fixed: JIP broken in SpecOp mode
  • tweaked: extraction chopper spawns closer to the players team/ leader

v1.41
  • added: options for auto revealing the suitcase
  • improved: revealing algorithm
  • improved: intro implementation
  • fixed: black screen sometimes not terminated on clients

v1.40
  • added: intro
  • improved: small briefing changes and fixes

v1.39
  • hot fixed: respawning in SpecOp MP mode didn't spawn player vehicles.

v1.38
  • added: bike options for SpecOp mode
  • added: separated options for open and closed trucks.
  • improved: code fetch indications.
  • improved: removed default assignment of "team red".
  • fixed: briefing texts not correctly updated after suitcase auto reveal.
  • fixed: second supply dump sometimes placed too close to roads.
  • fixed: JIP caused player side units being invulnerable.
v1.37
  • added: SP options for team size.
  • added: options for player vehicles.
  • added: supply depot randomly somewhere near the approach path.
  • improved: options dialog.
  • fixed: wrong daylight emphasis notations in the briefing hints.
  • fixed: insertion markers misplaced for JIP'ing players.

v1.36
  • fixed: primary target marker vanished when a player JIP'ed.
  • fixed: using team switch could screw insertion process somehow.
  • fixed: possible frozen chopper after reload of a insertion procedure.
  • improved: primary target more likely to be found in urban areas.
v1.35
  • improved: further polishing of the suitcase placement
  • added: option for high and low solar altitudes
  • added: more guns to briefing gear and cargo spaces
  • fixed: some minor issues.

v1.34
  • fixed: wrong unit distribution for the player side terminated the insertion script if AI units got disabled in the MP lobby (special thanks for silent_op.pxs for finding that out).

v1.33b
  • added: MP option for disabling Med Packs in SpecOp mode.

v1.33a
  • hot fix: removed  "debug teleport" that slipped through.
    v1.33
    • fixed: bug in AI flanking evaluation.
    • fixed: added further blacklist areas (mostly lakes and ponds).
    • improved: armoured AI movements.
    • improved: slightly decreased AI "communication" distances.
    • improved: insertion chopper withdrawal.

    v1.32
    • fixed: insertion chopper sometimes didn't land
    • fixed: on dedicated servers enemy Hind didn't continue movement sometimes.
    • fixed: BMP3 additional gunners disembarked under contact.
    • fixed: added further buildings to the buildings blacklist
    • fixed: added further areas to the positions blacklist
    • fixed: removed "open suitcase" to avoid odd sat phone placements
    • improved: task assignments step by step.
    • changed: briefing texts adopted to new tasks / flow.

    v1.31
    • added: insertion by helo and rendezvous for all mission modes.
    • added: ammo crate at rendezvous point in Task Force mode.
    • added: reintroduced & improved default weapon and gear load out.
    • added: automated revealing function for the suitcase location depending on difficulty and player superiority.
    • improved: code fetching and radio activation takes some seconds now emphasizing the intended challenge of that task under certain conditions.
    • tweaked: briefing texts and briefing updates edited also to reflect latest additions.
    • fixed: black screen on clients after reload of MP missions

    v1.30
    • added: difficulty options in SP and MP mode.
    • added: actual mission options in the briefing hints
    • tweaked: AI communication radius, patrol times and accuracies
    • minor fixes

    v1.29
    • hot fixed: vehicle driving AI not getting back in vehicles after disembarking
    • hot fixed: disabled AI (in MP lobby) caused permanent script errors
    • fixed: weapon cargo in truck and ammo crates not accessible for JIP'ing players
    • fixed: pier type object missing in the blacklist for the primary target
    [/link]
    v1.28
    • fixed: insertion point in inland water under rare circumstances
    • fixed: daytime inconsistencies in the briefing
    • fixed: script errors after loading a save game.
    • tweaked: SP dialog options now before the briefing starts
    • tweaked: better distribution of civilian road vehicles around the mission primary area.
    • added: SP & MP options for specific day & night time emphasis
    • added: SpecOp ‘light' mode with lesser enemy patrols and armor
    • improved: various AI aspects mainly focussed on placement and movement

    v1.27a
    • hot-fixed: due to a small oversight the dedicated SpecOp pbo wasn't actually switched to ‘SpecOp' mode
    • tweaked: several minor briefing corrections.

