OFPEC Forum

Missions Depot => Mission Discussion => Arma2 - Reviewed Missions => Topic started by: Undeceived on 09 May 2011, 00:17:30

Title: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)(Review Complete)
Post by: Undeceived on 09 May 2011, 00:17:30
 
(http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/3152/ofpec1.jpg)


Scenario: For The Life Of A Friend
Version: 1.8
Author: Undeceived
Required game version: Arma 2 Combined Operations 1.62

Scenario description: We went out to have some fun teasing Jegorow, the new castle caretaker. But then everything turned out differently...


Features:
--> Civilian style mission
--> A story about friendship, murder and revenge
--> Fully voiced (German)
--> English and German subtitles
--> Uses Silola's DAC, which makes combat situations a blast!
--> Self made music by the author, among other custom music
--> Many cutscenes


Required addons:
- "Armed Civilians" by W0lle (version: 1.02)
(included in the download)

- Editor upgrades by Jon-C5- and Mapfact
(included in the download)


Screenshots:
(http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8416/f2thumb.jpg) (http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/2536/forthelifeofafriend2.jpg) (http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7706/f4thumb.jpg) (http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/4261/forthelifeofafriend4.jpg)
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2558/f5thumb.jpg) (http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4113/forthelifeofafriend5.jpg) (http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8250/f6thumb.jpg) (http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3175/forthelifeofafriend6.jpg)


Versions:
Version | Date | Notes
___________________________________________

1.0 | 04.03.2011 | Release of the first beta version.
1.1 | 08.05.2011 | Bugs and many script errors were removed, English translation was finished.
1.2 | 03.06.2011 | Bugs and many script errors were removed. Some parts (e.g. Olaf) were optimized.
1.3 | 10.06.2011 | Bugs were removed, optimizations of the optimizations, more optimizations.
1.4 | 25.06.2011 | Bugs were removed, the end of the beta phase is reached.
1.5 | 07.07.2011 | Bugs were removed.
1.6 | 07.01.2012 | Bugs removed, more optimizations. Highlights: AI doesn't need NVGs anymore to detect enemies in the dark; English subtitles for the Polish and Russian versions of Arma 2; Annoyed bugs in the cutscenes were reduced; Many new things were built in; Etc...
1.7 | 29.04.2012 | Optimizations of some cutscenes, elimination of two showstoppers that some people experienced.
1.8 | 03.02.2013 | Taskhints were added and some bugs removed.


Known bugs in version 1.8:
- Script errors: If you start Arma 2 with parameter -showScriptErrors, there might appear script errors, which come out of the DAC scripts. These errors however do not influence the gameplay and the mission's functionality in any way and are not showstoppers! Anyway it is recommended to play without the start parameter -showScriptErrors.
- Remove AI team mate's pistols as soon as possible and give them rifles to prevent the Arma 2-pistol bug, which sometimes happens (AI won't move anymore).


Download:
For The Life Of A Friend 1.8: @ Armaholic (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14600)
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: SaOk on 10 May 2011, 00:35:08
An amazing mission! :) Definitely one of the best, I´ve played in the whole ArmA (and Ofp) serie. This mission have a very dense creepy mood. It feels like an interactive movie, like the old my favorite game Mafia that came to my mind instantly at the start when I was tasked to carry boxes. :)

The mission feeled very polished and well scripted. I didnt spot any serious issues expect that the game crashed for some reason when I was driving away from the castle with Tanja and others. She just said to be scared, when the game paused and I needed to CTRL+ALT+DEL. It could have been just an random crash.

Else I liked much every part of the mission so far (I am going to continue the mission tommorrow). And the music worked very well. When the explosion scene came, the cutsene was super moody and creepy. I havent seen that kind of amazing moment in any game (or movie) for a long time. That kind of moments I am waiting to see in games, but so many fail. The voice acting is also very good. I dont understand german, but all sounded to fit in the mood nicely.

The bugs I spotted:
Error when briefing opened after intro:
Code: [Select]
Error in expression <tskObj10 settaskstate "Succeeded";>
  Error position: <tskObj10 settaskstate "Succeeded";>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: tskobj10Seems like there is a task which state is changed even before the task is made.
-When the cellphone rang, I just lifted the box again. The action to put the box down disappeared and only way was to run (to put it down).
-When ringing the bell at Jegorow´s house, I saw him to spawn inside the house (not very bad bug still)
-Right after explosion, this error came:
Code: [Select]
Error in expression <(ZSweiter = true) >
  Error position: <= true) >
  Error Missing )
Cannot load sound 'missions\__cur_sp.chernarus\sounds\yuristirbt13p.ogg'-During speaking to cellphone (when returing to the tower), enemy spotted me, but I couldnt stop the call and shoot him back
-After loading a savegame, I noticed I cannot shoot
-"Get help for Kosjta"-task was marked succeeded already before getting back to him
-After meeting Tanja at the car, the conversation in car was much louder than earlier voices
-The game crashed, when Tanja said she was scared (not sure what happened).

More feedback coming soon. Excelent work so far, cant wait to see the rest of the mission!  :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Zipper5 on 10 May 2011, 10:15:39
I remember testing that mission you did called Evil's Last Will, Undeceived, and how good it was. Well, you've done it again my friend!

A pretty incredible mission, actually. I found myself caring for all of the characters and the struggles they were going through. The Mafia were also a pretty menacing foe, and certainly gave me a run for my money when it came to taking down their leader. The atmosphere of the mission, thanks to the use of custom music and good camera work, was also very intense. The concept of the mission itself makes it probably one of the most original missions yet made for Arma 2.

I got the same errors that SaOk got, even though the mission didn't crash at all. I did get an error when the end cutscene started, but I didn't manage to catch what it says. The RPT contains the following entries:
Code: [Select]
Error in expression <deletevehicle tiere;>
  Error position: <tiere;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: tiere
Error in expression <{deletevehicle _x} foreach units z1group2;>
  Error position: <z1group2;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: z1group2
Error in expression <{deletevehicle _x} foreach units z2group3;>
  Error position: <z2group3;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: z2group3
Error in expression <deletevehicle DACdz_2;>
  Error position: <DACdz_2;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: dacdz_2
Error in expression <deletevehicle DACdz_3;>
  Error position: <DACdz_3;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: dacdz_3
Error in expression <deletevehicle DACdz_4;>
  Error position: <DACdz_4;>
  Error Undefined variable in expression: dacdz_4However, the majority of the mission performed flawlessly. The only, somewhat minor issue I found was in the intro and credits, specifically with the RSCs you used. Due to how you can scale Arma 2's UI, the text appeared as a size that was obviously bigger than it was supposed to be for me. Are you already using safezones (http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/SafeZone) for defining your RSCs? If you aren't, I'd recommend you do. They're BIS' solution to the problem.

Other than that, I'm very impressed. The voice acting was excellent, too. Definitely one of the more enjoyable missions I've ever played for Arma 2, just like Evil's Last Will was with ArmA. :D
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Celery on 10 May 2011, 13:08:44
Somehow I can't get the doorbell action to show up. Also, the first time I went to the lodge the other car never came. It did when I loaded an earlier save.
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Undeceived on 10 May 2011, 17:50:34
Thanks a lot, guys! It honors me that you (who did some of the best missions out there) are liking it! :good:

- SaOk, I think and hope that your CTD was a random one. At least I and others never experienced any crash... Would be interesting to see if it crashes for you again (if you plan to replay the scenario one day).

- There were 100000 of script errors when I first ran the game with the -showscripterrors parameters. :D I managed to remove many of them but some are remaining - perhaps I'll need your help with some of them. But at least they do not "stop the show".

- Celery, the action at the doorbell should appear in the menu when you go to the mailbox next to the gate. The trigger isn't that big, maybe 1,5 meters or so.

- I experienced it once too that the other car with Kostja didn't come to the lodge in the forest - I might have to improve that one - thanks for reporting.
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: SaOk on 10 May 2011, 22:49:17
Once I loaded a savegame today, the crash didnt come again. I think it was just some very rare random game error. The rest of the mission continued the great quality. Excelent mood to the end. I think the only small negative side was the revenge part, where enemy skills were too high. They shoot really fast and accurate. I would suggest to lower it little (not too much. if its 1.0 then maybe 0.7 or 0.8 ). And the player groupie friend had too low skill. He usually didnt shoot until the enemy was next to him (he even had a scoped AK47). I think he could have the same skills as the enemy. Also I noticed the enemies didnt shoot him at all, was he a captive?

