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Author Topic: (Review Completed) [SP] Abandoned Armies  (Read 214670 times)

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Offline THobson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1395 on: 27 Sep 2005, 12:03:19 »
guenon:
Thank you for playing my mission.  I have added in the readme instructions on where to put the editorUpgrade.  I could easily add where to put the pbo file.

I am puzzled by:
Quote
but it needs obviously  the  map_editorupgrade ... which isn't mentioned in the readme AND it runs fine without this addon ... so it seems to be a relic in the description.ext ...
You are correct that the mission runs fine without it, the mission does not need this upgrade.  In fact I have never used that upgrade myself and there is no reference to it in description.ext or anywhere else that I know of.  So I am really puzzled.

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1396 on: 27 Sep 2005, 16:59:06 »
Progress report number 3
At the end of the previous report, our merry band of freedom fighters were hidden in the trees with yours truly making his way back to them on foot following a lack of fuel situation. Not wishing to return to La Trinite on foot; we returned in our low fuel truck and made it to the weapons store. Was just starting to fix up the squad with improved weapons when a convoy from the north showed up. We duly dispatched the intruders, and afterwards were delighted to find a 5T truck in running condition and with fuel. Repaired the 5T truck at the immobile repair truck and with weapons distributed, decided to leave our original truck full of stolen weaponry at La Trinite.
Continuing with the strategy to weaken the south and encourage northern attacks, we headed off to check out the fuel depot north west of Chapol. Stayed close to the coast on the way down to avoid attention, but still spotted burnt out armour and a few bodies, although no sign of current action.
Parked in some trees close to the fuel depot and crawled down alone to check it out. Nobody manning the fixed machine guns, but spotted a sniper near the entrance, and used my recently acquired Dragunov to take him out. A couple of other soldiers appeared, plus a woman who came running past. Assume she was a suicide bomber or the Avon Lady.
Crawled inside the entrance and checked the parked armour; condition red and no ammo. But there was a very tasty ammo truck full of goodies. Tried jumping aboard and driving it away but the world exploded in bullets so that was not going to work.
Started crawling round the complex taking out who I could. Ended up between the cabins with men running everywhere. Spent almost an hour (and more than one re-load…) sniping and being sniped at. Eventually it go so hot I had to escape and eventually worked myself behind the comparative safety of the fuel tanks and decided to give the ammo truck another try. Made it into the drivers seat, reversed out and drove through the fence into the compound where there were a load of dead officers whom I rather indiscreetly ran over again before breaking down another fence and heading north. Almost got blown up by a tank sitting south of Chapol and decided I should take the truck somewhere far away and safe; the forest north of Sainte Marie. Parked the truck and then walked back to the squad truck and took my team up to the forest to show them our new acquisition. They were very impressed.
Chapol is still very hot; but I think a couple of snipers on the overlooking hill could do some damage; we will visit there later.
Meanwhile, thought another visit to the other fuel dump was worth a look; maybe less guarded than before. Took the squad and parked up south of the depot. On the way we saw a burnt out tank with a northern flag flying, and several dead bodies.
Crawled up close to the depot and the two fixed guns were manned; so made them unmanned. Two volunteer replacements were similarly dealt with then all went quiet. Crawled up and the place was deserted apart from a fuel truck and an empty ammo truck. Both were low on fuel and it does not seem to be possible to re-fuel at the fuel tank. Anyway, decided to add to our truck collection and took both of them. Got my guys to take our 5T and the fuel truck back to the forest and I drove the ammo truck. I did not have a weapon with me to destroy the fuel tank; will come back later to do that.
So now we have the makings of a very adequate second hand truck dealership, but it is not clear how the war is doing. Generally seems quiet and Chapol is still in Southern Hands. Next we will go back to create some havoc at the fuel depots and have a go at some of the heavy armour in the vicinity.
Game time is 1330 and I am still enjoying this mission very much!

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1397 on: 27 Sep 2005, 19:06:19 »
Quick update:
Went back to Chapol and lay on the hillside taking very long range shots and the confused inhabitants.
Killed a few and went back to the ammo truck for more mags. When I returned I was crawling down the hill and checked out the scene with binoculars. There was a man on the fixed gun and I was planning to take him out; when someone else did! Within a couple of minutes there were soldiers rushing all over the place and a major battle seemed to be underway. A tank arrived, could not see whose.
In a little while there where soldiers standing around all over. The southern flag still flew; but not sure who is now in control there. Certainly too hot for us to take on right now; so we will go north and see what is happening.
Great to catch some of the war actually happening; nice one THobson!
Off to bed now (Thailand time!)

guenon

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1398 on: 27 Sep 2005, 21:48:30 »
Ok, the thing with the map_editorupgrade seems to be a weird bug of OFP (or my fault *rolleyes*) ... copied the editorupgrade102 to the default addons folder and disabled the editoraddons-modfolder i used (filled up with various editoraddons like the mentioned map_editorupgrade) ... well, now there's no such "missing addon" message ... *weird*

ad readme: you mean with pbo the mission.pbo - right? ;)

the mission itself is really some sort of freaky hide-and-seek/run/sneak mission ... to be honest it makes addictive ...

