good missions

[456820]

okay im wondering what a good mission is to other people.
So if you included an example of a mission and explain how it is good. Ive got an idea to do with a large beach attack
You play as a western soldier who is lounging around and is called up as back up so you get in you truck and drive down to the area where you mount an M2 and start destrying what ever you can

But obviously that would be rather small so how could it be lengthened to the mission and what could be the story to the mission and how coulod i make it exciting and make you feel your actually there and make it tense like tracer rounds flying past you and so on

So any ideas would be much apreciated

[dmakatra]

One word. Atmosphere. Getting the right atmosphere is really tricky. It is often reached ranomly. Most of the atmospheric missions I've played are 15 minutes (editing-wise) missions I've tossed together myself. But I've also played 2/10ers in the Missions Depot that are way better than most 9/10ers in the Missions Depot when it comes to atmosphere.

Getting the real atmosphere is really fucking hard. You need to combine a good location, good placement of the units, a good use of addons (for example, every mission with a Huey going above your head while fighting VC in the jungle is on the top of my list ;D). If we're going to get advanced we can also give examples like patching up the AI-problems through scripting, make good use of sounds and music and give the player something he's familiar with (e.g. shooting stuff) but with a little change (e.g. shooting stuff while defending, and letting the player coordinate the defence).

There are at least a dozen other things you have to think about regarding atmosphere, but all are unique to which mission. For example, a campaign MUST include some kind of heart-breaking loss of a friend. And I'm not talking about 1985's "Oh I lost all my buddies whom where all faceless and I really didn't knew 'em that much anyway.". Still, most atmospheric missions are created with the help from luck. A very well polished mission that doesn't show how the mission is built is one man's cookie while someone else wants to defend a town against artillery barrages, snipers and stuff.

:beat: *Gets Shot* :beat:

[greg147]

Also, battle ambience noices are a must have. The ones that come with the game suck, but AGS included on in their pack that was loud, with lots of gunfire, explosions and men screaming etc. Perfect for any beach landing mission, because it makes it seem so much bigger.  :gunman:

Also, when Dmakatra said about the huey flying over, that really does work.  
Try this.
Once you have your basic beach landing, make a AH-1 have no ammo, and setcaptive it. Now have it flying longways across the beach in front of you, around your back, and then across the beach again using cycle waypoints. Make it fly a a lowish altitude, like 20 or 30 (BTW, heuys would work much better for this  ;D )
Then, when the mission reaches a climax, like the retreat order is given, have the chopper setfuel 0; setdamage 0.9 in front of you, and watch it crash nicely onto the beach  ;D

[Morglor9]

There are at least a dozen other things you have to think about regarding atmosphere, but all are unique to which mission. For example, a campaign MUST include some kind of heart-breaking loss of a friend. And I'm not talking about 1985's "Oh I lost all my buddies whom where all faceless and I really didn't knew 'em that much anyway.".

How about the part where Commander Slava died? would you consider that as a heart-breaking loss?

[dmakatra]

The dude in resistance? Nope. Not really. (SPOILER) Seeing Troska get killed was kinda sad though, even though I mostly felt anger. If I would've played him he'd get out of there alive. ;D

:beat: *Gets Shot* :beat:

[macguba]

Mission making is storytelling.    If it doesn't make a good story (sense of placea and time; beginning, middle & end; etc.) then it won't make a good mission.  Strong characters and good dialogue are essential.

On a more technical note, this tutorial has some tips on making good missions, or at least not making bad ones.

I have to disagree about combat ambience sounds.   There is no more effective way of spoiling a battle than using them.   They are strictly for background in cutscenes, if really you want to use them at all.

The mission you describe is in one of the campaigns, can't remember which one.    Play it then disect it in the mission editor.   It will give you lots of clues as to how to make a mission of this type.