[SP] Black Forest (Review Complete)

[SaOk]

Author: SaOk
Version: 2.40

Mission Description:
Night is falling over the black forest. Lieutenant Valenta is ready to get some sleep but suddenly he is ordered to meet Captain Vitek at one of the outposts in Black Forest. The trip could already be dangerous with boredom and lack of energy. However after the briefing there is suprises ahead.

Features:
-Overview/Briefing/Gear Choose
-Difficulty selection
-Ability to call reinforcemets
-Sleepy vision/folumetric fog/sleeping/snow/color filter
-ACE2 compatible
-Cutscenes
-Optional (half hidden) targets that affect on later objective
-Artillery/Healing/High Command-Modules
-Many FSM/Other-scripts (campAI,spotlightAI,ambientCAR,scoutcarAI...)
-Unlimited Savegames
-About 1,5-4 hour playtime

Extra Credits:
-Rewritten/Corrected dialog/briefing/debriefing by SavedByGrace
-Voice acting and ambient sounds by SavedByGrace
-Use of USPMON-script by Monsada

Change Log:
0.82:
-Fixed one broken script
-Removed one testing trigger which broke the mission
-Added more ambient stuff
-Fixed last objective
-Player group members moved at HQ tent
-Some other tweaks
0.85:
-Removed all errors (hopefully)
-Added "camp AI"-script
-Added "spotlight AI"-script
-Added more medics
-Markers replaced
-Other Tweaking
0.88:
-Added Ambient Combat Module
-Some new objects in middle camp
-Other tweaks
0.92:
-New big optional objective
-Added a garbage collector module
-Updated Overview
-Outlook camp updated
-SpotlightAI-script updated
-Other tweaks/fixes
0.95:
-Added difficulty selection
-Added a new optional task that affects on the later objective
-Updated the weapon selection
-Player can call reinforcements now
-Some changes in the last two objectives
-Added a new ending cutscene
-Added more music
-Fixed player artillery support
-Other fixes and tweaks
1.00:
-new optional task
-improved difficulty selection
-improved player reinforcement system
-faster sleep
-better NAPA behaviour at sobor
-some changes in scripts for better performance
-other fixes and tweaks
1.10:
-better overall performace
-little less challenging breakfast
-some other changes in breakfast
-made one optional task more visible
-some dialog changes
-tweaked intro
-default settings for difficulty lowered
-some other tweaks and fixes
1.20:
-updated/Tweaked Breakfast
-extended difficulty selection (ability to set off Air Patrols/Volumetric Fog/Advanced First Aid)
-updated Intro
-added some animations
-some music changes
-some other tweaks and fixes
1.30:
-Fixed: Disabling Air Patrols broke the ACM
-Updated: New working route for convoy
-Other changes in convoy task
-Some other tweaks and fixes
2.0:
-Rewritten dialog/briefing/debriefing by SavedByGrace
-Voice acting and ambient sounds by SavedByGrace
-Tweaked/Recreated cutscenes
-Updated mission settings menu
-ACM removed (replaced with homemade spawning scripts with more details)
-Many new detailed locations (Insurgent camps, russian outposts, abandoned trenches...)
-Massive use of custom-made ambient life/other events
-Use of USPMON-script by Monsada
-New ScoutCar-script (including use of USPMON)
-New balanced weapon/ammo crates (silent rifles, mines, satchels...)
-Added Task Markers (can be choosen from starting dialog)
-Better weather details (added snow and colour filter)
-More effect&cause-relations
-Added Credits
-Added ambient radio music
-Many other tweaks&fixes
2.10:
-New ammoboxes with random inventory
-Bigger minefield at outpost Magnum
-Friendly soldiers near Novy Sobor isnt alarmimg enemy so easily anymore
-Some gamebalance tweaks for ACE2 users (if the ACE2 is detected)
-Add some ACE2 weapons and magazines to crates (if the ACE2 is detected)
-Removed annoying phoneringing ambient sound
-Some other tweaks and fixes
2.2:
-Option to choose ACE2 wounding system (if the ACE2 is detected)
-AItalk module enabled (if ACE 2 is detected)
-More gear in crates for ACE2 users
-Fixed: Small bug in radio script
2.3:
-Much changes for better performance
-ACE wounding system working now right way everytime (no briefing at start)
-No gear choose at start anymore but the gear can be found at outpost selek
-Added more ACE2 gear to crates (if the ACE2 is detected)
-Added some ACE2 vehicles for enemy (if the ACE2 is detected)
-More medic gear (for ACE2 users)
-Made outpost magnum more secure at night
-Some new constructions at outpost selek
-Some other tweaks and fixes
2.4:
-Much better performance
-Added Body removal (Entities is kept under 80 until morning)
-Ambient Civilian Module removed
-All over 100 SQS-scripts converted to SQF
-New custom hint font colors
-Other tweaks & fixes