    v1.27
    • fixed: some civilians and opfor units placed on roads without cars
    • fixed: odd suitcase placements possible in rural areas
    • fixed: some typos in the briefing
    • fixed: under *very* rare conditions only the enemy general was placed in the primary target area.
    • tweaked: enemy Hind should not crash in forests and hills too easy anymore, also by preventing its kamikaze attacks.
    • tweaked: slightly increased probability of aiming shake and reduced accuracy of the hostile AI

    v1.26b
    • fixed: general and sentries moved away from their intentional holding positions after mission start.
    • fixed: Suitcase always placed next to the center of the target area.

    v1.26a
    • hotfixed: permanent script error message due to a undefined variable.

    v1.26
    • fixed: scripted AI movements and behaviour of saved games broken.
    • added: ample stuffed supply crate at Insertion Point in SpecOp mode.
    • changed: russian road patrols occasionally use civilian vehicles
    • changed: civilian cars now randomly distributed.
    • changed: total rewrite of the extraction logic for more freedom and control of the rescue chopper for the player now.
    • improved: enemy armored vehicles spawn using a point distribution  system making them more random and variying.
    • tweaked: rain value varying while raining, reduced probability.
    • added: hint texts in the briefing diary section in cadet mode.
    • added: parameter "view distance" in MP lobby
    • added: parameter "grass setting" in MP lobby (needs Arma2 v1.03.58899 or higher)

    v1.25
    • fixed: TeamSwitch didn't teleport to insertion point on MP clients under certain conditions.
    • fixed: hostile vehicle AI gunner also ejected at initial enemy contact
    • improved: rain transitions and rate sync in MP.
    • added: 3 med packs for the player in SpecOp mode.
    • added: additional heavy gear in the units load section of the briefing.
    • tweaked: slightly lowered probability of presence for the hostile T72.
    • tweaked/fixed: reverted back to previous indirect BuildingPos placement methods for AI troops as due to a probable engine glitch direct placements often seems to kill troops.

     
    v1.24a
    • HotFixed: ‘GodMode' not deactivated in MP mode.

    v1.24
    • fixed: map locations and markers not set in SP briefing room
    • fixed: dead group leader not removed from players group in SpecOP MP mode.
    • tweaked: slightly higher possibility to spawn primary target in urban areas.
    • tweaked: disabled auto team split in MP mode (use HCS for splitting)
    • tweaked: removed odd locations for SuitCase spawns (bridges, ruin walls)
    • tweaked: AI placement now also on elevated buildings highly possible (beacon towers, industrial facilities...)
    • multiple minor AI tweaks.

    v1.23
    • fixed: added a briefing.html for a proper briefing show up before the mission starts in SP mode.
    • fixed: rescue chopper didn't launch in SpecOp mode.
    • fixed: AI waypoints sometimes out of bounds (introduced in v1.22).
    • fixed: Insertion point in rare situations on inland water surfaces.
    • fixed: AI waypoints for armored vehicles within forests
    • fixed: disembarked AI vehicles in combat weren't unassigned.
    • optimized: both mission modes supported now by one pbo.
    • optimized: introduced pbo verisioning for the sake of dedicated server admins.
    • tweaked: weapon gear loadout now accessible in MP briefing, no more auto-distribution to human players.
    • tweaked: Insertion point spawns tendentially closer to the primary target now.
    • tweaked: rescue chopper doesn't cut running engines while on wait
    • tweaked: all but first task assigments distributed according to previous task completions.
    • tweaked: slightly higher probability of presence for enemy AI group members
    • tweaked: coherence/swarming varying of attacking enemy AI
    • tweaked: slightly higher accuracy and lesser handshake for enemy AI.
    • tweaked: various text info, mostly for MP mode.
    • tweaked: daytime randomization now linear
    • tweaked: increased the visual distance by 500m in MP to 3500m.

