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Author Topic: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper (Review complete)  (Read 18844 times)

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Offline SaOk

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[CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper (Review complete)
« on: 27 Apr 2011, 17:05:00 »


Author: SaOk
Version: 2.0
Game Version: Combined Operations 1.60 + BAF/PMC (Optional)
Addons Needed: None

Trailer (New 2.0 Gameplay Video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ5hiYDawXM

Download:
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21201343/CaChasingGrimReaper_v2_0.7z

Description:
A former scientist employed by the former Takistan Defense, appears to US outpost in quiet small village Sakhe near a mountain pass, requesting for immediate help. A small journal is about to turn the whole country into deadly chaos.

Features:Hints:
-Good gameplay with friendly skills set to 1.0 in gamesettings, enemy 0.5 to 0.7 or more

Voice-actors:
- Bardosy (Takistan Civilians, Takibans, Hungarian Combat)
- Domokun (Air Support, British Team Leader, Uncle, SF Leader)
- Nettrucker (Fikri, PMC Unit, Land Support, German Combat, Gas Worker)
- Poacher (British Combat)
- RejenOrst (Austin Paxton, U.S. Combat, Music) - www.rejenorst.com
- SavedByGrace (HQ, U.S. Soldier #1/#2, U.S. Combat, Outro Voices)
- Tslava (Czech Squad Leader, Czech Combat)

Special Thanks:
-Voicea-actors
-SavedByGrace for new campaign outro, background story and dialog and scene suggestions for intro
-All testers
-BIS for the excelent game
-OFPEC, ArmaHolic for support

Scripting Credits:
-Mandoble for Mando Missiles Script
-Mondasa & Kronzky (Surrendering script borrowed partly from USPMON)
-Celery for (position ThisTrigger) & [0,0,0], also help and advices
-Xenogf for str(_array) != "[0,0,0]", help and advices
-i0n0s for saveVar, help and advices
-Zipper5, Kju, RejenOrst, ZoneKiller, h- for help and advices

Change Log:
1.0:
-Improved campaign intro (Thx SavedByGrace for new dialog and thoughts)
-New campaign outro
-New 1st mission outro
-New hidden task in 2nd mission that have an effect on 3rd mission
-Player gear and damage is copied from 2nd mission to 3rd
-More ambientlife (Parked empty random cars, friendly armed locals guarding locations...)
-In 1st and 3rd missions, AI driven HMMWv now stops if player is next to it (to get gear)
-Much other tweaks/fixes
1.1:1.2:
-Added more american battlecry-voices (made by RejenOrst www.rejenorst.com)
-Added limited mortar/close air-support (SSM)
-Some script controlled AI units use now cover function (1st&4th mission)
-Changes in dialog/briefings
-Animals and other less real civilians shouldnt talk to player anymore
-Friendly AI tanks dosent get damage from minefields
-Some new tasks
-Some new scenery
-Cutscene tweaks
-Tweaks for better performance
-Engineer added to player group
-Other additions/tweaks/fixes
1.3:
-Added new long mission "Operation Zavarak"
-Added more american battlecry-voices (made by RejenOrst www.rejenorst.com)
-Links added to briefings
-Added much music from ArmA2&OA Soundtracks
-Some other fixes
1.4:1.45:
-Added much use of Mando Missiles Script by Mandoble
-Enemy tanks shoot sometimes at houses now
-AI use smokegrenade sometimes now
-Tasks should display right now for all chooseable units
-Campaign/Mission overviews improved
-Other fixes/tweaks/additions
1.6:
-New mission "Takiban's Last Stand" to end the campaign
-Civilians now may sometimes now turn against player (in 2nd, 3rd, 5-7th missions)
-More scream voices (made by RejenOrst www.rejenorst.com)
-Added music tracks "Evasive Action 1/2" (made by RejenOrst www.rejenorst.com)
-Mando Missile script updated to latest version
-Added Command Mode option (optional High Command)
-Added BIS Advanced First Aid option (optional)
-Performance tweaks in scripts
-Task bug from 1.45 fixed
-Many other additions/tweaks/fixes
1.9:
-Most of the voiceacting added (By RejenOrst, SavedByGrace, Nettrucker, Bardosy & Domokun)
-English corrections and other dialog improvements by SavedByGrace
-AI shoots sometimes flares on night conditions (credit to RejenOrst)
-Added one new song to 7th mission (by RejenOrst)
-Added some more randomness
-Some new or improved cutscenes
-Much other tweaks and fixes
2.0:
-New cliffhanger campaign outro (by SavedByGrace)
-Rest of the voiceacting added ("Uncle" & "SF Leader" by Domokun, "Gas Worker" by Nettrucker, Outro voices by SavedByGrace)
-New dynamic AI function: Enemy sometimes now search/clean nearby random buildings
-New dynamic AI function: Sometimes disemparked crew seek cover from nearby houses
-Life Multiplier much reworked (default setting "normal" is good for CPUs like q6600, tested setting "doubled" works very smoothly with i7 2600k, un-tested setting "tripled" may require clocked i7 2600k)
-Music from orginal OFP soundtrack added (those BIS tracks)
-Cutscene tweaks
-Unpopular extra cutscene in 3rd mission removed
-Many other tweak & fixes