Download 2.4:
http://www.filefront.com/16496083/SPBlackForest.rar

I recommend to use latest beta. Current 70951 beta patch fixes possible late game FPS drop.

Note:
-Many objectives arent mandatory. You can fail the mission only if you die
-Unlimited Savegame via 0-0-1
-Use high command via Ctrl+Space (Available late game)
-Use artillery via 0-8-1 (Available late game)
-Call reinforcements via 0-0-3 (Available after first proper objective)

Known Issues:
-Mission is made for vanilla game. MODs may affect on gaming experience much
-Mission doesn't work good with SLX mod (Joined squadmembers dont move)

A small youtube video of the mission:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E1vOv90JS4

[Manzilla]

It's good to see a new mission from you. 

First slight problem I've encountered:

Team members 2 and 3 will not move once they join my group. They just stand in place regardless of what order I give them. 4 follows just fine.

[SaOk]

Dosent sound promising. There shouldnt be anything to stop them. They join player with simply command in simply trigger. That part havent bugged for me yet.

I have only seen soldiers to stuck when they use pistol but did that happen? Anyway I will move them little more away from the HQ tent.

Edit: They dont even have pistols.

[bardosy]

SaOk, please turn the debug ON in your Arma2 with: -showScriptErrors

Many-many errors while playing. When I start, errors popup because of init script. Latet, when I arrived to outpost and speak with the officer, start an unlimited error-river and I cannot continue the play, because I see nothing on the screen because of error messages. These (the many-many) errors probably FSM errors, because I cannot read it (it flashing very fast), but I saw an FSM letter.

[SaOk]

Thanks for testing and reporting, I will enable that. I remove the download link too until I have played it throught with out errors.

Edit: Init.sqf gave error because there was unknown variable in folumetric fog commands. Fixed now with "nul". And at HQ tent I deleted ambient civilians which the module didnt like. There were also some errors in FSM script like variables that didnt exist yet and missign ";".

[bardosy]

Oh I see, that low fog was a script! Really nice!


SPOILER
Can I ask: the mug of cofee is just an easter egg or it's important?

[Manzilla]

I'm still having trouble getting 2 and 3 to move. I wonder if it's got something to do with a Mod/AddOns I'm using. I'll try it again and report back.

EDIT:

Yup, it was caused by a Mod/AddOn I was using. Sorry about. 

I look forward to checking this out once you get the link back up.

[SaOk]

New version is available. I tried to remove all the errors but there still could be few. One of them was "zero divisor error" which should come from array error when you select index that isnt there (since I am not dividing anything with 0). Not sure what was the cause but I made some changes in scripts. Error was shown only once in three test runs. Hopefully its gone since there was some minor lag with it.

bardosy, player have option to drink more coffee at starting village which disables sleepy effect while driving to HQ.

The folumetric fog is borrowed from official campaign mission - Delaying the Bear. I removed the waituntil-part which makes the fog only spawn when outside of vehicle and added own variable foggy inside "while". Also "_obj" is changed to "nul" in setParticleParams to remove that error. No idea what that _obj was for:

Code: [Select]

_pos = position vehicle player;
_ps = "#particlesource" createVehicleLocal _pos;  
_ps setParticleParams [["\Ca\Data\ParticleEffects\Universal\universal.p3d", 16, 12, 13, 0], "", "Billboard", 1, 10, [0, 0, -6], [0, 0, 0], 1, 1.275, 1, 0, [4], [[1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 1, 1, 0.04], [1, 1, 1, 0]], [1000], 1, 0, "", "", nul];
_ps setParticleRandom [3, [40, 40, 0], [0, 0, 0], 2, 0.5, [0, 0, 0, 0.1], 0, 0];
_ps setParticleCircle [0.1, [0, 0, 0]];
_ps setDropInterval 0.01;
while {foggy} do {
// waituntil {vehicle player == player};
_ps setpos position vehicle player;
sleep 1;
};
if (true) exitWith {};
Manzilla, nope. Good to hear that it wasnt bug at my end.

