(Review completed) [SP] Operation Dawning Hope v.1.0 RC out!

[Wolfrug]

Hello everyone!

Version: 1.0 RC
Type: Single Player
Island: Sahrani
Requirements: ArmA v.1.08 (compatible with 1.09 BETA)
Jonny's Marines v1.5


Link version 1.0: http://files.filefront.com/OperationDawningHopeSararar/;9565303;/fileinfo.html
Mirror version 1.0: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CAQZL8XU

Version 1.0 Release Candidate is out! RC doesn't really mean anything though, it just means I'd like a review please! Unless someone finds any additonal horrible bugs introduced by my bug-hunting, but I hope not.
Known issues:
-Watch out for vehicles. In fact, avoid getting inside them most of the time. Messes things up. Not that you have many possibilities for commandeering a vehicle.
-You will switchcamera into the seat of the Cobra when it's put under your command. At least you'll know it's alive now (not an issue per say, but yeah, just a word of warning.)
-Laggy in places. Less laggy in Easy simply thanks to fewer enemies.

Version 0.32 hotfix-of-a-hotfix out: Mostly fixed the weirdo vehicle-CTD thing. You should now be able to use all vehicles without any problem. Also added some other minor things.

Version 0.31 "hotfix" out: Look below for version history. Most prominent fixes = fixed SCS Menu spam and re-locked the UAZ. Also added SPON_Status: press 'I' (by default) to get a resource which shows the different squads and their numbers. Useful for quick status checks.

Version 0.3 out! Look below for version history (quite extensive ) and have a good time betatesting it! Especially note the fact that the Squad Control System has been very much reworked and has been given a huge visual and functional upgrade. Hopefully you'll like it.

Also, in this version you have the option to select your difficulty at the start. I suggest using Easy if it's your first time, the other difficulties might be a bit harder. Still, if you find the balance to be off, please suggest what might make "easy" easier and "hard" harder. And if you still pass the mission with Impossible, I applaud you. 

Finally, you will notice in the difficulty selector that there's also a "Cheat Console". Basically you can type in  a cheat here, which ranges from invulnerability, more saves, and actually auto-completing certain objectives. Although this is a beta test, I don't want to give out quite all the cheats yet (although hey, opening up the pbo and taking a look isn't that hard I guess ): one you might want to use as Beta testers though is the Saves cheat (just write "Saves" with the capital S and without the quotes into the console and click Activate): this will give you 999 saves instead of the normal few ones, which might lessen the pain of beta-testing.

Oh, and I put some eastereggs/cheats down in the mission itself too. You can identify them by the brightly coloured traffic cones. They're mostly not very elaborate yet, but hey...there's at least ONE blooper in there someplace.

Enjoy!


EDIT#3: "Hotfixed" version up. Just fixes the overview picture + makes the version numbering proper
EDIT#2: I realized that the version downloadable up there has some slightly mistakes (the overview picture was an old one that didn't have the correct dimensions, and the briefing/mission still says v.0.1). I've corrected these and will put up the hotfix version sometime later. Now, however, friday beer-time 
EDIT: Thanks for the feedback so far! Here's version 0.2, slightly more polished, and VERY much more voiced! Hope you like it.  A BIIIG thank-you to all who've lent their voices to this mission, you all rock. I still need someone to actually finish the mission though before I can say anything else. Find me them bugs! Thankees! 

Version history:

0.1 BETA
-First release

0.2 BETA
-Voices added + some more NPC radio chatter + made some TTS voices sound better
-Added ability to disable enemy artillery also around the base
-Added visible prompt when D-30s are destroyed
-Added weapon selection to briefing
-Correction in intro (Lee)
-Added coloured & numbered dynamically updating markers for waypoints & squads (MrN)
-customized onPlayerKilled.sqs
-Added a new optional objective
-Some additonal work on the SCS
-Minor changes in briefing (DarkAngel)

0.3 BETA
-Completely reworked Squad Control System, now with many more functionalities, waypoint types and even synchronizing!
-Removed addon dependency of g85 editor upgrade & lowfly's editor upgrade 1.02
-hid radio option after engineers are finished
-reversed order of auxiliary 1/auxiliary 2 & added parenthesises after the name to explain their type (so it says Auxiliary 1 (Engineers) now)
-fixed various objectives not ticking off properly
-fixed certain radio sounds playing unnecessarily
-more effects on killing D-30s (smoke - taken from CSL's burning buildings script)
-Made primary objective slightly easier by disabling the D-30s ability to fire outside of the artillery attacks (on Easy and Hard difficulties)
-Made the max amount of Main Barrages 6
-Added more sounds (particularily to the artillery)!
-Added some easter eggs/cheats ^_^
-Added stuckcheck.sqf from LCD to the SCS, which will hopefully make units less likely to get stuck. :-/
-Added difficulty selector: Easy, Hard and Impossible are now selectable at mission start
-Changed to Version 1.5 RC of Jonny's Marines!

0.31 BETA
-Added SPON_Status to the mission! By default use 'I' to bring it up.
-Quickfix on UAZ-CTD bug (UAZ locked again)
-Fixed SCS-action spam (oops from my side).
-Changed: The harder the difficulty, the later in the day it is, which leaves you less time to complete the mission (Easy: 2h, Hard: 1,5h, Impossible: 1h)

0.32 BETA
-Minor fixes with SPON Status and quitting/resuming games
-Found the cause for the UAZ/any vehicle CTD bug! Consequently fixed it (in stuckcheck.sqf)
-Added another cheat, and as an extra bonus you'll get a list of the cheats if you finish the mission ^_^
-In ArmA 1.09 BETA, the M136 missile has been made less effective, requiring two hits to take down the short-range comms. This has been incorporated so that in Easy difficulty, the radars will already be slightly damaged (necessitating only one shots, as in 1.08), whereas in Hard and Impossible they still need two shots minimum.

1.0 RC
- Fixed some minor niggles with calling the artillery (LeeHunt)
- Fixed November 1 being called correctly (hopefully)
- Added another magazine to November 1's cannon, to encourage teamswitching & gunning
- Added another cheat
- Changed this readme a bit to reflect the current state of the mission.

A little about the mission:

It's set at the same time frame as mission #6 in the official ArmA campaign (Dawn of Hope). For those of you who have played the campaign, this is the point when you are to repell the attack on the airport, and then an amphibious landing while waiting for the USMC's arrival with air support. During this mission however you'll take part in a Marine Corps platoon's landing in the South-Western part of the island, with the objective of taking out some artillery units that, if used, will surely spell doom for the airport's defenders. Added to this are a number of side objectives which the player is at leave to decide whether he wants to complete or not.

As the "gimmick" of the mission, there's a squad-control system in place (I suck at dialogs, so pardon the ugliness of it) which is further described in the briefing. This system has basically divided your part of the platoon into three fire teams : Blue (you), Red and Green, to which you can give orders, waypoints and the like to. Also I have experimentally included TeamSwitch, but keep in mind it's not what the system was designed around, so expect a certain amount of buggyness if you use it.

Additionally there's player-usable CAS and artillery (both subject to availability), Kronzky's UPS (very usable in out-of-urban areas as well, makes the AI rather scary sometimes), and a chunk of randomness (mostly enemy placements and the like) which hopefully make the mission fun on a second playthrough as well. Also, I've used some Text-To-Speech programs to make the enemy radio chatter audible.

Addons used:

Jonny's Marines v.1.5 RC (look above for link)

Hints and tips:
- In the beginning, you can write in cheats in the appropriate line below the difficulty choice (note: write in cheats -before- picking your difficulty). Once you've completed the mission once, you'll get a list of all the cheats available, but here are two that might help you to start (minus the quotes, case sensitive): 'Saves' (gives you 1000 saves) and 'Bodyarmor' (improves survivability of friendly soldiers). There are also some easter-eggs here and there that will work like some of the cheats, if the going is getting hard
- Don't go for Hard or Impossible from the start, unless you want a special challenge.
- The enemy artillery is very dangerous! Consider destroying the short-range comm stations -before- getting spotted (even if it means taking a longer way around)!
- You're on a time limit! If USS Poseidon gives you a warning, it means you haven't got much time left! The time limit is different depending on difficulty. Once you've completed your main objective (the D-30s), there's no more time limit.
- You don't have to complete the objectives in the given order. If the obvious approach is too hard, try an alternative. Remember you don't have to attack all objectives with all your units - that's what the SCS is for!

Good luck!



Thank you!

Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

Wow!  This is quite a sophisticated and awesome mission so far.  I'm in the midst of testing this and a couple others, but I wanted to get something up on the board because this one is definitely worth checking out.  Here is a brief youtube video of gameplay (low res, new PC coming in a month!).  Project Beta definitely got people motivated to create some really good content, there's gonna be a lot of good missions to play (I'm guessing ArmA 2 won't REALLY be out for like 3 years given past press releases)...
This video is actually kind of funny because you can hear what happens to my squad while i'm checking the map...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhZTEqjl8Es

Overview

Minor type Infrantry instead of Infantry
The sentence here is a bit of a run-on, could be more concise.

Intro

"Oh and rescue" instead of "oh and rescuing" stryker brigade

UAV images are a great idea.  That's setting the bar higher for all of us!     Maybe include them in the briefing for further scanning? 

Briefing

Outstanding.  Very well done.  Very thorough and this makes me realize I need to sit back, crack open a beer and spend a few minutes studying the mission before diving into the action. Only suggestion here is to add UAV images and maybe shorten the briefing a tad. 

Mission

At first its overwhelming (though believe me readers this is pretty cool)-- there' a lot of radio chatter and interface options.  Perhaps the player could start in the boat and work his way up to the landing, learning the keys early on?  I was a bit confused by the squad camera and when its on and off, got stuck at one point and wasn't sure why.  Realized it was the camera, but that could be simplified.  Voiceovers for the radio chatter are a must. The lightning storm in the background is great.  I moved my squad to the west and into the woods rather than directly on the first objective. 

I didnt know what all the radio commands were and the Aux 2 wasn't clear as radio command 6.  I think you have to dumb things down a bit.

When i died i got this error mesage "_killer = _this select 1" for what its worth.

As i got started and fiddled with the waypoints i realized further how cool and extensive this mission will be, and I want to savor it and enjoy it. So i wanted to give you an early beta report but then spend a few days playing and enjoying the mission rather than rushing through just for a report.  But to answer your main question, this is definitely worth working on further and its pretty fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhZTEqjl8Es

[Wolfrug]

  Thanks a lot Lee! That means much to me, I've been working on it for an awfully long time (on and off, though). And I agree : voice overs are definately needed, that's why I've got the thread going (hint hint ^^).

The "_killer = _this select 1" comes from the trigger that runs the default onplayerkilled.sqs script if aP (Bravo squad leader, the "original" player) is killed: this basically prevents you from being able to, if your diary-writing protagonist is killed, just teamswitch and continue on. To fix that I probably simply need to write a custom onplayerkilled.sqs.

Also, I realised I had forgotten to add a weapons selection to the briefing >_< My bad. Now your character talks about bringing satchels without actually having the ability to do so, d'oh. Also I know some people can't stand the ACOG-scoped weapons, so giving some other alternatives might be a good idea.  Would be nice to get some more bug-comments before that though, so that I can put them all in at once.

Thanks again, Lee!

Edit 2.9.2007

I've received quite a lot of voices already from my excellent friends (Cheetah, LCD, Johnnyboy, still waiting for some more ) which I've put into the mission and tested, so now I just need the last couple and the mission will be fully voiced!  Otherwise I've also added some new things here and there and generally put some work into it (including weapon selection at start), but I still desperately need some beta reports that can tell me what is too hard and what is too easy!

I'm guessing the reason for the lack of beta reports is that you're all getting ass kicked  C'mon, at least admit to it (hint: when you see the flash of enemy artillery, it's already getting a bit too late )

Wolfrug out.

Wolfrug out.

[MrN]

Overview:Intro:
Bloody marvellous, simple and to the point. Loved the satellite cam.

Briefing:Mission:

And

_k # dowatch [_x,_y,5000] comes back a couple of times.

Kills:
N/A
Outro:
N/A

Conclusion.

[Wolfrug]

  Thanks for the feedback MrN, I guess some things do indeed need explanation.

1st: Did you read the briefing? It's extensive, I know, but it does give you the necessary information (the template was borrowed from some CoC OFP missions). But here're some facts which are, I suppose, counterintuitive to the "normal" OFP/ArmA gamer:

The MAIN OBJECTIVE of the day is to take out those D-30s, this is why it's marked as "objective 1". The two other objectives are SIDE objectives: it's -not- necessary to complete these to complete the mission (in principle). However, they're both steps on the way to completing the main objective successfully (each give access to forms of support that make the final assault easier - hopefully). The objectives are listed in ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, not necessary order of completion.

Alpha lands at Estrella, Bravo lands south of St. Peregrino. Alpha's first task is to clear a beachhead for the rest of the MEU, whereas Bravo's first task is to CAPTURE (it's stated several times in the readme, capture, not destroy) the main enemy radar tower. This is done simply by moving the Engineers (Auxiliary 7) close enough to the radar tower. Of course, before doing that you need to clear it of enemy forces.

2nd: What is not, I admit, described in quite as much detail is how to prevent the D-30 artillery from pounding you to hell. Basically, you're supposed to read the briefing and figure it out yourself, but I'll just spoil it for you here:

(SPOILER!!)
The enemy artillery gets its coordinates via short-range comms, such as for instance that radio tower. There are two other instances of such short-range communications in this mission, destroying each will disable the artillery in that area. Any unit that spots any of your units is capable of calling in artillery and will also do so with deadly accuracy: therefore it's a priority to take out the short-range comms units/buildings ASAP if you wish to survive.
Also, once you've captured the long-range comm station, you will be able to listen in on enemy communications, INCLUDING messages that tell you that the enemy has received coordinates for the artillery (which might give you a head start to moving your troops the hell away). Also: the first short-range comms station is used to call in reinforcements to the radar tower if not destroyed soon enough. Once again something that probably merits more mention in the briefing.
(/SPOILER)

Suggestions:

Marker with leaders: Of course  I'll get right on it. I think I can also add some kind of dynamic, moving markers which mark where the other units' waypoints are (and change colour depending on if they're gone through or not).

Clicking map instead: You did read the readme of the SCS (under "Signals - Special"), right? You can add new waypoints by shift-clicking anywhere on the map.

Control of squad on action menu: You mean getting up the dialog screen? Problem is, to "select" a waypoint you need to move it a little bit (until a hit pops up telling you it's selected), and you can't do that unless you're in the map anyway. However, I could probably make it so that it by default selects the "current" waypoint of the squad, so that you can change behaviours etc much faster. 

Error messages: They seem to be from Mr.Murray's artillery script (which is the script used in this mission). Probably for some reason the unit which was supposed to be the target wasn't properly transmitted to the script. Hm. I'll see what I can do. Right now they don't really affect the mission though.

Thanks for trying anyway, MrN : expect a new version within days, once I get the final voice files from firecontrol and Lee -> then you can get splatted repeatedly while listening to real voice acting! 

Also, I'll think about pulling the Squad Control System from the mission and giving it its own little 'training mission' for people to practice on

Wolfrug out.

[MrN]

I admit to having come across as a grumpy old git, sorry mate. 

I had 2 hours free time and saw that your mission has had few tests compared to the amount that you've done and thought I'd "dip in",  have a quick play and write up a mission in that time. What I hadn't taken on board was how complex your mission is.

I did read the briefing, which is very extensive and informative but also a bit long.

You can add new waypoints by shift-clicking anywhere on the map.

Er...now you mention it I do seem to remember reading that. 

then you can get splatted repeatedly while listening to real voice acting!

I'll look forward to it. I'll also give it a proper try.

Cheers
 

[LeeHunt]

hey Wolfrug,

Back in action.  Got a bit further, on to Estrella.  My other two squads are unresponsive at the radio tower unfortunately, and i'm not sure how to get them moving again.  Couldn't figure it out, again another vote for a simplified command system, though obviously this is on the right track for sure! 

Great idea on the OPFOR radio conversations. Very cool and makes the mission more exciting.  I am still loving this one and really recommend people on the forum check it out.

There could be a - "we got the new waypoint order, moving on" message from your fellow squads to confirm things.  But everything else is really great. Difficulty level up to Estrella is good, i like the counterattack ( i wiped it out with one M136 round heh heh heh  ).  Will post more later...

[Wolfrug]

My other two squads are unresponsive at the radio tower unfortunately, and i'm not sure how to get them moving again.  Couldn't figure it out, again another vote for a simplified command system, though obviously this is on the right track for sure!

Two potential reasons:
1) They simply have run out of waypoints  Shift-click on the map when they're selected to give them some more!
2) ArmA AI  I see this intermittently during the mission, I really still have no idea why it happens. Some possible solutions:
- try moving their current waypoint a little bit, until you hear the guy order his men again to "move to that position"
- check the status of the unit: they're all set to speedmode "medium" (I think I'll try to stick on a speedmode-selector to the dialog. Phoie. I suck at dialogs >_<), which means they'll wait for their teammates before moving on. Sometimes the whole squad will be stuck because one teammate is stuck -> try to untangle him
- Team Switch! Team-switched, you're the player, which apparently unlocks a lot of the AI-stupidity of ArmA. Ordering people around actually works then, so a quick teamswitch with some "Return to formation!" commands and movement SHOULD solve the problem. 

