OFPEC Forum
Missions Depot => Mission Discussion => Topic started by: radiosilence on 22 Mar 2004, 17:11:38
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First, sorry for my awful English. Here's a new take at the idea of making a mission where you are a jounalist instead of a military. I've tried to make this as detailed as possible, but not still providing any names (since I want to take the time to find the right ones). But, for starters, I think it'll do. Hope someone wants to create this mission, that's what it's here for. Don't hesitate to leave any comments.
Well, this is it:
Tonal Island.
Background:
Today, the country of Tonal is ruled by a self-appointed dictatorship lead by General XY. He came into power after the assassination of General BN in 1996.
However, the country is divided into many different provinces or areas. Many of these are ruled by autonomous groups. Whereas some of these groups are defined by their ethnicity/religion/history, others are glued together mainly by a political agenda. In this context, the government is nothing but just another group led by a warlord. (The only difference being, this group has political recognition outside its borders and a seat in the United Nations). Alliances are formed and betrayed on a daily basis, depending on the needs of its members (sometimes it's water, guns, a piece of land, an opportunity, etc) and the civil war is brutally raging throughout the country, especially in the unclaimed territories (no-man's lands and territories that are not still strongly held by any faction).
For such a small country, the civilian population rises to huge numbers. They are mainly very poor people whose only opportunities are to work as farmers, become crooks, or join a faction. They are the ones who bear the crossfire of the factions. At this date, the Red Cross is doing a tremendous effort throughout the country to help these people. Up to this date, 64 Red Cross members have been KIA or found missing.
Seventeen years ago, when General JS finally achieved the Unity Treaty for the Exploitation of Natural Resources of 1987, Tonal saw a brief economic boost due to small reservoirs of oil that were exploited by foreign oil companies (since Tonal did not have enough money to develop its own oil company). The cities of A and B grew at that time x10 (now, they're wrecks of what they once were). The ancient capital city of H, which dates two thousand years back, was left untouched, as agreed with the United Nations Council, as a historical patrimony to humanity (is that real English?), and was left as the formal capital --so the city of A and B, the closest to the two main oil fields in Tonal, became the capitals in practice of the country. This is what spurred once again the break in the unity of Tonal, since each city began to have its own interests. Old frets were refreshed, differences were getting sharper, and each city began to develop its own agenda. This feeling spread like a wave through the whole country, even reaching the distant nomad tribes. This is when the money gathered by oil began to be spent in black market weapons. From here, there was only a small step until squirmishes began. In 1990, two desert tribes massacred a third and small tribe in the outskirts of the territory held by City A. City A claimed that City B had armed the tribal fighters and convinced them to fight. City B claimed that the government and City A were setting them up in a double treason. In late 1990, General JS was murdered in circumstances that have not been made clear up to this date. Versions of this story point alternatively to City A, City B, other rebel factions and even to foreign interests.
The vaccuum left by General JS' death was felt. Between 1991 and 1996, twelve rulers tried to control the country. All internal unity was dissolved, and each ruled only towards his interests. This is when civil war broke out. Leaders were assailed by other forces until they resigned or were killed. The murder of the last of he twelve rulers in 1996 (General BN) was the beginning of a new model of alliances installed by General XY. These entangled alliances prevented war on a huge scale since they preserved a delicate balance and presented lots of contradictions. Most of the time, you couldn't go to war with your enemy because your allies were somehow connected to them. Squirmishes, town raids, and the occasional open fighting wouldn't stop. But the government, with the back up of the United Nations, would at least hold a longer stability than in the preceding 5-year period.
By 1990, the oil levels were low. By 1993, the last oil company left the country, after many attempts against them. The country was all but dry of oil, and the economy plunged. All that had grown in the last decade fell to new depths of poverty. There was still money floating around, and that has been the main target of every militia and government group ever since: to get hold of that money. Through these years, General XY, as leader of the Group of J, managed to get hold of at least one third of that money. This is one of the reasons that he was able to build alliances and establish a durable government in Tonal.
There are two areas guarded by United Nations forces: the ancient capital city of H, which is to be preserved for the whole world, and a small area in City A that was established as an International Ground between the UN and General XY, which is where the UN organizators meet with the government to establish political plans.
The city of H is where eyes are turning to. It holds enormous riches in archaeological objects. Now that the oil is gone, and that fishing and a bit of farming in small areas is all that the country can depend on, the wealth seems to be held there... by foreign forces that answer to an illegitimate government in the eyes of most factions.