During the fights, there was much this kind of errors:
Code: [Select]
Error in expression <cleInUse - [_x]} foreach _groupveh};
if(count _jArray > 0) then {[35,_groupid,_g>
  Error position: <count _jArray > 0) then {[35,_groupid,_g>
  Error Generic error in expression
Also these came at some late point:
Edit: Removed - the same errors as in Zipper5 post

Also earlier in then mission, when the mafia turned to the small gravelroad to follow the player (to the doctor) in a cutscene. There was some error, but I couldnt find it anymore in RPT-file.

But overally all worked good and the mission was much of fun. With some little skill tweaking, I think the final revenge part would be also much more enjoyable.  
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Celery on 11 May 2011, 01:59:27
Quote from: Undeceived on 10 May 2011, 17:50:34
- Celery, the action at the doorbell should appear in the menu when you go to the mailbox next to the gate. The trigger isn't that big, maybe 1,5 meters or so.
Zipper told me that but no action appears. I also had trouble getting the lift crate action to appear, but managed it when looking in a certain direction away from the crate.
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Undeceived on 11 May 2011, 10:59:20
Quote
Zipper told me that but no action appears. I also had trouble getting the lift crate action to appear, but managed it when looking in a certain direction away from the crate.
Strange... :( I have no idea why the actions don't appear for you... Very weird. This is definitely a showstopper but... Dammit. :confused: I hope that I can find something.


SaOk, I'll lower the enemy AI a bit, but I'm afraid I won't be able to help Olaf (the friend of the player). The reason simply lies in the miserable vision capability of the AI which without NVG is = 0 in the night... I don't know if you noticed that I gave some mafia AI groups NVGs which disapper when the player kills them. :D This is the compromise I had to go with in order to make them recognize the player as enemy at all. Before that the AI did see the player but did not recognize as enemy (and thus did not shoot --> mission very easy).
The AI without NVGs only shoots if the enemy shoots first - only after that the enemy is recognized. So Olaf (the friend) in most cases does only shoot when the enemies shoot first.
I don't want to "officially" add NVGs to the scenario because of story and background reasons (no high tech). So I don't know what to do to improve Olaf's vision capability...


Thanks for the reports of the other script errors, I'll check them. But I fear that one or two of them are from DAC (at least the one you posted). But we'll see.


Thanks again for your time, guys!



EDIT:

I tried to mess around with that safezone thing, which I didn't completely understand - I copied some code from a small tut from AMS but I saw that something really changed with those Rsc titles.

Zipper (or anyone else who could only read parts of the titles), could you maybe download the mission folder I uploaded here (http://www.gamefront.com/files/20322754/forthelifeofafriend.Chernarus.zip) and open it in the editor and run the Outro Win? I need to know if the first titles of the credits outro are ok for you know before I make the work and edit them all...
On my PC the first titles (with the safezone thing) look like this:

Screenshot 1 (http://www.picdrop.net/images/credits2.jpg)
Screenshot 2 (http://www.picdrop.net/images/credits1.jpg)

Can you confirm that they are readable for you too?
That info would help me a lot - really thanks, mate!
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Zipper5 on 12 May 2011, 14:12:47
Yup, seems to work perfectly now! You can see from the attached images. I have my UI size set to "Normal".

Also, I forgot to mention it, but you have great taste in music! :D Might I ask what the name of the track is that plays during these end credits?

Edit: Never mind, found it: East West - She Cries.
Title: Script errors...
Post by: Undeceived on 16 May 2011, 15:26:09
Hello guys, when you tested the scenario you also mentioned that script errors appeared while combat situations were going on.
It probably were these ones here:


(http://www.picdrop.net/images/1s.jpg) (http://www.picdrop.net/images/WHMjvf.jpg)


RPT file says this:

Code: [Select]
Error in expression <en {_run = 0}};};};case 2: {if((not alive _leader) || ({alive _x} count uni>
  Error position: <alive _leader) || (({alive _x} count uni>
  Error Generic error in expression

Error in expression <(time > _wait) || ((count (waypoints _leader)) > 1)>
  Error position: <waypoints _leader)) > 1)>
  Error Generic error in expression

Error in expression <{_run = 0;_go = 0;}else{if(_group in DAC_Debug) then {ctrlSetText[11, form>
  Error position: <in DAC_Debug) then {ctrlSetText[11, form>
  Error Generic error in expression

Error in expression <d] spawn DAC_fDeleteUnit;};} foreach units _group;if((((getMarkerSize _marke>
  Error position: <units _group;if((((getMarkerSize _marke>
  Error Generic error in expression

These errors seem to come out of the DAC core itself and not from my scripts... In order to discover that I tried out (with start parameter -showscripterrors) the example missions that come with the latest DAC version in the vanilla game and ---> :( The same script errors come!


So now my question to you: Could you please also launch the official DAC example missions in your editor to see if you also get these erorrs or if it only is on my PC? It should not take more than 10 minutes.

Here's are detailed step by step instructions I also posted in the BI forums (but no one responds over there...):

1. Download the DAC from here (http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=99753)
2. Enter the .rar file and go into the folder "DAC_script"
3. Copy the folder "_DAC_Script_Example.Chernarus" or "_DAC_Script_Example.Takistan" into this folder: C:\Users\YourName\Documents\ArmA 2 Other Profiles\YourProfileName\missions
4. Important: Launch the game with the parameter: -ShowScriptErrors
4. Open the example mission in the editor and launch it. Place the player's unit deep in enemy territory so you don't have to search 30 minutes for them. It is better to change the player's unit to one with some better weapons, so you will survive longer (which is needed)
5. Make some trouble for about 3-5 minutes and make sure that enemy squad did see you and is attacking you
6. Save once or more than once (if your difficulty settings allow you)
7. After approx. 5 minutes load your last saved game and continue playing / fighting the enemy AI some minutes


Are you receiving script errors too like mine shown in the screenshot above? If not, save and load again. The errors should appear (after loading).


Thank you very much for your help and time!


PS: Other than that I managed to remove all other script errors!! :)
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: HailStorm on 17 May 2011, 16:50:11
Just gave your mission a run through - it's very nicely done, and definitely agree that it's one of the best put-together missions I've played. Everything, story, characters, it just works and all meshes together nicely. that intro really goes far beyond setting the scene, and makes the mission as a whole so much better.

I couldn't find too much wrong in this mission, so this is going to be brief (well done!)

I had the same crate trouble as Saok - just picked up the box, couldn't drop it unless I ran. Also couldn't pick up any more after that - so I tried to blackmail the guy over by the ute (truck) with the "you ran over the dog" reason. He laughed and walked off.

you mentioned Olaf being a bit of a bad teammate, haha wow you'd better believe it, I think he just tonight managed to be the ultimate worst gun buddy that you can possibly be without getting your partner killed...

We got all the way back to the castle no problems, took a bit of a roundabout way along the treeline to the south, avoiding the few groups of guys you stuck in our way. All seemed fine until we got to Kostya's hiding place. Where, in the middle of the cutscene, Olaf opened fire! seems like Olaf isn't that bad a shot, since he scored a kill with the first bullet. Pity it just happened to be because he just shot his brother in the head.

if it's possible, consider removing Olaf's weapon (or setpos'ing him far away) at the start of the cutscene to avoid this situation.

both mafia guys pick themselves up off the ground, and then continue acting out the cutscene, and once it ended, I shot both down with an AKM I got off the gangsters in the car that followed me to Olaf's place. so we 'rescue' Kostya's body, and leave it there while olaf and i run to the pickup, where Kostya immediately comes back to life, joins my squad and teleports to my position just in time for the pickup. whew!

so we get to the doctor, where this happens in the cutscene:

(http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3280/ftloaf.jpg)

"your friend is suffering from a slight case of Rigor mortis, but he should make a full recovery"

After retrieving the hidden weapons from the church, Olaf then decided to hide under a nearby tree and outright refuse to move from that spot - so from that point I had to go it alone. I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the playthrough, but mostly I used a combination of chucking a grenade (from the church box and stealing from bodies) at the main targets and using the PSO from within Jegorow's house to take out any survivors. Most if not all mafia were dead by the end of the mission. Olaf refused to even board a car to get to the exit point, which I am glad only needed the player to be present to trigger.

from a grammar standpoint, the English is quite good for most of it, but these are what I picked up:

[Olaf meeting cutscene] "hide? of whom?" -> "Hide? From whom?"

