Gambit Royale FDF Edition

[spotter001 82]

i cant stop admiring the soundtracks used in this campaign...love it!

[tryteyker 28]

I don't know.. I've been running the first mission now (with extra addons and without) but the AI doesn't seem to get smarter at all. I've had Terrorists walk right beside me with nobody giving a flying fuck, if I can put it that way, about that. I doubt it's normal but right now I'm really only running CBA, the required Addons + JSRS. Any ideas?

// Edit

Okay guess you just set the skill level to 0 on the first few troops. Issue didn't really continue onto Mission 2, but I definitely did not like how you handled the dynamic spawn of units in Mission 1. Things were really predictable most of the time, but sometimes I just got killed by an enemy who spawned right behind me at that moment, even though I cleared that specific part a minute earlier. Also the "intro" sort of thing. It's really a shame it's unskippable because I was nearly done with the mission the first time around, but forgot to save. I got killed and had to wait 5 minutes for the whole intro to go through again since it isn't really an intro but more integrated into the main mission.

Mission 2 was pretty cool, spent an hour or so planning on the fly. The tank and APC did force me to rethink my strategy, but what I didn't like was the extract part. I managed to find a clear LZ, and on my way there I got really SMASHED by OPFOR. I had my whole team as I went away from the castle but only 3 of us (including Jones) survived. However, as soon as I called for extract and the MH60 showed up, it overshot ALOT. I don't understand how that could possibly happen, unless you let the AI go off the leash there, which I think you did. At first I was thinking you were trying to simulate it being shot down as it said "Your extract helo has been destroyed, go call a new LZ with 0-0-2".

I was getting ready to wrap it up and move to a new LZ, but the mission ended right there. This does seem like a bug to me since it doesn't make sense to tell the player "go move to a new LZ" but then successfully end the mission.

Going to start playing Mission 3 tomorrow, I like it so far, except some small annoyances I described here.

Edited February 21, 2013 by tryteyker

[AZCoder 921]

@tryteyker: I greatly appreciate feedback, but I need to clarify some things because some of your assumptions are simply not true.

In mission 00 (the intro), nobody has a skill level of 0. Only civs get a 0 in my missions. Here is a screenshot of the moderately skilled OPFOR which are using UPSMON.

Why you had some AI acting dumb, not sure, as UPSMON is good at making the enemy fight well. I can tell you that the ability of AI to identify and attack enemy targets can be adversely affected by your computer's processing power, and that can change depending on other programs running. For me, sometimes I accidentally put FRAPS into record mode and gameplay goes to hell. That's just my observation. A few of my missions are processor intensive as well (mostly M09 and M10), so I'm waiting to see if more people have issues. Regarding the first mission, I have found the enemy to be quite robust in fighting. In fact I took it down a couple notches because the whole team was getting slaughtered on every test play. I do play with JSRS and highly recommend it for the campaign. I also run Warfx and I think one or both might cause some FPS drop that I have noticed, but no adverse affect on AI, at least not for me.

I did forget an auto saveGame in the first one, nuts.

Next item: I NEVER spawn units around the player. I will spawn some things like extract helos and enemy placed *far* from the player which occurs in M02 (Podagorsk), things like that. In the first two missions, only two Apaches and the extract helo are spawned. I have played Call of Duty World At War, and I hate how the enemy will spawn non-stop until you make a suicide run against them. It's absurd, and I will never do that to players. Basically, when I do spawn, it's always far away or in a cutscene, and only when it's necessary.

"Things were really predictable most of the time, but sometimes I just got killed by an enemy who spawned right behind me at that moment, even though I cleared that specific part a minute earlier."

Since they were not spawning, either you didn't clear it, or it's not that predictable. Sorry, couldn't help it :) don't have a better answer. The enemy is handled by UPSMON in the first mission (never with spawn mode either). In the second mission, there are multiple enemy groups with large random waypoints in that mission, so play is quite varied each time, and UPSMON at the castle only.