[mathias_eichinger]

Hi Saok!

Overview

It had a nice picture of the said forest and I liked it.

Intro

Intro was good as it showed a kind of "grunt" perspective about simple things like coffee.

Briefing

The Briefing was not overcrowded and had just the right amount of makers. Well done.

Mission

The mission started off nicely with the short trip for coffee. I like how you put fog into the mission and I also like the short music at the beginning of each objective. Much ambience here.
The middle outpost is also well done, it is laid out as a rather large base.
However, with the objective of ambushing the convoy the mission goes downhill because of unsurmountable odds.

This is what I tried.
-Hop in the UAZ and drive to the south. I am killed by helicopter.
-Do it on foot. You can never outrun the convoy.
-Take the UAZ to the north, race through Novi Sobor. Too many enemies there mean death.
-Take the UAZ, heading north, trying to go northwest through the woods. Helo gets me close to the lookout post.
-Second try while going to through the woods, 2 of my mates survive.

Keep in mind, I am the only one with AT weapons, and only because I took them just out of a feeling I should so. No time for rearming my squad mates before I raced off to meet the convoy.
This makes
- 3 RPG rounds against the prowling Tunguska + at least one BMP in the convoy.
- Not engaging Tunguska: Certain death caused by Tunguska.
-Engaging Tunguska: Eats up all 3 rounds with no visible damage. BMP then kills me.
-Tunguska eats up 2 rounds, they scare it away. BMP eats up the last round, happily disposing me afterwards.

Conclusion

I am out of options to beat the mission.

[SaOk]

Thank you for test report

The convoy can be challenging, but failing that task dosent end the mission. Only two last "HOLD"-objectives (and the first two) are mandatory. My tactic has been to head Novi Sobor on foot or with UAZs and get out before leaving the forest. Then I just try to find a good place for ambush and order my squad hold fire and hide until escord BMP3 gets really close. There is a change that ACM-squads are making that almost impossible but it also possible that some ACM spawned friendly unit destroys the convoy (I have seen it happed already 2 times).

[SaOk]

I updated mission to version 1.00 which should be the final version (for new features at least). Still, let me know if you found errors or bad english. I will be creating sequel for this next.

[SaOk]

After complains of poor performance I decided to update this once again. It should work much better now since there is more stuff deleted during the mission. There is also less scripts running backround and west outpost have less units. I recommended highly not to overuse the ACM rate. Even 0.4 is offering much ambient units around you.

[mathias_eichinger]

I had a go at your mission again.

I like how you put the animals into the forest, and the ambiance is good as before. However,

-I cannot find AT weapons at the middle outpost.
-Stealing the AT gun armed UAZ provides me with no solutions because the helicopters always kill me.
-Performance is worse than before with heavy lag where there was none in the last version as soon as I enter the woods with the UAZ.

Suggestions
-Better explanation of where to get the AT weapons in the base.
-Helicopters should be kept out.
-Still more time to intercept the convoy.

[SaOk]

Thank you for testing. I will add those all suggestions to next version and try to improve the performance even more. I had some bad lag in 59210 beta which dissapeared in the latest beta. I thougth it was not mission related bug, but I dosent look like it anymore. I try to find the cause. There is also "zero divisor"-bug from ambien civilian module which can badly lag the mission but I can only wait BIS to fix it.

I'll let the player choose in settings if he wants leave planes and choppers out. And there will be marker for AT weapons. Next version could take some time since I am creating currently a campaign but I'll update this mission sooner or later.

[SaOk]

I updated the mission to version 1.2. You have more options to choose at start (you can set off air patrol/volumetric fog/advanced first aid), there is few more markers and the breakfast-part should be better now (Russians use now a reconnaissance plane before attacking with an artillery support).

[mathias_eichinger]

Hey SaOK,

Are you sure you put the right version up on filefront?

See, I tried the file that is named 1.20 and it has no option to choose air patrols or not, or toggle the volumetric fog.
Also, there are no AT weapons to be found at the middle outpost, and it is still impossible to catch the convoy. I followed it after it was out of reach, as it appeared to have stopped only to have the objective failed once I was in firing distance.