Current position - after houdan - it got me just a while (lets say 1 hour of play and 3 or 4 reloads) to realize that i've to enter the brown shed ... at first I tried to clean the town ... those nasty tanks make this impossible (at this point) *rolleyes* ... then i thought i missed some trigger moment and ran back to the lodge - nothing happend ... perhaps i was iritated by the fact that before all markers on the map had their own cutscenes activated a few meters (~50m) before you reach the point (vigny, the lodge, both civilian camps) and now i had to move in this building ... well i'm a worst-case-player ;)

Some stuff that should be changed if it were an early beta (that means - i wouldn't change it at this stage of development):
at the tatyana cutscene i'm not sure if her answer is "right" -actual: "why do you think?" - better: "what do YOU think?"
at houdan - the ruskie refers to la trinite with "she" it should be "it" ... btw he is ruskie, so it's no big problem ;)

Only thing that scaries me are the 42 savepoints ... i'm not sure if i should say: "fine an savepoint for each decision" or "damn, it won't last for that long"

Well - tonight will be a LONG night in front of my laptop *rolleyes*

Offline THobson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1399 on: 28 Sep 2005, 09:28:32 »
Spike:
Love your story.  I didn't mean to leave you an ammo truck at the fuel station.  Repair and fuel is all it was supposed to be.  I must have selected the wrong option when placing the unit.  This will be fixed.

Have you reorganised your team yet?

Guenon:
Quote
hide-and-seek/run/sneak mission
Exactly right.  Hit them and then run, even if the hit is only one soldier it is one less to deal with later.

I like La Trinite being referred to as ‘she'.  It is a common enough error made by people not fluent in English to assign genders to objects - because that is the way things are in their own language.

Quote
Only thing that scaries me are the 42 savepoints ... i'm not sure if i should say: "fine an savepoint for each decision" or "d**n, it won't last for that long"
I am not sure from that whether you want it to last a long time or not.  42 saves is sufficient to save every 15 to 30 minutes depending on how quickly you are getting through the mission.

Offline macguba

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1400 on: 28 Sep 2005, 10:18:10 »
I should add that 42 is not a random number:  it was arrived at following much experiment and calculution.   It is about the right number for a good balance between keeping the fear factor up and avoiding tedium.  As long as you use them sensibly you'll be fine.

Good point about the huts and the player being used to cutscenes starting as soon as he gets close to a hut.   THobson, I think you should change the type of building in which Sergei is hiding.

On reflection, I also think you should add some advice to on how to use the savegames to the comment that they existe at the start of the mission.   "Use your radio to save the game.\n\nThe number of savegames available has been carefully chosen.\nSimply use them sensibly and all will be well."

"Sensibly" meaning don't be either cavalier or miserly.
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

Offline THobson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1401 on: 28 Sep 2005, 11:17:55 »
Quote
I should add that 42 is not a random number:  it was arrived at following much experiment and calculution.  It is about the right number for a good balance between keeping the fear factor up and avoiding tedium.
All of that is true, it is also the answer to life the universe and everything.

Cutscene triggers.  Well each one is logical.  Vigny, you have to enter the bedroom; mountain lodge, you are challenged as you approach; civis 1 & 2, you make your presence known as you approach so as not to get shot; Houdan - I give the player the chance to shoot Segei and so play a different mission ;D  I won't mention the others individually, but they have all been carefully thought out, even the trigger at the foot of the ladder had to be set so the player would not have chance to activate the 'climb ladder' action.

The hut I use at Houdan for Sergei is not one I placed there, it comes with the island.  It is back from the road and on the east side so missed by the patrol on the west.

Good point on advising the player on the use of savegames.

guenon

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1402 on: 28 Sep 2005, 11:57:32 »
Quote
I give the player the chance to shoot Segei and so play a different mission

ooh, well ... a new aspect ;) ... never thought to shoot an unarmed soldier (probably i'm a nice guy *rolleyes*) ...
ad houdan (again *rolleyes*): what about a family pic of her mother and her sister and some other family members in front of their house ... how would you find exactly those people (or identify them?) if you don't know how they look like (<- just an idea) ... especially where you can't expect anything (are they alive? or dead? or did they get imprisoned?) ... this would alos give the player a hint in which house to look for
« Last Edit: 28 Sep 2005, 12:01:38 by guenon »

Offline macguba

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1403 on: 28 Sep 2005, 12:11:46 »
Quote
Well each one is logical.
Yes absolutely.  There is no problem there.  The problem is that at 3 of the last 4 locations you visited (assuming you have done all three civvies) a cutscene kicked in as you approached the place.   (Always logically and correctly.)   At this one, you are approaching a very similar building (if not the same) and you are subconsciously expecting the same.  

This is a gameplay issue, not a plot issue.    We've all played too many missions where the triggers got screwed up so you exercise caution in these kind of circumstances.   Ultimately the player will figure out what to to, no question about that,  but the trouble is that at present the technicalities of gameplay (should I have triggered a cutscene?  there's obviously supposed to be one... have I done something 'wrong'?) are overshadowing the plot.

