OFPEC Forum
Missions Depot => Mission Discussion => OFP - Reviewed Missions => Topic started by: RKurtzDmitriyev on 07 Dec 2009, 21:23:11
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Village De-Pacification
Version 4.3
by R. Kurtz Dmitriyev
Mission Description: Command 12-man resistance squad against Soviet occupiers in town of Larche. Option of retreating or fighting against significant reinforcements.
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2407/screen4xx.th.jpg) (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/screen4xx.jpg/)
Required Addons
Made for OFP:Resistance version 1.96 with the WGL 5.12 mod. Get the latter at
http://www.ciahome.net/node/265
The official download site of WGL mod was at http://ofpc.de/wargames/ , but as of 6/21/10, that URL seems to lead to nothing.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT VOICES:
By default, the WGL mod disables AI radio voices. Tastes differ on whether this is a good decision. If it isn't to your liking, open up the file \@wgl5\bin\config_base.hpp with a text editor. Find the line
//#define ENABLE_AI_VOICES
and delete the two slashes in front of it. Save, and radio voices are re-enabled.
Features: I aimed for a short mission with lots of classic OFP infantry carnage. Several waves of enemy counterattacks need to be fought off to get the "happy" ending. Includes custom sounds.
File size: 1632 KB
Known Bugs: Freezing? (see pages 3ff)
Edit: This mission has been reviewed and is available from the Missions Depot (http://www.ofpec.com/missions_depot/index.php?action=details&id=276).
CHANGELOG
***WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS!***
1.0--12/7/09
[original]
2.0--12/12/09
Whole mission was rebuilt from ground up to be more "elegant." (I know much more about OFP editing than when I started building 1.0).
--significant changes to enemy forces. Enemy forces in the town have been beefed up, and there's another wave of counterattack, but the counterattacks are staggered out more.
--added more chatter to sideChat.
--ammo crates moved & enemy-occupied town redecorated.
--radio messages re-labelled
--scoring added
--briefing modified to accomodate above changes
2.7--12/18/09
Lots of changes!
--fixed bug that would have prevented the "happy ending" of the mission from triggering (if anyone had actually gotten to it! ;)
--typo that screwed up radio transmissions fixed
--randomness added by adding placement radii for enemy units & their waypoints.
--enemy AI boosted
--new overview picture
--gear selection added & default squad weapons loadout improved
--AI level of some Abel Squad loons boosted.
--briefing touched up for clarity
--ambient bird sounds are deleted after the shooting starts
--player can deactivate alarm by moving near the tents in S part of town.
--sandbags surround southern tents
--skiptime for "bad ending" cutscene reduced (some people found it hard to see)
--beast chatters and reacts if they're detected before attack order is given (not sure if this will ever happen)
--dozens of other, mostly cosmetic tweaks that I can't really remember ;)
2.8--12/22/09
Mostly minor changes.
--Retry update added.
--Player's squad had people with masks in it (wrong WGL unit type).
--Script typo that allowed mission-critical targets to flee was fixed.
--Synchronization of final Soviet attack modified. They should all come barreling into the town at roughly the same time.
--Ending trigger fixed to minimize "hunt the last loon" effect.
--MaxScore in description.ext lowered.
--In final cutscene, player is setpos moved before the dead chopper is (otherwise, it might get moved on top of the player).
--Border added to mission overview.
--More RPG-7VLs added to weapons crates.
--Beast Squad is now on "contact possible" until they get to the outskirts of town. Otherwise, they just move too slow.
--Radio chatter edited slightly.
2.9--12/30/09
Another large batch of changes (I can't control myself sometimes).
--omg omg CUSTOM VOICES!!!!1!!1one! At least in one edition, 2.9cs. For those who prefer a smaller file size, or dislike the sound of my voice, there's also version 2.9sf, identical except without the sound files.
--Enemy AI has more scripts to follow, including:
--If a crafty player attacks the airfield, enemy units there will move in on his group.
--Enemy MGs will be re-occupied if the first gunner is killed.
--Spetsnaz set up an ambush for the player in the forest N of Larche.
--Infantry reinforcements dismount from BMPs via an unassignvehicle command, rather than transport unload. Otherwise, T-72s will stop moving if the BMPs are killed before unloading.
--Helicopters forbidden from fleeing, and they have a cycle waypoint now.
--Markers for machine guns added to briefing.
--Retreat option should no longer be available if Beast goes down.
--Radio dialogue edited to make a little more sense.
--The people chatting in the final cutscene have special animations.
--Once the good ending is begun, all enemy units on the mainland of Malden are killed.
--There's a chance that Beast will be detected if the player waits too long.
--Beast squad AI given a boost.
--More RPK mags in gear selection.
--More ambient sounds added further from the town.
--"Massacre" cutscene now triggered simply by the Abel group leader (i.e., you) leaving the area, if he's alive.
--Lots more little details that I neglected to write down. Fortunately, the only bug seems to be the savegame issue, which is admittedly pretty serious. If anyone has tips, feel free to contact. :(
3.3--1/21/10
Okay, I made a multiplayer coop conversion based on 2.9 which went through several reincarnations of its own. This singleplayer version was derived from version 3.2MP. There are just too many changes to list conveniently, but I'll try to detail the biggest ones here:
--Order of enemy reinforcements changed
--Player's squad has more heavy weapons to start with
--Alarm deactivated with an addAction command, rather than trigger
--Number and skill level of enemy units in Larche significantly reduced
--Number of bird sounds reduced
--Spetsnaz squads blocking the retreat routes removed
--Many global variables cut (I'm not sure if that's what was causing the bug earlier. It seems to have gone away now, though).
--This version only comes with custom sounds. No one should mind the file size if they're up for a singleplayer mission.
3.35--1/24/10
D'oh!
--Overview was AWOL
--Typo in briefing
--Ending trigger conditions fixed (probably would not have mattered anyway, I didn't notice it until just now)
3.36--1/26/10
Gah!
--Savegame after initial cutscene added (why did I not think of this before?)
--A few civilian vehicles added for decoration
--eliminated @ command that checked whether crew was inside BMP before letting them engage at will, function replaced with extra waypoint.
4.0--6/20/10
Took a long break away from this mission. I've eased the difficulty in most respects. It can't be too difficult anymore (I know this, because I've actually completed my mission ;) ).
Changes:
--Spetsnaz squad that dismounts from Ural removed (way too much difficulty)
--Two out of three Mi24 choppers removed, remaining chopper made stupider
--Time between waves increased (to give plenty of time for retreat)
--Player now has sniper rifle in gear selection
--PG7VLs in gear selection replaced with plain PG7s
--So that the lone Mi24 can pose any threat at all, strelas in weapons cache reduced to one
--RPO anti-infantry weapons added to cache
--Mines added to cache
--Ending conditions: all members of the second armored wave and the heli-dropped VDV squad must be dead or fleeing (and player alive). Chopper does not need to be destroyed, it will fly away of its own accord when the land forces are dead or fleeing.
--Ending cutscene only shows chopper if it was disabled before mission end
--Voice files edited to reflect changes
--Briefing updated with more credits
--Other, hopefully minor edits that I can't remember or be bothered to write down ;)
4.1--7/4/10
Put on some finishing touches and fixed/improved some things I noticed...actually, more things than I would care to admit. :P
--Ammo crates re-organized, separated, and ruck mags removed (nobody has the patience to struggle with those ruck things in this mission anyway).
--Radio save added (can only be used once).
--Beast retreat radio changed from 2 channel to 4 channel to reduce the possibility of accidentally pressing it.
--Beast death trigger reworked (changed from a looping subsection of one script to a trigger that can take account of more possibilities).
--Now beast automatically attacks if and when they are spotted by the "spoiler" patrol.
--Removed confusing radio options that can be picked up from a dead Soviet radio operator.
--Fixed: Sound of dead bodies (used as props) falling was just barely audible at the beginning of the "happy" ending.
--Ending conditions: less than 3 enemies must be alive in Larche. Modified so that players can't "win" by somehow killing off the second wave without ever dealing with the enemies in the town. Unlikely this would happen in any case.
--Sometimes the recon post never reports the chopper. Should be fixed.
--Fixed: Big enemy patrol was stuck and never actually went on its loop.
--Fixed: Chopper didn't want to retreat like it was supposed to.
I've kinda given up saying "these are the finishing touches" by now. ;)
Version 4.2 9/18/10
--"good" ending reworked with new voice over, should make it less confusing
--added automatic AI ruck mag script
--added custom squad names
--added team joining
--gear selection modified to take account of ruck mag script
--bandages added to gear
--briefing re-organized with new "gear notes" section
--chopper eventually gives up pursuit when retreating if you're still alive
--patrol marker has the word "patrol" on it
--setcaptive after retreat completed, just in case
--eliminated chatter during cutscenes with enableRadio. durr, I never knew about that one
4.3--11/24/10
Gotta have the mags, man.
--Forgot to include regular and ruck mags for AKS-74U
--Modified ruck script to use AKS-74U (confusing class names, grrr)
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Will test it ;)!
Downloading WGL mod right now.
And also, :welcome: to OFPEC!
Package
Readme is there, and it does it's job. You might want to put a link to this thread in it.
Overview
Does the job correctly.
Intro
None.
Briefing
I liked it. Not too simple, not too sophisticated.
Mission
You did it pretty well for your first mission.
I ordered squad to follow me, and ordered Beast squad to roll in.
After short time of fighting (and getting wounded), I managed to sieze the village.
I was informed that T72's and BMP's are headed my way, and had very little time to prepare for their assault. I barely managed to scavenge a corpse of Soviet RPG soldier, and my men started reporting enemy tanks. I hid myself in a house and switched my new RPG. T72 rolled by the house, and I fired the RPG. I missed because scoped-HUD fooled me. I quickly took cover against the tank, and then BMP stopped next to house. I reloaded, shot my last RPG, and disabled it. I got most of my men KIA, so I decided that unless I retreat immediately I will get surrounded and killed very soon. I ordered my remaining men to retreat towards north route, since that one did not have armored vehicle in it. Then, just in case someone from Beast squad was alive, I switched to my map and just as I pressed Bravo, I got shot by the tank (I think).
Outro
Is there one? I did not reach it :).
Overall
Excellent job for your first mission. It is classic BIS-ish mission that are nor too hard nor too easy.
But there are few things I would like to get your attention to:
Enemy counter-attack
In order for player to have better chance of preparing himself for attack, you should delay enemy unit's arrival.
And it is a bit too hard to start with (at least as much as I counted) 1 T72 and 2 BMP's? Maybe you should start with few infantry squads, then go on light armor (BMP's only), and then start throwing in mixed armor/infantry units?
Enemy-occupied town
I think you should incorporate some enemy defenses, like sandbags and machineguns, ammo crates, maybe even a guard tower (for guard tower search for Editor Upgrade 103 by Mikero, an addon that allows you place more units and objects).
Patrols
It would be realistic if you included some two-soldier or even entire-squad patrols patrolling the perimeter around the town.
Radio
You should change Alpha to "Beast - Attack" (or similar), Bravo to "Beast - Retreat". You can do that using "Text" field in trigger editor. Also, Bravo radio message should not be available at very beginning. Create an "init.sqs" file and write in following:
2 setRadioMsg "Null"
and in beastcomms.sqs add:
2 setRadioMsg "Beast - Retreat"
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Will test it Wink!
Downloading WGL mod right now.
And also, Welcome to OFPEC!
Thank you for your time. It means a lot. :)
Package
Readme is there, and it does it's job. You might want to put a link to this thread in it.
Good idea! Of course, what happened is that I wrote it before I posted the thread.
Overview
Does the job correctly.
Intro
None.
Briefing
I liked it. Not too simple, not too sophisticated.