I've been working on a system to confirm having reached a waypoint etc, but it's a bit complicated for a number of reasons. First, your waypoints might be "hold" waypoints or "search&destroy", which means I can't use the waypoints "on activation" field (they won't be activated until the waypoint is passed). Second, they can be moved around freely and added to freely, which means that if I want to use triggers, they'd have to be created dynamically and moved dynamically. Finally, you have the "cycle" waypoint as an option, which basically means you can "Reuse" old waypoints, so the triggers should somehow be able to spot that as well. But I'll work on it. I think adding a simple "waypoint passed, moving on" should be easy enough. 

Also: Thought you'd be interested in this (Version changelog). I'll put it on the first post once I've finished 0.2, and keep it updated from there. 

0.1 BETA
-First release

0.2 BETA
-Voices added + some more NPC radio chatter
-Added ability to disable enemy artillery also around the base
-Added visible prompt when D-30s are destroyed
-Added weapon selection to briefing
-Correction in intro (Lee)
-Added coloured & numbered dynamically updating markers for waypoints & squads (MrN)
-customized onPlayerKilled.sqs

Wolfrug out.

[johnnyboy]

Hey Wolf, just downloaded the mission, and look forward to trying it out (may take me a few days to get the time though).

I have one suggestion though, and that is to reduce the # of addons.  I think many people won't bother downloading a mission if there is too many addons.

I believe all the objects in the Editor Addons you can add to the mission WITHOUT using the addons, by either replacing a standard object using createVehicle, or editing the mission.sqm after they have been placed.  See this thread where I describe one of these techniques to Lee:

http://www.ofpec.com/forum/index.php?topic=30189.0

But, if you already have a zillion of these objects in your mission, it might not be worth the effort to you, in which case just keep it mind for your next project.

[Wolfrug]

  I know, I know. Especially since I made the mistake of having TWO editor addons in a mission that really doesn't necessarily need either one.  (seeing as there are other, addon-free methods of achieving the same). This is certainly something for future considerations!

However, I included both of the (very small) editor upgrades in the .rar, so all you REALLY need to download is Johnny's marines. They're really necessary though, since, like, we're playing the USMC here. 

Thanks for volunteering to Beta-test! Once I get the last voices I'll release version 0.2 with a bunch of minor changes like detailed above (+ more). I'm working on this all the time - I can still use all the feedback you have to give on this version though!

Wolfrug out.

[DarkAngel]

Hey Wolfrug, have just given this one a spin. Command system worked fine for me but I wondered - could there possibly be markers for squad positions? It'd just be good to know where all my squads are when planning an assault, without needing to cycle through them all. No biggie, just thought I'd mention it. My only actual problem with the mission was that I couldn't work out how to move the engineer unit up to the radio tower to blow it...which kind of put a dampener on the whole thing. They don't seem to respond to waypoint changes (ie I can't shift-click them new WPs) and you can't teamswitch into them either. Having read the previous posts I realise that some bad guy or other has probably got a satchel I can borrow, but haven't tried this yet.

Otherwise looks great. I really like your intro and it'll be even better with custom sound.

Small point re briefing - in the "Intel" section you use the phrase "strenuous at best" when I think what you mean is "tenuous at best".

This has huge potential! 

[megz]

ohh sounds good, gonna give it a try tomorrow mornin, after i've finished the other one.

 

P.S if you need another voice actor (british northern accent) i can do.

You can hear my voice in this http://files-upload.com/files/483312/revenge intro.Sara.zip

I am liam, and the UN driver, and the wife (dont ask)

[Wolfrug]

Thanks for the feedback folks! 

You can expect a (nearly) fully voiced version 0.2 later today, which also includes the markers for unit positions that people have been wanting. It's nowhere near completion yet, but at least it LOOKS and SOUNDS a bit better (I think!).

I'll also update the first post then with a changelog + new links.

@DarkAngel

The basis of the SCS is actually that you can MOVE the waypoints themselves (like you can in the editor). Just pick the visible waypoints up and move them anywhere you want. This also works for the auxiliary units : you can order them around by moving their one active waypoint around (in this case the Hold waypoint for the Engineers). 

This is because you don't really need the same amount of control over the engineers as over your regular squads, just enough to tell them to hold back and to move up. 

Anyway! New version coming soon!

Wolfrug out.

[DarkAngel]

Ah right, I get it. Think I had it more or less down with my squads but clearly I didn't try actually moving the sappers' waypoints. Will try again with the new version later then.

[Hawkins]

New version doesn't have the editor addons in the package, at least I didn't notice them. Downloaded the old verison and got them from there though. Will give this mission a spin.

[Wolfrug]

  Aw poop. I'll add them to the post, that should do it.

And thanks for picking this up!

Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

hey Wolfrug, busy for the next few days but should be able to give version .2 a spin as well by next week

[johnnyboy]

Hey Wolf, finally had a chance to give this a go.  Its very ambitious man!  I suck at squad control so this is tough for me...

Overview

Picture to dark for me.  Can't really make it out.

Intro

-Starts in 3rd person view of man first before going black to narrative. I don't think you want that.
-Narrative cool.  Voice over would be better though.
-UAV very cool.  Short voice over here, or music might help.

Briefing

- Wow.  You obviously worked hard on this.  Very well written.
- On the various tabs, I would make links for all discussed items that have markers.  That way, you don't have to flip back to main page to use the link again to see where something is.  May seem redundant, but linked markers while on the context of a particular tabbed page makes life easier for the player. 
- Squad names in radio menus.  I would add text to squad names in menus so I can remember who is who without re-reading the briefing.  For example, I'm supposed to move the engineers up close to the radio (nearest objective), but I had trouble figuring out which squad was the engineers.
- Squad control with dynamic waypoints is a cool thing.  But it would be nice to have the squads also do the smart thing if you do not exercise that level of control.  For example, I would like those engineers to just do their job by the radio tower, rather than me have to micro manage getting them close enough. 
- That radio tower objective never ticked off for me, and I'm guessing its because the engineers didn't get close enough?  I know I killed all the enemey there.

Estrella

- Really enjoyed my fight here.  Cat and mouse with BMPs.
- I got the radio message that Estrella was cleared, and I destroyed the one shilka I could find, but the objective did not tick off?
- Called in November1, and was switched into chopper.  Tried using radio to get back out, but that option was now anavailable.  Finally noticed an Action to switch off Camera.  It was confusing to have to use a different method to switch back to Blue team.
- Got a script error when used action to switch camera off from November 1.  See attached screenshot.
- November1 got shot down before getting near Estrella.  Never saw where.


D130s
- Shot sniper and guard near a tower, and then had to skirt a long fence.  Went in 4X speed for that.
- Moved up to bunker near end of fence, and killed a few guards there.  Then did long range shooting of many enemies milling about.  Did notice a squad not far away that was still in Careless mode though (circled in second screen shot).  We had been shooting for a few minutes, so they should have been alerted.  There was a sniper in this squad.
- Got this error message too:  "Radio Message Fail Warning Not Found".


Overall
I really like the scale of the mission, and the feeling of being part of something larger.  The voice acting is quite good, especially that Alpha character!   

I was confused quite a bit of the time though, eventhough I read the entire briefing.  A little more hand holding in the way of radio messages or dialog with team mates to prompt me along to the next objective would be helpful (eventhough I know this is open ended, and you choose the objective order).

Looks great so far....will try and complete it later.  I confess to not using the squad control waypoint menus to their full potential yet...

Thats all i have time for this go around.

[Wolfrug]

 

Thanks for your BETA report, johnny! And I agree: that Alpha character really was great. 

Response:

Overview: It's supposed to be three RHIBs towing two M113s, with an aircraft carrier in the background (edited there with my less than perfect Photoshop skills >_<). I'll work on removing the black borders and making the piccy a little larger.

Briefing: Most pertinent places have links, but I admit to getting lazy and not linking EVERY mention of the objectives. Sometimes for some reason I cannot comprehend the links are indistinguishable from the normal text (they're black), but they still work.  Once again, the actual format of the briefing was stolen from the Chain of Command OFP missions, so they're to thank for that.  Found any spleling erorrs?

Squad names: Blue (you), Green and Red should be fairly self-explanatory (with markers according to colour). I suppose I'll just have to drop the "Auxiliary 1" and "Auxiliary 2" names though and simply go for "Engineers" and "November 1" instead.

