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Offline SEAL84

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Ideas for Rent
« on: 19 Jan 2004, 19:20:02 »
Welcome to my workshop.  I figure I'll use this thread to post up all the worthy ideas I get for OFP - feel free to take them for your own use.

I'm an ex-story team leader looking for work ;D so if you need such a position filled, lemme know.

Anyway, here are some ideas I've had bouncing around since the dawn of OFP time....

1.  Terrorists sieze heavily fortified missile silo in 1988, US National Guard/Delta Force troops must sucessfully take it back before the terrorists start WWIII.

2.  A squad of US infantrymen (average grunts) is cut off from its company during an operation gone bad - they must survive several days alone on an island.  This would be a free-form series of missions.

3.  A US paratrooper company drops on an enemy-held sector of an island in order to cut the enemy defenses in two and allow a Marine assault to land sucessfully.

4.  A resistance campaign (posted elsewhere).

5.  You're a Nogovan federal agent investigating a possible coup attempt by a Nogovan general - I'm thinking that the superpowers would be absent from this one.  Lots of interrogation (maybe using dialogues!), car chases, commando raids, and gunplay with pistols, shotguns, etc.  This one might take some elements from the resistance campaign like sabotage, riots, etc.

And many more.

Post if you're interested and I'll divulge all the details :)
« Last Edit: 19 Jan 2004, 21:47:23 by SEAL84 »

Homefry31464

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #1 on: 19 Jan 2004, 23:26:43 »
#2 sounds really good.  Now the details..?

Offline SEAL84

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #2 on: 20 Jan 2004, 02:31:35 »
Of course ;D

I warn you: I'm thinking up what might be the longest single mission in OFP history.  I thought about it a little and figured it would work easier this way.


The basics:  The time and place of this scenario doesn't really matter as it is one of those "timeless" scenarios.  I had envisioned it as taking place in the Philippines at the present time - the US has SF advisors already there helping the government fight the Abu Sayyaf.  It's reasonable to extrapolate advisors into commitment of conventional units - I picked the 1st Cav because it seems the best suited to this mission.

US involvement is light - the 1st Cavalry and some Marine units offshore would be it for American forces.  Philippine government troops could, but don't have to, play a part in this story.

Essentially the situation is similar to Vietnam - search and destroy concentrations of rebels.  One particular day, your company is tasked with a sweep of a remote section of one of the numerous small islands of the Phillipine group.  

You play a corporal, Average Joe as it were.  You aren't in command of anything (yet).  You are inserted via chopper to your LZ - it's quiet - and you saddle up.

*Start gameplay*

Your squad moves with the platoon up the side of a hill.  You get to the top and find nothing - suddenly, an ambush.  All hell breaks loose.  The rebels who have been waiting for the platoon far outnumber you and have LMGs - your group isn't the primary target and the rebels attack the sides of the platoon.  Air strikes are called in and you're just trying to stay alive at this point.  

The rebels should win this round - your team is cut off and you hear reports that the rest of the unit is being decimated.  You decide to make a run for it.

A cutscene would show your team heading for higher ground to try and establish contact with choppers to get you out of there - they're tied up trying to evac the rest of the company and none can get to you.  For the moment, you're forgotten.  The sergeant (an experienced leader) says not to worry, he'll get you out of there.

Gameplay:

Your sergeant leads you to a nearby village - about halfway there a sniper kills him - this would be scripted.  The sniper flees (or tries to) and you inherit command.

What happens next is up to you.


As your team of eight decides what to do next, the rest of your company is dead or has pulled out entirely.  Your team should start with a medic but whether or not he makes it this far is random.  The island is crawling with bad guys - poorly trained compared to your team but armed to the teeth and nearly suicidal (set them to no retreating!)

Many of them should be hanging around near where your company's PZ - there should be camps nearby for them to linger.  Small groups (4 or 5) should be wandering around the area looking for stragglers.  They should be using Bremmer's AI script and should have mortar support (CoC or scripted, and not much of it).  If they run into something, they should call their buddies who will swarm the area.  

Small camps holding a small team of rebels should be scattered around - they should be stationary unless one of the patrols sees something.  I don't know if Bremmer's script does this, but when called, they should look around randomly in the area, and if they find nothing within a minute or two they should give up and go back to their camp.    

So the enemy forces are pretty numerous but not that smart or skilled.  They're wandering and don't know initially that you're out there.


You are free to roam the island at your own discretion, but you should be given hints as to possible courses of action.  A PRC radio is a must-have addon here - a secondary weapon that can be taken or dropped but does nothing.  Possession of this radio will help - one of your troops might remind you that high ground is good for radio signals and you might then decide to find a high place.

