(Review Completed) [SP] Loose Ends

[Zipper5]

Author: Zipper5
Version: v1.021
Required AddOns: Chernarussian Red Army troops
Mission Description: Shortly after the end of the USMC operation in Chernarus, Akula Lopotev revamped the lackluster ChDKZ forces with the help of their Russian friends. They were given new, modern equipment and exceptional training. Lopotev renamed the ChDKZ to the Chernarussian Red Army, and designated it the official military forces of Chernarus. There was only one thing left for Lopotev to do, and that was to eliminate the competition. NAPA only have one stronghold left - the town of Zelenogorsk. And you, are going to lead the operation to clear it.
Credits:
 - Rellikki for his excellent CRA troop addon
 - Kronzky for his UPS script
 - OFPEC for all of their tutorials and information on everything to do with BIS' games
 - BIS for this excellent game
 - Rellikki, SaOk, NightJay0044, Manzilla and mathias_eichinger for beta testing and feedback
Features:
 - The official demo for Rellikki's CRA troops addon
 - Fully working intro and outro
 - Overview and Briefing
 - Included gear selection
 - High Command, First Aid, Surrendering and Ambient Animals modules
Known Bugs:
 - AI may not react how you would expect them to. I'm constantly trying to improve it, but it won't always work 100%.
 - I don't have any voices for the radio messages, yet. I don't know if I'm going to be able to impliment them in the future.
Changelog:
 v1.00:
  - Initial release

 v1.01:
  - Improved enemy AI behavior
  - Added gear selection

 v1.02:
  - The mission is now only playable in SP
  - Added a new objective
  - Removed saveGame after every objective
  - Improved enemy AI behavior again
  - Added radio messages to improve immersion (voices needed)
  - Added fortifications to the town
  - Added more enemy units including CDF forces
  - Changed overview picture to show new version of CRA units

 v1.021:
  - Made the mission only end if the Mi24s are also destroyed
  - Changed overview picture to show off the units better
  - Other minor fixes and changes

Download Mirrors:
Mirror #1
Mirror #2


Edit: This mission has been reviewed and is also available from the Missions Depot.

[mathias_eichinger]

Hi Zipper,

I just wanted to try your mission, but under Arma2 1.04 the addon throws out an error message and crashes the game.... would you mind to submit an addon-free version or use a different addon (to be in line with the story of better weapons and training). It would not hurt to let Rellikki know about that bug!

Cheers

Mathias

[Zipper5]

Hm. Are you sure you're using the latest version, mathias? I remember Rellikki talking about an error under v1.04, but his latest addon fixed it. I used it to test the mission before I put it here and it worked fine under v1.04. You can grab the latest version from here. Make sure you remove the old one, just in case. That should work fine. I just tested it again and it works. Hope that fixes the problem.

[NightJay0044]

Hi Zippper, sounds like a really good mission. But same thing, my program has stopped working after I skip the intro and hit continue to the main mission. It just gives that error that it has stopped working it's probably your addons.Also before the intro it says cannot load pd3 file for part of your troops addons or something.

[Rellikki]

After reading your reports about the addOn not working, I have tested the mission myself and didn't encounter any problems at all. Make sure you have installed the addOn correctly and that it hasn't created any subfolders in the addOns folder. Also, make sure you have installed either of the config files. The config is in a seperate PBO for reasons. Be sure to read the readme of the addOn for detailed installation instructions.

I thought I'd write a short review myself:

I found the mission very easy by team switching to the BMP and going in alone as that. The enemy AI wasn't much of resistance that way and couldn't stand a chance against me. They stood still and wouldn't even run away. It would be probably good to give the enemy AI more AT or perhaps place some mines around the town to make it more challenging.

As for the infantry part, I'm not much of a fan of the high command module and didn't find it too useful in this mission. You only have a BMP and support vehicles under your command, but the support vehicles are kinda useless, unless you'll be able to control one of the heavy tanks, who most need them. Personally I would remove the whole thing and give the support vehicles a Support waypoint, so they'll be able to support any of the squads, when called in by radio. Or even better: Set the heavy tank platoons into the player's control in the high command module. I would also set the BMP under direct control of the player, so it would be easier to give orders to it. Otherwise the infantry part is good and should offer some fierce firefight for around 20 minutes.

The cutscenes of the mission gave a good overview of the background story of the addOn. The outro was also a bit dramatic to give some mood.