I lost my motivation when I was mortally wounded in Stary Sobor while racing towards the NAPA meeting point, sorry.

[SaOk]

Filefront have the right version. I forgot to fully update the readme (it has the new change log but version number at top is old). I also tested the mission-file and its the right one. You can see to have the version 1.2 when there is mention of the Black Forest in loading screen. And the intro have music, more units and a big rusty fuel tank.

The new version also have markers to guide player to the AT weapons box, HQ tent, ammo cache, vehicles. For me the convoy is very slow. They drive really bad before the Stary Sobor but after that they can get to exit point quite fast. I would like to keep it as challenging as it is now because the task is meant to be instantaneous and player should hurry to success. Still, the convoy could continue driving after the failing point.

[mathias_eichinger]

Well, I got the version off Filefront, and it is lacking the markers you describe....

[SaOk]

Are you sure that you havent mixed the downloaded files? Mine was also renamed to SPBlackForest(2).rar while I downloaded it to see if I have right version Filefront. The new package should have modified date for files (Readme... & Pbo-file) set to 10.11.2009. Filefront should really have the right version.

[kju]

Thanks for the mission SaOk. 

So far I just started it.
I like the overall atmosphere and feeling.
To be able to configure several aspects is great too.

Playing on vet, I don't get any WP - tasks would always been shown I think.
Anyway this gave me a bit of trouble at the start, as the text made me
think the house was just one of the next to your position.

Did you consider an option to skip the "cutscene/intro" at the start.
It gets annoying after a while.

Anyway thanks so far and back another day when I have more progress. 

[Manzilla]

I've been enjoying this mission for quite sometime but my only big problem is the lack of Medical Tent at any of the CDF Outposts.(Unless I'm missing it.) I got to figure out a way to get into and assault the Russian camp with two crawling team members.

[SaOk]

Sorry, I had a really bad bug in the mission. The whole ACM didnt work when player disabled air patrol. I have fixed that now in the new version 1.3 and also heavily changed the convoy task with a new working route for it. Escord vehicle is also changed to BTR (for better leading) and you dont need to hurry when receiving AT weapons from the camp. The convoy now waits at one spot until player is leaving the black forest. To avoid it becoming too easy, there is some new suprises in Stary Sobor. There is also some other new tweaks and even changes in dialog. Hopefully this is the last fix for this for months.  

And the version number (v1.3) is now marked in overview after the description part.

[savedbygrace]

PLayed this one this morning.
Mission version 1.30 / Game version 1.04 /regular setting, no mods.

Just going to hit on the things that haven't been mentioned. As you know, English could use some polishing (Talk to ya later about that).

The Dialogue from where the player chooses ACM appearance, fog, etc. needs to be centered(moved right). Some of it is cut off on the left side.

Tasks text are too long for the integrated dialogue template.

At the HQ camp; you provide the player with the "option" to take along some specops but then you add them automatically. (Can probably be corrected by rephrasing that offer)

The area to search for the missing soldiers was not clear at first as you did not put a direction or mention it in the task description. You did mention it during the cutscene but I had forgotten what he said.

The conversation to retake the HQ was not clear enough on what the player was suppose to do before he called the Chedaki in as backup. (were you giving the player time to recon before throwing them in the mix?)

The objective to retake the HQ never ticked until I ran to the intersection where the marker was. (I had already cleared and secured the objective)

Is there a way to identify when the player marks the map for fire mission? I activated the radio and called in the fire mission but had to react to some incoming offensive without marking the map immediately. I lost that fire mission as a result. Is there a way to rest the radio call if the map is not marked after a few moments?

The enemy should also share the agony of having to writhe in pain helplessly in front of me while I pick off his friends.(first aid module not active for them)

The battle lines were not clear at all.(so I was not certain where I was safe and where I was not.)

Last but not least; the mission did not end for me.

Overall, long gameplay, with some rather uneventful treks between some of the objectives but challenging and fun.

[SaOk]

Thanks for test reports here and in msn. I realized that there seems to be some issues with different display settings (resolution and display ration). Briefing and dialogue are displayed right with 19:10 and 1920X1200, but I need to ensure those working right with other settings too.

There will be massive changes before the next version.