I have never seen or heard of the extract helo being destroyed in M01 (Conspiracy), but I did create an event handler for it just in case, and this is the actual text that you got:

"Your exfil helo was destroyed. You may wish to find a better LZ next time. 0-0-2 allows you to change the LZ at any time."

It does not tell you to move to a new LZ, just giving advice if you play it again, sorry if it's confusing, I may change that if I do another release. Ultimately I decided to just end the mission if the helo is destroyed because otherwise you'd have to hike it a few klicks (yawn).

The extra troops at the end are dropped off by an Mi-8 (you may have heard it fly over earlier). They come from the airfield. Nobody is spawned as I said. If you feel adventurous, you can visit the airfield, but it's probably suicidal. I have noticed that the extract pilot gets a bit weird if there are enemy troops near the LZ. He is captive true and combatMode blue, so the best solution is to change your LZ further out (0-0-2). You can also select your team and order them to mount, that will force the pilot to land briefly, just make sure he's over a clearing first.

Think that covers it, thanks!

[Kommiekat 11]

He is captive true and combatMode blue, so the best solution is to change your LZ further out (0-0-2).

First of all, I enjoy playing this for the 2nd time. Thanks for the hard work.

I know this is an edit/script question but I don't want to open a thread for such an easy question. I hope you don't mind.

I've come across this "cambatMode blue" and not sure what this means and why one would need this. Could you explain it to me, without going terribly off topic in your thread or maybe even a PM if it's worth it?

I have an idea of "captive true" which I think keeps the enemy from firing upon a unit, correct?

[AZCoder 921]

Right, captive true so that nobody attacks him.

Combatmode Blue simply prevents him from attacking anyone. Without it, the helo never lands and goes around with machineguns blazing.

[tryteyker 28]

Combatmode blue should be somewhat equal to Behavior Careless if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks for clearing things up for me AZCoder. As I said the bad AI fighting was only until I met the MVD Soldiers (so things started going to hell at the refinery), that's why I thought the regular Riflemen had less of a skill level.

I'm looking forward to playing Mission 3 with the things you said in mind.

//Edit

So, I'm about to start Mission 8 right now, and so far it's been quite amazing (but also extremely frustrating).

Mission 3 was quite hard to pull off (I'm always aiming for ending my mission with everybody surviving) and after restarting dozens of times I managed to kill everybody, steal the stuff and get out of there, but only 3 (including me) of us survived that. At this point I was pretty certain that everything's fine and I'd just take the highway to base. WELL, NO. I didn't expect that much resistance in town, seriously. Had to restart a few times since my only hope was to rush through and that didn't always go well.

Mission 4 was pretty cool, although very quick to say the least. At first I was pretty stealthy, and I managed to pull this off until I reached the suitcase (this was the first time a shot was fired in the mission). I managed to clear the base pretty quickly, but I didn't account for the APC waiting there. Getting ready to leave, I took the truck inside the hangar and was just turning, and BAM. The APC spotted me relatively quickly and killed me. After restarting I managed to escape, and I liked how the helo was chasing me.

Mission 5, OH GOD I SUCK AT SHOOTING RANGES, REALLY. Really, I do. So I go to the sandbag and start spraying the shit out of everything, certain that this is what I'm supposed to do, right? Well, no. You have to lay down at that marked position. So I go do that and go take a slowpoke course, retaking it about 3 times until I realize I actually have to waste more than one bullet on each target (when I first got it I thought "oh you can cheat that way, right"). There's really nothing negative here, except maybe the story bomb you get in the briefing (I personally was a bit overwhelmed by it)

Mission 6 should be the mission where Jones comes to Thirsk (I hope). I really liked it, actually. The hostage situation was pretty nice, but I didn't like the obviousness of things. From the cutscene you can clearly see in which shed the objective is, but I checked every shed regardless (and surprisingly enough died a few times doing just that, these spec ops guys are overpowered :P).