By the way, you spelt the name of the army incorrectly - It's actually Chernarussian Red Army, not Chernarus Red Army. You don't say Canada Forces or Finland Defence Forces, now do you?

[SaOk]

I also tested the mission. Intro, Outro, Overview and Briefing are very good. Mission was quite easy like Rellikki already mentioned. I dont have much to add, but I like to see more details in mission part (like sidechats, patrolling units, fortresses, other objects...). The first roadblock have only few low skilled soldiers laying down still and waiting to face bmp without AT weapons. There could be heavier resistance also in the town so player would need to search it more (Now I only needed to go to church and powerplant). Also I didnt like how the mission was saved with every succeeded tasks. Maybe it could save only once in two or three tasks. Or you could leave the whole saving for player.

Very minor flaw in intro were the choppers which flied too symmetrically with syncronized howering up and down.

But overally the mission feeled nice. Still the gameplay tweaking would be needed.

[Zipper5]

Wow, thanks for the feedback, guys. I can finally work on a new version now. Expect to see one soon enough.

[mathias_eichinger]

Tried today with Rel_CRA_multilang, same p3d error as before.

[Rellikki]

It has to be a problem with you, because the addOn works all fine, as you can probably see from my and SaOk's reviews... Which PBOs do you have in your addOns folder?

[Manzilla]

Yup. I've been playing the mission and haven't encountered any problems. It is an easy mission thus far but fun. I really like the high command aspect. I use it in all my missions. I'm enjoying this so far. Thanks.

[Zipper5]

Alright, I've now got a new version up - v1.02. Check the first post for more details.

Changelog:
 v1.02:
  - The mission is now only playable in SP
  - Added a new objective
  - Removed saveGame after every objective
  - Improved enemy AI behavior again
  - Added radio messages to improve immersion (voices needed)
  - Added fortifications to the town
  - Added more enemy units including CDF forces
  - Changed overview picture to show new version of CRA units

[Rellikki]

I just tried out the new version. This time it felt like the mission was a little bit easier and there was less work to do for the player, because I only managed to occupy 2-3 enemy positions and the other squads did most of the work. It might be about my difficulty settings, as I've set friendly units as experts and enemy units a bit more poor skilled, though, I did get reports of two friendly squads getting wiped out. It might also be about the improved enemy AI behaviour in this version, as I found out that many of the hostiles had moved out of their position - I managed to clear the fuel station by eliminating some random guys by a tree line, far away from that position. I also noticed some random guy trying to attack the support vehicles at the initialization point. You might want to make them stay still, defending, unless that brings any problems, like I've reported to you before - Hostiles staying still, being no resistance at all.

I think it would be more appropriate to call Lopotev, for example, Commander, instead of General. Being a new leader of the nation, I'd think he would be more than just a General. Commander would be more suitable, in my opinion.

I'd also like to point out that the mission ended before the CDF gunships had been taken out. Better fix that too.

Otherwise nice job. I noticed a lot of new enemy fortifications, which gave more immersion to the mission and also some difficulty (MG nests).

[mathias_eichinger]

Gosh, I should have read the Readme, finally managed to install the addon correctly

Overview

Good one, although the size means that one cannot really spot the specific CRA camo.

Intro

Not a technically dramatic one, but it serves it's story telling purpose well.

Mission

A rather easy mission, but I liked it very well. The choice of the addon, the time of the day and all the fighting going on made this a gritty experience, because the CRA is just a small fighting force. No glorious marines, just grunts on a rainy day, with many objectives ahead.

I really liked how I could command some support with HC and I was totally immersed by the amount of fighting going on around me. Plenty of units on the map. 
Sure enough, this means that the mission is not hard as I have said before, but you managed to capture that OFP feeling of being part of a larger force, well done!

Outro

Sensible scene about the war-stressed soldier, something we don't get so see very often in BIS games missions.

Conclusion

A well rounded and good experience. Could be a bit harder, but it is well worth the play time as it is now.

[Zipper5]

I've released a small hotfix for the mission, making some minor fixes and changes:

Changelog:
 v1.021:
  - Made the mission only end if the Mi24s are also destroyed
  - Changed overview picture to show off the units better
  - Other minor fixes and changes

See the first post for further details and download links.

[mathias_eichinger]

Hi Zipper,

I tried again and I stil like it. The mission is slightly harder, and still great, works without bugs.

Cheers

Mathias