[Trapper]

Well, what a mission. Let me start with how I've played it:

1.05
1280x1024 (see screenshots, not perfect aligned but no bugs)

ACE2 mod; custom/regular difficulty

default ACM settings and veteran button
- coffee task
- radio parts for western outpost
- search for the two lost guys (did free them)
- ambush transport trucks (one truck escaped; fail)
- did meet NAPA leader
- reconquered NAPA HQ in Novy x
- supported NAPA with destroying BMP at roadblock
- rested for the night at middle outpost
- breakfast at eastern outpost/look out tower
- did hold eastern outpost against first Russian attack wave
- started to defend middle outpost against second Russian attack wave
...canceled after the mission didn't finish when I assassinated every attacking unit I could find with ACE2 console:player allowdamage false. I was the last survivor of the middle outpost.

Playtime +11 hours (maybe 1h waiting for unlimited savegames to load included)


My pros:
- a motivating story line
- utilizing many of the new ArmA2 editing features like one of the big official campaign missions
- unlimited savegames

My cons:
- you're burden the player with your own homework: Finding a balanced ACM setting to eventually enjoy the mission without being sub challenged or overstrained. Who would really ever want to play completely without ambient combat or being slaughtered by it to fail the mission?
- extraordinary savegame loading times, like official campaign
- mission is too big*
- most battles/tasks are too difficult**
- the first mission which tempted me to cheat with godmode
- I did expect a "normal grunt" mission but later on I recognized I was the CDF equivalent of recon Team Razor. Not bad at all I would just like the story to express this fact/role more.



*
Missions of such a scale should only be set up if necessary. There is no situation where the search of, or march through the whole area of operations is the main interest here. This engine does disoblige living world scenarios like Fallout 3, GTA and so on. The only mission worth it that I've encountered so far is Harvest Red - Manhattan. I don't say drop anything but I would've made a dynamic campaign of all your content to not stress any PC(-user).
The players hurry miles from task to task if everything goes right or have to fight through random ACM which is dull or deadly most of the time. Reloading one unlimited savegames per 3 minutes (the longer the mission lasts) for unbalanced random encounters is not fun.
While writing this I feel a similarity to the overplayed coop mission Evolution and the dull times between base/respawn and objective.


**
I'm sure the main difficulty issue here was playing with ACE2. Anyway ACE2 strives for realism with balance in everything so I claim the Rambo factor of your mission could be lowered. Everything depends too much on the player controlled units and his performance. Most of the time the other friendly units around are no match for the enemy. For me this is some kind of lacking realism in an ArmA scenario that I'm supposed to win without a withdraw option.

Example1 Truck ambush:
Feasible but stressing if you try to use your ai comrades for the AT weapons and have little time to move them into the right positions. I admit that's more realistic than having all the time of the world .

Example2 Hold middle outpost:
High Command. 2 tanks, 2 squads. Call me a bad and impatient commander but I wanted to finish the mission there isn't much room to maneuver around the outpost. Plus I wasn't told to fall out and intercept somewhere else.
I've positioned the tanks close to the outpost, facing the enemy. Moved both squads to both flanks into the forest and waited. As soon as the music starts and the full scale enemy attack begins my both tanks go up in flames! Something long range kills them instantly and they didn't even report an enemy before. Of course the two squads and my own squad of three men stand no chance against the enemy tanks. Not even with unlimited savegames.


EDIT:

There's a typo concerning the breakfast scenario: "eat" not "east"

When I searched the forests for the two missing soldiers an orange arrow appeared in the upper left corner of the screen after titletext "I've heard something". Though it didn't lead me to the soldiers on the first attempt and after a second reload I've got the titletext, encountered the captive guys and their guards but no arrow at all appeared.

[SaOk]

Big Thanks Trapper for testing.

I have also made test runs with ACE2 and that is the reason for challeging battles and probably for the destroyed tanks at the last objective. When playing with vanilla game, ACM on default 0.4 and enemy skills set to 0.7(max) then you can easily avoid the unnecessary contacts with the enemy and the mission should be beatable in about 2 hours. The longer you play the slower the savegames seem to become. I've made changes in scripts to prevent the slow performance in late mission but not sure if it will really work.