[Kostya interrogation] "We have still owed favor" -> "We have owed him a favor"

[After dropping off Kostya] "should bring my sister to safety" -> "we should get my sister to safety"

[Epilogue] "Kostya was restored after some months" -> "Kostya made a full recovery after several months"



I'll give this a few more runs over the next week and get back to you on the results. Thanks!
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Undeceived on 17 May 2011, 17:25:52
HailStorm, thank you very much for your test! :D It was fun to read! :D
Best part was where Olaf gave his brother a headshot! :D Oh shit! :) I'll definitely take him far away in the next version (which should be ready soon - if you want to run the mission again).
That bug with the rigor mortis :D also should not happen again if Kostja doesn't die.


I've still got some questions:

- Gangsters followed you in a car to Olaf's house?? Which car did they have? There should not be a mafia car manned at that time! And where to did they follow you? Which route did you take to Olaf's place from the castle?

- As Olaf hid under his tree and did not move anymore: Could it be that this was that pistol animation bug that makes the AI unable to move? It's a bug that happens sometimes when the AI has a pistol and wants to switch weapons or something like that.

- About the crates problem: I know - it might be too much asked but... Could you maybe make a video of how you play the beginning of the mission with the crates? :-[ That part is so complicated (scriptwise) and I have no idea where to look because I never experienced this bug. It's very sad...

- (This question only matters if you run your game with the parameter -showscripterrors) Did you get script errors while fighting the mafia after Kostja was delivered to the doc? I'm talking about script errors like the ones in my previous post.


Thank you very much for your test and also for the English correction, I appreciate it! :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: HailStorm on 24 May 2011, 17:11:06
Well, when i say "followed" i'm referring to the cutscene where the white car asks an bystander where you went, shoots him and come after you - i find that car, presumably where you placed it, at the junction with two guys standing by it and another in the trees. the third surprised me since i only saw two occupants in the car and i wasn't expecting him.

with olaf, it may very well be the pistol bug - never heard of it before but it definitely sounds suspect, since he had a SD makarov out and had an M4 on his back.

with the crates problem, it just seems like the option to drop the crate just disappears after the phone call. dunno if i specifically did anything to make it disappear, but i did pick it up almost straight before the call.

i didn't run this playthrough with showscripterrors on, but i'll do it next run.

a few further notes:

- there's a conversation between two mafia at the base of the castle tower just after you drag kostja inside - I'd suggest making it start a bit earlier than what you have - i was able to almost run out of the tower before i realised they were standing there. they still didn't notice me however, but i dunno if there is supposed to be some sort of script preventing them noticing or anything.

- would it be possible to make cutscenes skippable? it does get annoying if you've died and the most recent save is before a long sequence.
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.1)
Post by: Wolfrug on 25 May 2011, 23:55:26
Hi Undeceived,

First of all: awesome mission, I enjoyed the hell out of it :D A very different approach to making a mission, not something I get to see all that much of unfortunately. For that reason alone I'd give this a 5/5 ;) But aside from the good idea itself, the execution is also very skillful, and except for one slight bug the whole LONG mission worked from start to finish.

The bug was the same one HailStorm reported, that Kostya died during the rescue. It was a little funny when his brother said "try to stand up!" and he was lying there obviously dead :P I loaded that one though and did it with him alive instead. I really think though you could manage the whole mission with a minimum of changes yet allow Kostya to die. For instance make it so they have to take Kostya's body to the doctor for, like, identification or something (I mean, they're not just going to leave his body out in the woods, are they?) You could, I guess, also just start the Revenge part if Kostya dies right there and then. Kostya dying would of course also change the end talk a bit, but not -too- much I think: it'd make for a nice change of pace, sort of an alternative (bad) ending?

The Revenge part itself, I have to say, was a mix between brilliant and rather annoying. My pal was useless, but others have pointed that out already and it's not your fault. The enemies tended to be rather sharp-sighted and taking them all on alone, even with a scoped rifle, was kind of difficult. For that reason I really appreciated the fact you just had to kill the two, instead of -everyone-. I ended up doing just that: I grenaded Jegerow, and snuck up and sniped the mafia leader, then ran like hell. Worked fine (after a number of retries :D). I'm glad I didn't have to wait for Olaf at the cottage either.

One thing: at the end, Piotr says something like "I'll always remember I was saved by friendship" or something: honestly, Piotr was the one doing all the friend-saving, rather than the other way around, wouldn't you say? Unless he's referring to his friendship with Olaf which, maybe, saved him in some other way? I don't know :) Just a thought, anyway.

A note on Olaf's hidden weapons: "He just found them one day in the forest" after which he hid them in a chest behind his church. :blink: Furthermore, it was a modern AK-107 PSO and a M4 with all the spec-ops bells and whistles (+ a Russian military automatic shotgun!)! How does this make any sense?  How about making it more logical instead? Change it to a hunting rifle and a M104 shotgun (for instance) and make them part of his hunting gear - if you want AKs and other military rifles, there are plenty of badguys with them running around after all. If you want to limit the effectiveness of the sniper rifle, only give the players very few rounds, like 10 or something. The random high-tech weaponry was really kind of...well....random!

And finally, a thought on the addon dependency. What on earth did we need Schnapsdrosel's desert mercenaries for? I didn't see a single desert mercenary anywhere, not a one. That's a pretty big addon pack for a no-show. Secondly: why DAC? Although DAC can be useful in certain scenarios, this scenario was not one of them. The mafia patrols and so on could easily have been made to move around using something non-addon dependent, like say UPS - or why not simple looping waypoints. :dunno: I'm guessing Wolle's armed civilians were the mafia (and Piotr + Olaf) - I can totally understand if you didn't want to mess with the other ways of making civilians shoot at one another, also considering they don't have the right combat.fsms, but...myeah. That's fine I guess! MapFact's editor upgrade I didn't really notice, but I bet there was plenty of eyecandy around you used it for :)

Anyway! GREAT mission, almost no bugs, awesome story - had a lot of fun with it. Good job, Undeceived.  :good:

Wolfrug out.
Title: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.2)
Post by: Undeceived on 03 Jun 2011, 23:21:14
Hey guys, here comes a new version of the scenario (v. 1.2)! Please check the first post.


First of all thank you all very much for your time and feedback!! At this particular moment thanks to HailStorm for your answers and Wolfrug for your beta test! :-*

I hope that some of you are up for another round - this time at least you'll not fight alone - I sent Olaf to a little specop training and he should be of help now! Fighting at his side takes the mission to another level, in my opinion!
:good: Thanks to all who helped me with the scripting!


Also you won't need the mercenaries mod anymore and also the DAC addon, so reinstall the whole scenario according to the readme.


I'd be very thankful if you could answer me these 4 questions:

1. Do you experience a game crash while loading a savegame?
2. Is there any unusual or buggy behaviour with Olaf?
3. Does the part with the crates work better now?

4. If you have some additional time: Could you check this post (http://www.ofpec.com/forum/index.php?topic=35632.msg244764#msg244764) and tell me if you experience the DAC script errors in the DAC demo missions and vanilla game?



Thanks a lot and have fun!!
Title: New version (For the life of a friend 1.3)
Post by: Undeceived on 10 Jun 2011, 23:25:56
Hi guys!

Another new version is ready.

I think that the scenario is almost ready for a review.
I'd be absolutely thankful if you could give it another run to see if there are heavy bugs left...

But however, I want to thank you for your help and your comments so far!

The new version is in the first post.


