(Review Completed) [SP] Abandoned Armies

[THobson]

Okay.  This is important.  Several of you have now experienced this.  When I soak test it for days on end I don't go in and play it (and presumable my convoy monitoring script eventually sorts them out), when I do play it I go and zap the convoy as soon as I have my team so I have never seen this.  If you have all seen this with Stamenov's convoy from the south then that would also fit with a high intervention count I was getting from the script that monitors the south convoy.

This is going to be fun to fix :-\

[GI-YO]

The convoy was getting all mixed up in Dourdan. Just after I had killed a few people there though so maybe thats why

GI-YO

[macguba]

Convoys frequently have trouble in towns and after battles.    Objects near the road a surprising distance away can have a severe impact on the AI drivers' pathfinding ability.     There is nothing much you can do about it, not least because it's a very subtle problem:   an object very close to the road near the vehicle may be no problem, while another object (similar or different) further from the road and further from the driver may cause him to zigzag all over the place.

[THobson]

Dourdan after a battle I am okay with, they should eventually sort themselves out of that.  La Trinite without a battle I am not.  

mac you are right this can be really sublte.  The convoys can run for hours and then get screwed up even though nothing else is moving on the map.  My first try to improve this will be to have the south convoy park a little further south of La Trinite than I currently have it, but why the presence of the large church there should upset it sometimes ad not others I don't know..

[macguba]

Can't help further with this ..... whenever I've seen a convoy near La Trinite I've trashed it before its had a chance to turn round.  ;D

[djackl]

Maybe it's all the destoyed buildings?

[GI-YO]

MISSION (cont'd) - Taking the sniper rifle I head back to dourdan looking for LAW/RPG. I spot a guard and drop him and then an M60 guy turns up and i get him too. I begin to move into the town and i spot too soldiers and get them with some nifty shooting.Grab an RPG and make a run back to my jeep.Save. Going to try and ambush the bradly/vulcan convoy next time it is in the town, and the MG jeeps if i see them.I head to the hills on the southern side of town and hop in a bush to my surpreise see a t80,t72 and a vulcan trundle into the town and have a look around. These targets are too good to miss  . wish me luck...Hmm i seem to keep dying here. not enough RPG and too much tank.

I kill a whole squad in the valley leading to dourdan and save, but then realise three tanks are on thheir way to kill me, i try and escape but die alot. will get out of this pickle tomorw now (hopefully)

GI-YO

[THobson]

So I am back to where I was months ago now, soak testing the convoys.  Problems being caused by destroyed buildings is an interetsing thought, especially now since I have trashed even more for the next version.  I have set up a trigger that detects if any of the south convoy try to enter the town, it will then save the game at that point and increment a counter to tell me how many times it has happened.  It is just a matter of leaving run for a while.

GI-YO:  Lol.  You took on a T80 a T72 and a Vulcan on your own with an rpg launcher!! What is it about this game?  Does it attract eternal optimists, or plain lunatics!!  Keep at it guy.

[macguba]

It did occur to me, when looking at the mission editor, that the density of destroyed buildings and kit around La Trinite was very high.    It certainly isn't making life any easier for the convoys.    

I'm also not convinced about the effect it has on the atmosphere.     Lots of towns were trashed - why is La Trinite special in having lots of vehicle wrecks?    If that is where the main battle was, you wouldn't use it for your trading ground - too much unexploded ordnance for a start.

Even putting that aside for a second, think about the geometry:  by necessity the armoured wrecks have to go around the circumferance, which means you need an awful lot to make them look it dense.    Better to give up on that unattainable objective, use fewer and let the player's imagination do the rest.    I liked the blocking off the road to the west though, because it was done at both ends.      That's the sort of thing that really contributes to atmosphere.

[THobson]

Thanks,  Just keep the ideas coming.  It all gets added to the list.  I have never been one for subtlety - if one is good then ten must be ten times better!  Except of course it isn't.

[macguba]

It's not so much a question of subtlety vs. quantity.   As you know, I am a great believer in using objects to tell stories.    For example see attached.  Only three objects, but a picture saves a thousand words.

[Dubieman]

Possible caption:
Macguba's unfortunate night at the bar had lead to an empty wallet and some angry feelings. However he really was too wasted to drive a car and he woke up the next day all bloody, but sober. Then thinks, this isn't the UK...  


THobson, is a new version expected soon? If so I think I might stop on this one cause its so damn addicting. ;D But if not I think I'll keep plugging along and see if I can get a few more ressy guys to join up so I can cause some mayhem. :cheers:

And about the objects, some blocked off streets and things like that would make La Trinite seem better for the story. Maybe even random rifles, bodies, and other things if the main battle was really there.

[macguba]

 ;D

Plug along to the end if you can GRK, I had a problem with the end.   The more information that can be gathered about the ending the better.    

[Dubieman]

Okay I'll keep plugging along...

Anyways, you're lucky Mac, you seem to be able to play all day...
Whats your secret? ;D

[Planck]

Just to let you know THobson.......I am trying this mission and I will write my report in a month or two when I finally complete it.

It will take a while as I have 2 - 3 fps playing speed, it makes it rather interesting when it comes to trying to shoot someone, especially if they are moving at the time.

I really must get a new machine.

Having said all that I think I am doing ok so far.

I decided to try it using ECP as I don't think anyone else is running ECP with this.

As a side note, I try not to save the game too often as it takes about 6 minutes to reload the mission with the save.

The save file is well over 10Mb.


Planck