(Review Completed) Elite: Deadly Shadows

[Andreas Ludwig]

Hello folks,

Hoz thought it a good idea to get some OFP: Elite missions reviewed here and I'm glad to have the opportunity to get some opinions by all you veteran players. We do have these missions on our wargaming website  but because it's mainly about consims like Advanced Squad Leader etc., (although open to all wargames), there's not that much chance that console players find their way to us. The HFC site is to be found here www.homefrontcenter.de just in case you want to take a look.

We already have several missions ready, but let's start with one Single Mission for review.


Name: Deadly Shadows

Mini Campaign „Debates Are Over Now!" (Scenario #1):
In this early stages of the conflict, roused by russian territorial claims on an island group, politicians try to avoid a war by negotiations. But in fact war has already begun...

Player Profile: HFC

Mission Description: A NATO commando conducts a "black operation", disguised as resistance forces, to sabotage russian SCUD launchers.

Mission Info:  

Map: Kolgujev
Date: December 4rd, 1980
Time: 05:15 a.m.
Weather: sunny; Forcast: cloudy
Type: SP
Model: Mini Campaign
Template: Target
Duration: 1h - 1,5 h (depending on playing style of course)
Player‘s Side: NATO
Player's Unit: Special Squad

Short Notes:
Please make sure you take the time to read the Mission Briefing. As you probably know we have some limitations on the Xbox, but with a little creativity one can get around most shortcomings. Since we can't write any text messages to appear as part of the mission, we decided to write the Briefings separately and make them available as pdf files. We want to catch a little atmosphere so don't be surprised that some of the briefings are detailed and written in the form of a little story that makes you part of the overall conflict where the mission is only a single event. You'll need the information contained in the briefings either to make sure that the mission works as the designer intended it or at least to be sure to see everything what he has planned for you. Take a few minutes, have a cold beer and listen to your commander while sitting in the briefing room - thanks  

The code HFC_SP_1a refers to our mission structure: HFC= Player Profile used in the mission; SP=Single Player Mission;1a= first mission that is part of a so called Mini Campaign (missions that belong together because they tell parts of one specific "story")

I have the mission file (zip) and the Mission Briefing (pdf) both attached to this request for review, so you should have no problems to get it over on your box. The mission file can be transferred to the Xbox via Action Replay or ftp connection (modded boxes only), the briefing needs Acrobat reader.

If you find some errors in the spelling or something like that, please have in mind that we are not native speakers (we're German), but we tried as best as we could. Some notes about possibilities to correct the english if that is necessary are welcome of course.

Thank you very much for your attention gentlemen, I hope I have given you any information that you need (if not just ask me) and I await your opinions  :wave:

Cheers,

Andreas


Edit: Added the briefing into the mission zip

OFPEC DOWNLOAD

[hoz]

Can't wait to try it out.

[Mikero]

Hello Andreas   

this is very good news.

please check your personal messages (My Messages button)

[Andreas Ludwig]

Thanks Mikero,

reply sent to you as PM, too.

Andreas

[hoz]

Andreas,

Not a bad mission. I personally found it pretty easy, but that may have been becuase I followed the WP exactly and entered the island from the SE and came in directly over top of the mountain. On my first attempt I came half down the mountain and easily took out the scud, I wasn't able to get away successfully though. On the second attempt I stayed at the top of the mountain plugged the scud with an law and was able to complete the objective. I wasn't able to leave the island though becuase I parked my boat well beyond on the road and getting that boat back into the water was a no go. MIght of been better to end the mission back at the boat or somewhere on the island with a little resistance on the way home.

Construction points: You used all of them, but I barely met up with any resistance along the way. I saw one Helo but it was gone before   I had a chance to take it out near the begining.  One suggestion might be to add more (or move) some of the units to protect the side of the landing along the northern shore.

Another thing is you should maybe think about is make the scud more hidden instead of leaving it in the bright lights. Tuck it behind some trees or in behind the barracks.

Two other points non related to the mission itself.

1.  Consider renaming the inner most folder to the name of your mission. The current randomly generated folder name makes it hard for others to find the mission after the fact.(after a few months and your cleaning up your missions)

2. Add a readme.txt and include your mission breifing in this form. The PDF is nice but I hate PDF's. In the PC world the mission wouldn't even get reviewed without a readme.txt. The breifing was very detailed and you've come up with a nice solution for xbox people playing your mission. I wish I had the time to write the detailed breifing you provided 


Of course the mission worked flawlessly using the standard BI templates. So from that point of view you can't go wrong the mission just works as it should.