Let me know what you think. I am ready for big tweaking and even to remake big parts of the missions.
« Last Edit: 10 Apr 2012, 22:38:27 by mathias_eichinger »

Offline nettrucker

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #1 on: 27 Apr 2011, 23:02:29 »
Can't open the zip. Gives me an error. :dunno: Does anyone else have problems?
kind regards

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #2 on: 27 Apr 2011, 23:14:33 »
Hi :), for me the unpacking works normally. Do you have the 7z-unpack software? Its quite common today (winrar and zip are getting less used) so I have started to use it too. With 7z, you can also unpack zip and rar files. You can find it here:
http://www.7-zip.org/

Offline nettrucker

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #3 on: 28 Apr 2011, 09:37:55 »
hi SaOk

yes I'm using 7z, but it won't let me extract the files. It always gives me an error, no matter what I do. :dunno: Checked with other compressed files. 7z does work without problems, I just can't get your file unpacked.
kind regards

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #4 on: 28 Apr 2011, 10:19:57 »
Thats strange. The file may have corrupted when downloading. I also downloaded it for test, but had no problems to unpack it . I uploaded the campaign now also packed with zip if it works better:
Edit: -link available at first post-
« Last Edit: 30 Apr 2011, 13:43:40 by SaOk »

Offline nettrucker

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #5 on: 28 Apr 2011, 15:08:39 »
Got it. File was corrupting during download. Will give it a go.
thanks
kind regards

Offline Zipper5

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #6 on: 30 Apr 2011, 12:01:10 »
Awesome to see this released, SaOk! :good:

Here's my feedback on the campaign so far:
  • The loading screen images you've used are not large enough to fill the picture, so you can see that your pictures end and there are other pictures underneath them.
  • It may be nitpicking, but many times when the player character is depicted in cutscenes during a mission he has the wrong weapons and/or damage to him. The best way to do this would be something like the following:
Code: [Select]
_damage = damage player;
_magazines = magazines player;
_weapons = weapons player;

removeAllWeapons <new unit>;
<new unit> setDamage _damage;
{<new unit> addMagazine _x} forEach _magazines;
{<new unit> addWeapon _x} forEach _weapons;
<new unit> selectWeapon primaryWeapon <new unit>;
Or you can use the selectPlayer command to transfer player control to a different unit during the cutscene, thus making his previous unit AI controlled. Once the cutscene is over, simply switch him back using it again.
  • In the cutscene during the second mission where the player sneaks up on the hostage-taker at the crash site, he's meant to have a pistol in his hand, but since I removed it when I selected my custom gear, he had no weapon in his hand. To fix this while keeping the same animation, have the following check:
Code: [Select]
if (!player hasWeapon "M9") then {player addWeapon "M9"};And you can just remove it after the cutscene finishes using removeWeapon.
  • In the third mission the player is not told in the briefing that he may face an armored threat, therefore I never equipped myself with AT and my stupid AI used his only two rockets on enemy infantry, therefore we had to stay in cover near the SUV and just hope we weren't attacked. However, for most of that mission we didn't have to fight at all, we just hid until the friendly forces arrived to destroy the armor and then we helped mop up the few remaining soldiers.
  • Despite completing all objectives and returning to Rasman in mission 4, the mission wouldn't continue. I switched to 4x speed and all that happened was a small group of Takistani Army soldiers came within our range and were quickly dispatched. Afterwards, nothing is happening so the mission didn't progress. See the attached image.
  • I was kind of lost towards the 4th mission as to whom your "Takiban" are. Sometimes they are the Takistani Militia, but in the 4th mission Takistani Army units were referred to as the "Takiban." Again, might just be nitpicking, but it would be good to indicate why the "Takiban" are comprised of well-equipped Takistani Army forces and ill-equipped Takistani Militia forces.
  • I felt the custom screams of units as they were shot at or injured were a bit too loud. It might be better to quieten them a bit.