I've been working much on next version which is already 99% rewritten (thx to savedbygrace who is also helping in other areas). There will also be voiceacting, ambient voices, animals, more ambient life, more detailed locations to visit and maybe few new hidden optional objectives. There is already (too) much to play but I like to offer so many objectives that players can make choices. You can already skip the objectives after the convoy task and return to home. The good performance and loading times are still both very important and there will be new detailed spawning scripts and other tweaks to restrict most of the life/objects only to places where player is currently visiting.

And I am going to tweak the ending trigger which requires currently too large area to be cleared. That orange arrow is totally unknown for me. There shouldnt be any.

This mission have been an experiment for me. I wanted to create as big mission as I can and test any new scripting ideas that just came to my mind. There is currently weaker and better areas in it but hopefully the next version will be enjoyable from start to the end. (Also?) For me the weakest part currently are the optional tasks outside of the forest. I will try to make the journey to those tasks much more interesting that it is now. Much less ACM show, more custom made details. I will probably even blacklist the ACM from much bigger areas than before.


EDIT: For all testers - I removed the first post download link for the mission. It's better to wait for the next version since there is heavy changes coming.

[Trapper]

I expected it to be an experiment of that kind.
The wind rose arrow will be a part of ACE then, it looked user painted.

[SaOk]

A new version 2.0 is here with massive changes including new voice acting by savedbygrace. See the first post for better details and a download link.

The mission should be already in good state but testing and bug reports are always welcome. Let me know if there is any flaws in mission that you dont like (e.g. Is there frustrating tasks, would you like something to be better or made differently).

Edit (13th may): I've been adding ACE2 content and performance tweaks to the mission, but there is few bugs in ArmA2 that dosent allow good FPS in big missions like this. Even the quicker body removal and other tweaks dosent help. I made some testing in editor and found out that only 1/3 of the taken performance is given back when AI unit is deleted. Also a dead and alive AI is as bad for the performance. I made bug-reports with sample missions to dev-heaven. Now I can just wait. Its also better to postpone the review until the issues are gone. I will also rebalance the mission when the game changes are hopefully someday there.

http://dev-heaven.net/issues/10544
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/10542

[SaOk]

I released version 2.4. There is much work done for better performance. I added a body removal and a system to keep entities (units, bodies, vehicles and static guns) under ~80 until morning. For me the FPS is over 10 better at some points in optional tasks, but the perfomance still seem to go down (but much slower) during the playing. Its connected to computer spec so players will have different experiences.

All the over 100 SQS scripts are also converted to SQF. I noticed faster savegames at least, but I hope those are also more stable. I noticed some weird behaviour with SQS scripts where they ingored some of the variables in late game. I hope those are gone now.

[haroon1992]

I'm downloading it..........
Looks like a huge mission....will post feedback tomorrow........


And there seems to be a lot stuff to steal OOPS derive from your mission.....
(I hope you give permission to use the scripts in your missions, in my mission)

[SaOk]

Sure, use and edit them freely. I didnt write almost any comments in scripts which can make it little more difficult. Here is info for some of the useful scripts:

Copypos.sqs:
-Copies array-position of player to clipboard (to paste with ctrl+v)  
-To use, place this code to player init:

Code: [Select]

this addaction ["copypos","copypos.sqs"];
Copyposmap.sqs:
-Copies the array-position from map when clicking it
-To activate it, place this code to player init:

Code: [Select]

this addaction ["copyposmap","copyposmap.sqs"];
AIcamp.fsm & AIcamp.sqf:
-You need to give it the unit that is using it, arrays of positions and directions and lag between given orders
-There is two unfinished parameters where you need to place [] (empty arrays)
-Example:

Code: [Select]

nul = [unitname1,[],[],[[6893.12,7956.14,0],position object1,[6913.02,8008.43,0],getmarkerpos "Marker1"],[150,70,80,90],50] execVM "AIcamp.sqf";-Example2: When unit named "unitname1" is ordered to position [6893.12,7956.14,0] where he watches to direction 150 if he had time to reach the position (default 30seconds + 50 seconds).
-In AIcamp.sqf you need to change the conditions in "while" and remove: deletevehicle _unit;

ScoutCar.fsm
-You need USPMON (by Monsada) script to use this
-Example:  

