Nice one, mathias. I'll try it out ASAP.
In regards to your briefing question, I learned most of the new briefing knowledge from
this thread on the BI Forums. It basically tells you what each command is for and how to use them. Since EMSI's will create it in SQF format, you should be able to see a file called
briefing.sqf, or something along those lines. Open it using either Notepad or
ArmA Edit, or any other text program you wish to edit it with, and use that thread I gave you to modify it to your liking. It's not actually that complicated.
Hope that helps. Will report back after I test the mission.
Edit: Alright, here's my report:
Operation Hunter - Beta 1
By mathias_eichinger
Package:I'd recommend refraining from using spaces in mission file names. The space becomes %20 in the file name, and looks a bit odd. It'd be better if you used underscores _ instead. Perhaps a promo picture would also be good here, along with a small readme.
Overview:The picture has been squashed significantly, making the 4 men look like fat midgets, and the T72 like it's been crushed. Also, don't T72s only have 3 crewmen? It shows 4 in the picture. The text is fine, however.
Intro:Very basic. The ambush at the start wasn't all that exciting. It took a while for the NAPA soldiers to destroy the BMP. And during the second part, one of the BMPs got stuck behind that blockade on the road. Might I recommend using more angles and more interesting shots? I understand that it's a beta however, and this could very well be just a placeholder. There is also a titleCut error that appears at the start and end of the mission, where you've used titleCut's syntax incorrectly. Might want to fix that.
Briefing:In ArmA II, despite the fact that it now relies on the
briefing.sqf for the main part of the briefing, you still need a
briefing.html file for it to show the briefing before the mission starts. Since you don't have one, the mission starts without showing the briefing. What's different in ArmA II, however, is the
briefing.html need only include the debriefing sections. Also, you need to put objectives in the reverse order to what you want them to be ingame. For example, the last objective should be defined first, and the first objective should be defined last, in the
briefing.sqf. They're in the wrong order at the moment. Otherwise, it's fine.
Mission:The mission started and I ordered one of my T72s to the east side, one to the west, and me through the center. We managed to destroy most of the armor, and lost the one T72 that went to the east flank. It took a very long time for the town to register as being captured. This was attributed to the famous "last loon" issue, where one lone ChDKZ soldier made it to the quarry on the west side of the town. He was eventually found, however, and the objective completed.
I then discovered that you had used High Command. The briefing never mentioned that the player had other units under his control. I wondered what it meant by "with infantry" in the briefing. I was quite happy when I found it, however, as it had support trucks and an ambulance. I continued west to Dolina, and moved the support units into Solnichniy.
Upon moving west, I was hit multiple times by random squads, who were quickly dealt with. I cleared an area east of Dolina, and it said that Dolina had been cleared, by looking at the Tasks section. I thought that this couldn't be right unless the AI had left the town. So, I continued to Dolina and, sure enough, there were enemy infantry waiting for me, and a Shilka. Once dispatched, it then, for a second time, said Dolina was clear and informed me of the next objective being the AA guns and command post. It seemed as though this objective was meant to be hidden until now, which it wasn't. Might want to look into that.
I continued northwest towards the new objectives and ran into two ChDKZ T72s which were easily dealt with. There was very little resistance at all from now on. I got to a hill above the town, destroyed the 3 AA guns with my SABOT rounds and PKT, and then destroyed the command post and radar tower. A message came up saying mission completed, and the mission ended almost immediately after. Would be nice to put some sort of delay.
Debriefing:None. As mentioned in the Briefing section of this test report, you need to define it in a
briefing.html file, just like you would in ArmA or OFP.
Outro:The titleCut error that I have already mentioned is also present in the outro, might want to fix that. The camera focused far too long on the Su25, before eventually switching to that of a BMP blowing up. Seemed a bit strange to have a Su25 having the "way cleared" to destroy only one BMP. You might want to work on the outro a bit more as well, as it's not interesting, just like the intro, unfortunately.
Overall:A fairly challenging mission, with an interesting take on playing as the CDF forces, being in T72s rather than as infantry. It's definitely a better first attempt than most that I've seen for ArmA II. There are many bugs and some spelling errors, but if you can iron those out and refine the mission more, it looks promising. If you need any help, feel free to ask.
Also, if you aren't already, put
-showScriptErrors into your ArmA II shortcut, like you would a mod (
-mod=) or to skip the splash screens (
-nosplash). This command re-enables the ingame error messages about coding mistakes and errors within the mission and it's scripts, it's how I noticed the titleCut errors. It helps a lot when mission making.