The first day - mission concept & feedback

[wolfenswan]

After a quick playtest with the willing lab rats of ARPS, i'm happy to give you my very first very own very dark mission.

The first day (Co23+8)

- The super-tough Non-revive Version v1.5
- The silly Version using Norrin's Revive Respawn v1.5

BEHOLD! BULLETPOINTS!

• Assault Garmsar at pitch black night.
• Only command get's NVG and is inserted at a distant OP. Every FTL (including DC) is granted 2 Flares. Maybe 3 if I feel like it.
• Finally you can commandeer a tank! A tini-tiny T-34, but yet a tank. No head lights though.
• Ever wondered what it's like to ride inside of a M113 through a dark, cold night? Now you'll know! It has head lights!
• Did i mention there's an unarmed truck and a UAZ, too? Madness!
• You feared bullets, you feared RPGs but have you ever feared mines?
• What to do when the flares have ran out, all the your squishy vehicles are gone and command has to go to the toilet? Blow up civilian cars, that's what! Create your own sources of illumination in best UDSSR-DIY-Fashion!
• No pesky target triggers, do whatever you want! Say "screw that" and take your loved one and the squad mates for a trip through all of Takistan.

Includes Fer's visual filter (I'd advise to turn it off though), tweaked Group markers and some other custom fiddling with F2. I'm thinking of including a custom script that adjusts the number of flares each FTL is carrying according to the total numbers of FTLs. And I'm unable to get the name tags (for your squad-mates in first person) to work.

So i've been dabbling with Fer's stub and have finally decided to start working on a real mission to proof a) there's always a way for me to procrastinate and b) other people can hate players at least as much as Fer does.

The Idea

- Night assault on a hill-side town in Takistan (Garma-something, I forgot), occupied by Independent, Infantry only, maybe a few static weapons.
- All Squads start in vehicles to the west, while Command gets inserted on an northern OP; Squads are supported by a "glass sword" armored vehicle (Shilka, BTR-60, Tunguska...)
- Only command gets NVGs; there will be designated Flare grunts, carrying a number of white flares.
- Ideal Scenario: Command watches the ant-like spectactle through his NVGs and warns of threats, while inter-squad comms ensure an effective deployment of flares. The Vehicle support is used to deny areas and in coordinated heavy barrages.

To Consider
- Opfor vehicles; I'd prefer a front vehicle that has a powerful gun but no front lights. Squads could spawn in locked, AI-controlled trucks that dump them on a specified location or in 2 player-controlled M113s (as they don't have front lights)

- Illumination grunts for Opfor; two possibilities: replace CO medic with a Flare grunt, packing 8 flares or giving each squad a specialist with 2-3 flares.

- Adding an extra source of illumination like a burning chopper wreck at the back of the village; could double as a target for OPFOR.

- AT capabilities for independent; Ideally, instead of RPG-grunts i'd prefer placing static SPGs and (if possible) mines to enforce careful illumination and scouting.

- Giving Independent vehicles; though adding to the challenge i'd be against it as it would add further sources of illumination when they are destroyed.

Editing questions as they come
- is it possible to make nights even darker? i disabled the streetlights via a game logic object but it's still fairly bright.

- is it possible to pre-place mines in the editor? via a trigger maybe? google only spits out an external addon but i remember the campaign of BAF featuring pre-placed mines in one mission, too.

[fer]

So i've been dabbling with Fer's stub and have finally decided to start working on a real mission to proof a) there's always a way for me to procrastinate and b) other people can hate players at least as much as Fer does.

You can't hate them as much as I do (yet). But make a few missions ...

The Idea

- Night assault on a hill-side town in Takistan (Garma-something, I forgot), occupied by Independent, Infantry only, maybe a few static weapons.
- All Squads start in vehicles to the west, while Command gets inserted on an northern OP; Squads are supported by a "glass sword" armored vehicle (Shilka, BTR-60, Tunguska...)

Sounds good, but bear in mind that non-NVG AI troops are pretty blind, whereas NVG-equipped troops are pretty deadly at night. You may want to do some little tests first to see that the AI respond as you want them to - but don't worry, it's perfectly possible for non-NVG AI to be fiersome, just see Moonless. Static weapons and plenty of RPGs will be the key to making the armoured vehicle a "glass sword", especially if the RPGs have elevation.

- Only command gets NVGs; there will be designated Flare grunts, carrying a number of white flares.

FTLs would be the ideal candidates to launch flares, as they carry UGLs anyway. This also means they can control the timing and direct the fire of their FT members - whereas making a grunt perform this task would take another gun off the line (FTLs are semi-off it already, since they should be doing more direction than shooting).