Code: [Select]

nul = ["Kamaz",[7263.79,8960.53,0],[7740.67,5246.06,0],east,115,["RU_Soldier","RU_Soldier_AT","RU_Soldier_AR","RU_Soldier_GL"],"mmrmr1"] execFSM "ScoutCar.fsm";-"Kamaz" is the car they use (classname)
-Start pos where they are spawned: [7263.79,8960.53,0]
-End pos where they drive and are deleted if they reach it without enemy contact: [7740.67,5246.06,0]
-EAST is of course the side of the units
-115 is direction when spawned
-["RU_Soldier","RU_Soldier_AT","RU_Soldier_AR","RU_Soldier_GL"] - units that are in the vehicle
-"mmrmr1" is a markerzone for USPMON that is created over the car when enemy is in sight. Always use a different markername.

Ambientman.fsm
-Spawns a unit(s) that walks from first position to second where he is deleted).
-Dosent delete until player is at least 500m away
-Example:

Code: [Select]

nul = [["Citizen2"],[7209.5,7676.27,0],[8437.19,6676.96,0],civilian] execFSM "ambientman.fsm";
Ambientcar.fsm
-Same as above but spawns a car with crew and you need to give also a spawn direction
-Example:

Code: [Select]

nul = ["datsun1_civil_2_covered",[8593.59,7936.11,0],position rspw,civilian,0] execFSM "ambientcar.fsm";
If any of you have questions of the scripts then send PM to me or write to BIS forum topic. Lets keep this thread primary for mission beta testing.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=76273

[haroon1992]

The light was cut-off ,and so I wasn't able to complete your mission.
(We get 6 hours of electricity each day in Myanmar/Burma and that's bull-shit for gamers )

I found some inappropriate things (not bugs)

-The searchlight along the road to the North-East of the HQ is blocking the way.

-There is a source of fire (a campfire?) right at the entrance of the tent where the Captain and the player
had a conversation.(that's where I took the NVG)

-When I get to the enemy camp located about 1000 m from the HQ(North of HQ), I saw no enemys.
You must be spawning enemies when something is triggered.(i haven't delivered parts to the officer at the moment)

-the deliver parts waypoint should be set nearer to the officer,it took me about 15 minutes wandering to
find out what's next and why is the waypoint not working....but when I got nearer to a man who is probably an
officer I got a black out. and I thought "oh this is the one that I have to meet.....whoo..!"

-my AI Squad Mates got stuck in the trench infront of the Building ,whose top has a machine gunner standing.In front of the building is the Deliver Parts waypoint.

I tried to search the lost men but failed.The markers changed to Cross Signs (X).
Also,why do i need to go and collect the coffee?
I found a script called "sleepy" or somewhat like that in your folder.but I noticed nothing in the game.
I have Enabled Skip to HQ for the first two tries..and I noticed nothing about the sleep(no blackouts or
whiteouts except the whiteout at the start)

Things your should fix :

The most annoying problem is the AI Squad mates getting stuck.
You should space the Trench or something like that a little far from the MG Building.

Also,why not raise the Sun a bit? It all appeared dark.
You used many scripts but I can't clearly see what the units at the camp are doing or how your scripts are doing in the mission.

Voice Acting :
-you should change the voice to a lower pitch especially the voice of the captain, he sounded like a zombie or a monster.

PLUS to the mission :

-great atmosphere
-scary night
-good songs
-Its Fun driving the UAZ

As i've not yet finished it,I will try to play it tonight...
But you know,my CPU is a Pentium 4 2.66 Ghz (Single Core),lag is occuring almost all the time.
(Max FPS : 21,Min : 9 Mid : 14)
but I get used to it.


Regards,
Haroon1992

[SaOk]

Thanks for the test report and great to see a player from Burma (the closest place I've visited is Singapore and Hong Kong in late 80's).

I could move that searchlight a little. The campfire at HQ is giving light for the cutscene and also guiding the player to the tent.

I had to decrease units at the enemy guardposts (at north) to avoid FPS drop bug (which should be now fixed in next beta patch for the game). I will add again more enemies there if all works good. Currently there is only some (6-14) infantry patrolling Gorka and nearby forest/hill.

I'll try to improve that deliver part task, but I have used unaccurate waypoints for other tasks too. They are just to guide the player to rigth area where he needs to discover things himself. Thats the way I like it myself. Running from waypoint to next one can feel artificial and flat. Still I dont want the player to get lost and frustrated.