All-in-all I'm quite enjoying the campaign so far, despite these issues. I am hoping, however, that the significance of the journal is revealed sometime after mission 4, as it's certainly causing a lot of fuss. I look forward to further updates!
« Last Edit: 30 Apr 2011, 12:06:49 by Zipper5 »

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #7 on: 30 Apr 2011, 13:05:25 »
Thank you for testing and good feedback. :)

I copy weapons and magazines for the actors in cutscenes, but I may have forgot to add it to everyone. Also in quick cutscene in 3rd mission, the weapon wasnt copied for some reason once. I fix those. Also add the damage check, I just need to make sure that player is able to stand/walk. Also a good point that player may not have pistol at crashsite.

The 3rd mission, may be too easy. I will lower slightly the reinforcements. Also add more tactical elements. I think there could be a small extra task for the player to set up a minefield or something similar that would force him to move in danger.

I seem to have the trigger zone too small in the 4th mission. I see you returned to the southern trenches, but the new takiban assault comes from east and player is meant to move inside the town where also the AI group have moved (there is currently a bug which dosent make them use more complex cover positions. Fixed in next version). I change that trigger too, then player couldnt be in wrong place without noticing the new assault.

Explaining why takibans use army outfits is also under work. I havent yet made a background for that. I agree its confusing since takibans sound like the terrorist group. I may change the whole name to sound more like the setting in Libya. So there would be more modern army led by some fruitcake Fatdaffi supported by hostile militian tribes (and some of the tribes are in player side. Like seen in 1st and 2nd mission).

I tweak the voice-files too. I could try to make the soundlevels similar to ACE2 voices.

I will improve the storytelling too, but I meant that journal to be in more invisible siderole. So its causing all the chaos with no-one actually seeing it. Soldiers still die for it, while its transported away in background. The campaign would just display the events near the player squad. But I see how it comes. I should improve and add more cutscenes. And have more visible characters, like that less friendly SF leader. Then I could also continue the setting with a connected sequel where player would meet some familiar faces. But I will see how things come. There is much to improve and to add.
« Last Edit: 30 Apr 2011, 13:07:32 by SaOk »

Offline Zipper5

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #8 on: 30 Apr 2011, 17:56:20 »
Ah, okay. I went further into the town and the mission continued. Sorry about that. :confused:

The rest of the mission went smoothly, although when clearing the area with the tower and the crossroads I really only came across one squad of Takistani Militia, and only after the tower area had been deemed clear. Once they were almost completely destroyed, the crossroads were deemed clear even though I was still a few hundred meters away from them. Oh well.

So the 4th mission was indeed the actual end to the campaign. In that case yes, I think the story could perhaps be fleshed out a bit more, but obviously I take into consideration that this is the first beta. The end cutscene could also be a little more "satisfying", offering some better closure to the events that unfolded and what it means for the person you're playing as.

Other than that the gameplay of the campaign was a lot of fun, which is something many other campaigns lack and makes me stop playing them very quickly. It kept me engaged the whole way out. I'm also very impressed that most of what you've done seems to have been done through complex spawning and deleting of units, so now I know why performance was excellent throughout despite tons of stuff happening around me.

If you manage to flesh out the stories and cutscenes a bit better, along with fixing/improving the issues I mentioned before, I can see this being one hell of a mini-campaign!  :D

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #9 on: 30 Apr 2011, 18:24:10 »
Thanks :), I will continue working on this for long, improving also gameplay as much as I could. The cutscenes take longer create, but I will work much on those too. A proper ending is definitely a must, after that I will also make the campaign intro look much better.

Currently I am trying to add a small extra deadly feature for 3rd mission, that is only there if player have been fussy in 2nd mission. I hope to add also other effect/cause-relations between missions if get this first one working.