Squad control: Did you manage to get it to work otherwise though? I mean - picking up and moving the waypoints etc? I suppose I don't explain this well enough, but basically both November 1 and the Engineers have ONE waypoint capable of being simply picked up and moved around, which will make them move to that location (thus the "limited" control). I -could- also allow equal control over them as over your regular groups (i.e. adding and editing waypoints etc.), but I don't know if that's strictly necessary. Opinions?
->Engineers: they need to be within about 10 meters of the big radar (just position their one HOLD waypoint straight on top of the objective marker), upon which they'll leave your control and do their own thing.
->November 1: Crashed? Strange. As to control: selecting November 1 (Auxiliary 1, I think ->you're right, I'll change the naming) will indeed put you in the cockpit of the chopper [reason for different method is due to the fact that November 1 is a vehicle, and the camera is centered on the gunner when selecting vehicles, who does not have access to the radio] upon which you can use the map to move the chopper's waypoint around. Also be mindful of the fact that since later versions of ArmA, you can direct Hellfires with a Laser Designator...
-> Estrella objective not ticking off: Argh. Weird. I'll check on it.  But since you got November 1, I guess everything ELSE worked as it should've...

D30s:
- I added the big blue "ATTACK" arrows which point at the holes in the chain link fence (and also added thin black markers that marked the fence itself, since it's nigh invisible on the map). As you noticed, these obvious entryways will be guarded. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from making your own hole...
- Careless squad:  I'll look into it. Weirdness. Did you try shooting at them?
- Radio message: I'll check the trigger & the message itself, I figured something like that would come up! Basically though, that message was telling you time was running out. 

Overall:

Glad you liked it! Sorry about it being confusing - that's what I need BETA testers for, to see what is obvious and what is less obvious! On my todo list is spiffing up the briefing some more with pictures and the like, maybe even a little tutorial on how to use the Squad Control System (particularly in regards to the Auxiliaries), which will hopefully alleviate some confusion. But generally, it IS a pretty extensive mission with many objectives, so you shouldn't be surprised if it at times feels a bit confusing.

Now some questions:

-> Difficulty? Was it too hard/too easy? You seem to have just used your own squad, leaving the rest behind. But considering you were sniping people by the D-30s when the fail warning came, you probably moved pretty slow too.  Remember what the briefing says: those artillery units need to be knocked out before the attack on the airport starts! (at 8 AM).

-> Artillery? Were you ever even attacked by the artillery?  You don't seem to mention it anywhere, and since MrN was splatted by it repeatedly, I figured it SHOULD have made its entrance on you as well. For instance when engaging the D30s, were you never attacked by the artillery while you were shooting?

If the Engineers are killed (or reduced to less than 2 men) or you for some other reason don't want to waste manpower on the radar tower, you CAN just bomb it to hell as well which will make the Poseidon start its approach and put you within range of the naval guns pretty soon. And once that happens -> was THAT artillery useful?

Oh, btw: did you ever pick up a laser designator? I don't know if I made it clear enough that one of those might be useful. 

Thanks again for your BETA report!

Wolfrug out.

[johnnyboy]

Found any spleling erorrs?

spleling  <=== just this one matey!

Careless squad:   I'll look into it. Weirdness. Did you try shooting at them?

LOL.  My squaddies totally hosed them down.

Difficulty? Was it too hard/too easy?

Probably just right.  I survived quite awhile.  But I did run out of time as I was on foot the whole time, and when Alpha requested assitance, I had to comply (as his voice is so compelling).  I should have used the Ural by the Radios to cut down on time wasted.  Also, I took quite awhile in Estrella, as the BMP was tricky.

Were you ever even attacked by the artillery?

Artillery came in by the Radio Tower, and near Estrella.  It looked and sounded great, but seemed sort of random.  It did not hit me or my men.  I encountered no artillery when near it.  But I did take that long skirt the fence detour (if that has anything to do with it or not I don't know).

within range of the naval guns pretty soon. And once that happens -> was THAT artillery useful?

Due to my earlier confusion of who the hell the engineers were, I never put the engineers near the tower, and I never blew the towers, so no naval guns for me.  Next time I will know!

ever pick up a laser designator?

I remember reading about the ld in the briefing, but forgot to pick one up.

Honestly, I read the entire briefing, but there was so much to know that I didn't retain it all once in-game.  I did refer to the map and briefing a few times during the mission, but still, once playing, I didn't want to spend much time re-reading the briefing whilst trying to survive.

I look forward to trying again.  Is there a new Beta version in the offing I should wait for?  My time is limited these days, so you might want me to save another detailed review for your next version...

[Wolfrug]

Lee said he'd look into the mission at some point during this week, so I'll at least wait for his review before churning out 0.3 - but rest assured, I AM still working on this. Also I'm learning some more of the secrets of dialog-making, so maybe, just maybe, I might even update that little part (although it seems to be fairly little used. Hm  )

The artillery is either "random" or extremely deadly I've found. Nasty stuff, overall.

Thanks again! If you find anything else, do tell me.

Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

yep i'll be able to take a look Saturday morning (New York time).  i'll have extensive feedback later that day 

[DarkAngel]

Hi Wolfrug,

Have just given this another go. Engineers do their job this time, but I think Johnnyboy might be right in that there's no real need to micromanage them. You could just arrange it so that once the area round the tower is clear they move in and do their job.

Some problems -
- Cleared Estrella and the radio tower but objectives didn't tick off
- November 1 keeps crashing and I can't seem to move his objective
- Where are the laser designators for the artillery? Some sort of hint or maybe a conversation with one of the rescued Alpha soldiers might be useful here.

Really enjoying the squad control idea now I've got the hang of it - this is going to be awesome...

[Wolfrug]

Thanks DarkAngel!

-Laser Designators are needed to call down artillery, once the radar station is in our hands. Alpha and the Lt. has those. Hope there won't be any need for us to get our hands on them...

Alpha Squad will bring several Laser Designators with them inside boxes that will be unloaded on the LZ. These will then be used to direct the artillery.

^ Quotes from the briefing. The important part here is hidden in the second quote, as it were: boxes on the LZ. If you followed the radio chatter and checked out the location Alpha mentioned being the spot they were pinned down, you can bet that was their new LZ. Just off to look for some crates then, eh?  (I know that scene misses a voiceover - my bad).

But you're right, maybe just a "talking/thinking to himself" might be good as well at some point there.

Darn November 1! I'll have to look into him, I might've fouled something up there. 

Objectives not ticking off: Once again, darn. But that's mostly a cosmetic detail, I guess.

Continue having fun! And do give me negative criticism on the ease of use/whatever you can think of as well!

Oh...and WHEN is someone -actually- going to manage to finish the mission?  C'mon...where are all the hardcore ArmA/OFP gamers who said they could beat stuff like the (un)Impossible mission? This can't be THAT hard. Just be prepared to use the saves too! 

Wolfrug out.

[LCD]

when i have taam d00d ill beat it 4 sure...

LCD OUT

[LeeHunt]

Ok, betatesting version .2, here we go, more to come over this weekend but wanted to post something right away:

Dawning Hope is still awesome and still raising the bar of excellence for the rest of us  .  The waypoint and squad control is much improved, almost there (still needs more simplification, but much better). 

Squad Control: I like the dot and squad # as markers on the map. 
Green Team got stuck. I don't know how. I tried everything.  This makes me wonder if there is a way to "refresh" them?  Without Green Team i was in trouble (because Red Team got plastered by the arty

Suggestions (to some extent personal preferences, though i think many of these are valid regardless):

1) Add a "bring me back to myself" hotkey. I know this may sound silly and you can do it but by pressing Blue Team or Go Ahead, but it may be nice in the heat of combat to have the player be able to just instantly be himself again and fight.

2) The OPFOR arty runs too much.  And this isn't a complaint because i got plastered by it several times  , its just that they wouldn't have so much ammo and the time between barrages seems too short.  Maybe a larger amount at first, then spaced out more as they conserve ammo.  Maybe also they need to spot more than one BLUEFOR to launch a barrage?  Like 3-4?  Just an idea...

3) When the player is re-selected and "himself" again, you could have "settime accel 1" kick in. Many times i was still in slow-mo.

4) The Call signs for sidechat, globalchat etc are currently "Bravo Green 1", but it would be better if they could just be "GREEN TEAM" for simplicity's sake.

5) The briefing, though good, is still quite verbose and could be shrunk down dramatically. 

6) the Long Range comm tower and Short Range Comm markers are overlapping and could be changed...

7) I think the engineers could carry a Laser Designator for the Poseidon Arty. It doesn't make sense that only Alpha Squad in Estrella would have them. Its motivation to rescue them but maybe Poseidon would act to help Alpha alone if you don't rescue them?  So you get the same result but without the Designator issue?