PS: If you played version 1.2 in the last days, you can give me feedback for that version. Thanks!
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.3)
Post by: HailStorm on 17 Jun 2011, 19:04:58
I'm halfway through the mission (1.3) right now, just dropped off Kostya with the doctor, and about to kick off act II of the mission.

I haven't run into any script errors, especially around the crate bit. I did find out however you can run left, right, and backwards at full speed without dropping a crate, but I don't think you need to be too concerned about that (it's still slower than running forwards)

A suggestion would be if you can lock all vehicles except for Piotr's car - it's really the only vehicle Piotr realistically should be able to access anyway, plus you can run into a few waypointing errors if he's in the wrong vehicle at the wrong time. For example, I was able to take Kostya's car from the hut and drive it a little way - it bugged out slightly and afterwards gave me a 'mount' waypoint that only went away after I re-mounted Kostya's car, which I had left back at the hut. Olaf's car was also drivable, and that helped getting back, but both instances were out of the scope of the mission.

Another suggestion would be for the conversation you have in the car when driving to J's place should only be triggered if you're in the right vehicle - the conversation with my passengers played while I was in Kostya's car and my passengers were still sitting in my stationary hatchback back at the hut. maybe make it so the trigger that starts the conversation can only be triggered by Piotr's car. Placing
Code: [Select]
[piotr's car name] in thislist in the init of the trigger should work.

other than that though, on the technical side of the mission I can't see anything wrong so far.




but a few more grammar niggles (sorry!)

carrying the crates:

"what a slavery!" -> "what slavery!" (the 'a' is redundant)


Jegorow remarking to the head mafia guy when they all arrive:

"[pigs at gunthers'] make disappear bodies" -> "[pigs at gunthers'] make their bodies disappear"


Kostya int.:

"We have still owed him a favor" -> "We have owed him a favor" (the 'still' is present tense, but the rest of the sentence is past tense, hence the 'still' is removed)


Doctor cutscene:

[gate scene]"friend was shot down" -> "Friend was shot"

[olaf hiding car dialogue] "I'm gonna do it then..." -> "I'll do that, then..." (past tense)

[bed scene] "may he really stay" -> "can he really stay"



there is this phrase as well;

[car scene] "I admired... so consequent and determined"

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, but the word doesn't make sense - what other synonyms could you use for what you're trying to describe?

I'll keep plugging at it when I can, including a few runthroughs just to be sure everything's alright.
Title: Re: [SP] For the life of a friend (v. 1.3)
Post by: Undeceived on 19 Jun 2011, 10:54:06
HailStorm, thank you very much for this!! :good:

Especially for the grammar corrections! :yes: With "consequent"... :-[ I rather meant "consistent". Someone who is steady and does not get intimidated when trouble comes into his life. Can I use "consistent"?


I'll look into the locking vehicle stuff, good point you mentioned there.

Thanks!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.4)
Post by: Undeceived on 25 Jun 2011, 00:08:19
Hello guys - I want to say


THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP WITH THIS!! :)

Beta phase is finished - now I'm releasing it.

I will wait some more days and then give this into the hands of a reviewer.


Thanks again!


Version 1.4 is in the first post.
Title: Version 1.5
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Jul 2011, 14:26:06
There is an update for my mission in the first post (version 1.5). :good: I hope it is the last version! :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: SaOk on 07 Jul 2011, 22:57:50
Great to see the bugs worked away :good:, I will test this masterpiece (again) soon after finishing some other mission testruns. And if no-one else havent yet begun to make review of this, I can do that gladly after my trip to Sweden when I return on 27th july.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 08 Jul 2011, 14:24:46
That would be fantastic, SaOk!

I think that the mission should be ready for review, I'm just awaiting some feedback about the last version, e.g. if this bug (http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1965858&postcount=10) was fixed, and of course I would be very grateful to read feedback from you as well.

After that I would feel honoured if someone could review it.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 20 Jul 2011, 17:14:37
Hey Undeceived, I love your mission, but I need to report 3 bugs, the last one which is game-breaking.

First bug: I opt to drive away from work after my colleague is not impressed at all from my threats about the run over dog. Yet the "Kiste anheben" action is never deleted, and therefore in the way after the mission. Objective is not ticked off, obviously.

Second bug is a screen freeze right before my lads go uphill to hide behind Jegorow's house. A reload took care of that.

Third bug: As I approach the house of the caretaker, there is a car but no person or action menu entry appears. Instead I get an error message about missing R3F_Logic_Objects.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 24 Jul 2011, 10:00:08
Hey mathias, sorry for the delay, I returned yesterday from vacation in no-internet-land. :)


Ok, now to your bug report, first of all thanks for playing the mission!

One question that is important: Did you play with any other mods than the required ones? Because I never experienced that third bug you mentioned and never saw something from R3F... in the scenario.
Just checked the required addons too and didn't find anything that contains R3F. So it would be interesting to know.

I'm wondering how the first bug with the crates happened. Since I thought that finally I eliminated all bug danger in that situation. Do you remember when exactly the action remained available? Did you maybe run with a crate or something?


About the freeze... Unfortunately I'm reading from some people that they have random crashes while playing the mission... :(
Does anyone know if this may be related to the fact that I (unnecessarily, I know :-[ ) use two different editor updates (from Mapfact and from Jon)?



Thanks in advance for your answers!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 24 Jul 2011, 14:09:15
Hey undeceived,

Since I got R3F-Errors in 2 additional missions and I used an "R3F" artillery as part of Loki's Lost Key, I am pretty positive that this handy tool is causing the bugs. I just need to figure out a way to deactivate it since I spent quite a lot of time last year to obtain a working version for Arma2

The crates: Of course I ran with the crates, since it was my task to carry them over to the parking spot. Now, that objective was not completed on site (since my co-worker was uncooperative), so I just drove away from work in my car. And the action was available at least until I was close to the Churchkeeper's house.

Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 24 Jul 2011, 16:08:13
Ok, so I hope that the showstopper is related to that R3F bug.

Ah, you were talking about Kostja's brother, the church caretaker! I thought it was at Jegorow's house where you have to ring the bell.
Ok, that makes it a bit easier. The action to knock should appear when you get close to his door (not on the side where his car is).


About the crates: The mission is designed so that the player can decide if he wants to complete the task or not. But this action Lift Crate should not remain in the action menu if the player is not near a crate...

One more question about this part of the mission: When you ran around with the crates: Did you somehow drop one that near of another one so that they both kind of "merged together"?

It would be much much appreciated if you could try to reproduce this bug with the crates again (in case you have success to deactivate the R3F addon and want to start the scenario from the beginning without it).


Thank you for your time, mate!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 01 Aug 2011, 17:04:05
Hey mate, my ArmA2 did strange things (like writing any addon of my 3rdPartyAddons folder into any mission I had), so after deleting a couple of addons, I could not play your mission any further. Will try for the 3rd time as soon as I find motivation.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 02 Aug 2011, 11:52:26
Hi mathias.
Ok, no stress. :)
Cheers!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Wolfrug on 02 Aug 2011, 18:19:05
Quote from: mathias_eichinger on 01 Aug 2011, 17:04:05
Hey mate, my ArmA2 did strange things (like writing any addon of my 3rdPartyAddons folder into any mission I had), so after deleting a couple of addons, I could not play your mission any further. Will try for the 3rd time as soon as I find motivation.

A lot of addons write themselves into missions if you don't finish them while they're on and then try to continue later. This happens even with high-profile, "professional" addons, but even more so with less professional ones. This can be very annoying with long and epic missions like Undeceived's, but the best suggestion I have is to simply avoid starting a mission when you have the "wrong" set of addons loaded. I have like 10 different shortcuts on my desktop with various addons loaded - yeah, I know the Expansions menu is neat and all, but it just invites to exactly the kinds of problems you're having - and that avoids most of the problems :) Food for thought!

Wolfrug out.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 06 Aug 2011, 14:08:06
Hey undeceived, I am sorry to report that I discovered another bug.
At the hut in the forest, Kostja would never come.

Please note that I am on a fresh ArmA2CO install, with only CBA loaded except your addons. Will try again to see if this is causing the bug.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 06 Aug 2011, 22:18:00
Do you mean at the beginning of the mission where the friends meet?