- Ideal Scenario: Command watches the ant-like spectactle through his NVGs and warns of threats, while inter-squad comms ensure an effective deployment of flares. The Vehicle support is used to deny areas and in coordinated heavy barrages.

You'll need to think carefully about where to place the vehicle physically, and in the suggested command hierarchy. If the vehicle rolls with the main force you may want to put it under the command of the leading FT, or just suggest that in your mission notes.

To Consider
- Opfor vehicles; I'd prefer a front vehicle that has a powerful gun but no front lights. Squads could spawn in locked, AI-controlled trucks that dump them on a specified location or in 2 player-controlled M113s (as they don't have front lights)

Most, if not all, will have lights - but the cones are pretty narrow and visibility for non-turned-out crews is always poor. So I wouldn't worry too much. As for the transports, if you already have an insertion point in mind don't waste players' time: have them spawn outside the trucks and use AI drivers to remove the trucks from the AO naturally.

- Illumination grunts for Opfor; two possibilities: replace CO medic with a Flare grunt, packing 8 flares or giving each squad a specialist with 2-3 flares.

See above.

- Adding an extra source of illumination like a burning chopper wreck at the back of the village; could double as a target for OPFOR.

That could work very well, and would be a nice way of ensuring the mission is still playable if all the flares are expended (or their carriers get lost). Playing in absolute dark is not fun for many people, but the contrast of lit and dark areas provides lots of scope for fun.

- AT capabilities for independent; Ideally, instead of RPG-grunts i'd prefer placing static SPGs and (if possible) mines to enforce careful illumination and scouting.

A few static-SPGs are neat, but it's small AI patrols with RPG-7 launchers that will force the players to be on their guard. You can place anti-tank mines in the editor (I did that on Finale), but I'd try and limit those to likely choke-points.

- Giving Independent vehicles; though adding to the challenge i'd be against it as it would add further sources of illumination when they are destroyed.

The odd technical can't hurt, but you should make the call based on the terrain. If it's really too mountainous for roving vehicles, consider a few parked-up technicals or even one of those trucks AA guns on the flatbed.

Editing questions as they come
- is it possible to make nights even darker? i disabled the streetlights via a game logic object but it's still fairly bright.

Yes, you can set the default weather conditions selection to "Overcast" in the description.ext file; however, I'd leave all the options there just in case that's too hard to players.

- is it possible to pre-place mines in the editor? via a trigger maybe? google only spits out an external addon but i remember the campaign of BAF featuring pre-placed mines in one mission, too.

Yes, you can place mines. I wouldn't place too many - they are objects and slow down FPS.

[wolfenswan]

thanks for the advice comrade.

FTLs would be the ideal candidates to launch flares, as they carry UGLs anyway. This also means they can control the timing and direct the fire of their FT members - whereas making a grunt perform this task would take another gun off the line (FTLs are semi-off it already, since they should be doing more direction than shooting).

Good thinking, as this would reduce the number of needed players. I'd like to keep at least one (ideally two) spots per squad "non necessary".

Most, if not all, will have lights - but the cones are pretty narrow and visibility for non-turned-out crews is always poor. So I wouldn't worry too much. As for the transports, if you already have an insertion point in mind don't waste players' time: have them spawn outside the trucks and use AI drivers to remove the trucks from the AO naturally.

I'm torn between an AI-driven insertion or spawning the convoy somewhat outside (<500m) of town to treat them to a nightly country ride.
Though Garmsar is "fortified" (read: mines, SPGs) a few straggling grunts might hide in compounds along the way.

I've settled with giving the players a BTR-60 (good Anti-Inf capabilities, no NVG for the gunner and easily killed by two good rocket hits), a M113 (good machine gun, light infantry are no threat, still quite squishy) and a V3S.



1)
my progress is good, though i'm unable to tell how many enemy squads/units should be placed. is there a rule of thumb in what's still considered "challenging" and what's too much?


2)
I was wondering if it's possible to set a "disarm Mine" skill, so other classes apart from Engineers are able to do such. So far google hasn't proven very helpful.

I could set both RPG-Riflemen and AAR as "Engineers" in the editor, so even with a low player count there should be a few engineers. Of course this'll enable them all to be able to repair (lightly) damaged vehicles - making RPGs and SPGs less of a threat.
A second possibility would be to make the driver, gunner and commander of the Glass Sword to be engineers, though this might break the flow of the mission somewhat as they'd have to get out every so and so often.
Thirdly, i might designate a specialist squad of Engineers who don't carry Flares or ARs but i'd prefer an even distribution of classes throughout the different squads.