Mission
You did it pretty well for your first mission.
I ordered squad to follow me, and ordered Beast squad to roll in.
After short time of fighting (and getting wounded), I managed to sieze the village.
I was informed that T72's and BMP's are headed my way, and had very little time to prepare for their assault. I barely managed to scavenge a corpse of Soviet RPG soldier, and my men started reporting enemy tanks. I hid myself in a house and switched my new RPG. T72 rolled by the house, and I fired the RPG. I missed because scoped-HUD fooled me. I quickly took cover against the tank, and then BMP stopped next to house. I reloaded, shot my last RPG, and disabled it. I got most of my men KIA, so I decided that unless I retreat immediately I will get surrounded and killed very soon. I ordered my remaining men to retreat towards north route, since that one did not have armored vehicle in it. Then, just in case someone from Beast squad was alive, I switched to my map and just as I pressed Bravo, I got shot by the tank (I think).
Cool. An Mi-24 helicopter full of infantry came in, too, didn't it? It should.
Also, those WGL RPG sights are very tricky. ;)
Outro
Is there one? I did not reach it Smiley.
There is not what the OFP engine considers an "outro." But there are cutscenes that should occur between either possible ending and the briefing.
Overall
Excellent job for your first mission. It is classic BIS-ish mission that are nor too hard nor too easy.
But there are few things I would like to get your attention to:
Enemy counter-attack
In order for player to have better chance of preparing himself for attack, you should delay enemy unit's arrival.
And it is a bit too hard to start with (at least as much as I counted) 1 T72 and 2 BMP's? Maybe you should start with few infantry squads, then go on light armor (BMP's only), and then start throwing in mixed armor/infantry units?
Actually there are TWO T-72s in that little column. There should also be infantry inside of the BMPs. It was reasonably easy to kill them all for me, but I have complete foreknowledge of the mission.
Did you happen to notice that there are ammo crates in one of the tents?
I will consider a larger time delay. (There already is a roughly two-minute one).
Enemy-occupied town
I think you should incorporate some enemy defenses, like sandbags and machineguns, ammo crates, maybe even a guard tower (for guard tower search for Editor Upgrade 103 by Mikero, an addon that allows you place more units and objects).
When I first made the mission, there were MGs, but I cut them because I thought it was making it too hard. I'll have another go at it, though. Sandbags are a good idea. At least a Soviet flag would hit the spot. ;)
Patrols
It would be realistic if you included some two-soldier or even entire-squad patrols patrolling the perimeter around the town.
There already is an 8-man squad walking around the town, but maybe you didn't see it because it starts out on the other side, in view of Beast squad.
It sounds like I should basically beef up defenses in and around the town somewhat, and stagger out the counter-attacks a little more.
Radio
You should change Alpha to "Beast - Attack" (or similar), Bravo to "Beast - Retreat". You can do that using "Text" field in trigger editor. Also, Bravo radio message should not be available at very beginning. Create an "init.sqs" file and write in following:
Code:
2 setRadioMsg "Null"
and in beastcomms.sqs add:
Code:
2 setRadioMsg "Beast - Retreat"
Thank you, will be implemented when I find the time.
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Thank you for your time. It means a lot. :)
Glad I could help!
Cool. An Mi-24 helicopter full of infantry came in, too, didn't it? It should.
Also, those WGL RPG sights are very tricky. ;)
Yep, it did. I probably forgot to mention it because I did not target it (except some small-arms fire). I did not want to waste RPG ammo which was precious at the time. I am already loving WGL mod!
There is not what the OFP engine considers an "outro." But there are cutscenes that should occur between either possible ending and the briefing.
Ahh, I get it now :)!
Actually there are TWO T-72s in that little column. There should also be infantry inside of the BMPs. It was reasonably easy to kill them all for me, but I have complete foreknowledge of the mission.
Did you happen to notice that there are ammo crates in one of the tents?
I will consider a larger time delay. (There already is a roughly two-minute one).
I guess I over-seed one of them. And I am now little noobish in infantry warfare, since I spent a lot of time in T80, when creating and editing my mission, "The Red Grinder". And, no I did not see that ammo crate. I guess I was in kind of hurry.
Is the 2-min delay triggered immediately after alarm is being rised, or after player seizes the town?
There already is an 8-man squad walking around the town, but maybe you didn't see it because it starts out on the other side, in view of Beast squad.
It sounds like I should basically beef up defenses in and around the town somewhat, and stagger out the counter-attacks a little more.
I guess that's the case, since Beast reported seeing a patrol.
And yes, all you need to do is get the defenses a bit higher.
Nice mission and work here, RKurtzDmitriyev!
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I am already loving WGL mod!
I'm glad to hear it. You should come play on the CiA co-op server (http://www.ciahome.net/ (http://www.ciahome.net/)). We play WGL missions every Sunday at 19:00 GMT. Actually, the last few weeks we've had people sign up for pre-planned missions, and had around 20 players show up each time. Great fun. You'll need to install team-speak and request a password, but it's worth it in my opinion.
Sorry, just proselytizing for my favorite server. But WGL is the favorite there.
Is the 2-min delay triggered immediately after alarm is being rised, or after player seizes the town?
The tanks start driving from the airport about two or three minutes after the alarm is raised. Of course, it still takes them at least about three minutes to get to Larche. The idea is that the enemy isn't just going to wait for every last one of their soldiers to die before sending reinforcements. The chopper (which takes off a minute after the alert) is an immediate response, and the tanks are assembled for a big counter-attack. But it looks like a delay of more like about 5 or 7 minutes is more appropriate.
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Hey Kurtz,
I didn't know you were into making missions. I've downloaded it and gave it a bit of a spin. Seems to be pretty well thought out.
Intro cut scene
Good Briefing
More notes than briefing :)
AI squad does well against enemy
Had to add tinkiling bell music?...haha
When I have more time I'll give it a serious play through.
Watchout Zwobot and Marto, you may have some competition here... :whistle:
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Thanks you Zulu. :)
New version uploaded! Changes described above. Enjoy. :cool2:
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OK, here it goes...
Mission
I ordered Beast squad to move in, and when enemy was distracted and hit them from behind. Soon, I captured the city. Hind moved in as usual, but did not do too much damage. This time I was more then prepared for counter-attack. Enemy units came in, and I managed to destroy BMP2. Infantry started making push into the town. I was looking for suitable place to make my last stand (and find that ammo Beast was talking about). On my way I encountered enemy soldier while holding RPG in my hands. I had a choice. Try to switch to AK-47 and hope he does not hit me, or use my last RPG and kill him. I decided to use the second option. Killed him, switched to AK-47. This was good, because I encountered another soldier while passing between several buildings. I killed him too. Then I found that ammo and picked up 2 RPG rounds. I started searching for T72 to send him to same place I sent that BMP2 (hell, pretty much), and then Hind came above my squad and killed 3 of my guys. I got annoyed by it, and decided to use RPG and take that Hind down. I waited it to pass above me again to shoot. So it did, I shot the RPG and hit it right in the center. That was one of my luckiest shots. But, this indirectly got me killed. Hind managed to shoot me with it's cannons while falling down. Boom. I got white out. Next thing I know I am dead.
Suggestions:
-Sandbags. Add them so both enemy and player have more defensive options.
-Randomness & Strategy. Add more troops with less than 100% possibility of presence. And then also add maybe two options for Beast: To attack the town directly, or to try to lure most of town's infantry to woods so remaining resistance fighters would kill them there. Each options has it's advantage:
-Attack will mean that there will be more friendly units with you during counter-attack but it also means that you will have much more enemies to fight.
-Luring enemy will mean that you will have less enemies to fight during initial attack, but less troops with you during enemy counter-attack.
-Smarter enemy. Make enemies skill a bit higher so they would be more of a challenge. Make BMP in town less exposed to attacks. It was too easy to take out.
Nice mission by the way :good:!
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Bleedin' typical. Just when I was planning on moving away from being addressed as Walter or, God help me, Walt and instead being referred to with civility as Mister Kurtz, or maybe even Colonel Kurtz - my originally desired nom de guerre ...
(And there's no relation with Walter_E._Kurtz!).
I can only echo this as being true to my knowledge. Although I don't know how old you are; perhaps I met your mother?
Readme: Fine.
Overview: OK, but sneak closer to take the screenshot for the picture. The WGL Mod allows plenty of space for the overview to be displayed in.
Briefing:
- markers work fine
- needs a weapon selection. It doesn't have to be big, but otherwise it's a pain if I want to swap weapons with one of my team-mates. I'd say three each of AK-74s, Grenade Launchers, RPKs and PKs should be fine.
- improve the skill of some of my team-mates: make at least a couple Veterans.
- the objectives could better divided: the first one seems to check off as soon as the attack begins and the third shouldn't be joined. I'd suggest:
1. Attack and eliminate the garrison.
3. Hold the town against counter-attack.
You may have to reconfigure the triggers for this as "alive _x" count ... for the various groups involved.
Mission:
- only given it one try so far - didn't look after my squad and got taken out by the second wave.
- you have a rogue line-break in recon.sqs preventing me from hearing later messages#
loop2 - since the WGL Mod mutes the radio messages, your mission really could do with some sounds (consider ripping Tasmanian Devil from the Resistance campaign - I thought there was a list of all dialogue from official missions somewhere, but I can't find it currently).
And did I put in too many ambient sounds (birds chirping, etc)?
- if you name them, I think you can deleteVehicle them once the shooting starts.
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Thanks for testing, Kurtz. Sorry about having a similar nickname. It wasn't intentional, I promise. I came up with "R. Kurtz Dmitriyev" as a funky pseudonym years ago.
Overview: OK, but sneak closer to take the screenshot for the picture. The WGL Mod allows plenty of space for the overview to be displayed in.
Roger.
Briefing:
- markers work fine
- needs a weapon selection. It doesn't have to be big, but otherwise it's a pain if I want to swap weapons with one of my team-mates. I'd say three each of AK-74s, Grenade Launchers, RPKs and PKs should be fine.
Roger. The reason I didn't add one to start with was that I wasn't sure how to balance it all. Gear screen will be improved, though.
- improve the skill of some of my team-mates: make at least a couple Veterans.
Hmmm...wouldn't want to make the mission too easy, but I can see your point as low-skill loons can be hard to work with. They're already at 50% skill. I'll give them more variety, at least. (some veterans, some rookies).
- the objectives could better divided: the first one seems to check off as soon as the attack begins and the third shouldn't be joined. I'd suggest:
1. Attack and eliminate the garrison.
3. Hold the town against counter-attack.
You may have to reconfigure the triggers for this as "alive _x" count ... for the various groups involved.
I'm not sure what you mean by the "the third shouldn't be joined." But I'll re-word the objectives.
Mission:
- only given it one try so far - didn't look after my squad and got taken out by the second wave.
- you have a rogue line-break in recon.sqs preventing me from hearing later messages#
loop2
Thank you, will be fixed. :)
- since the WGL Mod mutes the radio messages, your mission really could do with some sounds (consider ripping Tasmanian Devil from the Resistance campaign - I thought there was a list of all dialogue from official missions somewhere, but I can't find it currently).
I'll see what I can do. ;)
And did I put in too many ambient sounds (birds chirping, etc)?
- if you name them, I think you can deleteVehicle them once the shooting starts.
Excellent idea, will be implemented. :)
Thanks again!
EDIT: apparently I'm not allowed to double post, so here's feedback to Krieg as well.
-Sandbags. Add them so both enemy and player have more defensive options.
I'll add some more, but I was trying to portray the town garrison as somewhat ill-prepared (because they underestimated the resistance). So I don't want it to look like a hardened fortress. But a few more will hit the spot. ;)
-Randomness & Strategy. Add more troops with less than 100% possibility of presence.
