New insurgency style mission - what objectives/challenges would you like to see

[Brent 0]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of creating a new Coop w/TVT insurgency/domination/mso style mission and would like to know what the community would like to see more of. Favorite type of objectives, ideas for new objectives, challenges, etc. Open to all ideas and thoughts.

Current features:

• Capture and upgrade to better base locations gaining new transportation features in the process. IE secure X location, X location then converts to your new spawn location as well as providing new vehicles/armor/boats/etc. This may only be a one time event. (Blufor)
  
• Towns have some civilian population left. Not all of them are friendly or welcoming of the USA.
  
• Virtual Ammo Box - Customize uniform and weapons, disguise as civilians, and save loadouts for quick reequipping.(credit/link coming)
  
• Playable Insurgent/Opfor slots(small number). Ambush/IED playstyle encouraged.
  
• Insurgent/Opfor only teleport system(located only in Opfor spawn) to predetermined hot spots. For those times when you don't have time to waste setting up IEDs/ambushes on Blufor players.
  
• Classic clear the city objectives mixed with capture items, towers, locations.
  

Ideas and features coming soon/in the works:

• Occupiable bases(camps)
  
• Civilian casualty system which rewards US soldiers for minimizing civilian death.
  
• Helicopter crash site protection objective(dynamic in location).
  
• Steal and retrieve a specific enemy vehicle(nod to operation caged bear) objective
  
• Objectives that if controlled may give advantages(spawning in additional squads, artillery guns, ..)
  
• Secondary objectives that can yield rewards for succeeding(new vehicles/guns at base)
  
• FLIR equipped helicopter(NV/infrared on helicopters with ability to trasnsmit to ground forces in real time). Script/addon by MarKer. Link. Unknown if this will stay in the mission.
  
• Safe zones/Anti TK spawns
  

Thanks

Edited March 28, 2013 by Brent

[Skeet 1]

Caches that are well defended, but also have a squad of reinforcements that move in from a flanking position.

Random patrolling insurgent squads

Dummy caches that are booby-trapped

Civilians embedded around cache locations in villages (but not to the point where cache destruction would result in civi kills)

[Mirudes 1]

Is Insurgency always about ammocaches?

If not, you can also use ammotrucks, so the players can steal them and bring it to their base.

Edit: When the fight of the groups is not only related to ammocrates, one could expect even a ambulance vehicle. Both sides can destroy it, but both sides can also continue to use it (teleport?).

Or make the ammocaches portable.

Edit: It would even better, when the ammocrates had have improved content over the time (Thermal scopes in the latter...).

If one side manages to bring 3 from 5 caches to their base, they will win.

Edit: In addition to the old victory condition, needing to destroy the caches, this sets the rebels in ability to rearm at a "camp". Rebels need a Headquarter, too. :)

The balancing in the ArmA2-Insurgency mission made it very hard to play as Insurgent.

Not every Player was commanding AI-Units, so it would be good to have some rules for equipment, depending on if and how many AIs you have.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Mirudes

[Brent 0]

Insurgency is typically about the ammo caches, however I'm only loosely basing this on the overall insurgency idea/style(amongst others).

• I'm planning on having several different objective types.
  
• Opfor//insurgents have a teleport system in place(currently one way from their base to specific towns). Still not sure what the total number of blufor/opfor will be yet
  
• Civilians are populated in towns, and some are not welcoming of blufor(suicide bombers). I plan to integrate some sort of system which would make blufor want to keep them alive, not sure what the reward/punishment will be for doing so quite yet.
  
• I'm also looking at using a progression method for blufor. Example: blufor starts out with minimal vehicles, must assault and capture airport. Capturing airport would move spawn point, base, unlock additional vehicles etc. Essentially you establish and capture a base for operations and progress from there.
  

[SleepY_KinG 1]

Scene - Island invasion

Setup - Multiple enemy AA locations, Communications satellite (Primary & Secondary), Radar Stations etc. (Essentials for defence and communication for reinforcement and coordinated attack on invading force.)

Task - Infantry groups to arrive by boat in the dark (pre-dawn) and cripple key enemy installations (AA, comms, etc) and make way for main invasion force coming in by transport helis. Preferred plan should be a coordinated attack on the targets so as to avoid alerting the enemy and possible reinforcements.

I maybe entirely wrong about the insurgency link here... forgive me if so. :)

[Mirudes 1]

From my experience with missions on public servers, I can say that multiple objectives can even overwhelm the "casual player". For example, If you let destroy a gas station(*) by the players as first (random) mission, then all the gas stations are blasted in all other cities also, once they are seen, despite the fact that it is not a objective anymore.

As sad as it is, it is easier to use always the same targets in each city.