Question, are Denmark and the general in the shed ontop of the mountain? That was the only shed I didn't check, but I'm still curious nonetheless.

Mission 7 IS SO RIDICOLOUSSSSSSS. God, I died atleast like 50 times and ragequit ALOT because of this mission. I was overwhelmed by the sudden assault of Spec Ops / Mercenaries and it didn't end well. What I didn't like about the mission wwas that they seemingly take a shitloads of bullets before they die. I don't know if this is ArmA or not, but still, I shot a Spec Ops right on the spot and in the face (yes, really) and he didn't die at all, I had to waste more bullets on him. ALSO, the Armored SUVs are just RIDICOLOUS. Seriously, they are overpowered in my opinion. It is very easy to take out the gunner, but it is impossible to take out the driver (I've had ALL my guys throw frags at the car (so 5 in total) + shoot at it with an anti material rifle (aiming at the driver) and other stuff and the driver did NOT die at all. Again I don't know if this is intended or a bug. I managed to clear everything out at last but the guys are all in really sneaky places, and being forced to do it all alone (AI isn't such a great help in CQBs) doesn't really help in that aspect :P

So that's my feedback for now, I'll probably finish this campaign tonight and give you more feedback.

Also, great intro to mission 8. And great description :P

Edited February 22, 2013 by tryteyker

[h34dup 147]

Enjoying this newly updated Camp, great work AZC! When the 80s, 90s, 2000s US Military addon comes out you have to use those guys for the Desert Storm opening mission - that's my only pet peeve. Really love the new opening mission otherwise though.

Edited February 22, 2013 by h34dup

[AZCoder 921]

Yep, you have to shoot the targets multiple times on the firing range. I made sure to spell that out in the briefing. I usually go full auto and can rack up to 75 points or so.

Mission 3 (Podagorsk) is the one I warned everyone about. I find it really frustrating. It uses my new AI scripts, makes them really aggressive. If I get enough feedback on that mission being way over the top, I will ratchet it down in another release.

The first Thirsk mission: the answer to your spoiler question is no. The giveaway in the cutscene was obviously intentional. If you know the map well, then it's not so hard to figure out where to go. If you don't know the map, it doesn't help you. Either way, you can't be sure if that's the place to go, and it's the farthest point. Mind games ;)

The next mission, the battle/raid on Thirsk, I think is a good example of trying to find the right balance for players. I usually bring an NLAW and take out the SUV before it spots me and find a southerly approach the easiest. It's just a regular armored SUV, those mercs must be rich.

Well, thanks for the enthusiast feedback.

@h34dup - Thanks! Yeah I felt bad using the modern ACU in the intro mission, but sure checked that everyone had older weapons. Let me know if I messed any up :)

[h34dup 147]

Yep, you have to shoot the targets multiple times on the firing range. I made sure to spell that out in the briefing. I usually go full auto and can rack up to 75 points or so.

Mission 3 (Podagorsk) is the one I warned everyone about. I find it really frustrating. It uses my new AI scripts, makes them really aggressive. If I get enough feedback on that mission being way over the top, I will ratchet it down in another release.

The first Thirsk mission: the answer to your spoiler question is no. The giveaway in the cutscene was obviously intentional. If you know the map well, then it's not so hard to figure out where to go. If you don't know the map, it doesn't help you. Either way, you can't be sure if that's the place to go, and it's the farthest point. Mind games ;)

The next mission, the battle/raid on Thirsk, I think is a good example of trying to find the right balance for players. I usually bring an NLAW and take out the SUV before it spots me and find a southerly approach the easiest. It's just a regular armored SUV, those mercs must be rich.

Well, thanks for the enthusiast feedback.

@h34dup - Thanks! Yeah I felt bad using the modern ACU in the intro mission, but sure checked that everyone had older weapons. Let me know if I messed any up :)

Apparently I am not the expert on these matters, according to some more observent, less-sensitive commenters on Armaholic. Still, we all could use a little more desert storm in our Camps.