I'll consider it--I'll at least fiddle around with placement radii. (omg latin!!1)
And then also add maybe two options for Beast: To attack the town directly, or to try to lure most of town's infantry to woods so remaining resistance fighters would kill them there. Each options has it's advantage:
-Attack will mean that there will be more friendly units with you during counter-attack but it also means that you will have much more enemies to fight.
-Luring enemy will mean that you will have less enemies to fight during initial attack, but less troops with you during enemy counter-attack.
Interesting idea, I'll think about it.
-Smarter enemy. Make enemies skill a bit higher so they would be more of a challenge.
Will be implemented.
Make BMP in town less exposed to attacks. It was too easy to take out.
Eh, I'm not sure. The problem is that they'll be plenty more BMPs arriving in the counter-attacks, so it doesn't seem really necessary to make it hard to kill this one. I can't help but notice that no one so far has reported surviving all the counter-attacks. :P
Nice mission by the way :good:!
Thank you, hope you'll play the next update too.
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Just quickly.
Squad composition
- would be fine for multiplayer where humans can pick up weapons from fallen comrades and drop extra ammo without being told.
- I'd like a second RPG soldier in the squad, so I've less need of micro-managing their rearming.
I'm not sure what you mean by the "the third shouldn't be joined."
Simply that, relative to the briefing, the two tasks listed under that objective aren't connected. In other words, fighting off counter-attacks is meant to be optional.
It's a fair bit of work - adding to description.ext and placing extra units - but I'm interested to see what happens if I add a 60mm mortar base + tube to my squad. Will report back later...
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Just quickly.
Squad composition
- would be fine for multiplayer where humans can pick up weapons from fallen comrades and drop extra ammo without being told.
- I'd like a second RPG soldier in the squad, so I've less need of micro-managing their rearming.
This is a good point.
I'm not sure what you mean by the "the third shouldn't be joined."
Simply that, relative to the briefing, the two tasks listed under that objective aren't connected. In other words, fighting off counter-attacks is meant to be optional.
Ah, I get it now. Yes, I see what you mean.
Now, actually, eliminating the garrison is, in principle, optional, too--in fact, you can retreat right from the beginning and get the same ending as if you wiped them out and then fled the counterattacks. I'm just assuming that the player probably won't just retreat till he's at least shot some people. Now that I think of it, maybe I should change that, too--add a third "really bad" ending if you just flee the battlefield.
It's a fair bit of work - adding to description.ext and placing extra units - but I'm interested to see what happens if I add a 60mm mortar base + tube to my squad. Will report back later...
Thank you. I tried setting up WGL mortars a while back, but couldn't figure out how to make it work.
Thanks for the feedback. :)
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Again showing callous disregard for my men, I made the attack. I took out the first wave armour and, having lost my entire squad, retreated West. Having ordered Beast to attack earlier, I now told them to retreat also. I don't think they did, because I later received a message that they were still moving into the town. Anyway, I got the bad ending but it was too dark to make out who was doing what to whom: a lot of blackness with a pale light in the centre, some zooming in, some figures seated around a fire, then more blackness and a firefight with tracers in the dark; impossible to tell what it was all about.
Mortars
I think most people will be relieved to discover that adding mortars is a lot easier in WGL5 than it was in earlier versions. The WGL 4 Technical Manual (page 70) explains how to make use of one in the field, but now it's safe to ignore most of how it describes adding one to a mission. You need to:
1. Place a (Side:) Game Logic ---> #WGL_Logics ---> Enable Mortars game logic
2. Close by, place ONE mortar as a substitute for every one that will be available in the mission. In this case BLUFOR ---> Crewed Vehicles ---> M224 60mm Mortar
3. Add the following to description.extclass Weapons
{
class WGL_Mortar60WProxy
{
count = 1;
};
class WGL_Mortar60WTripodProxy
{
count = 1;
};
};
class Magazines
{
class WGL_Mortar60W_PDM
{
count = 4;
};
class WGL_Mortar60WP_PDM
{
count = 4;
};
};This makes available the 60mm tripod base and mortar tube, along with four rounds each of High Explosive and White Phosphorus, in the weapons selection.
Beware: I'm not sure why it is, but once you have assigned someone to carry the base or tube, the HE rounds will be LOST PERMANENTLY from the magazines available. So, FIRST give the HE rounds to yourself (easiest) BEFORE making someone ELSE carry the base and tube.
Example of use
Having noted the above problem, I take 4 HE rounds myself, assign the base to Number 6 (#6) and the tube to Number 7 (#7), who also gets the four WP rounds. Then I return the HE rounds to the pool and give them instead to #6.
Starting the game, I move the squad West to the edge of the wood and tell everyone to hold position. I instruct #6 to move to a position of my choice and use his action menu F6 - 6 - 1 (Deploy Base). #7 is told to move near to this position and mount the tube F7 - 6 - 2 (Mount Tube on Base).
Take a vague bearing on Larche from the mortar position. In Mils (the outer ring of the WGL compass) this is about 2700. As part of deploying the base, #6 drops his HE rounds on the floor so he has to be told to pick them up again.
#6 and #7 will be the ones using the mortar, so everyone else is moved out of the way. #6 needs to equip the mortar round before he can load them. From his action menu select "Reload 60mm HE Mortar". Once he has done that, he can put it in the tube - "Load Mortar HE". You should hear the noise of the mortar being loaded. These two steps will need to be repeated for each shot.
Switch to Map view. We can now order #6 to use the mortar, so press F6 - 6 - 1 (Fire Control). A box should appear at the top of the map screen, but to make best use of it we need some configuration.
Click on the G box and, as instructed, click on the map to mark the Mortar's position. Now click on the box marked T and then on the map on your intended target. Close the Dialogue box and exit the map screen.
Position yourself somewhere with a good view of the target and the rest of the squad, except #6 and #7, ready to assault.
My map reading is certainly not military grade, and yours' is probably just as bad. Order #6 to bring up the dialogue again F6 - 6 -1 (Fire Control). Click on the box marked Azimuth and enter the bearing we took earlier: 2700 Mils. You can calculate the necessary elevation if you want, I tend to guesstimate: 1525 Mils should drop them about 300 metres away. Having entered this info, click on the Target box. You may hear the mortar adjusting itself.
Once it's done, click Fire, then close the Dialogue box. Be prepared to wait; the flight time is approximately 26 seconds. Make use of this time by getting another round in the tube: order #6 to "Reload 60mm HE Mortar" and then to "Load Mortar HE".
You should hear the sound of the incoming mortar before it impacts on target. It's always good to start with a bang :)
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Thanks for testing again, Kurtz. :)
Again showing callous disregard for my men, I made the attack. I took out the first wave armour and, having lost my entire squad, retreated West. Having ordered Beast to attack earlier, I now told them to retreat also. I don't think they did, because I later received a message that they were still moving into the town.
??? No idea why they wouldn't be retreating. On radio bravo, beastsquad is given a "move" command to position of object 18396 (next to the lighthouse in southwestern peninsula). They're definitely getting this move order when I play in the mission editor. Perhaps they fled, and moved backwards into the town. Did you get a transmission from them screaming that they need to pull out? If their group flees, then you should have.
I'm having them move to a different location in the next version, hopefully that will clear any problems up. :confused:
Anyway, I got the bad ending but it was too dark to make out who was doing what to whom: a lot of blackness with a pale light in the centre, some zooming in, some figures seated around a fire, then more blackness and a firefight with tracers in the dark; impossible to tell what it was all about.
My computer monitor must be set brighter than yours, because I could see the scene rather clearly. A bunch of Soviet VDV airborne men massacre a group of civilians lined up, and then the camera zooms in on the woman you saw in the opening cutscene. I'll reduce the skiptime so that the scene is easier to see. :)
Thanks for the information about the mortars. I don't think I'll incorporate them into this mission, but maybe some other one. ;)
EDIT: New version, check it out!!! :D
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Tested version 2.7.
Package
As always, does it's job!
Overview
Good pic, but you might consider adding border to it.
Intro
Although there is no thing in this mission that is intro by engine, non-engine intro does it's job pretty well!
Briefing
Does it's job nicely.
Mission
I definitely noticed boosted enemy AI. It makes things a lot harder. I managed to seize the town, but paratroopers got me, as well as all of my men. It was pretty fun, actually. One thing I noticed is that mission lagged a bit at beginning of the firefight. But it was more than playable to me!
Outro
Did not reach it.
Overall
Good improvement with AI! Lag was increased to me, so try not to add too many new friends/enemies.
Suggestions
Beast squad
I have no idea when they are KIA. Perhaps add a script that detects if beast squad is KIA. If they are, add this radio chat thingy (edit it so it suits your needs):
beast sideChat "Abel! We are being overwhelmed! We need to... arghhh!!!"
~3
player sideChat "Beast! Beast! Beast do you copy?"
~3
player groupChat "Dammit! Beast is down!"
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Tested version 2.7.
Package
As always, does it's job!
Overview
Good pic, but you might consider adding border to it.
Won't be difficult :D .
Mission
I definitely noticed boosted enemy AI. It makes things a lot harder. I managed to seize the town, but paratroopers got me, as well as all of my men. It was pretty fun, actually. One thing I noticed is that mission lagged a bit at beginning of the firefight. But it was more than playable to me!
Glad you had fun! :) I'll see if there's any way I can cut down on lag. I want to make a MP version eventually, so this will be important.
Outro
Did not reach it.
If you're interested, you can see the final cutscene by opening up the mission in the editor. If you call a script with the following code (perhaps in a radio trigger), you will see my substitute for the "good" outro.
"_x setdammage 1" forEach units armreinf
"_x setdammage 1" forEach units armreinf2
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units bpatrol
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units msquad
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units wpnsq
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units crewgrp
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units pilotgrp
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units vdvgrp
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units infreinfor1
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units infreinfor2
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units infreinfor3
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units mg1grp
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units mg2grp
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units hqpatrol
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units spets1
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units spets2
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units spets3
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units finalspets
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units offsquad
"_x setDammage 1" forEach units smalsquad
"_x setdammage 1" forEach units bpatrol
"_x setdammage 1" forEach [tprt, airreinfor1, airreinfor2, bob1, bob2, bob4, crew2, crew3]
This will kill almost every enemy unit and should trigger the final cutscene, and then the "good" debriefing. For the bad debriefing, just retreat about 1km in any direction (you can also use the editor to move your squad right next to the edge of the trigger field ;) ).
Overall
Good improvement with AI! Lag was increased to me, so try not to add too many new friends/enemies.
Suggestions
Beast squad
I have no idea when they are KIA. Perhaps add a script that detects if beast squad is KIA. If they are, add this radio chat thingy (edit it so it suits your needs):
beast sideChat "Abel! We are being overwhelmed! We need to... arghhh!!!"
~3
player sideChat "Beast! Beast! Beast do you copy?"
~3
player groupChat "Dammit! Beast is down!"
There should already be a script that does just that, and with almost exactly the same dialogue. :D :P I'll check to be sure it's working.
EDIT:
New version 2.8 uploaded. If no one reports serious bugs, I'm ready to have it reviewed. How do I submit it for review? Shall I simply edit the thread title?
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Downloading new version! ;)
New version 2.8 uploaded. If no one reports serious bugs, I'm ready to have it reviewed. How do I submit it for review? Shall I simply edit the thread title?
That's how it's done. Just add "(Please Review)" to the thread title.
Edit: Here it goes.
Mission
Nothing too new detected, except that this time Beast attacked faster, which is good. I died far out of the town, being pinned down behind a tree. Now comes in real bug testing. I will "cheat" a bit now (setting myself a captive, etc). Stay tuned for bug report!