    V1.22
    • fixed: HCS was not active, supports SP and MP now.
    • tweaked: some BuildingPos added to a blacklist to avoid odd suitcase placements (like scaffolds, walls,..).
    • tweaked: civilian AI driving on roads now more present.
    • Added: a second play mode "SpecOP" included as an extra pbo.

    V1.21
    • fixed: radio channel alpha was accessible before code retrieval
    • fixed: stalling enemy AI in most instances
    • added: 2 enemy AI squads mostly patrolling outside the target area
    • tweaked: enemy AI have a tighter patrol radius
    • tweaked: enemy AI responds quicker in general
    • tweaked: enemy AI does not flank excessively, going for a more direct approach

    V1.20
    • fixed: suitcase interaction was broken
    • added: HCS made by Mr_Centipede (SP mode only)
    • added: images
    • tweaked: briefing texts

    V1.19
    • fixed: mission end sequence not started
    • fixed: accidently deleted mapcenter marker, causing civilian cars mass near the SW end of the map, eventually stalling.
    • tweaked: reduced primary target area sizes. Larger areas often cause the primary objective to be placed on deer stands somewhere out in the forests.

    V1.18
    • fixed: hostile air AI never launched
    • fixed: enemy HQ AI partly disabled

    v1.17a
    • Tweaked: rewritings for the extraction radio messages plus map updates, both for proper LZ planning.
    • updated the readme accordingly.

    v1.17
    • First public release.



Credits:

All credits go to
  • Bohemia Interactive, : http://www.bistudio.com,   and its whole staff, as well as to all people supporting BIS, mods, fanboys, ranters and others, in other words, further credits go to
  • the whole community , http://forums.bistudio.com, mainly to the
  • OFPEC team, http://www.ofpec.com/, for all of their hard work and help in supporting the community.
  • Armaholic http://www.armaholic.com/ and its Admins, most importantly Big for his efforts in keeping track for all mission updates.

Further credits to
  • Mr_Centipede for HCS (Hybride Commanding System) and
  • Kremator for hints in and implementation of HCS.

Special credits to
  • John Buford for the briefing Overview, his countless hours of testing online, edits of my english texts and his invaluable gameplay advices !
  • Nightrat for testing too and for his neverending patience in my combat playstyles ;)

Last but not least specific credits to all who have contributed by spending their precious time and energy in testing, suggesting and feeding back. Without the enthusiasm of these people this mission never would have become what it is:
  • Hoz , Greg, keet, alpha-kilo, galzohar, DogTags, Alex72, Manzilla, MaXyM, Kremator, silent_op and/from www.phoenixsoldiers.com, WallyJas, markushaze  plus all who I may have forgot to list here and all of you I unfortunately don't even know :-)

Thanks to you All![/list][/list][/list]
« Last Edit: 25 Feb 2010, 19:39:53 by hoz »

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #1 on: 18 Aug 2009, 04:17:43 »
Great briefing. I like the pictures, they could be a bit clearer but there is good info in there.  Would of liked to been able to choose my own weapons through the weaponspool but its definitely off to a great start. I liked how you did the information about the hostile forces too.   :good:

Btw the I like that you were versioning the mission title... good stuff!  except if you could carry that to the filename server admins would love you for that, especially if you plan some updates.

Tasks...

I received 3 tasks right away as soon as we started.. maybe consider breaking up the timing of these. Also the tasks names them selves in my resolution are cut off, its a good practice to keep the names short and provide the detail on the far right.  If you need a pic I can supply one.

Mission...

One guy started hurt (#3) not sure why but it could be hes being placed on or around that truck.

The leader doesn't have any waypoints, which is no problem if your playing the leader, but no good if you like to shy away from the leader position. So you should indicated in the leaders desc field that Leader Reqd. or something.


The drive/walk to the area is pretty long. and I virtually drove right to the middle of town. I wasn't able to find the cipher. so you may want to add some wp to whever it is or indicate it on the map with a marker.


pretty much gave up at this point. basically the long drive and a few restarts we gave up to try something else. don't worry we'll come back to it.




Xbox Rocks

Offline kju

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #2 on: 18 Aug 2009, 08:10:13 »
gday Wiper  :)

Quote
Right after the mission has started your MTVR truck maybe isn't accessable right away.