3) Is there a better way to set the probability of a whole group of enemies than giving the leader a certain spawn percentage and adding "alive leaderX" to his squaddies condition field? I was thinking of designating a variable for all patrol groups and setting a global spawn percentage for it?

[fer]

1)
my progress is good, though i'm unable to tell how many enemy squads/units should be placed. is there a rule of thumb in what's still considered "challenging" and what's too much?

Depends on the terrain. In open ground / villages I'd work on the basis of a 1:3/1:4 ratio (humans:AI).

2)
I was wondering if it's possible to set a "disarm Mine" skill, so other classes apart from Engineers are able to do such. So far google hasn't proven very helpful.

I could set both RPG-Riflemen and AAR as "Engineers" in the editor, so even with a low player count there should be a few engineers. Of course this'll enable them all to be able to repair (lightly) damaged vehicles - making RPGs and SPGs less of a threat.
A second possibility would be to make the driver, gunner and commander of the Glass Sword to be engineers, though this might break the flow of the mission somewhat as they'd have to get out every so and so often.
Thirdly, i might designate a specialist squad of Engineers who don't carry Flares or ARs but i'd prefer an even distribution of classes throughout the different squads.

Flexibility is your friend. If you can make members of each FT Engineers then that will be a better solution. Each specialist element takes players away from the infantry, and that can hurt us badly in a Folk session of 20 players.

3) Is there a better way to set the probability of a whole group of enemies than giving the leader a certain spawn percentage and adding "alive leaderX" to his squaddies condition field? I was thinking of designating a variable for all patrol groups and setting a global spawn percentage for it?

Not sure. I usually let all groups spawn, even if they're down to 1-2 people due to probability on the other members. Just having one guy with an AK patrolling across your platoon's rear / flank can provide a lot of excitement/challenge.

Of course, comrade Tigershark gets a lot of excitement when people patrol across his rear. Oh yeah.

[wolfenswan]

I'm making good progress and very soon we shall be able to sent good comrades into the maws of death.

If you want, i can send you the mission files so you can rub my nose into any errors.

Anyway, a few more questions came up:

- Fires no matter if spawned by a wreck or with CA's burn.sqf produce very ugly "light squares" visible with Night Vision. Any idea how to prevent this?
Also there seems to be a bug with certain light sources: though visible with NV, they disappear without. Turning the brightness up in the video settings makes them magically re-appear. Annoying.

- I was thinking of making both revive and name tags parameters. Anything I should know apart from what's documented in the wiki?
-- i have problems with using norrin's revive script. for some reason the init doesn't accept my group IDs and/or the generic TK_soldier_EP1 identifier. the mission starts with a script error in the isplayer.sqf and every killed player auto-respawns after 4 seconds at the respawn_east marker. -- figured it out; there's a slight problem with the preconfigured F2 Files though.

- how can i sort the groups in the slotting-screen (1-1-B, 1-1-C etc.)? I haven't been able to find that script yet.

[wolfenswan]

After a quick playtest with the willing lab rats of ARPS, i'm happy to give you my very first mission.

The first day (Co23+8)

(see links in OP)

BEHOLD! BULLETPOINTS!

• Assault Garmsar at pitch black night.
• Only command get's NVG and is inserted at a distant OP. Feel like Napoleon while ordering your comically blind minions!
• Shoot shiny stuff in the air! Every FTL (including DC) is granted 2 Flares. Maybe 3 or 4 if I feel like it and people start to bicker.
• Bicker with other players who's going to take teh snip0r. Bicker muche more when you find out what weapon you've been given.
• Finally you can commandeer a tank! A tini-tiny T-34, but yet a tank. No head lights though.
• Ever wondered what it's like to ride inside of a M113 through a dark, cold night? Now you'll know! It has head lights!
• Did i mention there's an unarmed truck and a UAZ, too? Madness!
• You feared bullets, you feared RPGs but have you ever feared mines?
• What to do when the flares have ran out, all the your squishy vehicles are gone and command has to go to the toilet? Blow up civilian cars, that's what! Create your own sources of illumination in best UDSSR-DIY-Fashion!
• No pesky target triggers, do whatever you want! Say "screw that" and take your loved one and the squad mates for a trip through all of Takistan.

Includes Fer's visual filter (I'd advise to turn it off though), tweaked Group markers and some other custom fiddling with F2. I'm thinking of including a custom script that adjusts the number of flares each FTL is carrying according to the total numbers of FTLs. And I'm unable to get the name tags (for your squad-mates in first person) to work and the cap-checker feels buggy as it complains a lot if a group's missing.