Edit 2:
Two bugs found. MI-24s will after completing their waypoints (presumably) stopped and hovered at same position. You can fix this using cycle waypoints. And also, even after Beast was KIA, Beast--Retreat was still available. Causing me to say what Beast was supposed to.
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Downloading new version! ;)
Thanks for testing :)
Edit 2:
Two bugs found. MI-24s will after completing their waypoints (presumably) stopped and hovered at same position. You can fix this using cycle waypoints.
I thought about that. Problem is that if I use a cycle, they'll go all the way back to the airport and come back to Larche, because there's a "getin" waypoint for the pilots. I couldn't just place a chopper with crew already inside, because as I recall, choppers will take off as soon as they have a waypoint. I don't want the sound of the choppers audible too early.
But now that I think about it, between having them hover and having them fly off back to the airfield every now and then, the airfield is probably better. They should be on "engage at will" anyway, and I think that means that choppers practically ignore waypoints if they see a target.
And also, even after Beast was KIA, Beast--Retreat was still available.
Good point, will be fixed. :)
Causing me to say what Beast was supposed to.
What do you mean? What was the dialogue? ???
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But now that I think about it, between having them hover and having them fly off back to the airfield every now and then, the airfield is probably better. They should be on "engage at will" anyway, and I think that means that choppers practically ignore waypoints if they see a target.
Agreed.
What do you mean? What was the dialogue? ???
That's the point. There was no dialogue. Only monologue. I think I said Beast's lines. But I might be wrong, on second opinion.
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Now comes in real bug testing. I will "cheat" a bit now (setting myself a captive, etc).
If you're interested in testing the ending cutscene, just add a radio trigger which executes "testkill.sqs". This is an unused script that should kill almost all enemy units and end the mission. ;)
EDIT: New version, again! And there's custom sounds. :) This time I did much more of my own testing. Everything should be OK, except for one admittedly lousy bug.
After the player's retry position is saved, which happens when the resistance approaches the town, and he reloads to that position (say after dying), it seems that the radio transmissions won't work. The game gives me an error dialog box that says "cannot find radio transmission smallarmor" or whatever the name of the radio transmission is. It's as though the game has forgotten the description.ext file. This does NOT happen when the player goes all the way through without reloading (but that's kinda hard, in a mission this difficult). I'm stumped. >:( Hopefully this will be fixed in a future version.
Any tips? In the COMREF under savegame, (http://www.ofpec.com/COMREF/index.php?action=details&id=273&game=All) Planck says that "too many global variables will corrupt your savegame file when you save your mission progress." Could that be the problem? If it is, then how do I avoid "too many global variables?" Does that mean that I need to make less of them exist, or use less of them in commands? ???
Anyway, thanks for any testing. :)
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New version available? Downloading right now!
Edit: I played it, didn't get too far and I have noticed that there is a bit more lag :dry:.
Bug-test will follow up soonish.
By the way, I like custom voice-over.
As for the save game issue, from what I can see you have three options:
1) Leave it as it is.
2) Remove save game trigger.
3) reduce number of global variables.
Edit: Bug report. No bugs found except the one you mentioned.
I have one suggestion, though.
Cut down on initial numbers of Russians in the town. And also, delete one of the machineguns, else the player will be cut down before he reaches the town, and perhaps reduce skill of Ruskies in town..
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Thanks for the test Krieg. :)
Edit: I played it, didn't get too far and I have noticed that there is a bit more lag :dry:.
Sorry! Maybe I'll use the WGL remove dead bodies gamelogic, but that won't help the lag at the beginning.
Or maybe I'll cut down Russians in town (see below).
The mission lags a bit for me when I first load it. However, subsequent loadings run much more smoothly. If I play a different mission and come back to Village De-Pacification, it runs slowly again. It must have something to do with how OFP loads missions.
By the way, I like custom voice-over.
Thank you, I did my best to sound convincing. :D
As for the save game issue, from what I can see you have three options:
1) Leave it as it is.
2) Remove save game trigger.
3) reduce number of global variables.
You think it's definitely an issue with the number of global variables? Does that mean that I simply need to have fewer names for units, groups, conditions, etc? Or does it mean that I have to use fewer of them in commands (that is, use more local variables in scripts)?
(1) will just seem too crappy, especially if the savegame file is getting corrupted. Then the OFP gods only know what could happen. :dunno:
(2) will require making the mission easier.
(3) might work, I'll see what I can do.
Cut down on initial numbers of Russians in the town. And also, delete one of the machineguns, else the player will be cut down before he reaches the town, and perhaps reduce skill of Ruskies in town..
I'll think about it. I may have to cut Russians just to reduce lag, and global variable numbers. :p Another option is to change the angle of one of the MGs so that it can't swing all the way north.
The MGs weren't terribly big problems when I played through the mission, though. A few well-placed shots will kill the gunner just like any other infantryman.
I'm planning to make a multiplayer co-op version eventually. Maybe I'll nerf the enemies for the singleplayer version, since it's harder to succeed with a squad of loons than with a squad of (competent) human beings.
So thanks again, and I hope the review for Red Grinder goes well. :cool2:
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Sorry! Maybe I'll use the WGL remove dead bodies gamelogic, but that won't help the lag at the beginning.
Only time I had lag was when shooting started. It was playable, but a bit annoying. If you played first version of "The Final Stand" you'd know how bad lag can get in OFP.
lag is overcoming , pretty much unacceptable sorry to say, its like 300 hamsters in a wheel ;)
I like to think that "The Final Stand was laggiest mission ever in beginning.
I guess that cutting down on Russians will help a bit.
You think it's definitely an issue with the number of global variables? Does that mean that I simply need to have fewer names for units, groups, conditions, etc? Or does it mean that I have to use fewer of them in commands (that is, use more local variables in scripts)?
I'm not really sure here... I think you should experiment a bit, and see the results ;)!
(1) will just seem too crappy, especially if the savegame file is getting corrupted. Then the OFP gods only know what could happen. :dunno:
(2) will require making the mission easier.
(3) might work, I'll see what I can do.
Agree with 1).
Yeah, perhaps solution 3) is the best answer.
The MGs weren't terribly big problems when I played through the mission, though. A few well-placed shots will kill the gunner just like any other infantryman.
They were a bit of a problem for me, because I could not see them because of the bushes... Or because I am blind :scratch:.
I'm planning to make a multiplayer co-op version eventually. Maybe I'll nerf the enemies for the singleplayer version, since it's harder to succeed with a squad of loons than with a squad of (competent) human beings.
Yeah, maybe made them a bit more... inexperienced.
So thanks again, and I hope the review for Red Grinder goes well. :cool2:
It was pleasure to test your mission, and thanks for hopes for Red Grinder!
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So do I understand correctly that you observed the saveGame bug yourself, as well? I just want to be sure that it's something that happens on all computers, or all play-throughs of the game.
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I did not try to replicate it, but I will try tomorrow.
I'll get the savegame then kill myself with RPG. Then see the effects.
Edit: Does not happen to me :blink:!
I got the save position, killed myself, and everything went just fine. Jackal informed me and so on...
Also, I recall seeing a resistance trooper in the village AFTER Beast was dead. I am sure that he was not part of my squad because all Abel squad-members were dead.
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I did not try to replicate it, but I will try tomorrow.
I'll get the savegame then kill myself with RPG. Then see the effects.
Edit: Does not happen to me :blink:!
I got the save position, killed myself, and everything went just fine. Jackal informed me and so on...
Pretty bizarre, maybe the bug was unique to my computer, or my particular playing session.
Or maybe some other part of your savegame file was corrupted! :P
Either way, it's a good idea to trim anything you don't need, so I'm cutting out lots of global variables for the next (hopefully final) version.
Also, I recall seeing a resistance trooper in the village AFTER Beast was dead. I am sure that he was not part of my squad because all Abel squad-members were dead.
Ah yes, I think I know why that would have happened. To make a long story short: was based on a misunderstanding of how the sideRadio command would work, and it should be fixed next version. :-[
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Gave this one a flyby today. Actually, I've sunk about 6 hours into it already and though the wgl mod is frustrating to me and I would just as well see it burned on the back lot, The gameplay was intense.
Resistance 1.96 no mods other than wgl, veteran mode.
First I'll just say that I can not stand the WGL mod. It is horrible. With that off of my chest, This mission has me hooked. Even though the mod is pissing me off, your mission is making me come back for more. It resembles another mission I have played in the past(can't remember who's) but much more difficult.
I did not encounter the savegame bug and I have reloaded well over 20 times.
So the balance is off slightly. After reading some of the other posts, it was too easy at first and now it is just way too hard. Even Macgubas Unimpossible Mission gave you breathing room once you escaped the initial slaughter.
Downsizing Heavy armor to APC's would not be unwelcomed, not only gameplay wise but story wise as well. Having Heavy tanks respond to such a small threat seems uneconomical. Also having CAS hovering above, wasting fuel and expensive high caliber rounds on targets that could be taken out with smaller fragments is unbelievable. If you must have Helos, have them bring in reinforcements for infantry groups which have dropped below a certain number. Then place a guard heli over them during the insertion.
To balance things out without removing units, you could simply adjust waypoints. Don't have any more than one armor group in the city at a time, or atleast have the waypoints spread out and syncronized so that the groups are located at different patrol routes, one being inner city while the other patrols the pastures. Its difficult enough defending against infantry who can spot you through dense foliage and shoot you through tents.
Another tactic that would fit right in is providing the player with enemy vehicles for defensive positioning. Leave more than just one Ural so that the player can barricade himself and his fellows inside a makeshift fort or zone to better combat the odds.
From what I had seen after being pinned in the yard with the cache, the armor was brushing right past the cache tent without destroying it or the much needed sanbag walls. That caused me to wonder if you had taken measures to secure its integrity. If not, It may me a good idea to do so. But if you decide to leave a few urals or civilian vehicles in town for player repositioning, you can ignore this and allow the player to deal with it.
I'll keep trying to beat it as is though.
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Thanks for testing savedbygrace. I'm glad that you seem to like it and didn't get the savegame bug. It could just be a different bug unique to the time I was testing it.
I've taken time off of the singleplayer version to focus on a multiplayer conversion that I made. It suffers from occasional desync problems that I can't quite understand or get rid of. Your post has reminded me that I should probably get back to the SP version sometime soon.
I guess we just have differing opinions about the WGL mod. :P What don't you like about it?
Regarding difficulty...yes, I should nerf the enemies. Perhaps nerfing the AI and deleting or changing some T-72s is in order.
Have you tried retreating? One option I have considered is making it easier to retreat. That way, it's as though the player has a "dare" to see how long he can stay in the fight before he runs away, like a game of chicken.
Regarding having heavy tanks and choppers respond...I guess I was imagining that the Soviets were opting for a "lavish use of firepower." That catchphrase was coined to describe the Americans in Vietnam, who spent massive resources on a bombing campaign in which the tons of bombs dropped was greater than the number of killed enemies (as I recall from reading). Similarly, I was imagining the Soviets "freaking out" in response to the sudden resistance attack and sending a disproportionate response, like a huge animal that's gotten spooked.
And as for the cache tent and sandbag walls, I'm not sure why it would not be destroyed by vehicles running over it. I took no measures to make them indestructible. WGL doesn't allow civilian buildings to be destroyed, but I'm pretty sure I've seen tents get crushed. ???
Thanks for testing again, and good luck trying to beat it.
