Wow, some very interesting feedback there 'Lesco.
Intro is as good as it has always been - calm, relaxing soundtrack chosen to give user an impression of how easily NATO military can spy their enemies by using satellites. It's all fine at this point, but maybe some context of missions pre-history would perfect-en entire intro and then it'd contain everything that matters. Sometimes I find watching an intro much more enjoyable than reading 4-5 pages of briefing text.
Thanks for your kind words. I had intended the intro to be the 'quiet before the storm'
. When I started designing the intro I already knew what music track I wanted to use. So I needed to design my intro around that music track. Because the track is quite short, I had to limit what information I show in the intro, and make up for it in the briefing. I didn't want the the track to finish and with the intro still going (it does atm actually but only for a couple of seconds). I also want the player to be able to read everything I put in the intro, which means having the text visible for long periods of time. I might consider tweaking the intro, but I'm not sure yet.
About the briefing. It could probably do with being trimmed down a little bit. There are some parts which aren't entirely necessary (the information about weapons can probably be reduced).
Now for those suggestions
Combat Divers. Hmm it sounds interesting. I'll have to look into those.
I did consider placing mines on the dunes, but because of the poor quality of OFP AI I decided against it. Placing mines would discourage the player from the using the 'infiltrate as a group option'. If it was a solo operation (just the player, no one else) then placing mines would be fine.
A secondary objective. It sounds good, but if I do choose to add one it would probably be situated close to the main objective. Even though I strongly advocate allowing the player roam freely around the island, I do feel that in missions like this, one should draw a line somewhere. In other words, I'd much rather have the player and his team stay within a certain boundary, without having to stray far from their primary objective.
Random patrol sizes. This is definately something I'll be adding the next version. After several tests I have been able to randomise the sizes of the groups patrolling the village. Sometimes they could be as big as twelve or as small as two, depending on the difficulty.
Ambient music during the opening stages is definately something I'll be adding as well.
Some very valid suggestions there 'Lesco. Very good feedback indeed.
At least you were able to finish the mission this time, which is a huge improvement on past versions (annoying bugs prevented the mission from ending properly)
Thanks for your time 'Lesco
Gruntage