As for the raid on Thirsk, it's definitely a challenge that warranted some pragmatism in order to prevail. I too had to reload and try again some 50 times, and I cursed and moaned, but you can't expect to win if you keep doing the same damn thing. The strategy that seemed to work for me was to move up to that snow berm, call in the strike team, try to take out as many guys on patrol as possible (the first aid simulation makes this extra tough but it's really a cool added challenge) in as short a time frame so as not to become a target myself. Then rush up to the wall and into the complex as fast as possible. Once you are in the complex, it's not as easy for the SUV to get to you without exposing itself to close-quarters, where the gunner is easier to eliminate. Trying to take the SUV out from a distance before moving in was simply not working.

Still, great campaign and a good challenge. We'll see what I have to say for myself when I go toe-to-toe with the tougher AI though.

[tryteyker 28]

I'm sort of mid-way through Mission 8 right now and I'm quite enjoying it, even though the AI is REALLY disgusting (friendly AI). For example I was assaulting Igla 3, an enemy squad popped up, but my troops kept reporting about the enemy airplane circling around. Yeah, fine I thought, NOW PLEASE FOCUS ON THESE GUYS RIGHT INFRONT OF US. Instead they aim at the airplane which was at the edge of the map somewhere and I had to deal with a whole squad myself. Even spamming 2-1 (No Target) didn't help at all. -.-'

And the Hind after Igla 3 is just mean. I can't even take it out :(

//Edit

OHHH, didn't actually see that there were multiple crates there. Well, no Hind now.

Aand I finished the campaign. Saddest ending ever :(

The two missions were extremelyyy resource-intensive though so my AI burned out. I had my guys stand right infront of a Terrorist and do nothing, but well. After a few retries I managed to deal with that too.

Would the ending be different if I'd have managed to track Denmark down and kill him? The FDF have already killed El-Hashem for me (somehow). Would be nice if there's a way to defuse the bomb so I don't have to fly away with it. Don't want to see Ian die :(

Edited February 22, 2013 by tryteyker

[AZCoder 921]

Hmmm, well in the previous 2.01 release which occurs on Zargabad you could have 2 different endings, but ultimately I am trying to tell a story about a traumatized warrior that feels redemption through self sacrafice.

Also the basic trick in the AA mission is to use one of the zu23 guns against the Hind. Difficult but not impossible. The jet is mainly ambience, weird that your team would target it, can never be sure what AI will do one pc to the next :(

I am a bit dismayed with performance issues, although the AI still kicks me severely. I think this is my first release where I am not getting comments about how easy it is. Well thanks for all the comments.

[tryteyker 28]

(FINALLY remembered what I wanted to say)

In the end I managed to snatch an Igla and shoot the Hind with it. The ZU-23 was also pretty annoying, it killed a few of my guys before I reached the AA gun and killed it.

What annoyed me alot in the (last?) mission where I had stupid AI was the grenade system. I've had instances where I was behind full cover but was blown by a grenade which landed? right ontop of me. That full cover was a building. Idk, it made me feel like you helped the grenades a bit when flying.

[AZCoder 921]

Grenades? Hmmm, well UPSMON does do grenades I believe. Might blame that :D

[tom3kb 15]

I think there is a problem with mission Sleet (campaign v2.5 prabobly also in normal version and in v2.1), wenn we clear Gas station-4 gangsters are dead, nothing happens (im not sure but in 2.1 we talk with 1 guy there?) maybe thats becose you dont use Disableai "move". Now all ai units (civilians, cops) run from gas station as only 1 guy with weapon shows close to them, gangster or we with team.

---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------

As normal version i understand v2.1 without Quesh-Kibrul, i write this little wrong earlier.

Ps: after on of last patches for arma units without weapons (civilians, soldiers even with setcaptive true) run from their positions wenn unit with weapon is close to them.

I'm not sure if this is the problem in your mission but wenn you will have little time you can check if im right. ;)

[Kommiekat 11]

So, what is Taco Bell's Beef made from?