::) Dammit, one other person reported this and I thought that I tweaked that one in the next version... :( But after he restarted, it worked - sorry, mathias! :-/

Btw. don't be sorry! Bug reporting is much appreciated!! ;) :-p
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 07 Aug 2011, 11:59:10
Yep, I mean the first meeting of the friends, where Yuri will draw the pistol once all are present.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Aug 2011, 17:07:05
Well, I know that it should not be this way but the only thing I can suggest you right now is to restart the mission once again :D in the hope that it works then. Or did you try that already?

I'll look into it again and will come up with a (hopefully definite) fix in the next version. Thanks that you mentioned this bug! Looking forward for more feedback (if you still are up to try it out). :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 14 Aug 2011, 12:51:07
Hey Undeceived,

this time I got as far as finding Kostja in the forest. However, once I should take the pistol from Olaf, the "Take" icon is in gray writing, e.g. does not work. And since the enemies are quick to finish us off, I do not have the time to order him to drop his weapon and get to it in time.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 14 Aug 2011, 21:58:13
Thanks a lot for your hard tries to get through this, mathias! I really appreciate it!! :good:

I'll definitely make a next version of the mission and I will also prevent the mafia guys shooting the player and Olaf to early in this situation.

One question though: Which grey icon do you mean? As I didn't implement anything like this... The player has to take Olaf's pistol via the gear menu and there only appears a hint explaining this.


I hope you can get past this one (are you able to take his pistol earlier?) and continue the mission without any other bugs or issues...

Thanks again, mate!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: SaOk on 17 Aug 2011, 08:53:29
I played earlier again to the part where I needed to hide in castle. Now I need to restart again with the newer beta. In case, you already work for next version and I dont make in time to give full test report. I spotted one small flaw in intro, where the voice-files are quite low voiced compared to music (and how the voices are played in the mission where the voices are louder and perfect). With my bad hearing, I have difficulties to hear the acting in intro.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 17 Aug 2011, 10:58:57
HEy SaOk, thanks for replaying!

I will make a new version, yes, but I'll first wait for the new full patch from BI in which (hopefully) the setmimic command will be implemented. So it could take a while until then.

I noted down that one with the voice volume - are you talking about the end of the intro cutscene where the guys are near the cars?

:good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: SaOk on 19 Aug 2011, 14:08:32
All voices during start of the intro are hard to hear until the gas station scene where all sounds perfect. Fire place scene have few badly heard lines at start, else good. The end where they walk to cars is also very silent. I understood the scene is not good for yelling, but its still too silent I think. ;)

Else a great intro, tweaking the sounds could improve it little more. I have also spend time in my missions to tweak the sound levels and I believe its really worth of effort. In case if you dont have editor for ogg-files, I would recommend free Audacity. With it you can directly edit the voice-files without convertin files back to wav and back to ogg.

Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 19 Aug 2011, 17:44:38
Yes, Audacity is the one I use - it's very very good! :)

Ok, I'll tune these sounds, thanks for the answer!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 22 Aug 2011, 17:44:18
Hey Undeceived, in order to be more precise to what I meant in Reply #33, I attach a picture here. Please speak up if it is still not clear enough.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 22 Aug 2011, 19:19:34
Aah, ok - I think that the hint that I implemented giving instructions how to take Olaf's pistol is kind of unclear and mistakable...

Ok, let me try to reconstruct what your problem is (to make clear that there is no misunderstanding):

The hint appears and you (correctly) try to do as it says.
You:

Open Olaf's gear and make him drop his pistol.
After this you try to take it by pressing Nehmen while still in Olaf's gear screen.

Is that correct?

You can't take his pistol this way - I tested it with some random units.

You will have to leave the gear menu and walk to the spot where the pistol is and press "Gear" to enter your own gear menu. There you should be able to take the pistol, resp. the Take button should work correctly.

What I will do is to improve the hint so that it explains better how to take Olaf's gun.


I really hope that I didn't misunderstand you - if yes, I'm sorry, mate! :-[ :D
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 22 Aug 2011, 19:29:41
Aha, that's exactly what I did. But while you are at it, please set the player captive true until he has the pistol and is re-oriented, e.g. a few seconds afterwards. Anyway, I suspect that pistol hard to spot in the pitch black forest.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 22 Aug 2011, 20:15:23
Yes, I had something similar in mind - the mafia guys won't shoot before a certain condition is fulfilled, so the player will have enough time to arm and orientate himself.

To prevent not finding the gun in the dark forest, tell Olaf to stop before you make him drop the gun. This way you will find it much easier (at his position).


Have fun and thanks for reporting back! :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 25 Aug 2011, 22:25:14
Hey, due to pure luck (Olaf shot the nearest enemy and so I was able to get an AK) I was able zu continue your mission. I was most impressed by the scripting and voice acting in the cutscenes involving Tanja and the doctor and I am now just before a roadblock on my way to kill Jegorov. This mission keeps me on the edge of my seat and I will continue playing when I find time again.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 26 Aug 2011, 15:17:15
Good to hear that you passed this part. I'll tweak it a bit more so that such trouble hopefully won't happen in the next version. :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 28 Aug 2011, 21:25:18
I managed to deal with a road block and even managed to avoid all the enemies until I killed Jegorow with the CZ 550 sniper rifle I found in the church yard. However, the odds are insurmountable right now, Olaf is already killed and I am overwhelmed by too many attacking enemies. Hope to tackle these in another try. 
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 28 Aug 2011, 21:37:03
The DAC really rocks! It makes the enemies swarm around you.

I've got one advise in this case: RUN!! Muhaha... >:D >:D Run and approach from somewhere else. Silly advise, I know... :)

Or try it again - it is possible to sneak upon both of them an hit and run faster than the mafia members can react. I think that this is the way the mission should be played. Otherwise the enemy is very very difficult to fight...
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: johnnyboy on 05 Sep 2011, 21:25:13
Greetings Undecieved.  I have been away from arma and ofpec for awhile, but I am glad I checked in to see your new mission.

Wow!  This is really fantastic.  I played it through, with no bugs at all.  So many effective cutscenes.  The smoking tires in the beginning were great.  The friends character development was great.  Playing jokes on the Mafia guy, and having it go terribly wrong was brilliant.  The final crime-scene in the outro was very well staged.

The background mood music for different parts of the mission were really atmospheric and effective.  Seemed very professional.  Where do you find the atmospheric music?

The white chase car cutscene stood out as well shot, when the cars comes up the rise to pass the camera.

I found it very difficult to take out the first mafia guy.  Too many patrols.  Finally I decided to just drive straight through the gate, jump out, hose him, and drive away.  That worked, but lost Olaf.

This mission was well plotted, interesting throughout, and very tense. Normally I don't like night missions, but this was great.   Plus, (just like on Evil's Last Will), the voice acting was excellent (and I don't speak German). 

My only complaint was the moving the crates task.  Since I chose the wrong option twice, I thought I was stuck moving boxes.  Since my time is limited, I almost quit playing the mission (I would have if I didn't know the quality of your work). 

You are probably finished with this mission, but I have a fun idea.  I did alot of tense night driving with the lights off.  You might want to have one or two fun road encounters to keep the player on his toes.  I would suggest some cows crossing the road, and maybe a civilian truck driving at night.  Cows crossing while you are driving fast over a rise, would give a good scare to the player.

This was obviously a ton of work.   Congratulations on this superb mission.  I give it a 10.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 06 Sep 2011, 15:05:11
 :D johnnyboy, thank you very much for your feedback!! :good:

Yes, it really was a ton of work. :) Originally I just wanted to make a small mission with some guys who pick on a caretaker, but in the end the result was a bit more complex. ;)

Haha, that idea with the cows and the civilian truck is awesome, I'll implement this for sure! :) Thanks!
Other than that I'm waiting for the next full patch to get the setMimic command working (if BI manges to fix it finally...) and then the mission should be ready for a review.

The music I take from different bands or soundtracks that I have. But in many cases also from other games. If you check the readme file you can find a little song list with the original names of the songs and the performing bands.


About the first task:

Keep in mind that you don't need to carry the crates! You can leave the place and continue the mission at the lodge in the forest with the friends.
Or do you think that I should make this a little clearer to the player (that he can leave if he wants)?