Use reveal for each playableUnits on the objects needed.


To east they loading issues use startLoadingScreen.


Any chance to see a revive version from you?

Cheers

Offline Wiper

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #3 on: 18 Aug 2009, 15:54:46 »
Hi Kju  :)

This issue for fresh spawned empty vehicles to be unaccessble for some seconds I know since OFP. Are you sure that reveal may change the state of such objects ? Will have a look at it however.

startLoadingScreen indeed seems to be a great option, thanks for that hint !

As for the reviving I'm afraid it is on very low priority right now. I know its a pretty subjective point of view as I personally dont like respawning very much... To my experience respawning seduce players too much to behave in uncarefull manner, and vice versa, without respawns players seem to learn much better to adopt "proper combat" behaviour eventually adding much to a richer game experience.

However, if I once get an option dialog running in the "briefing room" (or even earlier) I might put such an option in in the future.
If anyone can me point into a direction for how to make dialogs for the briefing or lobby phase I'd be more than happy.


hoz:

Thanks for your detailed suggestions.

Good point with the versioning in the pbo name. Will do that.
Same for the tasks. I once wanted to spread them over time but lost focus of it due to so much other stuff. Thank for bringing that up !
Will shorten the task names too.

Quote
The leader doesn't have any waypoints, which is no problem if your playing the leader, but no good if you like to shy away from the leader position. So you should indicated in the leaders desc field that Leader Reqd. or something.
What do you mean with leaders desc field ?
Its noted in the readme though ( always one player must take the role of the group leader in MP mode).

Quote
The drive/walk to the area is pretty long. and I virtually drove right to the middle of town. I wasn't able to find the cipher
Maybe something else to point out more in the descriptions ?...
Did you really search for all buldings inside the red circle ?
To be honest I can't imagine you didin't have enemy contact at all if you did.
It is possible that the suitcase is close to the margin of the red area (but always inside!).  Plus its always near the general...


Quote
so you may want to add some wp to whever it is or indicate it on the map with a marker.
hm, maybe a combination of better intel and lesser radius of the indicator will do ?
To pinpoint the case on the map would spoil too much much of what that mission should be all about I'm afraid, though I'm always open to optimize things if they show up a bit overdone.

Generally I think you've been VERY lucky if you could have made up right into the middle of the "hornets nest". Although its possible, given a random mission concept like this, but it should be indeed VERY unlikely. 



« Last Edit: 18 Aug 2009, 16:02:49 by Wiper »

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #4 on: 18 Aug 2009, 16:23:12 »
Quote
What do you mean with leaders desc field ?
Its noted in the readme though ( always one player must take the role of the group leader in MP mode).

In the leaders description field you can add something like... Leader Required. Then it will show up in the MP lobby screen. I went back and read the full post after the fact so I missed some important points. Its possible that some people may never stumble across the readme, if they just download it off a server for instance. Regarding the unit description... have a look at shark attack's mission he adds a description to the unit.
Xbox Rocks

Offline Wiper

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #5 on: 18 Aug 2009, 19:28:47 »
ah ic,
thanks !

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #6 on: 18 Aug 2009, 19:43:39 »
Also I was going to mention that since your note using any options in the MP menu you could add time of day to be more dynamic... or is that randomly choosen as well?
Xbox Rocks

Offline Wiper

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #7 on: 18 Aug 2009, 21:51:38 »
yep it is  ;)

Quote
Btw the I like that you were versioning the mission title... good stuff!  except if you could carry that to the filename server admins would love you for that, especially if you plan some updates.

Having a look into that issue I noticed some points I like to ask back, if you dont mind ?

When I host with a ded server+config using the mission template I coudn't find an option where to put the mission name so that it shows up in the respective column in the hosted games list. It seems other ded-servers have let it blank for the same reason. Is there a way to provide some text in there ?