[tryteyker 28]

So, what is Taco Bell's Beef made from?

It's not 11 yet. :P

[AZCoder 921]

I'm waiting for the 11 o'clock answer too.

@tom3kb: I haven't tested any of the beta patches in the past few months, that's a very troubling report. I will take a look when I have time, thanks.

[tom3kb 15]

@AZCoder

I don't use any beta patch. I play with 1.62 "stable".

I remember that i made some missions with P.O.W.s etc (units without weapons) etc with patch 1.5x and they stand on their places from mission start to end. But after one of the 1.6x patches something is changed and units without weapons or civilians run from their starting positions few minutes after mission start.

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

One of useres here found that "bug" in my Mission pack. So i added disableai "move" for those units that should stay in one place through "whole" mission like captives etc.

I'm only guess that this could be the problem in your mission. But im not 100% sure. :)

[AZCoder 921]

I wonder why I have not experienced that in Sleet. I've played it a gazillion times. In several missions I do set civs and east to be friendly with each other. But the worst I ever see are civs cowering, not running. Weird. Are you using any AI mods at all?

[tom3kb 15]

No, i dont use ai mods (only all needed mods+jsrs and warfx blastcore). I will play this mission today few times maybe this was some strange bug on my side (did you play maybe this mission yesterday to see if all was ok?). To be sure, there should be a gasstation worker in that bulding with 2 gangsters? And wenn i kill 4 gangsters i should have a talk or cutscene with him and get new task right?

---------- Post added at 08:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 AM ----------

AZCoder, can you make a simple test in editor. Run arma 2 CO and in editor for example on desert island put few civilian units, close to them put few soldiers (for example russians). You can be 1 of them or you can watch them from distance. You dont have to walk, shot just watch them. Now wait 6min (to be sure 6-13min). After 6min 80-100% civilians run from their positions in different directions.

---------- Post added at 08:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------

Part of them stops ~200m from their starting positions. The rest run ~500m.

If you have this problem you know what in talking about. If you dont have this, there is really something strange with my arma 2. ;)

ps: this is also happend when i put unarmed soldiers as Captives (with setcaptive true). They also run away. Only disableai helps if i want that some units dont move from their positions.

[AZCoder 921]

Thanks for the info, tom3kb. If it's time related, it may well be that I never saw it happen because I play the mission really fast (because I know it too well).

That mission does not have EAST/CIV set friendly to each other, and that may be the solution. Most of the missions do when required. I'll mess around with it over the next couple days, thanks for the test suggestions. I don't think it's your Arma, just wondering what was different between our plays, and it may be the time frame.

Since a patch is inevitable, if anyone finds any of the missions too hard, besides Tryteyker (I already know), please tell me. I was trying to compensate for those that found my missions too easy :)

[AZCoder 921]

We now know what Taco Bell's beef is made from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21631961

I never would have guessed when I put that in the game. :butbut:

[tryteyker 28]

oh god what is all this horsemeat stuff about. WHO EATS HORSEMEAT?!

[Kommiekat 11]

oh god what is all this horsemeat stuff about. WHO EATS HORSEMEAT?!

I have, in Japan, raw. It's a delicacy where I lived, and .................delicious.

http://air.smugmug.com/Japan-December-2008/Kumamoto-Kagoshima-Sakurajima/7194174_7XQzP7/461982555_sXgsdFb#!i=461982555&k=sXgsdFb

[AZCoder 921]

Hey Tom, that was freakin' amazing. I put some civs and spetsnaz in a town on Utes, added a little hintSilent clock, and bam! At 6:00 minutes, all but 1 civ ran off, and 20 secs later the other one ran too.

The fix is simple enough:

EAST setFriend [CIVILIAN, 1];
CIVILIAN setFriend [EAST, 1];

I did test #2 with that code at the top of the init file, tested it for 18 mins, the civs never moved or reacted at all.