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Offline nominesine

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[SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Complete)
« on: 22 Sep 2010, 10:54:19 »


GUARDIAN (1.00)

Island: Shapur
Game version: Arma: Combined Operations 1.54
Addons: BAF
Highlights: Cinematic intro, music and custom sounds (including voices from the original OFP campaign Cold War Crisis)

A convoy ventures into hostile territory. The soft vehicles will be an easy target for vengeful militias and mines. Scout ahead and clear the convoy's route as the leader of a british  engineer section. Or lead a small team of combat experienced mujahedin warriors and ambush the guardians along the way. The choice is yours.

The mission is randomized for replayability and may be played as SP or MP with 23 playable slots, in several modes. Guardian was built and tested as a hosted game. Functionality on a dedicated server is not guaranteed.


Version history
0.80 Initial BETA

0.90 Updated version with rendom IED's

1.00 Resistance group with new objectives added as new (third) side in MP games
« Last Edit: 07 Nov 2010, 01:36:41 by savedbygrace »
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Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian
« Reply #1 on: 23 Sep 2010, 11:34:37 »
After several bug free test reports from BI Forums version 0.90 is released and the BETA tag has been removed. Guardian is now updated with random civilians, placing remotely detonated IED's in the landscape. Watch out for garbage piles and other unpleasant devices burried in the ground...
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Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #2 on: 26 Sep 2010, 02:45:01 »
I added another playable faction as I upgraded the mission to version 1.0. You may now take the role of the local resistance, fighting against OPFOR and BLUFOR in MP games. Slightly stronger oposition in SP games. Please review the mission.

Change Log:
0.80 Initial BETA

0.90 Updated version with random IED's

1.00 Resistance group with new objectives added as new (third) playable side in MP games
« Last Edit: 26 Sep 2010, 15:58:34 by nominesine »
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Offline Zipper5

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #3 on: 26 Sep 2010, 14:02:50 »
Alright, I'll take this up for review. ;)

Edit: I just tried testing 1.00 in single player and I don't think you should ask for it to be reviewed so soon, as it still has serious issues that I ran in to. For starters, the pathfinding of the convoy royally screwed up in the playthrough sending it far to the west and getting stuck on a piece of a complex. Luckily I found a RPG and was able to destroy it, but then I ran into another issue; there was a mine on the road right in the path of the convoy and I realized that I couldn't teamswitch to the Engineer in my squad to disable it. So, essentially, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, saved, then allowed the convoy to continue and blow up the mine, taking me with it. Also, towards the end my waypoint kept repeatedly switching between the "Clear Mines" and "UN Shelter" waypoints.

I think in it's current state these issues will severely hamper the score if I was to review it as it is. The rest of the mission was actually pretty decent, as were all the secondary parts like the overview, briefing, etc. It's just there appear to still be game-breaking flaws in the mission right now.

Oh, and one last thing; while I think it's great hearing the old OFP voices from Cold War Crisis' Guardian mission, they don't really fit when a Brit and some Chernarussian UN soldiers are saying them. :P

Here are some pictures of the different issues:
The stuck convoy
Quick-switching waypoints
Impossible for the convoy to proceed

I was only using vanilla Combined Operations and the latest beta patch, 1.54.73478.
« Last Edit: 26 Sep 2010, 16:20:29 by Zipper5 »

Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #4 on: 26 Sep 2010, 22:06:32 »
A few questions before I proceed...
 
Quote
I couldn't teamswitch to the Engineer in my squad to disable (the mine)

You are not supposed to teamswitch and therefore I disabled the function. You may still order him to clear the road using the command menu I assume. F4-6-1 should do the trick if you order your engineer to the mine's position...

Quote
towards the end my waypoint kept repeatedly switching between the "Clear Mines" and "UN Shelter" waypoints.

Most likely a game engine bug asociated with the aforementioned BETA I assume. They are ordinary waypoints placed in the editor. No scripts. No fuzz.

Edit: I encountered the same problem in one of the official missions yesterday. Seems to be a new bug/feature and hence out of my control.

Quote
the pathfinding of the convoy royally screwed up in the playthrough sending it far to the west


Define "far" pelease. Did it follow the main road, as your image implies, and got stuck along the way? In that case it's something I could live with, and such things happen even in real life from time to time. Or did the convoy divert and start to follow an entirely different road? If so, I will have a look at it. Otherwise I still want the mission reviewed. Low score or not. I wasn't aiming for a highscore with this one ;)
« Last Edit: 27 Sep 2010, 11:07:45 by nominesine »
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Offline Zipper5

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #5 on: 27 Sep 2010, 13:40:29 »
I realized the Engineer issue afterward, my fault. >:(

No, it didn't follow the road at all. I stopped the convoy just before it entered the main urban area, and when I ordered it to go again, it went all the way off-road to the last complex on the west side of Shapur before your UN shelter. It then tried to go through the complex, and got stuck as a result. Once I destroyed its obstacle it drove around the complex for a bit and then got onto the road that took it back on to the main thoroughfare through Shapur.

I'll try it again, and I'll also see if I can get a friend to join me so we can test the MP aspect.

Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #6 on: 27 Sep 2010, 19:56:07 »
I'll have another look at it. If the pathfinding issue persists I will try to correct it. Otherwise I'll just leave it as it is.

EDIT: Tested it twice in SP mode. No problems what so ever with the path finding skills of the AI driver. Unless someone proves me wrong I'll consider this bug harmless.
« Last Edit: 27 Sep 2010, 20:57:17 by nominesine »
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Offline Zipper5

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #7 on: 03 Nov 2010, 13:13:39 »

Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #8 on: 03 Nov 2010, 23:31:57 »
Thanks. I believe it's my first OFPEC review ever and I've been around since 2002. I'll celebrate my 4/10 with a beer and pretzels  :D
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Offline johnnyboy

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #9 on: 03 Nov 2010, 23:38:44 »
Beer and pretzels is an excellent idea.  I think I will join you.  Just finishing a mission feels good.

I haven't tried Guardian, but I am confident Hide and Seek will score much higher. 

BTW, I just edited my last post on Guardian with full feedback on the mission.  I really like it.
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Offline kju

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #10 on: 04 Nov 2010, 07:54:26 »
If you set them to careless, the convoy should stick strictly to the road.

Do you do that already?

Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #11 on: 04 Nov 2010, 12:52:35 »
Yes they are careless, and I've never encountered the aforementioned problem despite 25+ extra playtests in SP and several attempts in MP LAN. I simply couldn't reproduce the bug. Besides... the mission is already reviewed and I don't intend to change the public version any more.
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Offline kju

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #12 on: 04 Nov 2010, 14:40:18 »
Well it would still be interesting to find out why it behaves so different for Zipper.

Offline nominesine

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Re: [SP/COOP/DM] Guardian (Review Please)
« Reply #13 on: 04 Nov 2010, 23:33:32 »
My guess would be the BETA patch, but I haven't installed it to test my theory. If the problem suddenly appears for me as well, when the next stable version is released, I might reconsider and release a revised edition .
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