Secondly, if the mission pbo's name is versioned too, the ded-server admins need to update their config too each time an new version comes out ?
While I'm sure the players online may appreciate that muchly, i'm not very sure if the admins actually may be ? .. :scratch:

What'd you think ?

edit:
Disregard the first point. Should have realized that missions may show up pretty well as soon as they are chosen from the template :yes:
Still, second point still stands. Even not sure if you weren't quite actually kidding, didn't you ?

« Last Edit: 20 Aug 2009, 00:17:58 by Wiper »

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #8 on: 21 Aug 2009, 15:08:05 »
If you don't version the file name and the server already hosts a copy of the mission, the server must be restarted to copy over the new file other wise the file is write protected while the server is running.

Edit:

Gave the mission another go last night we gave it a few tries, and pretty much enjoy the battles trying to find the suitcase. We haven found it yet! We've played the mission about 10 times now, the biggest draw back we've found is the long drive, but we have given in and did the drive.
I like the options of game modes in the MP briefing screen, I didn't notice if the modes descriptions were in the briefing but if they aren't you should add them in there. Maybe even highlight which mode the player is in.

Now I have to ask.. is the suitcase at the centre of the red marker?

Any chance in replacing the crow with a spectating option?
« Last Edit: 24 Aug 2009, 16:49:46 by hoz »
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Offline Wiper

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' *updated to 1.25*
« Reply #9 on: 26 Aug 2009, 01:14:54 »
 *new* v1.25 uploaded

See first post.

Thanks for the bump, Planck ! (was it one ?)


Hoz:
Quote
Now I have to ask.. is the suitcase at the centre of the red marker?

No. That would be too easy predictable I think and its why I try to avoid precise indication of the Case. I like the unpredictability much, heck its the spirit of the whole mission i guess.
And most of all I like it for the fact that you can't plan details in advance and need to adopt tactics for the situation that unfolds along the time and approach.

Maybe it should be made more clear in the briefing, but the general hint where the suitcase is comes from the AI itself:
It starts with the fact that the case is "owned" by the insane general...
1) If you locate the general you actually have located the suitcase, its some meters around him.
2) If you have spotted the SpezNaz(+ insurgents Sapper) guards you almost have located the general, he should be almost body guarded by them, within about 25-75m, 150m at max.
3) If you encounter heavy resistance (rather than from a random patrol) wherever inside/near the red area you're most probably very close to the generals "HQ".

So essentally, the more dense the hostile activity the closer the suitcase  :cool2:
lol,
I often remember a battle I lost *very* quickly when I rushed into Krashnostav from the west. It was in the final developing stages for the mission and my first thought was something with the units placement was broken (ghost town feeling lol) hence my 'rushing in'.
But Krashnostav is a long winded village and after we entered the cental area I had the first contact, quickly had visual of more ivans and was surrounded within a minute. Eventually the squad was wiped out after 3 minutes (SP mode)... clearly an indication that the scripts have been working and the suitcase was placed somewhere in the east of the village area lol.

Have attached a screeny after we wasted almost all of the SpecOp troops yetserday lol. Its in Kamenka. Clipped outside the picture on the left sits a T72 and on the right in the village center a Shilka. We picked off almost all guards but had no luck with those armored buggers :)

Quote
Any chance in replacing the crow with a spectating option?

huh, by all means yes !
If I only knew how to manage that easily ... I once remember Kegetys' but didn't investigate in such stuff since that time.

Edit:
I found the second screen I made yesterday, showing the same situation as above, with the suitcase sparkling on the right above the screen center, the tank and the zsu plus 2 man on the right of the case and two laying in front of the house next to the blue truck.

Nothing special in particular just showing the typical situation that esentially might answer your question for the suitcase location: The (2-4) guards and two smaller teams hold/defend the area around him while other squads may chase you .. or defend

BTW, in the actual version 1.25 I reverted to the previous method of placment where troops are first placed at groud level and then move to their assigned BuildingPos. If placed directly at that position often the units suffer dammage =1 from an issue I have no idea what causes that. I think it has to do with the generation of the building objects out of the players view at mission start - it never happened to me if placed near the player but it does if the player moves there afterwords.
Using the "direct" placement method also the suitcase wasn't visible in some instances.
Maybe this happened to you while on your test runs (although its been rather unlikely to happen twice or three times in a row)
Should be more reliable now, too, as the case gets "dropped" after the general has reached his destination at mission init.
« Last Edit: 26 Aug 2009, 05:36:00 by Wiper »