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Like I said before. Your mission is awesome but your chosen mod is horrible. I TRULY wish you had a version that did not require that mod. The main thing I do not like is the interference with sound. Other than that, I am just use to OFP as it is. Since I have played it the same way since 2002, I hate mods that change my comfort zone. Some of the animations are crap, particles are garbage, sounds are not worth the change and for some reason, the enemy keep shooting me through tents. Don't get me wrong, it has some positive features I like but not enough for me to warrant a 500+ MB download for one mission. Especially since it changes things that should only be changed if the player wants it changed. (just my opinion)
Anyways, Retreating? What is that? No seriously, I do not like retreating unless I can return with a different tact. I would retreat only to test its outcome for flaws but otherwise, I love the challenge of overwhelming odds. Which is why I think your mission is so awesome BUT the mods interference is dampening the fun and so I have come to a point that I will not play it any longer. Mainly because I keep getting a freeze during the mission which forces me to shut the game down from the task manager. I have this feeling that is has something to do with that junky mod :D. I'm just busting your chops.
Regarding the tanks, it doesn't matter really. It's your choice(obviously); if you like them in then by all means, leave them in.
The armor was not actually rolling over the tent but it would pass within a half meter of the thing without touching it which shocked the tarnations out of me since I know AI to be merciless on the structures around them.
In the end, I would tolerate the mod to play the mission once you get the polish on it.
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You're getting freezing? That happens to me, too, and not just with this mission. I thought it was just my frail computer, maybe WGL has serious crashing issues. :blink:
Anyway, actually I am seriously considering making another version without WGL. Perhaps Sanctuary's WW4 mod would suffice, or maybe even *gasp* vanilla OFP:Res. :P
The reason I chose WGL is (a) I really like the dispersion on the infantry weapons. It's not so wide as to make accuracy fire worthless, but wide enough to allow much more shooting to occur in the average infantry fight. Also, (b) I play on CiA server a lot, and they all love WGL there, and I've gotten used to it and made my co-op version for WGL.
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Don't let my opinion cause you more work. I have had an addon used by a test mission, crash my game before but never freeze it. I suspect that it is either the mod or a conflicting global variable between your project and the Mod since I do not use third party resources while testing. But I am not experienced enough to say for certain. The rate of fire is most certainly heavier with this mod, but in my HUMBLE opinion, the interference with integrated sound is not worth the trouble.
If you are truly considering making the mission without the mod and the primary reason for you implementing it in the first place was for fire dispersion, perhaps you could consider using the invisible targets, coupled with ammo replenishing scripts to create the heavy firefights you desire. I have noticed that the AI fire on invisible targets more readily than enemy AI and I suspect this is due to the target being declared nonfriendly from mission start and there is no delay to confirm friend from foe.
Just throwing some ideas out there. But if you would rather not get into heavy revision, just balance the numbers slightly.
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So how far were you able to get, savedbygrace? I want to know so that I can cut appropriate enemy units.
I'll check for conflicting global variables, the WGL5 documentation has a convenient list of its variables.
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Yes, that IS convenient now isnt it?
I have gotten as far as being surrounded by the armor response from the neigboring city and the oodles of squads roving the outer pastures looking for an enemy to torture :D. I defeated the initial occupants, all of the choppers were shot down, Beast moved into occupy the city while I kept my guys hidden in bushes in the fields. There were a couple of armor groups containing 2 T72's and 2 BMP's that were stalking through and around the city looking for the threat. They knew were I was but they could not easily get to me. I had damaged one BMP to the point of smoking and destroyed another while picking infantry off one straggler at a time. It was tough to manage replenishing ammo as I expended it but I managed fairly well. I was working my way through their ranks, saving the T72's for last when I accidentally restarted >:(. ANyhow, the most difficult segment seems to be the initial contact point. You have several patrols standing around, the two high powered MG's on the West and East whcih rip my guys up as well as the incoming chopper that shreds us. That coupled with the fact that the AI seem to spot me regardless of how well I dig in makes it difficult. I usually manage to take out most of the initial force but while redirecting my attention to the arriving chopper I always get picked off by AI that lay prone and wait. They seem to spot me through tents and bushes.
Providing the option for a silenced weapon would allow me my preferred tactic, which is to infiltrate the town's perimeter, eliminate the death lanes and order the advance, since AI suck at managing themselves. But I know that defeats the purpose of a full assault :D.
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New version is up! The extreme difficulty which both Krieg and savedbygrace noted has been reduced somewhat. The town is now much less difficult to clear out, and the order and timing of enemy reinforcements has been changed so that you don't have that helicopter barging in a minute and a half after the shooting starts. The final wave of enemy reinforcements is still very difficult to fight off, though. You have the option of retreating, but, you know.... :scratch:
Now, for reals this time--unless someone reports a real "show-stopper," a bug that will prevent any further enjoyable play, I'll put this mission up for review. :cool2:
Have fun!
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OK, played the new version!
Overview
There is none! Why?
Briefing
In retreat objective, Beast squad is referred to as Bravo.
Mission
All improvements noted!
No bugs encountered!
Lag reduced significantly!
Funfactor increased with dumber enemies!
At the beginning of the mission I ordered Beast squad to move in, while I decided to flank Russians on left side. BMP2 in the village was noted and my number 6,8 and 9 took it out. Fightings for the village continued on for about three-four minutes in which I got hit. I applied the bandages and ran towards medic. I healed and charged at the town, just to be informed that enemy armor is headed for the town. Soon they got spotted by my team-mates and I ordered my only alive AT soldier to destroy BMP2. He died soon. I continued charging at the town and taking it, in the process Beast squad got killed as well as most of my squad. I grabbed an RPG and ammo for it and targeted BMP2 which I missed. Then I got back for more ammo, and missed again. I got more ammo for it, and then I realized that all of my squad was KIA. I got on to nearest open building and fired RPG, destroying the BMP. I got back to ammo tent and grabbed more ammo.
I shot T72 in its arse, and I got back for more ammo. I was informed by Jackal that we have more armor and choppers incoming to the town. I though: "If I am goin' to hell, I am taking you (T72) with me!" and fired the shot, destroying the T72. After that I managed to slaughter bunch of infantry, mostly VDV Paratroopers. I got out to ammo tent for more ammo, in order to shoot down at least one Hind. I got back to window and got (semi) lucky. A hind was just passing by the window. I fired the RPG and got hit by enemy soldier, still destroying the Hind which, hilariously, fell on my killer.
Overall
I standed much more chance in this battle. And I liked it. Keep skill of enemies as it is.
Lag was reduced to more playable level.
No bugs encountered.
Bring back the overview and this mission is ready (in my opinion)!
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Overview
There is none! Why?
I thought I fixed that. ??? Will be fixed before review!
Oh well, glad you liked the actual mission. :D
And yeah, those choppers are laughs waiting to happen.
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I also gave the new version a go. I noticed not only the overview missing but I don't recall the ORBAT in the notes section before. Perhaps I missed it the first time.
The initial assault was definitely more fun but after repeated attempts, the mission locks up again. It seems to always be in the center of town as I have the sandbags to the ammo yard in sight. I end up having to shut it down through my task manager.
Why don't you offer a sniper rifle in the gear selection?
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I don't recall the ORBAT in the notes section before.
I'm pretty sure it was there.
And mission does not freeze for me at any time.
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Thanks for testing savedbygrace. The ORBAT was indeed there before.
I was having freezing problems throughout OFP. A few days ago I installed a new video card, and so far I haven't noticed freezing for this mission or any other. The older card may have been damaged or simply too weak.
As for the sniper rifle, that's an interesting idea. I'll think about it, but I really wanted to wrap this project up unless someone detects something really nasty (like a missing overview! :P ). Frankly I'm not sure how useful it would be, because the initial assault is now fairly easy, and most of the fighting after that is more suited to the assault rifle or SAW.
It seems that I just forgot to include the overview files. ::)
EDIT: New version. This is final, please review unless you spot a gargantuan show-stopping bug.
savedbygrace, I'm afraid I can't figure out what would be causing the game to crash on your PC. That doesn't happen on mine. :(
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I see you put this mission to review, and since I am not member of the staff I can't review it. I'll still do unofficial review, though! I am testing this mission as we speak!
Edit: No bugs found. This time I decided to retreat, since only my number 12 was alive.
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[OFP] Village Depacification by RKurtzDimitiyev
Mission details
Type - Single Player
Player side - Resistance
Island - Malden
Time of Day - Mixed
Weather - Light Clouds
Filesize - 1.50MB
Mission requirements
Game - OFP v1.96
Addons
WGL 5.12 Mod (http://ofpc.de/wargames/news.php)
Scores
Total - 6/10
Overview - 6
Briefing - 7
Camera - 5
Scripting - 5
Summary
The Soviets have occupied Malden. You are part of a Resistance group. Your leaders have planned an assault on town of Larche. Will you hit and run or stand and fight?
Overview
An decent picture with very good text. If only picture was better...
Intro
There is nothing that OFP engine would consider and intro, but at beginning of the mission there is a little cutscene that can be considered an intro. A decent cutscene, but tells no story (and shows a mysterious girl who seems worried).
Briefing
A very good briefing. Detailed enough, but not too complex. Does not use up all of OFP briefing possibilities, though. Still, a good briefing, has gear selection too.
Mission
First of all, this is your classic capture&hold mission with a little twist. If you decide that you cannot hold off the assaults, you can retreat. Although there are some loons in town, and they even have a BMP2D, they are easily overwhelmed if you use correct strategy (won't spoil it for you). You have another squad at your disposal, Beast. And also a informant named Jackal who will inform you of incoming enemy troops. Although town of Larche is relatively insignificant, Russians seem to throw a large force in defending it. This might be effect of either a drunk Russian General, or effect of Soviet beast being scared. It's upon you to decide which one. There is also another nice thing in the mission. Voice acting! Sure, author won't receive Oscar for his voice acting, but it still is a large plus to the mission. And it is a nice relief considering that WGL mod staff for some reason decided that standard radio should not have any voice. Russians were nice enough to leave you a bunch of ammo in one of the tents inside of the city too.
Basically this is "love or hate" kind of mission. If you like infantry combat, you'll love it. If you don't, then either A) try your luck with it, or B) don't play it.
Outro(s)
Although technically there is no such thing as outro there are scripted outros. For retreating you get scene of civilians massacred by Russians that will make you feel guilty (and in main focus is a girl form the intro, gosh I wonder who she is?), while for killing all Russians you get a scene of Larche liberated.
Overall
(Review Date: Jan 2010) Nice capture&hold type of mission, and I hate I had to give it 6/10, but there are several things that started annoying me in WGL mod. Like for example, disabling sounds in radio messages. Also, not everybody will download a 400+MB mod just to play this mission (my advice: Download it. This mission, if you like infantry combat, is worth of it). For author's first mission it's an totally awesome mission. I can't wait for his next missions!
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I do not and have not experienced freezing of any type with any mission ranging from any of the game titles with the exception of this mission. Please don't take that wrong as I am not implying that your mission is faulty but before it can be officially reviewed it must be tested by several others as well to ensure that it will not freeze on them. Otherwise this becomes a showstopper and will delay it from being reviewed at OFPEC until the matter is resolved.
I don't think that my video cards are the problem as they are both less than one year old and play Arma2 among other advanced graphic titles near to flawlessly(I mean no arrogance at all in that statement).
There is the potential that my approach may be different from yours and Kreigs and thus allow a window of opportunity for the glitch. I'll continue to test it though and perhaps even test the mod with another mission or two(If I can squeeze in the time) to see if it is the Mod.
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Mission does not freeze for me, savedbygrace.
Although, it might be that I am exception.
Edit: Sorry, I misread your post.
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Right, You stated that in your previous post and I understand that this could very well be something on my end but in order to ensure that it is, we need more than just you and I testing it. As I stated, I will conitinue to test it further to see if I can single out the problem and I will request if other staffers can help out with a test. I truly am not trying to be a wrench in the gears here but it is OFPEC policy to ensure that a mission is showstopper free. Sorry if I hadn't made that clear before.
