The junta mod/campaign

[Bluesman 0]

(posted on OFPEC boards too but I want to see if there are more interested in this project which is on idea stadium so far)

I have yet to see anyone take on the typical Central/Latin American style conflicts.

I have an idea i've been thinking about for awhile. I was thinking of a fictional Dictatorship island. Not quite unlike the game Tropico.

One could have various factions like the Army, Rebels, Church,Labor Unions, Intellectuals etc. Main millitary forces would be either the Rebels (typical gerilla style). You would have intervention forces (Contras style) and potential WP invasions. Maybe a bit of RPG style where you play Junta style and control your own forces and units (like secret police, assasination squads etc). You would of course also have the "War on Drugs" with Drug Lords and their "farms".

I'm not really a modeller but i can do scripting, help with story and exchange ideas if anyone else thinks this.

Interesting potentail addons to this island would be resorts places, golf courses, tourists(with flower shirts and all).

Typical unit models:

The typical dictator with sunglasses. The typical gerilla leader with a big cigar and beard .

The key is to use a fictional country to not end up in endless discussions on real politics like in those other mods.

Potential multiplayer variant:

It's. Dictator mode basically. As a Dictator you have to rule as many days(or years but this is game time) as possible. The other side (or sides if this is possible to do) as a goal has to do what they can to topple the Dictator from power and likewisse the Dictator has to do what he can to stay there.

When the coup/revolution succeeds they change sides and time is calculated. Not quite like Assault mode in UT but similary calculated.

In order to have the army loyalty on your side you would have to issue certain bribes and build certain structures (brothels or pubs and similar entertainment) while that action would risc the church factions wrath. Furthermore, deal out money and manage the various factions that could jump off to the other faction. Likewise side 2 has similar means to try and sway the factions to their side.

Island would consist of various bases which would give victory points etc.

Just some more ideas

Bluesman/Barman/marcus

Note: Junta was a popular boardgame and imo one of the best beers & pretzels boardgames ever made. Just so everyone knows where the reference Junta points to .

[Legionnaire 7 0]

Sounds interesting...check out this article, its about the North Valley Cartel, but I bet there could be some sweet missions you could derive from it. Its quite interesting actually...

http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,41206|4,00.html

And....I could possibly be on board with this, sounds like an interesting plan. Could you write up a detailed design document?

Cheers

--Legionnaire

[Serapis 0]

Heh, sounds a lot like Tropico. I'm not sure if most of that is feasable with this engine. Personally, I would settle for some good old Rebels vs. Dictator action..

[Frisbee 0]

maybe you could make a military twist,keep fighting as a normal soldier till you get a high rank and respect,and make a coup d'etat before the dictator sees you're getting too much power

might be asier to make such a campaign then a full fledged 'sim'

and tropico is a really good place for inspiration :]

(just don't try to incorporate all the possibilities from that )

[miles teg 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Bluesman @ July 04 2002,13:30)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">(posted on OFPEC boards too but I want to see if there are more interested in this project which is on idea stadium so far)

I have yet to see anyone take on the typical Central/Latin American style conflicts.

I have an idea i've been thinking about for awhile. I was thinking of a fictional Dictatorship island. Not quite unlike the game Tropico.

One could have various factions like the Army, Rebels, Church,Labor Unions, Intellectuals etc. Main millitary forces would be either the Rebels (typical gerilla style). You would have intervention forces (Contras style) and potential WP invasions. Maybe a bit of RPG style where you play Junta style and control your own forces and units (like secret police, assasination squads etc). You would of course also have the "War on Drugs" with Drug Lords and their "farms".

I'm not really a modeller but i can do scripting, help with story and exchange ideas if anyone else thinks this.

Interesting potentail addons to this island would be resorts places, golf courses, tourists(with flower shirts and all).

Typical unit models:

The typical dictator with sunglasses. The typical gerilla leader with a big cigar and beard .

The key is to use a fictional country to not end up in endless discussions on real politics like in those other mods.

Potential multiplayer variant:

It's. Dictator mode basically. As a Dictator you have to rule as many days(or years but this is game time) as possible. The other side (or sides if this is possible to do) as a goal has to do what they can to topple the Dictator from power and likewisse the Dictator has to do what he can to stay there.

When the coup/revolution succeeds they change sides and time is calculated. Not quite like Assault mode in UT but similary calculated.

In order to have the army loyalty on your side you would have to issue certain bribes and build certain structures (brothels or pubs and similar entertainment) while that action would risc the church factions wrath. Furthermore, deal out money and manage the various factions that could jump off to the other faction. Likewise side 2 has similar means to try and sway the factions to their side.

Island would consist of various bases which would give victory points etc.