I didn't like the on death player music, too jarring. You've just been killed, and you've been jarred by the bullet that got you anyway haha.

9) minor bug report that didn't seem to affect my mission: RUG_Group Radio setTriggerAct (flashed by before i could write it all down). This was after i got the November 1 helicopter pilot. Who I promptly ordered to attack the Shilka 

10) This is still fantastic Wolfrug.  I really enjoy it. 

Ok I'm restarting the mission because i got my butt kicked. Took the tower at first but Red Team got plastered by Arty, then half of my Blue Team and Green Team wouldn't move.  Giving it another go now 


EDIT AFTER PLAYING MORE:

Ok, I restarted, took the comm towers, long & short, then moved into Estrella.  Green & Red Teams froze, i tried changing their waypoint menu around, hitting halt, go ahead, moving things etc, no luck.  So i saved Estrella almost singlehandedly  and managed to nail the enemy APC reinforcement (the one calling the arty shots).  Got the leftovers from Alpha Squad into my blue team and moved SE towards the enemy bases.  DIdn't use the arty or helicopter yet, holding them back.

Improvements (and again, this is a really well designed mission so these are given in the spirit of wanting to improve things to make it even better):

1) "Radio Message Fail1Warning" not found... i'm guessing this was the line to warn me i was going over the time limit?

2) A marker or hyperlink to the laser designators?  I couldn't find them and ran around Estrella aimlessly till after 20 minutes or so i found the crates and wounded soldier.  Then i had the laser binoculars, but by the time i got to the fence of the unknown base my time ran out...

3) ...the mission stopped and i was shown a massive gravesite.  I didn't know why the mission stopped exactly, time limit i guess.  I would prefer no time limit as this mission is quite large etc. 

But things are on the right track.  An even simpler squad control interface and sorting out the minor growing pains will make this even better 

[Wolfrug]

 

Thank you very much for your beta report, Lee. I'll get to work on some of the niggles you've found.

Time out -> I guess you're right. It IS a bit hard to manage everything within the time frame! I think what I'll do is implement a difficulty checker at the start -> "Hardcore" with timelimits, no LDs with your team from the start, possibly more armor movement (right now there is exactly one armored unit, and that's the BMP, in the whole mission. Rest are UAZ and BRMDs), and "Easy" (maybe with a medium in between) that hasn't got a timelimit, gives you the LD from the start, makes the artillery shoot slower and less etc etc. 

Groups getting stuck -> Bloody hell.  Did you try teamswitching into them and telling them to "return to formation" and so on? Although this HAS happened to me quite a lot as well, very annoying. I -think- it can be solved if I give their waypoints the "fast" movement speed : that means they won't wait for their teammates before moving on, which they'll otherwise do with normal or limited. Did you see if the reason they didn't move was: a) Stuck in buildings/trees/other objects, b) Their teammates were "engaging" or "away"? If a), try teamswitching and then unsticking them. If b) well...I don't know.  I'll work on it.

-> finding the LD. Right, right. I'll put in a hint or somesuch telling you where to find them once Estrella's clear. 
-> time running out. This is partly my laziness. First, I wanted to script in a "lose" outro, but I didn't get around to it. Strange though that you seemed to have gotten the regular outro. Did you hear the general speak and get the credits, etc? Also, regarding time running out, I guess in your case the reason was partly the fact that you ran around Estrella for like 20 minutes looking for LDs.  The time cannot run out any more after you've disabled the D-30's.

Thanks a lot for the Beta report! I got some questions for you:

1) The chopper didn't crash and you figured out how to control it? 
2) Did the objectives tick off at all?
3) How could the Squad Control System be made even more intuitive?
4) Difficulty, once again. What were your losses taking the comm tower/taking Estrella?
5) Was the briefing weapon selection adequate? I noticed there were some silly things there (20rnd STANAG mags, for instance >_>, and no M9s). I'll see about cutting down the lenght of the briefing as well. 
6) If I do implement difficulty settings at the start, what things should I change? -> Amount of enemies, amount of artillery, time limit, equipment, friendly forces?

 

I'm waiting eagerly for the next version of Punishment Battallion, incidentally. Surely THAT will be a mission raising the bar of excellence if anything! Thanks for taking an interest in my little Beta here. I'll start changing things and building up a new changelog soon for 0.3. 


Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

hey Wolfrug,

As i mentioned before, this is a very fun and well designed mission that could be used as a platform for many more like it, so all my criticisms are positive minded.

I think the difficulty level options you mentioned are a great idea.  I'm a slow mover in ArmA, trying to play like i would to some extent in real life.  (A point someone mentioned that real life style IS the way to win Abandoned Armies and similarly Punishment Battalion, by running away like you would in real life and only fighting when you are 95% sure you can win).  But anyway, the options you mention should be easy to setup; if the player selects an easier difficulty level you could just deletevehicle Tank1 and Tank2 and deletevehicle TriggerTimeoutFail or something like that, otherwise they stay.

The groups getting stuck always seemed to happen when the group got to the end of a waypoint, and usually not under combat conditions.  They were in the open as far as i could tell, not stuck in trees.  I did not try teamswitching into them and telling them to return to formation--- and though that may work its not enough solution for the casual player unfortunately (though maybe enough for the hardy betatesters).  Maybe a "Refresh Squad" hotkey that clears all their waypoints and re-runs the script with their markers and waypoints?   I haven't looked "under the hood" of your mission yet to keep it a surprise for me. 

A marker for the LD location would be good. 

I heard the General speak and i got the credits, so it didnt' seem like a "lose" outro.  It happened just as i got close to the Unknown site south of the fences and west of the RACS base.  The camera shot into the eye was a bit creepy I must admit  .   I hadn't seen the gravesite yet so i was shocked, so that effect did work as intended.

Additional:

The chopper didn't crash and I figured out how to use it. 
The objectives did not tick off, though the map markers changed from red to green (i liked that)

How the squad system could be made more intuitive...hmmmm... the initial dialog boxes for changing to combat mode red, blue, yellow etc could have a word in them saying what's in them, "combat mode", "movement mode" etc.  Most players are used to Command & Conquer style unit orders, you click on the unit, tell them where to go on the map, and they go.  The waypoints are great to allow flanking and coordinated attacks.  My biggest simplification request is that the waypoints are somehow refreshed, i still think that my squads got stuck at waypoint 3.


Difficulty changes:
Time limit and Artillery frequency is the biggest difficulty effects, the rest are fine as they are i think.  You could adjust the # of enemies easily by deleting some of their units if the player does select "Easy" mode at the beginning, but i think its fine really.

My losses on taking the Comm Tower were-- all of Red Team (plastered by arty) and half of Blue Team during the counterattack  .   Green Team got stuck the first time.  The second restart I moved Green & Red towards Estrella right away, though they got stuck and never arrived. Blue Team was decimated by the end of my rescue of Alpha Squad at Estrella, maybe 2-3 guys left.  I then incorporated the rest of Alpha Squad, half of whom got blown up in the APC shortly after  . 

That's it for now 

[LCD]

i finished it... even tho ill have 2 admit i cheated  i took over enemy jeep and da enemy didnt realy like 2 shot me (its a bug in ArmA... im not sure if it can b fixed tho  )

but lets start from start

package

1) da radio problem (mentioned in readme) is solvable... use showradio and shownradio comands
2_ it seems da two editor upgrades were not included in da rar file

overview

1) picture is lil fuzzy
2) picture cud also use a border

Intro

1) da whole diary text is writen in da middle of da screen while da last line is writen at da bottom

Briefing

1) i think it shud b "0600 hours" and not "06.00 hours"
2) da markers are too close to each other, u may b wanting 2 make em smaller 4 more elegant look
3) i think da esterella objective shud b start hidden (its objective 4 alpha not 4 us...) nd become unhidden only after dat
4) i dont like da whole weather and AA-gun thing.... its like da planes dont fly cuz deres bad weather but da weather will change 1ce we destroy AA bateries ? do dey magicly control da weather ?
5) all my squad r experts... even soldiers dat r ranked private