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It's quite alright if you need to test it more, I can wait. :)
Whenever I'm up for more OFP I'll try to make a list of all the global variables I used, see if that's the problem.
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I played this and completed it today.
I went out of my way to repeat the freeze and could not get it to occur again. I have requested that other staff test this to help narrow the findings. I don't think that it is a global variable since the screen just freezes. It may be something like many scripts running at once depending on how you play the mission and that could be induced by the mod as well as your mission build. Of this, I am unsure though.
Regarding the mission build now...
The initial assault was far better than your previous version. It actually allows us to overwhelm the occupying force and believe that the element of surprise was what won the battle. The response was good as well, forcing the response in two seperate and increasingly difficult waves was fantastic. There still remain a few things that would better the mission in my opinion and address a few more concerns but as it stands, its better than it was.
It still needs more testing to see if that freeze can be reproduced.
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There still remain a few things that would better the mission in my opinion and address a few more concerns but as it stands, its better than it was.
I'm really trying to control myself against putting in another huge revising spree, but just out of curiosity: what, in your opinion, would better the mission? :P
BTW, I'm glad you were able to finish it. I take it the ending cutscene worked?
You must be an excellent player, because I can't complete even this easier version, even though I made it and play WGL all the time, and you can complete it even though you hate the mod. :cool2:
And also BTW thanks for the review Krieg, hopefully I can test some of your projects now. :good:
Sure, voice actors won't receive Oscar for their work, but it still is a large plus to the mission.
You do realize that all the "voice actors" were me, don't you? :P
Also, if you really miss AI voices, you can re-enable them as described at the bottom of the first post here (http://www.ciahome.net/forum/index.php?topic=1713.0).
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You do realize that all the "voice actors" were me, don't you? :P
Now that you say it, I realize that all voices are remarkably similar and that they must have came from the same person, in this case, the author... :-[
Fixed!
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The ending cutscene is fine, aside from the zipping camera, it was not a bad attempt. The beginning cutscene made very little sense to me and was also annoying because it had to be played at each restart. What I normally do is design my intros in a clean slate mission template so that I can interact with the environment to setpos things with precision, preview things to ensure all the timing works smoothly before cutting and pasting it into my actual mission Intro. If you start your mission with a beinning cutscene, it may be a good idea to insert a savegame at mission start. Which brings up another issue.
One way to improve the mission would be to insert a few savegames after specific stages in the mission, such as at start after the cutscene, after the initial assault and the village is liberated and maybe after the first wave before the second wave gets too close.
I still think you should have added civilian vehicles to the town since there were actual civilians residing there. They would have been good for additional cover while moving around the city. You could have locked them too if you didnt want the player cruising. ;)
The medic tent in town was crushed by armor and my medic was KIA which seriously reduced the gameplay since it made my aim suck. I was actually able to micro manage my men to the point of ending the mission with three in tow this time and if not for their Super Ai spotting, it would have made my progress slow. So, you may want to move the medic tent to a more protective place or add another in a fenced in courtyard. There is nothing worse than hammering the enemy with excellent tactics then being wounded with no way to heal, especially with no savegames. :blink:
Other than that, everything seemed fine.
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Thank you for your response.
Having a savegame after that beginning cutscene is a good idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it before. It isn't too late to put that in now, is it? I will also consider a savegame after wave 1, but I'll have to think about it.
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It's never too late.
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Oh, gee, thanks for getting that song stuck in my head. >:(
Haha, anyway, new version 3.36 with savegame after initial cutscene and a few civilian vehicles added for decoration.
Unfortunately, as I was playing through to design this, I did, in fact, get a crash, very similar to the ones I was having earlier throughout OFP. Frankly I've got nothing but speculation now. I was playing in 1280 X 1024 resolution, and maybe that's what did it in even with this new card.
I don't think that it is a global variable since the screen just freezes. It may be something like many scripts running at once depending on how you play the mission and that could be induced by the mod as well as your mission build.
I wouldn't think it's many scripts running at once. There should be at most 2 scripts looping simultaneously, 3 if you count one with an @ command. I've even eliminated that @ in the latest version.
One looping script is in beastcomms.sqs and checks whether they're all dead, and the other is in recon.sqs and looks for enemy reinforcements.
There are other scripts but they should take only a few seconds to run through. It doesn't sound like something a modern computer couldn't handle. Then again, this is OFP we're talking about. :P
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I truly want to say that it is the mod you're using because my mission is nearly island wide, dynamic and loaded with scripting and I only get a burst of lag when areas spawn. Aside from that, I am using oodles of particle scripts that are lag inducers in their own right and I have yet to see a slowdown or freeze of any kind.
The last time I had a crash was due to an addon that a mission author used in their project. I have not had a chance to retest your mission but hopefully soon.
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Just tested the new version.
Everything seems to work out fine.
All improvements noted! :good:
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Thank you Krieg.
I'm not planning to add anything really substantial, so your review should still stand. :P
I have not had a chance to retest your mission but hopefully soon.
Thank you, I'll look forward to it.
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I began playing your latest version tonight and events unfolded slightly different from before.
On all of the other playtests, I was able to take my time moving my men into position before Ordering Beast into the battle. This time around, Beast was spotted sooner than I could maneuver and the battle began early.
It was not necessarily a bad thing as it removed much of the attention from my squad and we were able to get inside the town before we began taking casualties. This time I was smart and wiped out the chopper that was dropping off infantry which made things much easier. I also was able to wipe out all armor before the area was flooded with infantry. The choppers posed a real challenge this time and actually got on my nerves. Well, mainly because the new type rpg was hard to figure out for distant shots.
Anyways, I was down to just infantry before I decided to call it quits. Not because the mission was too difficult but because I grew very tired of reloaded after game freezes. I still think its the mod because the game froze while in many different spots during many different types of actions. Luckily, I was able to take the city, wipe out all air and ground units before the counter attack arrived. I saved it before the counter attack and would have to reload my save from there each time the game froze (I stopped counting after 10 reloads).
I didn't want to stop playing because I know it is beatable. I definitely did not want to withdraw after accomplishing so much with my force so I kept at it until I grew tired of making progress and then having to reload when it froze.
It's a good, tough challenge but not worth the frustration of losing well earned ground to reload.
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It's a good, tough challenge but not worth the frustration of losing well earned ground to reload.
Many thanks for your test, and I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge of the mission itself.
This is quite a bummer though. I'm not sure how to proceed. I can't seem to get it to freeze as consistently as you can. As noted above, I have experienced exactly 1 freeze during this mission since getting my new video card. Even that one could be completely unrelated to OFP, since I'm still getting strange freezes throughout my computer from time to time (just surfing the internet, for example).
I will have to test some more myself to see if I can get any more freezes.
Maybe I could try an experiment: make a conversion to vanilla OFP:Res and see if anyone still reports freezing. I still would really prefer WGL mod. I respect your very low opinion of WGL, but some people (such as me and many CiA server regs) really like it.
Are you 200% certain that you're not playing with any addons that could be conflicting with WGL mod? I hate to ask such a question, but since it's come to this, I feel I must.
So thanks once again, and I'll get to work on this mission again. :)
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I only run what is required when I beta test missions. Sorry, I don't mean to sound like such a pain over the mod and some of it's content does become familiar after a while so it's not all that bad but I still dislike the authors choice to remove the sound.
Aside from that I too am puzzled by the freezes. No other mission has frozen for me before.
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I still dislike the authors choice to remove the sound.
If you like you can easily re-enable the voices as described here (http://www.ciahome.net/forum/index.php?topic=1713.0) (bottom of first post).
And no, you don't sound like a pain, I appreciate your dedication in trying to slog through a mission that's freezing all the time.
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I DID re add the sounds to that mod and am ready for another play. Is there anything that I can help you on this one?
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I DID re add the sounds to that mod and am ready for another play. Is there anything that I can help you on this one?
Why, thank you. :) And I can't think of anything in particular, since freezing is the biggest issue. :(
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I opened up your mission and looked through it but I could not see what would cause the freeze. So then I cleared it out and inserted about 3 armor groups for each side, 8 infantry groups for each side, 2 air groups foreach side and several medic tents and ammo crates along with myself. Everything played out great, no lag, no freezing, nothing. I am flabberghasted.
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Well thanks SBG. This is both good and bad news at the same time. ???
Maybe I'll see if I can make a version which uses the exact same scripts etc but with vanilla units, and see if anyone reports freezing.
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Before you go through that trouble. Let me test run it some more.
EDIT: I haven't forgotten you pal. I plan on conducting some more tests of this one this weekend. Hopefully we can find what the problem is.
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Thanks, hope it doesn't crash, or if it does, in a predictable manner. :P
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After going through it several more times, each time produced a game freeze again. All of them were at different positions and under different circumstances so I wouldn't say that its predictable.
Do you spawn any units?
Have you checked spawn scripts to ensure that all class names are correct?
Are you certain that not too much spawns at once?
Perhaps it could be the amount of Helos in the air, combined with the tracer fire?
Before rebuilding this completely...maybe you could remove all helo action and have those units arrive in Urals.
Only as a process of elimination. If it doesn't crash then, you could insert helos one at a time.
I'll keep at it as well, tweaking things in the editor and exporting to try and locate the problem.
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??? The only createunit commands should be at the ending cutscenes (massacre.sqs and celebrate.sqs).
Thanks for testing, will see what I can do.
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I opened your mission up again in the editor(3.36). I replaced the WGL MI24's with BIS MI24's and then exported it to single player missions. I then played and replayed it several times with no freezes. Air vehicles place a higher demand on the engine anyways since there is more data to track while they are flying and I suspect that WGL helos added a bit more. In any case, I think we may have figured it out.
As it is now, the mission is too difficult. I think if you tweaked the balance some to level the playing field a bit, the chance of completion would increase. How you do it is really up to you but giving the option to retreat is not necessarily a good option since once you're pinned down into the city, it is impossible to escape. You may be able to provide the player with some mines to place here and there to help combat the amount of armor as well as space the second wave a bit more to allow more time to position his men. You also have a truck load of men dropped far to the east which then descend into the town from the direction that the player assaulted from, which seems to add much in the way of overwhelming odds, especially since by the time the player is able to widdle the armor down, the infantry is swarming and though I could play cat and mouse all day, they simply toss grenades into my buildings and take me out. They can also see through fallen trees and bushes which teeters the unfairness scale.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the challenge of discovering the perfect approach that would do the most damage(and I did) the first wave also became easy to defend against but the second wave left me frustrated because although I felt I was in a good defensive position and able to pick off infantry and armor as it responded to its allies falling, I felt cheated because they would see me through foliage of fallen trees. I realize that there is nothing you can do about that, but if you could beef up the defenses around that HQ area, by placing more sandbags and perhaps some antitank barbed wire fences to prevent them from smashing my sandbags, the player would have just a little more mobility within his defense and be able to use that surrounding to his advantage.
It may be a grand idea to add a radio trigger which allows the player to save his game as much as he wants. Or just insert another save game once the first wave has been taken care of.
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Thank you for the constructive criticism.
Right now I'm working on a (completely different) multiplayer mission. When that's done hopefully I'll be able to put yet more work into this mission. Seems like one or more of the choppers might just have to go. :(
Yeah, this mission could probably use more work. Tbh I guess I got a little lazy because I was tired of editing the same mission over and over again. But now it's been a while, done some different projects, and I think I could be more productive now that I'm nice and fresh again.
I'm still puzzled because my computer is almost certainly inferior to yours, but yet freezing is not nearly as common for me, and the occasional freezes I get might be completely unrelated (one of my hard drives seems to be crapping out on me).
