(Review Completed) [SP] Zombie Outbreak Simulation

[MrN]

Keep it simple, stupid

Agreed, bear in mind that I sent you that after my own misconceptions about the mission. I now get it, this needs a couple of plays to see if the convoy is consistent.

The shotgun...

This was more in jest than seriousness. Don't worry about this, the last play I had required more of the Hummer MG than any fire I could provide.

Almost everyone made the mistake to only scan the tutorial at first. But I'm sure that's a major problem with all long briefings.

This is a tricky one to manage. You want to provide as much information as possible but the player just wants to get stuck in. I found having a lot of fluff like:

A) Concept of operation. The 3rd platoon will evacuate all civilian survivors at 2315. 1st squad will search the settlements and establish contact to coordinate the evacuations. 2nd squad is on-call at base and will execute the evacuations. 3rd squad and platoon headquarters are maintaining the base.

B) Missions for subordinate units:
1) 1st squad will support any civilians in danger.
2) 2nd squads priority is to gurantee security of the evac convoys.
3) Corpses have to be disposed.

Service Support.

A) Supply. Standard issue NBC protective gear and one flashlight per man. Additional ammo can be received at base during mission. HMMWV C-11 and C-12 are allocated to 1st squad. They will carry additional first-aid kits. HMMWV C-21, C-22, C-23 and C-24 are allocated to 2nd squad.

B) Maintenance. A workshop is located at base.

C) Medical. Medical support is located at base.

Command and Signal.

A) Command. I will be with the 1st squad, and the platoon sergeant will be at base. Succession of command is SOP.

B) Signal:
1) AlphaRed - Platoon Leader (me)
2) DeltaGreen - 1st evac convoy
3) DeltaBlue - 2nd evac convoy

made me glaze over and start to "scan" instead of reading the important stuff. Don't take this the wrong way, there's nothing wrong with it but it's just too much. Think about ditching it.

If you have some more really good pointers about the briefing go on

Can't guarantee they will be really good pointers but I'll try.

The end...

Needs ending. I may be alone on this but I'll stick to my corner anyway. I really think the player needs to end this himself, just having the thing end on it's own is like someone serving you a fantastic, tasty meal and just as you're thinking you're going to struggle to finish it, they walk up and take your plate away.  

there is no way for the scripts to tell if the player is sure about all the civilian survivors

That is a real shame. How are you doing it at the moment then?

IMO an average result for completing it the first time.

Pah!

 

[Trapper]

What you call fluff is called a realistic briefing at ofpec tutorials and the US military. ;D
I need it for subtile atmospheric reasons in this place: Feel like a real soldier in a fictional situation becoming true.
The real thing out of place (and then scanned) is the tutorial/manual. I would like to ship my mission in a box, with this damn thing as a hard copy!
You're right, it results in the unimportant text hiding the important. There's nothing I can do about it (?)

For now the mission just ends a few seconds after no alive civilians outside the center are present anymore. - An endmission radio command instead should help. Adds a lot to the atmosphere, after all the player's character is in command for Sarugao and would really be the one to say when evacs become pointless.
Also everyone who likes to, will be able to continue the zombie hunting after evacuating. Maybe a little score bonus for finishing with the island free from Zombies.

Hey, the last time I've played it, I also had rescued less than 60 (more than 30) survivors.
And I thought I've already found the perfect strategy for any random created spread...  

[Mikero]

typos fixed

[Trapper]

 
Mikero I hope you only worked on the small page called "hints" even if you sent me the whole briefing.html. Everything else was already proofread once.

[Trapper]

Shit, Mikero you really did it completely.
Well, please understand that I can't incorporate all the changes you suggested there, but all the typos you and had MrN found are fixed.

After changing some parts in the next version, I had to add new lines to the briefing. Would anyone like to have a look? (Oh and please, o n l y these lines, not the whole briefing again you busy beta testers.)

- Mission ends on your command. You decide when it is pointless to continue the evacuation.
-----
But in the end...
measure your success by the number of rescued survivors:
Maximum score is 17500, also you can get +1000 bonus points for killing all zombies.
-----
End Mission:
You'll have to end the mission yourself, if you're sure that you evacuated all survivors. Only survivors that reached the rescue center are taken into account for scoring.
Eliminating all zombies before, will give you a little bonus of 1000 points.
-----
You can't cancel an evac! Even if you reload the automatic savegame, you are stuck evacuating the selected civ group.
It will only help you to select a better evaczone for them, where the evac HMMWVs won't get stuck.
-----
If you swap squad weapons on the field, everyone will only receive the default magazine loadout for the swapped weapons.