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' *updated to 1.25*
« Reply #10 on: 26 Aug 2009, 17:08:17 »
Ok thanks for the tips. You might want to include some tips in the briefing which are only visible in cadet mode. Also You might want to include a close up picture of the brief case in the briefing. It will be one of those things like once you find it once, its easy to find it again. We'll give the new one a try in the next day or two.
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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher'
« Reply #11 on: 26 Aug 2009, 21:01:57 »
Quote
You might want to include some tips in the briefing which are only visible in cadet mode. Also You might want to include a close up picture of the brief case in the briefing.
Excellent points, thanks !
done.

Edit:

new version 1.26 uploaded, linked in the first post

v1.26
  • fixed: scripted AI movements and behaviour of saved games broken.
  • added: ample stuffed supply crate at Insertion Point in SpecOp mode.
  • changed: russian road patrols occasionally use civilian vehicles
  • changed: civilian cars now randomly distributed.
  • changed: total rewrite of the extraction logic for more freedom and control of the rescue chopper for the player now.
  • improved: enemy armored vehicles spawn using a point distribution  system making them more random and variying.
  • tweaked: rain value varying while raining, reduced probability.
  • added: hint texts in the briefing diary section in cadet mode.
  • added: parameter "view distance" in MP lobby
  • added: parameter "grass setting" in MP lobby (needs Arma2 v1.03.58899 or higher)
« Last Edit: 30 Aug 2009, 20:06:00 by Wiper »

Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' *Hotfixed*
« Reply #12 on: 01 Sep 2009, 01:05:29 »

In the briefing there's some typos. Under activate radio sucessful is spelt successful.

You do have the word Radio and Deciphering with capital letters, really they shouldn't be capitalized.

Under extract from the area. Mudule I think you mean module. succesfully is successfully.

Under hints... consider is spelt wrong.

Great pic of the suitcase. I think it really enhances the briefing.

Not sure that the Estabs (not sure what this means) information is really needed. You're providing a lot of great background information about the mission but you maybe providing too much. Some of it could be moved into a short cutscene perhaps.

Really like the weapons selection.   :good:

Also like the extra options included in the lobby!

Found the mission overall very hard. Still trying to beat but so far its been slow going, with a lot of death on the part of me. :)

I thought you could maybe give away the location of the briefing if you were playing in cadet mode, or maybe giving up the location after a amount of time... like  "Intel reports the suitcase is the area of x,y,x."

I like the team switch... I mean its nice to see it in mp now. would it be possible to add like revive or TS to the options?


« Last Edit: 01 Sep 2009, 01:11:59 by hoz »
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Offline Wiper

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' *updated*
« Reply #13 on: 08 Sep 2009, 20:49:44 »
Thanks for the suggestions hoz !

New version up !
Typos (hopefully) fixed. I think a rewriting of the briefing will be one of the next tasks I'll be after.

Light verison for SpecOp mode added, plus more options in MP and SP as well !
Balanced the AI a bit more out I hope, giving them back the original lesser accuracy and slightly more aimingshake like in the initial releases.

Maybe I drop one or two patrols for the Task Mode too now  if its still too hard ?

Readme completely overhauled.

Have fun !!





Offline hoz

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Re: [SP/COOP1-10] 'Cipher' *updated*
« Reply #14 on: 08 Sep 2009, 21:12:32 »
We've tried version .26 a few more times since last update. We weren't able to dl .27 but I just got .28 so we'll give that a try next time. In the mean time we're basically finding the mission difficult to even get into the red zone now. The helo seems like its too just too much firepower as well. Basically kills the squad in one pass and always seems to crash.  Overall its difficult enough to keep us coming back, but after the long drive each time we pretty much limit our tries to 1 each time we play. So you have a good balance but it might be intimidating to the novice player thats for sure.

edit: You should also include a promotional pic in your zip package. :)
« Last Edit: 08 Sep 2009, 21:33:16 by hoz »
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