On the other hand, occasionally the multiplayer conversion I made for this seems to desync suddenly and massively, often crashing the server, and I can't help but wonder if that's not a co-incidence. Once, all three players, including me, all had our computers freeze at once. Maybe the server computer is experiencing the same problem as you? Who knows.... :dunno:
Thanks for all your help. :good:
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I honestly think it has something to do with the WGL choppers. That explains why it was not a consistent freeze(happening in the same place every time). It would depend on the location of the choppers and what else was going on along with them.
I understand the problem of getting burned out on working on the same mission. I started Kolgujev Contract last January and worked on it for 7.5 months straight, let it go through testing for a month before completely redoing it which took another 6 months. Obviously, I am taking a break from it and have began a campaign for OFP among the many other things I am spread out on. I have one mission complete and ready for testing but since it requires quite a few addons, I am going to release it once I have more missions to test so that people don't have so much to download for just one mission.
In any case, take your time with the update. This mission has fantastic potential if you could get the balance just right.
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Bumping this one because I'd hate to see it's efforts fading into oblivion. Are you waiting to finish up your MP project first?
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Hehe, that one's already mostly finished. I got distracted by yet another project, specifically I'm developing a script that will have AI observers "call in" CoC UA strikes as realistically as possible. But with your encouragement I'll have to bump this project up on my priorities. :P
EDIT:
So I'm planning how I'll revise this mission. The two main complaints are (a) lag/performance (to the point of crashing) and (b) excessive difficulty. These complaints, especially (a), apply to the multiplayer version as well.
Lag/Performance
The multiplayer version also has a habit of desyncing or even crashing the server (and many of the clients). My guess is that the client-side lag produced by too many objects is compounded by the need to synchronize the actions of those objects. This puts such a strain on people's computers, including the server, that stuff crashes. My theory is supported by the fact that the last major MP crash occurred exactly as a BMP exploded, throwing laggy particles everywhere.
The obvious way to remedy this is to reduce the number of objects. Moving armored vehicles and choppers are obvious culprits, but I'm getting a noticeable framerate decrease just from looking at the town of Larche. Perhaps all the sandbags and tents are lagging? I will have to investigate this further.
I really really do not want to completely remove or replace the WGL choppers. They're just...cool. I may simply reduce their number to one, or ensure that not much else is happening when they (it) takes off. I still don't understand how the mission could be at least playable (in SP mode) on my inferior computer while it crashes SBG's more powerful computer.
I plan to introduce a createunit script to ensure that as few objects as possible are out there at any given point. This ties in with....
Difficulty
I've decided that I want a more accurate simulation of hit-and-run guerrilla warfare. You see, one of the things that annoyed me about the BIS Resistance campaign was the fact that by the end, the "resistance" was launching full-frontal tank assaults against a superpower enemy. That's really not how it works in a real guerrilla war.
I plan to increase the gap between enemy counter-assaults, giving the player more room to retreat (or plan a very careful ambush). Also, to add replayability, I'm considering randomizing the content of each "wave." I may also add more endings. Players feel punished by the civilian massacre ending, even though staying in the town is often suicide.
I may even move the battle site from Larche to somewhere further from the airfield. (La Riviere seems appealing for some reason). Of course, by the time I do that, I'm essentially building a different mission. But even if I choose this route, the feedback from all of you has not been in vain, for my mission editing skills have profited greatly.
Any more suggestions on how I could further revise this mission? :)
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First, the mission was not crashing, it was freezing. There is a difference. I have played missions where there are tons of objects that cause a FPS hit but yours did no such thing. In fact, other than tremendous difficulty in the last wave, your mission was fine once I removed that wgl helo. I honestly don't see the difference in them. When I played your mission before, I was running 2 4800 series HD crossfire cards and have since removed one of them from my system because it was giving me problems. If you can adjust the last wave difficulty, I'll give it another try with the WGL helos to see if it was that card causing the freezing. Though it makes no sense that the freezing was eliminated by removing those helos.
A few pointers on the difficulty.....
Increasing the response time of the last wave would definitely allow more time to prepare for it or run like heck.
You could also remove the group of infantry that you have circling the area in a truck and being dropped near the players start point...that would allow retreat without engagement.
In fact, the armor was not the difficult task. The infantry constantly circling the city and being able to spot the player through downed trees was playing a large part in the difficult process of elimination.
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First, the mission was not crashing, it was freezing. There is a difference. I have played missions where there are tons of objects that cause a FPS hit but yours did no such thing.
Ah yes. I was being a little loose with terminology there, wasn't I? :D
You're right, this probably shouldn't be viewed as a standard OFP lag issue. I was trying to tie your reports of freezing to the frequent lagging and crashing when playing on the multiplayer server I often play on. But these could be unrelated.
If you can adjust the last wave difficulty, I'll give it another try with the WGL helos to see if it was that card causing the freezing. Though it makes no sense that the freezing was eliminated by removing those helos.
Thanks. And yes, it doesn't make any sense to me either. The WGL hinds seem to be using BIS models. The only modifications are different weapons and different AI behaviour.
You could also remove the group of infantry that you have circling the area in a truck and being dropped near the players start point...that would allow retreat without engagement.
Yes, that's definitely too sadistical. I'll have to nerf the Spetsnaz or however you spell them. :P
Thanks for your feedback. :)
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There are a ton of replies that I failed to read, so please forgive me if I repeat what others have already said.
Overview
Perfect, and beautiful with the mod format.
Briefing
Not sure if this is mispelled or not, depending on what your going for, but should Abel Squad be Able Squad? Other than that, seemed like a perfect balance of having enough info, without boring the player to death as I have done...lol.
Intro
Short, simple, but nice. Simple camera angles and zooming can do wonders for giving the player an imediate scope of the battlefield. I wondered why it focused on the lady in the window and thought I might have missed something in the briefing. The outro clarified this, though.
Mission
I was tasked with opening fire on the russians in a village, and radioing Beast Squad to assault the village and deciding whether to retreat or defend the village for multiple endings. Sounds excellent! At first try, I took a little too long and the counter attacks beat me to the village. Because my waypoint marker still appeared, I thought I was supposed to enter the village as an objective. My entire squad got annihilated. On the next try, I decided to go around and flank the village from the right. This would allow me to be closer to beast squad which I hoped would be to both of our benefit. I triggered the alarm just before getting into position, so I radiod beast squad to go. The APC in the town initially began engaging us and took down half my squad, but when beast squad got closer to the village, he went around to engage them. My plan worked! Here was my opening, I needed to take advantage. I rushed toward the village at top speed toward the waypoint marker with my squad following behind and engaging when necessary. I made it to the waypoint but became puzzled when an objective marker didn't tick off. Then I checked the briefing and realized that I was to hold the town OR retreat. Which meant I just murdered half my squad for nothing since there was no way on earth that I was combat effective enough to hold that town against the armored assault. The waypoint kind of threw me for a loop there. Maybe it shouldn't be there since it's optional to actually enter the town. Anyway, after tha it was time for the enemy armored assault to begin, so I high tailed it out of the village traveling west, which was opposite the enemy armor. I bypassed my squad, but the caught up to me. The many hinds in the air never seemed to pose a threat. Sure, they would spit a few rounds of fire every now and then but most of the time just flew right over our heads. Some of my squad was injured, so it took forever to get them up the mountains to the western retreat point. Eventually we made it and mission ended with no bugs.
Outro:
Because I chose to retreat rather than stay and defend the town, the outro I was shown was of the russians just outside of the town with civilians lined up. The girl from the intro was present in this line. The russians executed all of the lined up civilians by gunfire. I then got a debriefing that said "Mission Complete?" and chastised me for allowing the slaughter to happen. Very good stuff!
Overall
I really enjoyed this mission. Pretty much everything about it. The multiple endings definitely increase replay value. I'm scratching my head wondering what I can nitpick about. Maybe the fact that the choppers don't engage much, and they seemed to take unlimited small arms fire with no dammage. I look forward to trying to hold the town, but those tanks are brutal!
Thanks for the fantastic mission!
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Thanks for testing mboshell. I'm glad you liked it. :)
should Abel Squad be Able Squad?
It's supposed to be Abel Squad. My idea was that the resistance had come up with their own phonetic alphabet, and "Abel" is another name for Malden.
The waypoint kind of threw me for a loop there. Maybe it shouldn't be there since it's optional to actually enter the town.
I always play on Veterans mode (with no crosshairs or rifle bullet tracers!) so I didn't even notice that the waypoint was still there.
The many hinds in the air never seemed to pose a threat. Sure, they would spit a few rounds of fire every now and then but most of the time just flew right over our heads.
It really all depends on your luck. Sometimes the WGL choppers are brutal. The Apaches, at least, have the potential to annihilate a whole squad with their machine guns that make explosions like grenades.
I look forward to trying to hold the town, but those tanks are brutal!
Yes, it's extremely difficult. Savedbygrace is the only person who has reported beating off everyone. Yes, that's right, I haven't actually gotten all the way through to the "good" end of this mission (without cheating). :D
The mission is in the process of being revised to make it less outrageously difficult to get a satisfying ending. I plan to add more endings and more randomness in the enemy waves, to make the mission seem less arcade-ish. Honestly I'm not sure if I'll consider it an extensive revision of the same mission or a completely different mission.
SBG reports that the mission keeps freezing up, which is disconcerting. None of us are quite sure what's going on. Tell us if you get any freezes. :cool2:
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Abel squad. I was pretty sure that you didn't make a mistake after playing through the mission and seeing it refered to as Abel again, but I neglected to edit what I had already typed.
I'm probably one of the very few that stinks at the game enough to play on cadet mode, so I'm glad I can notice these things for you :)
Sounds like those choppers will make it exciting at times, but are there Soviet apaches?
I'm still going to give it my best try to get to the happy ending. I'll give my report on it if I make it. I didn't have any freezing or lagging which is wierd because I have an outdated PC.
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I've finally applied myself and made a new version. Now let's see what you all think. :D
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Fantastic! Downloading now and we'll try it asap.
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OK, you can expect a test here within a day, I just need to redownload WGL mod, and I'll test it!
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I wanted to test your mission but the download speed is the limitation here.
I'll try to downoad WGL if possible.
Connection here is too slow.
mosty about 50 kbps download speed.
Regards,
Haroon1992
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Overview
Nothing new here.
Briefing
There is no need for any change here since it does it's job well.
Mission
I selected SVD as my primary weapon and divided my squad in Red and Blue teams. Each would attack from another direction, at least that was the idea. After the fighting began (still some lag there, not sure if it is fixable) I tried to snipe a few enemies, but without success, due to me not understanding WGL sniper scope and it's rules. So, I made a reckless assault using my Tokarev, and I managed to capture center of the village before being shot by a Russian soldier.
Overall
Although notably easier, it still has that atmosphere of constantly being under fire and working against time until Soviet reinforcements arrive. All in all, no game freezes, computer crashing bugs, or any glitches I detected.
Nice job!
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Although notably easier, it still has that atmosphere of constantly being under fire and working against time until Soviet reinforcements arrive. All in all, no game freezes, computer crashing bugs, or any glitches I detected.
Nice job!
Thanks for the feedback Krieg. Yes, it's definitely easier, but the way I see it, it can't be too easy when testers report dying. :D
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EDIT :
only 9 minutes left for the download! :clap:
I am definitely gonna test this ........... :good:
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downloading WGL (not sure though)
DL speed, 50~80 kbps :D
Regards,
Haroon1992
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Gave it another go tonight.
I'm happy to report no freezes, or lag.