Briefing:
The world hasn't payed too much attention to Tonal in the last years. But since your specialty is African politics, you have been following every step of this story for the last six years. You work for TCN, the TeleCommunications Network, a huge worldwide corporation and one of the leading providers of information to and of every corner of the world.
In the last days, a mysterious scrap of information has reached your eyes: it seems that LL, a Soviet Senator running for President in the next elections, has planned to meet General XY in the Reserved Area of City A. Great precautions are taking place, since it has been decades since a politician of such position has visited Tonal. The reasons of this visit are undisclosed. It doesn't make a lot of sense. TCN will send you tomorrow to Tonal to figure this out. Is it a weapons deal? Is it just advertising for the campaign? Is there a plan of some kind? Like the invasion of the country?
Mission:
You will arrive at Tonal, where someone will be waiting for you. Check at a cheap hotel, rent a jeep, and start meeting and interviewing many characters throughout Tonal. You will need to get many views on this matter --even of enemy factions, Red Cross, secret forces hiding between tribes, and more. You will have to live through attacks, murder attempts, devastated villages, raids, imprisonment, kidnapping, military operations and a lot more as you get closer and closer to reveal the truth.
And then, you must find the way to get out of that country before all hell breaks loose.
Notes: you wil have the chance to get a gun for self-defense, though anyone finding you with it (or carrying any kind of rifle) will shoot you. (You can't really use assault rifles as a journalist). At a certain point, your head will have a prize (depending on what you find out).
I'll leave more info about the actual story in the mission in my next post (still developing a few things on that dept).
It will involve a lot of dialogue, small quests to get the favor of certain chieftains, and meeting different people from the govt, faction tribes, Red Cross and a long etc. who will help you out.
You will only carry your camera and a sum in dollars to get by different situations.
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Gameplay:
Getting into Tonal is tricky if you don't count with military transportation and escort. And you don't. Also, ground UN troops cannot get involved in Tonal affairs, nor smuggle a journalist into the territory. So you will fly to E Country and move to the border, where a local jounalist contacted by TCN will be waiting for you to help you get through and reach the City of A in jeep. He is the one who told you about this.
The border crossing will be a disaster, since an advancing patrol from a local faction will spot you and order you to stop. If you do, all of you will be shot. So, unarmed, you will need to fly through a stream of bullets and get to the first waypoint, where another faction (friendly for the meantime) is already waiting for you. They will deal with any enemy on pursuit that you haven't shaken off.
The leader of this faction, RT, asks you to go with him. He asks you a lot of questions regarding your mission. He will know if you say the truth or not. Consider this a test. If you answer anything incorrectly, you will be dealt with.
If you are to be trusted, this man will be a powerful ally and a source of help. He will even let you know what he thinks: that the oil fields are not even short of being exhausted and that many interests hang upon them--both local and foreign. He has no idea what to make out of the Soviet Senator's visit, unless it means that something is about to happen with the oil. He will suggest you three ways to go (which appear as markers on the map): the oil refineries in CIty B's district, the International Safe Area in City A, and a Red Cross camp near the town of K, where you can find a lot of information about troop movements and rumors. You are welcome to return any time you want to their territory, where you will always find safety. He also expects to hear what you have found at the three places mentioned.
Regardless what you decide to do, the moment you step out of his tent, some militia arrive. A young officer walks up to the chief. His name is RR. He starts complaining that they operation almost went to pieces, that they need to be more harsh in the future, and that risking a few civilian lives could have meant an enormous victory for them. The chief does not agree and asks you to move on. (They won't continue their bickering until after you have left).
You jeep will be repaired, but your contact says he will wait there. "Regardless where you intend to go," he explains, "they already know me there. That's why I called you. This story is yours." He will ask you where you intend to go and give you tips on how to get there and what to expect in the way. He offers you a handgun for safety, which you can take or not.
City B - Oil District - Refineries.
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The journalist will tell you that the area seems abandoned, but that satellite pictures show some kind of activity going on there. Versions range from training camps to weapons depot to oil activities held in secret. There is a secret in the oil refineries, that's for sure. You must be very careful and wait until night falls.
On the way there, you will find a razed and burning village. Everyone is dead. It doesn't seem a place where you can ask too many questions. But a faction must be near.
The refinery is full of danger. Basically, you get pictures of stored ammo and weapons. If you take a look at this, you'll see they are all Soviet guns. That's not the bottom truth, though.