Hope this helps 

Hoz

[Cheetah]

Can I play this mission on my PC as well or would it have to be converted?

[hoz]

Can I play this mission on my PC as well or would it have to be converted?

unfortunately no. but I was thinking there is no reason why someone couldn't make a converter back to the pc. It would mean that some sort of conversion from mission.par to mission.sqm would be in order. And of course you would need the templates from the xbox which I could provide if someone asked for it.

hoz

[Andreas Ludwig]

Hi Hoz,

Andreas,

Not a bad mission. I personally found it pretty easy, but that may have been becuase I followed the WP exactly and entered the island from the SE and came in directly over top of the mountain. On my first attempt I came half down the mountain and easily took out the scud, I wasn't able to get away successfully though. On the second attempt I stayed at the top of the mountain plugged the scud with an law and was able to complete the objective. I wasn't able to leave the island though becuase I parked my boat well beyond on the road and getting that boat back into the water was a no go. MIght of been better to end the mission back at the boat or somewhere on the island with a little resistance on the way home.

Construction points: You used all of them, but I barely met up with any resistance along the way. I saw one Helo but it was gone before   I had a chance to take it out near the begining.  One suggestion might be to add more (or move) some of the units to protect the side of the landing along the northern shore.

Well, first of all let me say this was the first mission I ever made. Interesting insights from your playing and I might try it again to see what I could change, but let me give some "designers notes":

When you say that you followed the WP exactly, it sounds like you ignored the Blackhawk bringing you to the Resistance Fort. If that's right, then you may have missed some encounters - and part of the story. I have played this mission several times and it usually was quite different, so I experienced some flexibility in the way the AI works here. My playtester also had one mission where  the Kamov (I suppose that was the copter you saw) was hunting her down - which was really cool. The Kamov saw the enemy soldiers at one point and obviously thought it a good idea to stay around. After the guys tried to escape from the Scud area it roared over the mountain and tried to blow up the Ural they used to get out from there. The Kamov followed them over half the island with blazin guns so to say killing all before they could reach the boat.

The last time I tried that mission I made it back to the Resistance Fort and found the Blackhawk crashed with the pilots dead on the ground. The Russians obviously made a counterattack on the fort while I was in their camp...

Another one catched me in a firefight between the Resistance and the Russians for no obvious reason. I landed with the Blackhawk and the US tank started rollin towards the enemy line, so before I could get unseen to the Scud area the fight was already starting. That is covered as a possibility in my briefing when the commander tells you the Resistance leader holding the Fort is pretty eager to get the fight going.

To end the mission at the boat or somewhere at the island would leave out some of the possible encounters  with the boats and the Hind that can catch you up right when you think you made it. To have enemy units at the landing site would run counter to the story that is the background for this mission - the Black Operation can only be successful when the NATO forces try to start from the safe area that is covered by the Resistance. According to the story the operation would only be considered successful if you can make it to the Scud, destroy it and get out of there without losing one man - which is possible when you are careful, but very likely makes your trip back a lot more dangerous because of the rising sun.

Another thing is you should maybe think about is make the scud more hidden instead of leaving it in the bright lights. Tuck it behind some trees or in behind the barracks.

Ok, I'll do that.

Two other points non related to the mission itself.

1.  Consider renaming the inner most folder to the name of your mission. The current randomly generated folder name makes it hard for others to find the mission after the fact.(after a few months and your cleaning up your missions)

2. Add a readme.txt and include your mission breifing in this form. The PDF is nice but I hate PDF's. In the PC world the mission wouldn't even get reviewed without a readme.txt. The breifing was very detailed and you've come up with a nice solution for xbox people playing your mission. I wish I had the time to write the detailed breifing you provided 

1. I wasn't aware about this problem, I simply moved the file with the AR when I made the mission. So I can simply rename it on my computer and it will still work? Will do that - thanks!

2. Uh, I hate txt files as much as you seem to hate pdfs. If that is the format used normally I'll add one in addition to the pdf file. When you write detailed briefings I suppose that is hard to read then as txt, though.