Or, one of your men might suggest going into a town and seeing if they can help you - a few towns should be randomly garrisonned, others not.  Those that aren't can be friendly or unfriendly - they might offer ammo, medical treatment, or a radio, or they might (literally) run and find the closest rebels.



The end of the mission is contingent on your having a radio or finding one.  You would make contact with the Marines at a totally random time (they're busy fighting elsewhere) and they would tell you to get to a random PZ for extraction.  You could make it totally random or you could have randomized predefined spots.  Depending on where the PZ falls, they could come by PBR or chopper to get you out.

Ideally, some kind of variable should be established for CONTACT TIME.  This would be totally random (with a minimum and a maximum of course).  If you start the main part with a radio, the timer works towards this variable.  

If you lose the radio, the timer is stopped and a new variable is computed.  When you get one, the timer starts towards this new variable.


What's the point, you might ask?  Well, you need to stay out of trouble long enough to make contact.  With all the bad guys and the various needs of your squad, that may not be easy.  They might need ammo or medical care.

THE SQUAD

Your men's ammo is fairly easy to deal with, and some people might not care if their loons get hurt.  There should be a damage script in effect - soldiers hurt past .5 damage would slowly continue to take damage.  This would only effect your men for simplicity's sake.  So, if a guy gets hit, eventually you will need to get him to a medic or a village with a doctor willing to cooperate.  

Some people might take the "I'll just hide" approach.  Well, how about adding other variables?  Stamina would be good - each man would have a length of time he could walk around before he got tired and needed a breather (it's hot, the terrain is rough, etc).  Tough guys might have 45 minutes to an hour, weaker guys might have half an hour to 45 minutes.

When they approach their limit, they'll start to bitch at you and might even take a temporary skill deduction.  At that point you need to find a nice quiet place to take a timeout.  Five minutes should "recharge" everyone.  There should actually be an item in your menu called "rest," which sets them to safe and sits them down.  "Move out" should get them on their feet again, feeling better or not, so if you run into trouble and need to move, you can.


So, you have to consider your team's need and all the guys walking around who will chase you with backup if they see you.  You need to consider that villages could be occupied, hostile, or friendly and may or may not have what you need.


Now for my reasoning:  The handicaps on your team will give you something to do so you won't just be walking around aimlessly.  The patroling enemies present a threat that will keep you on your toes.  The radio and variables that go with it will keep the replay value high.

OTHER STUFF:

- If you meet an American straggler, you should be able to have him join you.

- You should be able to stand and fight if you want - in some cases it might work since the bad guys aren't very bright.

- There are no vehicles besides a handful of beat-up trucks and tractors.

- You have no friendly units helping you - the rest of your company flees or dies (script if necessary).

- If you go back to where the company made its stand, you will find weapons, gear, and maybe some stragglers, but also plenty of enemies.

Pros:  Hasn't been attempted AFAIK, good replay value, tense and engrossing.

Cons:  Needs some slick scripting, won't interest the people who want nonstop action, could last for hours.


POSSIBLE ENDINGS:

1.  You meet the Marines and evac - hurray!
2.  Your entire team is killed.
3.  You're a real bad mutha and manage to kill the hundreds of bad guys on the island - at that point the mission should just end with you still stuck there, no better off than you were before.

I'm done ;D

(this is the part where you tell me it's not possible ;))



*EDIT:  OTHER OTHER STUFF:*

- unlimited saves in the action menu

- you're not told what to do, you just have to figure it out for yourself (with some hints).
« Last Edit: 20 Jan 2004, 02:35:43 by SEAL84 »

Homefry31464

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #3 on: 20 Jan 2004, 17:32:08 »
Because you invisioned it in the Phillipines, I recommend Tonal, partly because I can't think of another island that looks really good (maybe SEB Nam?) As for the enemy's, I suppose someone could figure out how to determine if someone in the player's group(including the player), could see a certain position on the map, then spawn units there.  There could be multiple spawn points, so the player would never really run out of enemy's to kill.  

There should probably be multiple mission endings.  The part about air support reminds me of "We Were Soldiers", where they declared "Broken Arrow". If someone wants to make this mission, I think it has the potential to be one of the best missions out there.

Offline SEAL84

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #4 on: 20 Jan 2004, 18:27:42 »
Well thanks :)

As far as more endings go, I agree that there should be more....I sort of ran out of steam in that department.  I figured that would be the best way to get out of there, but maybe something like stealing a civvie boat (one of those various sampan addons) could work...I dunno.  Storywriting is an ongoing process.  