After that, you get to see (if you are stealthy enough) RR (the guy who was arguing with the friendly chief), talking to one of the bosses there and to another guy... who talks in English.
They are loading the guns into trucks and heading for the City of B. The big surprise comes later, when the convoy departs. They have found your jeep. An alarm goes off as they start lighting up the place. But the convoy is suddenly attacked from all sides. Combat begins, and you are an enemy to both sides. The attackers will be eventually routed when two small attack helos take off from the refinery for support.
Somehow, get out of there.
City A - International Safe Area.
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The journalist will tell you that it is not that hard to get into the area, but that a jeep will attract too much attention. The Soviet Senator has not arrived yet, but you could pick up a lot of useful info there, and check what they are preparing for him. He tells you of a contact there who goes by the name of T. T is a merchant and he tells you where to find him: just outside the International Safe Area.
The International Safe Area is a city within a city. Outside the ISA (that is, the City of A), you'll find T. T will tell you about a plan to kill the Senator and do as much damage to the ISA as possible. Measures are already being taken. What he adds to this information is that the fighters are under the orders of that same govt who is welcoming the Senator. What is going on?
He will show you a few guns which are more powerful than the one you have, and ammo, iNV googles, binocs, etc., at a special friendly price. The catch is, you can't enter the ISA. UN troops halt you, forbid you to pass, and will shoot you if you disregard them, no matter which Network you work for. Security measures are being taken all over the place. There is no way you can enter the ISA at this time. You will even find a few UN patrols roaming about the street of the outer city on Humvees with SAWs. Citizens don't like them, they sometimes throw stones at them. Everyone is angry. It is a strange reaction, so you know you're missing a piece of the puzzle.
Red Cross camp.
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The journalist will tell you to ask for a woman called Dr S. Dr S is in charge of the camp. When you get there, she'll be really busy managing the camp. She won't have much time for you, but you'll learn that another village was burnt to the ground. The factions are looking for someone. Someone important can't be found by anyone. Her guess is that it could be one of the 3 surviving rulers from the Twelve Rulers period. She asks you to take pics of what you see there and show them to the world. Perhaps that will attract more help and resources.
This is the moment when a militia force arrives at the camp, shooting to the air. All of you are put against the wall. They search the wounded, they are definitely looking for someone. You hear the name: AA. You know who AA is: one of the twelve rulers, who is supposed to be dead. He is the one that tried to make the oil companies stay back in 1992-1993. The Dr and you are about to get shot, but they finally leave taking most of the supplies.
I'll leave the rest for the next post. Hope you like all this so far. Suggestions welcome, and thanks for reading!
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I love the idea of using Tonal for this...there are so many places to explore and the atmosphere is great.
The question, I think, becomes one of structure - how to actually script all this interaction with NPCs. Dialogues would be good, but I have no idea how they actually work :P In conjuction with that, there would probably be no replayability, though I personally don't think that's a problem in such a campaign (which this is, really).
Also, populating the whole place would be crazy, though ideally the missions would be clearly delineated between military action and journalistic snooping, so that way the author could focus on one or the other - in other words, it would be much more difficult to pull off military + interaction in the same mission.
As is the case with all your (our ;D, j/k) ideas, it's damned creative. I would love to see it pulled off.
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The real story:
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Many events that affected Tonal in the last decades are about to be tied together. Tonal never really ran out of oil. Foreign companies, knowing that Tonal depended on them for their income, stopped all extraction of oil to lower the prizes charged by the govt. Turbulence arose, and civil war broke off. The civil war has been unstoppable ever since. And in the weakness of any govt lies the power of negotiation of the big oil companies.
The Soviet Senator is going there to close a deal with the Tonal govt to resume oil extraction. He is connected to several small oil companies. The Cities of A and B are just guarding and dressing up the place, and only a few know that there is still oil in Tonal.
Some of the factions really think it's a war about politics and territory. Some others know it's really a war about money, about who is in power when the oil companies return with a deal that benefits both sides. That's why between 1991 and 1996, 12 rulers were thrown out one after another. One of them, AA, knows what it's all about. He was presumed to be dead, but he is hiding. That's why govt forces are looking for him all over the place, and that's why all former rulers and their cabinets were killed: to preserve the secret.
In this small country, you end up unravelling a huge conspiracy. The moment after you get to interview the slippery ex-ruler AA, your head has a price.
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You are right in the replayability part. Since the idea is based on solving a mystery, it doesn't allow for a lot of replayability. But if I want it to be replayable, then I must leave out the whole mystery thing, which is the main attraction of this story. I think a long and difficult mystery will make for quite a few hours of gameplay and that looks like a nice balance between both.