Mision

1) did u do somin 2 da aiming of soldiers ? dey seem 2 shot realy bad... dey take ages 2 kill enemies (and enemies 2 kill me...)
2) It seems dat couple of enemies run away from da big com center after i killed somin like 4 of em (nd after i took da nearby short-comm center)
3) I brought da enginers 2 deir designated position (dis part was strangly easy... mebe its cuz i was on cadet ? but it was realy realy easy....) nd da objective didnt tick off
4) Try changind da USS posidon name from USS posiedon 1 to just USS posiedon (use [west,"hq"] kind of thing instead of group 4 deir radio msgs)
5) also kill da leder of alpha group b4 dey say dey have problems (i think it said he died ? not sure tho...) cuz it was da same man who radioed b4 and after....
6) after da engineers get in place u shud hide da radio option... (it doesnt work but it still apears...)
7) U shud give alpha squad a medic or somin like dat... dey had my medic runing all da way towards em alone askin 4 him 2 heal dem...
I dont know what alpha needed help with... by da time i got dere dey overwhelmed esterilla and blowed up da command BMP (dat orders arty) all by demselfs
9) It seems 1 of da radio msgs was saied twice in a row (player asking about air support)
10) After alpha joined my group da leader of team green changed and became 1 of da officers from alpha
11) I had some trouble w/ da choper... i didnt figure out how 2 use it... (tried movin its WP but it was stuck in place... and da radio didnt apear when i was dere...)
12) when i switched da choper cam off i got error msg saying PUG_groupradio setactivation... (didnt get da rest sory)
13) also when i switched off choper cam da world stayed in slow-moation
14) Esterilla objective also didnt tick off...
15) u also forgot da hint dat says camera terminated when we close choper camera...
16) When a team is elimanted it cud b nice 2 get some radio text (player tryin 2 contact and dont get answer ?) and also removing da radio option from da radio menu
17) Dere was a group of soldiers from alpha dat stayed in esterilla and didnt help me (nd i did need help)
18) da D-30 seems 2 die real fast from da UAZ w/ MG fire... somin like ghalf a mag makes it explode
19) Of course dere is da jeep bug.... 1ce u get in an enemy jeep da only ppl 2 shot u r soldiers who got out of da D-30
20) da destroy D-30 objective is redicuosly hard compared 2 both objectives b4 it (who were too easy to b true) 2 continue walking 1ce 1 of da D-30 targets u is hell... mebe have em not shotin directly at player but only arty fire or somin like dat cud make it more normal....

after i destroyed all da D-30s (dat objective did tick off) i tried last time da choper nd tried 2 move it WP in many difrent wayz... and i accidently crashed my comp  not conected 2 ur scripting tho... so i didnt have time 2 return 2 esterilla... but i may do dat tomoz

LCD OUT

[Wolfrug]

Thanks LCD! 

Briefing: You're right.  Of course you can't know the weather might get better. Let's put it like this instead: the weather might get better at any time, except they can't send you any air support in the south ANYWAY before the AA base is destroyed. Maybe your character is just being hopeful in the notes? 

Expert soldiers -> The AI is a big enough hassle as it is, making them poor shots would just make things even worse. I think some elite USMCs deserve the rank of Expert. I mean, it's not like its the rank that determines how good they are at soldiering.

Intro: I know, conscious choice. I wanted it to be a sort of "end of page" thing. But really I should replace the titleText with some kind of custom resource that might look prettier. We'll see.

1) Most enemies are very low skill, but otherwise I've done nothing particular to them? Sure you haven't been messing with your .cfg values?
4) Maybe I will  I'm not terribly bothered by it though.
5) Simple case of logistics. Didn't want to bother having two different people radio in and out. Let's just say that the Platoon LT. used his nearby sergeant or whatever to relay the orders instead of talking himself. The lt. is indeed wounded - you should be able to find him close to the boxes with Laserdesignators.
6) Will do.
7) Huh. There's a medic tent in the enemy base, and Alpha already has a medic or two. Weirdness.
Guess that happens sometimes too ^^ it's a thin line between "getting pounded to hell" and "kicking ass by themselves". You don't HAVE to go save them, remember (also, Alpha will join you whether you personally go help them or not, so if you want to leave it to chance...)
9) Will check this.
16) It -should- tell you "Green eliminated" or "Red eliminated", and you also should be unable to use the cameras. However since it's possible for you to reinforce the teams (via Alpha), I didn't want to fiddle around TOO much with making stuff visible and invisible.
17) Yep. Security detail. They'll patrol the town UPS-style.

20) Why is it harder? Because the D-30's target and shoot at you? I do know that >_< I actually tried making them "careless", but they don't seem to respond to that. Sigh. Basically, though, the artillery you get is what you should try using to remotely destroy the D-30's the best you can. Going head to head with them is perhaps not always the best idea. Also, it IS the main objective. Estrella + radar are mostly things designed to give you some help in completing main objective, so they -should- be easier. But yes, I understand. 

Thanks for that Beta report as well! I'll see about burping out a new version in a while. I've also taken the original mish-mash of scripts that made up the Squad Control System, and revised them a bit. Or, well, just put them into a prettier package, really (and added some features). 

[Wolfrug]

Version 0.3 is out! Here's the quick version history:

0.3 BETA
-Completely reworked Squad Control System, now with many more functionalities, waypoint types and even synchronizing!
-Removed addon dependency of g85 editor upgrade & lowfly's editor upgrade 1.02
-hid radio option after engineers are finished
-reversed order of auxiliary 1/auxiliary 2 & added parenthesises after the name to explain their type (so it says Auxiliary 1 (Engineers) now)
-fixed various objectives not ticking off properly
-fixed certain radio sounds playing unnecessarily
-more effects on killing D-30s (smoke - taken from CSL's burning buildings script)
-Made primary objective slightly easier by disabling the D-30s ability to fire outside of the artillery attacks (on Easy and Hard difficulties)
-Made the max amount of Main Barrages 6
-Added more sounds (particularily to the artillery)!
-Added some easter eggs/cheats ^_^
-Added stuckcheck.sqf from LCD to the SCS, which will hopefully make units less likely to get stuck. :-/
-Added difficulty selector: Easy, Hard and Impossible are now selectable at mission start
-Changed to Version 1.5 RC of Jonny's Marines!

Remember to upgrade to the latest version of Jonny's Marines before testing. Enjoy!

Wolfrug out.

[Manzilla]

EDIT:
Christ nevermind. Hasn't worked for 2 days. Until now

Wolfrug,

Well this sure came outta no where!    It's great to see an update. I'm so damn excited to see one, I thought this mission was scraped. One of my all-time favorites. Thanks.

[Wolfrug]

Some bugs with the new V.0.3 that were noted when playing with the 1.09 BETA:

- The "SCS Menu" action multiplies a lot and isn't getting deleted  No idea why. I might have to solve it the dirty way for now by using a quick and dirty 'for "_i" 0 to 100 do {_unit removeAction _i}'. I'll see about a quickfix, but you can still access your other actions by just scrolling down. 
- This is not 1.09 specific, but: there's a UAZ parked near the first radar objective: if you get inside it and order your teammates inside, they'll immediately jump out again. Attempting to exit the vehicle apparently freezes ArmA. So: don't try to use that UAZ for now. It's entirely "vanilla", no eventhandlers or anything added to it, so I don't know what's causing it. Anyone else had this problem?

That's all for now.

Wolfrug out.

[bert]

I had a quick play around with this mission yesterday. I had the SCS menu multiplication issue as well (using 10.9BETA), it took a heck of a long time to get to the bottom of the list.

I'll try and give it a proper play sometime during the week.

bert

[Wolfrug]

Hey there!

I've released a "hotfix" v.0.31 which fixes the SCS menu bug and relocks the UAZ to prevent CTDs. It also adds SPON Status (default 'I') which should give you a good, quick overlook of your forces at any time.

Download the new version from the link on the first page! Version history also available there.

0.31 BETA
-Added SPON_Status to the mission! By default use 'I' to bring it up.
-Quickfix on UAZ-CTD bug (UAZ locked again)
-Fixed SCS-action spam (oops from my side).
-Changed: The harder the difficulty, the later in the day it is, which leaves you less time to complete the mission (Easy: 2h, Hard: 1,5h, Impossible: 1h)

Enjoy!

Edit 1: I've also noticed that in 1.09 BETA, the first short-distance comms won't die with a single M136 like it did before: I believe they've lowered the damage of the missiles by quite a lot. I think I'll make this a part of the difficulty as well: on Hard and Impossible, you might have to shoot more missiles/blow it with a satchel, whereas on Easy you should be able to kill it from afar with a single M136. If anyone has any opinions on that, feel free to express them.

Edit 2: Crap. The mission doesn't like loading from the missions screen very much. Causes unwanted SCS Menu proliferation, and disables SPON Status. Sooo...for the best experience, please play it through in one run? >_<
Also, I get a CTD no matter -what- vehicle I exit from -_- Faagh.

