So finally I found some time to continue playing...
The PictureWhen you said you expanded the mission, I expected some smaller tweaks here and there, more activity at the castle or something. But damn, that was a pleasant surprise. Very nice changes overall.
I particularly liked that you went with the KSK guys this time. Not only do they look badass, we have also met them before (and we have seen how badass they are).
One minor thing that felt a little bit weird was when Tomas returned to Devils Castle alone at the end, he suddenly used the callsign Lynx, while previously he was always referred to by NATO as Cerny, Chernarussian or Resistance. It felt a bit strange that it was changed during the mission kinda out of nowhere. However, the callsign being used by Tomas' group afterwards is consistent. It's just something I noticed. (or maybe I missed something somewhere.)
Although from a strategic standpoint it would have been better to bring the camera to a safe spot, I decided to go with the KSK to help the Czechs, because of more action and stuff. But probably I guess it doesn't make that much of a difference, as eventually I end up doing Martins task anyways.
Overall those where some very welcome changes that made the mission a lot more enjoyable. (And a nice way to get rid of that extraction helicopter.^^) Great work.
The MoleNow this was a tricky one. I remember the last time I played this, I had severe problems taking out the officers and eventually the mission won and I had to give up. I do indeed like the idea of this mission, using the teamswitch as an design element. It's a whole different challenge, and a really welcome one. But at the same time it's really a test for my patience.^^
While I did manage to beat the mission this time, I still had some problems here and there.
After taking out the first officer, the three guys on the street on the other side of the building were in danger mode constantly observing the area where the officer has been. They stayed this way for the rest of the mission, however there was no alarm raised so I could continue. The second officer was probably the easiest one, but the third one I ended up taking out with the DMR from afar. Not very clean and stealthy, I wouldn't even have thought about that if you hadn't mentioned that in a future version you want to prevent this option, but it worked for now and I could finally move on. Probably have to come up with another tactic the next time I play this.^^
Probably it's me that I'm not patient enough to crawl all over the place through the complete village. But still I feel that the russians spot me a bit too easy. They also seem to hear my "silent" knockout from quite a distance. Also when they notice something suspicious, to a degree where they go into combat mode, I guess the alarm should be raised or at least they should investigate what's going on, instead of just staring at a house forever.
Overall I have the feeling that I have to follow a very specific path to successfully take out all three officers.
A whole different problem is that when distracting a soldier as the Mole, the soldier sometimes doesn't turn in my direction or turns back right away. Several times I had to walk away and talk to him again, until he finally kept looking in my direction. I guess this is more a problem with the Arma AI in general, but it is a bit annoying when it happens every second time you want to distract someone.
The rest of the mission worked flawless and I especially enjoyed the escaping the island part. The airport area however was rather underwhelming. You know, when you put a large, red marker on the map saying "keep out", I just have to go there. But all the vehicles where locked and nothing else of interest was to be found.
In the briefing, the marker link "administration building" doesn't seem to work correctly.
And a small quality of life improvement would be, when the "talk" and "knock out" actions only appeared when there actually is a unit in reach. Btw, I love the reaction of the Mole when Tomas tries the action on him.
Three Valleys & PreparationAlright, it's been quite a while since I last played the following missions during A2 times. Therefore I can only vaguely remember these. I can't say if there has always been so much substance to the preparation missions, with the expanding camp and the talk options for several members of my team. I thoroughly enjoyed the overall atmosphere and the music in the background was very well chosen. The group management is a cool feature, although with interface size set to small, the character descriptions where a bit hard to read. Also I feel a little bit more color would suit the menu quite well.
There were a few new members in the camp. While Jegor and his men where mentioned somewhere in a briefing, I didn't feel any connection to them. As you have scraped their story arch from Petrovka Strike, where I think they where originally introduced, I think it would be cool to see them in a cutscene somewhere beforehand. Nothing fancy, just a small shot of the refugees coming from Grishino and joining your group. For now it somehow felt a bit disconnected.
When talking to Martin, he mentioned the Spetsnaz which I had supposedly killed in Gvozdno. However, as I went for Grishino to rescue Tomek and therefore arrived to late in Gvozdno, I actually never killed anyone there. I did like how bitter Tomek was about the loss of Miroslav. Made me feel even more for my men.
The mission itself was pretty much straightforward. My team had a good starting position for the attack on the farm and I could clear the area without any casualties. Teams Wolf and Eagle however both were killed during the attack. At the beginning, the radio message "Copy Wolf. Wait for my signal." appeared twice.
I didn't expect the mission to be that easy and of course it didn't take long for the counter attack. The incoming artillery actually had me scared for a moment while trying to get my men away from the farm into the forest. As I expected enemy presence in Tulga I approached the village from the east. But no sign of the Red Star guys, only some angry civilians. The reveal that Sergej's mother had been killed was a bit unemotional. Somehow I expected a bit more drama. The US soldiers showing up at the end was almost hilarious and left a lighthearted feel to the mission. Oh, and there was a dead... transgender person(?) lying in front of one destroyed building. Looked a bit weird.
So far I really enjoyed this mission. It's slowly shaping up to the grand finale. Hopefully I can find some time the next days to continue playing. I'm really exited to see what you came up for the final showdown.
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Dammit... I think that the bug in the script, you experienced, isn't the reason.
Keep them coming, even if I don't comment all of them, I'm taking note of them all.