The trenches shouldnt make your mates stuck very easily but I'll see what can I do. I have played that part very much and only once my AI teammate have stucked there (to small fortress). But I moved the mg (its actually a searchlight) in this latest version. I'll move it more back if that fixes that issue.

The coffee is only optional and to prevent sight loss while driving from start to HQ. And even without coffee, player dosent get sleepy anymore when he gets to HQ. If you select "Skip to HQ" then you dont also need to worry about it.

The voice pitch for captain is already quite low and sounds like a normal older man to me.

Most of my scripts are quite invisible for the player. They just spawn/delete the detailed life where player goes, give waypoints and other behaviour scripts for units. There is only few units placed on map in editor. Rest is spawned. That is to keep FPS better. For me the mission is running now between 28-44 when the FPS was stucked to 20 before. I still get some slowdown later in optional NAPA task, but the next beta patch should fix that.

Edit (for all): BIS released a new beta patch 70951 today which fixes possible late game FPS loss in this mission.

[haroon1992]

Well,I played your mission with FPS which never came over 15 Not because of your mission but because of my CPU....

I haven't completed it yet.But this time I didn't forget to save the game.(I always forget saving the progress while playing a game,it seems like I got too deep into the game!)

You should create a light source using the createVehicle command instead of putting a fire at the entrance.
This make it more realistic, and professional.
FPS Lag :
I played your mission with Terrain Detail at Very Low,I didn't noticed that Terrain Detail was at very low!I only noticed it after about an hour of game play.
So some players might have set their terrain detail to somewhat high or very high which is not that effective in this mission.
Use the setTerrainGrid command to change the terrain detail at the mission.
Or set the terraindetail to lowest and add an option for the player to alter it during ingame(either via the action menu or the radio)
setterraingrid number
number can be :
50 - Smoothest, less lag
25 - Default in Multiplayer
12.5 - Default in Singleplayer
6.25 - High
3.125 - Bumpiest, higher lag (Highest)

Another idea is to set the view distance ,(maybe you've already done that)

setViewDistance number (I guess a 700m should be okay)


Regards,
Haroon1992

[SaOk]

Thx for the report. I will try that light source if it looks good and I could add an option to choose lower graphics. Player could also choose how much enemies he would face in battlefield. I will still take some pause from this mission and concentrate on my other mission project.

[haroon1992]

Off Topic :
That's a good idea,because it become boring if you edit and edit the same mission for a long time....
I am also working on two missions and many scripts (functions)

I work them in a cycle, and today, the ofp mission is the one I'm going to work.

This gives you new ideas and refreshness....
(Sometimes ,I pause playing ArmA 2 and play other games..too)

About the mission :
I tried your mission last night, again.
I was not that interested in ArmA 2 last night,because my one and only Albino Mouse has died that day.
I was just changing my concentration from thinking about my mouse's death to gaming.(So that I feel less sadness)

I tried to find the two soldiers(for more than three retries) but I was unable to spot them....
(Or has the mission designed so that the two soldiers are not really there and its just an additional objective?
But I don't think like that)
Each time an objective is completed,I got a shock,because of the sound you've added!
It was too loud for me and it frightens me everytime..
Maybe you should add another sound instead of that sound for task completion.

Can you tell me about your other mission?

Regards,
Haroon1992

[SaOk]

The missing soldiers task is a little tricky. If you head right to the waypoint then they escape more easily. You'll spot them if you follow the small road from the camp. If you character hear something on the road then stop and wait. If not then continue northside of the waypoint forest before moving closer.

I could still modify those task sounds. The failing task sound is nice, but I could change the other effects and lower the sound levels little more.

My next mission is still at very early state and I am not sure if it will become any good. You will play as US side with help of CDF and local armed civilians. First task is to capture airfield from insurgents and find a construction truck from hangar which allows player to create fortifications and static weapons (with AI gunner). After insurgent counter-attacks are also gone, player will have some sidetasks to gather more resourses for limited "base building". Final task will be to defend the airport and nearby areas against overpowered russians. There will be many features including all the AI scripts from Black Forest. I am aiming for very detailed mission which would feel realistic. Only more arcade feature would be this constuction truck, but there will not be unit/vehicle factories.

[SaOk]

[savedbygrace]

Started to review this one today.

[SaOk]

Excelent, thanks.