Edit 3: Version 0.32 out. Check out first page for download links

0.32 BETA
-Minor fixes with SPON Status and quitting/resuming games
-Found the cause for the UAZ/any vehicle CTD bug! Consequently fixed it (in stuckcheck.sqf)
-Added another cheat, and as an extra bonus you'll get a list of the cheats if you finish the mission ^_^
-In ArmA 1.09 BETA, the M136 missile has been made less effective, requiring two hits to take down the short-range comms. This has been incorporated so that in Easy difficulty, the radars will already be slightly damaged (necessitating only one shots, as in 1.08), whereas in Hard and Impossible they still need two shots minimum.

Wolfrug out.

[bert]

Just finished testing V.0.31, didn't notice that 0.32 was out .

Package All good, nothing missing.

Overview No worries.

Intro Very good. Better than most and not overly long.

Briefing The briefing was pretty comprehensive. All objectives were clearly explained and labelled. Very comprehensive instructions for SCS, artillery etc. All in all, pretty well done.

Mission Played on Easy with the saves cheat activated.
In short this is a very good mission. 1st objectives were cleared quickly, but red team took casualties and got relegated to guard duty at the big mast.
I only shot one or two infantry at Estrella before the objective was completed, picked up the LD and moved off towards the camp area with reinforced blue team and green team. Few minor fights on the way. Left both below the hill near the tents and set the guns on some of the cannons. Called my team back and left green in an overwatch position before moving in on and clearing a gun position. Took out a few infantry and jeeps on the way.
After getting bombarded and taking 3 casualties I called the guns on 1 more gun position and used the last few on the base. Two more artillery positions were easily taken out. Once all of the enemy guns were down I moved on the base. The Mi-17 never got off the ground as its pilots got killed in a bombardment. Very few infantry were left at the base and were quickly taken out. I proceeded to satchel charge all of the equipment and investigated the graves. After getting one or two wounded patched up I took the walk back to Estrella. Job done
Completed in 1hr 17 mns, score 11380 and 3 casualties.

I had the following bugs:
*I had a bit of SCS menu cloning. Max 4 clones.
*For some reason a random clone wouldn't work if selected, got the following error: Script Rug_SCS\dialogstart.sqs not found. After the error popped up the broken option didn't work. All of the others did though for some reason.
*I didn't get a CTD when exiting vehicles, the game locked up instead.
*No sign of the cobra.
*Some of my squad seemed to be warping around for some reason. Looked just like playing on a laggy mp server.
*Got some kind o script error when calling in gunfire, may be related to the altered LD from a mod of mine though. I'll post a screen shot if it shows up again. It didn't seem to have any effect though.

Outro Nothing wrong, all worked correctly. I think I vaguely remember the speech.

Summary All in all it was a very enjoyable mission. I'm going to give the new beta a try soon as I want to play it again. I never felt like I was taking on a whole army which was good. The only show stopper was the vehicle dismount bug, good to see that you have sorted fix for that one.

bert

[Wolfrug]

Hey bert! Thanks for this BETA, looks like it's finally possible to complete this mission without getting automatically plastered If you want to see how it was to attack the D-30s while they could still shoot at you directly, try it on Impossible. Ooh, man. A D-30 shell is paaainfuuul.

Some questions:

Did reinforcements for Estrella ever show up? There's a BMP incoming, but I've messed so much with the poor thing's waypoints I wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly decided to do a no-show. Alternatively I suppose it might've simply gotten blown up beforehand by Alpha. There's a delicate balance there, see: on one hand, Alpha can take care of the infantry in town easily enough, but on the other, once artillery support arrives, it's bye-bye for them (unless they manage to take out the BMP).

What was the script error on the LD? I changed it slightly between v.0.2 and v.0.3 since it seemed to have a strange lag-delay when used the first time, but that didn't cause any errors for me at least. But I might've overlooked something.

How did you feel about the challenge in general? I designed Easy to be, well, easier, so it's not supposed to be incredibly hard, but did you feel you actually got to do something as well? Note that Hard and Impossible difficulties plop down a whole bunch of more units, a lot of which will attack you anywhere anytime, or take down the Engineers at the radar tower and deny you access to the artillery, or any other act of devilry that might hinder your progress. Not to mention slightly nastier artillery

And did you use SPON Status at all? It's a resource that pops up clicking the same button as you usually do you get your scores and such in MP - default 'I', and shows stuff like how many units are left alive in each group and such. At least for me it's extremely useful to quickly check out how the other groups are doing.

And as to the SCS itself: you surely used it at least for moving the teams around, so I'm guessing you understood those parts. But did you use any of the more "advanced" features such as synchronizing, changing waypoint types/behaviour/combat modes/formations (etc)? Did you use the Alt-click/action menu at all to for instance change between groups? I know I personally usually don't do more than shift-click in new waypoints and rely on the AI to change combat modes and the like, buuut...hey. Better more than less, no?

As to your bugs:

SCS Menu bugging: Yes...dammit. I personally blame the way Actions and addAction/removeaction works. It's a ridiculous and uncertain system that I just never get to work as I want to. I've noticed even the most professional of scripters still manage to get their actions to multiply. Problem is, each action is simply given a number as a return, and you're then supposed to be able to remove that specific number to remove the action. You can't just remove -all- actions, since that might mess with all kinds of things (like all the other actions you've also got assigned to yourself).  It be a mess. But I'll see if I can work some more on that. As to not finding the script...that's a bit weird O.o

Cobra sometimes crashes on its way out quite randomly, so that might be the problem (ArmA issue, sigh). However, did you use the radio menu to try to access it (Auxiliary 2, same way as the Engineers), since it doesn't by default come flying in over Estrella until you move its waypoint and such. The gunner is also made playable, so you can teamswitch into the chopper if you wanted. Might just be a matter of bad luck though. Note that the Cobra's Hellfires can be directed with the LD as well

Squad warping around: this is due to the stuckcheck.sqf by LCD. Basically, what sometimes happens with the AI is that one of them gets stuck someplace for some weird reason, and then the whole group gets stuck and can't move. If you read some of the previous posts you'll see this is often a problem, groups getting stuck out in the open refusing to move and whatnot. Anyway, the script simply checks to see if there's somewhere the group is supposed to be, and if they don't seem to be moving that way, setpos them slightly to the side to see if it can unstick them. Seems to have worked for me.
Anyway, I think I'll add a check to the script to see how close or far from the player the units are, or alternatively make the jumping a little less pronounced. I didn't myself notice any such jumping though. We'll see

The outro speech is indeed from the official campaign. Figured some war-mongering over the mass graves would be a good way to finish the mission (with some dead RACS soldiers close to an empty 5t truck. Hmm!). If only I could figure out how the Outro - Lose works, I could make something for that as well...ach well.

Thanks a ton for your beta test! Glad you liked it, and glad you managed to finish it with a minimum of bugs!

Wolfrug out.   

[bert]

Right, I'll try and answer some of your questions.

I don't think the reinforcements turned up. At Estrella. Not sure if I saw any smoking wrecks either. I started playing the mission the night before and I seem to remember watching a bmp on the beach. Then sods law set in and some lightning set of our trip switch.

I've attached the arty error as a screen shot. I use NWD tank fcs which also replaces the stock LD, that may have had something to do with it. Didn't get to see the whole error though. Now that you mention it, my PC locked up briefly when I played with the arty at times. I wouldn't call the machine sluggish either.

I think difficulty was about right for an 'easy' difficulty level. I got killed once or twice by the arty. The fight with the BRDM/UAZ etc. near the start was quite intense as the visibility was restricted by all the trees. Past of the challenge was getting used to all of your command options. Got some nasty sniper fire around the guns and took a barrage right on one of their positions.

I used SPON Status once or twice, but to tell the truth I forgot about it early on.

SCS is great. I used it to move the squads, added and changed a few way point types. I took a fairly simple approach. I can imagine that the options could be pretty useful under certain situations. Take an ambush for example, you could achieve lots more with this than only a radio message to move to point x and another to open fire.

The ai warping wasn't massive. I never saw them move more than a body length. Looked odd and I only noticed it if things were quiet.

I didn't realise that you had to call the cobra, my mistake.

Like I said before, its a pretty good mission.
bert

[Wolfrug]

Thanks for the comments! And your attached image doesn't seem to have showed up, oh well. I'm guessing the tank FCS probably is the cause of it - lucky it didn't mess with the artillery otherwise though. If you have anything more to say regarding v.0.32/the other difficulty options, don't be afraid to express them.

Here's a question for you: would you play a campaign in which you lead a platoon of marines using the SCS in various missions over Sahrani? I'm not saying I'd do this immediately (if ever), but now that I -do- have a working system, I -could- showcase it in some other missions as well and such. And campaigns are fun! And it might allow people to actually use all the niceties of it, such as the synchronized get in/load for vehicles and whatnot.

Thanks again, bert!

Wolfrug out.