I would feel honoured if you could rate and comment the mission at Armaholic (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14600) as well. Would help me finding more interested players.

Thanks, johnnyboy!! Good to see you back in the "scene". :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: johnnyboy on 07 Sep 2011, 08:36:03
U,

I will check out the readme for the music list.  You made some great atmospheric choices.

If you do the civilian truck thing, have it blast the horn when close to the player (if player lights off), and maybe swerve or curse out the window.  It could even be your bad truck driver from your story, so attach a dead dog to the front bumper!

Making it clearer about the crates would help.  I thought I had to do it, and got discouraged.  I even used 4X speed to move crates, which messed up the scripts.  4X speed caused multiple "lift crate" actions to appear, instead of one at a time. 

I can see why the crate moving is there, as it builds a little character development and introduces the cell phone usage.

I thought that it was teaching me something I would use later in the mission (like build a barricade or move an exploding barrel to a strategic spot-- this could be useful to other mission makers, so you might want to publish this script.  I liked that it prevented 3rd person view, so player can't tell that the animations aren't quite right).

I will gladly hop over to Armaholic and promote your mission (it is much deserved!).  Probably tomorrow...I am super tired after a 3 hour bike ride after work.

Is it rumored that setmimic is being fixed?  That is awesome.  We need it!

Good chatting with you.

J
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Sep 2011, 13:17:16
:D :D I have to say one thing: You've got the absolutely funniest ideas (which one can see in your own missions too)! :D Nice one with the truck! Thanks!

To be honest about the crate script(s): Don't ask me how I managed to build that - I don't remember anymore! This was such a complex part so I'm happy it works (more or less).
You said that there were multple "Lift crate" actions?
Did this also happen in normal speed??

About the setmimic: Yes, they managed to fix it already in a beta patch lately, but then it only worked for afroamerican units, not for the white ones... So I hope that it will work for all in the main patch...

Thanks for the Armaholic promoting!

See you, mate!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 20 Oct 2011, 18:19:54
Hey Undeceived, I managed to play through your mission with just a little help from Loki's Lost Key. What can I say... every few years there is a mission that is more moving than a cinema movie... and I can't recall any ArmA2 mission that has the same effect on me. This one is a masterpiece, congratulations!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 21 Oct 2011, 15:35:19
Hey mathias! :)

Thanks, mate! Such feedback encourages me to move on with the mission.

Holy crap, why didn't I ever hear of Loki's Lost Key??? :dunno: I lost many hours while testing changes, bug fixes, etc. :) Oh well... Now I know of it.


May I ask:
Did you need Lost Key in order to overcome bugs and badly implemented features in the mission or because of the difficulty of it?
Or why do you think you had to use it?

Looking forward to this info!

Thanks again, mathias! :good:




PS: If you are registered at Armaholic, it would be an honour for me if you could comment and rate the mission on this page: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14600 Thanks! :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: bedges on 24 Oct 2011, 09:01:10
I only recently upgraded to Arma2, and I knew this was the first user-made mission I was going to download. It's an awesome bit of work, ausgezeichnet.  :good:

One or two things I've noticed so far:


And at the moment I am hiding in the shadows of trees, picking off the mafia badguys and disappearing into the night. Unfortunately I have to get ready for work, but I'm looking forward to the rest of this mission.

Fantastic so far, great work.  :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 24 Oct 2011, 09:50:55
bedges, thank you very much for your feedback! :good: I hope that you can continue the mission without further bugs.


About your points:

- Yeah, that annoying civilian laying down when "danger" is around... :( Oh man, I don't know how many times or in how many ways I tried to prevent them laying down, but it never worked... Sometimes they lay down, sometimes not. I have implemented everything there, setunitpos "UP, setbehaviour "SAFE / CARELESS", - doesn't work...

- Your second mentioned bug still is in the mission because of my laziness. I will fix this for the next version! ;)

- And about the NVGoggles: Too bad that you saw the AI using it, this was not intended. :whistle: In my story the involved people don't have high tech gear such as NVGs, but the AI is blind as a mole in the night. This is why I give them NVGs for some seconds when they spot someone.
In the last beta patch BI introduced a great change in the reveal command, when the next full patch comes, I will try to change it so that the AI won't need the goggles anymore. Hopefully it works!



Thanks again, mate! Have fun.
I await your final feedback! ;)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: bedges on 25 Oct 2011, 21:30:34
Finished the mission, excellent from start to finish.

One or two further points:


As for the laying down, both instances are "cutscenes" so why not use some sneaky disableAI?

Once again, great work. One of the best missions I've played; the perfect combination of showing off what the game engine can do and solid original story-telling. 9.86/10 :clap:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 28 Oct 2011, 11:37:52
bedges, thank you!

I have noted down your points.

About the laying down: No, the situations are not in cutscenes (at least not all), but I'll try to mess around with disableAI again, but I think I did that already.


Thanks again!
Greetz. :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: savedbygrace on 05 Dec 2011, 05:01:06
Played several times on regular difficulty. Played first with version 1.59 and again with the latest release candidate 1.60.

A mission like this is a nightmare for a beta tester because of the amount of mandatory cutscenes that must be viewed in order to progress. But, my first play through, the immersion was there the whole time and the end came much quicker than I thought.

Much of what I feel about your efforts only reinforce what others have expressed already in regards to your chosen camera angles, music selection and timing, emotion in the voice acting, little details that bring the AI to life and story development as a whole.

The first task to move the crates worked perfectly. No double addactions, no mix up with the phone addaction and all removed as it should have. I played the first time by moving all the crates myself but after moving the 6th, I decided to strike up a conversation with the truck driver. I didn't want to put the rest of the task off on him so I chose not to answer him. Because of that, the addaction replies stayed with the player until I activated one after meeting up with the boys. It would be nice of you to offer an addaction that would simply say "Nevermind" and then remove the other addactions. The other options worked great.

The mission progressed fine from here with only a few hangups to mention. Some of which are BIS related while others can be balanced by you.

Bedges made mention of one of those and that being of the group leaders having NVgoggles and not having them when they die. I remember you discussing this issue in a thread of AI not recognizing the enemy in the dark and so you needed a way to balance that. I agree but I think you went too far and tipped the balance in favor of the AI. Giving the initial group leader a set of nvg is good but I would not equip the new leader when the first one dies. The AI are already supermen once they know of the players position regardless of the lighting. Giving the player only eight shots with that hunting rifle coupled with the AI ability to share player enemy info once they know about him, is quite a challenging combination. Add the fact that the player can't spot units through vegetation or see them in the dark even if they know exactly where they are and the challenge becomes frustrating. By only giving the first group leader a set of nvg equipment, you level the playing field for the player some by presenting him/her with the opportunity to use strategy by targeting the leaders first or expending the long range ammo on them to essentially blind the others. If the player fails to see the opportunity, it becomes his fault. Once the group knows about the player, you can force the leader prone to make his elimination more difficult. If you don't mind the extra scripting and you feel the new group leader should have the night vision when the former leader is taken out, be fair about it and make him get within a meter of the dead former leader in order to get the nv gear. That will allow the player a chance to prevent it and also provide a visual affirmation as to how a unit who did not have the gear before, has it now. Immersion is retained and the player is satisfied.
     To prevent the player from using the night vision from dead leaders, you could simply have him say it's damaged but leave it there for him to take. Then just use a script similar to the first person script. If the night vision is activated, shut it off by playing a click sound to symbolize the player attempting to switch it on and it failing.

Another hangup caused by you is the removal of dead in the field between the church and Piotyr's car. I was aware of my limited ammo with that advantageous rifle and so I made it a point to see which roaming enemy had what weapons and made note of where I dropped them. When I reached there position, they were gone and so too were those precious resources. That killed immersion some. Leave them be. If you don't want the player having a particular weapon, remove all but 1 mag when he dies. then the player has to decide whether he wants to push forward well equipped or not. If you're worried about lag...why? You don't have much going on and I don't see you spawning additional enemy.