Dialogues... who knows how they work. But they should work. Editors! Help please!
And yes, populating the whole world would be crazy. That's why we invented recycling :)
A trigger following the player that moves units into the next "action" area and activates everything should be enough... so maybe with not much more than three squads of militia, reusable vehicles and main characters you have more than enough to populate this whole island. Isn't there a dynamic vietnam mission that did this?
All these solutions are pure theory. BUt let's see if there's an editor in the community who likes a challenge!
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Mmm, good point about spawning people. You could probably put the people you want the player to talk to in the mission always and have the "extra" people spawn like that.
I would be cool to define hotspots where the AI is likely to go...have a few of them and make the script random or something, so it appears that there's some movement in the mission.
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I like the idea a lot. Go for it I say.
One thing though, make that the Russian senator from a different country cause it seems used almost. Maybe a neigbering nation or Iraq or Iran or one the middle east oil companies. I think that would make it a little bit more beleiveable.
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Yeah, good idea, Roach.
What countries have the biggest or the most oil companies?
We should make a list. Any help?
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hey!
sos no help but I would just like to congradulate you on having an amazing mission idea!!! ;D
It sounds brilliant and if your mission editing is as good as your story writing you are going to produce an amazing mission for OFP!
btw have you ever written a book before??? :D
sim
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Who has the most oil burning machines? You could probably find it on a search engine looking for economics and oil exports.
I'd say
1 USA
2 Japan
3 China
4 ?????
5.......
6.....
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I think Germany and France are up there too...I think
@sim
He's working on quite a few, actually, and he and I collaborated on one idea which I am turning into a book (with his permission of course) :)
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You have to take into consideration what type of oil company will be "invading."
Will it be back by some nations military. If so that military has to have the capablity to conduct operation on Tonal. That is why I think you should stay with the Soviets. You might say that they would not get involved in Africa, but they would if the intertest was high enough. It is kind of hard to think but at one time the Soviets seriously considered invading Japan. That is why they have one of the largest defense forces in the world.
The other option is make it a company with no real national ties and have them hire mercenaries to do their dirty work. Either idea is fine, but I think having the Soviets in the mid 70's would be better I think.
You could build on your current story line and have the Senator assinated (faked). The Soviets get "mad". They decide it is in the best interests of the "motherland" to invade Tonal. As the Journalist you have to prove that the assaination was a fake and that the Senator is still alive. Possibly by getting photos or video of him leaving the airport, finding "his" body that is a fake, or something like that. The Soveits start rolling in and the international community takes notice. Beyond that there are many options
1.The UN could decide to leave and stop protecting the safe city.
2. A stand off between the UN troops and the Soveits could happen.
3. The Journalist could join a resitance force(not really that original)
4. An international coalition decides to protect Tonal.
5.*** any one else have any ideas?
One thing is this kind of mission would require alot of GOOD cut scenes. I stress GOOD, they are not that easy to make. I have some ideas for the final cut scenes.
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Not easy to make good cutscenes??? It just takes time and agood eye fro angles. Cutscenes are the easiest part of ofp mission editing by far. You havea lot more control over what the player will see becuase there is no player interaction, you don't have to worry about empty spaces and unit numbers. It's much easier to give the effect of a large army, which is fact very small to keep the FPS reasonable than it is in the actual mission. Not easy to make good cutscenes? bulls*** i say.
*Rant over* lol
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@Xcess: OK, point made (if a little xcessive on OrangeL). However, I think I know what OrangeLeader means. Cutscenes is not so much about angles as about a good solid storyboard conveying a strong and clever idea. The rest is technical, which may or may not be easy, but the idea part is really hard.
@sim: thanks for your support !
@OrangeLeader: Very interesting ideas!
However, I was thinking more in the lines of almost no foreign intervention in this war. Not until the end, at least. From the outside, it looks like a poor country ridden by civil wars. From the inside, once you really dig deep, you figure out that the whole West was causing this just to get some profit, and that powerful interests are in play there.
That is why there are a couple of International areas in the country, sort of the base in Black Hawk Down. The International Safe Area in City A is where some dirty secret things take place between the ruler of the day and the foreign govts -the UN- and companies. Deals that will keep the country in unrest until the price of the oil is so low that the company can take the highest profit. Economics causing civil wars.