Of course the mission worked flawlessly using the standard BI templates. So from that point of view you can't go wrong the mission just works as it should.

Xbox rules  :thumbsup:

Hope this helps 

Of course, thanks for playing the mission. Another one? 

Cheers,

Andreas

[hoz]

Sure feel free to upload some others and I will test them out. If you update this mission then change the zip in the first post. I'll check it out and when its ready to be review change the topic title as per the stickies.

For the folder names, its not really a problem its just about organization.

Regarding the pdf, text files, on the pc side of things, the readme is there for linking addons, including the authors name etc. You could easily point to the pdf here, I'm just suggesting you plunk the breifing in there as well. For adding it to the zip just open the zip and plunk the files in there.


So regarding the easiness, its likely my play style I go right for the kill, I'll try it out again and see how it plays. 


hoz

[Andreas Ludwig]

Sure feel free to upload some others and I will test them out.

Ok, I'll open a new thread for the next mission. You said you like short nice fightings, so the next one will put you in the shoes of a Resistance leader on duty in the fort you already know (if you used the Blackhawk...) when the Russians want to punish someone for the attacks on the Scud launcher.

If you update this mission then change the zip in the first post. I'll check it out and when its ready to be review change the topic title as per the stickies.

Ok, but the next mission will be in the old style, though so you have something to play with. I hope to find some time at the weekend to fumble around with the files as you said.

For the folder names, its not really a problem its just about organization.

Regarding the pdf, text files, on the pc side of things, the readme is there for linking addons, including the authors name etc. You could easily point to the pdf here, I'm just suggesting you plunk the breifing in there as well. For adding it to the zip just open the zip and plunk the files in there.

I'll do it both ways so everybody gets what he wants.

So regarding the easiness, its likely my play style I go right for the kill, I'll try it out again and see how it plays. 

Thanks. Since we can't do the same things on the Xbox to create a story with ingame elements, scriptings etc. it's pretty important that the player actually considers the briefings as his commander's orders and tries to follow them. I always try to make the mission so that a complete different playing style will still work, but that's sometimes a bit difficult. I would suggest, that the first playings are always according to the orders given in the briefing, so you actually get an impression how the mission was intended by the designer and you can judge how the mission mirrors the overall picture that is told in the briefing.

Andreas

[Andreas Ludwig]

Hi folks,

this mission got an update, too:

1. txt file added with complete mission briefing and mission notes as requested (I'd still suggest to read the briefing in the pdf though, much better to read imho)

2. I tried to stop the moving of the target ( a bit difficult because when one chooses a vehicle as target there's always a driver in it and when he gets bored he drives around), but it will still be easy to find in the camp. There's not much space around to hide it and the story is about the Russians feeling rather safe and preparing for an attack with the target, so I'll keep it as it is.

3. The Hind got new commands to keep it busy...

Please make sure that you don't just move towards the waypoint to go straight  for the kill. Play the mission according to the briefing, that means:

a) drive in the boat to the coast looking out for the fire signs,
b) move along the fire signs to the meeting place with the Blackhawk,
c) board the blackhawk (wait for it, it will come and land - don't fly it yourself, just ride in back),
d) disembark at the Resistance camp and start your operation from there!

The mission is made to reflect realistic military operations which means you have to obey the orders of your commander as long as the situation allows it. The story says it's important that you meet the Resistance leader at his camp because he is part of the battle that goes on on that island. Ignore the target marker until you are disembarking from the copter at the camp, otherwise you'll screw up the mission.

Have fun and tell me how it goes. When there are no major problems this mission will be ready for review.

Cheers,

Andreas

[hoz]

3. The Hind got new commands to keep it busy...

I haven't had a chance to finish this mission yet. But the hind aspect is much better, if you take off in the boat ignoring the hind it takes you out. So you must take it out or you'll never get back to shore.

Still working my way to the camp. I will let you know.

[Andreas Ludwig]

You can cross the water without getting killed by the Hind when you use the "time window" - the Hind doesn't stay around the isle, it's on patrol. As the mission briefing says, it's important to be invisible - taking out the Hind may work but it's not covered by your orders 

[Andreas Ludwig]

Since no more opinions on this one were posted, I would like to have it reviewed - Thanks!

[Denz]

This mission has been reviewed