The other hangup is a BIS one. I can be in the darkest part of the forest and the enemy have no night vision but it never fails that once the leader spots me, his entire group knows exactly where I am out and where I move to. In addition to that, I have no idea where the enemy is in the dark because I can't see them. Even if my AI team mates spots them and engages, I am still left in the dark with no idea which side of the tree to tuck into because I can't see the enemy moving about. You can't help this but you can certainly make it less frustrating by reducing the numbers and coverage area of each group. The areas that I am speaking of in particular are Jergerow's house and the village where the mafia leader and his henchmen are. That silenced m9 is quiet but sucks against a large number of foes because it practically takes an entire clip if you further than 20 meters away. If the louder, more powerful and more accurate(somewhat) AK is used, you're suddenly spotlighted by everyone in the area. For the sake of story immersion, thin out the ranks of the party looking for these troublesome young men and spread their search areas out to prevent mass engagements and overwhelming odds. Add more lighting to the areas by turning the parked car lights on and positioning them toward areas that patrols may be looking in. Using parked cars with headlights on in an attempt light patrol areas are great for immersion.

After playing several different ways, I did notice the subtle adjustments that had to accommodate the various decisions, such as moving or not moving the crates, the results of each answer to the truck driver, the survival or death of Olaf, retrieving or leaving Yuri's gun.

Being nit picky, I noticed that unless the player parks the car precisely where you want him to, the story fails to proceed by preventing his friends from getting out, for example, Yuri's suggested parking spot and in front of the doctor's home.

Just to mention, I thought your workaround for getting Olaf to Kostja was clever. We all know that the AI don't use those castles well and Olaf would have never made it to his brother without the player having to drag him down again. Your decision to have Kostja crawl down the hill side and get caught was a good remedy.

Didn't notice any difference between 1.59final or 1.60RC.

Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 05 Dec 2011, 16:40:32
Wow, savedbygrace, that is a huge feedback with many many very good points and honest criticism! Thanks a lot for your time, and also for playing it even twice! :good:


I noted down your points and I definitely will look into them. Only a few comments on some of them:


-> I hope SO MUCH that with the new BI patch (1.60) I won't need the NVGs anymore at all... BI added some new stuff to the reveal command and I'm looking forward to see if this solves the AI's revealing capacities at night. We'll see...

-> I'm pretty sure that I didn't remove the dead bodies in the mission until the final cutscene comes (where the police is in the village next day and the dead are collected and covered)! But maybe I forgot something - I'll look into it too. Certainly the dead bodies should stay where they are.


Your reply really is full of good points and I really appreciate it!! Thanks again, savedbygrace, for your help!!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: savedbygrace on 05 Dec 2011, 23:14:05
To my credit, I actually replayed this thing more than 5 times. That's why there's a comment about being a nightmare for beta testers.

The thing about the body removal... You're right, not all of them were removed. There were two in the corner of the pasture near the car that stayed put(both had pistols). At least one group in the woods across the road stayed put too. But the units I spotted running around with automatic weapons(ak and M4), were not visible, even in command view. No big deal though.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.5)
Post by: Undeceived on 06 Dec 2011, 11:01:35
Quote
I actually replayed this thing more than 5 times.
Ok, that's just phenomenal! :D Thanks a lot for your time, bro!!




Awaiting 1.60 now... :)
Title: New version (1.6) is up. :)
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Jan 2012, 22:42:12
Hello guys, I'm happy to release the next version of my mission (check the first post).

The new Arma 2: OA patch changed the reveal command and FINALLY it is possible to make the AI recognize enemies in the dark -> without NVGs. :) That means that there are no more hidden / fake NVGs in the mission. :) And in my opinion the behaviour of the AI is very realistic.

Other than that I implemented some things that were suggested in the feedback and copied the subtitles for the Polish and the Russian versions of Arma 2 (needs testing as I don't have these versions).


Have fun - feedback is always much appreciated! :)




All in all I would say that the mission slowly is becoming "mature" and I hope that either this version or the next could be the final one.
Anyway it's about time after more than 2 years of working on it (since September 2009).

Of course I will submit it to review here on OFPEC (which for me means the most significant review page of missions in the "Armaverse") but since I have put so much work in it, I really want to submit the best quality I can in order to reach the highest possible score that it could get.
Therefore I firstly thank you all for all the testing but at the same time hope that you can continue helping me with feedback a bit more.

:good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: savedbygrace on 08 Jan 2012, 22:14:36
Well, we do strive to help you improve your work as much as it can be improved and that process is highly dependent upon the authors dedication to higher quality and his/her willingness to persevere. But please do keep in mind that the reviews are primarily opinionated and that scoring will certainly differ according to a players taste.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: SaOk on 08 Feb 2012, 19:32:47
I completed this mission again. :) The firefight part works very nice now and missions feels overally very polished. Only noticed that the voices are low-voiced during outro. And these two errors pop:

Often during firefight:
Code: [Select]
Error in expression <cleInUse - [_x]} foreach _groupveh};
if(count _jArray > 0) then {[35,_groupid,_g>
  Error position: <count _jArray > 0) then {[35,_groupid,_g>
  Error Generic error in expression
When loading a savegame:
Code: [Select]
disableserialization;
enableradio false;
clearradio;
6666 cutrsc ["camerab>
  Error position: <false;
clearradio;
6666 cutrsc ["camerab>
  Error Missing ;
File ca\missions_ew\functions\fn_defcon.sqf, line 215
Error in expression <
Else a very nice mission. Feels like a good thrilling movie. Cant find any real negative sides from this. :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: Undeceived on 08 Feb 2012, 23:05:57
Hey SaOk, thanks a lot really, for playing it again! :)

Holy cow, what does that second script error part you mentioned mean?? ??? Hmm...

I know the first error block. It comes out of the DAC scripts... For a long time (when I started the mission) I edited without -showscripterrors :-[ and thus didn't see these, but when I saw them it was too late as I already had implemented DAC too deep into the mission to throw it out again... :( May the reviewer have mercy...

I'll check the intro again, thanks for the hint.

 :good:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: SaOk on 09 Feb 2012, 00:08:04
The intro was perfect, sound levels are very good in it. In the outro, I had difficulties to hear the voices good.

That second error didnt seem to like the false in enableradio, even when it looks right to me. As wild guess, is the disableserialization breaking it?
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: Clayman on 09 Feb 2012, 02:17:10
I too had the second error once while testing. It was pretty weird, as it's a script from Eagle Wing campaign.
If I recall correctly, it was caused by another addon (CBA?). Playing the mission with only the required addons solved it for me.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: SaOk on 09 Feb 2012, 12:16:33
Sorry, that could be it. I have CBA enabled for JSRS sound mod.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: Undeceived on 09 Feb 2012, 14:26:13
Quote
The intro was perfect, sound levels are very good in it. In the outro, I had difficulties to hear the voices good.

:D Thanks for this correction - somehow I read intro. :D Ok, I'll check the OUTRO.


Quote
Sorry, that could be it. I have CBA enabled for JSRS sound mod.
Aah, ok. :D
Must be CBA, as I never used "disableserialization;" in the mission.





Nevertheless, something else came to my mind - maybe someone can help me with that.

Back then I took my briefing.sqf from some other mission (don't remember anymore - might have been a BIS one) and at the end of it there is this code:

Code: [Select]
if (isNil {player getVariable "mk_briefingEH"}) then
{
player addEventHandler ["killed",{[] spawn {waitUntil {alive player};execVM"briefing.sqf";};}];
player setVariable ["mk_briefingEH",true];
};
Can you tell me what this means? I googled that "mk_briefingEH" and a lot of briefing.sqf related websites came up so I think that it is some kind of standard in briefings (?).
But I don't understand what this exactly does. And could it cause script errors?
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: SaOk on 09 Feb 2012, 15:06:05
Looks like some MP scripting to me. Seems to add an eventhandler for player that make the briefing.sqf to be launched everytime when he respawns (when he is alive again).

That should be an unneeded code. I dont have that kind of code even in my MP missions.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: Undeceived on 09 Feb 2012, 15:49:36
Ah right. I'll remove it then. Thanks!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 03 Apr 2012, 16:51:46
Hi Undeceived,

I just want to ask you how close you are to another update. Since your mission is a very long one I would rather wait for an update before playing an outdated version. Please keep us updated if you need beta tests for 1.6 or if you have something almost done in the pipeline.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.6)
Post by: Undeceived on 04 Apr 2012, 17:05:38
Hey mathias, thanks for your offer!