Regarding the stamina script, I'm told it's quite possible and I'm going to start playing around with it today.

Respawning enemies sounds like it could get brutal on a CPU, even though there will be very few military vehicles and I imagine you'd want to deletevehicle all the Cav troops who get evacuated.

SEB Nam might do the trick, though then I think you'd have to make the full conversion to a Vietnam mission - that might have two effects:

First, people without the Nam pack would be out of luck.  Second, it would fit extremely well into a Nam atmosphere (the part about the different reactions from the villagers anyway).

Anyway, I'm off to class for the next couple of hours, then it's stamina script time!

BronzeEagle

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #5 on: 20 Jan 2004, 19:49:14 »
mission name:
Operation Stay Alive
Mission Impossible
Mission Terminable
Operation Terminate
Operation Snake Code
Operation Code Delta
Operation Oops
Mission Code Bravo
Mission Code Samson
The (   ) Event
The (   ) Crisis
« Last Edit: 20 Jan 2004, 19:51:07 by BronzeEagle »

Offline dmakatra

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #6 on: 20 Jan 2004, 19:49:55 »
What about adding a time limit(an hour or two)untill the marines leaves the area for good? That'll surley teach campers who'll just wait out the enemy.

:beat: *Gets Shot* :beat:

BronzeEagle

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #7 on: 20 Jan 2004, 19:53:46 »
I like the fifth idea about the investigation.  It's more police ish.  You could use the cops and robbers addons since they're packed together and people probably have them anyhow.  It'd be a good idea.  I'd be glad to help on that one.    

Offline SEAL84

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #8 on: 20 Jan 2004, 22:21:51 »
What about adding a time limit(an hour or two)untill the marines leaves the area for good? That'll surley teach campers who'll just wait out the enemy.

It's a possibility...it would force you to think on your feet, that's for sure!  I can see players panicking when they realize that they're really on their own...it's boat stealing time!

As for Idea #5, yeah, non-military missions are something we have very few of.  It would definitely require some resistance police addons for the Nogovans, and possibly some Nogovan military units assigned to the east for the missions (to represent the bad guys).  

There would be more civvie interaction, though - a long time ago I was treated to a beta glimpse of a dialogue-driven story.  I never heard another word about it and can't even remember who sent it to me - but some of the civvies were defined as VIPs so that you could talk to them in dialogues.  It was far from perfect but it was a start.

It would also require some good small arms addons so you could have crazy firefights in some of those Nogovan factory complexes ;D

Obviously this would be a highly story-driven scenario and it might play out like a movie.






But these are all just ideas.  I know how this board usually works - a handful of people look and very few of the ideas are ever completed.  I'd like that to change.

I led a story team for the OFPEC campaign of lore (bet you never heard of it :P) and I've worked with some very good people, cranking out stories and mission outlines and handing them over to the editors for the technical work.  Now, that system might sound too complex but we did have some great results with people like Messiah and Wolf.  

So I wonder...every so often people post about not having any ideas for stories.  Well, what if there was a team of guys who just thought up stories for editors?  It could be a standalone story team: we'd just think up ideas and post them on a website for all to see and take if they wanted to.

Now, this story team could would act totally independently of anyone or anything else.  But let's say a mod team wants people to help them write - the members of this story team could be assigned to mods and stuff to help them out, and then when they were done with that they would just go back to brainstorming with the rest of the bunch.

Think about it - an independant team of professional storywriters!  Think of the plots and the stories you could cook up like that, under no pressure whatsoever to meet deadlines and stuff!  The quality of OFP missions, even your average single mission, could go up with that kind of thought put into stories, backgrounds, scenarios, and the like.

I dunno...maybe I'm just rambling again, but I think that there are plenty of talented writers out there who can't edit to save themselves but still want to contribute something to the OFP community.  People who might have detailed knowledge of real-life military units and operations, people who can make your missions more real and more believable for you.

It would give people a chance to collaborate on story ideas (like these ;D) and then offer them up in a much more refined way.

Does that sound cool, or does it sould like a complete waste of time?




*ahem*

I know that's way off topic, so feel free to ignore it and continue batting around these ideas I've listed ;)

Homefry31464

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #9 on: 21 Jan 2004, 00:26:11 »
Excellent idea. You've got a PM.  As for the Marines, I'd say it's a good idea to have them leave at a certain time, as they would be under attack as well (real or simulated over the radio).  With the spawning, if there's a way to detect what the player and his team can see, you could run a "delete dead bodies" script that way, to there aren't dead bodies magically disappearing.