The improvements are great, and levels the playing field more. I love the addition of the mines, though it took 4 to cripple those super tanks well enough, every bit helped. Beast managed to survive to the end (2 guys left) and I had one guy left. The SVD was also very welcomed for the beginning assault (great idea there). The reduction of crack troops and swarming, angry birds made the mission more enjoyable. All I can say about the mission itself, is that I think you should still add atleast one savegame that the player can combine with the normal save to use at his discretion.
:good:
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Glad to hear that SBG. Thanks for testing. :)
I'll see if a radio saveGame can be worked into the mission.
@Haroon, glad to hear you want to test, I'm eager to hear the result. :good:
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I tested it two days ago.
I've been busy to post the results.
The mission was quite difficult.
I wasn't able to finish it.
Though i made it to the second wave (if i remember correctly)
And i accidently sent Beast back to the hills.
(You should set the radio triggers to repeatedly so that i could command them to attack/fall back several times)
There were only about 5 of us left (including me) and the ammo types of RPGs quite confused me (at first)
It took a while for me to scroll down and find the desired ammunition from the ammo boxes in the tents.
(maybe you should seperate them a bit further so that the action menu won't get filled up with unnecessary entries)
The mission was exciting as well as fun.
(I found a CAS(Close air support) calling device,maybe a radio operator, and it said i have to click on the map.
I did it and nothing appeared.
Is that function really included in your mission?(I think it is supplied with the mod)
)
Aside from that,the mod also was great.
I'll definitely give it a try when i get free time.
Sorry for the short feedback, I am too busy to sit down and post the results properly.
Regards,
Haroon1992
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No prob Haroon, thanks for testing. :good: I was waiting for your feedback before I made any update, and now I'm glad I did. :)
And i accidently sent Beast back to the hills.
(You should set the radio triggers to repeatedly so that i could command them to attack/fall back several times)
I'll consider it. The problem is that, on the other hand, I don't want the exact same dialogue to occur every time Beast is given an order.
It took a while for me to scroll down and find the desired ammunition from the ammo boxes in the tents.
(maybe you should seperate them a bit further so that the action menu won't get filled up with unnecessary entries)
Good point, I'll see if I can stagger them out a bit.
(I found a CAS(Close air support) calling device,maybe a radio operator, and it said i have to click on the map.
I did it and nothing appeared.
Is that function really included in your mission?(I think it is supplied with the mod)
Yes, those radio operators come with CAS radio actions. I'll see if it's possible to remove them. It does tend to confuse people when no CAS has been included in the mission.
The mission was exciting as well as fun.
Glad to hear, that's what I aimed for. :)
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New version eh :P
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I'll get to it soon pal, I'm testing something in Arma2 at the moment.
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It's meant to be easier?! I guess it must be because I managed to complete it, even though the plan went just as pear-shaped and I was just as frantic trying to rearm as I recall from an earlier version.
Issues
- there was an enemy soldier still alive (at the edge of Larche) when I got the 'mission complete' message. I know because I managed to shoot him between that and the final cutscene.
- I had a freezing problem upon resuming a mission from earlier in the week. I was continuing from the first autosave and the freeze would occur when one of my team killed the BMP (when its destruction script would kick in). This seems to have been caused by my removing VIT's APC pack from my OFP\Addons directory - even though it's also in WGL. Once I had things back to the way they were, I was untroubled by any futher freezes.
- I could not discern any lag other than normal.
Suggestions
- consider using some other markers that come as part of WGL. Give the Patrol marker a name - I had to dig deep into the notes to find out what it was. You can then change the name to a blank once the mission starts.
- once both squads are in the town and down to twelve units between them, there could be an option for Beast to join Abel.
- rearming my team-mates is still a PITA. I don't mind machine-gunners and RPG guys, but wish the others could help themselves to the mags in their rucksacks. I'm not sure if the scripting would be worth it - compare their current mags to what they started with and then convert rucksack mags to normal. The trouble is that I don't see a way of counting empty magazine slots.
but are there Soviet apaches?
They have the V-80 aka Ka-50 Blackshark.
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Thanks for playing,
Wally other Kurtz Glorious Master Kurtz! :D
Issues
- there was an enemy soldier still alive (at the edge of Larche) when I got the 'mission complete' message. I know because I managed to shoot him between that and the final cutscene.
Yes, the mission will end once all enemy ground forces from that final wave are dead or fleeing. It's meant to prevent "hunt the last loon" situations. Player is set to captive so that remaining enemies won't shoot him as the mission is ending.
Perhaps I will add some kind of radio message saying "Soviet forces are retreating" so that the end is less confusing.
Your suggestions regarding markers and team joining are noted.
rearming my team-mates is still a PITA. I don't mind machine-gunners and RPG guys, but wish the others could help themselves to the mags in their rucksacks. I'm not sure if the scripting would be worth it - compare their current mags to what they started with and then convert rucksack mags to normal. The trouble is that I don't see a way of counting empty magazine slots
Indeed, there's just no easy way to get them to use their ruck mags "normally."
I think I might be able to pull this off with scripting, though. I never thought about adding their magazines via scripting, so thanks for the idea. :good:
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It ought to be possible to display your chosen names for the groups which talk to each other. There are three steps and you've already done one:
1. In the mission editor :check:
Assign variable names to each group. Add to the Init line of one of the vehicles / units in each group something in the way of:
mainloons = group this
beastsquad = group this
postgroup = group this
2. In init.sqs
Give this group a name (and colour) using setGroupId (http://www.ofpec.com/COMREF/index.php?action=details&id=304&game=All), viz.
;assign group names
mainloons setGroupId ["Alpha","GroupColor0"]
beastsquad setGroupId ["Bravo","GroupColor0"]
postgroup setGroupId ["Charlie","GroupColor0"] (GroupColor0 means no color will be used as part of the name)
3. Stringtable.csv
This is used to replace the default names (ie. "Alpha", "Bravo", "Charlie", etc) that are part of OFPLANGUAGE,English,
STR_CFG_GRPNAMES_ALPHA,Abel,
STR_CFG_GRPNAMES_BRAVO,Beast,
STR_CFG_GRPNAMES_CHARLIE,Jackal,
Since there is only one entry for Language, it should be displayed for all languages and users.
I'm appending a couple of pictures to show how this looks as a result, but they'll be replaced by plain text in due course.
Alpha Black 1 (WE_Kurtz): "Abel to Beast squad. Advance on the objective and engage the enemy. Out."
Bravo Black 1: "Abel, this is Beast. Roger, we're going in. God help us all."
Abel 1 (WE_Kurtz): "Abel to Beast squad. Advance on the objective and engage the enemy. Out."
Beast 1: "Abel, this is Beast. Roger, we're going in. God help us all."
Jackal 1: "Jackal to Abel and Beast, enemy armor is moving west from the airfield. It looks like a T-72 and a BMP. Out."
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Thanks, Walt, I didn't realize you could do that. I will plan to incorporate it. No need for text, I've got the idea. :good:
SBG, should I wait for your feedback or go ahead and make the next version?
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No sorry. Go ahead and update. Real life has got me covered pretty good right now. I have had to halt my test for review of Zippers last requested for now. Things will not return fully to normal for me until close to late November. I'm trying to balance things as best I can though.
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New version *fart fart fart*
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I'm getting the definite impression that no one is interested in taking this mission for yet another round of beta. I'm not excited about it either, tbh. I actually have a life outside of OFP now, hence my low activity these days. :P
The only problem reported with the previous version was that the mission ended when enemy forces were fleeing but not necessarily dead. Is this a showstopper? Can I just stick this one up for review?
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I have been jostled about a bit in my work schedule since May. It is suppose to return to normal by the end of November. However, I have recently suffered some hardware issues with my pc and am not able to play any of the games until things are worked out. With the holiday season on fast approach, my pc is at the bottom of the list. I'll not be able to test or review anything until things are back to normal for me.
Feel free to place review on your mission though. I have one other(in arma2) that I must do before yours.
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Read your change log and didn't see anything that would cause it, but the mission froze on me again while in the city, the first wave had just gotten close to the city and no choppers were around yet.
The gear selection fails to provide spare magazines for some of the weapons assigned to group members. Specifically the AKS74U(something like that), SVD and RPG-7.
My group expends their ammo quickly and then keeps shouting that they are out of ammo. Frustrating to listen to them whine when they should be thinking for themselves...I know, it's just the AI.
Haven't retried after the freeze yet; will do later.
It's now later and I was able to retry from an autosave. Things played out well this time through with no freezes. Balance was much better, primarily because the infantry numbers were decreased significantly. It's pretty challenging trying to outsmart armor when they roam in packs but it's darn near nail biting trying to do it when infantry are around.
I was really close to shutting down the game because of the wgl mod effects. I was wounded but not showing any signs other than gun sway and no option to heal unless I approached the medic tent. The crappy running animation also forced my gun to do weird stuff while running. I realize I am still bitching about the mod but I am hoping to deter you from using it in future projects because I really wouldn't want to play with this thing again.
The music you used for the outro is my favorite OFP tune and the cinema was far better looking than before. The camera scripting was still giving me whiplash though.
All of the improvements are noticed. Just fix the weapons loadout and I think this one is ready for review.
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BACK FROM THE DEAD :D
Thanks for checking this thing out SBG, especially in the face of the crashing.
I will fix the loadout.
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The gear selection fails to provide spare magazines for some of the weapons assigned to group members. Specifically the AKS74U(something like that), SVD and RPG-7.
I see I forgot to include AKS74U mags.
I'm not sure what you mean by saying there aren't spare magazines for the SVD and RPG-7, though. There's an extra RPG-7 launcher and two PG-7 rounds. There's four mags for the SVD. I realize that isn't too many by WGL standards, but I was worried that any more would unbalance the mission.
Are you saying that they're missing ruck mags? There's no convenient way to set up an automatic RPG-7 ruck replacement system (because soldiers can't carry rucks and missile launchers at the same time), and see above about the SVD.
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As long as there is ammo in the briefing gear selection for every weapon provided, one can't truly argue. Other than that, it's all good.
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New version available, for all your AKS-74SUSUSSUSSS-using needs. SU
Let me know if you find any other errors.
EDIT: That is to say, I'm putting this up for review. Sorry I didn't make that clear.
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I've got my red pen out and a review is underway.
Is there a promo pic you'd like me to use?
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Thanks for reviewing, Mistah Kurtz!
I didn't have a particular promo shot in mind. Either of these two would be fine with me, though:
(http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/1989/overshot4.th.jpg) (http://img571.imageshack.us/i/overshot4.jpg/)
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2407/screen4xx.th.jpg) (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/screen4xx.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
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This was on hiatus for a few days as I was having problems with freezing, similar to those described by SBG. I'm not sure what the cure was, it might have been any of the following:
- restarting the mission completely, not just a retry
- having Mikero's Editor Upgrade installed when restarting
- something else.
The freeze was very reliable; in fact I had a savegame a few moments before it occured and no matter what I did I couldn't prevent it. Even going back to the autosave you provide once Larche is taken didn't seem to avert it.
I added the Editor Upgrade in case it was needed for some FX on the T72, but that's probably just voodoo on my part.
I'm attaching a couple of screenshots, but they'll only be up for a short time:
- 1. a civilian making use of my medic
- 2. one exceptionally long casualty list after I merged with Beast squad (I was one of just two survivors). I never realised that casualties were listed alphabetically by first name!
The review should be done in the next few days.
Edit: images detached
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Thanks for continuing through the problems.
I'm stumped, though. It's not a fancy mission, it should not be any more likely to freeze than any other mission! :(
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I still maintain that it is the WGL mod. Just my pence worth.
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Review Completed (http://www.ofpec.com/missions_depot/index.php?action=details&id=276)
This topic is open for after-review discussion. Have any spectacular stories? Feel free to share them!
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Thanks for the review! Can't believe I've finally gotten some sort of published final version up.