Once you meet the supposedly dead ex-ruler AA, he tells you one thing you don't know about yourself: that, as of that very moment, your head has a price because you've crossed the line of knowing too much by meeting him. That's when local govt troops will try to kill you, and NATO troops will try to imprison you. But that is the last part of this story.
I think I'll go for multinational companies representing the West -US, Russia, France, for instance. So that when there is not only a Soviet Senator, but an US and a French businessman on Tonal meeting with the govt, you figure it all out. An oil company needed to get rid of all the other companies in Tonal, since they oil wasn't much, so the cosst of extracting ti were too high. A civil war is really helpful to make all the companies withdraw. So what they plan to do is to buy off the govt the refineries at cities A and B -that's why they guard them- and start the oil business again with this govt, which has proven to be very strong (it has lasted a few years in such conditions). Of course, the ruler will see quite a personal profit in all this. This is really why everyone wanted to rule such a dangerous country.
The NATO troops are there really for this transaction... to provide a safe haven to the businessmen that will begin to appear on Tonal. The govts are also interested in the archaeological riches of the ancient capital, so this deal was made: corporations get the oil, the Tonal govt gets a good share of profits, and the other govts get the archaeological treasures to pay for their intervention and bodyguarding.
And you figure it all out :)
How does this sound embedded in the context of the first posts?
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Are you basing these city and ppl names on real things?
Otherwise I think I might start suggesting ideas for names. :)
person AA John smith no will baloney no gaylord fooker
just kidding
:cheers:
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I like it. You have the basic plot down. All you need now is a working script. Then you can start editing. Good Luck. I look forward to hearing more about this idea/mission.
***Note to Xcess: What I meant by good cut scenes is that they have to be worth watching and add to the mission/story. This mission will rely heavily on the sucess of them. I have seen many people make intor's, cutscenes, and outro's that are long and don't add to the mission enough for me to watch them. I don't think it will happen in this mission becasue the most interesting part will be the cut scenes.
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OK. It seems my computer is totally uncapable of handling OFP. The lag is so unbelievable (30 mins in the "Wait a moment..." screen, for instance) that I won't be able to make this mission. Since I see a computer upgrade very far into the future (hey, I'm having a son, probably this week :cheers: ), I'll leave this story up for an editor or team who really feels like doing it.
There's a catch to this story: someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the way it works is quite unique. This is what makes possible to use so many units in a single map.
The whole map is divided into different areas. Every area is a different map. There's a script that saves a number of variables every time, so what you find in that map depends on what you have been doing before.
How is this different from a campaign? Well, it's not a linear tree of missions. In regular campaigns, each mission gets you deeper in the story and closer to the end.
This model is rather circular, and it feels like a single, very long, densely populated mission. Since every map is not a further part of a story but merely an area of the island, from map 4 you could go to map 2, for instance.
This story will be written in "modules". That is, each area will have clues and events that you must discover --probably more than one each. As new variables are set to true (that is, as you discover more pieces of the puzzle), other clues and events are triggered. This means that you are free (like in real life) to choose where you want to continue looking for clues. That is the advantage of a circular mission patter over a linear mission pattern.
Saving variables through a script, every time you leave an area and enter another, will make it possible to simulate that it's just one mission. In concept, it's not different from other 3D shooters where you enter new rooms and levels and you must wait a moment while the level loads.
The script that saves the variables will include a list of variables --ammo, weapons, health, vehicles (and all data about the vehicle), hiding places, enemies that should be there, visited places, global events, you name it-- that will make the world in the next map look just like the world you've left.
Since the game will not really work on my comp, I couldn't check how well or bad a circular mission pattern behaves.
I was also thinking of implementing a simple money thing, so you can pay for weapons, bribe people and help others too. And get attacked by crooks too! I call it a simple system because you can only spend the money you start out with, you can never get more money. So you must spend it wisely. You will have tons of opportunities to use it, and you will never have enough money to take advantage of a quarter of those opportunities. So you must control your compulsive buyer issue ;)
To round up: I can't make this mission. Repeat: I can't make this mission.
YOU could make this mission.
So, is there any ambitious mission editor/s who would like to seriously make this story a real mission? I so wish my computer worked; I'd really do this mission myself but it's impossible.
Anyone up for fame and money?
Anyone seriously up for the challenge?
Come on! ::)
I'm waiting for those replies to my e-mail address 8)
(don't answer on this thread, as it's just for the story)
radiosilence00 @ hotmail.com (without the spaces before and after @)
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Too big and advanced for me but I would love to download this 5mb mission! ;D :o