OFPEC Forum
Missions Depot => Mission Discussion => Topic started by: jujubean on 01 Aug 2003, 10:30:56
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hey, since i got ofp & later, resistance, all ive done is mission editor. but the trouble i have is that big long missions that i create bore me easily. why? bc i already know what's going to happen when and where. any suggestions on making missions that might suprise me, or be a bit random somehow?
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Well, the fun is in your head. Just think what's fun? Riding in a helicopter is fun, blowing up stuff is fun. Ride in a helicopter and go somewhere to blow up stuff. Or use the helicopter to blow stufff up. It's all from your idea of fun.
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I feel your pain jujubean!
I think that BronzeEagle read too deep into the subject line though.
A couple of things that you could do to create more surprises for yourself is:
1) Use the waypoint "Placement radius" to allow the actual waypoint to be placed somewhere inside of that area. This could make a predicted path of a patrol vary considerably if the placement radii of each waypoint is quite large (500 m or so).
2) You could use "Probability of presence" to randomize if a unit will even be created at the beginning of a mission. A search on OFPEC will give some examples of ways to use this feature. This will allow a fifty percent chance that a unit would be created if the value was 0.5.
3) The "Condition of presence" is another way to have a unit created on a certain condition. Normally this is "true" but could be any condition that creates a boolean (true or false) response. You could ask for a condition that if less than twenty east units are created then a BMP will be created but if more than twenty units are created then no BMP is created.
4) A trigger's condition field can be used in a variety of ways to create endless random events with a little creative thinking. Look at a few of the better missions out there and see how the may have put some random happenings into their missions.
I think there are other scripts in the Ed Depot that could help create more random events. I hope this helps with your problem with a mission being predictable the very first time that you play it.
Wadmann
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Like Wadmann said, use random events. Not sure how, maybe check the Ed Depot. If variableA "< or =" to 60 then a chopper gets shot down and you must make your way there. Also, make objecives be activated by triggers and not waypoints so you can approach objectives in a different order so things happen differently.
Example, your objectives say:
1. Rescue a hostage in blahblah town.
2. Rendevous (spelling?) with our contact at blahblah num num.
3. Make it to the evac point.
With waypoints, you (the player) is forced to follow your designated path and not do it their way. With triggers, you can rendevous with your contact first, then secure the hostage. If an event was triggered by the contact, you would have to do your entire mission in a different order. Of course this depends on the mission, but you get the idea.
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thanks, ill have to search the forums for random events and such. good day.
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try having multiple ways to achieve the objective
from going in with a helo and blowing the "expletive deleted" out of the base to sneaking in with a bizon and satchels and blowing the "expletive deleted" out of the place or heck even calling in an aerial bombing with a laser designator and A10s or f15s
all the while avoiding contact with the enemy
let them all be possible ways to achieve the same mission just depending on how up close and personal you wanna get
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Don't think so "squareish" try to be more creative ;)
I make around 20-30 missions a month both only 50% of them are really missions that i guess people would consider missions.
Like I made 1 east, 1 west and 1 resistance soldier and they only got handguns to fight with and that mission took less than 10 min to make but we played it for 30 minutes at least at my latest Lan party. ;D
Oh and i made another mission named manhunt 3 (very creative :P )
where russian general guba have to escape the island from 4 west enemies.
everybody starts in 2 boats and guba is racing to the harbour and ejects from boat then west team gets closer and closer and also ejects from boat but the groupleader accidentally gets smacked to death by the boat..not planned :-[ then guba starts running to the entrance of the harbor area where there's a parking lot and a ammo crate(guba isn't armed) the blackops starts to fire against guba and guba does his special moves by running sig sag between crates and containers to avoid being killed!
Lots of fun and lots of action in the missions and totally unreal sometimes :P
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A thing I'v found that really adds unpredictability is to just make a few inf or armored squs with a single "GUARD" Waypoint. It seems that when ever enemy units anywhere on the mission come in contact with the (you) enemy then the "GUARD" group goes to reinforce the other group. Which I find adds a good bit of unpredictability to a mission. Or just use the AI control script by bremmer. Heres a link http://www.ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=480
BTW how dare you steal my name jujubean! Hehe Just Kidding.
-Jujuman
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BTW how dare you steal my name jujubean! Hehe Just Kidding.
Who stole who's name, jujuman...
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Another way to make things random is to group a unit to some markers. It will start at one of the marker positions, chosen randomly.
You can even do this with a base. Select your base core, say a tent, and name it. Group the tent with some markers so that it can start in any of several places (you may be able to add placement radius as well, not sure). Now setpos in the other elements of the base. Their position is given relative to the core.
If you have a random starting place and the objective has a random starting place and all the enemy and their waypoints are on probability of presence and placement radii then you have a pretty random mission.
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If anyone is bored playing computer games,or such,feel free to join a new online game I and a few other are making,judging from the vast knowledge most of you OFP Forums users have,it would come in handy in this game
www.gamerhost.com/glopo
A modern country-leading sim......apply today
Choices are limitless,you can do anything with your country,and can have anything done feel like starting a chemical weapons program,describe what type it is,what quality you want it,and how you're going to hide it,decide to blow up a factory belonging to France,or hiding some nasty weapons in your embassy in the Czech Republic,it's all possible,only limits are you(and maybe what the admins say,as unbalancing things aren't good for the game)
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Please don't use the forums as a medium for advertising or recruitment, Victor... ;)
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First off....Victor...get Civ 3.
Secondly. Although i couldn't do this easily myself, I think maybe creating levels like with CTI you spawn in a random place at first, that could be good. Or maybe make the enemy appear at a random place which gives an extra challenge as a bonus, and make random how many enemies their are.
If it's possible, you could also make unit's skill level go up or down, as if it depended on their mood, to make it a bit more realistic. Is this possible?
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Depending on your CPU, I have a AMD 2200, I often place 20 12 soldier-teams on the north, with 10 choppers, and a load of tanks and BMP's.
Do the same thing for the southern part, but make them west. Then assign all teams a search and destroy waypoint what covers a large part of the island.
Assign yourself to a team, and move to the enemy. The fun part is that you dont know when a heli, bmp,tank shows up. Nor soldiers.
Its a total war scenario, with just one objective: kill as many as you can, and stay alive.
Its real fun.
Johan
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It would be really good online, but still fun single player....good thought...i will try it some time!
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Try it at Nogova, where the enemy needs to go over the bridge.. if you can make it to there before they come, you can try to hold it..if you are to late they will swarm around you everywhere. And hide in the woods now and then.. those damn choppers show up everywhere.
Johan ;D
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Heres a good idea for realism: snipers that change vantage points: check out the tread and look at the post with the link in it.
http://www.ofpec.com/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=12750
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here's an idea for a mission that might surprise you even though you made it. put in the briefing that you just liberated a town and you guys are resting. you alone as squad leader have moved just up the road to do some recon on a noise you thought you heard. you told your men to maintain a defense there in the town. it could have been a tank or a truck. the mission starts and you're up the road, no cover, no concealment, theres a tank coming down the road really fast. you get just enough time and space to outrun the tank back to the town, become leaderr of your men, then order them .....no...that won't work. I don't think you can ever really surprise yourself, but you can challenge yourself and hope that everytime you are capable of defeating that challenge. not unless this were ghost recon. in that game the enemy is created at random positions on the map enabling you to get a new experience every time. if ofp2 had that you'd bet set.