Just some more ideas

Bluesman/Barman/marcus

Note: Junta was a popular boardgame and imo one of the best beers & pretzels boardgames ever made. Just so everyone knows where the reference Junta points to .<span id='postcolor'>

There is already such a MOD being created. The MOD is at:

http://www.ofpcol.galeon.com/inicio.htm

This MOD is based on the current Colombian civil war which has just about all the things you talked about. The real life conflict is chock full of various guerilla groups, drug lords, farmers, politicians, death squads, CIA spooks, DEA agents, dipolomats, U.S. Special Forces, labor leaders, journalists, DynCorp mercenaries, ect.. ect....

I suggest you contact the leader of that MOD and offer your services. I talked to him before and he's Colombian and has a pretty good understanding of the conflict. Well worth looking into. I hope he gets Oxygen. If he gets things rolling I might make some missions for him. I've already made one Colombian mission using the Hemp addon and the Bell Helicopter addon my Martin but I think I'm going to replace that one with a Huey. I just wish someone could make some DynCorp mercenary addons. I'm sure I could dig up some picks showing their uniforms (although usually I've only seen them wearing DynCorp T-shirts). Also I've been trying to get help for converting the OFP Cessna into a crop duster (for spraying drug fields) but so far nobody has wanted to help me with trying to add a smoke dispenser to one.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Legionnaire 7 0]

I agree with Bluesman that it should be a fictional country. The conflict in Colombia has been going on for so long and is so complex, that you're bound to offend somebody by using a real-life location.

I think a MOD with this kinda storyline would have great potential. Like you mentioned above, you can have a branching storyline with mercenaries, DEA & CIA agents, special forces, rebels, etc. etc. Actually there's some very interesting stuff that could be done by basing missions off of real-world CIA's Seaspray unit ones during the 80s, and that article I mentioned. It could even become a several-part campaign/conversion each telling a different view (much like the OFP franchise)

As always, if any of you need any pictures or mission ideas, I've got quite an archive & have read a lot about this stuff, so I could be useful in helping out.

Cheers to all,

--Legionnaire

[Bluesman 0]

Thanx for the replies, i was about to come back yesterday but work came in the way.

Yes the idea was indeed to make some more fictional conflict rather than real, it's kinda hard for someone to have distance to a war going on in his own country. But I will of course play it nevertheless since I want more Latin American style conflicts. The engine is perfect for it and I can't understand why there arent more. I mean "Grenada, Bay of Pigs, Nicaragua, Salvador, you name it". Something to bite on before going to the 214th Black Hawk Down scenario, eh?

Anyway. Why I mentioned Tropico was to emphasise that it was a hypothetical situation with a slight touch of humour/irony. Rebels and Dictator would play a major part but those other factions will be in too, maybe not playable as I thought (not right now) but part of a hypothetical campaign.

I'm thankful for the interest and I will do as Legionaire requrested, a more formal project/design plan.

That's what summer is good for .

BM

[miles teg 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Legionnaire 7 @ July 05 2002,06:50)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I agree with Bluesman that it should be a fictional country. The conflict in Colombia has been going on for so long and is so complex, that you're bound to offend somebody by using a real-life location.

I think a MOD with this kinda storyline would have great potential. Like you mentioned above, you can have a branching storyline with mercenaries, DEA & CIA agents, special forces, rebels, etc. etc. Actually there's some very interesting stuff that could be done by basing missions off of real-world CIA's Seaspray unit ones during the 80s, and that article I mentioned. It could even become a several-part campaign/conversion each telling a different view (much like the OFP franchise)

As always, if any of you need any pictures or mission ideas, I've got quite an archive & have read a lot about this stuff, so I could be useful in helping out.

Cheers to all,

--Legionnaire<span id='postcolor'>

Yeah I guess you're right. I'm half-Colombian myself and yeah the situation there makes the Middle East look simple in comparison...so many groups competing for power in that country that it's difficult to tell at times who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. So yeah, you're probably right you'd offend someone basing it on any real life civil war in Latin America. I know I'd be offended by many possible scenarios that I won't even mention as I don't want to start a flamewar over political ideology.

But yeah I think I do like the idea of "war on drugs" type MOD on a make believe country/island. I'd still like to see some crop dusters and DynCorp mercs though.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[digitalcenturion 20]

i tought about a similar thing yesterday at work but i more tought about somekind of covert ops guerilla warfare against drug warfare, US delta ops style, and assasinating corrupted government leaders on the side.. new custom island ofcourse.

but i think too much anyway..

[Bluesman 0]

Good thinking anyway Miles. I like the fresh ideas contrary to the millions of movie clones.

Btw Miles, since both mods will contain Latin American style soldiers maybe one could borrow a bit from eachother .

I wonder if someone could model a Castro cariacture? I mean olive clothes, cap, beard and cigar.