Offline nettrucker

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #10 on: 01 May 2011, 18:05:27 »
Great campaign so far. My only gripe that I have, is that I'm in difficulties to differ friends from foe. In the first mission at Sakhe, there are friendly locals coming down the mountain from the west. They mix up with enemy Takibans and I'm not able really to figure who's friendly and who's not. Same in the second mission when searching for the crashsite there are friendly units with a tank coming in, but there are also enemies coming and I really get confused.
In any case I keep on testing.
Kind regards

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #11 on: 01 May 2011, 18:45:29 »
Thanks for testing :),

I have also had difficulties to differ them few times, if the friendly tribe have reached the village center unnoticed in 1st mission. Else their approach is noted in radiochat. But I will see if I could add something more to ease identification. Maybe few smoke grenades and also forcing them to stay on hill.

Offline Undeceived

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #12 on: 09 May 2011, 13:50:06 »
SaOk, thank you very much for your work. I tested the first mission, here comes a small feedback:

Cutscene:
  • Sometimes the targets (I mean the people or the vehicles you want to "film") are not in the screen. For example the SUV. I remember one part where it stopped outside of the cam focus whereas it should stop in it. Result was an empty camera angle without target (see screenshot here).
  • When the scientist talks to the "taxi driver" ;) he looks away from him (see screenshot here).
  • I noticed some grammar stuff and many missing punctiation marks. But I guess that's something you'll check later anyway, so it's ok (for now).
  • I would love to hear some atmospheric music in the cutscene(s). Especially the part where the camera zooms to the shepard / spy on the mountain - that was pretty tenseful and some good music would even intensify it.
  • One thing I found odd: You can see the Takiban attacking but then in the briefing it says "3 days later..." It was strange to see them running on the road and then suddenly it is three days later.

Mission:
  • Good work in the mission itself. It has a good atmosphere and is tenseful because always more enemies approach the village.
  • I also was confused because friendlies looked like enemies and even shot 2-3 of them but in fact it is realistic...
  • Very good thing that you've put a local ammo box near the crossroad! My AT gunner shot his ATs into the enemy infantry crowds earlier and when the tanks came, he had no more, so that ammo box with the RPG inside was very helpful!
    Do you have a US ammo box near the starting point? I didn't see anyone (but I also didn't search). Would be a good help in case someone needs ammo. Putting a US ammo box at the crossroad would be unrealistic though, the local box is good.
  • Map information in the briefing: I noticed that in the first mission's briefing it already is shown that friendly locals will help (friendly locals area marker and a blue arrow signalising that they're coming to support the US in the village). However it was not yet mentioned by HQ via radio that the locals would come. What I mean is: You've put events in the briefing at the mission start which didn't yet happen. A good example is at the briefing of mission 2 (which I didn't finish yet): There already is shown the "Crashsite marker" but the special unit didn't crash yet.
    Suggestion: You could set the markers as "empty" (invisible) in the begininng (init.sqf) and show them later when things actually happen.
  • One or two automatic savegames would be good too, in my opinion.


Other than that it was a good first mission of your campaign! Thanks again for your work!
« Last Edit: 09 May 2011, 15:29:32 by Undeceived »
Current project: Black Lands (Arma 3)

Offline SaOk

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #13 on: 09 May 2011, 16:28:13 »
Thank you for testing and good feedback. :)

I agree, the campaign intro is not currently good. I will remade it or at least improve it much.

I will also tweak the briefings. Seems like I forgot that "3 days later" line there. I will make sure, all looks correct. After I released this version, I also remembered that 2nd mission crash site marker. Going to fix that too.

While I tested with ACE2 mod, I noticed the AT-weapons was much more needed. There is much AT-gear to be found in all of the missions. Also the MG-Humwee have some gear in cargo (Not sure if I remembered to add that to 1st mission too yet).

I will try to add some autosaves too, after few mid-mission cutscenes.

I have already some new stuff ready (2 more cutscenes, new hidden task in 2nd mission that affect 3rd mission, also player gear and damage should be copied from 2nd mission to 3rd...), but I am going to fix that campaign intro before releasing next beta in few weeks with much other fixes/tweaks too.

Offline Undeceived

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Re: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper
« Reply #14 on: 09 May 2011, 17:09:05 »
I'm having trouble in the second mission. I reached Anar and cleaned the region but I can't find the SF members. I called HQ already because of that and they told me to continue searching and talk to the locals - this I did but no one can understand me and I can't find anything.

Can you give me a small hint? :)
Current project: Black Lands (Arma 3)