The only civil weapon supported is the Glock.
-----
Definition of "open places"... (a picture subtitle)
-----
no ammunition available for these firearms (ingame message)

Otherwise, the only things left for me to work on are the player commanded end and some formal additions to the readme.

[zombiewarfare]

not really a 'testing' topic, but would you ever just maybe consider including a couple of 'civilians' ('resistance'?) with, say, Winchester rifles?

ps genius with the ultra-realistic 'ant farm' approach. Genius!

[Trapper]

Thank you!

Have you played the mission already?
The civilians at each village are randomly armed to have a random chance of survival until you reach them. Common are two or three weapons for each village. Possible are hunting rifles, double barrel shotguns and revolvers.
In the two "cities" only policemen are armed, either with Glock pistol or pistol + pumpgun.
For any other weapon type I would have to use more addons.

Maybe you're talking about adding roaming looters, who attack everyone they see.
I was thinking about this, but decided against, as it would be a crazy idea for this small island. They all (175) should know each other someway. Also the whole population would be either poor or rich, so there wouldn't form up "gangs" in the first hours. IMHO

Technicaly this could switch completely the ant colony now.
If there would be only one marauding group, killing everyone, it would increase the spread and remotely controlled soldiers would be killed when they encouter them.
This isn't possible as the mission is already very hard, if you want to get close to the highscore.

[dang]

I'm wondering, can the civvies beat back the zombie outbreak themselves? I haven't tested this mission myself, but after reading the earlier posts, I know that some of the civvies are armed. So have the civilians ever killed off all of the zombies in any of your playtests?

[Trapper]

Never.
They can't dispose them of after killing, so a zombie stands up after 2mins again. Coming closer and closer. Armed civilians slow them down only.

[MIG]

2nd Beta Version Release

2nd Beta is planed as the last version before the final release. Main goal is the detection of any last bugs that escaped notice until now.
Also my proofreader has no time at the moment. I would appreciate if someone will have a special look at my english for the "Hints" page in briefing. - Or do it right here, at reply #13.

New in 2nd Beta:
- computer voices replaced with human voice actors
- moving mapmarkers for evac convoys
- improved briefing/tutorial
- overview picture shadow
- slightly reduced init lag
- a few, small bug fixes
- improved readme
- two advertisement pics added to the zip

Mirrors:
Rapidshare
or
Mirror with bandwithlimit - Please try the other first.

Mirror:

http://ofp.gamezone.cz/_hosted/farmland/uploads/zos_b2.zip

[Trapper]

Thanks MiG.
(The hint text in reply #13 is already proofread.)

While working on the radio commanded end, I've finaly figured out how to create a notepad for the player. - Have a look at the attached image. I hope it doesn't come with any bugs.

I've to ask again for typos ect in those lines:

- Mission ends on your command. You decide when it is pointless to continue the evacuation.
-----
But in the end...
measure your success by the number of rescued survivors:
Maximum score is 17500, also you can get +1000 bonus points for killing all zombies.
-----
Status / End Mission:
Opens the evacuation list.
Evacuations are logged automaticly, but you are able to change status "unknown" to "dead".
You'll have to end the mission yourself, if you're sure that you evacuated all survivors. Only survivors that reached the rescue center are taken into account for scoring.
Eliminating all zombies before, will give you a little bonus of 1000 points.
-----
You can't cancel an evac! Even if you reload the automatic savegame, you are stuck evacuating the selected civ group.
It will only help you to select a better evaczone for them, where the evac HMMWVs won't get stuck.
-----
If you swap squad weapons on the field, everyone will only receive the default magazine loadout for the swapped weapons.

The only civil weapon supported is the Glock.
-----
Definition of "open places"... (a picture subtitle)
-----
no ammunition available for these firearms (ingame message)

[Trapper]

Anyone??
I would really like to know about typos ect in the lines above before releasing V1.0
This and a last test by myself are the only things missing now.

[Trapper]

Final V1.0 Release

After the lines passed in the BIS forum, I've released V1.0.

I consider this beta test as finished. Thank you everybody!
Topic remains unsolved for a short while.

You can download the new version at the Mission Depot.