(Example: Domination with radio tower, occupy the bunkers, one sidemission according per city).

In the case of the Insurgency, it would be ONE Ammocrate per town.

According to the proposal, of having portable ammocaches:

When one team manages to bring out the cache out of the town, this town starts to belong to the team, supporting it.

When you bring the ammocache to base, you also receive a reward. (The principle of "Conquer the flag").

Once, when the reward was given, the ammocache can be either transported to other objectives again.

Every team can keep the ammocache at the base, receiving content out of it.

At the end, every ammocache gives you one point. When the enemy destroy the ammocache, even in your base, enemy make the point because of destroing it. You also can decide to destroy the cache at any time to make the points.

There shouldn't be any other ammocaches availlable but only the ammocrate in the destination town.

If it is in your mission to "liberate occupied towns", you can surely place randomised IEDs (Car bombs, mines and so on) that are only triggered by Bluefor and Opfor. (I have never heard about gre*k suicide bombers...)

(*) That mission was like: We have found a enemy garage, where the enemy mount heavy machine guns on civic Jeeps. The garage is concealed as a petrol station in [random town]. Your task: Destroy that garage and use those technicals at will.

[wok 1]

Insurgency is typically about the ammo caches, however I'm only loosely basing this on the overall insurgency idea/style(amongst others).

• I'm planning on having several different objective types.
  
• Opfor//insurgents have a teleport system in place(currently one way from their base to specific towns). Still not sure what the total number of blufor/opfor will be yet
  
• Civilians are populated in towns, and some are not welcoming of blufor(suicide bombers). I plan to integrate some sort of system which would make blufor want to keep them alive, not sure what the reward/punishment will be for doing so quite yet.
  
• I'm also looking at using a progression method for blufor. Example: blufor starts out with minimal vehicles, must assault and capture airport. Capturing airport would move spawn point, base, unlock additional vehicles etc. Essentially you establish and capture a base for operations and progress from there.
  

Keep us up to date with that, your ideas seem pretty cool for a mission.

[Brent 0]

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?151635-New-insurgency-MSO-style-mission%28w-insur-slots%29-What-would-you-like-to-see-in-it I also started this thread thinking that may be the more appropriate forum. Anyway I posted what I think was a better/updated of version of my work in progress/ideas last night.

Current ideas/features:

• Towns have some civilian population left. Not all of them are friendly or welcoming of the USA(suicide bombers). Will attempt to create a system which rewards US soldiers for minimizing civilian casualties.
  
• Playable Insurgent/Opfor slots(small number)
  
• Insurgent/Opfor only teleport system(located only in Opfor spawn) to predetermined hot spots. For those times when you don't have time to waste setting up IEDs/ambushes on Blufor players.
  
• Capture and upgrade to better base locations, gaining new transportation modes. IE secure X location, X location then converts to your new spawn location as well as providing new vehicles/armor/boats/etc. This may only be a one time event. (Blufor)
  
• Classic clear the city objectives.
  
• Crash site protection objective.
  
• Steal and retrieve a specific enemy vehicle(nod to operation caged bear) objective
  
• Objectives that if controlled may give advantages(spawning in additional squads, artillery guns, ..)
  
• Safe zones/Anti TK spawns
  

Still very interested in hearing more. I'm currently still working on the exact "flow" of the mission(starting point + initial objectives) whilst still tinkering with scripts, traps, etc. I'll probably start out linear(to encourage more engaging battles) and then widen the scope slightly. Still deciding on that.

Again any and all ideas are welcome, and they do not have to be directly related to previous insurgency maps(using features from MSO, Domination, etc). The overall goal is a coop / tvt(3-5 insurgent playable) that's fun, somewhat dynamic, and not the same from city to city, all the while keeping a bit of challenge and foresight into how you secure those objectives.

[Brent 0]

First few objectives are in the mission, it's rough, but quite playable. I host it on my server for testing periodically on weeknights and weekends(west coast USA// -8GMT). Stop by and see if you can't find something that's buggered or that you'd like in it. Server name: "TFZ Public testing, Redding, CA" ...or something like that. Search Redding, CA in host name and it'll be the only one, heh. Contact brentk4tw@gmail.com

Edited March 28, 2013 by Brent

[Mattar_Tharkari 10]

I made a single player SPECOPS insurgency for A2 and added different items in the dropped briefcase such as:

-loadout change (invisible ammobox spawned at player location, player gear action)

-AI Recruitment / squad reinforcement

-Medpacks

-CAS support

Also added enemy vehicles with cargo that the SPECOPS could steal to help them, always fun to have some loot. Objectives were changed from just ammo boxes to vehicles / static weapons / human targets. They were defended by dedicated AI squads hiding in houses / on patrol.