Then I would need a Pinochet style guy with sunglasses and typical millitary outfit.

Good start . The intellectuals wont be hard to find, most of the civilians look enough "wimpy" .

BM

[Bluesman 0]

Digital, since a full blown mod will take a long time to make I was thinking of starting with something simpler as you described. A drug cartel and a battle with them. It's better imo to build from bottom and up instead of trying to do a full blown mod asap, gives time to evolve and scrap bad ideas.

I will try to learn WRPEdit but modelling i suck at so any help there would be appreciated ALOT .

Scripting i'm decent at and story, well if we are few we could work on a worldbuilding.

Even cooler would be if one could make a persistent world altogether, with a moving political climate etc. Power would exchange hands quite often and not be as static as in Cuba for instance.

BM

[Frisbee 0]

good thinking blues,some mods just don't get off the ground because they're too ambitious

it might be better to make it one or more campaigns with an addon pack (with new missions and addons released every so often)

i'd be glad to help with the story if needed,and maybe some mission editing,but i'm in no way good,keep that in mind

[miles teg 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Frisbee @ July 06 2002,00:43)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">good thinking blues,some mods just don't get off the ground because they're too ambitious

it might be better to make it one or more campaigns with an addon pack (with new missions and addons released every so often)

i'd be glad to help with the story if needed,and maybe some mission editing,but i'm in no way good,keep that in mind  <span id='postcolor'>

Now all that is needed is some people good at texturing, and hopefully, a 3d modeler who won't mind doing a few models like a T65 Thrush cropduster, OH10 Bronco aircraft, a limosine, and maybe a few Oxygen based units like the idea of a stereotypical dictator with a fat cigar or a pipe sticking out of his mouth.

But the main thing needed is a good texture guy who can retexture units...that's no easy feat. I believe that the guys with Oxygen can texture a lot easier then without Oxygen where it takes some serious amounts of work at least from I could tell when I tried messing around with some texturing tools (I gave up).

Otherwise you'd just have to make do with the exhisting addons which is what I'm having to do at the moment.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Bluesman 0]

Yeah. We could be less ambitious and start with the jungle everon and perhaps some old units.

But the goal should indeed be to produce our own material.

Good to have a Colombian also because It's allways hard to find good Spanish names and labels if you arent good speaker .

I'll get back to this when I've upgraded my computer next tuesday/wednesday.

BM

[Bluesman 0]

Btw. Miles, you have a good idea on how the FARC gerilla is built up? It could be interesting to do a scenario with that too.

It's just that it's a bit too close to reallity but maybe some older conflict?

El Salvador. Nicaragua should be far away in history by now to be a good place for some stuff.

Invasion of Grenada for a full blown millitary campaign. It's an island by default so it shouldnt be hard to do realistically .

BM

[Frisbee 0]

oh yeah! would fit the time frame quite nicely too

i have a lot of info about grenada somewhere i think...

anyway,we'll see

[Legionnaire 7 0]

9--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Bluesman @ July 06 2002,029)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">El Salvador. Nicaragua should be far away in history by now to be a good place for some stuff.

Invasion of Grenada for a full blown millitary campaign. It's an island by default so it shouldnt be hard to do realistically .<span id='postcolor'>

I agree. I say we start off with let's say a 5 mission campaign to introduce us into the world of editing (for those who haven't already started), and to let us get comfortable working as a team.

Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, they can all provide PLENTY of inspiration. I was actually kicking around the idea of doing a Grenada campaign since, it is as you say, an island, perfectly suited for OFP.

The story should be also designed along OFP lines to allow for a 3-point perspective so to say: Government, rebel & outside forces (in this case the US is a preferred choice). We should pick one main character from each side for the player to follow since too many would just detract from the whole experience.

So, In conclusion, I say that the first campaign/release consists roughly of:

- 5 missions

- 2 new units

- couple retextures

- new Island (possibly a sister island to the main one..)

I can handle modeling, Blues has scripting, Miles missions...and...the one I COMPLETELY agree with Miles on is that a DAMN good texture artist is needed.

Well anyway, thats enough outta me for now...

-Legionnaire

[Legionnaire 7 0]

Just thought of somethin else...it would be cool if the timeframe was somewhere 1983-1995.

And...has anyone played Jagged Alliance 2? might provide some ideas.

--Legionnaire

iSpec - Guide to SOF of Former Yugoslavia

http://iSpec.specwarnet.net/

[Bluesman 0]

Of course i've played JA2 . One would think that JA2 and OFP would attract roughly the same players .

All good ideas. Have to do the original suggestion and write some kind of project plan for all these ideas.

At least it isnt a Sci Fi or some other odd idea, this should be perfect for the OFP engine.

BM