Possible Endings (Some of which are repeats)

1.  You meet the Marines and evac - hurray!
2.  Your entire team is killed.
3.  You find a small boat and make your own way out.
4.  You locate one of the US advisors, and you join him until you can find a way out (either actually help him or end the mission there, up to the maker).

5.  You hold out until there is support from your side, then you can evac out. (maybe airstrikes.  I'm not totally sure whats around the Phillipines, as far as US allies go.  It's been a while since Geography.)

6.  You find and secure a semi-safe location.  A helo is sent for you, and on its way, it encounters mechanical trouble and has to set down.  You have to quickly get to the chopper before the enemy kills the crew.  After getting there, you hold off the enemy until the chopper can be repaired, where you fly out safely.  


Well, thats it for the moment, I'll try to think of some more.

Offline SEAL84

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #10 on: 21 Jan 2004, 01:57:09 »
As for the Marines, I'd say it's a good idea to have them leave at a certain time, as they would be under attack as well (real or simulated over the radio).

Yeah I think the reason for the delay in their contacting you would be that they are committed on the ground somewhere else in the island chain (not on your island).    

Quote
With the spawning, if there's a way to detect what the player and his team can see, you could run a "delete dead bodies" script that way, to there aren't dead bodies magically disappearing.

Maybe just go by distance from the player's squad?

Quote
3.  You find a small boat and make your own way out.

I like...you might have to raid a village for this.

Quote
You locate one of the US advisors, and you join him until you can find a way out (either actually help him or end the mission there, up to the maker).

Mmm...maybe a small SF team loitering in a friendly village.

Quote
You hold out until there is support from your side, then you can evac out. (maybe airstrikes.  I'm not totally sure whats around the Phillipines, as far as US allies go.  It's been a while since Geography.)

I was thinking that the Marines chopper in with gunship support to come get you.  Maybe this ending could involve Philippine government troops or friendly partisans.

Quote
You find and secure a semi-safe location.  A helo is sent for you, and on its way, it encounters mechanical trouble and has to set down.  You have to quickly get to the chopper before the enemy kills the crew.  After getting there, you hold off the enemy until the chopper can be repaired, where you fly out safely.

I like it ;D  If the Marines are tied up in combat, this would be a great way to end it - making an Alamo-like stand around a chopper as the crew tries to repair it.

This is the part of OFP that, IMO, is the most fun ;)
« Last Edit: 21 Jan 2004, 01:58:38 by SEAL84 »

Homefry31464

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #11 on: 21 Jan 2004, 02:29:53 »
If you can detect a player's view distance, then it'd work good that way.  

Offline SEAL84

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #12 on: 21 Jan 2004, 03:05:56 »
Check PMs ;)

I looked through the command reference and I didn't see a way to detect viewdistance.  I don't know if you can play around with the benchmark command towards this end.

OrangeLeader

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #13 on: 21 Jan 2004, 06:22:24 »
One idea is to have a small marine base that is on the other side of the island. The only catch is you don't know if the Marine are still there(make it randomly set at the beginning of the game:occupied friendly, empty, or occupied enemy). Also if you get to a radio or finally are able to use yours you can find out if it is still occupied(maybe an intercepted communication that tells you that the base is being over run). This can happen maybe when you are half way there or happen at a random time in the game(maybe you find out but you were trying another idea). If you reach it and there are soldier you might have to help defend the base or get evac mission over(this would be randomized). At the least if the base is empty you will find ammo and a fortified position that you can try to defend if it is not crwalling with the enemy. If you can and do decide to defend the empty base you can get an evac by air or sea in there if you have a radio that works. Also lets say the base is over run and prisoners are taken. You can decide to try and free them. Beat the enmeny and then evac. I think the best part of this idea is how many random parts you can put into it. There will be so many combinations. I jsut hope this gets made.

Offline XCess

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Re:Ideas for Rent
« Reply #14 on: 21 Jan 2004, 15:32:48 »
This idea sounds f**king amazing if you ask me. I don't think a single mission editor/scripter could do this alone, there would just be so much work. A team of two or three would be needed. I'm happy to apply for a place making this mission. It sounds great.

Btw, Seal your idea for independant story writers is also excellent. I run short of ideas a lot whcih is very annoying when I've got an urge to make amission. Also I prefer to work in a team when doing OFP work. I think you should build a site, where people can apply to make a mission thought up by one of the writers,then the writer and editor work together very closely, contacting through MSN and e-mail to get the mission done, and done well.