I would rather like to have some tests for the next version (will be 1.7), as I'm planning it to be the final one.
But it could still take some more weeks for me to finish it.
Title: New version: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 30 Apr 2012, 09:58:13
Hello. :)

Finally I finished the next version of the mission: V. 1.7

I hope that some of you can give it a run to see if there's something odd or buggy. Thanks! :good:


Changelog:
I optimized some cutscenes and removed two showstoppers that some players experienced.


Check the first post for the download link.

Cheers!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 23 Jun 2012, 22:38:24
Hi Undeceived,

Your download link for version 1.7 is no longer current. Please re-upload the mission.


Cheers

Mathias
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 24 Jun 2012, 14:11:57
Shit - my fault!! :D Sorry.

The link does work now (redirects to Armaholic). Thanks for letting me know!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: ernesto on 02 Jul 2012, 03:06:49
Undeceived,its a very nice mission,lots of work and wonderfull made!
I have a question,because maybe there is a bug:
When I have to drag my bleeding friend to the tower castle, I go inside, entering by the open entrance (only one?), drop him, and nothing happens.Is it normal,or is a bug?
I have made lots of assays but always the same response.
Same in version 1.6.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 02 Jul 2012, 10:49:14
Hi ernesto,

yes, the ruin tower is right but you have to drag him upstairs. When you enter the tower, the stairs are left hand side.

Thanks for playing!
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: savedbygrace on 06 Jul 2012, 02:23:28
Played again with 1.60 on regular

I don't know if BI has coded the game better or if my skills have improved but this time around was far more enjoyable, engagement wise, than the previous play tests. I was dreading having to play this one again because I had played it so many times before but after the first task, I was drawn in again. The story is just that touching, where you can almost feel the emotion in the characters voices. You did a beautiful job of building on the mood with music and smooth camera flow. All the scenes were awesome, again.

I did happen across some bugs but not show stoppers.
1. The lights in ZUB, and I thought I saw one over Olaf's front door, did not seem to show any light.(no biggie except that I noticed it from previous plays and missed it this time around. Those who didn't know would not ever miss it.)
2. I grabbed the pistol from Pavel before the cutscene took over that showed the mafia arriving. I could not drag Kolsta with a pistol and had to drop it in order to grab it. After I dragged him, I was able to pick up my pistol again but once I got the optional task to retrieve it, it never showed that I had grabbed it(never completed).
3. After freeing Kolsta, we made our way to Tanya and the car and somehow, Olaf was injured(I was 4x speeding). He never crawled to the car, and so I got out to look for him but couldn't find him. Tanya and Piotyr began conversing so I hurried back to the car. The cutscene took over promptly and I wondered if it would have, had I not been in the car to drive it. Olaf showed up outside the car, prone and breathing heavy from injuries once we disembarked from the car at the docs house. He was setposed again inside the house, again, injured and prone. The cutscene with Piotyr and Olaf contemplating their actions, while the camera was inside the car, Olaf was not in the car. Once the player was given control again, Piotyr was back in the car, healed and ready to go. After that, the mission progressed without further problems.

That last issue were I thought you were deleting the units in the field? My apologies, I just shot them from a far distance and couldn't locate their bodies in the tall grass.(did it again this play test)

I know what it is now, those nvg's tipped the balance in favor of AI last time. (Huge improvements, thanks to BI)

The outro and end credits are simply captivating pal. Remarkable work. You also maintained the mood in the narrative as well.

I like that last credit too. All glory to J.C.!

Always good to experience your missions.
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 06 Jul 2012, 21:13:36
Mate, thank you very much for your commitment on this page (all of OFPEC) - outstanding work you do here! :good:

Ok, I know of No. 1 and 2 of your list - these ones were always there but I never noticed them. :D So thanks for telling me.

No. 3 is strange though... Never experienced it. I'll heal Olaf no matter what in the next version... Hopefully this won't happen again then. The conversation between Tanja and Piotr began because I think that you left the trigger that fires it while looking for Olaf. Will fix it so that it only takes place when the player is IN the car and leaves the trigger.

Yeah, patch 1.60 really was an improvement from BIS' side in terms of night combat without NVGs! It has to do with the knowsabout command which can be set now.

My "problem childs" are two cutscene: The one where Jegorow shoots the guys Yuri and Pawel and the one where the white mafia car passes through the village, shoots the informant and goes after the player.
Did these two work for you as they should?


Thanks again for your good (twentieth?? :D) test!
I'm heavily busy now until end of July (master thesis) but after that I'll sit down for the (hopefully final) version of FTLOAF so that it finally can be reviewed and I also will be preparing the beta version of the upcoming campaign in which I am at mission 15 at the moment. :D
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: savedbygrace on 07 Jul 2012, 01:12:24
Those cutscenes worked fine for me.
15 missions? Goodness, I hope they're interesting missions chocked full with relevant story content and not just missions connected with a desription.ext  :no:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Jul 2012, 10:39:07
Quote
full with relevant story
:D Oh yes, you can be sure of that! :D

It's absolutely story-driven. Lots of cutscenes and dialogs that evolve the story line. The characters and the relationships are heavily developed as well. Should be quite immersive. And IMHO the missions are quite interesting too. ;)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: mathias_eichinger on 10 Sep 2012, 20:59:32
Hey Undeceived,

just re-played your mission in version 1.7 and it is 100% bug free. With a bit of time and patience, the use of Lost Key it not necessary and even as this is my 3rd playthrough, I am still awed by the mission. This is like a favourite book or movie which can be dusted off every year or so but never ever gets old and dull... just becomes a classic. Hope to see more stuff from you.  :clap:
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 03 Nov 2012, 21:07:45
Oh mathias, I'm sorry, I didn't see your post until now. :D

Thanks a lot for your tests, mate! Really appreciated!




(Stay tuned for the next project. :D :D )
Title: (Please review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 26 Jan 2013, 23:50:28
This one can get reviewed, I guess. :)

I would like to use this opportunity to thank EVERY beta tester again! Thank you!


One note for the reviewer: After the player loads a savegame, there can appear script errors. Those however come out of the DAC. I tried to get rid of them but somehow I never was able to eliminate them, as they come from the core of the addon. Sorry.
Title: Re: (Under Review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: SaOk on 01 Feb 2013, 11:55:40
I will review this. :) I hope to have it ready in 1 month. The error wont have effect on score.
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: Undeceived on 03 Feb 2013, 12:06:13
Thanks, SaOk!

I think I will change one more tiny and small thing: I will add taskhints, instead of having normal hints for the tasks.

That's all and I will notify you when I'm done with it.
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.7)
Post by: SaOk on 03 Feb 2013, 12:25:18
Sure, I will wait that. :)
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)
Post by: Undeceived on 03 Feb 2013, 22:03:06
Hello SaOk - the new version (1.8 ) is up. :good: Thanks for reviewing it.
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)
Post by: SaOk on 03 Feb 2013, 23:10:49
Cool, going to test it soon through and write the review. I let you know if I find any issues. I have two previews to be written for finnish gaming magazine with deadline in 10 days. Those could delay things slightly (if the second game appear to be more difficult to write of).  :cool2:
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)
Post by: Undeceived on 04 Feb 2013, 19:36:17
Great! :)

Nice to hear that you've got some work on a gaming magazine. :good:

Take your time and yeah, if anything's fishy, just shout.
Title: Re: (Under review) [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)
Post by: SaOk on 05 Mar 2013, 11:52:41
Review is ready and readable here:
http://www.ofpec.com/missions_depot/index.php?action=details&amp;id=306

It was hard to give the final score. I felt this was almost 10, but then again what if there will be similar mission with also more dynamic progress. Think the 9 as high 9. ;)

ps. The first staff member with working function to move this thread. Could you move it to right place? :)
Title: Re: [SP] For The Life Of A Friend (v. 1.8)(Review Complete)
Post by: Undeceived on 07 Mar 2013, 20:17:23
Thanks again for your review, SaOk!

And thanks again to all beta testers!