The best feature anyone ever added to insurgency was the helicopter transport option, possibly by PITN of the Veteran Gamers squad. Players can call a helicopter to transport the squad - have to get permission from squad leader. In my SP version the player respawned in a heli with reinforcements if required.

[Stlkrash1 1]

How about random roaming patrols. Or IED's, and use of air support scripting that allows a strike over comms. I would like a map that uses true tactics, resupply, air evac, less respawning more worry about ones a$$. More realism. Award points for not having to respawn due to being shot. I know arty vehicles and tanks etc are on the way. I we used the dynamic idea of a map it would be a hit I believe. I have a server box just waiting for such a mission.

---------- Post added at 12:20 ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 ----------

Oh perhaps the ability to play on redfor also. Maybe a few spots for Insurgants. Nothing like someone on that side. Gives redofr a whole new life. Or a command option for refor, where a human player has some control of the redfor, to respond to the bluefor attack.

[Brent 0]

Opfor/insurgents already have a few slots in the work so far. AI should be patrol with UPSMON already, or are you refering to random locations? I've just finished the first rough version of the helicopter crash, and I'm working now on a few occupiable team bases(good launch spots for opfor players to control, good LZ's + FOBS for blufor to operate from). The overall goal is to provide quite a bit of playtime with several different styles of progressing missions.

As far as tactics, resupply, etc. I may be able to work a bit of that in after I get the objectives flowing/operating smoothly. Tactically I'm trying to make the mission difficult enough that you will need to work as a team and can't rambo your way into things very often. Limiting vehicles with guns, grenade launchers, and attack aircraft should help here. Air evac will be mostly player driven, with missions, that if successfully carried out by Blufor, will add additional means of air transport. Prior to the siege of the airport, blufor will be entirely ground based. Occupying the airfield will establish your base and add one transport MH9. I'm limiting the initial amount of air transport in hopes of encouraging ground vehicle usage for the second objective(Agia). Ideally this will give opfor incentive to plant IEDs, set up ambushes, etc. After this objective, I'd like to keep the battles focused, but not quite as linear(ie occupation of the occupiable team bases in addition to a few live objectives).

I do plan to add some sort of artillery and IED scripts if I can find/think of any(still a lot of weapons/bombs/etc yet to be released in the game).

What are you meaning when by "dynamic idea of a map" exactly? My idea of it may greatly differ from yours.

[Mirudes 1]

The benefit of a dynamic mission type is, that the player can play the mission again and again and it will never appear the same (replayability).

In my mind another attribute for dynamically mission type is that you can script the amount of enemies proportionally to the amount of players. At startup, you often start to play a mission with only 6 Players, but you end up with a server full with 30 people. Keep the amount of enemy AI balanced to the number of human players, try to stay somehow plausible.

I am aware, that only one opportunity gives you real randomness but the other suggestion is just pseudo-dynamic. The human brain and its memories can be tricked in such a way, that it is not recognized at the first view. And it keeps away the predictability from mp-missions, what is the main disadvantage of every sp-mission.

In a mission you can randomize places, where the enemy occurs.

Examples:

- You have to defend the airport (or just a town), and the enemy spawns (enemy reinforcements, counterattacks), in every mission at different places. (*)

- You have to destroy a enemy convoy (or patrol), the starting point end the arrival point are both random towns.

- A sniper team must terminate the enemy warlord/gouvernor/drugdealer/(...) in a random town.

You can also use templates, like the "Side-missions" in the Domination. Authentic enemy fortifications, bunkers, a camp or a mortar-site. When you have 30 Sidemissions predefined, you can randomly take 5 of it and use it for the actual mission.

(*) Same goes for enemy squads, the enemy strenght can differ in every dynamic mission you play, one time the enemy comes with helicopters and parachutes, but the same attack with mechanised infantry will be totally different from the view of the player.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Mirudes

[raggamafia 10]

Do you guys know MSO?

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?142683-Multi-Session-Operations-v4-5-released

What is MSO?

Multi Session Operations is a modular mission framework giving you a unique free-roaming gameplay experience in a populated dangerous environment. Essentially it is a collection of scripts that create a persistent, breathing environment in which the player operates. Unlike regular missions that have pre-scripted objectives, MSO procedurally generates dynamic enemy forces that are unpredictable. Players have to think beyond the mere tactical level and build up the intelligence picture, carrying out recce patrols to identify enemy locations and conduct deliberate attacks to neutralise them. Everything is persistent, including equipment, ammo, vehicles and even player lives. MSO is designed specifically for Dedicated Server use, but you can also run it Singleplayer or as Host.

It features nearly all your requests already and is on way to A3 (Stratis 4.6 version available on request already)

Take a look and enjoy