Quote
The hut I use at Houdan for Sergei is not one I placed there, it comes with the island.
Damn.   You should still change where he is though.  Place a building if necessary.   Ideally, use one that looks a bit like the one at Vigny.  The player's back brain will then say 'Ah, I need to go inside to make the cutscene happen'.    Currently the backbrain is saying 'Ah, that looks like one of these buildings where the cutscene starts as you get close.'

Originally I considered suggesting making the building the women's home, and rejected it.   But thinking about it again, it makes sense.  These women were unusal:  they were taken after the village had first been cleared.    (If they were taken at the same time then '2 women' would make no sense, there would have been 2 dozen women.)    It seems logical that they would have been in the one remaining house, and it seems logical that Sergei would have used that house once the other soldiers had left.    I know there are already some domestic touches, but perhaps one or two more would be good.
« Last Edit: 28 Sep 2005, 12:20:53 by macguba »
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1404 on: 28 Sep 2005, 13:46:59 »
@THobson
Fuel dump trucks
Maybe it was a repair and fuel... I will check my truck collection next time I visit it!!

Sergei at Hoduan
I did think you must have placed the hut at Houdan, it was the only building which was not a corrupted mess (don't think the OFP damaged buildings are very believable!) and therefore invited a visit. If I was in hiding I would not hide there; I would hide away on one of the broken down structures; less likely to be visited by passing patrols?

I have not reorganised my team, as they are all experts now, will it make a difference? I want to move the woman to the outside though, she is currently next to me and keeps nagging me about wanting to go shopping in Chapol!

Offline macguba

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1405 on: 28 Sep 2005, 13:51:42 »
Quote
I have not reorganised my team, as they are all experts now, will it make a difference?
Just reorganise the damn squad!  ;D  Can't you take a hint?
Plenty of reviewed ArmA missions for you to play

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1406 on: 28 Sep 2005, 19:11:28 »
@macguba
I am crap at hints; but OK I reorganised and I was told my father would be proud of me (although not clear who is saying that to me). Tried again later and was told I was doing well. This is good news which I will treasure!

Offline THobson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1407 on: 28 Sep 2005, 19:18:11 »
 ;D
You can't tell who is telling you this?  There might be a problem.  What do you see on the screen?

Attached are revised scripts to fix the weapon dropping bugs you found mac.
« Last Edit: 28 Sep 2005, 19:19:07 by THobson »

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1408 on: 28 Sep 2005, 19:35:00 »
Progress report number 4
We went north and decided to stay clear of the main towns and have a go at the fuel dump. Crawled towards it from the south and saw several troops on the road before the entrance. Dragunov time and despatched several before crawling closer and sniping some more. My number 4 got injured at this point (see how I am on first name terms with my squad...) but we killed them all off and the depot was ours! Easier than I expected it to be and no signs of reinforcements arriving so we checked the place out. A nice shiny fuel truck with fuel in it, plus another truck which we parked next to the fuel tanks before blowing them all up. Sent the men back up the hill to the 5T truck while this was going on and then I took the fuel truck. As I was climbing the hill there was a loud bang behind me which I suspect was an arriving tank firing at me. Safely re-united with my squad and our two truck convoy headed back south. Went down the west side and met no resistance, just rain and failing light, very sombre. Of course it is hard to make the AI follow you in a truck, and with my navigational skills, the journey took us ages.
Back at Saint Marie and our vehicle store now comprised:
5T truck
Ammo truck
Ural fuel truck
Repair truck (which repairs)
Fuel truck (which fuels)
Time to go back to Chapol so we head for our favourite hillside and the place looks much like we left it. Southern flag flying, several troops milling around and a couple of parked tanks.
Start sniping from a long distance and then gradually work our way down the hill with the squad doing a fine job of picking off the troops. By the time we reach the bottom all is quiet and I can walk around uninterrupted. Find the remains of a prison camp and then use a tank to break down the fence into the compound (has been repaired since I drove through it in the ammo truck). Up the stairs and got shot by someone I did not see. And again after reload and some repetitions. Then found Stamenov lying on the carpet surrounded by dead women (as you do) and completed the objective of killing him.
I announced that could see troops running away, although I couldn't cos I was heading down the stairs and I think they were all dead anyway. Maybe leave this comment out, will create some unease if the player thinks there may be some troops around.
Malden flag raised and time to hit the north. Before that I need to re-group and see what assets are available. A couple of tanks and some more trucks; will have to go and collect my ammo truck at least to help with the campaign.
It is 1600 and the sun is starting to set behind the recently raised Malden flag. Do you think they will make me El Presidente after this is over?

SpikeTennyson

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Re:Abandoned Armies
« Reply #1409 on: 28 Sep 2005, 19:39:35 »
@THobson
Apologies. Incomplete testing again! I just called up the reorganise screen and got one message. When I look with my eyes open of course I am being talked to, and if I actually select the squad I get additional messages.
I am a useless beta tester!