[bert]

I must be tired. Looks like I forgot to attach the image. I blame having to work an extra hour at work today or something like that. I'll try again.

An SCS campaign sounds smart, I'd play it. It would be a shame to only use the SCS once.

bert

[LeeHunt]

hi Wolfrug,

Alright, testing the latest version, so far so good    The pacing so far is good, especially with help and radio communications from outside your squad.  I really think that you did a good job on this part of the mission, which is hard to do-- some missions overkill on communication but this is just right. Always nice to have voiceovers of different people too.  The squad control system is much better.

1) I went up the hill through the woods to attack the comm tower.  Attacked the tower and got the engineers in (who were subsequently pummeled by artillery and enemy counterattacks).  Sent Green & Red squads to Estrella to help out Alpha squad, but half of them were wiped out and all but two of Alpha Squad survived (as i found out later).  The battle for the Comm Tower was good, not too hard but enough of a challenge with that searing artillery. I finally blew up the nearby artillery direction site with an RPG (switching to OPFOR weapons at this point) and pulled my squad out as the BRDM menaced the engineers. 

2) When I arrived in Estrella the town was total carnage, felt like a real serious battle happened there.  Cool gameplay atmosphere moment.  I found a few random loons hiding around (of course save/reload as they picked me off from their random hiding places) and cleared Estrella.  The laser markers were easier to find this time and i appreciate the "hintc" clue about their location and the player's status.  Sometimes you gotta stop the battle and make sure the player knows important information.  At this point i have an artillery barrage on call, and a Cobra headed in.  So its off to attack the main enemy base and D-30's. I'm hoping to do almost no firing on my own and let the heavy stuff finish teh job.

Only minor bug so far is when the player dies sometimes there is a "_this select 0 error" but it doesn't seem to matter cause the player's dead. Otherwise no issues, everything flowing smoothly.

Will let you know more as i finish this week...



ok after i finish this next try of Mandoble's Triple Blow....

[Wolfrug]

Hey there Lee - thanks for testing this mission yet again.  You should let me know how the mission ended though - if you've had time to finish it, that is.

As a random note: those of you who've had problems with filefront, there's now a megaupload mirror available as well!  Check the front page.

I'll look into that _this select 0 error...probably has something to do with the custom death animation. It always was a hack job...

Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

hi Wolfrug,

Finished!!!!!!   

Took out the last D-30 near the RACS base with a long distance RPG.  Felt good and satisfied. Fortunately i'd picked off most of the patrols, so i was able to run out with the three survivors from my squad back to Estrella pretty easy. 


Mission got a bit more sluggish towards the end-- are you deleting all the used up triggers and variables = nil etc?  Could just be my PC today though too   

Minor bug that doesn't change the game:

The laser marker-- when i point it at the enemy artillery and call in a barrage, if i don't click the mouse button to get teh diamond on the enemy, the artillery lands on me.  So maybe say "make sure you have the diamond focused on the enemy" etc.  Also there is some kind of _this select error 6 (i can't remember if it was 6, it went by fast) each time i called in the artillery barrage from the USS Poseidon. 

Did the Cobra disappear?  I never saw him or gave orders to him, even after wiping out teh Shilka and all of Estrella?

So some stuff to tidy up, but keep persevering, great mission, good fun and a good challenge!   

[Wolfrug]

Thanks for the run-through, Lee!  I'm beginning to think I might wrap this one up soonish, which is something of a first

I'll try to find the player-death "_this select 0" error - probably a miss on my side. I might try to improve on the custom death animation anyway then - or maybe provide a slightly less messy solution than the one I have right now. 

Artillery barrage: Argh! Damned _this select errors.  Still, if it worked...I'll look into it. Also, the "artillery on your head" thing is rather amusing, but something that should be fixed, of course. It's strange, because the script looks for the closest "LaserTarget" to your location - finding nothing returns only your position, not ObjNull ([0,0,0] = out in the sea someplace)? If that is the case, it's quite a curious find. But yes: fixety fix.

Cobra: Sigh. Did you get anyone telling you that it had gone down? I'm guessing not. Also it should have a marker on the map like all the other groups under your command. Nothing there either? You -might- just have forgotten about him, since I don't have him fly in over the city any longer if I remember correctly. Maybe I should change that...

End-game lag: It's a pretty sluggish mission, especially towards the end yes (the units in Estrella don't spawn until you're close enough - I should make the same true for the units around the D-30s methinks), due to the huge amounts of units, the scripting surrounding particularly the Waypoint-moving (inefficieeent, I know. I is bad scripter), and the fact everything is probably burning or dead by that time. Also I added a little extra that works so-and-so to the very final Estrella trigger (just some Harriers overhead) - might be a contributing factor. Don't know if there's much I can do about it.

Random questions:

Any more specific comments on the SCS? Is it the bee's knees, or does it still need some functionality added? I'm thinking that if it's good enough, I might submit it to the Ed.Depot at some point, in case someone else might want to use it. 
Difficulty level? Seemed about right? Looks like I'm the only one who prefers taking out the short-distance comms -before- engaging my troops in a fight with the radar's defenders Although that does make the fight pretty easy on the non-hard and impossible difficulty levels.
Happen to find any easter eggs/cheats? ^^ I'm guessing not, but, they're in there, they're in there...(look for traffic cones).

But excellent-cool. I'll see about wrapping this one up, as mentioned. Anyone else who has any comments or suggestions, feel free to voice them. 

Wolfrug out.

[LeeHunt]

hi Wolfrug,

Never saw the Cobra or heard about its death- easy to solve with an event handler i think though?  Maybe you place him under the player's direct command in teh squad instead of using the SCS waypoints etc?

As for the random errors i mentioned, while they may annoy you the designer they did not affect gameplay at all. It might knock your score by a mission reviewer slightly, but if its between that and 30 hours of bug hunting, well then i'd opt for a lower score because the mission is fine.  The laser artillery thing was strange but i think was because i did not left click and have the diamond focused on a target.

The SCS is good, and yes should definitely be submitted to the Resources Board (love to have it!).  The SCS has plenty of functionality, in fact i wonder if you could also make a 90% stripped down version that just has you move the waypoints and nothing else? (squad already set to wedge and combat forever, for example).  As commander i ended up just moving them around and not changing their behaviour etc.  So for me its just move them around.

I just kept forgetting about the comm tower before i hit the radar-- but i managed to get it eventually.  Also the difficulty on EASY was just right for me.

I heard the OPFOR on the radio, was that one easter egg?  Didn't find the other traffic cones, though planting easter eggs is always good!

Anyway, i think its about ready too. 

[Wolfrug]

I think so too. And I figured out that the Cobra wasn't working properly - now it does, even though it still sometimes randomly crashes on its way out, so... Still, that's ArmA AI, nothing I can do.

Also, the calling-artillery thing had a slight bug in it (apparently a "null target" returned by nearObjects will not be picked up by isNull or isNil, but I eventually managed to script around that. Might be a .sqs problem too?), but I was unable to replicate the "artillery-on-head" bug or the _this select error - might be some third-party addon you've got that messes with the LDs? Likewise I was unable to replicate the _this select error upon player death...once again, might've been an external script/some other oddity I hadn't thought of.

As to the "stripped-down" SCS: I too mostly use it to just add WPs and move the other squads around quickly, but then again I think it works just perfectly for that - if someone WANTS to make it more complicated with behaviours and timeouts and stuff, they're welcome to, but they don't have to. Better to have a working system with a lot of features, than just a working system, right? I was actually planning on adding some "go-codes" à la Rainbow 6: basically just another way of synchronizing waypoints to allow for an attack en-masse. Currently that works via the extra radio option (which isn't really a part of the SCS core system).

But yes: I think this one is about done. I'll get up a version...well...I suppose it has to be v.1.0... for review soonish.

Wolfrug out.

[Cheetah]

Almost ready for review, or did something get in the way?

[Wolfrug]

Ready for review! The last post was made pre-v.1.0 RC, but I didn't edit it afterwards (and double posting is BAD).

Wolfrug out.

[bert]

I'll have a go at reviewing this one.

bert

[bert]

Review complete

Feel free to start the after-review discussion.

bert

[Wolfrug]

Woot!  Thanks a ton for the review. Sorry about the script bugs - I think they sometimes show up depending on what addons you use (for instance laserdesignator-replacement addons like NWD's seem to cause some kind of error message, but without affecting the actual mission). But yay. First mission of mine ever uploaded to OFPEC! Thanks again.

If I get a whole lot of bug reports and such in the future, I might update this again. Also if I update my SCS (which I'm prone to do at some point in the future), I'll probably update this mission as well with the latest version. But yes...

Wolfrug out.